FANTASY CARD: 1977 MIKE EASLER

Today on the blog I've created a fantasy card, that being a 1977 card for Mike Easler as a St Louis Cardinal player:

Some of you may remember that I have already created (and printed!) a "missing" 1977 card for "The Hit Man" as a California Angel, for whom he played the 1976 season with.

However when I came across this image of him as a Cardinal player I checked it out, and low and behold he spent most of the 1976 season in the St. Louis Minor League system with the Tulsa Oilers, where he mashed the ball at a .352 clip, with 26 homers and 77 RBIs in 118 games, so I figured, "why not?"

Though Easler would have his rookie card in the 1978 set on one of those multi-player jobs, he could have easily gotten a card in the '77 set based on his action in the 1976 season with the California Angels.

In the bicentennial year, Easler played in 21 games with 59 plate appearances, with 13 hits in 53 at-bats, good for a .241 batting average.

He also collected a double, triple and four runs batted in along with six runs scored, all as a designated hitter.

It wasn't until 1980 that he saw full-time work, and he came in with a bang, hitting a robust .338 with 21 homers and 74 RBI's in only 393 at-bats for the reigning champion Pirates.

Six years later I remember him joining the Yankees and he performed well, hitting .302 with 14 homers and 78 RBI's, before playing out his final year in the Majors in 1987, split between the Yanks and Phillies.

By the time he closed out his 14-year career, he finished with a very nice .293 average with 118 homers, 522 runs batted in and 465 runs scored.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: FRANK ROBINSON

Up on the blog today, we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card for the great Frank Robinson, from my 2018 custom gelatin set:

Really fun set to put together, which included a gelatin pack inside the WTHBALLS printed gelatin box!

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.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1985 MIKE TORREZ

I have finally gotten around to creating a 1985 "Career-Capper" for long-time Major League pitcher Mike Torrez, about as solid a guy you could throw out there on the mound during the 1970s, as he wrapped up a very nice career in 1984:

I’ve always been fascinated by Torrez’s run between 1974 and 1978 when he posted 15+ wins each and every year, playing for a different team each and every season!
In 1974 he won 15 for the Montreal Expos, then 20 for the Baltimore Orioles in 1975, then 16 for the Oakland A’s, then the aforementioned 17 combined wins with the Yanks and A’s in 1977, then finally 16 for the Boston Red Sox in 1978.
Toss in his 16 wins for the Expos in 1972 and then another 16 for the Red Sox in 1979, and we are talking a solid eight-year run of dependability that gets overlooked.
By the time he retired after the 1984 season, Torrez fashioned himself a solid 18-year career that saw him go 185-160, with a 3.96 E.R.A., 1404 strikeouts and 15 shutouts over 494 games, 458 of which were starts.
He also won two games in the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers, pitching a complete game in both starts, yielding a 2.50 E.R.A. with 15 strikeouts. Not bad at all…

 

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: TOMMY JOHN

Today on the blog, we spotlight my 1981 Drake's "Big Pitchers" custom card for Tommy John, from my recent custom set released a couple of months ago:

Fun set to create in special zip-lock package, adding to the fun oddball "Big Hitters" set Drakes put out there in 1981.

Tommy John had an incredible Major League career that was essentially "done" in 1975 after developing arm trouble.

However thanks to a new surgery technique that eventually took his name, he managed to not only come back but pitch for another 14 seasons, 26 TOTAL, leading to 288 wins over 760 games, with 700 of those as a starter.

He went on to post three 20-win seasons after his surgery, along with two top-5 Cy Young finishes, as well as three All-Star teams.

By the time he did finally retire at the age of 46 after the 1989 season, he wound up with a record of 288-231, with an ERA of 3.34 in 4710 innings, with 46 shutouts and 2245 strikeouts.

Just amazing, and I'm glad I got to see him pitch at the end of his career with the New York Yankees.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: DAVE WINFIELD

The next ballplayer to get a card in my custom "Classic Baseball" set is one of my childhood favorites, Dave Winfield, though I decided on a photo of him with the San Diego Padres:

Before becoming a favorite among us New York City kids in the 1980s, Winfield would become the favorite player of many young kids in the San Diego area during the 1970’s, giving the Padres a new-look outfielder, bringing a whole new type of athleticism (along with Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos), with speed, stellar defense, a gun for an arm, and power at the plate.
By the time he retired after the 1995 season, his 22nd as a Big Leaguer, he finished with eight 100-RBI seasons, 15 20-home run seasons, 3110 hits, 1669 runs scored and 1833 RBIs.
He made the All-Star team 12 times, took home seven Gold Gloves, finished Top-10 in MVP voting seven times and was awarded six Silver Slugger Awards.
Man I loved this guy! I’ll never forget his line-drive home runs deep into left field at Yankee stadium as a kid, wondering what he would do in a stadium like today where he wasn’t looking at 430 to left-center.
One of the game’s greatest all-around athletes!

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 AL OLIVER

The next 1980's "All-Star Card Fix" is a 1984 card for Al Oliver, who was the starting first baseman for the National League in the 1983 game, though George Hendrick of the St. Louis Cardinals got the card instead by Topps (???):

Again, why Topps decided to just go and select who THEY wanted to get an All-Star card starting in 1981 is beyond me.

Oliver was at the top of his game in the early-80s, and his two seasons with the Montreal Expos were fantastic, including leading the N.L. in doubles both years, while also taking home the batting title in 1982 along with most hits (204) and most RBIs (109).

What do you call a guy who was a seven-time all-star, Silver Slugger winner at three different positions, collector of over 2700 hits, 200 home runs, .300 career average, 1300 runs batted in, and 500 doubles?

I call that a Hall of Famer, especially when you consider that the first nine years or so of his career were the "dead" 1970's.

Yes I know an argument can be made here for Oliver's Hall-worthiness.

But I have always felt that he fell into that Vada Pinson, Dave Parker, Steve Garvey crowd that should have gotten, at the very LEAST, more of a shot at Cooperstown.

I mean, when he was finally eligible for Hall voting, he only got 4.3% and was dropped just like that! THAT is just insane.

He won three consecutive Silver Slugger Awards in 1980-1982, as an outfielder, a designated hitter and a first baseman and he batted .300 or better eleven times in his 18-year career!

He finished in the top-10 in batting eight times during his career, in the top-10 in hits eight times in his career, top-10 in doubles nine times in his career, top-10 in total bases five times, runs scored four times, runs batted in four times, triples three times, extra base hits five times and slugging percentage twice.

Is THAT enough of a statement? His consistency was amazing.

And to top it off, he should have been the National League Rookie of the Year in 1969 but got ripped off, with the award going to Los Angeles Dodger Ted Sizemore.

Al Oliver is grossly overlooked as far as players of that era in my book.

REVISIT: DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1976 HENRY CRUZ

Up on the blog today, we have a "Dedicated" rookie card for Henry Cruz, originally posted 10 years ago as part of my "1976 Project" for my buddy Jim:

Cruz actually saw a chunk of playing time during the 1975 season, appearing in 53 games and collecting 25 hits over 94 at-bats, good for a .266 average.
Jim needed him on a dedicated card for his special project so here you go.
Actually, as far as I’m concerned, Cruz has two other “missing” cards, in the 1977 and 1979 sets, which will be tackled in the near future.
What’s funny about that is the fact that he DOES get a card in the 1978 set, after seeing the LEAST playing time of his short 4-year career the year before!
Go figure...