Disco Dandies

It was the worst of times.  It was the worst of times.  No, seriously.  I’m amazed any of us survived the ‘70s.  The hair, the clothes, the music.

Yeah, especially the music.  What is it about disco that is just so damn awful?  Is it the complete artificiality of it all?  The incessant, mind-numbing beat?  The absolute lack of any purpose other than to get coke-addled losers up on the dance floor and, hopefully, into somebody else’s pants at the end of the night?

Well, whatever it was, these guys definitely had it.

You put your right foot in …

Rudy May was not a bad pitcher.  Overall, he was up for 18 years, won over 150 games, and once led the AL in ERA.

Today, Rudy is available for appearances.  According to Thuzio, you can:

• Get a private pitching lesson from him for $200
• Have lunch or dinner with him for $500
• Play golf with him for $1,500

Unfortunately, there was nothing on the site about dance lessons.

You put your right foot out …

Jesse Jefferson was a bad pitcher.  He finished with a 39-81 record (.325), a 4.81 ERA, and a 1.539 WHIP.  He was one of the original Blue Jays, and somehow managed to start for them for a couple of years.

Almost forgot …  Jesse was a league leader twice.  Unfortunately, it was for errors committed as a pitcher.  Hmm, looks like he may be committing one of those on this very card.

You do the hokey-pokey, and you shake it all about.

Dan Driessen is mostly remembered today as a member of the Big Red Machine of the 1970s.  He played for the Reds for 12 years, mostly as their starting third baseman. 

Driessen’s nickname was “The Cobra” – for his quick, powerful swings (and not his dance moves, as some would have you believe).

Not everyone could do this move, you know.

Hey, these are Hall of Fame dance moves!  Yup, Rich “Goose” Gossage was elected to the Hall in his last year of eligibility.  Overall, he led his league three times in saves, and finished with 310.

Lee Smith, on the other hand, led his league four times and finished with 478 saves.  He is not in the Hall of Fame. 

Guess which player was a New York Yankee?

Disco dance move or follow-through?  Only Jim knew for sure.

As a serious Pirate fan, I will always have a warm place in my heart for Jim Bibby.  He was an important part of the ‘79 championship team, getting 15 strikeouts and tallying a 2.08 ERA in 17 postseason innings.

We are family / I got all my sisters with me / We are family / Get up everybody and sing!

Ohmigod, it’s Tony Manero – with a ‘stache!

Doing a little searching online, I found out that Don Hood is, not only a dancing fool, but also a:

• Professor of psychology at Columbia
• Male model
• Pole vaulter
• Attorney
• Insurance salesman

Hey, the dude gets around.  Thanks Google!

The man himself.

Darnell Glenn “Disco Dan” Ford was an okay ballplayer.  His main claims to fame were being up for 12 years, garnering over 4,000 at bats and 1,000 hits.  His best year was 1979, when he hit 21 dingers and broke the 100 barrier in both runs and RBIs.

Whence the moniker?  Here, let Dan explain it himself:

I used to go to this club in Minnesota and got friendly with the people there.  They put on disco and came out with a T-shirt of me, and the nickname came out because of that.

Fittingly, Disco Dan once appeared in Playgirl.