EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. VICTORIES

On the blog today, we move on to the National League’s top winners for 1978, shown on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card from my long-running thread:

 

 

We begin with the 40-year-old wonder, Gaylord Perry, who would stun everyone with a season like no other for a man of his age, taking home the Cy Young Award that year by going 21-6 in his first season with the San Diego Padres.

Perry  was just brilliant that year, leading the league with his 21 wins, while pitching to an excellent 2.73 earned run average, with two shutouts and five complete games while tossing 232.2 innings.

It was the 14^th season in a row that Perry topped 200 innings, while also reeling off five 300+ inning campaigns during the stretch. Just incredible!

By taking home the Cy Young in 1978, he became the first pitcher in major League history to win the award in both leagues, previously winning the award in 1972 when he posted 24 wins for the Cleveland Indians.

In second place with 20 wins, another pitcher who had a very successful first season with his new club, Ross Grimsley, who had what turned out to be the best year of his career in 1978 in his first year with the Montreal Expos.

Grimsley went 20-11 for Montreal that year, with a 3.05 ERA over 263 innings in 36 starts, with three shutouts and 19 complete games, looking like an excellent pick-up for the franchise.

Sadly however, Grimsley would begin to deal with injuries the following season, winning only 10 games in 1979, and lasting only parts of the next three years before retiring for good, winning only seven games between 1980 and 1982

In third place tied with 19 wins apiece, the Atlanta Braves Phil Niekro and the Los Angeles Dodgers Burt Hooton, who both had very nice seasons for their respective teams.

For Niekro, the 39-year-old just missed his third 20-win season by going 19-18 over 44 appearances, 42 of them starts, posting a 2.88 ERA over 334.1 innings while tossing four shutouts and completing 22 games.

He would follow that up in 1979 by becoming like Perry, a 20-game winner at that age, famously winning 21 games while also LOSING 20 games, though by no means his own fault, posting a very nice 3.39 ERA while throwing an amazing 342 innings for Atlanta.

If that wasn’t enough, it’s mind boggling that he was STILL to go one for another eight years before retiring after the 1987 season, pitching until he was 48! Just amazing.

For the Dodgers’ Hooton, the solid starter who is pretty much forgotten these days, he won a career-best 19 games that season, helping the Dodgers make their second-straight World Series, posting a very nice 2.71 ERA over 32 starts with three shutouts and 10 complete games, easily the best season of his 15-year career that began in 1971 with the Chicago Cubs.

By the time he hung them up after a brief stint with the Texas Rangers in 1985, he’d end up with 151 wins and a very nice 3.38 ERA over 480 games, 377 of those starts, striking out just under 1500 batters in that time.

Next week, the American League’s top winners of 1978!

VINTAGE SPECIAL! "MISSING" 1954 WILSON'S FRANKS WARREN SPAHN

Hello everyone!

Today on the blog I post up my second "missing" superstar from one of the best sets of the 1950's, the 1954 Wilson Franks baseball set, with the legend Warren Spahn:

Spahn was coming off yet another fantastic season for the Braves in 1953, their first in the city of Milwaukee after the franchise moved from Boston.

For the year, Spahn led the league with 23 wins and a 2.10 earned run average, while tossing five shutouts and striking out 148 batters.

The man was amazing, flat out, and by the time he retired in 1965 he posted a 363-245 record, with a 3.09 ERA, 63 shutouts, 28 saves and 2583 strikeouts over 750 appearances, 665 of which were starts.

Oh yeah, he also hit 35 career home runs along with 189 runs batted in with (coincidentally) 363 hits!

And remember he didn’t win his first game until he was 25 years of age, as he served in the military from 1943 to 1945.

His first 20-game season was 1947 (at the age of 26), and he kept right on rolling until his final 20-game season in 1963!

In between, he ended up posting 13 such campaigns, leading the league eight times (with five of those coming consecutively from 1957 to 1961).

Just an incredible talent! Was there anything he couldn’t do?
Once in a lifetime right there...

1971 "MINOR LEAGUE DAYS" SERIES TWO CHECKLIST INSERT: BOBBY GRICH

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we have my 1971 "Minor League Days" special checklist insert card celebrating the 1971 Minor League Player of the Year, Bobby Grich, from my recently released set:

As for Grich himself, before carving out an excellent Major League career, he had a monster 1971 season playing for the Orioles' Triple-A farm club in Rochester.

In 130 games as a shortstop, Grich POUNDED the International League, hitting .336 while smashing 32 homers with 83 runs batted in and 124 runs scored with 299 total bases.

These were NOT middle infielder numbers you often saw during the 1960's and 1970's!

And it was for those numbers that Grich was a solid pick for Minor League Player of the Year.

Once he jumped to the Majors for good in 1972, he became one of the best second baseman in the game for the rest of the decade, considered one of the best fielders at his position, winning four Gold Gloves as well as leading the league in putouts, double-plays and assists multiple times.

But he was no slouch at the plate, as he retired with almost 2000 hits, 224 homers, 1000+ runs scored and 864 runs batted in after seven years in Baltimore and ten years in California as a member of the Angels before hanging them up after the 1986 season.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1966 WORLD SERIES CARD: 1965 GAME SEVEN

On the blog today, we finally get to the seventh game of the 1965 World Series, in a 1966 sub-set that Topps decided to skip in their set:

After falling behind in the Series two-games-to-one, the Los Angeles Dodgers came all the way back to win it all in the seventh game, thanks in part to Sandy Koufax and his three-hit shutout, in which he struck out ten.

Koufax was masterful, as he walked three while giving up two singles and a double, winning his second game of the Series after a Game Two loss, giving the Dodgers their second championship in three years.

For the Minnesota Twins, their Game Two winner Jim Kaat took the loss this time, giving up two runs in his three innings of work, the only two runs the Dodgers would score, or even need for that matter.

Lou Johnson hit a homer while Wes Parker went two-for-four with an RBI for the Dodgers, with Jim Gilliam also collecting two hits in the Fall Classic.

That wraps up a fun "missing" 1960's sub-set here on the blog, and I hope to tackle a few others over the rest of the year.

See you then!

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: J.R. RICHARD

On the blog today, we add Houston Astros ace J.R. Richard to my 1977 "N.L. Centennial" sub-set, celebrating the Senior League's 100th anniversary of the year before:

As part of the celebration, the league wore special patches on their sleeves, so I made sure to use photos that showed them on every card.

Luckily for me there were countless photos taken that season of the players and the league's games, so it wasn't nearly as difficult for me to create the set (slated for a two-series release later this year!).

As for the great J.R., he was just becoming the great formidable pitcher mowing down N.L. batter around this time.

From 1976 to 1979, Richard was down-right nasty, striking out 200 or more batters, including 300+ in both 1978 and 1979 (leading the N.L. in K's each time), as well as posting 18 or more wins and 3+ shutouts each season. 

1980 was shaping up to be more of the same, as Richard was 10-4 with a 1.90 E.R.A. and 119 K's through only 113.2 innings.

But on July 30th, 1980, while playing a game of catch before a game, Richard suffered a stroke that ended his career in an instant, requiring emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot in his neck.

Though he tried a comeback once he recovered, the stroke caused enough damage to prevent him from ever playing in another Major League game.

A tragic end to one of the most promising careers in the Majors at the time.

It would have been incredible to see Richard team up with new Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan and see how many K's they could have racked up.

1970 "20-WIN CIRCLE": CLAUDE OSTEEN

Today's blog post has Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clause Osteen added to my new 1970 "20-win Circle" thread, celebrating the 20-game winning pitchers of 1969:

Osteen would join the 20-win circle for the first time in his career  in 1969, putting in an excellent campaign with seven shutouts, 183 strikeouts and a 2.66 earned run average over a workmanlike 321 innings and 16 complete games.

The man was an innings eater, putting in well over 200 innings a year between 1963 and 1973, with the 321 from 1969 his career-high.

He fell just short of 200 wins in his career with 196, as he posted a 7-16 record with the Chicago White Sox in his last season of 1975.

But he did have a solid career nevertheless, winning 20 games twice (1969 and 1972), throwing 40 shutouts (with a high of seven in 1969), and finishing with a 3.30 earned run average, with four seasons posting a sub-3.00 figure.

Coming over from the Washington Senators in 1965, he must have been overjoyed becoming a Dodger, teaming up with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax (and soon enough Don Sutton), to form quite the formidable rotation.

He was part of a World Championship team right off the bat in 1965 as the Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins, but was also part of the Dodger team that got swept in the series the following year by the Baltimore Orioles.

A three-time All-Star, Osteen is also in the top-50 all-time in shutouts and games started (with 488).

Certainly an overlooked ace from the era.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1977 STEVE BOWLING

Up on the blog today, we have a 1977 "not so missing" card for two-year Major League outfielder Steve Bowling, who made his Big League debut in 1976 as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers:

Bowling appeared in only 14 games for Milwaukee, hitting .167 with seven hits over 42 at-bats, scoring four and driving in two.

The following year he would find himself a member of the new Toronto Blue jays franchise, playing in 89 games and hitting .206, scoring 19 and driving in 13.

It's surprising Topps didn't give Bowling a card in their 1978 set considering all the playing time he had that season, so years ago I did create a "missing" card for him in that set.

Anyway, after two more seasons in the Minors for the White Sox and Reds, he'd call it a career for good after 1979.

His final career stats: a .199 batting average, with that single home run and 15 runs batted in over 103 games and 236 at-bats.

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1979 A.L. STOLEN BASES

Up on the blog this fine day, my 1979 "expanded league-leader" card featuring the top three stolen base thieves in the American League for 1978:

We begin with the Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder Ron LeFlore, who would lead the league with his 68 stolen bases in what was his third straight All-Star caliber year.

LeFlore, who made it all the way to the Big Leagues after spending time in prison, led the A.L. with 126 runs scored, while just missing out on his second straight 200-hit campaign, with 198, and a .297 batting average.

Two years later he would lead the National league in thefts, with 97 as a member of the Montreal Expos, on his way to 455 lifetime steals in just nine seasons.

He'd finish his career with a .288 average, with 731 runs scored while garnering some MVP votes in four of his nine years under the Big League sun.

In second place with 59 stolen bases, Seattle Mariners second baseman Julio Cruz, who had himself a fine first full year in the Majors.

Cruz would go on to play 10 years in the Big Leagues, stealing 343 bases, with the 59 from 1978 his career-best, also stealing 57 in 1983 split between the Mariners and White Sox.

In third place with 52 steals, Texas Rangers second baseman Bump Wills, son of a man who knew a thing or two about stealing bases, Maury Wills.

Bump had a solid Sophomore year after finishing third in Rookie of the Year consideration in 1977, following up a .287 average with a .250 number in 1978.

He scored 78 runs to go with those 52 steals, driving in 57 with 30 extra base hits, going on to score 90 and a career-best 102 runs the following two years.

After a solid year with the Chicago Cubs in 1982 that saw him hit .272 with 35 steals at the age of 29, Wills went over to Japan where he played for two years as a member of the Hankyu Braves, retiring for good as a Pro after the 1984 season, still only 31.

NEGRO LEAGUE TO MAJOR LEAGUE STARS: HANK AARON

On the blog today, we add the great Hank Aaron to my new thread celebrating Major League stars who began their careers in the Negro Leagues:

Turns out Aaron would be the last player active in the Majors that played in the NBL, retiring in 1977 after one of the greatest playing careers any baseball fan would ever see.

Aaron made his professional debut with the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro American League in 1951, playing for three months and is credited according to some sources as hitting .366 with five home runs and 33 RBIs over 26 games.

Incredibly, based on his play there, he was offered two contracts, one by the Boston Braves, and the other by the New York Giants, who had a young Willie Mays on their team.

As Aaron remembered years later:

"I had the Giants' contract in my hand. But the Braves offered fifty dollars a month more. That's the only thing that kept Willie Mays and me from being teammates – fifty dollars".

Can you even IMAGINE what that could have been like?!

Aaron was the model of consistency, never hitting 50 homers in a season but hitting 40 eight times and 30 fifteen times! He also drove in 100 runs in a season 11 times while never topping more than 132, and had 3771 career hits while topping 200 in any year three times out of his 23.
For 21 consecutive seasons, Aaron was selected for the National League all-star team, and garnered M.V.P. votes nineteen straight years!

Think about that, every single year between 1955 and 1973 the man got some attention for Most Valuable Player. That is incredible!

L-E-G-E-N-D!

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS: 1969 ROGER MARIS

On the blog today, we have my 1969 "Career-capper for Roger Maris, who wrapped up a nice 12-year Major League career in 1968 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals:

Maris appeared in 100 games for the N.L. champs, hitting .255 with 5 homers and 45 RBIs in the "Year of the Pitcher".

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.

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.

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...

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: GREG LUZINSKI

Good day everyone!

Time to add the great Philadelphia Phillies slugger Greg Luzinski to my 1977 "Centennial" special sub-set, celebrating the 1976 season, the 100th anniversary of the National League:

Between 1975 and 1978 Luzinski was a top-10 MVP candidate, with two second-place finishes in 1975 and 1977 when he drove in 120 and 130 runs respectively along with 34 and 39 home runs.
And do not forget, he was a .300 hitter! He topped .300 three straight seasons, from 1975 to 1977 while making the All-Star team each year.
Thing about this: Luzinski retired after the 1984 season with 307 homers, 1128 runs batted in, and 1795 hits, and he was only 33 years of age.
It’s easy to forget that he really put up great numbers while retiring at a relatively young age, even if he played for parts of 15 seasons between 1970 and 1984.

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2015: 1970 THURMAN MUNSON DEDICATED ROOKIE

On the blog this fine day, thought it'd be fun to go back eight years here and revisit my blog post for my 1970 "Dedicated Rookie" card for the great Thurman Munson, one of my childhood heroes, and one of my favorite card creations I've ever done:

Here's the original write-up for that post, which originally appeared here in February of 2015:

"I guess you can say the future Yankee dynasty of the late 1970's started right here with this guy when he came up and won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970.

Soon after he was joined by the likes of Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph, on their way to back-to-back titles as well as an American League pennant in 1976.

Not only did he take home the Rookie of the Year in 1970, but he'd go on to win the Most Valuable Player award six years later, to go along with seven all-star berths as well as three Gold Gloves.

For three consecutive seasons he drove in 100+ runs with LESS than 20 homers, topping out at 18 in 1977, while hitting over .300 each and every time.

I particularly love his M.V.P. year, where he had 665 plate appearances yet only struck out 38 times while collecting 186 hits over 616 at-bats. Pretty amazing stuff. He even stole 14 bases as well!

What an age for catchers huh? You had Munson, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons all putting in all-star seasons after all-star seasons.

Sadly we all know how Munson's story played out. I remember that day like it was yesterday and will never forget it."

1960'S DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1967 ROD CAREW

Up on the blog today, we have my 1967 "Dedicated Rookie" for the incomparable Rod Carew, from my 1960's Dedicated Rookie set released a few years ago:

What really needs to be said about the greatest hitter of his generation?

He would go on to play in 18 All-Star games, missing only his final season in the Majors in 1985. Just incredible.

The first nine seasons of his career were as an All-Star second baseman, while the last nine were as a first baseman.

The man topped .300 15 years in a row, with a high of .388 in 1977 on his way to a Most Valuable Player Award and capturing the public’s attention with his .400 chase late in the season.
A clear-cut Hall of Fame player, he was inducted on his first year of eligibility in 1991 when he garnered 90.5% of the vote, which leaves me with the question: who the hell are the 9.5% who DIDN’T vote for him!!!???

3053 hits, a .328 career average, 353 stolen bases and 15 straight seasons of .300+ batting.

The man was a hitting machine, and I'm so glad I got to see him play during his magnificent career!

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 SAL BANDO

On the blog today, we take a closer look at another OPC/Topps image variation, this one the odd 1977 cards for former All-Star third baseman Sal Bando, who was airbrushed into the uni of his new team, the Milwaukee Brewers:

OPC VERSION

TOPPS VERSION

 

Now, for some strange reason except to the fine people at Topps/OPC, the difference between the two cards were that Bando was "flipped", a luxury that the "M" on the Brewers cap allowed since you wouldn't really know the difference.

Though seriously, why even bother then?

Would love to know the reason behind this!

As for Bando the player,  a huge cog in that Oakland machine of the mid-70's, he would end up making four All-Star teams over his career, while placing top-4 in MVP votes three times with a high of second place in 1971 when teammate Vida Blue took home the honors.

Bando put together a very solid Big League career that saw him take home three championships, participate in four all-star games, and finish in the top-10 in MVP voting three times.

His five 20-homer and two 100+ RBI seasons were a nice compliment to Reggie's offensive exploits, and with Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and Bert Campaneris thrown in you can see why those A's teams were so strong.

Then again, with starting pitching like Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, Rollie Fingers et al, yeah, they were going to kick-ass no matter what…

He retired in 1981 with 1790 hits, 982 runs scored, 242 homers, 1039 runs batted in and a .254 batting average.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. STOLEN BASES

On the blog this fine day, we move on to the top three base stealers in the National League in 1978, displayed on a 1979 "expanded league leader" card:

We begin with the leader of the pack, Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Omar Moreno, who swiped 71 bases to take home what would be the first of two straight base-stealing crowns.

Moreno would have himself a three year run that would see him steal 214 bases between 1978 and 1980, with a high of 96 in the base-stealing crazy 1980 season, only to fall one steal short of the Montreal Expos Ron LeFlore.

In second place, way back with 46 steals, teammate of Moreno, shortstop Fran Taveras, the N.L. steals leader the previous season, who despite his drop in steals from 70 to 46 had himself a career-year with 182 hits, 81 runs scored and 31 doubles, giving the Pirates quite the potent speed duo to compliment the power bats of Dave Parker, Willie Stargell, etc.

In third place with 45 steals in 1978, the 1975 and 1976 stolen base champ, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Davey Lopes, who put in another solid season with 93 runs scored, 163 hits and a .278 average while also showing some "pop" with 17 home runs.

He would go on to have his best year in the Majors in 1979, when he'd combine all his usual numbers with a career-best 28 home runs, just missing the "30-30" club, which at that time was still somewhat exclusive.

So here we have three players who accounted for the stolen base leaders in the N.L. for every season between 1975 and 1979! Fun stuff!

 

VINTAGE SPECIAL! "MISSING" 1954 WILSON'S FRANKS STAN MUSIAL

Good day everyone!

Happy to start a fun new thread today, one of which I hope to have printed up as a special custom set in the near future if I can find a printer capable enough to print them, a small set of "missing" 1954 Wilson Franks cards, adding to what can be one of my all-time favorite sets.

We begin with the great Stan Musial, who was left out of the set by the meat company way back when:

The main reason this card set would be tough to get printed up is the size and the fact that this set had incredibly thin white borders, something quality control at any commercial printer would have a hard time keeping well-cut.

It'll be tough, but I'm searching to see who can control it for print.

As for the great Musial, his MLB numbers are just absurd: seven batting titles, two R.B.I. titles, five triples titles and eight doubles titles, with career numbers of 475 home runs, 1951 runs batted in and a .331 career average. Throw in his 725 doubles, 177 triples and 3630 hits along with 1949 runs scored and the numbers are staggering. 

And don't forget that Musial also lost a year to military duty, easily putting him over 500 homers, close to 3900 hits and around 2100 runs batted in if he played in 1945.

Along with the great Frank Robinson I always felt Stan Musial was often overlooked in the decades since his playing days ended.

When talk of "Greatest Living Player" came up it was always Williams, DiMaggio, Mays or even Aaron that would come up. But Stan Musial would always kind of be that after-thought.

Criminal.

Three Most Valuable Player Awards, FOUR second-place finishes, including three in a row between 1949-1951, and twenty consecutive all-star appearances, Musial definitely is a member of that rarified stratosphere of baseball royalty along with the likes of Ruth, Cobb, Mays and Wagner, among others.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1965 WORLD SERIES GAME 6

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we move on to a "missing" 1966 World Series card for the 1965 "Fall Classic", which Topps decided to leave out of their set for some reason:

With their backs up against the wall heading into the game down three games to two, the Minnesota Twins tied it all up with a 5-1 win thanks to Game 1 winner Jim "Mudcat" Grant, who picked up HIS second win of the series.

Grant was masterful as he pitched a six-hit complete game, giving up one earned run while striking out five, the only blemish a 7th inning home run by Ron Fairly.

For the Los Angeles Dodgers, Game three hero Claude Osteen took the mound in hopes of taking the title, and he didn't pitch bad at all, giving up two runs, only one earned, over five innings while striking out two and walking three.

Incredibly, Grant also helped his own cause by slamming a three-run homer of reliever Howie Reed in the sixth, giving himself all the run support he needed.

This all set up a Game Seven showdown for the title, with Dodger ace Sandy Koufax facing Twins ace Jim Kaat.

See you next week for THAT card!

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: GEORGE FOSTER

Today on the blog, we add one more player to my 1977 "N.L. Centennial" special sub-set, celebrating the league's 100th anniversary of 1976, this time the MVP Runner-Up for '76, George Foster:

Of course, we all know today that as the 1977 season unfolded, he would end up being the clear choice to take home the MVP Award this time, having perhaps the finest season in the Majors during the decade, hitting 52 home runs with 149 runs batted in, while collecting 197 hits, scoring 124 runs himself, and hitting .320.

Between, Foster, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and Joe Morgan, it would give the Cincinnati Reds SIX MVP seasons in the decade, just insane.

He’d go on to play 18 years in the Big Leagues, finishing in the top-3 in MVP voting three times, while making five All-Star teams and retiring with 348 home runs, 1239 RBIs and just under 2000 hits with 1925.
Not a bad Major League tenure!

1960'S "CAREER-CAPPERS": EDDIE MATHEWS

Today's blog post has my 1969 "Career-Capper" for All-Time third baseman Eddite Mathews, who closed out a wonderful MLB career the previous season, perhaps (at that time) as the greatest third baseman in N.L. history:

Mathews appeared in 31 games for the eventual World Champ Detroit Tigers that year, hitting .212 with the final three home runs of his career, giving him 512 over 17 seasons to give him a spot towards the top of the All-Time list at that time.

Mathews was a beast at the plate, hitting 30 or more homers in a season ten times during his career, with four of those seasons totaling over 40.
He’d also drive in over 100 runs five times and score over 100 eight times while topping a .300 batting average on three occasions while leading the National League in walks four times, homers twice, and getting named to nine all-star teams.
Twice a runner-up in Most Valuable Player voting, he played for the Braves from Boston, to Milwaukee and their inaugural season in Atlanta in 1966, the only player to do so.
By the time he finished his stellar career Mathews collected 512 homers, 1453 runs batted in, 1509 runs scored and a .271 average along 1444 walks and a .509 slugging average.
Until a guy by the name of Mike Schmidt came along, he was THE power-hitting third baseman in the game's long history.

Incredibly overlooked these days!

 

1970 "20-WIN CIRCLE": BOB GIBSON

On the blog today, we go and add the great Bob Gibson to my fun new 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set, celebrating the 20-game winners of 1969:

Gibson had a "Gibsonesque" season in 1969, going 20-13 with a 2.18 ERA over 35 starts, completing an amazing 28 games while tossing four shutouts, striking out 269 batters.

"Gibby" was also on his way to his second Cy Young Award in 1970, finishing the season with a brilliant 23-7 record, along with a 3.12 ERA and a career-best 274 strikeouts over 34 starts and 294 innings.

He also brought home his sixth of what would end up being nine Gold Gloves, while making his seventh All-Star team.

The 23 wins in 1970 marked his fifth 20-win season in six years, eventually settling for 251 wins as a Big League ace, along with 3117 strikeouts (only the second pitcher ever to reach that mark at the time), 56 shutouts and a brilliant 2.91 E.R.A.

A legend of the game, he was a “gimmie” for the Hall of Fame once eligible in 1981, getting named on 337 of 401 ballots cast.
Stories of Gibson’s fierce competitive streak are legendary, and I love each and every one of them!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 VIC DAVALILLO

Well! It took me a while to realize I made a mistake a few months back when I created a 1974 "missing" card for Vic Davalillo, when I MEANT to create a 1975 version!

So today I fix it with the 1975 version, along with the original post:

Davalillo, a former All-Star and Gold Glove winning outfielder in the mid-60's, split the 1973 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland A's, appearing in 97 games and hitting only .184.

In 1974 he'd hit .174 over 17 games with Oakland, with only four hits in 23 at-bats, driving in a run and spending some time in the outfield.

This was all after a 1972 season that saw him hit .318 over 117 games for the Pirates, which was more in line with his steady .280-.300 hitting in the first 11 years of his career.

Turns out he would spend the next three seasons playing in the Mexican League before coming back in 1977 with the Los Angeles Dodgers,where he'd play parts of the next four seasons.

An interesting player that gets overlooked these days, as I stated earlier he was an All-Star and Gold Glover in 1964 with the Cleveland Indians, his first full season in the Big Leagues, and would be a steady bat throughout his career, finishing up with a .279 average over 16 years, with 1122 hits in 4017 at-bats.

In the end with the Dodgers, he was primarily a pinch-hitter, hitting a combined .312 in 1977 and 1978 for the N.L. champs.

I'll always remember him as one of those players born in the 1930's when I was a kid buying 1979 cards at the age of 10. Not many of them around at that point.

Funny the little things you remember with collecting when you get older.

THE FIRST "WTHBALLS" T-SHIRT!

Fun stuff in the mail yesterday!

Thought it would be fun to get a T-Shirt made up for the blog, and they came out really nice!

 

I was putzing around one day a few weeks ago and just sent the design off to a new printer I have never used before.

I am very pleased with their quality and price, so now I know who to use if I ever do a card release with a bonus shirt!

Not too shabby!

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1979 A.L. RBI's

Welcome again folks!

Today on the blog we celebrate the top three RBI men of the American League in 1978 with a 1979 "expanded league leader" card in my long-running thread that's about to wrap up in a few weeks:

 

Of course, if we're talking 1978 in the American League then it is ALL about the great Jim Rice, who would take home an MVP Award for his tremendous season that year.

Rice led the league with his 139 RBIs, while virtually leading the league in everything else, including hits, triples, homers, slugging and total bases.

An absolute beast at the plate that year, while also putting together arguably the best three-year run between 1977 and 1979 of the era.

In second place with 121 RBIs, Detroit Tigers DH/OF Rusty Staub, who can easily be argued to be a Hall of Famer himself.

Staub had one of the best seasons of his illustrious career that year, hitting .273 with 24 homers, 175 hits and those 121 RBI's, finishing fifth in the MVP race at season's end.

In his three full season's in Detroit he definitely earned his stripes, driving in no less that 96 runs while collecting 176, 173 and 175 hits successively. Not too shabby!

In third place with 115 RBIs, the player who actually led the A.L. in RBIs the previous season, Larry Hisle, who had a great first year with his new team, the Milwaukee Brewers, after coming over from the Minnesota Twins.

Hisle made an immediate impact with Milwaukee in 1978, hitting .290 with 34 homers, 96 runs scored and his 115 RBIs, giving the Brewers an explosive bat to go along with young players such as Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, while finishing third in the MVP voting that year.

Sadly however, in 1979 he'd seriously hurt his shoulder, curtailing a fine career, resulting in his retirement just four seasons later, never playing in more than 27 games in any of those campaigns, done at 35.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": STEVE CARLTON

On the blog this fine day, we add legend Steve Carlton and his historic 19-strikeout day to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, one of my favorite sets of all time by Topps:

Ironically enough, Carlton actually lost the game on September 15th, 1969, because of Ron Swaboda's TWO two-run home runs which gave the Mets all the runs they needed to beat Carlton and the Cardinals, 4-3.
However Carlton had it all working for him that day, as he marched right into the record books by beating the previous record of 18 strikeouts which was jointly held by Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax and Don Wilson.
This was pretty much the first historic highlight of the future Hall of Famer's stellar career, as he'd go on to then post his first 20-win season in 1971 while still with the Cardinals, then post his uber-famous 1972 Triple-Crown winning year as a Philadelphia Phillie, winning his first of four Cy Young Awards.
Carlton would end his 24 year career with 329 wins, 55 shutouts, a 3.22 earned run average and a whopping 4136 strikeouts.
Those monster numbers got him inducted to Cooperstown on his first try in 1994, getting named on 436 of 456 ballots.
I remember attending a game Carlton pitched at the end of his career when he was trying to hang on those last couple of years. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians against the New York Yankees at the Stadium on April 14th, 1987 (had to look it up), giving up a grand slam homer to Yankee catcher Joel Skinner, and eventually taking the loss.
It was kind of a bummer, as he was a shell of his former self, and was caught in that vicious "hanging on" phase some players tend to get stuck in.
He'd move on to Minnesota later that year, and even pitch in four games for them in 1988 before finally hanging them up, putting to rest an incredible baseball resume that only a couple of other lefties can match in the history of the game.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1965 WORLD SERIES GAME 5

Today on the blog, we move on to Game 5 of the 1965 World Series in my "missing" 1966 sub-set, which Topps decided to skip in their set:

And just like that the Los Angeles Dodgers came all the way back from a two-games-to-none hole to take the Series lead, three-games-to-two, thanks to Game Two loser Sandy Koufax, who came back to toss a fantastic four-hit shutout, striking out 10 batters.

It was ALL Dodgers this game, with L.A. pouncing on Twins' starter Jim Kaat early for two runs in the first and two more in the third, giving Koufax all the support he needed as he cruised to the complete game win.

For the Dodgers, Maury Wills would go 4-for-5 while Ron Fairly went 3-for-5, out-hitting the Twins themselves by three hits!

Twins starters mustered three hits against Koufax, with pinch-hitter Sandy Valdespino picking up a hit as well.

Heading into Game Six, the Dodgers were poised to win their second championship in three years, see you next week for that card!

 

1977 CENTENNIAL SPECIAL: GARRY MADDOX

Adding to my fun 1977 "Centennial" sub-set, we have the great outfielder Garry Maddox, celebrating the National League's 100th anniversary of 1976:

Maddox, eventually to be known as the “Secretary of Defense” for his defensive prowess, came up with the San Francisco Giants in 1972 and had a nice rookie campaign when he hit .266 with 122 hits, 12 homers and 58 runs batted in.
The man went on to have an excellent Major League career over the next 15-years, primarily with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was traded in 1975 for Willie Montanez.
He’d go on to win eight Gold Gloves, all with the Phillies, while hitting .285 for his career, throwing in about 25 stolen bases a year.
In 1976 he’d even hit as high as .330, earning him a fifth place finish in the National League’s MVP race, batting in a line-up with other stars like Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski.
He’d retire just a couple of weeks into the 1986 season, finishing up with that .285 batting average, 1802 hits, 248 stolen bases, and a reputation as being one of the greatest defensive outfielders to play the game.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1978 JIM WYNN

Fun card to add to the blog today, and one that was included in my Series 13 set printed up a month or so ago, a 1978 "career-capper" for the "Toy Cannon", Jim Wynn, who closed out a very nice Big League career with some games as a Milwaukee Brewer in 1977:

Wynn appeared in 36 games for Milwaukee after starting the season with the New York Yankees, hitting .197 while hitting .143 for New York, a combined .175 figure over 66 games total.

He put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year Big League run between 1963 and 1977.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After those handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

Just a solid, overlooked player from the era that deserves a spotlight for his excellent career!

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM JULY, 2013: "IN MEMORIAM" BOB MOOSE

Wanted to revisit an old blog post from almost ten years ago today, that of my 1979 "In Memoriam" card for Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bob Moose:

Here's the original write-up I had for the post way back when:

"Pitching his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bob Moose was an effective starter before arm trouble in 1974 slowed down his career, leading him to work mainly out of the 'pen in 1975 and 1976.
In three of his full seasons as a starter, he posted E.R.A.'s under 3.00, and in 1969 he lead the N.L. in Winning Percentage at .823 with a nifty 14-3 record.
The highlight of his career had to be his September 20, 1969 no-hitter against the eventual World Champ New York Mets.
Tragically, on October 9th, 1976, after a season in which he appeared in 53 games and saved 10, Moose was killed on his 29th birthday in an auto accident while on his way to Bill Mazeroski's golf course in Martin's Ferry, Ohio.
I remember that as a kid, Bob Moose was the first baseball player (maybe even first "celebrity") that I heard of "dying young" or however you want to put it.
My cousin, who was a few years older than my 7 years, came over my house with his baseball cards (which we did anytime we went to each other's house back then) and specifically pulled out his Bob Moose card and told me what happened.
I recall just staring at his card and having one of those moments where you just learned something about "life", and having a brief moment of mortality in a way that only a young mind could try and understand.
So for this post, I submit a 1977 "Memoriam" card for the former Pirate starting pitcher, as I remember that day over 35 years ago when "life" and baseball mixed for the first time."

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 ELROD HENDRICKS

Today on the blog, we have a sweet "not so missing" 1979 card for catcher Elrod Hendricks, who was winding down a nice 12-year Major League career at this point:

Elrod would appear in only 12 games for the Baltimore Orioles during the 1978 season, followed by one single game in 1979, thus closing out a career that spanned 1968 through 1979.

Over his career he played in 711 games, with 415 hits in 1888 at-bats, giving him a .220 lifetime average with 205 runs and 230 runs batted in, playing on two World Champion teams: the 1970 Baltimore Orioles and 1977 New York Yankees.

Post-playing career, Hendricks would go on to be the longest serving coach in Baltimore history, putting in 28 years as the bullpen coach before a stroke in 2005 ended that run.

A true baseball "lifer" that became a fan favorite personality within the Oriole organization right up until his death in December of 2005, one day before his 65th birthday.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. RBI's

Up on the blog today, we have the top three RBI men of the National League in 1978 proudly displayed on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card:

 

Of course we begin with the RBI-man of the era, Cincinnati Reds All-Star George Foster, who took home his third straight RBI crown in 1978 with 120, this after a monster 1977 season that saw him drive home 149.

Foster was just the man at the plate during his incredible three-year run between 1976 and 1978, taking home the MVP Award in 1977, finishing runner-up in 1976, helping the Reds to championships in 1975 and 1976, and becoming the first player since Willie Mays in 1965 to top 50 homers in a season, with his 52 in 1977.

Incredibly, the man was not just a home run hitter, as he would top a .300 batting average four out of five seasons between 1975 and 1979, with a .281 average in between.

In second place with 117 RBIs, a man that was in contention for all three Triple Crown stats, Pittsburgh Pirates great Dave Parker, who just happened to also be the N.L. batting champ for the second year in a row in 1978.

Parker was also a force at the plate in the late-70’s, winning the MVP in 1978, helping the Pirates to a championship in 1979, while also hitting not only for power, but for average as well, with five straight seasons of above-.300 averages between 1975 and 1979.

I still cannot understand how people do not think he is not a Hall of Famer! It’s not just about total stats, but the fact that he reached that elite level that goes beyond stats, like Steve Garvey, who is also a Hall of Famer in my book!

…And speaking of Steve Garvey, he finished third in the league with 113 RBIs in 1978, just two off his career best set a season earlier!

Garvey was as consistent as they came then, reaching 200+ hits six of seven seasons between 1974 and 1980, while driving in 100+ runs five times, 20+ homers five times, and a .300+ average seven out of eight season between 1973 and 1980.

Just a machine who hit for average, with some “pop”, driving in runs while guiding the Los Angeles Dodger team to four World Series appearances, winning it all in 1981 over my beloved New York Yankees.

Three guys right here that hit homers, drove in runs by the bunch, and also hit for average. Top notch!

NEGRO LEAGUE TO MAJOR LEAGUE STARS: ELSTON HOWARD

Fun new thread to start today, celebrating Major League stars who played in the Negro Leagues, beginning with New York Yankees legend Elston Howard:

Howard was only 19 when he suited up for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1948 before heading off to serve in the military.

He's credited with appearing in 20 games that year, hitting .250 with 20 hits over 80 at-bats, driving in 13 runs while scoring 16.

He would eventually break the Yankees' color-barrier in 1955, immediately showing he belonged, with a .290 batting average and 10 homers in only 97 games, driving in 43 runs and scoring 33.

Two seasons later he would make his first All-Star team, the first of nine straight seasons doing so, and of course in 1963 would also be named the A.L. MVP when he hit 28 home runs with 85 RBIs while hitting .287, taking home the first of two straight Gold Gloves for his work behind the plate.

After a nice 14-year career as a player, finishing up his playing days as a member of the Boston Red Sox, he returned to the Bronx as a coach, a position he would hold for the next ten years until his untimely death from heart disease in 1980.

Four years later the Yankees would retire Howard's #32 in 1984, and I was actually at that ceremony as a young teenaged kid of 15.