Time for your weekly trivia.
This week let's take a look at the decade as a whole.
See how many you can get. I'm pretty much asking for three answers per question this time around.
I'll post the answers tomorrow.
1. For the decade of the 1970's, who were the top three home run hitters?
2. Who were the top three in hits for the decade?
3. Who were the top three in R.B.I.'s?
4. What three players scored the most runs during the 1970's?
5. Who hold the top three stolen base totals for the decade?
***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW:
1. Willie Stargell: 296; Reggie Jackson: 292; Johnny Bench: 290.
2. Pete Rose: 2045; Rod Carew: 1787; Al Oliver: 1686.
3. Johnny Bench: 1013; Tony Perez: 954; Lee May: 936.
4. Amos Otis: 861; Carl Yastrzemski: 845; Rod Carew: 837.
5. Lou Brock: 551; Joe Morgan: 488; Cesar Cedeno: 427.
Here’s a “Nickname” card for one of the hardest throwers of his time, “Sudden Sam” McDowell:
McDowell was a beast on the mound during his prime, which was sadly shortened because of various issues including injuries.
Three times topping 200 strikeouts, two of those seasons saw him top
300, with a league-leading high of 325 in 1965 when he also led the
American League with a 2.18 earned run average to go along with a 17-11
record.
He’d go on to lead the league in K’s four other times during this run
between 1965 and 1970, along with a 20-win season in 1970 and a career
low 1.81 ERA in the “Year of the Pitcher” 1968.
It’s a shame he only had ten full seasons during his career, seeing as
he ended up with 2453 career strikeouts with a 141-134 record and a nice
3.17 ERA.
Once he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Gaylord Perry after
the 1971 season his career went downhill quickly, barely hanging on the
final four years before retiring after 1975.
Nevertheless between 1964 and 1971 he was a monster on that mound,
striking fear in opposing batters while racking up the K’s and getting
named to six all-star teams.
Let’s go and give former slugger Dom Mincher a career-capping “missing” 1973 card shall we?
Mincher was closing out a very respectable 13-year career in 1972, split
between the Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s, appearing in 108 games with
53 hits in 245 at-bats, which was good for a .216 batting average to go
along with six homers and 44 runs batted in.
Those six homers would give him exactly 200 for his career, not bad considering he only had 4026 official at-bats!
Five times during his career would he top 20 homers, with a high of 27
in 1970 with the Oakland A’s, which isn’t too shabby considering the
modern “dead-ball” era the late-60’s/early-70’s were.
Along with those 200 homers he’d finish with 1003 hits, 530 runs scored
and 643 runs batted in with a .249 average playing for the Washington
Senators/Minnesota Twins, California Angels, Seattle Pilots, and
Washington Senators/Texas Rangers.
Today’s
“Then and Now Super Veteran” is a special request for reader Tony, who
asked me to create one for the former fire-baller a while back.
Well, here you go Tony!
Take a look:
Maloney tends to get over-looked as far as pitching stars of the 1960’s go.
Granted when you’re up against guys like Koufax, Marichal, Drysdale and Gibson, it’s easy to see why.
Nevertheless, in Maloney’s seven full seasons of Major League ball, he
posted five seasons of sub-3.00 ERA, four 200+ strikeout years, and six
15+ win seasons, with two of them topping 20.
The guy was a machine! 29 of his 30 lifetime shutouts were in those seven years, with four seasons of five or more.
And consider this: until Major League officials changed the rules of
what a no-hitter was years later, Maloney was considered as one of the
few to throw THREE or more such gems.
In 1965 Maloney not only threw a 10-inning no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs on August 19th, in which he became the first pitcher to go more than nine-innings and complete a no-hitter, he also, earlier in the season on June 14th
against the New York Mets, LOST a no-hitter in the 10th inning when
Mets player Johnny Lewis led off the 11th with a homer, thus handing
Maloney a loss after going ten innings with a no-no.
Then, as if all of that wasn’t enough, Maloney went and threw a
no-hitter on April 30th of 1969 against the Houston Astros, this time
mercifully given a huge lead, eventually winning the game 10-0.
So while credited with two “official” no-hitters for his career, he came ever so close to three.
1963 can arguably be considered his best year on a big league mound,
when he posted a 23-7 record with a 2.77 ERA and 265 K’s to go along
with six shutouts over 33 starts and 250.1 innings pitched.
Sadly for him there was a guy named Koufax dominating the world of
baseball that year, easily taking home not only a Cy Young Award but an
MVP Award as well.
By the time Maloney wrapped up his career after the 1971 season because
of injuries at the young age of 31, he finished with a very nice 134-84
record, with a 3.19 ERA and 1605 strikeouts over 302 games and 1849
innings pitched, and a reputation as one of the hardest throwing
pitchers in the game during the 1960’s.
Today’s
“Turn Back the Clock” moment is a 20th anniversary card for a record
that still stands today: The New York Yankees winning their fifth
straight World Series, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in six games.
Here’s a card design based off the 1973 template:
The Yanks went 99-52, easily taking home their 20th American League pennant with an 8.5 game lead over second place Cleveland.
Once in the Fall Classic, they faced their National League nemesis
Brooklyn Dodgers, who took them to seven games in the previous year’s
series.
But the Yankees would prevail, taking home their unprecedented FIFTH
straight crown, topping the four straight of the 1936-1939 Yankees.
With a balanced attack at the plate from guys like Mantle, Berra and Gil
McDougald, and a pitching staff that had five pitchers chip-in 13 or
more wins (Ford, Raschi, Lopat, Sain and Reynolds), this wasn’t the
“usual” Bronx Bomber team which would have a stand-out offensive or
pitching great leading the way. This was more of a “team-effort” than
most of the other championships.
Anyway, I remember when Alfonso Soriano hit that dang homer off Curt
Schilling in the seventh game of the World Series in 2001, thinking
“Holy crap they’re going to win their fourth straight series”, only to
be GROSSLY disappointed. Yet that would have been four straight, with
another series win in 2002 to even MATCH this team’s accomplishment, let
alone try to break the record with SIX straight. Crazy.
Granted with the playoffs (heck, the EXPANDED playoffs), it’s tougher to
find yourself in the Series these days than in 1953, But nevertheless
five straight is something else!
I’m sure non-Yankee fans were not too pleased though!
Today
marks the 1000th post for this blog and I cannot thank you all enough
for sharing in my travels into baseball card geek-dom.
It’s been a blast and I hope to keep going as long as there is material to create and write about!
Which brings us to the topic of the day: my plea to any of you that may be able to help with some photo’s I’m looking for.
Below is my “master list” of images I’m still looking for to create “missing cards” through the decade.
If any of you can help me it would be most appreciated!
I’ve been lucky to find about 95% of the images I was looking for over
the past couple of years, but these are the ones that have so far eluded
me.
Basically I need an image that is "medium" in size, so that would mean about 6.5" tall at 72 dpi (or actual card size at 300 dpi). But I'll take a look at anything any of you may have from the list below!
So here it is, anyone that has anything can email me at john@slogun.com
Thanks!
1970 GUS GIL PILOTS
1970 JULIO GOTAY ASTROS
1970 JOHNNY PODRES PADRES
1970 SANDY VALDESPINO PILOTS
1970 RAMON WEBSTER A’S
1971 PAUL DOYLE PADRES
1971 BARRY MOORE WHITE SOX
1971 RICH NYE EXPOS
1971 HAWK TAYLOR ROYALS
1972 TY CLINE REDS
1973 ROGER FREED PHILLIES
1973 PETE KOEGEL PHILLIES
1973 TED UHLAENDER REDS
1973 BILL VOSS CARDINALS
1974 STEVE DUNNING RANGERS
1974 JERRY JOHNSON INDIANS
1974 MICK KELLEHER CARDINALS
1974 FRANK LINZY BREWERS
1974 BEN OGLIVIE RED SOX
1974 RICK RICHARDT ROYALS
1974 MICKEY STRAHLER TIGERS
1975 LUIS ALVARADO INDIANS
1975 LARRY BROWN RANGERS
1975 JOHN DOHERTY ANGELS
1975 LUIS GOMEZ TWINS
1975 FRANK LINZY PHILLIES
1975 LOWELL PALMER PADRES
1975 JUAN PIZARRO PIRATES
1975 PAUL SCHAAL ANGELS
1976 LUIS GOMEZ TWINS
1976 TOMMY MOORE RANGERS
1976 JIM PERRY A’S
1976 BILL SUDAKIS INDIANS
1977 MIKE BARLOW ASTROS
1977 STEVE BARR RANGERS
1977 STEVE DUNNING EXPOS
1977 BOB HANSEN BREWERS
1977 BOB HEISE RED SOX
1977 JERRY JOHNSON PADRES
1977 CLEON JONES WHITE SOX
1977 SKIP JUTZE ASTROS
1977 CLAY KIRBY EXPOS
1977 JOE LAHOUD RANGERS
1977 LARRY MILBOURNE MARINERS
1977 LEE RICHARD CARDINALS
1977 FRED SCHERMAN EXPOS
1977 EDDIE SOLOMON CARDINALS
1977 HECTOR TORRES PADRES
1978 OLLIE BROWN PHILLIES
1978 DAVE GIUSTI CUBS
1978 JERRY HAIRSTON PIRATES
1978 STEVE HARGAN BRAVES
1978 BOB HEISE ROYALS
1978 MIKE KEKICH MARINERS
1978 MAXIMINO LEON BRAVES
1978 MIKE MARSHALL RANGERS
1978 DAVE MCKAY BLUE JAYS
1978 DAVE PAGAN PIRATES
1978 COOKIE ROJAS ROYALS
1978 RICK SAWYER PADRES
1979 JIM BOUTON BRAVES
1979 HENRY CRUZ WHITE SOX
1979 JACK KUCEK WHITE SOX
1979 LENN SAKATA BREWERS
1979 MAC SCARCE TWINS
Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are all well and also gearing up for the new year. Was a bit strange going to the in-laws yesterday for Christmas Eve in my shorts and a t-shirt! Balmy Northeast this year...
Today I serve up a “missing” or “Career-Capping” 1971 Topps card for former no-hit pitcher Ray Washburn.
Take a look:
A “Bonus-Baby” when signed by the St. Louis Cardinals back in 1960,
Washburn was closing out a 10 year career in 1970 with 35 appearances
for the Cincinnati Reds, the only games he’d appear in outside the
Cardinals as a Pro.
He posted a 4-4 record while sporting a rough 6.93 Earned Run Average, mainly as an arm out of the bullpen.
His best season was 1968, the “Year of the Pitcher”, when he went 14-8
with a sparkling 2.26 ERA and four shutouts, helping the Cardinals to
the World Series, but unfortunately would lose, to the Detroit Tigers in
seven games.
He’d also go and pitch a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants that season, on September 18th,
which came a day after Gaylord Perry did the very same thing against
the Cardinals! This was the first time in Major League history where
there were no-hitters on consecutive days between two teams.
Easily the highlight of his career, Washburn would end up 72- 64, with a
3.53 ERA and 10 shutouts over 239 games, 166 of which were starts, and
1210 innings of Major League work.
Trivia time yet again.
This week we look at all 50+ stolen base guys during the decade of the 1970's.
See how many you can get.
Answers will be posted tomorrow…
1. Among all 50+ stolen base guys in the '70's, who also slammed the most homers that year?
2. Who posted the fewest hits in a season they stole 50 or more bases?
3. Who posted the lowest batting average in a 50-stolen base season during the '70's?
4. Conversely, who hit for the highest average in a 50-stolen base season during the decade?
5. Who appeared in the fewest games while still stealing more than 50 bases in the '70's?
***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW:
1. Joe Morgan, Reds. 27 homers in 1976.
2. Miguel Dilone, A's. Only 59 hits in 1978!
3. Dave Nelson, Rangers. .226 BA in 1972.
4. Joe Morgan, Reds. He hit .327 in 1975.
5. Larry Lintz, Expos. 113 games in 1974.
Admittedly,
I am pushing it with today’s “missing” player, but I did find a really
good Topps photo to use so I created one anyway: a 1979 Paul Siebert of
the New York Mets:
Siebert appeared in 27 games for the Mets during the 1978 season,
posting an 0-2 record with a 5.14 earned run average with a single save
over 28 innings of work.
Those numbers mirror his previous season’s work in 1977, for which I created a “missing” 1978 card not too long ago.
The 1978 season would be the last taste of big league ball for Siebert,
closing out a five year career that saw him go 3-8 with a 3.77 ERA over
87 games and 129 innings pitching for the Houston Astros, Sand Diego
Padres and Mets.
Here’s a guy who had a FEW “missing” cards during his long career, pitcher Juan Pizarro.
Today I tackle the “missing” 1973 edition:
I recently posted my 1970 creation for Pizarro about a week ago, and
have him slated for both a 1974 AND a 1975 card (if I can only find a
photo of him with his final stint with the Astros and Pirates!).
Pizarro appeared in 16 games for the Cubs in 1972, mainly as a guy out
of the bullpen, and posted a 4-5 record with a 3.94 earned run average
in 59.1 innings.
He’d go on to pitch 18-years in the Major Leagues, finishing with a 131
and 105 record with a nice 3.43 ERA and 17 shutouts, along with 28 saves
over 488 games.
His peak years were with the Chicago White Sox between 1961 and 1964,
being named to two all-star teams an having two years with a sub-3.00
ERA and a 19-win season in 1964.
Let’s go and give long-time pitcher Diego Segui a card in the 1978 Topps set, both a “missing” and “Career Capping” creation:
Segui closed out a decent 14-year career in 1977 with the expansion
Seattle Mariners, appearing in 40 games for the new franchise, going 0-7
with a 5.69 earned run average.
He’d post a 92-111 lifetime record with a 3.81 ERA and 71 saves between
1962 and 1977, even winning the ERA crown in the American League when he
finished with a 2.56 mark splitting time as a starter and an arm out of
the ‘pen.
Up
next in my Hall of Fame Inductee thread of players who entered the Hall
during the 1970’s is the “man they couldn’t strike out”, Joe Sewell,
who starred for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees:
Sewell was a hit machine during his 14-year career, collecting 2226 over
8333 at-bats, good for a very nice .312 career average, along with 436
doubles, 1141 runs scored and 1054 runs batted in.
Of course he will always be remembered as the guy who couldn’t whiff!
In those 8333 at-bats during his career, he struck out 114 times! Heck,
Chris Carter or Chris Davis can do that in HALF a season these days!
In 1932 while in the Bronx, Sewell had 576 plate appearances, and whiffed a total of THREE times. Just incredible.
In his 13 full seasons of Major League play, Sewell topped a .300
average nine times, with a high of .353 in 1923 while with Cleveland,
and drove in over 100 runs in both 1923 and 1924, with only seven home
runs hit combined.
Though he didn’t get voted in by the BBWA, he was finally given a spot
in Cooperstown by the Veteran’s Committee in 1977, and this one was a
good pick in my opinion, unlike so many of the others we’ve seen thus
far.
Here’s a “Traded” card for future Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, who was smack in the middle of his storied career:
The trade that landed him in Pittsburgh was a blockbuster that included
four teams (Texas Rangers, Pirates, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets),
and icluded the likes of Al Oliver, Jon Matlack and Willie Montanez.
All told there were 10 players traded involved this transaction, and
definitely paid quick dividends for the Bucs, as they’d go on to win the
World Series the very next year, beating the Baltimore Orioles for
their second championship of the decade.
Blyleven would go on to pitch another 12 years before retiring with 287
wins, 3701 strikeouts and a very nice 3.31 earned run average with 60
shutouts over 692 games, almost all of them starts.
Yet he was denied entry into Cooperstown until his 14th year of eligibility!
I can never figure out these BBWA voters, even if I live to be 1000...
I
came across this image of Bob Barton at the end of his career, so I
figured I’d create a “missing” 1975 Topps card for him to cap it all off:
Barton played in 30 games for San Diego in 1974, the last Major League games he’d suit up for in his 10-year career.
He batted .235 that season, with 19 hits over 81 at-bats.
For his career he finished off with a .226 average over 393 games,
mainly as all as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants, San Diego
padres and Cincinnati Reds between 1965-1974.
Of course I’ll always remember him for his hilarious 1972 Topps “In Action” card, which always struck me as a riot!
Another week, another round of 1970's trivia.
Take a stab at these questions that deal with 300 total bases in a season.
As usual I'll post the answers tomorrow.
1. Among all players with 300+ total bases in a season during the decade, what player hit the fewest homers that year?
2. Who had the lowest batting average among all 300 total bases seasons in the '70's?
3. Who had the lowest slugging percentage among 300+ total base seasons in the decade?
4. Who scored the fewest runs among the 300+ total base seasons in the '70's?
5. What player had the fewest runs batted in during a 300+ total base season?
***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW:
1. Garry Templeton, Cardinals. Nine homers in 1979.
2. Gorman Thomas, Brewers. .244 average in 1979.
3. Buddy Bell, Rangers. .451 SLG in 1979.
4. Dave Parker, Pirates. 75 runs scored in 1975.
5. Pete Rose, Reds. 52 ribbies in 1970.
Today I serve up yet another ?missing” New York Mets player. This time it’s former pitcher Phil Hennigan on a 1974 edition:
Hennigan actually pitched the last of his Major League games in 1973 for
the National League champs, appearing in 30 games on the mound, going
0-4 with a 6.23 earned run average.
He pitched 43.1 innings, purely in relief and posted three saves along
the way, with 22 K’s to close out a five-year career that saw him play
for the Cleveland Indians between 1969-1972, the that final season over
at Shea Stadium in 1973.
He finished with a 17-14 record, with a 4.26 ERA and 188 strikeouts over 280 innings and 176 games, all but two out of the ‘pen.
Today’s
“Turn Back the Clock” card is a 20th Anniversary card for the 1972
Topps set celebrating Billy Martin and his World Series (and World
Championship) saving grab in the seventh game of the 1952 World Series
against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Check it out:
The Yankees were gunning for their fourth straight championship, and
incredibly, this was their FIRST to go seven games in the run.
On October 7th, 1952, with the Yanks nursing a two-run lead and the
bases loaded with Dodgers, Jackie Robinson came to the plate in the
seventh with two out and popped up in the infield.
What should have been a simple pop-out turned into a circus as first
baseman Joe Collins lost sight of the ball in the sun, forcing second
baseman Billy Martin to come dashing in at full speed, barely snatching
the ball before it hit the ground.
That play allowed the Yanks to get out of the inning with their slim lead still intact.
If you want a good read on the specifics of the moment, check out the following link, they did a great job:
http://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-7-1952-billy-martin-saves-series
The Yankees would go on to win the series, their fourth of an incredible FIVE championships in a row.
This was also the beginning of a historical run that would see them win
four more championships by 1962, for a total of TEN World Series wins
between 1947 and 1962.
Amazing stuff...
Here’s a “missing” 1977 Topps card for former St. Louis Cardinal Vic Harris:
Harris played in 97 games for the Cards in 1976, with a whopping 282
plate appearances. That’s a ton for a guy who was missing from a card
set the following year.
In those 97 games, Harris hit .228 with 59 hits in 259 official at-bats, with 21 runs scored and 19 runs batted in.
That would be his only year in St. Louis, with the previous four seasons
split between the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs, while the last three
of his career were spent with the San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee
Brewers.
All told he’d retire with a .217 batting average based on his 349 hits over 1610 at-bats in 579 big league games.
Hey, when an airbrush job is done right, I will happily be the first to praise the work behind it!
Today we look at such a card: the Topps 1978 Ray Fosse card:
I swear it took me YEARS to even realize it was an airbrushed photo,
much like another card from the set, Elliot Maddox as a New York Met.
Great job here of using a photo and with the most minimal of effort really make this look authentic to the naked eye.
Funny enough Fosse wouldn’t even see Major League action during the 1978
season, coming back for one last hurrah in 1979 for Milwaukee before
closing out a respectable 12-year career.
Both a two-time all-star and two-time Gold Glove winner, he will always
be remembered as being on the wrong end of a famous home-plate collision
when in the 1970 all-star game Pete Rose smashed into him on the last
play of the game.
That sadly was the first of a few injuries that took the all-star level
of play away from him, even if he managed to play for the rest of the
decade.
Here’s
a card for a guy that WASN’T missing from the 1976 set, but for his own
(good) reasons, “Reader Jim”, for whom I’m doing this “1976 Project”,
wanted revised, the “Toy Cannon” Jimmy Wynn:
A fun card to create since he was one of the “all-stars” in my all-time
favorite set, and I was never a fan of his 1976 card showing him in an
airbrush job with the Atlanta Braves.
Wynn didn’t have nearly the success in 1975 that he had the year before,
hitting 18 homers with 58 runs batted in and 80 runs scored, with a low
.248 average.
Nevertheless he started his second straight all-star game for the Dodgers, his only two years in Los Angeles.
He put together a very nice 15-year career that saw him hit 291 homers,
drive in 1224 runs and walk 1427 times, including a league-leading 148
in 1969 while with the Houston Astros, while finishing with a .250
batting average.
Here’s
a “missing” card from the 1970 Topps set that I’ve been meaning to do
for quite some time: a Juan Pizarro edition as an Oakland A’s player:
The reason it took so long for me to accomplish this was because I could
never find an image of him in an Oakland uniform in color, so I
resorted to some Photoshop work and came up with what you see here for
the long time hurler.
I really don’t know why Pizarro was omitted from the 1970 set since he
appeared in 57 games for both the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and
A’s, good for 99.1 innings of work and a 4-5 record with seven saves.
He’d even go on to pitch for another five seasons before hanging up the spikes for good in 1974.
With a successful career as both a starter and a reliever, Pizarro was a
two-time all-star who won as many as 19 games in a season (with the
White Sox in 1964), and posted an ERA of 2.39 (in 1963), while appearing
in 488 games in his 18-year career.
Just a nerd-bit here: Pizarro was the very first 1971 Topps card I ever
got as an obsessed newbie collector by the late-70’s as a ten year old
trying to get at least ONE card for every set going back in time.
Anyway, all told Pizarro fashioned a nice career that saw him go 131-105
with a nbice 3.43 earned run average and 17 shutouts, along with 28
saves between 1957 and 1974.
Time for another round of 1970's baseball trivia.
This week I take a look at pitchers who lead their league in WHIP during the decade.
See how many you can get.
Answers tomorrow, as usual…
1. Among WHIP leaders during the 1970's, who posted the fewest wins during their league-leading season?
2. Of all WHIP leaders in the '70's, who suffered the most losses that year?
3. Who posted the fewest strikeouts among WHIP leaders in the decade?
4. Who threw the fewest shutouts in a year they lead their league in WHIP?
5. Finally. Who posted the lowest WHIP in any season during the 1970's?
***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW:
1. Ed Halicki, Giants. 9 wins in 1978.
2. Fergie Jenkins, Cubs. 16 losses in 1970.
3. Ken Forsch, Astros. 58 K's in 1979.
4. Luis Tiant, Red Sox. He failed to throw a single shutout in 1973!
5. Roger Nelson, Royals. A sterling 0.87 WHIP in 1972.
Today we go and give Rob Ellis of the Milwaukee Brewers a “missing” 1972 Topps card.
Check it out:
Ellis played in 36 games for the Brewers during his rookie 1971 season,
good for a .198 batting average based on his 22 hits over 111 at-bats.
It would be the most action he’d see in any of his three Major League
seasons, as he’d be out of the Big Leagues after 22 games in 1974 and
just six in 1975.
For his short career he hit .229 with 38 hits in 166 at-bats over 64 scant games.
Next
up in my “Nicknames” thread is the premier catcher of the American
League during the 1970’s, Boston Red Sox all-star backstop Carlton
“Pudge” Fisk.
Check it out:
“Pudge” was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career by 1979, the
template I used for this card, with 6 all-star games already to his
credit, on his way to 11 such honors.
Man it killed me in 1977 and 1978 to see him starting the all-star game over my beloved Thurman Munson!
Later on in his career, during the 1980’s, it also killed me when he
seemed to play at his best with against the Yankees, never letting up no
matter what.
A rare four-decade ballplayer, Fisk would end up with over 2000 hits,
375 homers, 1275 runs scored and 1300 runs batted in with a .269 batting
average.
All of that was MORE than enough to get him into Cooperstown when they
came calling, albeit in his second year of eligibility, which is beyond
me since, again, he was the best catcher in his league for a long period
of time.
Then again, since when does Hall of Fame voting ever make sense, as we have seen with many of the elected players of the decade?
***How lame was it that the Veteran's Committee didn't see fit to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame this year!?
Seriously? Harry Stovey and Bill Dahlen should have gotten the necessary votes to get in!
What about Pete Browning? A career .341 hitter? What about George Van Haltren? What about Bob Caruthers, the only pitcher ever to win more than 200 games while losing less than 100?
Of course the list goes on and on. But to pretty much state that there aren't any players from the past to get into the Hall is absurd.
Here’s a “missing” 1970 card for Kansas City Royal Hawk Taylor, one of the “original” Royals in their inaugural 1969 season:
Taylor appeared in 64 games for K.C., hitting a respectable .270 with 24 hits over 89 official at-bats.
What popped out at me was his 21 runs batted in on those 24 hits and 64 games. Not bad!
He’d close out his 11-year career with 57 games in 1970, with over a 100-point drop in batting average, to .164.
All told, while suiting up for the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets,
California Angels and Royals, he hit .218 for his career, with 158 hits,
25 of them doubles and 16 homers, with 82 RBI’s and 56 runs scored in
394 games.
Up next in my “Hall of Fame Inductees” thread is the “Hoosier Thunderbolt”, former fireball pitcher Amos Rusie:
Finally getting his due when the Veteran’s Committee enshrined him in
1977, Rusie was an anchor for the New York Giants at the end of the 19th
Century, reeling off eight 20-win seasons (four of them 30+ seasons),
while topping the National League in strikeouts five times and shutouts
four times, with two ERA titles thrown in.
His final numbers of 246-174, with a 3.07 ERA and 1707 may not seem
overwhelming, but if you can imagine, his career was over by the time he
turned 30!
As a matter of fact he really pitched his last full season at the age of
27, with a three game appearance in 1901 with the Cincinnati Reds that
encompassed only 22 innings of work.
So really those final numbers represent nine years of Major League ball!
And for those of you that may not know this, the trade that got him to
Cincinnati for those scant three games in 1901 goes down as one of the
all-time worst trades, sadly for the Reds, as they shipped to New York a
young collegiate pitcher who’d go on to an even greater career than
Rusie, none other than all-time great Christy Mathewson!
Here’s
a “Turn Back The Clock” card celebrating Walt Dropo’s 12 consecutive
hits in 12 at-bats back in 1952 as a member of the Detroit Tigers:
After getting traded to the Tigers from the Boston Red Sox, Dropo went on to have a streak for the ages beginning on July 14th against the New York Yankees when he went 5-for-5.
The next day, during the first game of a double-header against the
Washington Senators he proceeded to go 4-for-4, giving him nine straight
hits going into the nightcap.
Wouldn’t you know it, he’d then go on to get a hit in his first three
at-bats, matching the Major League record set by Pinky Higgins of the
Boston Red Sox back in 1938.
After popping out in his fourth at-bat of the game he’d collect yet
another hit, giving him 16 knocks in three games, matching the American
League record.
I remember thinking of Dropo back in 2012 when Mike Trout was having his amazing rookie season.
I always felt that Trout, while an incredible talent, was a bit
over-hyped with his rookie season numbers, especially when people kept
saying it was the greatest rookie season of all-time.
Right off the bat I kept thinking of a few that I felt were better,
including Dropo’s unreal rookie year that saw him hit .322 with 34
homers, 144 runs batted in and 101 runs scored, with a .583 slugging
percentage and 326 total bases.
Now I’m not saying it’s THE best rookie year, but it IS a season I felt was on par, if not better than Trout’s.
Anyone have another rookie season they feel was “the best”?
I think of two that “technically” weren’t rookie years, but should be:
Joe Jackson’s 1911 season and Alex Rodriguez’ 1996 season.
Why ISN’T Jackson’s 1911 season considered a rookie season anyway?
Here’s
a “missing” 1979 card for former pitcher Rich Hinton, who was coming to
the end of his 6-year career at the end of the decade:
Hinton appeared in 29 games for the White Sox in 1978, pitching 80.2
innings and posting a 2-6 record with a 4.02 earned run average.
It would be the second to last season he’d pitch in the big leagues, as
he’d go on to take the mound for both the White Sox and Seattle Mariners
in 1979, his last campaign as a big league pitcher.
Over the course of his six years in the Majors he’d post a 9-17 record,
with a 4.87 ERA over 116 games and 249.2 innings pitched.
Time for trivia again, and today we look at some pitcher odds and ends. See what you come up with.
As usual I'll post the answers tomorrow. Enjoy:
1. Who are the only two pitchers in the decade to lead their league in Earned Runs allowed, yet sport a sub-3.00 E.R.A.?
2. What pitcher drove in the most runs during a season at the plate in the 1970's?
3. What hurler faced the most batters in any one season during the decade?
4. Among all pitchers who threw more than 250 innings in a season, who allowed the fewest home runs?
5. Among all pitchers who gave up 100 or more runs in a season during
the 1970's, who is the only one to NOT surrender a single unearned run
during the same campaign?
***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW:
1. Wilbur Wood, White Sox. 1972 & Phil Niekro, Braves. 1978.
2. Fergie Jenkins, Cubs. He had 20 runs batted in in 1971.
3. Mickey Lolich, Tigers. 1538 batters in 1971.
4. Ron Reed, Braves / Cardinals. Only 5 home runs allowed in 250.1 innings pitched in 1975.
5. Dick Ruthven, Braves. 112 runs allowed, all earned in 1976.
Here’s
a “missing card” for a player I thought I’d never get to make, a
missing 1978 card for former one-year wonder and Oakland A’s player
Sheldon Mallory.
Check out my card:
I could never find a decent photo of Mallory to use for his short
career, and it was driving me nuts until I came across this nice photo
not too long ago.
Mallory’s sole Major League season in 1977 consisted of 64 games and a
.214 batting average based on his 27 hits over 126 at-bats.
He collected five extra base hits and 12 stolen bases while patrolling the outfield.
Sadly for him that would be the only taste of the big leagues he’d get,
playing out the last two years of his professional career in the Toronto
and Cleveland minor league systems before leaving the game for good
after 1979.
Time
to go and give “The Penguin” Ron Cey a “Dedicated Rookie Card” in the
1972 set, the first of two sets that he appeared on a multi-player
rookie card:
Cey pretty much made an immediate impact in the Major Leagues, going on
to a very nice 17-year career that saw him star with the Los Angeles
Dodgers at third base, being named to six consecutive all-star games
between 1974 and 1979.
By the time he hung up the cleats after the 1987 season, he slammed 316
home runs while collecting 1139 runs batted in, with a .261 lifetime
average.
As we all know he’d also be part of an infield that came up together,
and stayed together for quite some time, Ron Cey at third, Bill Russell
at short, Davel Lopes at second and Steve Garvey at first base.
And very solid and dependable quartet if there ever was one!
They’d help bring the Dodgers four National League Pennants and a World Series victory in 1981 over the New York Yankees.
Not bad at all...
