Monday, August 19, 2013

#7-Mike Lum





The first regular card! MIke Lum was, like the card says, a backup outfielder and first baseman for the Braves. He was signed by the Braves but had what I call 'Charlie Spikes Syndrome' a bench player who has a breakout season then slumps the next season. In 1971 he hit .269 with 13 home runs and 55 RBI's while the next season he slumped to a .228. 73 he hit .294, 16 homers and 82 RBI's while in 74 it was back down to .233. From 76 to 78 he played for the Reds and picked up a ring with the Big Red Machine in 1976 after they swept the Yankees. 
Returning to the Braves as a free agent in 1979 he still road the bench and played for Atlanta until he was released in 1981 and signed with the Cubs. 
Watching the Braves in Lum's first season back Atlanta had a double header with the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 22 and throughout the game 1 all the Braves announcers talked about was Mike Lum would  do a magic show between games. That was the plan, however, both games were constantly delayed by rain and a game which began at 1 in the afternoon when until 10 PM that evening and his magic show wasn't show. I wasn't heartbroken I assure you but for some reason I always remembered that. 
The card looks like it was taken during Spring Training of 79 from the open seats and those awful mesh caps players wore during the spring. 

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