[Pinetarpress]

In 1980 I pulled about 15 Fred Howard calls out of packs of Topps. I know this was 5 times more than any other card I pulled that year...every time I see that card I remember feeling frustrated as a kid that I kept pulling Fred Howard instead of getting cards to finish my Royals team set. Of course, this was Fred's only Topps card and I was fascinated to see his 1980 TV release last night...that cherubic face has been replaced by Disco curly hair and a perfect era mustache.

Fred became a prospect after the 1978 season when he was 12-6 with a 3.37 E.R.A and 109 K in 139 IP for the White Sox AA club. He began 1979 at AAA Iowa going 4-1 with a 2.39 E.R.A

Howard pitched in 28 big league games with 6 starts (all in 1979) going 1-5 with a 3.57 E.R.A with his only big league win coming on June 9th in Milwaukee. He started that game and gave up 1 R over 7 IP allowing 5 H and striking out 4.

He pitched for the White Sox AAA club in 1980 going 6-10 with a 5.02 E.R.A before injuries side tracked his career. He missed all of 1981 and returned in 1982 pitching in just 4 games. He pitched in 2 games for the White Sox AA team in 1983 and was done. T