1960S "IN-ACTION": 1969 WILLIE McCOVEY

Today on the blog we have what is going to be a SWEET card from my next "1960s In-Action" set, Series Three, that of "Stretch" Willie McCovey:

I just love this image of him at the plate, probably about to launch another homer our of the stratosphere at the expense of another poor National League pitcher.

He was at the height of his career at the time this card would have seen the light of day, about to put in an MVP year in 1969, obliterating everything in sight!

From the moment he got called up to the Big Leagues in 1959, all he did was tear the seams off the ball by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 runs batted in along with 32 runs scored in only 52 games, copping a Rookie of the Year Award and setting the tone for his 22-year career.

In 1969 he had his finest season, as he made his fifth All-Star team, on his way to taking home the league MVP Award after a year that saw him lead the league with 45 homers, 126 RBIs, a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, as well as a whopping 45 intentional base on balls.

The man put it ALL together that year!

By the time he retired in 1980, he crushed 521 home runs, collected over 2000 hits, drove in over 1500, and left his mark as one of the most feared sluggers of his generation.

In 1986, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall of Fame with 81.4% of the ballots cast.

Man, what a threesome McCovey, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda made back in the 1960's for San Francisco, huh?

Just incredible.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: "MISSING" 1972 IN-ACTION BILL FREEHAN

Today on the blog, revisiting a post from November, 2014, featuring a "missing" 1972 "In-Action" card, this of "should-be" Hall of Fame catcher Bill Freehan:

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

"This is cool.

My last "MIA-MIA" 1972 card was of future Hall of Fame member Frank Robinson.

And today I want to present to you all my newest addition to the thread, Bill Freehan, with a great in-game action shot of him blocking the plate against who else, Frank Robinson from 1969.

Great action shot!

1972 marked a "changing of the guard" in a sense when it came to American League catchers.

Up until then, Freehan was considered by many to be the best A.L. Backstop, manning the plate in Detroit for about 10 years and being named to eight-straight All-Star games at the time.

Also the winner of five Gold Gloves, Freehan was pretty much the top of the heap when it came to catchers in the Junior Circuit.

Then in 1970 you had Thurman Munson come along, win the Rookie of the Year Award, and then was followed by the Boston red Sox young stud Carlton Fisk, who'd take home the same award two years later.

Coupled with Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons in the National League, and you can see how the landscape was changing for Major League catching.

Nevertheless, Freehan was a stalwart behind the plate for the Tigers.

Three times he'd finish in the top-10 for Most Valuable Player (1964, 1967 & 1968), and he'd play his entire 15-year career in Motown.

A solid player through and through, he'd retire after the 1976 season with a .262 lifetime average, 200 homers and 758 runs batted in over 1774 games and 6073 at-bats.

He was named to eleven all-star games, and finished with a .993 fielding percentage while donning the "tools of ignorance".

I can't tell who the Baltimore player is who is watching the play unfold in front of him.

Any ideas?"

GIMMIE A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN: 1979 RANCE MULLINIKS

Good day all.

On the blog today, a do-over for one of my own creations from a couple weeks back, a "not so missing" 1979 card for Rance Mulliniks, which I originally posted with an image of Bobby Jones, corrected here with a nice image of Mulliniks:

A few of you spotted the error immediately, and I was lucky enough to already have another image of the long time infielder to use as my "fix".

Mulliniks, who had his Topps rookie card in the 1978 set after appearing in 78 games for California in 1977, hit .185 in 1978 over the aforementioned 50 games, with 22 hits over 119 at-bats while putting time in at shortstop.

He'd play in only 22 games during the 1979 season for the Angels before being part of a blockbuster trade in December of 1979 that included Willie Aikens and Al Cowens, seeing the players swap uni's between the Angels and Kansas City Royals.

He'd see limited time with the Royals in 1980 and 1981 before heading off to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he finally found a home and would spend the rest of his 16-year career with, playing 11 seasons for the Jays, generally at third base with some time around the rest of the infield.

He would have some really nice seasons with the Jays, and while never truly a "full-time" player, he'd put in seasons with over 350 plate appearances between 1982 and 1988, hitting as high as .324 (1984) with a couple of other .300+ seasons thrown in.

By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished up with 972 hits in 3569 at-bats, good for a .272 mark, with 445 runs scored and 435 runs batted in over 1325 games.

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: STEVE GARVEY

Up on the blog today, my mini-card for another guy who I feel should be in the Hall of Fame, Steve Garvey, from my "Gum Pack" special set released not too long ago:

Garvey 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!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" CY YOUNG

Good day all!

On the blog today we take a look at my custom card for the man, the legend, Cy Young, from my early "19th Century Base Ball Stars" set released back in 2018, and happy to say long sold-out:

A truly fun set to conceive and build back then, really trying to convey a real 19th Century cigarette pack as packaging for the tobacco-sized cards on matte-stock.

As for Young, what really needs to be stated about the work-horses of all work-horses?!

Over his 22 year career that began in 1890, the man appeared in 906 games, with 815 of them starts, completing an astonishing 749 of them, tossing 76 shutouts while saving 18, tossing a mind-numbing 7356 innings and facing almost 30,000 batters!

His total numbers were amazing: 511 wins against 315 losses, with a 2.63 earned run average and 2803 strikeouts, at the time of his retirement holding all "counting stats" records.

Six times he'd record an ERA under 2.00, with a low of 1.26 in 1908 at the age of 41 when he posted a record of 21-11, completing 30 of 33 starts while tossing three shutouts and striking out 150 batters.

As far as wins, he posted 30+ five times while topping 20+ an incredible 16 times, with a high of 36 in 1892 while pitching for the Cleveland Spiders.

Somewhat of the pitching counterpart to Cap Anson, the man just kept producing year after year into his 40s, establishing a record and legend that 100+ years of baseball history couldn't even erase.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: JUAN MARICHAL

Today on the blog, we add the "Dominican Dandy", Juan Marichal to my upcoming custom "Classic Baseball" set, to see the light of day later this year in multiple series on deluxe card-stock:

Just a nice close-up shot of the Hall of Famer pitcher.

The man was born to pitch.

Once called up to the big show in 1961, he would go 6-2 over his first 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

"Dominican Dandy" indeed!

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- WALTER JOHNSON

On the blog today, we keep building on my future custom "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set by adding "The Big Train", my personal pick as greatest pitcher ever, Walter Johnson:

Funny enough, Johnson's only time in the "true" Minors was after his Big League tenure, appearing in one single game for the Newark Bears in 1928, facing one batter, whom he walked.

That was it!

99.9% of his time on a mound was for the Washington Senators between 1907 and 1927, producing one of the all-time greatest careers the game has ever seen.

Perhaps the greatest all-time pitcher PERIOD when you consider all the bad teams this guy pitched for.

All Johnson did while pitching his entire career for the Washington Senators was win 417 games (second all-time), throw 110 shutouts (all-time high), whiff 3509 batters (the record until the late-70's), and post a stellar 2.17 earned run average.

Can you imagine if Johnson pitched for good teams most of his career!? He'd probably have an extra 50-100 wins thrown in!

His 1913 season is just too sick: a 36-7 record with a 1.14 E.R.A, and 243 strikeouts, all league highs, as well as leading numbers in complete games (29), shutouts (11), winning percentage (.837)and WHIP (0.780). 

Needless to say he won the first of two M.V.P. awards that year, with his other award coming in 1924 when at the age of 36 he went 23-7 with a 2.72 earned run average and 158 K's (again winning the pitching Triple Crown) as he led Washington to a World Series win over the New York Giants.

He actually won a third "Triple Crown" in 1918 as well, when he posted a 23-13 record with a 1.27 E.R.A. and 162 strikeouts.

All told he led the league in wins six times, E.R.A. five times, shutouts seven times and strikeouts twelve times, twice topping 300 for a season (1910 & 1912).

And for you "modern" analytics fans out there, how about EIGHT seasons of 10+ WAR, with an INSANE 15.2 mark in 1913!?

And the year before THAT he posted a WAR of 14.3!

He was really a player from out of this world pitching among children. Incredible.

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING IN ACTION 1975 DICK McAULIFFE

Hello everyone!

On the blog today, we revisit my "missing" 1975 card for long time infielder Dick McAuliffe, which originally appeared here on the blog on October 22nd of 2014:

Here's my original write-up for the card way back when:

The long time Detroit Tiger infielder was wrapping up a nice 16-year career in 1975, appearing in only seven games for the BoSox.

However in 1974 he did appear in 100 games for Boston, batting .210 over 316 plate appearances.

Those two seasons would be the only ones where McAuliffe didn't suit up for the Tigers, for whom he played between 1960 and 1973 manning both second and shortstop.

He made three consecutive all-star teams between 1965 and 1967, and even finished seventh in MVP voting in 1968 when the Tigers won it all.

All told he batted .247 for his career, with 197 homers and 697 runs batted in over 1700 games.

 

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: CARLTON FISK

Today on the blog we take a look at my mini Carlton Fisk custom, from my fun "Gum Pack" set released last year in special packaging:

This was a quick little set that slipped under the radar for many, selling out pretty quickly I am proud to say!

Beautiful velvet touch card stock mini-cards that came wrapped in a pack of gum-sized package a la Wrigleys, etc.

As for Carlton Fisk, he immediately made his impact on the game, unanimously winning the 1972 Rookie of the Year Award by hitting .293 and leading the league with nine triples along with 22 homers and 61 runs batted in.
Of course, we all know he’d go on to star for both the Red Sox and then the Chicago White Sox over the next 21 seasosn, 24 overall, becoming one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
He'd be named to eleven all-star games, collect 2356 Major League hits, and slam 376 home runs with 1330 runs batted in and 1276 runs scored.
Of course, he’d also give us one of baseball’s all-time moments, hitting the game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series versus the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, the image of him waving the ball fair a part of Major League history.
After eleven years in Boston, he would go on to play 13 more with the White Sox, playing until the age of 45! A tank of a man, and continue to put in solid season after season.
In 1985 at the age of 37, he set career highs in home runs (37) and Runs batted in (107), while tying his career high in stolen bases (17) while catching 130 games. Just amazing.
After missing out on a Hall of Fame selection in 1999 (how the Hell did that happen?), he made it in the following year when he was named on 79.6% of ballots, joining other all-time catchers like Campanella, Berra and Bench in baseball immortality.

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1967 ROCKY COLAVITO

Good day everyone.

On the blog today, we have the first card from what will be my third series of "1960s In-Action" set, this one a card of former slugger Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians on a 1967 template:

I chose the 1967 template since his base 1967 card is a complete pain in the butt to get for those of us completing that legendary set!

I found a nice "action" shot of him in-game, stretching before an at-bat.

Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASE BALL CHAMPIONS" CHARLES RADBOURN

The next card from my early WTHBALLS custom set, "19th Century Base Ball Stars" is of HOF pitcher Charles Radbourn, he of the STILL record 60 win season in 1884:

The man won 310 games over just eleven seasons of Major League ball, not only winning those 60 games in 1884 when Providence found themselves with only one pitcher down the stretch, giving Radbourne the opportunity of pitching every day, but 48 wins the year prior, as well as seven other 20+ win campaigns between 1881 and 1891.

Of course, his 1884 season is the stuff of legends, as his 60-12 record still rings ludicrous, while also starting 73 games, COMPLETING ALL OF THEM, tossing eleven shutouts, tossing 678.2 innings and striking out 441 batters.

Oh, and his earned run average? That was a microscopic 1.38!!

How are those numbers even real!?

By the time he left the game after a year with Cincinnati in 1891, he finished with 310 wins over 527 appearances, with 502 starts, 488 of them completed, 35 shutouts, a 2.68 ERA over 4527.1 innings, and 1830 strikeouts.

Just amazing.

If you haven't read his biography "59 in '84", I suggest you give it a whirl. Some funny anecdotes in there as well as serious baseball history for fans of the early game.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- JIMMIE FOXX

The next legend added to my long-running "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set is the "Beast", Jimmie Foxx, all-timer and about as nasty a batter the game has ever seen:

Shown here as a 16-year old with the Easton Farmers in his first year of pro ball, Foxx would hit .296 over 76 games as a catcher with 10 homers among his 77 hits.

He'd put in another year of Minor League ball the following season with Newark and Providence before making it to the Majors in 1925, and ripping the cover off the ball over the next 20 years.

From age 21 through 32 he was absolutely ELITE, with only guys like Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth that could compare to both the average and power numbers he was putting up year after year.

He'd win TWO Triple Crowns, four home run titles, three RBI titles, and his high mark in offensive categories were, well, offensive to opposing pitchers!

His career-bests: 151 runs scored in 1932, 58 home runs in 1932, 213 hits in 1932, 175 RBIs in 1938, .364 average in 1932, 438 total bases in 1932, .749 slugging in 1932.

Clearly, it's also obvious his 1932 seasons goes down as one of the top offensive years by a player in baseball history, and it brought him the first of his eventual three MVP Awards.

Incredibly, by the time he was 33 in 1941, his numbers would drop off dramatically, with his career done in 1945 after some time with the Philadelphia Phillies.

However, his final stats: a .325 batting average, 534 homers, 1922 RBIs, 1751 runs scored, 2646 hits, and a career .609 slugging percentage.

Just incredible.

JAPAN SPECIAL: 1951 SHIGERU SUGISHITA

Time for another "Japan Special" here on the blog, so today I post my 1951 card for all-time Japanese pitcher Shigeru Sugishita, who pitched between 1949 and 1961:

Over his career the righty posted 215 wins, twice winning 32 games in a season (1952 and 1954) with six straight 20+ win seasons between 1950 and 1955.

His 1954 season was tremendous, as he appeared in 63 games for the Chunichi Dragons, going 32-12 with an incredible 1.39 earned run average over 395.1 innings, completing 27 of his 32 starts while tossing seven shutouts.

He also set a career best when he whiffed 273 batters, one of three seasons where he topped 200 strikeouts.

His career totals: 215 wins, a 2.23 ERA over 525 appearances and 2841.2 innings, with 31 shutouts and 1761 strikeouts, taking home three Sawamura Awards as top pitcher (the first pitcher to win three such awards), getting elected to the Japan Hall of Fame in 1985.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 TOM SPENCER

Today on the blog, a 1979 "not really missing in action" card for outfielder Tom Spencer of the Chicago White Sox:

Spencer's entire Major League career consisted of 29 games over the Summer of 1978, hitting .183 with 12 hits in 65 at-bats, with three runs scored and four runs batted in while putting in time in all three outfield spots.

Aside from his brief MLB tenure, Spencer put in 12 years in professional ball, playing for the Cincinnati reds, White Sox and Houston organizations between 1970 and 1981.

Over that Minor League time he hit .272 with over 1000 hits and 173 stolen bases, but only got that one taste of the Major League sun in 1978, which of course any of us could only dream of!

Cheers Tom!

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2017: NOT REALLY MISSING 1972 RIMP LANIER

Today we revisit a post from 2017, a really fun "not really missing" 1972 card for six-game Major Leaguer Rimp Lanier of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Originally posted on February 3rd of 2017, here's the write-up as it appeared back then:

"Today’s “not really” missing card is a 1972 edition featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates Rimp Lanier, whose whole Major League career encompassed six games in 1971, with four hitless at-bats.

Lanier’s entire MLB experience was as a pinch-hitter, and while he never collected a hit, he did get on base once by a hit-by-pitch.
That would be it for the 22-year-old, although he did get to play on a world champion team as the Pirates went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles that year and win it all.
Not bad!"

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: BILLY WILLIAMS

Today on the blog we add "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Hall of Famer Billy Williams, to my future multi-series custom set "Classic Baseball":

Just a beautiful photo of the overlooked and underappreciated All-Star outfielder for the Chicago Cubs.

Williams 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.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DARRELL PORTER

Today on the blog we take a look at Darrell Porter and his image variations for his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC Version

Topps version

The young catcher was part of a multi-player trade in December of 1976 that had the people at OPC scrambling to airbrush him into a Kansas City Royals uni, while the Topps cards were already going to press, leaving us with what you see here.

Not that bad a paint-job by OPC. Lord knows we have seen worse (or some may say GLORIOUS) work over the decade!

As for Porter, I never realized that he was never a subject here on the blog all these years.

While he did make an All-Star team and finish third in Rookie of the year voting as a member of the Brewers, it was after he found himself in K.C. that he really became a solid Major League backstop, with three All-Star nods in a row between 1978 and 1980, including a starting gig in the 1979 game, with two top-10 MVP finished as well in that time.

His 1979 season is really not spoken about enough in respect to the 1970s!

Quite possibly the best offensive year by an American League catcher in the 1970s, Porter was a beast at the plate.

He hit .291 for the Royals, with 101 runs scored and 112 runs batted in, with 20 homers and an American League leading 121 walks, for a nifty .421 on-base-percentage, while also leading the league with 13 sacrifices.

He also hit an amazing 10 triples over his 155 hits, which as we all know for a catcher is not a common occurrence in the game.

In 1981 he would become a St. Louis Cardinal, signing with them as a Free Agent and replacing Hall of Famer Ted Simmons, and Porter would be part of the World Champion 1982 team, having himself an incredible Post Season, taking home MVP honors in BOTH the N.L. Playoffs and the World Series after hitting a ridiculous .556 against the Atlanta Braves, then hitting .286 with eight hits and five RBIs in the Fall Classic.

He'd finish his career with two seasons playing part-time with the Texas Rangers in 1986 and 1987, finishing up with a .247 batting average over 17 seasons, with 188 homers, 765 runs scored and 826 RBIs, four All-Star nods and the aforementioned two top-10 MVP finishes.

Sadly, because of a substance abuse problem that began during his baseball career, Porter passed away in 2002 related to cocaine at only 50 years of age.

His life was full of turmoil during and after his baseball career, and he even wrote a book about it called "Snap Me Perfect!", detailing his life in the sport and struggles with drugs.

R.I.P. Darrell Porter: 1952-2002.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- HONUS WAGNER

The next baseball legend to get a card in my long running "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set is the "Flying Dutchman", Honus Wagner:

Here we have him suited up with the Paterson Silk Weavers of the Atlantic League, for whom he played in 1896 and 1897, his last Minor League stop before embarking on his all-time Major League career later in the 1897 season.

As far as records show Wagner hit .313 and .375 for Paterson in that time, with a combined 176 runs scored  and 64 stolen bases.

Once he made his Big League debut, Wagner was a lock as the all-time best at his position in the first half of the 20th Century, as he put together one of the greatest careers of any ballplayer to this day, amassing 3420 hits, 1739 runs, 252 triples and 643 doubles, and…oh yeah, EIGHT batting titles and 723 stolen bases as he guided the Pirates eighteen years after three years in Louisville between 1897-1899.

Wagner was a monster. Not only did he lead the league in batting those eight times, but he also led the N.L. in doubles seven times, triples three times, runs batted in five times, stolen bases five times, on-base pct three times, slugging six times, and total bases six times!

He did it all, and was duly selected to be one of the charter members of the Hall of Fame in 1936 alongside Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson.

Just incredible.

WTHBALLS "BASEBALL ICONS" SPECIAL SET: SANDY KOUFAX

Today we add the great Sandy Koufax, fellow Brooklynite and "The Left Arm of God" to my future custom set, "Icons of Baseball", an artier set using backdrops of the player's home field in popping color:

I love anything to do with Koufax, and any chance to design a card for him is jumped at.

Koufax and the "Left Arm of God" legend has only gotten bigger over time.

The years between 1961 and 1966 were amazing, but it was the 1963-1966 period in particular that was just unconscious, and what got him into Cooperstown.

Just look at the numbers, all in FOUR seasons of play:

A 97-27 record, with four E.R.A. crowns, three years of a sub-2.00 mark, 31 shutouts, 89 complete games and 1228 strikeouts, with three of those years topping 300+ K's!

He took home three Cy Young Awards, finished third in 1964, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1963, with two other second-place finishes in 1965 and 1966, his final two years of Major League ball.

In the postseason he was equally as brilliant, being voted MVP of the World Series in both 1963 and 1965, leading the Dodgers to championships.

He posted a 4-3 lifetime record with a 0.95 earned run average, two shutouts and 61 strikeouts in 57 innings of work.

In his three losses in postseason play, he gave up THREE earned runs! So it's not like he choked in those games either.

Sadly we all know how his career ended because of arm troubles, causing him to retire at the age of only 30.

Man how I wish we could have seen him pitch into the 1970's!

Would have been awesome to see him on those card-issues into the mid-decade, no?

That five year stretch was so awesome that he was elected in the Hall on his first try, being named to 86.9% of the ballot.

There are some out there that feel he didn't "perform" long enough to warrant a Hall selection, let alone a first-year induction.

And most of the time I'd agree.

However we are talking some rarified stuff here, so with Koufax it was indeed a no-brainer.

What do you all think? Anybody out there think Koufax didn't perform long enough for a Hall of Fame induction?

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" CAP ANSON

Good day all.

On the blog today, spotlighting one of my earlier custom sets, and a key card from that set, my "19th Century Base Ball Stars" card of Hall of Famer Cap Anson:

A really fun set to produce that took a ton of work!

Of course I based the design after one of my favorite sets of all-time, the 1894 Mayo Plug set, of which I have never owned a card from, so in a sense I created my own to have and cherish!

Anson put together an outstanding 27-year career between 1871 and 1897, going from the National Association to the Majors and, alongside Al Spalding and George Wright becoming one of the most important figures in the game's early league formation.
The first player to reach 3000 hits, Anson collected 3435 total professional knocks along with 2075 runs batted in, 1999 runs scored and 582 doubles before he hung up the spikes, all league records at the time.
During his storied career he led the league in RBI’s eight times, batting average four times, and topped .300 an incredible 24 times, 20 of which were consecutive from the start of his career!
His influence was huge, and not until guys like Cobb and Wagner came into the picture would there be another player like him, and was evident by his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

Sadly he is also remembered for some really nasty stuff as well, namely being one of the main influences back then of keeping African-Americans out of the Majors, something which is just awful, and a giant stain on his place in the sport's history.

If only guys like him didn't get their way, baseball's history could have been so much richer for it!

REVISITING A POST FROM 2013: 1973 MIKE SCHMIDT DEDICATED ROOKIE

Thought it'd be fun today to revisit a post from October of 2013, a favorite creation of mine, my 1973 "dedicated rookie" for the great Mike Schmidt. One of the earliest dedicated rookies created for the blog.

Here's the post as it appeared way back when:

"Today I want to post up a card design for a rookie card I WISH existed instead of his multiple player version that Topps issued: Mike Schmidt and his 1973 introduction to the world of sports cards.
First off, let's look at his rookie card as we all know it:

Now, I'll admit it's not the worst rookie card out there, especially with Ron Cey carrying some weight as well.
But really, what could be better than a dedicated rookie of the greatest third baseman the game has ever seen?
I found a nice image of Schmidt during his rookie year and used it for my imaginary "rookie" shown below. Hope you all like it...

Not much to be said about Mike Schmidt that hasn't been said a million times before!
Growing up in the late-70's/early-80's, quite simply, he was THE third baseman in Major League baseball.
Three M.V.P.'s, 10 Gold Gloves, 12 All-Star games, and oh yeah...he hit 548 career homers and lead the National League EIGHT TIMES during his awesome eighteen-year career.
A no-brainer Hall of Famer whom was inducted on his first try in 1995. A "duh" if there ever was one.
"Schmitty" was the man"

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 RANCE MULLINIKS

Up on the blog today, we go and give former Big League infielder Rance Mulliniks a "missing" card since he played about a third of a season for the California Angels the year prior:

Mulliniks, who had his Topps rookie card in the 1978 set after appearing in 78 games for California in 1977, hit .185 in 1978 over the aforementioned 50 games, with 22 hits over 119 at-bats while putting time in at shortstop.

He'd play in only 22 games during the 1979 season for the Angels before being part of a blockbuster trade in December of 1979 that included Willie Aikens and Al Cowens, seeing the players swap uni's between the Angels and Kansas City Royals.

He'd see limited time with the Royals in 1980 and 1981 before heading off to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he finally found a home and would spend the rest of his 16-year career with, playing 11 seasons for the Jays, generally at third base with some time around the rest of the infield.

He would have some really nice seasons with the Jays, and while never truly a "full-time" player, he'd put in seasons with over 350 plate appearances between 1982 and 1988, hitting as high as .324 (1984) with a couple of other .300+ seasons thrown in.

By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished up with 972 hits in 3569 at-bats, good for a .272 mark, with 445 runs scored and 435 runs batted in over 1325 games.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 RICHIE ZISK

Today on the blog we take a closer look at the image variation between Richie Zisk's 1977 OPC and Topps cards, with the airbrusher using some trickery to give the illusion of a unique image when in fact all they did was zoom in and paint over the same image Topps used for their card:

OPC version

Topps version

As you can see on the OPC "White Sox" version, they cropped Zisk's photo and closed in on him and airbrushed some sweet almost neon-like blue to get him into a Chicago White Sox uniform.

For the Topps card, they went to press earlier and didn't have the time to get him out of his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, the team Zisk played his entire Big League career for at that point.

Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.

1974 saw him elevate his game, hitting 17 homers with a .313 average and 100 runs batted in, his first of two such seasons over his career.

He was sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox in the Rich Gossage deal in 1977, and had one of his best years in the Majors in his only season there, hitting a career high 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

He was named All-Star for the first time, and was part of the "South Side Hit Men" lineup that included Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm and Chet Lemon, fan favorites who hit a (then) high 192 homers as a team.

He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between 1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored, hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: BILL MAZEROSKI

Good day all!

On the blog today, we add Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski to my future custom set, "Classic Baseball", celebrating the wonderful sport of baseball and it's lengthy and rich history:

Just a classic era-perfect photo of the Pittsburgh Pirates great, from right about the time he catapulted himself into baseball history with a Game 7 home run in the bottom of the ninth to send the Pirates to a World Championship over the heavily favored New York Yankees.

But it's easy to forget that Mazeroski's homer was in only his fifth full season in the Majors. He went on to star for the Pirates for the next 12 seasons before hanging them up at the end of the 1972 season.
By the time he retired, Mazeroski won two world championships (1960 & 1971), eight Gold Gloves, made seven All-Star teams, topped 2000 hits and made a name for himself as one of the premier fielding second baseman in baseball.
He still hold the all-time record for turning double-plays for second basemen at 1706, and lead the National League in assists nine times between 1958-1968.
While the BBWA failed to vote him into the Hall of Fame withing the 15 years of eligibility, the Veteran's Committee got him in 2001, almost 30 years after retiring, joining such former teammates like Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente.

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: WILLIE STARGELL

I've been told I haven't created enough Willie Stargell cards for the blog over the years by my friend, and while it is true, it certainly is NOT done on purpose.

So today I post up my Stargell "mini" card, from my Gum Pack set released a while back, in honor of "Pops":

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.

He 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: A.L. LEFT-HANDED PITCHER: JIM KAAT

On the blog today, my pick for the American League's left-handed pitcher of the 1960s, and I went with Minnesota Twins ace Jim Kaat:

You may be surprised by my pick of Kaat as the American League's lefty of the decade. But really, as far as a FULL decade goes, he didn't have much stiff competition. Whitey Ford is the guy who jumps into everyone's mind, but he really had half a decade before his career went South.

As for Kaat, all the guy did was win eight Gold Glove awards, a pennant in 1965 with the Twins, post 142 wins and have five seasons of 15 or more wins, with a high of 25 in 1966, a year he easily would have won the Cy Young had there been one selected for each league at the time.

In the case of the American League, it really was about consistency in this case over anyone with dominant numbers, there just weren't any.

Kaat ended up with a very nice career, moving into the bullpen after a lengthy 20 years as a starter in 1979.

He ended up pitching effectively another five years out of the pen before retiring after the 1983 season with the Cardinals, finishing up with 283 wins, 31 shutouts and 2461 strikeouts in 898 games, 625 of them starting.

He also famously won 16 Gold Gloves total in his career, something only Greg Maddux can relate to (with 18 such awards).

One of my favorite baseball-figures, as a player, a coach, and a broadcaster. The man is a true baseball lifer.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: LARRY DOBY

Today we add the great, and underappreciated in my book, Hall of Famer Larry Doby to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, to be released later this year celebrating the sport I hold dear for all these years:

Doby began his professional career at the age of 18, suiting up for the Newark Eagles at second base in 1942, putting in parts of three seasons before heading off to the Military in 1945.

He'd be back to playing ball in 1946 with Newark, and would lead the Negro Leagues with 85 hits, 10 triples  and 138 total bases while making his first All-Star team.

In 1947, just a few months after Jackie Robinson broke the MLB color-barrier playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League, Doby would do the same in the American League, donning the uniform of the Cleveland Indians, appearing in 29 games.

Though his initial start with Cleveland was a bit rough, to the tune of a .156 batting average over 32 at-bats, Doby would immediately find his stroke in 1948, hitting .301 for the eventual World Champions, scoring 83 runs while hitting 14 homers with 23 doubles and nine triples, even garnering some MVP attention at season's end.

He would make seven All-Star teams while with Cleveland, with MVP consideration in four of those campaigns.

He'd lead the A.L. in homers twice with 32 in both 1952 and 1954, while leading the league with 126 RBIs in the latter season, one of five seasons he'd top 100.

Never given enough praise for his ground-breaking MLB debut, often overshadowed by Jackie Robinson's debut just before him, I'm happy to see his place in Big League history getting more and more attention as time passes.

Thankfully, he was also given his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, having been selected for enshrinement in 1998, though far too late in my opinion, but at least before he passed away, which he did on June 18th of 2003 at the age of 79.