1969 "DO-OVER" SET: CARL YASTRZEMSKI

Today on the blog, we spotlight my 1969 do-over for Carl Yastrzemski, from my recent custom set released a few months ago "fixing" the issue of repeated images Topps used in that set:

Just a nice portrait shot of the man just a year or so removed from his MVP Triple Crown season of 1967, when he took the team on his shoulders and marched straight to the World Series, cementing his legendary status in New England.

The man was at his height of his game at the time this photo was taken, already a three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner in 1967, and five-time Gold Glove winner.

As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island, New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.

And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18 all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive categories.

By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816 runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in along with a .285 batting average.

He was just plain awesome…

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1979 DEDICATED ROOKIE DALE MURPHY

Up on the blog today, revisiting a post just short of ten years old, my 1978 "dedicated rookie" for Dale Murphy, who unfortunately was on his second straight multi-player rookie card in the 1978 set:

Just a nice dedicated card to the man most feel is a Hall of Famer, me included.

Here's the original write-up from the post:

"Considering that the 1978 Topps set is rife with players that barely, if at all, played the previous year, why Topps didn't give this up-and-coming Braves prospect a card is beyond me.

A first round pick (5th pick overall) in the 1974 amateur draft out of Portland, Oregon, Murphy was already up for a cup of coffee in 1977, and performed well in his limited time in the Majors, hitting .316 with a couple of homers and 14 runs batted in in only 18 games.

Pretty nice if you ask me.

He was also up for 19 games in 1976, and did a decent job of it then as well, hitting .262 with nine R.B.I.'s.

He also ripped it up in the Minors during the 1977 season, hitting .305 with 22 homers and 90 ribbies in 127 games for Richmond in Triple-A ball.

You think this would have all been good enough to give the guy a card all by his lonesome.

As we all know, Murphy went on to have a borderline Hall of Fame career, winning the National League M.V.P. twice, in 1982 and 1983, as well as five Gold Gloves and appearing in five All-Star games.

During the first part of the 1980's he was up there as one of the best in the game.

By the time he retired after the 1993 season, his 18-year career gave us 398 homers, 1266 runs batted in, 2111 hits and 1197 runs scored.

But it was his peak years between 1980 and 1987 that made Murphy a household name in the baseball world, just falling short of Cooperstown as one of those players just outside the bubble (like Dave Parker, Steve Garvey, et al).

Factor in his boring 1979 Topps card as his first solo card, and this 1978 card would have been nice as a collector to have out there.

Oh well…"

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: TOM SEAVER

Good day all!

Today we'll start to spotlight cards from my recent custom set featuring mini-cards packaged like a pack of gum, a fun little set I created on a whim a few months back capturing the flair of the 1970's, the era I first got into the sport:

We begin with quite possibly my favorite pitcher of all-time, the great Tom Seaver, who was a force of nature in the mid-70's, when I first fell in love with baseball as a little kid in Brooklyn, New York, though admittedly a Yankee fan:

 

Just a fun idea to see come to fruition, imagining if there was a set of cards sold as packs of gum, complete with wrapper and foil, and luckily I found a great printer who could handle the job!

As for Seaver, 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"!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: HOYT WILHELM

The next legend of the game that gets a card in my new custom set, "Classic Baseball" is all-time great Hoyt Wilhelm, who put in about as interesting a pitching career as I could ever imagine:

Just a beautiful photo of the man with the New York Giants early in his career, a Big League tenure that would begin late, run years beyond most other careers, and lead right to the Hall of Fame, as it should have.

Who knows what he could have done if he remained a starter. Who knows what his career numbers would have been if he began his career in his early 20's instead of at the ripe "old" age of 29!
Think about this for a second: the man started his career at 29 and he STILL pitched in 21 seasons. He still ended up setting what was then the all-time record for appearances by a pitcher with 1070.
Throw in seven seasons of sub-2.00 E.R.A.'s, 227 saves, and on top of all of that, TWO E.R.A. crowns in the ONLY two years he even threw enough innings to qualify, and you definitely have a Hall of Fame career when it's all said and done.
Take a look at Wilhelm's rookie season. In 1952 he shows up in New York, pitching for the Giants, and all he does is go 15-3 in 159.1 innings, with a league-leading 2.43 E.R.A. and 11 saves. And this was ALL in relief! He appeared in 71 games without a single start. Just awesome.
He also managed to hit a home run in his first Major League at bat on April 23, 1952, never to hit another one in his career. Go figure.
It would then be another seven years before he would pitch more than 154 innings, this time topping out with a career high 226 with the Baltimore Orioles in 1959 mainly as a starter.
His other numbers that year were good enough to have him selected as an All-Star: 15-11, league-leading 2.19 E.R.A., and 13 complete games with three shut outs.
Whether you had him starting or coming in as a reliever, he was up for the challenge.
Wilhelm finally called it a career after the 1972 season where he appeared in only 16 games for the L.A. Dodgers.
Over the course of his last five seasons (all post-45 years of age), he bounced around a bit and pitched for five teams: White Sox, Angels, Braves, Dodgers and Cubs, going 17-18 with 43 saves.
Nevertheless, Wilhelm was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, generally considered the first relief pitcher to have this honor bestowed upon him.
So without any further delay, here's a 1973 card design capping off a great and unique Major League career.

1960's IN-ACTION SPECIAL: 1961 WARREN SPAHN

The next 1960's superstar to get an "In-Action" card in my recent custom set is all-time great Warren Spahn, who I gave the 1961 template to in the initial series:

Just a rearranging of the 1961 card design, imagining what Topps would have done had they been able to incorporate action photography years ahead of the 1971 debut.

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...

 

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1975 DICK WILLIAMS

Hello all!

On the blog today, we're going to go ahead and beginning adding the All-Star manager to the base All-Star cards between 1975 and 1979, beginning with the American League's manager in the 1974 game, Dick Williams:

Now, Williams was the manager based on his 1973 A.L. Pennant winning, and title winning, year with the Oakland A's, their second straight World Series win.

Funny thing is by the time the 1974 "Mid Summer Classic" came around, Williams was now managing the California Angels after a stormy end to his Oakland run, hence the Angels designation on the card.

Williams had the A's at just the right time, coming in for the 1971 season and winning 101 games for the burgeoning dynasty, winning it all in 1972 and 1973.

Over the course of his 21-year managerial career, Williams managed five first-place teams, reaching the playoffs with four of his teams: Red Sox, A's, Expos and Padres.

He guided three of THOSE teams to the World Series, and finished with 1571 wins, four pennants and two World Series wins.

All of that eventually led to Williams being inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2008.

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: ROD CAREW

The next card from my recent "1969 Gimmie A Do-Over" custom set to get the spotlight, my Rod Carew card, giving his 1969 slab a refresh with an image other than the one already used in 1968:

For Carew, having his first TWO dedicated cards of his career have the same image sucks (like Tom Seaver), and it always irked me, so giving his 1969 card a new photo was long overdue in my eyes.

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!

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1974 FERGIE JENKINS

On the blog today, re-doing Chicago Cubs legend Fergie Jenkins' 1974 Topps card, showing him one last time as a Cub rather than the nondescript Texas Rangers hatless version Topps had out there way back when:

Granted, Topps had it correct with the Rangers versions, being that Jenkins was sent packing South in a blockbuster deal after an incredible run in the "Windy City".

I just wanted to have a landscape Cubs card for him in the 1974 set since the Cubs' colors in the 1974 template was so nice.

He'd eventually post six 20-win seasons, six 200-strikeout seasons, five 300+-inning years, four sub-3.00 E.R.A. Years and become the first pitcher in Major League history to finish with 3000+ strikeouts with LESS than 1000 base on balls.

Overall in 19-seasons Jenkins finished with a 284-226 record, with a 3.34 earned run average, 49 shutouts and 3192 strikeouts over 664 games, 594 of which were starts.

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.

The man was truly "Fly", and I hope to have this as part of my next set of "regular" Series cards!

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS INSERTS: MINNIE MINOSO

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we spotlight my Minnie Minoso special insert from my "1960's career-Cappers" custom set released a few years back:

 

 

Just a fun "1948 Bowman-style" insert I included of each player from the base set for an added kick!

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 ball field.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1971 BOB ALLISON

Up on the blog today, we have a career-capper for former Minnesota twins bopper Bob Allison, who closed out a nice Major League career in 1970:

In his final season of 1970, Allison appeared in 47 games, hitting .208 with 15 hits over 72 at-bats, scoring 15 while driving in seven, with the last home run of his career.

Playing his entire career with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise, he originally came up in 1958 when he appeared in eleven games, getting his first taste of Big League ball and hitting .200 in that brief time.

The following year, he mashed his way to a Rookie of the Year Award when he hit 30 homers, driving in 85 while also leading the American League with nine triples.

Over the next dozen years or so, he would top20 homers seven more times, with 30+ two more times, with a high of 35 in 1963, making the All-Star team three times with some MVP attention three times as well.

Over 1541 games between 1958 and 1970, he hit 256 homers, with 796 RBIs and 811 runs scored, with a .255 batting average and 1281 hits.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: BERT CAMPANERIS

Good day all!

On the blog today, my next "Classic Baseball" custom card celebrating the game I have loved for oh so long, this one of Bert Campaneris, aka "Campy", in all his wonderful green and gold:

Just a great photograph of the All-Star infielder early on in his career, which began in 1964 with the (then) Kansas City Athletics.

“Campy” was a consistent spark plug for the Athletics organization since his debut, and making quite a splash by hitting two home runs in his first Big League game off Minnesota Twins pitcher Jim Kaat.
He’d go on to lead the American League in stolen bases six times, while getting named to six All-Star teams along the way.
Of course, he would also be an important member of the three-time World Champion Oakland A’s of the mid-70s along with Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi and Catfish Hunter just to name a few.
He would end up playing 19 Major League seasons, all the way to 1983, finishing up with 2249 hits, 1181 runs scored and 649 stolen bases over 2328 games.

I was lucky enough to see him play when he closed out his great career with 60 games as a New York Yankee in 1983, when as a 41 year old he hit .322 over 143 at-bats!

Such a solid player!

 

1960s "IN-ACTION" SPECIAL: 1960 TED WILLIAMS

The next "1960s In-Action" special to be profiled on the blog, my 1960 edition for the greatest hitter of them all, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox:

Part of my recent custom printed set, it imagined if Topps had started using true action photography many years before 1971, when in-game play began finding its way into packs.

Just a wonderful photo of the "Splendid Splinter" up at bat during his magnificent career, in horizontal format as the 1960 set originally was.

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.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": NORM CASH

Today on the blog we celebrate former Detroit Tigers slugger Norm Cash with a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card, marking his monster 1961 season that was sadly lost amidst the Maris/Mantle home run chase, where he took home the batting title with a .361 mark:

Cash's season has always blown me away considering that over his borderline Hall of Fame tenure, it was the ONLY year he hit .300!

That is correct, the only time Norm Cash reached the .300 mark was when he hit .361 in 1961, his next highest mark at .283 over a full season in 1971.

Along with his .361 average, the man was a hitting machine, hitting 41 homers, scoring 119 runs, driving in 132, also leading the league with 193 hits, a .487 on-base-percentage and 19 intentional walks to go along with his 124 walks outright.

By the time he retired after the 1974 season he slammed 377 homers and drove in 1103 runs while collecting 1820 hits.

Not a bad compliment in the line-up to guys like Al Kaline and Willie Horton!

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION: ROY CAMPANELLA

The next baseball legend to be featured in my on-going "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" thread is perhaps the greatest catcher of them all, at least in my top-3, Roy Campanella of the Brooklyn Dodgers:

"Campy" put in a season with the Montreal Royals in 1947 after about ten years in the Negro Leagues, where he made his debut at the incredible age of only 15 in 1937!

In his season playing North of the border, Campanella hit .273 over 135 games, hitting 13 homers with 75 runs batted in.

The following year he'd start the season with St. Paul in Triple-A, playing for 35 games, before he'd make his debut with the Dodgers, and the rest as they say, is history.

Once Campanella began his Major League career, he would certainly NOT disappoint the Brooklyn faithful: three times he was M.V.P. (1951, 1953, 1955) and an important part of the strong Dodger teams of the decade along with Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, and Gil Hodges.

Though unable to play Major League ball until the age of 26 because of segregation, he still managed to hit 242 lifetime homers, with a high of 41 in 1953, as well as drive in 856 runs in his short ten-year career.

During his second M.V.P. season, Campy led the Brooklyn offense by driving in a league-leading 142 runs while hitting .312 and scoring 103 runs. One of the top-offensive catcher seasons in baseball history.

Tragically, as he was getting prepared to move to Los Angeles with the rest of the Dodgers over the Winter of 1957-58, Campanella was driving home to Long Island and hit a patch of ice near his home, flipping his car over and breaking his neck in the process, rendering him paralyzed from the shoulders down.

The L.A. Fans would never get to see the future Hall of Famer play in Chavez Ravine.

In my opinion, considering his delayed MLB action, "Campy" would be my pick as the greatest catcher in MLB history, even in front of Johnny Bench, though Josh Gibson would top them all.

REVISIT FROM 2014: MISSING IN ACTION "IN ACTION": 1972 TONY PEREZ

Today on the blog, we revisit a post from October of 2014, incredibly almost ten years ago, and my "missing" 1972 In-Action card for RBI-machine Tony Perez:

Perez was just about “automatic” during the “Big Red Machine” years. Year in and year out you could pencil him in for 20+ homers, 90+ runs batted in, and between 60-70 extra-base-hits.
For eleven straight seasons, between 1967 and 1977, Perez topped 90 RBI’s, with a high of 129 in 1970, when he also hit a career-high 40 home runs for the beginning of what was to be a dominant team on its way to two championships and four World Series appearances.
By the time he was done after 23 seasons on a Major League diamond in 1986, Perez hit .279 with 2732 hits, 1272 runs scored, 1652 runs batted in and the aforementioned 379 homers, with “only” seven all-star nods, often overshadowed by his more well-known teammates.
I’ll always remember a statement former Reds’ manager Sparky Anderson made years later, one that I’ve mentioned before here on this blog, when he said that when the Reds traded Perez to the Montreal Expos after the 1976 season, it killed the “Big Red Machine”.
Think about that for a moment.
Just an awesome player who had the (mis)fortune to play alongside a handful of other all-star players who ruled the decade and took home SIX MVP Awards!

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 JIM MASON

On the blog today, we look at the image variations on Jim mason's 1977 Topps and OPC cards, the latest in my long-running thread on the subject:

OPC version

Topps version

 

I promise you, I remember the exact moment I first pulled the Topps version out of a pack as an eight-year-old in 1977, because the image Topps used looks like Mason is crying. At least it did so to my young mind at that time.

If you know about Mason's career, it would make sense since he was coming off a World Series as a member of the New York Yankees in which he homered in his 1st at-bat!

So to find himself suddenly suiting up for a new Toronto Blue Jays franchise after glory days with the Yankees, yeah, I'd be a bit upset as well!

Mason fashioned a nine-year career as a guy off the bench, with 1974 being his only full season when he played in 152 games and came to the plate 487 times. He even hit .250 which would be the high mark of his career.

As mentioned, in 1977 he was an original member of the Toronto Blue Jays, and was soon sent to the Texas Rangers in mid-season, before finishing up his career with the Montreal Expos in 1979.

It's funny because as a kid collecting cards in the 1970's he was always there (except for '76 of course), yet looking at his career now it's evident how much a card presence elevates a player's career.

All told he hit .203 for his career with 12 homers and 114 runs batted in and 140 runs scored over 633 games and 1583 at-bats.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1969 BILL HAYWOOD

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, a special request that came through Twitter a few months ago, one for a 1969 Bill Haywood, who appeared in 14 games for the Washington Senators in 1968, the only games of his Big League career:

Haywood didn't factor in a decision over his brief Major League career, pitching to a 4.70 earned run average over 23 innings, striking out 10 while walking 12, with 27 hits allowed.

He'd put in one more season in the Minors in 1969, going 1-1 for Burlington in Single-A ball before retiring for good, immediately becoming the head baseball coach at Western Carolina University before later holding the same position at Georgia Southwestern State University.

He would put in some Big League coaching as well later on, for both the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners organizations, where he also served as Player Development Coordinator.

A baseball lifer traveling many roads!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: CARL YASTRZEMSKI

Good day everyone!

Today on the blog, something a little different, the first of what is a nice 100+ card set that I designed from scratch, "Classic Baseball", my little "ode" the the game I love so much, using images that I felt deserved their own unique card.

This will encompass players from various generations and eras, from the "Golden Days" of the 1950's through the wild and daring 1970s, and beyond.

I do hope to have this "monster" set printed and released sometime in the future, so let's sit back and enjoy them one by one!

I begin with Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, a Hero in the North East to this very day, who put in almost a quarter of a century on the Big League diamond:

 

The man was at his height of his game at the time this photo was taken, already a three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner in 1967, and five-time Gold Glove winner.

As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island, New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.

And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18 all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive categories.

By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816 runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in along with a .285 batting average.

He was just plain awesome…

1960's IN-ACTION SPECIAL: 1962 STAN MUSIAL

The next 1960's superstar to get an "In-Action" card in my recent custom set, the great, and one of the GREATEST, Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals:

Stan was close to wrapping up one of the greatest careers a player ever had in the sport by the time this card would have seen the light of day, eventually playing through the 1963 season before walking away.

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.

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": WAYNE SIMPSON

On the blog today, I'll add Cincinnati reds pitching phenom Wayne Simpson to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" sub-set, celebrating his splash in the Majors back in 1970:

Simpson came up with an absolute "BANG" in 1970, going 14-3 with a 3.02 E.R.A., two shutouts and 10 complete games in 24 starts with the Cincinnati Reds, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

He won 13 of his first 14 decisions, including a one-hitter, a two-hitter and a three-hitter!

Needless to say, the Reds looked like they had quite the prospect on their hands the first half of the 1970 season.

But by July 26th of that year arm troubles set in, ending his season with a 14-3 record and a 3.02 earned run average.

Turns out the arm problems were serious enough to curtail his career right from the start, as he'd never pitch a full season for the Reds over the next few years.

After landing in Kansas City for the 1973 season, Simpson didn't fare much better, going 3 and 4 with a 5.73 E.R.A. over 16 games, 10 of which were starts.

He never saw any Major League action in 1974, and in 1975 he was now in Philadelphia, appearing in seven games, five of which were starts for the Phillies, going 1-0 with a 3.23 E.R.A., pitching 30.2 innings.

However more arm troubles caused him to miss the 1976 season, and in 1977 he found himself on yet another team, the California Angels.

It turned out he would start the most games next to his stellar rookie season for his career, toeing the rubber 23 times, 27 games total for California, throwing 122 innings with a 6-12 record and 5.83 E.R.A.

His 1970 season was one of those rookie splashes up there with Von McDaniel, Mark Fidrych and Herb Score, enough so that he would still be a figure baseball magazines would write about years later as far as a young arm making an immediate impact.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: THEN& NOW 1974 JUAN MARICHAL

Thought we'd revisit a blog post from almost ten years ago today, my 1974 "Then and Now" card for the great Juan Marichal, who had quite the magnificent Big League career:

Here's the original write-up from July of 2014 as it appeared.

This was the third such "Then and Now" card I created for the blog at the time:

"Following the basic idea of my previous subjects: Bob Gibson and Hank Aaron, this card features Marichal in the last Topps set he actually appeared on (1974), with a new card concept showing him at the end of his career, along with his Topps rookie card, in this case his 1961 debut.

No need getting into his career accomplishments here since it was well documented already, but the "Dominican Dandy" would eventually find himself enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, capping off a stellar career which saw him post a 243-142 record with a 2.89 earned run average, 2303 strikeouts and 52 shutouts, 10 of which came in 1965 alone.

Next up on this thread…well let's keep that a secret for now.

You'll just have to keep an eye out for it…"

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: WILLIE MAYS

The next card from my custom "1969 Gimmie A Do-Over" set released last year, one for the great, if not the greatest, Willie Mays:

Originally having his 1966 card image reused by Topps in 1969, I used a nice close-up of that "Million-Dollar Smile" for my re-do, giving us another unique card for the "Say Hey Kid".

As we all know by now, Topps was in the middle of a licensing problem with the MLBPA at the time, leading to some questionable image use in the late-60's/early-70's.

Over half a century later, I'm more than happy to fix some of this!

As for Mays, what needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history?
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.

CAREER-CAPPER: 1973 TONY CLONINGER

On the blog today, we have a 1973 "career-capper" for former pitcher Tony Cloninger, who wrapped up a nice 12-year playing career before moving on to coaching later in life:

Cloninger appeared in 17 games for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972, going 0-2 with a bloated 5.19 earned run average over 26 innings.

Incredibly, even though those would be the last game of his career, he was still only 31 years of age, coming up in 1961 at the age of 20.

His finest season was easily 1965 when he posted 24 wins for the Milwaukee Braves, against 11 losses, posting a 3.29 ERA and 211 strikeouts over 40 appearances.

This was after a 19-win season the year before when he had his breakout year, completing 15 games, tossing three shutouts while saving two others.

In 1966 he'd win another 14 games, but it was one game at the PLATE that would remain his shining moment in the Big Leagues, something I profiled years ago with a 1976 "Turn Back the Clock" card, his two Grand Slam batting performance!

On July 3rd of that year, playing the San Francisco Giants, Cloninger took the mound for the Atlanta Braves.

With his team demolishing the Giants 17-3 that day, it was Cloninger that supplied the bulk of the offense, going 3-for-5 with TWO grand slams and nine runs batted in!

He connected for his 1st slam in the seven-run first inning against RELIEVER Bob Priddy after starter Joe Gibbon didn’t make it past the first five batters, and then connected for yet another in the fourth inning against Ray Sadecki, who ironically enough hit a homer off of Cloninger in the same game.

On top of the hitting performance, Cloninger pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out five batters, upping his record to 9-7 at that time, on his way to a 14-11 season.

By the time he retired, he'd finish with a record of 113-97, with a 4.07 ERA over 352 appearances, with 13 shutouts and six saves.

Not too shabby!

1975 IN-ACTION: TOMMY HARPER

Good day everyone.

Felt like adding Tommy Harper to my long-running 1975 "In-Action" sub-set today, giving the former two-way threat another card in the colorful 1975 set:

An All-Star in 1970 for the Milwaukee Brewers in their first season, Harper became an early member of the 30-homer/30-steals club when he hit 31 taters and swiped 38 bases, just one season removed from leading the American League with 73 steals for the one-year Seattle Pilots franchise in 1969.
He’d also lead the league with 54 steals while with the Boston Red Sox in 1973, while also hitting 17 homers and hitting .281 with 92 runs scored.

Harper was traded to the Angels for Bob Heise before the 1975 season, and ended up playing only 89 games with them before moving on to the Oakland A’s later in the year.

He then went on to play for the Baltimore Orioles in 1976 for what turned out to be the last 46 games of his 15-year career, beginning in 1962 with the Cincinnati Reds.

By the time he retired, Harper finished with 146 homers and 408 stolen bases, with a .257 batting average and 1609 hits in 6269 at-bats over 1810 games, with one All-Star nod, leading the league twice in stolen bases and runs scored with 126 in 1965 while with the Reds.

1960'S IN-ACTION SPECIAL: 1965 BOB GIBSON

Good day everyone!

Excited to introduce you all to a new thread, and new custom set today, that my "1960's In-Action" series, which will have special in-action cards throughout the Topps sets of the 1960's, imagining if Topps began using action shots before their 1971 set.

So today we will start it off with a 1965 In-Action card of the great Bob Gibson:

This will be a multi-release series of cards, with 10 cards per series (one for each year of the 1960's), along with a random "bonus" card of a non-Topps, or non-1960s card.

I have been wanting to do this for quite some time now, and finally had the chance to release the first series this month.

Today's card shows Gibson in classic form, coming off a wonderful 1964 season that saw him lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a championship, defeating the New York Yankees in the World Series, with "Gibby" going 2-1 in his three starts, with two complete games and 31 strikeouts over 27 innings.

Bob Gibson has always been one of my favorite all-time players and competitors. Besides the obvious things to love about the guy as far as his stats go, it was the over-the-top drive and no-nonsense play that had me hooked.
Ever hear Tim McCarver tell the story of the first time he saw Gibson after Tim was traded to the Phillies in October of 1969? If not here goes:
Before a game between the Cardinals and the Phillies in 1970, both teams were on the field loosening up and getting ready. Tim, who was a teammate of Gibson for about ten years before being traded, figured he'd go say hello to him. Not only were they teammates for so long, but they came up in the Cardinals system together in the late-50's.
Well as Tim says it, he went up to Gibson near the batter's box, stuck out his hand and went to say "hi", and knew immediately he was done for. Gibson just stared him down and walked away.
First time McCarver was up at the plate, Gibson delivered his first pitch and brushed him back.
Message delivered: they weren't teammates anymore, and while ON the field, they were enemies.
How can you NOT love that!?
The man was a force on the mound, and of course his 1968 season is the stuff of legend. I STILL wonder how on earth he managed to have 9 losses with a season E.R.A. of 1.12!!! Just incredible.

He'd play through the 1975 season, 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. Needless to say, the Hall of Fame was sure to call in 1981 and an obvious choice for induction was granted.

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS INSERTS: EARLY WYNN

Today on the blog we spotlight another of my "1960s Career-Cappers" insert cards, this one my Early Wynn edition, celebrating the 300-game winner who was part of my set released a few years ago:

Wynn's Major League romp towards 300 career wins didn't really pick up steam until he was 30-years old and a member of the Cleveland Indians in 1950, as he posted an 18-8 record with a league-leading 3.20 earned run average.

From then on he was hovering around 20-wins every year for the next ten years, topping the mark five times.

In 1959, now a member of the "Go-Go" Chicago White Sox, Wynn anchored the staff that led the team to a World Series appearance against the eventual champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, by posting a 22-10 record, leading the league in wins and copping a Cy Young Award at the age of 39.

However, the struggle to get that elusive 300th win is now well-documented, as he hung on for the next four years until he got that final victory in 1963 at the age of 43, thus joining the exclusive club and pretty much sealing his Cooperstown induction in his fourth year of eligibility, getting 76% of the BBWA vote.

All told, Wynn finished his 23-year career with a 300-244 record, with a 3.54 E.R.A., 49 shutouts and 2334 strikeouts in 691 games, 611 of which were starts, and was named to seven all-star teams.

WTHBALLS 1960s "IN-ACTION" SPECIAL CUSTOM SET: SERIES ONE AVAILABLE NOW!

Hello all!

I am happy to announce the next WTHBALLS custom set: 1960s In-Action Stars" set, an 11-card set featuring 1960s cards with action photography, imagining if Topps would have issued such action gems before the 1971 set:

I hope this will be a multi-series set moving on, with one card per year of the 1960s along with a bonus card, this time a 1963 Fleer Eddie Mathews action card.

I've wanted to create such a series for a while now, allowing myself to imagine what Topps would have done with such an idea, tweaking the Topps templates a little each year.

Sets are $13 each plus a one-time $4.50 shipping charge, no matter how many sets you purchase.

Usual Paypal address: slogun23@gmail.com

Thank you so much for the interest and support! All the best in 2024 my friends!