The Continuing Saga: 1971 Topps

When I'm doing one of these 1971 Topps write ups for players that I'm not familiar with the topic of the post usually falls into one of two categories.

1. They have some interesting stat or fact about their career or held some kind of unique record for a few minutes.

2. If they don't have that interesting bit of trivia then I have to highlight something of note about the photo, the autograph, or what's going on behind them on the card.

For this card:

#99 Mark Belanger


I'm overflowing with the the first category...so much so I'm a little ashamed that I don't remember every hearing Mark Belanger's name before. First thing first, his nickname, The Blade, has got to be easily a Top 10 all-time list somewhere of cool nicknames.

Before the rise of Cal Ripken, Jr. he held the Orioles records for games played, assists, and double plays by a short stop. He was an 8-time Gold Glove winner but was atrocious at the bat. In 1970 he was the Triple Crown winner in reverse by finishing last in batting average [.218], home runs [1], and runs batted in [36] through 145 games.

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