1978 Topps Baseball #183 - Doug Bird

• Doug Bird had a rough season in 1978.  Bird was roughed up in his first appearance (3 earned runs in 2 innings) against Cleveland and his ERA never recovered during the season. Doug's ERA was below 5 briefly in April and again for a week at the end of June, but was above 5 for the rest of the season.
• After the 1978 season Milwaukee Brewers catcher and former teammate Buck Martinez filed a lawsuit against Bird. The suit was in connection with a 1976 hunting accident in which Bird discharged his shotgun and hit Martinez in the left eye with a pellet. After the incident Buck's vision in his left eye was 20/200. I didn't find out what the outcome of the suit was.
• 1978 Stats:
• Regular Season: 6-6, 1 save, 5.29 ERA in 40 games (6 starts)
• AL Championship Series: 0-1, 9.00 ERA in 2 games (1 inning)
• 1978 Highlights:
• April 24 - Entered the game in the fourth inning and allowed no runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Royals were behind at the time Doug came in the game, but they came back to beat the Texas Rangers 8-6. Bird earned his first victory of the season.
• Sept 18 - Pitched six shutout innings and earned the win as the Royals beat the Seattle Mariners 7-6 in 11 innings.