NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S- LEO CARDENAS

Time to go and give former All-Star shortstop Leo Cardenas, aka "Mr. Automatic", a spot in my long-running "Nicknames of the 1970's" thread:

 

Somewhat of a forgotten man of the era, Cardenas was a solid player for about a dozen seasons between 1962 and 1973, playing for the Cincinnati reds, Minnesota Twins and California Angels, making five All-Star teams, collecting a Gold Glove in 1965 and even getting some MVP attention in a few seasons.

Over his 16 year career, he would hit as many as 20 homers (1966), drive in as many as 81 runs (1966), collect as many as 173 hits (1962) and even lead the league two years in a row in intentional base on balls (1965, 1966).

By the time he retired after the 1975 season after 55 games with the Texas Rangers, he finished with 1725 hits, 662 runs scored, 689 runs batted in and a .257 batting average over 1941 games.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 LEO CARDENAS

Here’s a missing 1974 card for long-time Major League shortstop Leo Cardenas, who put in a very nice 16-year career between 1960 and 1975:

Cardenas put in almost half a season with the Cleveland Indians in his only season there after a three-year stint in Minnesota.
For the season he batted .215 with 42 hits over 195 at-bats, the first time since 1962 he didn’t play a full year.
A five-time all-star and Gold Glove winner in 1965, Cardenas came up with the Cincinnati Reds and played through the 1968 season before moving on to the Twins for their playoff bound 1969 season, where he would play for the next three years.
After his Cleveland cameo he would move on to the Texas Rangers for the final two seasons, retiring in 1975 after playing in 1941 games with 1725 hits in 6707 at-bats, good for a lifetime .257 average.

THEN AND NOW: LEO CARDENAS: 1960-1976

Let’s give “Mr. Automatic” Leo Cardenas a “super veteran” card in the 1976, capping off a nice 16-year career that saw him named to five all-star teams between 1960 and 1975:

Cardenas came up with the Cincinnati Reds and put in some very nice campaigns before doing the same in Minnesota between 1969 and 1971.
He finished his tenure in the Majors in California, Cleveland and Texas before walking away with a .257 lifetime average, 1725 hits, 118 homers and 662 runs scored with a Gold Glove thrown in over 1941 games.