On
the blog today is a career-capping “not so missing” 1973 card for
former Detroit Tigers pitcher Les Cain, who saw the last of his Big
League action in 1972:
Cain appeared in five games for the Tigers that season, going 0-3 with a
3.80 earned run average over 23.2 innings of work, all five of those
appearances starts.
The previous two seasons were good for Cain, as he posted records of
12-7 and 10-9 respectively, filling a spot as one of Detroit’s main
starters.
However, in what turned out to be a landmark case against Major League
baseball, after Cain developed arm trouble in 1972 at the age of only
24, he insisted that manager Billy Martin still made him pitch,
resulting in career-ending arm troubles (sound familiar?), which led him
to sue the organization.
In a stunning move, the Michigan Bureau of Workman’s Compensation ruled
in favor of Cain and judged that the Detroit Tigers would have to pay
Cain $111 a week for the rest of his life!
Incredible!
I never knew this until researching Cain for this blog post.
Cain is still alive, and I’m assuming still collecting his checks from the Tigers to this day, some 47 years later.
As for his Big League career, he finished with a record of 23-19 over 68
appearances, starting 64 of those games and pitching to a 3.98 ERA over
373 innings in parts of four seasons between 1968 and 1972.
Time
to go and give former slugger Ben Oglivie a 1972 “dedicated rookie” to
add to my long-running thread, as he originally shared a spot on a late
series three-player rookie card in the now classic Topps offering:
Oglivie appeared in the first 14 games of his career during the 1971
season for the Boston Red Sox, hitting an admirable .263 with 10 hits in
38 at-bats, scoring two while driving in four.
He didn’t hit a homer in that short time-frame, but those would come in
bunches over the next 16 seasons, including a league-leading 41 in 1980
as part of the powerful Milwaukee Brewers team that also featured guys
like Cecil Cooper, Robin Yount, Ted Simmons and Paul Molitor.
He would get traded to the Detroit Tigers in the 1973 off-season for
Dick McAuliffe, where he would continue to be played as a platoon-player
over the next four seasons, averaging about 100 games a year, but
nevertheless playing well as he showed power and a decent batting
average hovering around .280.
However it wasn’t until he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for
pitcher Jim Slaton that he’d finally find full-time work, eventually
becoming a legitimate slugger who’d lead the American League in 1980
with 41 homers as I mentioned earlier, along with a career-high 118 runs
batted in and 94 runs scored.
He would play with the Brewers through the rest of his 16-year career,
until 1986, before going on to play in Japan for two seasons with
Kintetsu, where he’d his 46 homers combined.
Overall in his MLB career, Oglivie batted .273 with 235 homers and 901
RBI’s, with 1615 hits over 5913 at-bats and 1754 games, getting three
All-Star nods and a Silver Slugger for his Home Run champion 1980
season.
Time
to go an add Bake McBride to my long-running “nicknames of the 1970s”
thread, with this 1978 rendition for the .300-hitting former outfielder:
It’s funny, “Bake” could be the only player that had a nickname based
OFF of his nickname: “Shake n’ Bake”, even though “Bake” was already
his nickname.
For those who didn’t know, his given name is Arnold Ray McBride.
I decided on going with “Bake” instead of “Shake n’ Bake” mainly because
of the layout space I had on the card, with the former of the two
nickname better suited to the card template.
McBride made an immediate splash in the Majors, hitting .302 in limited
play in 1973 before coming back and taking home the 1974 National League
Rookie of the Year Award when he hit .309 with 173 hits and 30 stolen
bases.
Sadly, even though he would keep that average around .300 for the rest
of his career, he was repeatedly dealing with injuries, ranging from
knee and shoulder ailments, to missing almost an entire season because
of eye problems relating to contact lenses.
Over his 11-year career he managed to play a full season only four
times, with three of those years coming consecutively between 1978-1980.
In that last of consecutive full years, he helped the Phillies win the
1980 World Series, defeating the Kansas City Royals and giving the team
their first title.
After that, he played three more years in the Big Leagues, never more
than 70 games in any one season, finishing up with a .299 batting
average over 1071 games and 3853 at-bats, with 1153 hits and 183 stolen
bases.
Up
on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1975 career-capper for
four-year MLB outfielder Rod Gaspar, who saw the last of his Big League
action with the San Diego Padres in 1974:
Gaspar appeared in 33 games, hitting .214 with three hits in 14 at-bats,
scoring four and driving in one, with four base on balls thrown in.
He’d finish his 4-year career with a .208 batting average along with 54
hits and 35 runs scored over 260 at-bats and 178 games, 118 of those
games as a rookie during that unexpected NY Mets run to their improbable
championship in 1969 when he hit .228 for the “Amazin’s”, with 49 hits
over 215 official at-bats while playing all three outfield positions.
Sadly for him that rookie year of 1969 would by far be the most action
he’d see in any of his four seasons under the Big League sun, but what a
year to have THAT distinction!
Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1977 card for former Atlanta Braves
shortstop Pat Rockett, who made his MLB debut in 1976 with four games:
Rockett went 1-for-5 at the plate over those four games while handling shortstop in two of those appearances.
He’d be back in 1977 with 93 games played, hitting .254 with 67 hits
over 264 at-bats, with 27 runs scored and 24 runs batted in.
In 1978 he’d play in 55 games, but it would end up being the last of his
Big League action, hitting .141 with 20 hits in 142 at-bats.
He’d play two more seasons in the Minor Leagues, both for ther Braves
and the Toronto Blue Jays, but would never get back to the Majors again,
finishing up with a career .214 average, with 88 hits in 411 at-bats,
with 33 runs scored and 28 RBIs over 152 games.
Up
on the blog today, we have a “not so missing” 1971 card for two-year
MLB pitcher Don Eddy, who made his MLB debut in 1970 as a September
call-up:
Now, I do realize that Eddy is wearing the red and white uniforms that
really didn’t make an appearance until 1971, so truly he should be
wearing the powder blue uniforms everyone else has on the 1971 White Sox
cards.
But if you then go and look at manager Chuck Tanner’s late-series 1971
card, he does have the red and white hat on, though I believe it may be
airbrushed. Not sure.
Nevertheless, Eddy appeared in seven games for Chicago over the last
month of 1971, not factoring in a decision and posting a very nice 2.31
earned run average over 11.2 innings.
He’d be back in 1971 and go on to play in 22 games, going 0-2 but post
another fine ERA, this time 2.38 over 22.2 innings, all out of the
bullpen.
Sadly for him however, and for reasons I have not been able to find, he
would not pitch in the Majors again, playing the last two years of his
pro career in the San Diego Padres organization, before retiring after
the 1973 season.
It’s interesting to note that the guy posted some excellent ERA’s all
through his pro career, even his last season of 1973 when he was at an
even 2.00 over 36 games with 13 saves.
Why the Padres, especially at that time, didn’t give him a shot is
beyond me, so he finished his brief Big League career with a record of
0-2 with an ERA of 2.36 over 29 games and 34.1 innings of work.
Time
to go and give former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Rob Ellis a third
“missing” card on the blog, this one a “not so missing” variety, and I
have to say I never realized he never got a Topps card for any of his
three Big League seasons:
Not that he ever played a substantial amount in any of the three years
he suited up, but I could have sworn he was at least on a multi-player
rookie card.
Nevertheless, Ellis appeared in six games in what turned out to be his
last taste of the Majors, 1975, hitting .286 with two hits in seven
at-bats.
He would go on to play another five years in the Minors, but never get
another crack at a Major League game, finishing his limited time under
the Big League sun with a .229 average, with 38 hits in 166 at-bats over
64 games between 1971 and 1975, all with Milwaukee.
Time
to have my 1977 coach card on the blog for former pitcher Harvey
Haddix, who was lending his experience to the Cleveland Indians in the
latter part of the 1970s:
Love this era-perfect photo I came across for this card creation!
Of course we all remember Haddix for pitching one of the greatest games
ever, his 12 innings of perfect ball against the Milwaukee Braves in
1959.
But let’s not forget that the man won 20 games as a rookie in 1953, and
arguably should have taken home the League’s Rookie of the Year Award,
since he went 20-6, while leading the N.L. with six shutouts while
striking out 163 batters.
It did give him his first All-Star nod while finishing second in rookie
voting, while also garnering some Most Valuable Player votes as well.
He would go on to pitch for 14 years in the Big Leagues, making three All-Star teams while also taking home three Gold Gloves.
By the time he retired after the 1965 season, he finished with a career
136-113 record, with a 3.63 ERA over 453 games, 286 of those starts,
with 20 shutouts and 20 saves, and 1575 strikeouts.
Not too shabby!
On
the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1979 card for five-year
Major league outfielder Dave Edwards, who made his Big League debut
with the Minnesota Twins the previous season:
Edwards played in 15 games for the Twins in 1978, hitting .250 with 11
hits over 44 at-bats, with seven runs scored and three RBIs.
He would go on to play in 96 games during the 1979 season, hitting .249
with 57 hits and 42 runs scored, while driving in 35, but sadly for him
that would be the most action he’d ever see in any one of his seasons.
In 1980, still with Minnesota, he’d play in 81 games, hitting .250
(how’s that for consistency?!) with 50 knocks over 200 at-bats, scoring
26 and driving in 20, but would be traded over the Winter to San Diego
for Chuck Baker.
The change of scenery didn’t help his career at all, as he would only
play in 58 and 71 games over the next two years, hovering either above
or below the “Mendoza-Line”, finishing up with a .182 showing in 1982.
I see no pro action at all after the 1982 season, either Big league or
even Minors, so he finished his MLB career with 321 games, hitting .238
with 152 hits over 640 official at-bats, scoring 95 runs while driving
in 73, with 12 stolen bases and 14 homers between 1978 and 1982.
Just
about two years ago I posted a profile on the 1978 Doug Rader card for
its airbrushing job, showing him with the Toronto Blue Jays, with whom
he finished up his career with.
Well since then I’ve found the actual airbrushed photo-original, so I wanted to post this here. Take a look:
I guess back then if it wasn’t shot in Sprint Training, it was too late?
Funny enough little did Topps know that Rader’s playing days were
already behind him when this card would come out, finishing up a very
nice 11-year career with 96 games in Toronto’s inaugural 1977 season.
Rader’s first nine years in the Big Leagues were spent with the Houston
Astros, where he took home five straight Gold Gloves between 1970 and
1974 while showing some “pop” with his bat, topping 20 homers three
times while driving in 80+ four times, with a high of 90 in 1972.
I was surprised to see he never made an All-Star team. I’m not saying
the guy deserved to be a starter or anything, but I’d figured he made
one or two as a back-up or replacement along the way.
After his playing career was over he went in to coaching, then managing,
putting in six years leading the Texas Rangers and California Angels,
the latter of which I have NO recollection, even though he had the
Angels win 91 games in 1989, finishing third in a strong American League
West division.
Up
on the blog today we have a 1975 In-Action card for Roy White, the
quiet and steady outfielder of the New York Yankees for 15 seasons.
Admittedly not necessarily an "action-packed" photo. But it caught my eye and is "in-game", so why not?
This card would have been right about I the middle of his very nice career:
White came up with the Yankees in 1965 and became a dependable starting
outfielder within three years, on his way to a career that spanned the
“dark years” in the Bronx from 1965 through the end of the decade
through to the successes of the “Bronx Zoo” teams that won two World
Series and three pennants before White took his talents to Japan.
Even though the man was a New York Yankee "lifer", playing 15 years
between 1965 and 1979 wearing only the Yankee pinstripes, White was
often overshadowed by the likes of Mantle, Munson, Murcer, Nettles and
Jackson.
Nevertheless he put in a very solid career, amassing over 1800 hits,
with just under 1000 runs scored, 160 home runs and 233 stolen bases.
After his Major League playing days he even put in three good years in Japan, playing for the Yomiuri Giants between 1980-1982.
Just a quiet, solid player who more than did his job while between the foul lines, year in and year out.
I've mentioned this earlier here on this blog: years later I would end
up befriending and DJ-ing in the same club scene here in NYC with his
son Reade, even though he never DID tell me who his father was!
I'd only find out years later from a mutual friend after I was long gone from the club-circuit…
Would have been nice to try and schmooze a conversation or two with the senior White in the early-90's!
Today’s
blog post has a career-capping 1975 card for pitcher Steve Blass of the
Pittsburgh Pirates, who had a very nice career end suddenly because of a
lack of control that was never fully explained, and left me fascinated
all these years later:
In 1972 Blass was pretty much at the top of the baseball world, having
come off a World Championship season in 1971, helping the Pirates beat
the Baltimore Orioles for their first title since 1960.
He would go on to finish the 1972 season with a career-high 19 wins
along with a sparkling 2.49 earned run average, even making his first,
and only, All-Star team.
He was already an eight year Major League veteran pitcher, yet still 31
years of age when the 1973 season opened up, ready to continue building
on what was shaping up to be a solid career.
Then the inexplicable happened: Blass could not find any control on the
mound. There was no injury. He was still healthy and young.
Yet for some reason Blass lost the ability to pitch, and it eventually
got so bad that in the blink of an eye his career was over by the time
the 1974 season began.
To put things into perspective, in 1972 Blass pitched 249.2 innings and
walked 84 batters, while in 1973, he walked the same amount, in only
88.2 innings.
His ERA rose from 2.49 in 1972 to 9.85 in 1973, while giving up 69
earned runs in 1972 to 97 in 1973. Again, we’re talking 249.2 innings in
1972 to just 88.2 a year later.
In 1974, still suffering from this undetermined inability to throw a
strike, Blass attempted to continue his career, and it ended up being
one more game, as he pitched five innings on April 17th, allowing five
hits while walking seven batters, eventually giving up five earned runs.
He tried fixing whatever the problem was in the Minors, but there was no
fix, as he’d end up throwing 61 innings, and walking an incredible 103
batters, getting hit hard as well to a ballooned 9.74 ERA in 17 games.
Though his career was sadly over at only 32 years of age, he did manage
to turn that into another great career, this time in broadcasting as he
would jump right into what turned out to be a 34 year career as a
Pirates commentator on television.
It’s odd to think that Blass could have easily pitched well into the
1980’s, being so identified with 1970’s sports. Kind of like imagining
Koufax playing into the 1970’s, or Mel Stottlemyre and Dick Allen
playing into the 1980’s.
Luckily for Blass he took the tough break and turned it into something
great, a broadcasting career that even surpassed his success on a Big
League mound.
On
the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1973 card for former
California Angels pitcher Dick Lange, who made his MLB debut a year
earlier:
Lange appeared in two games for the Angels as a September call-up, not
factoring in a decision while sporting a 4.70 earned run average over
7.2 innings.
He’d go 2-1 in 1972 over 17 appearances, with a 4.44 ERA in 52.2 innings, starting four games and even tossing a complete game.
1974 would see him post a career-high with 113.2 innings of work over 21
appearances, 18 of which were starts, as he’d end up with a record of
3-8 with another career-best, a 3.80 ERA.
Turns out 1975 would end up being his last, as he would see a season
that had him finish with a record of 4-6 over 30 appearances, all but
eight out of the bullpen, throwing 102 innings while picking up the only
save of his four-year career.
All told, Lange finished with a record of 9-15, with a 4.47 ERA over 70
appearances, 31 of those starts, with three complete games and a save,
and 276 innings pitched.
Time
to go and re-do the 1970 card for former pitcher Dick Ellsworth, who
got an ugly non-descript image on his Topps issued card.
First up, my re-done card:
For those who don’t remember, here’s the original, as-issued:
Always happy to find an image that is better suited for a lackluster original!
Ellsworth actually appeared in 34 games for Cleveland in 1969, throwing
135 innings, so you’d think Topps would have had a nice photo of him for
their 1970 card.
But with the problems Topps was having with the Player’s Union, we see,
along with so many other cards from the era, Topps was forced to use
older images to make due.
I’m assuming the original image was actually from a FEW years earlier
when Ellsworth was with the Chicago Cubs, for whom he had his best MLB
seasons. You can barely see the top of the “C” logo on his chest peeking
out there at the bottom of the card. He last pitched for them in 1966!
His best season would unfortunately be the same season a guy named Sandy Koufax exploded for his 1st Cy Young Award in 1963.
That year Ellsworth sparkled for the Cubs, going 22-10 with a 2.11
E.R.A. and 185 strikeouts over 37 starts and 290.2 innings pitched.
He’d win 14 games each of the next two seasons before losing 22 games in
1966, even though his E.R.A. was under 4.00, but he’d bounce back in
1968 as a member of the Boston Red Sox when he posted a 16-7 record with
a 3.03 E.R.A. over 28 starts and 196 innings of work.
All in all he’d finish with a record of 115 and 137 with a 3.72 E.R.A.,
along with 1140 strikeouts over 407 appearances, 310 of them starts, and
2155.2 innings pitched.
Up
on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1977 career-capper for
former pitcher Billy Champion, who pitched the last of his Big League
games during the 1976 season with the Milwaukee Brewers:
Champion appeared in 10 games for Milwaukee in 1976, going 0-1 with an
ERA of 7.03 over 24.1 innings of work, three of those games starts.
He would spend all of 1977 in the Philadelphia Phillies Minor league
system, but would retire by season’s end, putting in eight years in the
Majors, split evenly between Philadelphia (1969-1972) and Milwaukee
(1973-1976).
His finest season would easily be 1974 when he posted a record of 11-4
for Milwaukee, with a 3.62 ERA over 31 appearances and 23 starts.
All told he ended up with a record of 34-50, with a 4.69 earned run
average over 202 appearances, 102 of which were starts, including three
shutouts and a couple of saves.
Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1974 card for former infielder Bruce
Miller, who made his MLB debut in 1973 with the San Francisco Giants:
Miller appeared in 12 games in his Big League debut, hitting .143 with
three hits over 21 official at-bats, with a run scored and a couple of
RBIs.
He would go on to play three more seasons in the Majors, all with the
Giants, playing in 73, 99 and 12 games respectively over the next three
years.
By the time he finished up after the 1976 season he had a .246 lifetime
average with 136 hits in 553 at-bats over 196 games, while playing
second, short and third base.
Up
on the blog this Sunday we have a re-done 1970 card for veteran pitcher
Dave Giusti, who was originally shown in a non-descript photo as a
Pittsburgh Pirate, who he was about to start pitching for.
Here, I created a 1970 card showing him as a St. Louis Cardinal, for whom he pitched one season, in 1969:
For those that don’t remember, here’s the original card as issued by Topps:
Giusti originally came up with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 22-year old
starter out of Syracuse University in 1962, their inaugural season in
the National League.
He appeared in 22 games and posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 5.62
earned run average before spending the entire 1963 season in the Minor
Leagues.
After some brief MLB action in 1964, Giusti was a big leaguer for good
in 1965, going 8-7 with a 4.32 E.R.A. Along with a shutout as well as
three saves for the newly tabbed “Astros”.
After a few more decent seasons as a starter, he found himself in St.
Louis for the 1969 season, and thus began his transition to the bullpen,
where he’d become a very effective reliever for another eight years,
seven of which were with the Pirates.
Between 1970 and 1973 he topped 20 saves each year and posted solid
E.R.A.’s, including a career-low of 1.93 in 1972 over 54 appearances and
74.2 innings pitched.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season he appeared in 668 games,
133 of them starts, finishing with a 100-93 record and 3.60 E.R.A.,
along with the aforementioned 145 saves.
BTW- I am desperately trying to find a nice color image of Giusti suited
up for his last MLB stint, the Chicago Cubs for the second half of the
1977 season, so I can make up a 1978 “career-capper”! If anyone can
steer me in the right direction I’d be most appreciative!
Long
overdue, here’s my 1972 “Dedicated Rookie” for the ageless Charlie
Hough, who put in a quarter-century on a Big League mound:
Hough made his Major League debut in 1970 with eight games as a Los
Angeles Dodger and would take his knuckleball straight into the 1990’s,
finishing up with two seasons as an inaugural Miami Marlin in 1993/1994.
In between, all the man would do is win 216 games (against 216 losses),
toss 13 shutouts, save 61 games, and appear in 858 games, with 440 of
them starts.
He spent the first half of his career as a reliever with the Dodgers
before finding his groove as a starter with the Texas Rangers, topping
15 wins seven times between 1982 and 1988.
In 1987, at the age of 39, he lead the Majors with 285.1 innings
pitched, starting 40 games that year when he also set career-highs in
wins (18) and strikeouts (223) for the Rangers.
A very nice Big League career for the Honolulu, Hawaii native that saw him pitch until he was 46 years of age!
If
you’re about my age (50) and remember the baseball days before some
guys named Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling came along, you’ll remember
the historic pitching duo of Nolan Ryan and Bill Singer seemingly
striking everyone and their mothers out during the 1973 season.
Here’s my 1974 “special” celebrating their feat:
Found a very nice photo of Ryan and Singer, along with the most used
catcher that season by the Angels, Jeff Torborg, and immediately thought
of this card creation.
Of course, when you have Nolan Ryan’s record breaking 383 strikeouts,
you’re off to a great head-start to set any kind of Major League record.
Now go and throw in Bill Singer’s 241 K’s, and you have a combined 624
punch-outs, setting a new Big League record that wouldn’t be surpassed
until Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001 with an incredible 664
K’s.
I always remember when Baseball Digest would have little specialty stats
every so often like “40+ homers in three or more consecutive seasons”,
“100+ homers in two consecutive seasons”, and the most strikeouts by
teammate pitchers in a single season.
I loved grabbing each new issue when released and devouring all the info
within like a sponge, leading to much mocking by my childhood friends
calling me the “encyclopedia” and throwing baseball questions at me
LITERALLY every day, and to this very day some 40 years later.
Anyway, it was a great season for these two guys, as they each won 20+
games, combined for those record-breaking strikeouts, threw six shutouts
between them and logged 300+ innings each over 81 starts!
Those were certainly different times...
On
the blog this morning, a “not so missing” 1977 card for former
infielder Luis Alvarado, who made it back to the Big Leagues in 1976
after spending all of 1975 in the Minors:
Alvarado played in 16 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976, his
second stint with the club, hitting .286 with 12 hits over 42 at-bats
with three runs batted in after spending all of 1975 in both the St.
Louis and Cleveland Indians farm systems.
The bulk of his Big League playing time was with the Chicago White Sox,
for whom he played between 1971 through part of the 1974 season, when
he’d collect over 200 plate appearances in each campaign, topping out
with 278 in 1971.
Never a starter in any of his Major League stops, he finished his career
with a .214 batting average, with 248 hits in 1160 at-bats in 463 games
while playing second, short and third.
On
the blog today is the third and final “not so missing” card I have
created for former San Francisco Giants infielder Damaso Blanco, this
one a 1974 edition:
Blanco appeared in 28 games for San Fran in what was the second of his
three-year Big League career, going 0-12 at the plate with four runs
scored.
It was quite thr drop from his MLB debut the year before where he
appeared in an equally minimal amount of games (39), but hit a robust
.350 with seven hits in 20 at-bats.
The 1974 season would see him appear in the final five games of his
brief career, with a single hitless at-bat to show for it, thus
concluding a three-year career that saw him go 7-for-33 at the plate,
good for a .212 average, with nine runs scored over 72 games, all with
the Giants.
A career Minor Leaguer, he originally became a pro back in 1961 at the
age of 19 before toiling through the Giants system until his big break
in 1972 at the age of 30.
Up
on the blog today, a “not so missing” 1975 card for a guy who got two
other creations on the blog before, former Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike
Beard, who made his Big League debut during the 1974 season with six
appearances:
Beard didn’t pick up a decision over those six games, pitching to a nice
2.89 earned run average in 9.1 innings, all out of the bullpen.
He would spend all four of his MLB seasons with Atlanta, having a nice
1975 year when he went 4-0 over 34 games with an ERA at 3.20, two of
those appearances the only starts of his career.
His innings pitched dropped by about half the following season, though
his appearances were pretty much the same (34 to 30), along with a 4.28
earned run average and an 0-2 record.
All told, he finished his career with a record of 4-2 over 74
appearances, posting a final ERA of 3.74 over 118 innings pitched, all
but two of those games out of the bullpen.
As
promised a few days ago, today on the blog I present my second version
of a 1970 “dedicated rookie” card for Oscar Gamble, this one a Chicago
Cubs edition since he made his MLB debut with them in 1968:
Gamble played in 24 games in 1969, again for the Cubs, hitting .225 with
a homer and five RBIs over 81 plate appearances and 71 official
at-bats.
On November 17th of 1969 he’d be traded along with pitcher Dick Selma to
the Phillies for Johnny Callison and a player to be named later, which
ended up being Larry Colton.
As I stated in my other post, Gamble only had ONE season where he topped
500 plate appearances, and that was in 1974 while playing for the
Indians (he had 508).
In 4502 career at-bats, Gamble hit 200 homers. Not bad when you think
about a full career would be around 8000 at-bats. We’re talking 400+
homers from him.
I'll always remember Gamble as a Yankee at the tail-end of his career.
He always seemed to hit a homer when he came up, and was always a fun
guy to watch play. A true character.
Always aware of his numbers, he'd frequently talk about his "home run
ratio", and years later Jim Kaat, while broadcasting games on the YES
channel, would always bring that up when some current player was hitting
home runs at nice pace.
Nevertheless, Gamble played 17 seasons in the Big Leagues, with those
200 home runs, 666 RBIs and 656 runs scored over 1584 games between 1969
and 1985.
For
fun today, following on the recent footsteps of my re-done 1978 Richie
Zisk card, I present my 1978 Oscar Gamble card, showing the slugger
suited up for the Pale Hose instead of the Topps-issued airbrush job of
him as a San Diego Padre:
Coming off of what turned out to be the best season of his 17-year Major
League career, Gamble set career-highs in home runs (31), runs batted
in (83), runs scored (75) and total bases (240) as a member of the
Chicago White Sox “South Side Hitmen” team.
That 1977 White Sox team was a good one, based in large part to the fire
power they had in their line-up, as they finished 90-72 for the season.
Besides Gamble and his 31 homers, they also got strong contributions
from Richie Zisk (30 homers), Eric Soderholm (25 homers), Chet Lemon (19
homers), Jim Spencer (18 homers), and Lamar Johnson (18 homers).
As a team the ChiSox ended up hitting 192 homers for the year, very nice muscle display!
As I mentioned the other day in his “dedicated rookie” post, I never
realized that during his entire career, Gamble only had ONE season where
he topped 500 plate appearances, and that was in 1974 while playing for
the Indians (he had 508).
In 4502 career at-bats, Gamble hit 200 homers. Not bad when you think
about a full career would be around 8000 at-bats. We’re talking 400+
homers from him.
Always aware of his numbers, he'd frequently talk about his "home run
ratio", and years later Jim Kaat, while broadcasting games on the YES
channel, would always bring that up when some current player was hitting
home runs at nice pace.
Nevertheless, Gamble played 17 seasons in the Big Leagues, with those
200 home runs, 666 RBIs and 656 runs scored over 1584 games between 1969
and 1985.
On
the blog today, a 1978 traded card for George Hendrick, he of a very
nice 18-year Major League career and who found himself a member of the
St. Louis Cardinals about two months after the 1978 season began:
Hendrick was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Cardinals straight up
for former pitcher Eric (Harry) Rasmussen on May 26th of the 1978
season, and he would not disappoint his new team, hitting .288 the rest
of the way with 17 homers and 67 runs batted in over 102 games.
He’d stay a solid bat in the St. Louis Cardinal line-up for the next
six-plus years, winning a World Series with them in 1982 and making two
All-Star teams, while taking home two Silver Slugger Awards as well.
Originally up with the Oakland A’s as a 21-year-old in 1972, Hendrick
would play through the 1988 campaign, finishing up with 267 homers, 1111
RBIs, a .278 batting average and 1980 hits in 2048 games and 7129
at-bats.
Apparently his nickname was “Silent George”, though I do not remember
that, but perhaps I need to whip up a “nickname of the 1970’s” card for
him as well!
On
the blog today, a “not so missing” 1979 career-capper for former first
baseman (and future manager) Tony Muser, who played out his Big League
career with 15 games as a Milwaukee Brewer in 1978:
Muser collected four hits over 30 official at-bats, finishing up with a
.133 batting average, with five runs batted in and a double and triple
thrown in.
He broke into the Big League in 1969 with a handful of games for the
Boston Red Sox before moving on to the Chicago White Sox in 1971, where
he’d play into 1975.
From there he went on to the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he’d suit up
through 1977, never really playing full-time over his nine-year career.
By the time he retired, he finished with a .259 batting average, with
329 hits in 1268 at-bats, with seven homers, 117 RBIs and 123 runs
scored in 663 games.
Morning everyone!
Up on the blog today will the first of two different “dedicated rookies”
for that 70’s icon Oscar Gamble, this one being the Philadelphia
Phillies version, for which Topps had him depicted as in their 1970 set:
Great “card” to add to the collection!
In about a week I’ll also have my Chicago Cubs version, which is who
Gamble made his major league debut with in 1969, so keep an eye out for
it!
Gamble played in 24 games in 1969, again for the Cubs, hitting .225 with
a homer and five RBIs over 81 plate appearances and 71 official
at-bats.
On November 17th of 1969 he’d be traded along with pitcher Dick Selma to
the Phillies for Johnny Callison and a player to be named later, which
ended up being Larry Colton.
You know, I never realized that during his entire career, Gamble only
had ONE season where he topped 500 plate appearances, and that was in
1974 while playing for the Indians (he had 508).
In 4502 career at-bats, Gamble hit 200 homers. Not bad when you think
about a full career would be around 8000 at-bats. We’re talking 400+
homers from him.
I'll always remember Gamble as a Yankee at the tail-end of his career.
He always seemed to hit a homer when he came up, and was always a fun
guy to watch play. A true character.
Always aware of his numbers, he'd frequently talk about his "home run
ratio", and years later Jim Kaat, while broadcasting games on the YES
channel, would always bring that up when some current player was hitting
home runs at nice pace.
Nevertheless, Gamble played 17 seasons in the Big Leagues, with those
200 home runs, 666 RBIs and 656 runs scored over 1584 games between 1969
and 1985.
I miss that man!
R.I.P. Sir...
Today’s
blog post has a “not so missing” 1974 card for former catcher Terry
Humphrey, who appeared in 43 games for the Montreal Expos in what was
the third year of his Big League career:
Humphrey batted .167, collecting 15 hits over 90 at-bats, scoring five runs while driving in nine with a homer and two doubles.
He’d play one more season in Montreal before heading to the Detroit
Tigers for a year in 1975, appearing in only 18 games before moving on
to the California Angels where he would play the final four years of his
nine-year career.
Never a full-time layer, he did appear in 123 games for California in
1977, hitting .227 with a career-high 69 hits in 304 at-bats, driving in
34 runs while scoring 17.
All told, he finished his career with a .211 batting average, with 223
hits in 1055 at-bats, appearing in 415 games between 1971 and 1979, with
39 doubles, a triple, and six homers.
On
the blog today, how about a 1973 “not so missing” card for Pete LaCock,
who appeared in the first five games of his major league career during
the 1972 season:
LaCock went 3-for-6 at the plate with four runs batted in during his
brief action, with a stolen base and three runs scored. Dang, that is
quite the “hello” to the Big Leagues.
The son of former TV personality Peter Marshall, he appeared in eleven
games for the Chicago Cubs the following year, hitting .250 with four
hits over 16 at-bats, driving in three runs, before coming back in 1974
with 35 games, hitting .182 with twenty hits in 110 at-bats.
In 1975 he’d finally get some real action in the Majors when he played
in 106 games, hitting .229 with 57 hits in 249 at-bats, hitting six
homers and driving in 30.
He would end up putting in nine years in the Big Leagues, splitting his
career between the Cubs and Kansas City Royals, collecting 444 hits and
batting .257 over 715 games.
Never truly a full-time player, the most action he’d see in any one
season was 1979 when he played in 132 games, collecting 113 hits (the
only time he went 100+ in a season), while hitting .277 over 453 plate
appearances.
He capped off his pro career with a year in Japan during the 1981
season, playing for Taiyo and hitting .273 over 90 games before
retiring, still only 29 years of age.
On
the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1976 card for a guy I already
produced 1977 and 1978 cards for, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick
Krueger, who got dissed by Topps on more than one occasion:
Krueger appeared in just two games for the Red Sox during their 1975
American League Pennant run, pitching to a 4.50 earned run average over
four innings, not factoring in a decision.
1976 would be his best season as a Big Leaguer, going 2-1 over eight
appearances, four of those starts, with a 4.06 ERA in 31 innings
pitched, even tossing a complete game, though he did walk 12 batters
while striking out 12.
After his one appearance 1977 season, he’d be back in 1978, making six
appearances for the Cleveland Indians while pitching to a 3.86 ERA over
9.1 innings, not factoring in a decision.
Turns out, that would be it for his Major League career, finishing up
with a record of 2-2 with a 4.47 ERA over 17 appearances and 44.1
innings pitched, with 20 strikeouts against 20 walks in parts of four
seasons.
Just interesting that he never even made an appearance on a multi-player rookie card anywhere along the way.
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