Wednesday, October 16, 2013

HALL OF FAME LEADERS IV: 1971 NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHING LEADERS

So, let's take a gander at card #70 of the 1971 Topps set and see what "Hall of Fame" galore looks like!
I love this card: Bob Gibson, Gaylord Perry and Fergie Jenkins, three POWERHOUSE pitchers during the 1970's, all represented on the same piece of beautiful cardboard.
What I also love about this card is the fact that the order you see here is the exact order of the N.L. Cy Young voting for 1970. Bob Gibson took home his second such award (1968 being his other), while Gaylord Perry came in second, having to wait until the 1972 season with Cleveland to land HIS first, and Jenkins only had to wait one more year, as he took home his only Cy Young in 1971.
First, second and third in wins, first, second and third in Cy Young voting.
We are looking at 5 Cy Young awards among the three, as well as an M.V.P. (Gibson in 1968), AND eight top-5 Cy Young finishes throughout their careers.
Oh, and let me not forget that among these three, we have 849 wins, 9843 strikeouts, 158 shutouts and 1882 games spread out over 58 Major League seasons!
It's also fitting that while Gibson was inducted into the Hall in 1981, Perry and Jenkins found themselves inducted together in 1991. Perfect!
I have always found the 1971 leader cards as the nicest for the decade. The black border made the various team uniform colors POP off the card more than any other year.
Just nice cards FULL of star power to have in your collection, especially for younger collectors who can't afford the "regular" issues of each player.

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