REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1976 CAPPER FOR SAM McDOWELL

On the blog today we revisit another 10-year-old post, this my 1976 "Career-Capper" for "Sudden Sam" McDowell, who finished up a nice Major League Career in 1975 as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

McDowell really should have had a card in the 1975 set, that is a no-brainer. But a 1976 edition would be more of a "Career Capper", closing out a brilliant, if not tumultuous, 15-year career that saw him  lead the American League in strikeouts five times, while also pacing the league in walks issued in equal amounts.

He'd finish with 141 career wins along with a 3.17 earned run average and 2453 strikeouts, with two 300+ seasons under his belt.

In 1970 he posted his only 20-win season, and in 1965 he led the A.L. with a 2.18 ERA, but it was those strikeouts, as in 325 in 1965, 304 in 1970, 283 in 1968 and 279 in 1969 that made him stand out of the pitching crowd.

A six-time all-star, his career was sadly derailed when he hit 30 years  of age, pitching for the Giants, Yankees and Pirates, never topping more than six wins in any season.
Who knows "what could have been" had he been able to stay healthy...

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: ROGER MARIS

On the blog today, we spotlight my "1960 Stars of the Game" custom card of Roger Maris, from my custom set released in 2018:

Of course his Yankee tenure resulted in that historic 1961 season that saw him hit "61 in '61", setting a new Major League record with 61 home runs, leading to what was his second straight MVP Award after a wonderful 1960 season that saw him 39 homers and a league-leading 112 RBIs.

He spent the last two years of his career with the Cardinals after his historic tenure with the New York Yankees.

Talk about "right place at the right time", Maris came to the Cardinals just as they put together a World Championship in 1967, and a return to the World Series in 1968, though that resulted in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.

By the time he hung them up in 1968, he hit 275 homers with 850 RBIs and 826 runs scored, hitting .260 over 1463 games between 1957 and 1968.

It's easy to forget that he retired very young, at only 33 years of age.

Would have been cool if he got to play into the mid-70's, just as I was getting into baseball...

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: NOLAN RYAN

Time to finally add the "Ryan Express", Nolan Ryan to my long-running WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and it's rich history:

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

 

NEWEST WTHBALLS SET AVAILABLE: "1980 CAREER-CAPPERS"

Good day everyone! Hope all of you are well, and here's to a happy and healthy Summer! Happy to announce that the newest WTHBALLS set, "1980s Career-Cappers", is now available for purchase:

My first custom set dedicated to the 1980s, I've had this one in the works for some time, and I'm really happy with how they came out.

Packaged in clear plastic case with full-color wrap, this set contains 21 cards, including bonus 1981 capper for Japanese all-time great Sadaharu Oh.

Among the Major League stars in the set: Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrzemski and Willie Stargell. See images attached for cards and packaging.

Sets are $15 each plus a one-time $4.50 shipping charge, no matter how many sets you purchase.

Usual Paypal address: slogun23@gmail.com

Again, thank you all so much for the interest and support!

Take Care

Gio/wthballs

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: VIDA BLUE

Today on the blog we move on to the starting pitcher for the American League in that historic 1971 All-Star game in my custom 1971 "Ticket" set, all-world lefty Vida Blue:

Of course, we all know that Vida Blue absolutely exploded onto the Major League scene in 1971, on his way to capturing both the Cy Young and MVP Awards by season's end.

All he did in this epic season was post a record of 24-8, with a league-leading 1.82 earned run average, striking out 301 batters and tossing eight shutouts.

Oh yeah, he was only 21 years of age!

His WHIP of 0.952 and strikeouts-per-nine-innings of 8.7 also led the league, and he completed 24 of his 39 starts, putting in 312 innings of work for the upstart Oakland A's, who were about to go on the three-peat championship run between 1972 and 1974.

Blue would go on to post 209 career victories in the Majors, having some successful seasons with the San Francisco Giants, even starting the 1978 All-Star game for the National League, while finishing up his 17-year career in 1986.
It’s amazing for me to remember that when Blue started that NL All-Star game in 1978, he wasn’t even 30 years old, yet to me he already seemed to be an aging veteran by then.

 

CAREER CAPPERS: 1987 CESAR CEDENO

Good day all!

On the blog today, from my upcoming custom "1980s Career-Cappers" set, a 1987 capper for Cesar Cedeno, who finished up a wonderful Major League career in 1986 with the Los Angeles Dodgers:

In that last season in the Big Leagues, Cedeno appeared in 37 games for L.A., hitting .231 over 78 at-bats, with 18 hits, five runs scored and six RBIs.

Cedeno had the speed, the power, and the talent to put together a five-year stretch where he brought home 5 straight Gold Gloves, get named to four all-star teams while topping the 20/50 mark three years in a row between 1972 and 1976.
In 1974 he had a monster season that saw him hit a career-high 26 homers AND steal a career-high 57 stolen bases along with, you guessed it, a career-high 102 runs batted in.
I would love to know the numbers he could have put up had he not played in the cavernous Astrodome for the first 12 years of his career!

By the time he was done after the 1986 season, he retired with 199 homers and 550 stolen bases, along with a very nice .285 batting average and 2087 hits.
An excellent player who was easily overshadowed by contemporaries of the era.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING 1976 GATES BROWN

Hello all.

Today on the blog we revisit a post from 10 years ago here on the blog, my "missing" 1976 card for Detroit Tigers star Gates Brown, who finished up a very nice Major League career in 1975:

Brown closed out a wonderful 13-year career in 1975, all for the Tigers, playing in 47 games.

He hit .171 with six hits in 35 at-bats in his final season, but don't let that fool you, he was THE man off the bench for the Tigers, and one of the top pinch-hitters in baseball history.

Between 1963 and 1975 he collected 582 hits, with 107 of them as a pinch-hitter, and of those 107 pinch-hits 16 were home runs.

It's interesting to note that during the "year of the pitcher" in 1968, when Carl Yastrzemski led the American League with a .301 average, and Danny Cater finished second with a .290 average, Brown, in the role of pinch-hitter, finished with an amazing .370 average in just under 100 at-bats.

Certainly not a full season by any means, but he was raking it nevertheless as part of the eventual World Champion team.

If none of you have read up on the man, I suggest you at least Google him to read some of the anecdotes attributed to him, as well as his interesting life story and how he eventually made it to the Major Leagues. 

Definitely one of those great baseball characters that live on forever in my eyes.