![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2d8ljcYaDsrvsCSr5RiILx3122kOKHoeSaQcR55RRyYUOdr0DRO9oUkcaoTq8t4oG0Uz0UzC2uNF4JEaMcdxxLsjHI7zFeVKzS0Ou3eEi1d4v6x7rfnXMESi7M_kDmDPvfsKy-RpD09v/s400/1976_isca_hot_stove_all-stars.jpg)
Card front
The Indiana Sports Collectors Association published this bicentennial-themed 26-card set in 1976 to honor local players and teams who contributed to baseball's considerable history. The checklist contains plenty of name-worthy guys; Don Larsen and Gil Hodges are 2 of the non-HOFers. I assume sets went out to ISCA members, making them hard to come by today.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSrw6_ubE3E0mw9zY1oH7y9yvbLs5L3B-qSvPUJRt8KlU8bPWQ0AczrjmhJeEJgg1kXtJPcpAjSvbKoGu15S8PFJv1iMtbs4r_hsn6WsgTVcsBD9YXFrzrPD_YPu6jEy-LqLYM15-s6tBk/s400/1976_isca_hot_stove_all-stars_b.jpg)
Card back
Two things stand out on Rusie's card, "strong candidate for [the] Hall of Fame" and "brief 10 year career." Indeed, the Veterans Committee voted Amos onto a plaque for 1977, validating the ISCA's editorial acumen. Fellow Hoosier (and card #14) Hodges nearly joined him the same year by receiving 58% of the BBWWAA vote.
So is it better to burn out than to fade away? Like previous #5 guest Dizzy Dean, Rusie's career included a block of dominant performance followed by a quick fade. 3 appearances for Cincinnati in 1901 count as a "season," which snuck him past the HOF's 10-year career minimum. It's not clear if anyone remained alive to lobby on Amos's behalf--as former Gashouse Gang members benefited from Frankie Frisch--so his selection's probably deserving, if plucked from a different epoch.
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