REVISITING A POST FROM 10 YEARS AGO: MISSING 1976 WINSTON LLENAS

From ten years ago on the blog, today we revisit a "missing" 1976 card for former California Angels infielder Winston Llenas, part of the "1976 Project" I worked on for my buddy Jim:

Llenas appeared in 56 games for the Halos, hitting .186 with 21 hits over 113 at-bats while playing five different positions plus some DH-ing.

The action he saw in 1975 would be the last of his career, all spent with the Angels since he came up in 1968.

He didn't play in 1970 or 1971, so over the six seasons he did see action in the Majors, he hit .230 with 122 hits over 531 official at-bats, spread over 300 big league games.

In 1973 he led the American League with 16 pinch-hits and 56 pich-hit at-bats, while seeing the most action in any season he played, 78 games.

He then went on to play a year in Japan, for the Taiheiyo Club in 1976, hitting .227 before going to to play, coach and manage in the Dominican Republic for years, eventually getting inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: GEORGE BRETT

On the blog today, we celebrate Kansas City Royals legend George Brett with his inclusion in my long-running WTHBALLS custom "Classic Baseball" set, appreciating the great game's long and rich history:

Brett made his Big League debut in 1973 with 13 games for the Kansas City Royals, the only team he'd suit up for over his magnificent 21 year career.

In that initial showing he hit .125 with five hits in 40 at-bats, including two doubles and two runs scored.

The following season he'd be here to stay, finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year race in 1974, hitting .282 with 129 hits, 49 runs scored and 47 runs batted in over 133 games for the Kansas City Royals.
He’d have his breakout season quickly, leading the league with 195 hits as well as 13 triples in 1975 before winning his first batting title a year later when he hit .333 with a league-leading 215 hits and 14 triples.

His 1979 season is just not appreciated enough!

That season Brett led the league with 212 hits and 20 triples, while also collecting 42 doubles, 23 homers, 107 runs batted in and 119 runs scored, hitting .329 and also stealing 17 bases!

This was arguably his best season overall for his career, and remember, he hit .390 the following year!

The man was born to hit, and would finish his career with 3154 hits, a .305 average, 317 homers and let’s not forget the 201 stolen bases and 137 triples!
The 13-time all-star was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1993, getting named to 98.2% of the ballot, while taking home the MVP in 1980 after his magical .390 hitting season, while finishing second twice and third once.
Legend!

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 MIKE WILLIS

Today on the blog, a rarity these days, a first post for a player after 12 years of doing this, this time pitcher Mike Willis and the differences between his 1977 cards by OPC and Topps:

OPC version

Topps version

Of course, being that he was on the inaugural 1977 Toronto Blue Jays team, this was big stuff for OPC, so they went and gave him his own card in the 1977 set, as opposed to Topps who had him on one of the multi-player rookie cards.

In 1977, his first taste of the Majors, Willis appeared in 43 games, throwing 107.1 innings, with three starts thrown in, going 2-6 with a decent 3.94 E.R.A., striking out 59 batters.

He would end up pitching five years in the Big Leagues, all with Toronto, going 7-21 over 144 games, pitching to a 4.59 earned run average in 296 innings.

He would start six games, even tossing a complete game in 1978, while also collecting 15 saves while striking out 149 batters.

 

1980s CAREER-CAPPERS: 1984 GAYLORD PERRY

On the blog today, a card from my next WTHBALLS custom produced set, "1980s Career-Capers", a 1984 card for Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry:

For me growing up in the late-70’s/early-80s, Perry was the stuff of legend since he was the first player I remember reaching 3000 strikeouts, which at the time made him only the THIRD player to do so behind Walter Johnson and Bob Gibson.
He was also (and I remember this vividly) the first pitcher to reach 300 wins since Early Wynn, which was a 20 year gap, the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues, which he did with the Indians in 1972 and the Padres in 1978.
That 1978 season saw him take home the award after a fantastic year that saw him go 21-6 with a 2.73 earned run average at the age of 39 after coming over from the Texas Rangers.
People may also forget that for a relatively brief moment he was the all-time strikeout king before a couple of guys by the name of Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton caught up soon after.
He posted 5 20-win seasons, finished with 314 for his career, along with 53 shutouts and 3534 strikeouts over a 22-year Big League career, tossing 300+ innings six times.
Is it safe to say that he’s almost a forgotten all-time great?

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: FRANK ROBINSON

The next starting player from the 1971 All-Star Game to spotlight in my "set that never was" Ticket Set is "The Judge" Frank Robinson, perhaps the greatest "overlooked" player the game has ever seen:

It was the eleventh All-Star nod for the legend, who would have himself another great year, finishing third in the A.L. MVP race at season's end, hitting .281 with 28 homers and 99 runs batted in.

Robinson is perhaps the “greatest underrated player” in Major League history.
A two-time Most Valuable Player, and the first to do it in both leagues, Robinson also took home a Triple Crown in 1966, was a twelve time All-Star, finished in the Top-4 in MVP voting outside his two wins, and oh yeah, as mentioned earlier was also the first African-American Manager in league history.
When he retired as an active player in 1976, Robinson was in the top-5 in so many offensive categories he was in the company of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Yet oddly enough, perhaps because of the era he played in, he would get buried in the “all-time greats” conversation in lieu of the aforementioned players along with guys like Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams.
I would say he and Stan Musial are the TWO greatest “underrated” players of all-time, and you could arguably throw in others like Bob Feller for good measure.
Just an all-out legend in so many ways.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING 1978 TERRY CORNUTT

Time once again to revisit a ten-year-old post here on the blog, for the late-comers to WTHBALLS, this time my "missing" 1978 card for former San Francisco Giant pitcher Terry Cornutt:

Cornutt appeared in 28 games for the Giants in 1977, posting a 1-2 record with 23 strikeouts and a 3.86 earned run average over 44.1 innings of work.

Except for a single solitary appearance in 1978, that would be the entirety of his Major League career.

Curious as to why he never made it back up to the "big show", as he put in a few more decent seasons in the minor leagues until 1980 for the Giants organization out of the 'pen.

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: 2025 TOPPS HERITAGE JUAN SOTO YANKEE EDITION

Posted this card on Twitter a few weeks ago, a special request to have Juan Soto's 2025 Heritage card showing him as not only a New York Yankee, but designated as an All-Star, which he was for the 2024 game:

Topps went ahead and had him airbrushed (or Photoshopped) into a Mets uni for the set, while also NOT having the sweet All-Star designation in the lower left-hand corner, leaving an empty spot for us completists.

So I went ahead and made one up to insert in my binder with the other All-Stars, while properly having Yordan Alvarez at the DH spot, which he was voted into.

Of course Soto would break many a Yankee fan's heart by eventually signing with the crosstown Mets organization for three-quarters of a BILLION dollars, thus becoming an instant figure of hate in the Bronx.

Nevertheless the man is on his way to the Hall of Fame, still only 26 years of age and already a batting champ, World Champ, and owner of some incredible seasons.

Time, as they say, will tell...