Columbia TriStar pulled "The Puerto Rican Day" from the syndication rotation for about four and a half years. NBC may not have aired it in repeats that summer but they didn't have anything to do with the syndication schedule. Some local affiliates may have decided not to run it after it was put...
The first appearance of Frank Costanza was a different actor as well. His name is John Randolph. The episode was "The Handicapped Spot". The scenes with Frank were later reshot with Jerry Stiller for syndication.