Cards That Never Were: Larry Yount Topps 1972

Cards That Never Were i a recurring series in which I create virtual trading cards for players missed in various sets over the years. It is a concept I have borrowed from far too many to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

Although I usually make my own cards, occasionally, I rely on others to help. One such case is today's Larry Yount Topps 1972 card, which was created by Lynn and posted in the Custom Baseball Cards group on Facebook. It is a fun group featuring thousands of virtual cards (and not just baseball), with hundreds the handiwork of Lynn.

The brother of Hall of Famer Robin Yount, Larry preceded Robin to the majors by a couple seasons. Unfortunately for Larry, he did accomplish something never done before or after him in the Major Leagues. During the 1972 season, Larry was called into a game to relieve the starting pitcher. Larry hurt himself warming up, but never actually threw a pitch. He was announced though, which put him in the baseball records.

Baseball has a rule that a player has to be announced into a game and not just on the roster to be credited with appearing in a game (this is just statistically and not part of any salary or benefits). A player on a roster, but not appearing in any game is referred to as a "ghost" player and does not get recognized, including by sites like Baseball-Rference.

Larry did return to pitch a few years in the minors, including a couple seasons in the Brewers system, but he never made it back to the MLB. He did have a nice career though as the agent for Robin.