1977 record breaker (jose morales)

hey, here's an idea - how about we change the photo used for jose morales' record breaker card, on which we recognize that he now holds the record for most pinch hits in a season, from a shot of him actually hitting to a spring training portrait!?!  sound good?  man, i have no idea what was going on in ontario during the spring of 1977.  anyway, here is the 1977 o-pee-chee record breaker jose morales card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

52 of jose morales' 74 at bats in 1977 were made as a pinch hitter.  he had 10 hits and 7 rbi in those at bats, which was a far cry from his record breaking performance in 1976 when he was 25 for 78 as a pinch hitter.  in all, morales hit only .203 over 65 games for the expos in what would be his final season in montreal.  he was picked up by the twins prior to the 1978 season, and he rebounded nicely by posting a .316 average in 101 games.  although he was used by the twins largely as a designated hitter, he did manage a .298 clip (14 for 47) as a pinch hitter.  morales' single season pinch hit record was eventually broken by john vander wal in 1995, and lenny harris currently holds the record for number of pinch hit at-bats in a season.

voici à vous, 1977 record breaker (jose morales)!