NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES ALL-TIME LEGENDS: RAY BROWN

Time to add one of the great pitchers of the Negro Leagues to me long-running "Negro Leagues All-Time Legends" thread, celebrating the greats of the game that were not given the chance to play in the (then) Major Leagues, Ray Brown:

Brown put in most of his Hall of Fame career with the Homestead Grays, playing between 1931 and 1945, and he put up some incredible numbers.

Finishing his career with a ridiculous .721 winning percentage, he went 119-46, leading the NBL in wins five times, while also taking home two ERA titles and three strikeout titles.

His 1938 season could be the greatest year of any pitcher in the long history of the NBL when he posted a record of 14-0 with a 1.88 ERA, completing 11 of his 20 starts with four shutouts and three saves and 70 strikeouts, ALL league-leading marks!

On top of all that, the man his .286 at the plate with 20 runs scored and 20 runs batted in over 32 games, proving he could do it all!

So often overshadowed by teammates such as Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Jud Wilson, Brown was rightfully celebrated in 2006 with his spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. THIRD BASEMAN: GEORGE BRETT

OK, now today I post a card that was a tough one for me, my choice for the American League's top third baseman of the 1970s, and I went with George Brett:

Originally I did go with Graig Nettles, since he did put in a full decade in the league and put up some excellent power numbers while helping the New York Yankees to two World Championships.

However, I reconsidered and decided that this guy, as much as I hated him as a young Yankee fan growing up in Brooklyn at that time, was just tops and deserved the "honor".

Brett made his Big League debut in 1973 with 13 games for the Kansas City Royals, the only team he'd suit up for over his magnificent 21 year career.

In that initial showing he hit .125 with five hits in 40 at-bats, including two doubles and two runs scored.

The following season he'd be here to stay, finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year race in 1974, hitting .282 with 129 hits, 49 runs scored and 47 runs batted in over 133 games for the Kansas City Royals.
He’d have his breakout season quickly, leading the league with 195 hits as well as 13 triples in 1975 before winning his first batting title a year later when he hit .333 with a league-leading 215 hits and 14 triples.

His 1979 season is just not appreciated enough!

That season Brett led the league with 212 hits and 20 triples, while also collecting 42 doubles, 23 homers, 107 runs batted in and 119 runs scored, hitting .329 and also stealing 17 bases!

This was arguably his best season overall for his career, and remember, he hit .390 the following year!

The man was born to hit, and would finish his career with 3154 hits, a .305 average, 317 homers and let’s not forget the 201 stolen bases and 137 triples!
The 13-time all-star was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1993, getting named to 98.2% of the ballot, while taking home the MVP in 1980 after his magical .390 hitting season, while finishing second twice and third once.
Legend!

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: LARRY BOWA

Good day everyone.

Up on the blog today, we begin a card by card spotlight of the never-issued 1971 Topps All-Star Rookies set, beginning with Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa:

This is a fun looking set that would have been cool to pull from packs way back when!

Now, as my buddy Tim Jenking ("Pilot Sighting!") mentioned in a write-up he had on the SABR blog some five years ago, these were never made into cards, but prototypes that were pasted onto poster board.

Well, as is usually the case with this stuff, somehow one full set made it out and began floating on the auction circuit some years ago, giving many their first look at perhaps the rarest Topps odd-ball set.

Basically if you remember the players that got a Rookie Trophy on their 1971 card, that's who represents the full checklist here, with the biggie being New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson.

I love the way this set looks, and look forward to posting each one for you all to see them, if you haven't already.

As for Bowa, the future five-time all-star and two-time Gold Glove winner would make a great addition to guys like Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt, helping the organization become a powerhouse in their division later in the decade.
Bowa would make an immediate impact, finishing third in National League Rookie of the Year voting, and if it wasn’t for a guy named Dave Concepcion of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, would have been the perennial N.L. Short Stop in the all-star game between 1974 and 1980.
Nevertheless, Bowa wrapped up his solid career with a half season playing for the New York Mets in 1985 after three and a half years with the Chicago Cubs, playing his entire career in the National League East, and finishing with 2191 hits, a .260 average, 318 stolen bases and just under 1000 runs scored with 987.

Keep an eye out for future posts covering this uber-rare Topps sub-set!

For those that want a little more info, here's the Tim Jenkins piece I mentioned earlier:

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2018/11/26/proofs-of-the-mythical-rookies/

 

VINTAGE CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1950 DRAKE'S "EXTENDED" SET: JACKIE ROBINSON

Up on the blog today, we add the great Jackie Robinson to me 1950 Drakes "extension set", which was produced and released in deluxe packaging a couple of years ago:

A really fun set to create, I went and added ten stars of the game at that time to the fantastic oddball set that has had my attention since I first laid eyes on it decades ago as a kid.

As for the man himself, what needs to be stated at this point regarding his Hall of Fame career?

He broke the color-line, which I cannot even begin to imagine the difficulty in that alone, yet still managed to put in 10 great years as a Major League all-star second baseman, winning Rookie of the Year in 1947, league MVP in 1949, six all-star nods, and a batting title in 1949 when he hit .342.

Before he made baseball history in 1947, he suited up with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945 while he was still in college.

He played in only 47 games, but excelled, hitting .387 with 5 home runs and 13 stolen bases, even appearing in the East-West All Star Game.

At this point talking about statistics seems trivial in relation to the sheer impact he had to the sport and American culture.

It still crushes me when I remember that the man was still only 53 years of age when he passed away, imagining if he would have lived another 20, 30 years and gracing us into the 21st Century.

WTHBALLS SERIES 14 NOW AVAILABLE!

Hello Everyone!

It's that time again!

 

The newest WTHBALLS custom set is here, and it's the "SERIES 14" set!

As usual, this features 15 cards, but in this "pack" there will be a fun bonus card instead of the glossy insert (not shown in attached image so it can be a surprise)!
Of course, the sets come wrapped inside a "WTHBALLS" wrapper following the other "Series" set packs from the past.

Sadly, the "packs" are now $14 each plus $4.50 postage, due to rising printing costs. Sorry about that. 

Of course as usual, if you buy more than one set, postage always stays the same at $4.50.

SPOILER ALERT! See photos attached for the cards in this set. Again, I'm keeping the insert a secret until you all receive them, so no images of it here.
My paypal is the usual: slogun23@gmail.com
Thank you all for the continued support and interest!
Be well and safe!
Gio/wthballs

SPECIAL 1969 "TEAM" CEREAL EXTENSION SET: FERGIE JENKINS

Good day all!

Today on the blog we have my "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes card for Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins, a fun extension to the under-appreciated food-issue of my birth year:

This is going to be a unique WTHBALLS release in the coming months, in a full-sized cereal box with cut-out cards on the back as it was originally released, true to the box art!

As for the great Jenkins, he was smack in the middle of an incredible run of six straight 20-win seasons, as well as five straight 200+ strikeout campaigns.

For the 1969 season, Jenkins posted 21 wins for the Cubs, while leading the N.L. with 273 strikeouts, starting 42 games, completing 23 and tossing seven shutouts.

As we all know, he put together a Hall of Fame career, topping 280 wins, 3000 strikeouts, with 49 shutouts, a Cy Young Award in 1971 and four other top-3 finishes in the award voting.
In 1991 he capped off his career with an induction into Cooperstown on his third try, just getting the 75% of the vote with 75.4% support.
On a geeky side-note, “Fly” was also the first pitcher to ever register 3000+ strikeouts while issuing less than 1000 base on balls.
Love stuff like that!

Jenkins was just plain awesome. And he went about being awesome while pretty much performing under the radar.

VINTAGE SPECIAL! "MISSING" 1954 WILSON'S FRANKS MINNIE MINOSO

On the blog this fine day, we add the great and FINALLY member of the Hall of Fame, Minnie Minoso, to me 1954 Wilson Franks "extension set", adding some of the greats of the game at that time who were not included in what turned out to be one of the great oddball sets of the period:

I'm so happy that Minoso is finally a Hall of Famer, and I always felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of getting into Cooperstown.
From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and topping 20 homers four times.
Eight times in that span he would top a .300 batting average, and in 1951 many consider him the true American League Rookie of the Year when he hit .326 split between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, while topping the league in triples with 14 and stolen bases with 31.
Along the way he was named to seven All-Star games, winning three Gold Gloves as well, funny enough finishing fourth in the A.L. MVP race four times.
Of course, 12 years after his last playing days, in 1976, he ended up going 1-for-8 at the plate as a 50 year-old, then coming back in 1980 at the age of 54 and going hitless in two at-bats.
Nevertheless, Minoso finished his career with a .298 average, with 1963 hits over 6579 at-bats, along with 186 homers and 205 stolen bases while also topping 1000 runs scored and RBIs, 1136 & 1023 respectively.

If only he didn't have to wait until his age 27 season to show the ENTIRE country what he could do on a ballfield.

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM DECEMBER 2013: 1977 FANTASY ROOKIE EDDIE MURRAY

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a blog post from just under 10 years ago, my "fantasy" 1977 card for all-timer Eddie Murray, one of the game's greatest switch-hitters in it's long history:

Here's the original write-up I did way back when:

"Now, even though Eddie Murray's 1978 rookie card is one of my favorite cards to this day, I always felt that since the guy was the 1977 American League rookie of the year, it would have been nice to have a card for him for that season.

This doesn't really fit into either a "dedicated rookie card" or a "missing" card, but I still wanted to design one for the future Hall of Famer since he was one of my favorite players growing up.

Odds are Murray probably would have been included on one of those awful multi-player rookie cards like Andre Dawson or Dale Murphy, but since we know how much I am NOT a fan of those cards, I went with a dedicated card for him here.

I won't get into Murray too much here, since I covered that when I profiled his rookie card, but wow, what an understated superstar he was.

While the Schmidts, Ripkens, Murphy's, etc were racking up awards and acknowledgment, all Murray did was quietly rack up 3000+ hits, 500+ home runs, 1900+ runs batted in and more.

The man was awesome, simply put."

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: LOU BROCK

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we go and add St. Louis Cardinals great Lou Brock to my 1977 "N.L. Centennial" celebration sub-set, marking the N.L.'s 100th anniversary of 1976, when players sported a commemorative patch on their sleeve:

Brock really was an under-appreciated player in my book, having to get what little spotlight he could playing the outfield in the National league when you had guys like Mays, Aaron and Clemente there as well.
Nevertheless, the man made six All-Star squads, finished second in the MVP race for the National League in 1974, and would go on to a Hall of Fame induction thanks to 3000+ hits, an MLB record 938 stolen bases, and 1610 runs scored.
Did you realize that between 1964 and 1974 the LEAST amount of hits he collected in any one season was 182!?
As a matter of fact in those eleven seasons he collected over 190 hits eight times, while scoring less than 90 only once.
Just an amazing 19-year career!

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER (OF ONE OF MY OWN!): 1972 DEDICATED ROOKIE FOR RICHIE ZISK

Well, as I announced a few weeks ago, for SOME reason way back when, I designed a 1970 "dedicated rookie" for slugger Richie Zisk when I meant to do a 1972 edition, since his first rookie card was in the 1972 set, NOT 1970.

So with that, here we have the corrected 1972 edition, which will also be a printed card in one of my upcoming custom sets this year:

Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.
He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.
I will ALWAYS be bothered by the fact that Topps screwed up his 1978 card, forgetting to place the All-Star emblem on his card, which would have given him two straight All-Star cards in 1978/1979.Hey, it's the little things for us collectors that keep it interesting, no?!

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. THIRD BASEMAN MIKE SCHMIDT

Good day all!

On the blog today, we move on to the National League and MY pick for the third baseman of the decade, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies:

For me, what Schmidt did in six seasons of the 1970s was tops among third sackers in the Senior League, taking home three home run titles, four Gold Gloves, three top-10 finishes in the MVP race and four 100-RBI campaigns.

There was some competition from the Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star third baseman Ron Cey, but Schmidt was well on his way to put together a Hall of Fame career that would leave him in the discussion of "greatest of them all" for his position.

What a career: 12 All-Star nods, 10 Gold Gloves, three Most Valuable Player Awards, all while anchoring a Philadelphia Phillies team that would reach their apex in 1980, taking home the World Series with a victory over the Kansas City Royals.
By the time he hung them up in 1989, he’d hit 548 home runs, drive in 1595 runs while scoring 1506, while also stealing 174 bases! Easy to forget he could steal a base or two. As a matter of fact, it’s real easy to forget that he came one stolen base short of joining the (then) exclusive 30-30 club back in 1975, slamming 38 homers to lead the league while swiping 29.
Nevertheless, “Schmitty” rode that success straight to a Hall of Fame induction come 1995, a lock if there ever was one.

1960'S DEDICATED ROOKIES: 1969 ROLLIE FINGERS

Been a while since I posted one of my 1960's "Dedicated Rookies" from my special custom set released a few years ago, so today we post up my 1969 dedicated card for the great Rollie Fingers of the Oakland A's:

Fingers would put together a wonderful 17-year career which would see him win both a Cy Young and MVP Award in 1981 with the Milwaukee Brewers, Lead the league in saves three times, post sub-2.00 ERA's 12 times and finish up with a sparkling 2.90 career ERA over 944 games and 1701.1 innings pitched.

He was named to seven all-star teams, both in the A.L. and N.L., before closing out his career in 1985, finishing with a 114-118 record with 341 saves.

One of the great characters of the decade! But a force out of the 'pen as well.

He was voted into the Hall in 1992, his second year on the ballot, garnering 81.2% of the vote.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: LARRY BOWA

Today on the blog, we add former All-Star Philadelphia Phillies shortstop to my long-running 1977 "N.L. Centennial" sub-set, celebrating the Senior League's 100th Anniversary of 1976, when they wore special patches to mark the occasion:

Bowa is really kind of overlooked these days when it comes to his playing days, taking home a couple of Gold Gloves and being named to five All-Star games during the 1970’s.
He was part of a resurgent Philadelphia Phillies team that also had guys like Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Dave Cash and Greg Luzinski, helping the organization head to the post-season for the first time since 1950.
It’s funny to think that Bowa was given a nickname like “Gnat”, or even “Pee Wee” considering the man was 5’10” tall. In my neighborhood of Italian-Americans at the time of his playing days that made you one of the taller dudes!
Nevertheless, by the time Bowa hung up the cleats after 16-years, he finished with over 2000 hits, 300 stolen bases and just under 1000 runs scored.
I loved his time as a coach for the New York Yankees, and to be honest I was hoping he’d be the guy to take over for Joe Torre back in 2008, the gig that eventually went to Joe Girardi.
Oh well.

 

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970'S: 1977 OPC GEORGE HENDRICK

Good day all!

Thought it'd be fun to take a closer look at the original image airbrushed by the fine people at Topps for the 1977 OPC card of George Hendrick, who was "put into" his new uni, that of the San Diego Padres:

Seems this job was somewhat half-assed, though if you're familiar with his 1976 Topps card you can clearly notice the cool Cleveland Indians wind-breaker he's wearing.

After a couple of very production seasons with the Indians, Hendrick found himself out West again, putting in a very nice 1977 year that saw him hit 23 homers with 81 ribbies, hitting .311.

Not bad for a trade that cost the Padres Hector Torres, Johnny Grubb and Fred Kendall.

The following year he'd end up getting traded to the St. Louis Cardinals however, for pitcher Eric Rasmussen, a trade the Padres most assuredly would love to take back.

Hendrick would go on to 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.

He was an important cog in the Cardinals '80s machine that would net a World Championship in 1982, while taking home two Silver Slugger Awards and making two All-Star teams.

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!

VINTAGE CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1950 DRAKE'S "EXTENDED" SET: BOB FELLER

On the blog today, spotlighting another "missing" card from my custom 1950 Drake's extension set released a couple years ago in deluxe packaging, this time the great Bob Feller:

The Cleveland Indians' legend wasn't included in the original set, one of my favorite oddball sets of the period, so I had the pleasure of creating one some seventy years later!

Really, what needs to be said about the man?

Feller finished up an incredible 18-year Major League career in 1956, one that saw him win 266 games, toss 44 shutouts including three no-hitters, and striking out 2581 batters between 1936 and 1956.

And don't forget, the man lost almost FOUR seasons in his prime serving in the military from 1942 through 1945, easily bringing him close to 400 wins, 3500 K's and 60 shutouts if it wasn't for the war.

What an unsung hero all-around!

He led the league in wins six times, strikeouts seven times, shutouts four times and earned run average once, completing 279 of his 484 career starts.

The eight-time All-Star finished in the top-3 for league MVP three straight seasons between 1939 and 1941, winning 24, 27 and 25 games before sailing off to fight in World War II at the age of 23.

Just an astounding man who incredibly gets left out of the conversation when we talk about all-time greats, especially post-war.

Legend!

MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 ANGEL MANGUAL

Up on the blog today, we go with a "missing" 1976 card for outfielder Angel Mangual, who put together a seven year career as a part-time player, all but one season as an Oakland Athletic:

It was "perfect timing" for Mangual, as he was a part of three straight World Champion teams as a guy off the bench for the juggernaut A's team that brought it all home between 1972 and 1974.

Never appearing in more than 115 games in a season (1974), Mangual gave the A's a versatile player who could play the infield and outfield.

Originally up with the Pittsburgh Pirates with six games in 1969, he was back on a Major League field in 1971 as an Oakland Athletic for the next six years, hitting .245 over 450 games, with 304 hits in 1241 at-bats, with 22 homers and 125 runs batted in, scoring 122 runs and stealing five bases.

After his Big League career was up in 1977 he'd put in a few seasons between the Mexican and Puerto Rican leagues, finishing his pro career in 1979.

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. SHORTSTOP: BERT CAMPANERIS

Let us move on to my pick for the American League's top shortstop of the 1970s, which is All-Star Bert Campaneris:

For me this was somewhat of an easy pick, with "Campy" putting in a great decade playing for the Oakland A's, Texas Rangers and part of 1979 for the California Angels.

He would be named to five All-Star teams, win three World Championships and get some MVP votes in five different seasons.

A spark plug for the three-peat Oakland A's dynasty, he took home two of his six stolen base crowns between 1970 and 1979, stealing 40+ seven times.

By the time he was done as a Major League player in 1983 at the age of 41, he’d finish with 2249 career hits with 1181 runs scored with six all-star game nods in 19 years.
I fondly remember his time with the New York Yankees in 1983, this last action before retiring. Just seemed like a fun veteran to have around giving tips to youngsters like Don Mattingly.

I do have to admit however, that it was a close race between Camaneris and Baltimore Orioles glove man Mark Belanger, who though was as light-hitting as they got, did take home seven Gold Gloves for his defensive work.

But for me, offense came out on top, and "Campy" is my guy at short for the A.L. All-Decade team.

SPECIAL: MISSING 1973 KELLOGG'S HANK AARON

Hello all.

On the blog today, my special 1973 "missing" Kellogg's card for the great Hank Aaron, which was included in my Series 13 set as an insert:

The card was true to the original cards in the set way back when, the only non-3D/Lenticular set that Kellogg's had out during the 1970's.

This card also had full statistics and bio on the back, really making it look like it was right out of your favorite cereal box!

The man was simply out of this world...

Let his numbers do all the talking: 2174 runs scored, 3771 hits, 624 doubles, 98 triples, 755 home runs, 2297 runs batted in, a .305 batting average no less than 21 all-star selections!
Just tremendous!
He also had eight top-5 finishes for MVP, including taking home the award in 1957, as well as three Gold Gloves won consecutively between 1958-1960.
It's incredible to look at his 15 years of topping 100 or more runs scored, 11 seasons of 100 or more runs batted in, five more seasons of 90+ RBI's, and TWENTY STRAIGHT years of 20 or more home runs.

Rest in Peace to one of the absolute greats of the game, Mr. Henry Aaron...aka "Hammerin' Hank"!

1970 20-WIN CIRCLE: MEL STOTTLEMYRE

On the blog today, we go and add New York Yankees underrated ace Mel Stottlemyre to my 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set celebrating the 20 game winners of 1969:

Stottlemyre was coming off his third and final 20-win season in 1969, finishing up with a record of 20-14 with a 2.82 ERA over 39 appearances, all starts, throwing a league-leading 24 complete games.

With a half-season in 1964 (his first year), and 1974 (his last), he put up nine full seasons in between, and all but one (1966) rock solid for some poor Yankee teams.

In nine full years on the mound, he posted three 20-win seasons (all while pitching during the Bronx "lean years"), five sub-3.00 ERA years, seven 15+ win seasons, nine 250+ innings seasons, and six years of four or more shutouts, topping out with seven in both 1971 and 1972.

How solid is THAT!?

A five-time all-star, I can't even imagine what his win totals could have been had he stayed healthy and pitched into the late-1970's/early-80's, or even if he wasn't starring for those bad Yankee teams post-dynasty between 1965-on.

Consider his numbers in the small amount of time he was a Major League pitcher: a 164-139 record, with a nice 2.97 ERA, 40 shutouts and 1257 K's in only 356 starts!

Those are really some seriously great numbers.

Sadly because of a rotator-cuff injury in 1974, he had to retire at the young age of only 32, leaving us to wonder "what could have been".

Of course we know that he later went on to become one of the most respected pitching coaches in the Majors from the 1980-s with the Mets on through to the "new" Yankee dynasty in the late-90's/early-00's, before retiring for good after the 2008 season.

SPECIAL 1969 "TEAM" CEREAL EXTENSION SET: ROD CAREW

Hello everyone!

 Super fun entry today!

I introduce you all to an upcoming WTHBALLS release in 2023, my 1969 "Team" cereal box extension set, beginning with the great Rod Carew:

This will be a full printed cereal box true to the original Nabisco "Team" cereal box released way back when, adding eight more greats of the game to the oddball set.

I took the liberty of recreating the front of the box, replacing a generic action baseball scene with the great Bob Gibson, but the rest of the package is true to the original.

I also went as far as erasing any team logos as the original did, giving it the authenticity to the 1969 edition, even IF I find it annoying.

Look for this to be released later in the year, though it could be sooner since it is print-ready and I found a special commercial printer who prints food boxes of this sort.

As for the first player presented here, what really needs to be said about the greatest hitter of his generation?

Rod Carew 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 an All-Star 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!

971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": JUAN MARICHAL

Time to add another player to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, this time Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants, celebrating his explosive MLB debut when he tossed a one-hitter to announce his arrival:

All the man did in his Big League debut was one-hit the Philadelphia Phillies, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning before a two-out single by Clay Dalrymple broke it up.

He would end up with a one-hit shutout, and give everyone a glimpse at what we were all in store for over the next 16 seasons.

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!

He would go on to collect 243 wins, 2303 strikeouts, 52 shutouts and a sparkling 2.89 earned run average over 16-seasons, getting named to nine all-star teams. Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: KEN GRIFFEY (SR.)

Today's blog post has us adding Ken Griffey Sr. to my long-running 1977 N.L. Centennial sub-set, creating cards featuring stars of the Senior League during the 100th anniversary 1976 season with the special patch designed for the occasion:

As for the Senior Griffey, he put in a brilliant 19-year career that saw him hit .296 with 2143 hits in 7229 at-bats, with 1129 runs scored, 152 homers and 859 runs batted in.
He was named to three all-star games during his career, and was a member of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds of the 1970’s, taking home two consecutive World Championships in 1975 and 1976.
Of course, we HAVE to mention something else he did, which was father a kid who would become one of the players of his generation, Ken Griffey Jr, recent Hall of Fame inductee and super-star extraordinaire.
I still think one of the coolest moments in baseball history was when Griffey Sr and Griffey Jr BOTH hit homers for the same team in the same game!  I just couldn’t believe it actually happened.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1977 WILLIE WILSON

Up on the blog today, a fun card to add to the WTHBALLS roster, a "not so missing" 1977 card for Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Royals:

Though he didn't get a rookie card from Topps until the 1979 set, Wilson made his MLB debut during the 1976 season as a 20-year-old with 12 games, going 1-for-6 at the plate with the first two stolen bases of his career.

Wilson was already showing his future base-stealing prowess in Triple-A Omaha in 1977, swiping 74 bases while hitting .281 in 132 games.

That would get him another 13 games in the Big Leagues during the 1977 season, where he swiped six bases while hitting .324 with 11 hits over 34 official at-bats.

Of course as we all know by now, Wilson went on to have a very nice 19-year career, with a batting title, five triples titles and a great 1980 season where he lead the league in hits (230), runs (133) triples (15), while winning a Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove.

He also set the (then) Major League record for at-bats in a season, stepping up to the plate 705 "official" times.

By the time he was done, he recorded 2207 hits, 1169 runs, 147 triples and a .285 lifetime average while stealing 668 bases.

As a kid growing up in the 1980's, I remember hating those Royals teams, with guys like Wilson, George Brett, Dan Quisenberry, Larry Gura, et al.

They just seemed to always beat the Yanks in the most frustrating ways.

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. SHORTSTOP DAVE CONCEPCION

Today on the blog, we move to shortstop and the National League for my pick as top at the position in his league for the 1970s, and I go with Dave Concepcion:

There were some really good shortstops in the N.L. during the 1970's, especially Philadelphia Phillies Larry Bowa, but I just had to go with a cog of the "Big Red Machine", arguably a Hall of Famer who took home five Gold Gloves and made six All-Star teams.

Often overlooked by teammates like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan, Concepcion was also a valuable piece to the four-time Pennant winners and two-time World Champs, giving them a solid man up-the-middle to compliment Bench and Morgan.

He would end up putting in 19-seasons in the Major Leagues, all with Cincinnati, finishing up with 2326 hits and a .267 batting average over 2488 games and 8723 at-bats between 1970 and 1988.
He played in all four of the “Big Red Machine” World Series appearances and batted a cool .297 over his Postseason action, with 30 hits in 101 at-bats over 34 games.
I’ll never forget opening up a pack of 1979 cards and seeing that the “All-Star” banner was NOT on his card. I was stunned since he was always the National League All-Star shortstop since I started collecting in 1976.
For me, he became somewhat of a baseball institution, playing through my youth straight through college, retiring at the age of 40.
Anyway, once he became eligible for Hall of Fame induction, he was on the ballot all 15 years and never got more than 16.9% (1998), but really, if it IS called the Hall of “Fame”, I think you can make a pretty good argument for the guy since he was indeed in that upper-echelon during the wild-70’s.

He certainly has my pick for the N.L. shortstop of the decade for the 1970's!

VINTAGE SPECIAL! "MISSING" 1954 WILSON'S FRANKS MICKEY MANTLE

Good day everyone!

Up on the blog this fine day, a "missing" card that would bring in a FORTUNE today had he been included in this set, a 1954 Wilson Franks Mickey Mantle card:

This would have been phenomenal had it been part of the original rare and highly sought-after oddball set.

The "Commerce Comet" is THE vintage card draw and combined with a set where commons are even high-priced tickets, this would be a gem of the 1950s.

Mantle is one of those guys I really don't think we need to get into as far as his accomplishments on the baseball diamond. It'd be kind of like a joke to start writing about his career since it would take up a book's worth.

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

"The Mick" in all his glory, enshrined in his rightful place in Cooperstown, along with his longtime buddy Whitey Ford in the same HOF class, made for the cherry on top of a career that anyone would wish for.

One of the all-time greatest to ever play the game.

 

NEGRO LEAGUES TO MAJOR LEAGUES: WILLIE MAYS

On the blog today, we add to my 1972 "Negro Leagues to Major Leagues" sub-set, as a 25th anniversary celebration (at that time) of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut of 1947, with all-time great Willie Mays:

Mays made his professional debut as a high school kid back in 1948 with the Birmingham Barons in 1948, and would suit up for them until signed with the New York Giants in 1950.

In 13 games for the Barons that first year, Mays hit .233 with 10 hits over 43 at-bats, picking up six runs batted in and scoring six.

Once in the Giants' Minor League system in 1950, he just tore the cover off the ball, hitting .353 in Class-B and a torrid .477 in Triple-A before getting his call-up in 1951, cruising to a Rookie of the Year Award that season, hitting 20 homers with 68 RBIs and a .274 batting average.

As for the rest of his career, really at this point what else needs to be said about arguably the best all-around player in baseball history. 3000+ hits, 660 homers, 1900+ R.B.I.'s., 1951 Rookie of the Year and N.L. M.V.P. in 1954 and 1965. But he was much more than just stats. He was the "Say Hey Kid".
By the time the 1970's hit, he was a walking legend of the sport, and being enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 was the cherry on top of it all.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1970 MIKE CUELLAR

For fun today, I wanted to do-over former ace Mike Cuellar's 1970 card, which was originally a reused non-descript photo of him cap-less due to Topps short-lived issue with the MLBPA, giving us many lame cards between 1969 and 1970:

For those that don't remember the original, here you go:

Just a nicer more time-appropriate image of the man as he was seemingly posting 20 wins a year for the juggernaut Baltimore Orioles.

The man was as solid as they came over his career, which began in 1959 with the Cincinnati Reds as a 22-year-old.

He ended up putting in a nice 15-year career that saw him win 185 games, post four 20+ win seasons, win a Cy Young Award (shared with Tigers pitcher Denny McLain in 1969) and post four sub-3.00 E.R.A. Seasons.

I never realized that even though he came up in 1959 with the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in two games as a 22-year old, he didn't make it back to the Major's until 1964 at the age of 27, now as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Considering his lifetime win total mentioned above, he could have possibly approached 250 wins had he not missed those four-plus years in the early-1960's.

His lifetime numbers nevertheless were impressive: the 185 wins mentioned above, a 3.14 lifetime E.R.A., 36 shutouts and 1632 strikeouts over 453 games, 379 of which were starts, completing almost half of them with 172.

VINTAGE CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1950 DRAKE'S "EXTENDED" SET: TED WILLIAMS

Time to post up my "missing" 1950 Drake's Ted Williams card, from my custom 10-card set released in 2021 in special packaging:

A great oddball set for the era, I went and "filled in" many of the superstars of the day that weren't included in the original run.

The Boston legend hung them up after the 1960 season, after 19 seasons of extraordinary baseball, losing parts of five seasons to military service, denying us some absolutely bonkers career statistics.

“The Splendid Splinter” was just incredible as a hitter. The last .400 hitter, 521 home runs, a .344 lifetime average with SIX batting titles, and the man missed MULTIPLE years in his prime due to war and his service in the military.
I remember as a kid (nerd alert) I used to love averaging out the three seasons before and after his missed seasons and then factoring them into his final career numbers, and they were insane!
If I remember correctly he would have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 home runs, 3500 hits, 2000+ runs scored and runs batted in along with the slugging and on-base percentages that would have made his already monster career just other-worldly!

The man was truly a “hitting-machine”, perhaps the greatest pure hitter ever (or the Babe? Or Cobb? Musial?).

By the way, by today’s rules, Williams should have won SEVEN batting titles, but in 1954 he lost out to the Cleveland Indians Bobby Avila, who hit .341 with the THEN required official at-bats instead of 501 plate appearances.
Williams hit .345 with 526 plate appearances based on his 386 at-bats and 136 walks, but under the rules of the day was denied that seventh title.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: JON MATLACK

Today on the blog, we have my 1977 "National League Centennial" card for underrated starter Jon Matlack of the New York Mets:

Matlack joined an already solid New York Mets staff in 1972 and proceeded to post a 15-10 record in his rookie year, with a very nice 2.32 earned run average over 32 starts, including four shutouts.

Those numbers got him a Rookie of the Year Award, easily finishing ahead of second-place Dave Rader and fellow teammate John Milner, who finished third.

It would pretty much be the prototypical Matlack season as he’d go on to lead the league in shutouts twice, and average about 15 wins over the next seven years.

Easily overshadowed by teammates like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman through the 1970's, he was about as solid a #3 starter you could ask for.

Overall, he’d split his time as a big league pitcher evenly between the Mets and Texas Rangers, over 13 seasons, and retire with an excellent 3.18 E.R.A., along with a final record of 125-126 and 30 shutouts in 361 appearances, 318 of them starts, with 1516 strikeouts.

970 "20-WIN CIRCLE": LARRY DIERKER

On the blog today, we add former Houston Astros ace Larry Dierker to my 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set, celebrating the 20-game winners of the 1969 season:

Dierker had himself an excellent year in 1969, his sixth in the Majors while still only 22 years of age!

He posted a record of 20-13 over 39 appearances, 37 of them starts, with a brilliant 2.33 earned run average in 305.1 innings.

He completed 20 of those starts and tossed four shutouts along the way, striking out 232 batters, garnering him his first All-Star berth as well.

Incredibly Dierker made his Big League debut at the age of 17 with the (tehn) Houston Colt .45's, appearing in three games and going 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA over three games and nine innings pitched.

He’d finish his playing career in 1978 with the St. Louis Cardinals, his only season outside of Houston, going 2-6 with a 4.58 ERA over 11 appearances before retiring with a record of 139-123 with a very nice 3.31 ERA over 356 games and 2333.2 innings pitched.

SPECIAL FEATURE: 1973 "MISSING" ROBERTO CLEMENTE KELLOGG'S CARD

Good day everyone.

Special card featured today on the blog, my "missing" 1973 Kellogg's Roberto Clemente tribute I had as an insert in my Series 12 set, memorializing the great man after his tragic death:

As we all know, after the 1972 season, a season which saw him attain his 3000th career hit on the last at-bat of the regular season, Clemente was was killed on December 31, when the plane he was a passenger on crashed on it's way to deliver relief packages to victims of a massive earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua.

A tragic end to one of the game's greatest players of the post-war era.

It's even more tragic when you read that the only reason Clemente was on the plane in the first place was to ensure the supplies would reach their intended target, since the previous three planes full of supplies were diverted by corrupt politicians.

Clemente's career is the stuff of legend: His fiery play on the field, his good deeds, and his absolute adoration by teammates and fans alike.

On the field Clemente's numbers were incredible: four batting titles, five seasons batting over .340, four 200 hit seasons, 12 all-star nods, 12 Gold Gloves and a Most Valuable Player Award in 1966.

And a prime example of Clemente's importance to the game was his immediate induction into Cooperstown by special committee in 1973, waiving the standard five-year wait before a player joins the Hall ballot, as well as the establishment of the "Roberto Clemente Award", given every year to the player that exemplified "outstanding baseball playing skills who is personally involved in community work."

The man was incredible, and I'm not even thinking of his baseball prowess.

Just incredible...