1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: TONY PEREZ

Up on the blog today, we go and add the "Big Dog" Tony Perez to my on-going 1977 National League Centennial sub-set, celebrating the league's 100th anniversary of 1976:

Perez truly was an overlooked star on a team that would also have guys like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan, just to name a few, and it’s just plain criminal considering he logged 10 seasons in a row over 90+ runs batted in, with six of them over 100 as stated earlier.
With a batting average hovering around .280, he was a solid and steady force at the plate and out in the field for a team that would become legendary, on their way to two straight championships in 1975 and 1976.
He would play for 23 seasons in the Major Leagues, and end up with 379 homers, 1652 RBI’s, 2732 hits and a very nice .279 average before he left the game at the age of 44.
The “Big Dog”, Sparky Anderson always stated that what killed the “Big Red Machine” from dominating longer was trading away their slugging first baseman in December of 1976 to the Montreal Expos for Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray, a trade that still baffles me.
Nevertheless, after nine tries, he finally made it into the Hall of Fame in 2000, and rightly so. Hopefully Pete Rose can also join his former teammates someday as well.

JAPANESE SPECIAL: 1985 KOJI YAMAMOTO

Good day all!

On the blog today, time for another "Japan Special" featuring a legend from the Japan League, this time a 1985 card for slugging outfield legend Koji Yamamoto:

Yamamoto was close to wrapping up a legendary 18-year career in japan, all with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, by the time this card would have seen the light of day.

Over those 18 seasons, the man was a beast at the plate, hitting 536 homers, with nine 30 Home Run seasons, with five of those 40+, while also driving in 1475 runs, with six 100+ RBI years in the mix.

His 536 homers are fourth All-Time in Japan, taking home four home run titles, as well as reaching the 40-home run mark five years in a row between 1977-1980.

He helped lead the Toyo Carp to five league championships, and three Japan League titles in 1979, 1980 and 1984.

On the defensive side, Yamamoto was also awarded the Mitsui Golden Glove Award for ten straight years between 1972 and 1981, also setting a record of 302 consecutive plays with no errors in 1975.

Some of the records he finished his career with were 40-home run seasons (5), 30-home run seasons (9), consecutive seasons with 20+ homers (13), and consecutive hits (9).

Finally, in 2008, he was awarded his rightful spot in the Japanese baseball Hall of Fame, joining the other legends you've seen me profile here on the blog so far.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": PHIL NIEKRO

On the blog this fine day, we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro, celebrating his league-leading 1.87 earned run average of 1967:

It was his first full season in the Major Leagues after parts of three years between 1964 and 1966, but don't forget he was already 28 years of age when he finally got his shot.

And with that shot he did not disappoint, going 11-9 over 46 games, 20 of those starts, tossing a shutout while collecting nine saves with 10 complete games, throwing 207 innings for the Atlanta Braves.

Incredibly, though getting a bit of a "late-start" in his career, the man would end up putting in 24 years in the Majors, pitching his knuckler until the age of 48 in 1987.

It really is astonishing to think Niekro didn’t have a full season on Big League duty until 1967, yet still went on to pitch those 24 seasons, winning 318 games with a very nice 3.35 ERA along with 45 shutouts and 3342 strikeouts before he was done at the age of 48!
I always thought it amazing that at the age of 44 in 1983, he took home the last of his five Gold Gloves, ALL of which were garnered beginning his age 39 season in 1978.

Just an amazing talent!

 

BONUS CUSTOM SET AVAILABLE NOW: 25-MINI CARD GUM PACK SET

 ****HELLO AGAIN!****

So, a few of you already reached out with a valid question, which leads me to do something I haven't done yet: make TWO sets available at the same time so you can save on postage fees!

 

 

Thanks to Erik and Tim, I will make available now my 25-mini card "Gum Pack" set, which I posted some images on Twitter about a week ago.

For anyone that wants to add this set to their order of the A.L. All-Decade set, just add $10, no postage necessary if you bought or will buy the All-Decade set.

Sorry for the extra step here, it never even dawned on me.

See attached for the sweet gum pack set!

These are 25 thick stock velvet touch cards (like my 1960's Dedicated Rookies inserts), packaged in silver foil and Chewing Gum wrapper.

All the greats from the 1970-era: Mays, Aaron, Clemente, etc.

"MINOR LEAGUE DAYS": LEGENDS EDITION: HANK GREENBERG

Today on the blog we celebrate Detroit Tigers' legend Hank Greenberg with a "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" card:

The Tigers' All-Time great put in parts of two seasons with the Beaumont Exporters in 1931 and 1932, and gave the fans what to expect when he reached the big time.

In 157 games, he hit 39 homers while collecting 174 hits and hitting .290.

It seems there are no records yet for runs scored or runs batted in, but you can easily assume the numbers are impressive!

Once the New York City-born slugger reached the Big Leagues, he mashed his way to the Hall of Fame, hitting 331 home runs in 13 seasons, with almost five prime years lost to World War II.

Greenberg was a two-time MVP, winning the award in 1935 when he led the league with 35 homers and 168 RBIs, and 1940 when he repeated the feat with 41 homers and 150 RBIs.

Incredibly, those weren't nearly his best years, as he would drive in as many as 184 runs in 1937, and hit as many as 58 homers in 1938, with three 200-hit campaigns, a 63-double season in 1934, and what the heck even a 16 triple year in 1935.

The man was an absolute beast at the plate!

Can you imagine what his career numbers could have been had he played the five extra seasons between his 30-34 years lost to military service?!

Just an amazing player who like others lost prime years to the War, but nevertheless found their rightful place in the annals of baseball's long history.

NEWEST CUSTOM SET AVAILABLE NOW: AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-DECADE TEAM

Hello all!

Time to release my next WTHBALLS set, the 1980 American League "All-Decade" 1970s set that I've been posting on the blog lately:

 

This is the companion set to my earlier National League edition!

This set also has 13 cards in total: 12 cards of the All-Decade team plus a "Player of the 1970s" card for Reggie Jackson, as voted on by all of you on Twitter recently in my 24-hour poll.

Since the topic is not finished yet on the blog/Twitter, you'll see some cards for the first time attached here, so if you don't want to ruin the surprise don't look! Ha!

Unique to the printed set are new images for each player from the web-posted cards, so they are different from what everyone "out there" saw.

The set is $13 plus the usual $4.50 postage, a one-time fee no matter how many you buy.

My paypal is the usual email address!
Thank you all for the continued support and interest!

Be well and safe!
Gio/wthballs

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1976 MIKE FLANAGAN

On the blog today, we have a 1976 "dedicated rookie" for former Cy Young winner and Baltimore Orioles ace Mike Flanagan, who made his MLB debut during the 1975 season:

Flanagan appeared in two games for the Orioles in 1975 before earning a spot the following season, which saw him appear in 20 games, half of those out of the bullpen, with 1977 his first true year as a Big League starter.

That season saw him go 15-10 over 36 games, 33 of them starts, tossing the first two shutouts of his career, while completing 15 and throwing 235 innings.

1978 would see him make the A.L. All-Star team, incredibly the only time that would happen for him, as he would go on to win 19 games against 15 losses, throwing what would end up being a career-best 281.1 innings.

In 1979, it would all come together for the lefty, as he would go on to have his best year as a Major League pitcher, winning a league-leading 23 games for the American League champs, going 23-9 with a 3.08 ERA and five shutouts, striking out 190 batters and completing 16 games.

Those numbers would also get him a sixth-place finish in the MVP race at season's end, teaming up with Jim Palmer, Denny Martinez, Scott McGregor and Steve Stone to give Baltimore one heck of a starting five.

Though he'd never reach those numbers again, he would end up putting in 18 years in the Big Leagues, winning 167 games against 143 losses, posting a 3.90 ERA over 2770 innings with 19 shutouts and 1491 strikeouts.

 

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "CHIEF" JACK AKER

On the blog today, a 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970's" card former reliever Jack Aker, who at one point held the record with 32 saves in a season in 1966 while with the Kansas City Athletics:

Since his nickname was rooted in his ancestry, I used the symbol of the Anishinaabe people, of which Aker's descendants are from, more specifically the Potawatomi tribe.

"Anishinaabe" means "Original people", and is a group of tribes that also includes the Algonquin, Ojibway, Ottawa, Mississauga, Nipissing, Saulteaux and Oji-Cree tribes.

As for Aker's playing career, over his entire 11 year career he never started a single game, appearing in a total of 495 games in relief, posting a (then) very respectable 124 saves, including 32 in 1966 alone when he had his best season in the big leagues for the Kansas City Athletics, going 8-4 with a 1.99 ERA to go along with those league-leading saves.

Interestingly, Aker picked up the save in the Seattle Pilots very first game and win in franchise history, before getting traded to the New York Yankees later in the year.

Between 1964 and 1974 he'd suit up for the Athletics, Pilots, Yankees, Cubs, Braves and Mets, finishing with a 47-45 record with a nice 3.28 ERA and 404 strikeouts over 746 innings of work in 495 appearances.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: ELLIOTT MADDOX AND HIS AIRBRUSHED 1978 CARD

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, revisiting a blog post from March of 2015, taking a closer look at a great airbrushing job by Topps on the 1978 Elliott Maddox card.

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

 

 

"Recently, when I posted an article on the great airbrushing job by Topps on the 1977 Doyle Alexander card, we started a small conversation on some OTHER great airbrushing done on cards of the period.

Some one mentioned the 1976 Nelson Briles, which was indeed a great job (I'll cover that in the future), and someone else mentioned a card I was already planning on writing about: the 1978 Elliott Maddox card.

Now, first things first: I never realized this was an airbrushing job until about a month ago! All these years it just looked genuine to me at a passing glance.

Then I was looking at Maddox's career and saw he never played for the Mets in 1977, but the Orioles.

That's when I took a closer look and realized Topps took a shot of Maddox when he was with the Yankees, and cleverly airbrushed the TINIEST end of the "Mets" logo on his jersey, while keeping the Yankees pinstriping, messing with the hue just a bit to resemble the Met's pinstriping.

Brilliant!

With the most minimal of airbrushing: in this case that little bit of the "Mets" script peeking out from behind his arm, this really made for an authentic looking shot.

I love stuff like this!

As for Maddox the player, he played a solid 11 years in the Major Leagues, coming up in 1970 with the Tigers before moving on to the Senators/Rangers, Yankees, Orioles and Mets, for whom he played for the last three years of his career until 1980.

He finished with a .261 average with 742 hits over 2843 at-bats, and even finished 8th in MVP voting in 1974, his first season with the Yankees, after hitting .303 in perhaps his finest year in the Majors.

SOME WTHBALLS PIN-BACK BUTTONS FINALLY PRODUCED!

 Just a quick post showing off the new WTHBALLS pin-back buttons!

As a musician I must have produced 100 different designs, so I don't know why it took so long to get some whipped up for WTHBALLS!

I'll be throwing them in packages moving forward!

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: ALAN GALLAGHER

Up on the blog today, the next un-released 1971 "Topps Rookie All-Star" that was supposed to be part of their 1971 set, former infielder Alan Gallagher:

Gallagher had a decent rookie year in 1970, hitting .266 over 109 games for the San Francisco Giants while manning third base.

Those numbers were good enough to tab him the rookie All-Star at third base, leading to the beauty of a prototype card you see here.

Though he did have another decent year in 1971, hitting .277 over 136 games, setting career bests across the board in what turned out to be a brief four year career, he'd never play at that level again, splitting time in 1973 with the Giants and California Angels before playing ball in various Minor Leagues, as well as Mexico.

His final MLB numbers: four years and 442 games, hitting .263 with 114 runs scored, 333 hits and 130 RBIs, seeing most of his time at third base.

Look for his "missing" 1974 card here on the blog in the near future!

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: TOM SEAVER

Good day all!

On the blog today, we go and add "Tom Terrific", Tom Seaver to my on-going 1977 National League Centennial sub-set celebrating the league's 100th anniversary of 1976:

What needs to be said about the greatest New York Met to ever suit up?

The man would end up with a 311-205 record along with 61 shutouts and 3640 strikeouts to go with a brilliant 2.86 ERA over 20-seasons and 656 appearances, 647 of which were starts.

He was in prime form in the mid-70’s, putting together nine straight 200 strikeouts seasons while getting tabbed to ten all-star teams in his first eleven seasons.

God I loved Tom Seaver when I was a kid. More than any other pitcher of that era I was in awe of this man. He just seemed like a "super-hero" to me.

Just look at all my other posts dedicated to the man here on this blog. He was other-worldly to me growing up in New York City as a kid in the 1970's.

Even if he WAS a Met, to this young Yankee fan he was unquestionably the best pitcher in the game at that time.

Rest in Peace "Tom Terrific"!

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. LHP VIDA BLUE

On the blog this fine day, my pick for the 1970s American League left-handed pitcher of the decade, Vida Blue:

Before taking his talents across the Bay to the San Francisco Giants in 1978, Vida Blue anchored the Oakland A’s pitching staff, helping the team to three straight World Championships between 1972 and 1974.
Along the way he posted three 20-win seasons, including his magnificent 1971 campaign that saw him go 24-8 with a 1.83 E.R.A. and 301 strikeouts, with eight shutouts and 24 complete games at the age of 21, taking home league Cy Young and M.V.P. Awards.
A season earlier, he pitched a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins, facing the minimum 27 batters with nine strikeouts.

Blue would go on to six All-Star games, starting and winning one in each league, and eventually retire with 209 wins and a 3.27 ERA with 37 shutouts, posting three 20-win seasons over his 17-year career.
A true icon of 1970’s baseball.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: ROD CAREW

Happy to add another Hall of Famer to my long-running 1971 "Minor League Days" set, this time the hitting machine Rod Carew, who put in one season as a 20-year-old in 1966 with the Wilson Tobs:

The kid did not disappoint, as he would hit .292 with 28 stolen bases and 64 runs scored over 112 games.

He was ready for his moment, and the Minnesota Twins would call him up the following season, where he would march straight to an American League Rookie of the Year Award.

The man was a player for the ages, as 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!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": NOLAN RYAN TOSSES 15K ONE-HITTER

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for uber-star Nolan Ryan, who was just starting out his historic baseball carer as a member of the New York Mets:

In the ninth-game of the 1970 season, the reigning World Champion Mets had their young starter put in the type of game he would become famous for later on in his Hall of Fame career, tossing a 15-strikeout one-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, absolutely dominating the game aside from his six walks.

A day after being shut out by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, the Phillies found themselves victims of an even more dominating performance, this time by the young righty from Texas, allowing only a Denny Doyle single on his way to his first Major League Shutout.

Well, as we all know, it certainly would NOT be the last shutout of his career!

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I used the 1974 template since he was fresh off his record-breaking 383 strikeout season of 1973, his second consecutive 300+ strikeout season, and on his way to make the Mets regret BIG TIME for letting him go.

I love thinking about the fact that he did all of this in the American League, with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1973 BILLY CONIGLIARO

Good day all!

On the blog today, a "not so missing" 1973 card for Billy Conigliaro, who moved West to Milwaukee after his first three years in the Big Leagues with the Boston Red Sox:

Conigliaro "the younger" appeared in 52 games for the Brewers in 1972, hitting .230 with seven homers and 16 runs batted in.

Billy had himself a promising rookie year in 1970 that saw him slam 18 home runs while batting .271 in only 114 games, but he could never quite match that production again, finding himself with the Brewers after those initial three years in "Beantown" followed by a year with the Oakland A’s in 1973, playing a total of 100 games combined those two seasons before finding himself out of baseball for good.

He put in parts of five seasons in the Majors, hitting .256 over 347 games, with 40 homers and 128 runs batted in, scoring 142 runs between 1969 and 1973.

"MINOR LEAGUE DAYS": LEGENDS EDITION: EDDIE MATHEWS

On the blog today, we add Hall of Fame slugger Eddie Mathews to my "Minor League Days- Legends Edition" set, celebrating the often overlooked superstar third baseman:

Mathews put in a solid season with the Atlanta Crackers as an 18-year-old in 1950, giving the Braves organization a glimpse of the future, hitting 32 homers with 106 runs batted in over 146 games, scoring 103 runs while hitting .286.

He would put in another year in the Minors before making his Major league debut in 1952, and it was smooth sailing from there, as he would become one of the great third sackers the game has ever seen.

Simply put, 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!

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: TED SIMMONS

Today we add recent Hall of Fame (finally!) member Ted Simmons to my on-going 1977 N.L. Centennial thread, as the National League celebrated their 100th anniversary during the 1976 season:

Simmons was already firmly established as a top-notch catcher  in the Major Leagues. But sadly for him he happened to be playing at the same time that guys like Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson and then Gary Carter were doing the same, easily allowing people to lose him in the shuffle.
But look at this guy's career!
Simmons went on to post a Big League resume that included eight All-Star nods, six seasons of 20+ homers, eight 90+ RBI campaigns and seven years of a .300 or better average.
By the time he retired after the 1988 season, he finished with 2472 hits, 248 homers, 1389 RBIs and a .285 average.
At the same time, playing in the era of the free-swinging 70’s and 80’s, he struck out only 694 times in 9685 plate appearances while twice leading his league in Intentional Base on Balls.
I have always been stunned at the fact that “Simba” garnered a meager 3.7% vote in his first chance at the Hall of Fame, thus becoming a ridiculous “one and done” candidate.

But thankfully, in 2020 he was finally selected for Hall of Fame membership, voted in by the Veteran's Committee, and rightly so!

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 CHUCK HARTENSTEIN

Hello everyone!

On the blog today, we look closely at the image variations between the Topps and OPC 1977 cards for trucker...er, I mean PITCHER Chuck Hartenstein of the Toronto Blue Jays:

OPC Version

Topps Version

Great stuff here!

The OPC version of Chuck in a standing pose as opposed to the airbrushed close-up just a bit better, but BOTH are classic era-perfect shots of one of the "original" Blue Jays.

I've written a few times on the blog about these photos, and Hartenstein himself, who made the long road back to the Majors after a long stay in the Minors.

Hartenstein last appeared in a Major League game in 1970 with the Boston Red Sox, and would get drafted in the expansion draft in 1976 by the Toronto Blue Jays, which would lead to the great cards you see above, airbrushed, and a great job I might add, showing him looking like some trucker ready to throw in a Merle Haggard 8-track while part of some convoy somewhere.
I have always loved this card. The shades, the sideburns, and especially knowing what he looked like years earlier, it’s the perfect card reflecting the era.
His “comeback” would be short however, as he would get hammered over his 13 appearances, going 0-2 with a bloated 6.59 earned run average, giving up 20 earned runs over 27.1 innings.
I was always also into cards of guys that hadn’t appeared in a Topps set for a while. Brock Davis, Danny Murphy, Vincente Romo also come to mind.
Anyway, seems Hartenstein’s pro career was over with the last game he appeared in with the Blue Jays, as it seems he never even pitched in a Minor League game again.
But long live the original Topps card and all it’s 70’s glory!

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. LHP STEVE CARLTON

Today on the blog, a super-easy choice for my 1970s left-handed pitcher of the decade, "Lefty" Steve Carlton, as if there'd be anyone else:

Part of my recent custom released National League set (with different images for the actual printed cards, with the American League team coming soon!)

Carlton made his major League debut during the 1965 season, appearing in 15 games, with two of those starts, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a 2.52 earned run average as a 20-year-old.

In 1966 it would be more of the same, as he'd appear in only nine games, going 3-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 52 innings of work, striking out 25 while walking 18, also tossing the first shutout of his young Big League tenure.

1967 would see him begin his next level of play, as he'd go 14-9 with a 2.98 ERA over 30 appearances and 193 innings, with two shutouts and 168 strikeouts, helping the St. Louis Cardinals win it all, their second championship in three years.

For Carlton, all he did the rest of the way was top 300 wins, 4000 strikeouts, 50 shutouts and 700 starts in his 24 year career!

The first guy to take home four Cy Young Awards, he led his league in wins four times, strikeouts five times, E.R.A. once and was named to ten all-star teams.

Needless to say, by the time he was eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in on his first try, getting named to 436 of 456 ballots.

Sure we already had "Lefty" Grove, and "Lefty" Gomez, but Carlton was more than worthy of the same nickname for all of his accomplishments.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: STEVE GARVEY

Today we add "Mr. Clean" Steve Garvey to my on-going 1977 National League Centennial sub-set, celebrating the league's 100th Anniversary of 1976, designated with a special sleeve patch as you can see in this image:

The festivities went on all season, with all teams sporting the patch, and having the All-Star game in Philadelphia for the Bicentennial celebration the nation was also celebrating.

As for Garvey, he made his Major League debut in 1969 as a 20-year-old, appearing in three games, going 1-for-3 at the plate.

Of course, we all know that the man would go on to be a perennial All-Star first baseman, and for ME, a lock for the Hall of Fame.

The fact that he was the premier first baseman in the National League from the mid-70’s through the mid-80’s, an All-Star year in and year out doesn't seem to matter to most however.
Modern metrics be damned, the man topped 200-hits six times, took home the NL MVP in 1974, won four Gold Gloves and strung together a run of 1207 consecutive games played, which is still the NL record.
The anchor of the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers teams of the era, they took over from Cincinnati as the preeminent team in the Senior Circuit in the late-70s, reaching the World Series three times over five seasons between 1977 and 1981, winning it all that final year, beating the New York Yankees and exacting some sweet revenge for their two losses in 77/78.
I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a few hundred times: the fact that this man is NOT in the Hall of Fame, representing his era of Major League baseball, is a joke. Flat out nonsense. Beyond the numbers, the personality, the leader of a team that was shattering attendance records, helping popularize the game further, the man was an All-Star year in-year out.
In my book, seeing that the most support he ever received was 42.6%, which was in his second-year of eligibility in 1994, is nothing short of a mark on what the Hall of Fame is.

That goes for Dave Parker and Dale Murphy as well!

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": GAYLORD PERRY

Today we go and add Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry to my on-going "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" sub-set, perhap the nicest and hardest to find Topps oddball set there is:

The subject is Perry's no-hitter from 1968 against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 17th at Candlestick Park, where he fanned nine while walking only two, defeating Bob Gibson during HIS incredible MVP year, 1-0.

Perry was dominant that day, lowering his earned run average to 2.46, while posting his 15th win against 14 losses.

For Gibson, the one earned run allowed had his ERA at 1.13, just ridiculous, while he also walked two while striking out 10.

The only run of the game was a Ron Hunt home run in the first inning, before both pitchers shut down any chance of offense, with the Giants managing only three more hits the rest of the game.

Incredibly, the very next day the Cardinals got their revenge by no-hitting the Giants 2-0, with Ray Washburn turning in the gem, striking out eight while allowing five walks.

Can you imagine THAT!?

In that game, there were three pitchers total, Washburn and his 2.28 ERA for the Cardinals, Bobby Bolin and his 1.96 ERA staring for the Giants, and reliever Frank Linzy and his 2.26 ERA.

Indeed the "Year of the Pitcher"!

1973 DEDICATED ROOKIE: RON CEY

Time to go and give former All-Star third baseman Ron Cey a "dedicated" card in the 1973 set, after initially appearing (famously) on a multi-player card also featuring some guy named Mike Schmidt:

Now, for Cey this ISN'T a dedicated rookie since he also appeared on a 1972 multi-player rookie card, but nevertheless the "Penguin" deserves a solo edition here as well, and I'm happy to oblige!

Cey pretty much made an immediate impact in the Major Leagues, going on to a very nice 17-year career that saw him excel with the Los Angeles Dodgers at third base, being named to six consecutive all-star games between 1974 and 1979.
By the time he hung up the cleats after the 1987 season, he slammed 316 home runs while collecting 1139 runs batted in, with a .261 lifetime average.
As we all know he’d also be part of an infield that came up together, and stayed together for quite some time, Ron Cey at third, Bill Russell at short, Davel Lopes at second and Steve Garvey at first base.
And very solid and dependable quartet if there ever was one!
They’d help bring the Dodgers four National League Pennants and a World Series victory in 1981 over the New York Yankees.
Not bad at all...

 

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: ROY FOSTER

On the blog today, the next 1970 Topps Rookie All-Star who was going to have a special card created in 1971 before Topps scrapped the idea, leaving us with the following prototype, Cleveland Indians Outfielder Roy Foster:

Foster was the runner-up to Thurman Munson for the American League rookie of the year in 1970 for Cleveland.
He put in a nice season in 1970, posting a .268 average with 23 homers and 63 ribbies in his rookie year, seemingly ready to give the Indians a solid young outfielder for years to come.

Sadly for him however, he ended up having a disappointing year in 1971 which saw him bat .245 with 18 homers and 45 runs batted, leading Cleveland to ship him off to the Texas Ranger for 1972.

Oddly, in what seemed like a common thing in that era, it turns out that he would end up getting traded BACK to Cleveland right before the new season started, ending up playing what would turn out to be the final 73 games of his brief career, batting .224 with only four homers and 13 runs batted in, before spending the 1973 season in the Minors and the following couple of years in the Mexican League before retiring for good.

A quick career that began with promise before flaming out just like that, but NOT before getting some nice attention for that rookie campaign in 1970.

1972 25TH ANNIVERSARY JACKIE ROBINSON SPECIAL: "HALL OF FAMER"

Today we come to the final stage of the legend Jackie Robinson and his magnificent career, with his rightful induction to the Hall of Fame in 1962, selected on his first time on the ballot:

Just a nice shot of the man along with his wife Rachel at the ceremony, holding up the plaque that would be seen by all on their visit to the museum.

What needs to be stated at this point regarding his incredible career and journey?

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.

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

A true legend beyond the scope of the sport, becoming a cultural icon for many in the years to come.

 

IMAGE SPOTLIGHT: 1974 BILLY WILLIAMS AND THAT STRANGE BACKGROUND

Good day all!

I've always been interested in the 1974 card for HOF outfielder Billy Williams because of the crowd background and its yellow hue, and I finally found the original image, untouched by the fine folks at Topps, and as I figured, it was NOT as we saw on the card.

So today we'll take a closer look:

Just a great action shot of "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler" before Topps gave it that strange yellow coloring. Don't know why.

As for Billy himself, by the time he retired after the 1976 season, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
Along with his Rookie of the Year in 1961, he was a two-time runner-up to the MVP Award (thanks to Johnny Bench each time) in 1970 and 1972 and a six-time All-Star.
What a career he put together, yet always in the shadows of giants like teammate Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.
Nevertheless, though it took him six years of eligibility to make it, he was elected for a rightful place in Cooperstown in 1987 when he received 85.7% of the vote.
Just a great player all around.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": ROD CAREW STEALS HOME FOR 7TH TIME

Hello everyone!

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for Rod Carew, who was missing from one of my all-time favorite card sets, the uber-expensive Topps set of the same name:

On July 16th of 1969, the young Minnesota Twins second baseman tied Brooklyn Dodger Pete Reiser's MLB record with his seventh steal of home.

With the bases loaded against the Chicago White Sox Jerry Nyman, Carew took off from third base and successfully stole home, helping the Twins sweep a double-header and march to a first-ever "American League West" title in the first year of the new divisional format.

Now, while this WAS marked as a record, since then new research has uncovered that the great Ty Cobb actually stole home EIGHT times back in 1912.

But I thought it'd be fun to highlight stealing home for Carew instead of the "usual" hitting machine that he became over his incredible career.

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 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!

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1977 BILLY WILLIAMS CAREER-CAPPER

Hello everyone.

Today on the blog I thought it'd be fun to revisit a 10-year old post many of you may not have seen before, a 1977 "Career-Capper" for under-rated and overlooked Hall of Famer (if there is such a thing), Billy Williams:

"Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler" was truly a magnificent player that gets lost in the crowded Hall of Fame N.L. outfield of the era filled with guys like Aaron, Mays and Clemente.

However he was a player ANY team would kill for, putting in All-Star calibre season after season through the 1960s and beyond.

He wrapped up a Hall of Fame career in 1976 with the Oakland A’s, his second season with the team after 16 years with the Chicago Cubs.
By the time he retired, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961, two-time runner-up to the MVP Award (thanks to Johnny Bench each time) in 1970 and 1972 and a six-time All-Star.
What a career he put together, yet always in the shadows of giants like teammate Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.
Nevertheless, though it took him six years of eligibility to make it, he was elected for a rightful place in Cooperstown in 1987 when he received 85.7% of the vote.
Just a great player all around.

 

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1979 DWAYNE MURPHY

Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS stable today, my 1979 "dedicated rookie" for Oakland A's outfielder Dwayne Murphy:

Murphy put in a very nice 12-year career in the Major Leagues between 1978 and 1989, and sadly can be overlooked since he happened to come up at the same time as another Oakland outfielder, Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson.

But between 1980 and 1985 Murphy was as solid as you could ask, winning six straight Gold Glove Awards while also a "double-threat" at the plate, hitting as many as 33 home runs (1984) while also stealing as many as 26 bases (1980 and 1982).

The center-fielder led the league in putouts at his position three times, assists once and "Range Factor" for you analytics guys four straight seasons between 1980 and 1983.

By the time he retired after the 1989 season, he finished with 166 homers, 100 stolen bases and a .246 average over 1360 games and 4347 at-bats.

1977 NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTENNIAL: STEVE CARLTON

On the blog today, we add Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton to my on-going 1977 N.L. Centennial sub-set, celebrating the Senior League's 100th anniversary season of 1976, marked with a special patch worn by all players that year:

The first guy to take home four Cy Young Awards, he led his league in wins four times, strikeouts five times, E.R.A. once and was named to ten all-star teams.

Of course, he would end up topping 200 strikeouts eight times, with a career-best 310 in his historic 1972 season that saw him win 27 games while pitching to a 1.97 ERA, all league-leading numbers, for a last-place Philadelphia Phillies team, while completing 30 of his 41 starts. Just insane!

From then on he just pitched himself straight to the Hall of Fame, winning 329 lifetime games, with 55 shutouts, a 3.22 E.R.A. and 4146 strikeouts.

He was also named to 10 all-star teams and was the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards: 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1982.

Throw in six 20-win seasons, eight sub-2.00 E.R.A. seasons, and eight 200+ strikeout seasons, and you see why he was named on 436 of 456 ballots when Cooperstown came calling.

Sure we already had "Lefty" Grove, and "Lefty" Gomez, but Carlton was more than worthy of the same nickname for all of his accomplishments.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1976 JIM RICE

Hello everyone!

A special request posted today on the blog, a "do-over" for Jim Rice and his 1976 card, showing an in-action shot instead of the dark close-up portrait we were given way back when:

I love the idea of this, as the original would have been wonderful had Topps paired up an action card of the young stud like they did for teammate Fred Lynn, both sporting the always-loved Rookie All-Star trophy.

The Red Sox were truly blessed back then with THREE young outfield stars coming up at the same time: Rice, Lynn and Dwight Evans.

You may even want to include Carlton Fisk, Ben Oglivie and Cecil Copper in there, giving them a phenomenal bunch of young players to build around!

For Rice, what DIDN'T he do in the 1970s, and beyond?

I'm STILL amazed with Rice's run from 1977 through 1979! Even though he only pulled in one M.V.P., he was an absolute terror at the plate.

Over 200 hits each year, along with 39, 46 and 39 homers, as well as averaging 124 runs batted in and a .320 average.

Then you notice that the dude hit 15, 15 and 6 TRIPLES those years, leading the league in homers AND triples in 1978.

I mean, that is just plain RAKING at the plate!

Man, Rice used to terrify me as a young Yankee fan. He was just plain brutal to opposing pitchers, and it was a shame that he had to wait so long to get elected into Cooperstown. 

Now if only Dave Parker and Steve Garvey can get some love from the Veteran's Committee in the future, THEN we'll be cooking with gas!

Time will tell…"

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. RHP JIM PALMER

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we have my pick, and I'm sure most everyone else in this matter, for the American League right-handed pitcher of the 1970s, Jim Palmer, Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer:

Honestly, there is no way it could be anyone else, as the man was just incredible not only in the 1970s, but over his stellar career.

Palmer’s road to Cooperstown was a bit rocky at first, with a couple of jumps and starts because of injuries between 1964 and 1968.
As a matter of fact we’d probably be looking at a 300-game winner if not for over a season of missed time between 1967 and 1968.
All the man did was top 20-wins in eight of the next ten seasons of the 1970s, winning three Cy Young Awards, the first American League pitcher to do so, helping the Orioles to a championship in 1970, and eventually finishing with a career 268-152 record along with a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts before he was done in 1984.

Over that magical decade of the 1970s, he was an All-Star six times, got MVP support seven seasons, and took home four Gold Gloves.

Truly one of the All-Time greats of the game!