Card Corner--Rich McKinney

Without question, former Oakland A's third baseman Rich McKinney was one of the wildest looking athletes of the 1970s. There's that large chin, prominent enough to make Jay Leno blush. With his long, curly hair (or white Afro, as some would put it), McKinney would have been easy to pick out of a police lineup. Unfortunately, fans of the New York Yankees had to endure his presence in a major league lineup in 1972.

McKinney remains part of the Yankees' legacy of infamy. After the 1971 season, the Yankees acquired him from the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Stan Bahnsen in a deal that was panned by Pinstriped fans almost from the start. Expected by Yankee management to fill the third base void that had been created five years earlier by the trade of Clete Boyer, McKinney was overmatched both at the plate and in the field. He's best remembered for committing four errors in one game, and when that's your legacy in New York, you won't be recalled quite as fondly as Graig Nettles, Mike Pagliarulo, Wade Boggs, Scott Brosius, or Alex Rodriguez.

Although McKinney's on-field performance fell flat, he left some vivid impressions with his off-the-field demeanor. Teammates nicknamed him "Orbit," a label that he earned for his aloof, detached-from-reality personality. It's too bad that McKinney isn't an active player today. If he were, his "Orbit" moniker would have made him an ideal spokesman for the gum company of the same name, the one that seems to specialize in peculiar commercials. McKinney would have been a perfect fit for that.