1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS INSERTS: YOGI BERRA

Up on the blog today, my Yogi Berra special insert from my "1960s Career-Cappers" set released a few years ago:

Just a nice photo of the all-time favorite catcher during his New York Yankees heyday.

Let's see, the man was a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, a FIFTEEN-TIME all-star, and received Most Valuable Player votes every single year between 1947 and 1961. As a matter of fact, between 1950 and 1956 he never finished lower than fourth for the MVP, with three wins, and two second place finishes!

That's seven top-4 finishes in seven years! Just awesome.

Oh yeah, let's not forget the fact that he was a member of TEN world championship teams! Amazing!

Except for four scant games in 1965 with the New York Mets, Berra played the rest of his 19-year career with the Bronx Bombers, amassing 358 homers, 1430 runs batted in and a .285 average.

One other note about his amazing career: the man only struck out 414 times over 8359 at-bats!

YOGI!!! I loved that man!

A true baseball treasure…

REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST: 1972 MISSING IN ACTION DEAN CHANCE

Today we revisit another ten-year-old blog post, this one my "missing in action" 1972 card and "career-capper" for former Cy Young Winner Dean Chance, who wrapped up a nice career with a handful of games with the Detroit Tigers in 1971:

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

By August of 1971 Chance was closing out a decent 11-year career, pitching in 31 games for Detroit, with 14 starts and 89.2 innings of work.

That's enough time to warrant a card in the following year's set in my opinion, especially for a guy who put in some all-star seasons in the Major Leagues.

Most notably, he had that monster year in 1964 with the Los Angeles Angels that saw him go 20-9 with a sparkling 1.65 earned run average, 11 shutouts and 207 strikeouts, making him the only pitcher besides a guy names "Koufax" to win the Cy Young Award between 1963 and 1966.

In 1967, now as a member of the Minnesota Twins, Chance had another excellent campaign, posting a 20-14 record with a 2.73 E.R.A., five shutouts and 220 strikeouts.

By the time he retired, he put together a career 128-115 record with a 2.92 E.R.A., 33 shutouts and 1534 strikeouts, with two All-Star game nods and that Cy Young hardware from '64."

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 BILL MADLOCK

On the blog today, a fun 1977 OPC/Topps image variation, this one of the reigning National League batting champ at the time, Bill Madlock, who went from the Chicago Cubs to the San Francisco Giants before the 1977 season began:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps already went to press before the trade, OPC went ahead and hilariously airbrushed him into his new uniform, with stupendous results!

"Mad Dog" was coming off of TWO straight National League batting titles in 1977 when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player deal, with Chicago landing Bobby Murcer among others.
Madlock didn’t disappoint, as he’d put in two solid seasons of .300+ averages with some pop before he was shipped off to Pittsburgh in the middle of the 1979 season.
He would go on to put together a very nice 15-year career between 1973 and 1987, but apparently not quite Hall material, finishing with a .305 average with 2008 hits, 920 runs scored and 860 runs batted in with 163 homers and 174 stolen bases.
Just one of those historical quirks that has him as a four-time batting champ, but not really one of the all-time greats.

As a matter of fact, I believe he is still the only eligible four-time (or more) batting champ NOT in the Hall of Fame.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: WILLIE STARGELL

The next baseball star featured in my future custom "Classic Baseball" set, "Pops" Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates legend and Hall of Famer:

Just a beautiful portrait photo of the slugger during the height of his wonderful career, oozing "bad-assery" and striking fear into opposing pitchers.

Over 21 seasons, Stargell would lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to two world championships, take home an MVP Award in 1979 (shared with the Cardinals Keith Hernandez), and get named to seven All-Star teams.

"Pops" would also have a great three-year run between 1971 and 1973 that saw him finish second, third and second respectively in MVP voting, winning two home run titles, an RBI title and even lead the league with 43 doubles (1973).

Luckily, I got to see him towards the end of his career in the late-70's/early-80s before he retired after the 1982 season.

His final numbers? Hall of Fame worthy as he'd finish with 475 home runs, 1540 RBIs, a surprisingly high .282 batting average and 2232 hits over 2360 games and 7927 at-bats.

Think about those numbers in UNDER 8000 at-bats!

Of course when eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in, with 82.4% of the vote in 1988.

So sad that he would pass away at only 61 years of age in 2001.

One of baseball's beloved players, especially among his fan-base, he left such a lasting legacy that resonates to this day.

 

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. CATCHER JOE TORRE

Starting a new thread today on the blog, following my popular "1970s All-Deade Team" set a few months back, we go ahead and acknowledge my (and I do stress "MY") picks for the 1960s team, beginning with my National League catcher of the 1960s, Joe Torre:

Some of you may be surprised at my pick of Joe Torre as the catcher of the decade, but take a look at the guy's numbers and you'll see why.
With a decade that didn't have that Campanella or Bench behind the plate, Torre out-distances other catchers in the league in my opinion.
A five-time all-star during the '60's, Torre had a couple of "monster" years that kind of get lost in history.
In 1964 playing for the Milwaukee Braves, Torre hit .321 with 20 homers and 109 runs batted in. He also chipped in 193 hits and 36 doubles. Not bad!
But in 1966, with the Braves relocated to Atlanta, Torre clubbed 36 home runs to go along with a .315 average and 101 R.B.I.'s.
Later on when he'd switch over to third base he'd win an M.V.P. with the St. Louis Cardinals, and tack on a few more excellent years at the plate, and it's those years that people generally remember Torre as a player.
But his catching days for the Braves organization were very good in their own right. yet easy to overlook.
Later on, as we all know, Torre would be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a manager in 2014 for his days leading the New York Yankees through their most recent dynasty in the late-90's/early-00's, along with taking the helm of the Mets, Braves, Cardinals and Dodgers as well between 1977 and 2010, finishing up with 2326 wins and four championship titles.

Next week, my A.L. catcher, which should be a no-brainer for all of us!

 

1960's IN-ACTION SPECIAL: 1968 HARMON KILLEBREW

The next "1960s In-Action" card from my recent custom set to get the spotlight here on the blog is my 1968 edition for all-time slugger Harmon Killebrew:

Just a fun in-game action shot of the Hall of Famer doing what he did best, launching baseball over outfield fences, to the tune of 573 such "jacks" before he was done.
I remember the first time I saw Harmon Killebrew's statistics when my cousin gave me a 1973 card of him when I was about 11 years old in 1980.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. All the home runs, all the R.B.I.'s from a player I never knew about. To count out EIGHT 40+ home run seasons blew me away.
This was right before I got my first Macmillan Encyclopedia, so baseball cards really were the only place back then to see stats of players who were around before you were a fan. I just kept rereading those power stats again and again, amazed every time as if I was seeing them for the first time.
Throw in the fact that the 1973 card of Killebrew is pretty damn cool, I was hooked on "Killer" ever since.
Over the years I was able to meet him on more than one occasion and just listen to him tell some stories, not just about baseball but some golf thrown in for good measure. He was an amazing person who was friendly, patient and always seemed to have a smile on his face.
Playing for Washington, Minnesota and a final season in Kansas City between 1954 and 1975, Killebrew mashed 573 home runs to go along with 1584 R.B.I.'s, winning an M.V.P. award along the way in 1969 while finishing in the top five in voting five other seasons.
In 1984 he was inducted in the Hall of Fame, capping off a stellar career that sometimes gets lost among the Mantles, Mays, Clementes and Aarons that were garnering all the attention in the same era.

WTHBALLS APPEARANCE ON "SPORTS CARD NATION" PODCAST!

 

 

 

Hello All!

Had the pleasure to chat with John Newman on his "Sports Card Nation" podcast, talking baseball, card collecting, and our shared Brooklyn upbringing and how it formed our love of the hobby.

Fun time!

Give it a listen if you're interested:

New Episode! "Ep.273 w/ Gio Balistreri of WTHBalls Blog"

https://www.sportscardnationpodcast.com/ep273-w-gio-balistreri-of-wthballs-blog/

Thank you John for the invitation!

 

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1976 WALT ALSTON

Good day all.

On the blog today, we fill in the gap left by Topps regarding "missing" all-star cards for managers, with today's card a 1976 All-Star card for Los Angeles Dodgers legendary manager Walt Alston:

Alston led the National League to a win in the 1975 game, leading the Senior League based off his 1974 pennant which saw the Dodgers lose to the three-peat Oakland A's.

Alston, whose playing career totaled one single at-bat in one game for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936, parlayed his knowledge into a Hall of Fame managerial career that began in 1954 with the (then) Brooklyn Dodgers.

Over the next 23 years he brought home seven pennants, four world championships, and 2040 wins, with 10 90+ win campaigns.

Think about this: the man average 89 wins a season over almost a quarter of a century! Incredible!

Of course, Alston managed legends from Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella to Duke Snider  and Gil Hodges to Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax right through to Steve Garvey and Ron Cey. What a tenure.

1976 would be his last season as manager, handing off to another lifer, Tommy Lasorda for the 1977 season.

In his last season of 1976, Alston won 90 games and had the Dodgers in second place, his 15th season of either a first or second place finish.

In 1983, his stellar career was topped off when he was voted into the Hall of Fame.

CAREER-CAPPER: 1972 CAMILO PASCUAL

Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS stable today, a 1972 "Career-Capper" for former all-star pitcher Camilo pascual, who finished up a great Major league career with nine games as a Cleveland Indian:

Pascual went 2-2 over those nine games, pitching to a 3.09 earned run average with 23.1 innings of work at the age of 37.

He came up in 1954 as a 20-year old with the Washington Senators, but it would take a few years before he hit his stride, eventually posting two 20-win season (in 1962 and 1963), as well as leading the American League in strikeouts three years in a row between 1961-1963, with a high of 221 the first year of that run.

He also led the league in shutouts three times, with a high of eight during the 1961 season, while also winning 15 or more games five times and posting a sub-3.00 ERA three times.

All told, by the time he retired after nine games with the Cleveland Indians in 1971, he finished with a 174-170 career record, with a 3.63 earned run average and 2167 strikeouts over 529 games and 2930.2 innings of work.

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: AURELIO RODRIGUEZ

Today on the blog, another card from my recently released "1969 Gimmie-A-Do Over" set, finally correcting the famous "bat-boy" image error Topps made way back when on the Aurelio Rodriguez card where they actually had the California Angels bat boy Leonard Garcia depicted:

Fixed

As released showing bat boy Leonard Garcia

I found a nice image of the Gold Glove infielder from that period and replaced it here, giving us a long overdue "fix" to an admittedly classic Topps error that was never corrected by them.

Rodriguez put in a nice 17-year Major league career beginning in 1967 as a nineteen-year-old, famously becoming the first third baseman NOT named Brooks Robinson taking home a Gold Glove in 17 years when he did just that in 1976 as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

By the time he retired after the 1983 season, he finished with a career .237 batting average, with 1570 hits in 6611 at-bats, with 124 homers and 648 runs batted in over 2017 games, playing for seven teams.

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: PETE ROSE

Up on the blog today, the next "mini gum pack" card from my recently produced custom card set, the great Pete Rose:

 

Again, just a really fun set to produce with special packaging!

This stud pictured here would win the Rookie of the Year in 1963, three batting titles, an MVP in 1973, be selected as an All-Star at FIVE different positions, and end up the all-time hit leader with his staggering 4256 knocks over his illustrious 24-year career.

At the time this card would have been pulled from packs in the mid-1970s, Rose spear-headed the "Big Red Machine" to two straight championships with his relentless play.

Growing up in the 1970's as a baseball nut, Pete Rose was an almost mythic figure. Even though his Reds steamrolled through "my" Yankees in the 1976 World Series, Rose, along with his all-star teammates, seemed like something made-up, not real.

I guess a part of that could be that the very first Pete Rose baseball card I ever saw, at the age of seven, was his 1976 Topps masterpiece, which had that glare of his, staring down the camera, showing that intensity that created the "Charlie Hustle" legend.

What a player, a Hall of Fame player. But I won't get into THAT here.

The "Player of the Decade" for the 1970's, Rose etched his name into the history of the game many times over.

Really, along with guys like Tom Seaver and Reggie Jackson, you just can't have too many Pete Rose cards from the 1970's in my eyes.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION- 1977 ELLIS VALENTINE

Good day all!

On the blog today, a closer look at the image variation between the 1977 OPC and Topps cards for former all-star Montreal Expos outfielder Ellis Valentine:

OPC version

Topps version

 

Nothing too crazy here, though it seems evident that OPC once again used a newer image of the young star outfielder over Topps.

Valentine had his first taste of the Big Leagues in 1975, hitting a blistering .364 with 12 hits in 33 at-bats as a September call-up.

His 1976 season was solid, hitting .279 over 94 games, with seven homers and 14 stolen bases while scoring 36 runs and driving in 39.

Between 1977 and 1979 he became a solid, Gold Glove winning outfielder along with Andre Dawson and Warren Cromartie.

Just an amazing young trio of outfielders to come up at the same time and give the team a bolt of energy.

For Valentine, between 1977 and 1979 he put in three very good seasons that saw him top 20 homers, 76 RBIs and hit at least .276 getting named to the NL All-Star team in '77 while taking home his lone Gold Glove the following year.

Sadly, on May 30th of 1980, already putting together another solid campaign, Valentine was hit in the face with a pitch by St. Louis Cardinals Roy Thomas.

He would miss over a month before coming back with the famous football guard on his batting helmet, hitting .331 the rest of the way to end up at .315 for the abbreviated season.

Other injuries began to plague him, from a pinched-nerve, his wrist, and even a hamstring pull, and just like that Valentine managed to play parts of the next few seasons for the New York Mets, California Angels and finally the Texas Rangers in 1985.

Still only 30, he played what turned out to be that last of his Major League games, finishing up with a .278 average with 123 homers, 474 RBIs, 380 runs on 881 hits over 3166 at-bats.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: DUKE SNIDER

The next baseball legend to get a card in my future "Classic Baseball" custom set, the "Duke of Flatbush" Duke Snider, Hall of Fame center fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the "Golden Age" of baseball:

Just a beautiful shot of the man during the prime of his career.

Snider really was incredibly underrated over his career, which sadly (for him) coincided with the careers of men like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

Nevertheless, all he would do in the Majors was hit, finishing his career in 1964, capping off a great 18-year Major League career that saw him make eight All-Star teams while posting six seasons where he finished in the top-10 for N.L. MVP.

Snider was an absolute beast of a hitter through the 1950's with the Dodgers, driving in over 100 runs six times, 30+ homers six times including five straight seasons of 40 or more, five years of scoring over 100 runs and seven seasons of .300 hitting or better.

A HUGE cog in the Brooklyn Dodger machine of the 1950s, he was also part of the "Holy Trinity of New York center-fielders of the era, along with Willie Mays of the New York Giants and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees.

What a time it must have been to be a young baseball fan!

 

1960'S "IN-ACTION": 1967 ROBERTO CLEMENTE

The next card from my recent "1960s In-Action" custom set to be spotlighted here on the blog is my 1967 Roberto Clemente, a really fun "add" to the WTHBALLS stable:

 

Just a nice in-game action shot of the "Great One" that would have been an awesome addition to the classic 1967 set!

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 truly something else, and I'm not even thinking of his baseball prowess.

Just special...

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS INSERTS: WARREN SPAHN

Up on the blog today, we spotlight my special insert card of all-time great Warren Spahn, from my "1960s Career-Cappers" set released a few years ago:

Just a great little insert set to add to what has been one of the most popular sets I've produced for the WTHBALLS brand.

Anyone who has followed this blog long enough knows by now that any time I can create a card for the mighty lefty, I will take it!

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).

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DAVE LEMANCZYK

Today on the blog, we take a closer look at the image variation between former pitcher Dave Lemanczyk's 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps went with their usual airbrushed older photo of the righty, OPC had the time to take a proper posed photo to use on their card, giving us an up-to-date look, facial hair and all.

After parts of four seasons with the Detroit Tigers between 1073 and 1976, he found himself as one of the "original" 1977 Toronto Blue Jays, getting his first true full season under his belt, starting 34 games and going 13-16 with a 4.25 ERA, completing 11 games and totaling 252.2 innings.

That 1977 action saw him as the starter who saw the most action in the inaugural Toronto season, with Jerry Garvin and Jesse Jefferson also logging 200+ innings for the new franchise.

Over the next three years he'd see decent action, tossing over 100+ innings each season, but never the full-time totals he saw in 1977.

By the time he was done after the 1980 season, where he split the year between the Blue Jays and California Angels, he finished with a record of 37-63 over 185 games, with an ERA of 4.62, completing 30 games with three shutouts.

REVISITING A 10-YEAR OLD POST: NICKNAMES OF THE 1970S: 1971 "MUDCAT" GRANT

Today on the blog, some fun revisiting a 10-year-old blog post, my 1971 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for Jim "Mudcat" Grant, sporting the absolutely fantastic mutton chops that were making their way back in fashion, and giving us some glorious images of players breaking away from the humdrum "clean-cut" image we became accustomed to over the decades:

Just a great "1970s vibe" of an image if there ever was one!

Bad-assery by one of the early members of the "Black Aces", a group named by Grant himself celebrating the African-American pitchers who reached 20-wins in a season during their Major League career.

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

"Mudcat" was coming to the end of his career by 1971, pitching for the Pirates before moving on to the Oakland A's for the last 15 games of a 14-year career.

Easily his best season was 1965 for the pennant winning Minnesota Twins, going 21-7 with a 3.30 earned run average, 142 K's and a league leading six shutouts.

Seems the way he got his now famous nickname was as follows:

"Beginning in 1958, he pitched for Cleveland through part of 1964, with a 15-9 year in 1961. He was the roommate of his boyhood idol Larry Doby when he first came to Cleveland, and Doby dubbed him "Mudcat", saying that he was "ugly as a Mississippi mudcat". The nickname stuck."

Quite an anecdote!

All in all, Grant retired with a career record of 145-119, with a 3.63 E.R.A., 18 shutouts, 53 saves and 1267 strikeouts over 571 appearances, 293 of which were starts.

And dig those crazy side-burns!!!

 

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: LUIS APARICIO

Up on the blog today, we take a look at my "redo" for Luis Aparicio and his 1969 card, fixing the reuse of images Topps had originally put out there due to their spat with the MLBPA:

Part of my recent custom set released a few months back, I went and corrected images for a dozen players who suffered the image duplication that kids were bummed to see as they ripped open wax way back when.

Even as a young collector by the late-70s/early-80s when I was beginning to buy vintage cards, I was disappointed at seeing superstars like Willie Mays, hank Aaron and Rod Carew with cards that repeated images from previous years.

From the moment he made it to the Majors in 1956 with the Chicago White Sox, Aparicio was a star.

He took home the A.L. Rookie of the Year that season, and proceeded to be an all-star player for most of his 18-year career.

Between 1956 and 1964, nine consecutive years, he led the American League in stolen bases every single season!

As a member of the "Go-Go" 1959 Chicago White Sox he finished second to teammate Nellie Fox for Most Valuable Player, and he'd go on to win nine Gold Glove Awards before hanging up the spikes.

All told he suited up for the White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Boston Red Sox for the final three years of his illustrious career.

By the time he retired the numbers were solid: 2677 hits, 1335 runs scored, 506 stolen bases and over 10000 at-bats!

It took a few years on the ballot, but he was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION: STAN MUSIAL

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we add the greatest overlooked player in the history of the game, Stan "The Man" Musial to my ongoing "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set:

We see Musial here as a 20-year-old in 1941 when he put in 54 games with the Rochester Red Wings, his only time with the team before moving up to the Majors, where he'd dominate over the next 22 seasons, becoming one of the greatest players ever to take the field.

In his time with the Red Wings, Musial did what he would do at any level of pro ball, HIT, as evidenced by his .326 batting average, along with 43 runs, 10 doubles, four triples and three homers to go with 21 runs batted in.

By the end of the year he was in St. Louis, hitting a blistering .426 over 12 games, giving everyone an idea of what to expect.

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

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

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

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

Criminal.

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

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1976 ALVIN DARK

The next "missing" All-Star manager to get a card, the skipper who led the A.L. for the 1975 game, Alvin Dark of the Oakland A's:

Once again, based on his leading the A's to a pennant in 1974, Dark was the manager for the American league for 1975's Midsummer Classic, getting him this card in the 1976 set.

When you think about it, why did Topps not bother with an All-Star card for the managers between the years of 1975 and 1981, when the All-Star call-out was on the base card of the player (or manager), the way I thought it SHOULD be?!

Dark took the team to a 90-72 record that season, and eventually to the aforementioned third straight championship for the Oakland franchise since taking over managerial duties after Dick Williams headed South to manage the California Angels after guiding them to their first two Series wins.

Funny enough, after the 1975 season that had Oakland win 98 games, Dark was let go as manager after the team was beaten in the A.L. Championship series by the Boston Red Sox, and with Free Agency looming, the Oakland A’s would see themselves go from elite team to cellar-dwellers overnight.
As a player, Dark cannot be overlooked, as he was a versatile player who played almost every position throughout his 14-year Big League career, winning the 1948 Rookie of the Year Award while finishing third in MVP voting.
He’d end up collecting over 2000 hits, hitting .289 and scoring 1064 runs, all while entering the league at the age of 26 (after 15 games in 1946) because of World War II. If not for the war he had a decent shot at 3000 hits, among other milestones like 1500 runs and 500 doubles.

A true baseball "lifer".

 

1960's IN-ACTION SPECIAL: 1964 MICKEY MANTLE

Good day all!

Today on the blog, we come to my 1964 "In-Action" card for all-timer Mickey mantle, from my latest custom set released a couple months back:

Really would have been fun if Topps started using In-Action photos earlier than the 1971 set, though I do understand the limitations at the time.

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.

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1974 ALAN GALLAGHER

Today on the blog we have a career-capping 1974 card for former infielder Alan Gallagher, who played what turned out to be the last of his MLB games in 1973 with the San Francisco Giants and California Angels:

After five games with the Giants to start the 1973 season, Gallagher was traded down the road to the Angels for Bruce Miller on April 14th, where he'd end up playing 110 games and doing well, hitting at a .273 clip while playing all infield spots except first base.

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.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 TRADED MIKE TORREZ

Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS mix today, a "missing" 1976 traded card for solid MLB starter Mike Torrez, who seemed to find himself on a new team every year in the mid-to-late 1970s, even though he kept on winning for whomever he suited up for:

I had fun creating a "bad" Photoshop image of him instead of an actual shot of him as an Oakland A's pitcher, to give it more of that authentic feel.

Torrez was part of the BLOCKBUSTER traded between the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A's on April 2nd, 1976, when Baltimore sent him along with Don Baylor and Paul Mitchell out West for Bill VanBommel, Ken Holtzman and of course Reggie Jackson just as the season was opening up.

Torrez was coming off his only 20-win season, and certainly made this package much more even than most remember, as Reggie was ready to take his superstar bat elsewhere after numerous battles with owner Charlie Finley.

I’ve always been fascinated by Torrez’s run between 1974 and 1978 when he posted 15+ wins each and every year, playing for a different team each and every season!
In 1974 he won 15 for the Montreal Expos, then 20 for the Baltimore Orioles in 1975, then 16 for the Oakland A’s, then the aforementioned 17 combined wins with the Yanks and A’s in 1977, then finally 16 for the Boston Red Sox in 1978.
Toss in his 16 wins for the Expos in 1972 and then another 16 for the Red Sox in 1979, and we are talking a solid eight-year run of dependability that gets overlooked.
By the time he retired after the 1984 season, Torrez fashioned himself a solid 18-year career that saw him go 185-160, with a 3.96 E.R.A., 1404 strikeouts and 15 shutouts over 494 games, 458 of which were starts.
He also won two games in the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers, pitching a complete game in both starts, yielding a 2.50 E.R.A. with 15 strikeouts. Not bad at all…

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: ERNIE BANKS

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we post up my 1969 do-over for the great Ernie Banks, part of my recent custom set correcting the recycling of images Topps was forced to do in the midst of their battle with the MLBPA in the late-60's, resulting in a bunch of cards using the same images, such an Banks' '69 edition:

 

As for "Mr. Cub", what needs to be said about quite possibly the most well-liked baseball legend there ever was?
Easily a first ballot inductee, Banks was named to 83.8% of the ballots after posting a career that saw him win two Most Valuable Player Awards (1958 and 1959), slam over 500 home runs while knocking in 1636 Cubbies during his illustrious 19-year career.
The man IS what the word “legend” is all about, getting named to eleven all-star teams hitting 30+ homers seven times during his career, with five of those seasons topping 40.
Sadly he’d never taste the sweet taste of a World Series, but that certainly did not take away from all of his successes.
“Mr. Cub” gets his due in 1977, and rightly so!

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 RICO CARTY

Today on the blog, one of the most fun image variations between OPC and Topps from the 1977 set, Rico Carty and his ironing twist to the photo-swap:

OPC version

Topps version

 

First off, while Topps went for the former batting champ airbrushed into a Toronto Blue Jays uni, the team that drafted him from the Cleveland Indians in the expansion draft in November of 1976, OPC had the bit of extra time to erase that transaction and have him BACK as an Indian since the Blue Jays then traded Carty back to Cleveland for Rick Cerone and John Lowenstein a month later!

Now, as if that wasn't funny enough, Carty was THEN traded by the Indians to the Blue Jays about a year later!

What a time the expansion period for the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners was!

Carty was traded back to the Blue Jays right before the beginning of the 1978 season for Dennis DeBarr, and though hassled by injuries through his career, was still an excellent hitter even while in his mid-30’s.
1978 would remind many of that as he would go on to hit a career high 31 home runs with 99 runs batted in while hitting .282 for the Blue Jays and Oakland A’s, where he would be traded later in the season for Willie Horton and Phil Huffman.
He’d play one more season in the Big Leagues, back with Toronto in 1979, where he hit .256 over 132 games and 512 plate appearances before calling it a career.
He’d finish his Major League tenure with a .299 batting average, with 1677 hits in 5606 at-bats, with 204 homers and 890 RBIs, getting named to an All-Star team in 1970 when he was voted in by write-in vote, a season that saw him hit .366 for the Atlanta Braves with 25 homers and a career-high 101 RBIs.
But a crushed knee had him miss all of 1971, while tuberculosis had him miss all of 1969, two full seasons lost for the all-star hitter that really altered his MLB resume.

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: JIM PALMER

Good day all!

On the blog today, my Jim Palmer "mini Gum pack" card from my fun custom set released a few months back truly on a whim:

 

Just a fun card design to whip up and create of the top stars of the 1970's, in a really fun pack-of-gum package harking back to my days chewing gum like a maniac when I was a kid. I was never caught without a pack of gum on me around the age of ten!

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.
Though he had a great first professional season in 1964 as an 18-year-old, going a combined 15-5 in the O’s system, he found himself on a Major League mound in 1966, still a teen, going 5-4.
In 1966 he’d improve to a record of 15-10 for the surprising eventual World Champs, shocking everyone with a sweep of the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with Palmer contributing a complete game shutout.
But injuries derailed him until 1969 when he hit his stride, going 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA and six shutouts, completing 11 of 23 starts.
From there, all the man did was top 20-wins in eight of the next nine seasons, winning three Cy Young Awards, the first American League pitcher to do so, helping the Orioles to another championship in 1970, eventually finishing with a career 268-152 record along with a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts before he was done in 1984.