THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- CAREER-CAPPER: 1982 MIKE MARSHALL

On the blog today, from my custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set, my 1982 career-capper for reliever extraordinaire Mike Marshall, who famously refused to be in Topps baseball card sets through the 1970's into the 80's:

Marshall appeared in 20 games for the New York Mets in 1981, putting in 31 innings and pitching to a 3-2 record with a nice 2.61 earned run average.

Thus would close out quite a unique Big League career that began in 1967 with the Detroit Tigers.

Mike Marshall is about as interesting a character in Major league baseball during the 1970's as any other. And considering some of the characters we've looked at in the past, that is saying something.
How else can you describe a guy who seriously considered retiring from the sport so he could focus on his P.H.D. studies before his record setting 1974 season?
If you've ever read Jim Bouton's hilarious and landmark book "Ball Four" you read about Marshall's legendary battles with his then-manager Jim Schultz while both were members of the ill-fated single-season organization Seattle Pilots.
This guy was something else. And his arm was undoubtedly something else as well. In no less than three seasons, Marshall appeared in 90 or more games, including his record-setting mark of 106 in 1974 that still stands today.
And UNLIKE today with specialty pitchers who come in and face a batter or two, when Marshall came into a game, he pitched.
In 1974, purely a relief role, Marshall threw an astounding 208.1 innings, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A. and a league-leading 21 saves. Amazing by any standard, any era.
This easily got him a Cy Young award that year, beating out fellow teammate Andy Messersmith, while also finishing third in M.V.P. voting as well.
When it came to baseball cards, Marshall was equally as "unique". Rumor has it that he was a bit of a headache for Topps, refusing to "pose" for pictures. Because of this, his cards featured action shots between 1974 through 1977.
Then, after his '77 card, he disappeared altogether. Why I have no idea. But even though Marshall played through the rest of the decade, there were no cards for him in the 1978 and 1979 set.
I'll come back to his missing 1978 card at a later date since I have to do some extensive Photoshopping to have him in a Texas Ranger uniform (I can't find a good shot of him while pitching for Texas).
But for today, I'll go ahead with a "gimmie" and design a 1979 card for him.
1979 was another amazing year for Marshall. He appeared in an A.L. record 90 games, closing out 84 of them, good enough for a 10-15 record with a league-leading 32 saves. Those numbers got him a fifth-place finish in the Cy Young voting that year, which marked the fifth time he was in the running for the award in his career.
He even finished in 11th place for M.V.P. as well, which was the fourth time he garnered serious attention as "Most Valuable Player" during his playing days.
But because of what I understand as "problems" between Topps and Marshall, he was not included in the set that year, leaving a gaping hole for a guy who was as good as any coming into a game as a reliever.
It must have been frustrating for fans of the Twins, and more specifically Marshall, to rip open packs during the late '70's only to find that one of your best pitchers wasn't even depicted on a card.
Then again, from everything I've read online, he's about as tough an autograph to get as anyone else out there, long refusing to sign his name for fans, so perhaps they weren't really missing him too much after all.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" SAM THOMPSON

On the blog today, we profile my card for Hall of Famer and RBI-machine Sam Thompson, from my 2018 "19th Century Base Ball Champions" set:

Thompson was a "slugger" by his day's standards, slamming 126 home runs with two homer titles during his 15-year career between 1885 and 1906.

If you take a look at his career you'll be looking at some hardcore numbers!

In ten full seasons (the other five being partial at best), Thompson drove in over 100 runs eight times, with highs of 166, 165 and 147.

In 1894, he drove in those 147 runs in only 102 games! He also hit .415 with 114 runs scored to team up with fellow future Hall of Fame members Ed Delahanty (.404) and Billy Hamilton (.403) to form the only .400-hitting outfield in baseball history.

To top it off, there was a FOURTH outfielder on the team, Tuck Turner, who hit .418 in 382 plate appearances!

Back to Thompson, he collected over 200 hits in a season three times, collected 10+ homers six times, 20+ triples three times and scored 100+ runs all ten seasons of full-time play.

By the time he retired for good after a brief return to Major League ball in 1906 with the Detroit Tigers after an eight-year absence, he finished with 1261 runs scored, 1988 hits, 343 doubles, 161 triples, 126 home runs and 1305 runs batted in with a wonderful .331 batting average.

In that time he also led his league in a primary offensive category 17 times. Certainly a Hall of Fame resume if worthy of induction by the Veteran's Committee in 1974.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DOC MEDICH

On the blog today, the next cards spotlighted in the fun OPC/Topps image variation thread are the 1977 cards for former pitcher Doc Medich:

OPC Version

Topps Version

Funny OPC edition, as they tried getting him "suited up" with his upcoming team for the 1977 season.

After a solid full season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1976, Medich found himself sent off to the Oakland A's along with five others (including Tony Armas) in a massive trade that fetched the Pirates Chris Bratton, Phil Garner and Tommy Helms.

Incredibly one-sided for the A's when you also account for Rick Langford, Doug Bair and Mitchell Page as part of the deal heading West!

Medich opened the 1977 season with Oakland, pitching well by going 10-6 for them over 26 appearances, all but one of those starts.

He was then sent to the Seattle Mariners where he appeared in only three games before finding himself out East with the Mets, where he appeared in one single game, throwing seven innings, closing out an active if not eventful year.

A solid starter over his 11 year career, he came up with the New York Yankees, winning as many as 19 games in 1974 before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Willie Randolph deal, then the three 1977 clubs mentioned above, then the Texas Rangers where he pitched between 1978 and 1982, finally closing out his career with 10 starts at the end of '82 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

By the time he hung them up, he finished with a record of 124-105 over 312 appearances, with a 3.78 ERA and 16 shutouts in 1996.2 innings, with 955 strikeouts against 624 walks.

JAPAN SPECIAL: 1976 SADAHARU OH

It's about that time to go and create another 1970's "Japan Special" card celebrating a legend from the "Land of the Rising Sun", and I thought a 1976 edition for the great Sadaharu Oh would fit nicely:

As I've stated earlier here on the blog, I just love creating cards for Japanese Hall of Famers onto Topps templates!

Sadaharu Oh is a GOD in Japan, and rightfully so, topping 100 runs batted in 14 times, 100 runs scored 10 times and 30+ homers 19 times, which he did consecutively including his last year in 1980.

He topped 40 homers 13 times, including 55 in 1964, a Japanese record, then 51 in 1973 and 50 in 1977 when he broke the record to much fanfare.

When you look at his career stats it's like a thing out of a softball league, or some latter Barry Bonds numbers, with on-base-percentages above .500, slugging percentages above .700, and 100+ base on balls year after year, 16 consecutive to be precise, on his way to 2390 by the time he hung them up.

Just a fun angle for the blog to start designing some cards for legends of other leagues around the world, which I hope to continue in the new year.

Oh's final numbers: a .301 average with 2786 hits, 1967 runs scored, 2170 RBIs, 868 homers in 2831 games and 9250 official at-bats.

Just incredible!

REVISITING A 1973 "MISSING IN ACTION" CARD FOR JOE HORLEN

On the blog today, we revisit a 10-year-old post with a "missing" 1973 card I created way back when for pitcher Joe Horlen:

Horlen capped off a very nice 12-year career when he retired after the 1972 season, posting 32 appearances with the Oakland A’s after playing all eleven of his previous Major League seasons with the Chicago White Sox, for whom he had some really good seasons.
In 1972 he posted a 3-4 record with a 3.00 earned run average, with six starts and a save scattered among his 84 innings of work.
While with the White Sox Horlen had some all-star seasons, particularly his 1967 season when he went 19-7 with a league-leading 2.07 ERA and six shutouts.
Those numbers would be good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race, as well as a fourth place finish in MVP voting.
Of his 12 years on a big league mound, Horlen posted five sub-3.00 ERA campaigns, all consecutive (between 1964 and 1968), with a low of 1.88 in 1964.
By the time he retired he finished with a 116-117 record with a nice 3.11 earned run average and 18 shutouts over 361 games, 290 of which were starts, and 2002 innings.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: MICKEY MANTLE

Today on the blog, it's high-time we add the "Commerce Comet", New York Yankee legend Mickey Mantle to my on-going custom "Classic Baseball" set, due for a multi-series release in the near future:

Just a nice clean "classic" image for the Hall of Famer and American Icon.

As I have stated before here on the blog many times, Mantle is one of those guys I really don't think we need to get into as far as his tenure on the baseball diamond. It'd be kind of a joke to start writing about his career since it would take up a book's worth.

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

"The Mick" in all his glory, enshrined in his rightful place in Cooperstown, along with his longtime buddy Whitey Ford in the same HOF class.

One of the great icons of the sport over its 150+ year history.

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

I just wished I would have gotten to see him play!

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: GLENN BECKERT

The next card from my custom "card set that never was", a dedicated 1971 All-Star game commemorative set, if that of the National League's starting second baseman Glenn Beckert of the Chicago Cubs:

Though only in the Big Leagues for eleven seasons, Beckert had a very nice career, getting four All-Star nods, a Gold Glove, and giving the Cubs a solid second baseman alongside guys like Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Ernie Banks.

The 1971 season was perhaps the best in Beckert's career, as he would go on to hit a career-high .342 while collecting 181 hits, with 80 runs scored and 42 runs batted in.

Between 1966 and 1971 he never hit below .280, and in 1968 he led the National league with 98 runs scored during the "year of the pitcher."

By the time he retired after the 1975 season, he finished with a very nice .283 batting average, with 1473 hits over 5208 at-bats and 1320 games.