GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1969 JIM "MUDCAT" GRANT

On the blog today, we go and give Jim "Mudcat" Grant a do-over for his 1969 card, which Topps originally had with an image of him from years prior, when he was with the Cleveland Indians, airbrushing his cap for a non-descript image to have him "suited up" with the brand new MLB Montreal Expos franchise:

My re-do for Mudcat

As issued by Topps

Here I have a very nice photo of the pitcher showing him with the team he pitched for in 1968, the Los Angeles Dodgers, making for an attractive alternative!

I can create cards for “Mudcat” all day long, and I can't really understand why Topps didn't include him in their 1970 set since he appeared in 41 games in 1969, posting an 8-11 record with a 4.42 earned run average in 114 innings of work, split between the Montreal Expos and St. Louis Cardinals.
He'd go on to pitch two more seasons, for both the Oakland A's and Pittsburgh Pirates before retiring at the end of the 1971 season.
Overall he put in a very nice 14-year career that saw him go 145-119 with a 3.63 ERA and 1267 strikeouts over 571 games and 2442 innings pitched.
His finest season was 1965 for the American League champ Minnesota Twins when he finished with a 21-7 record, the win total leading the league, as well as leading in winning percentage (.750) and shutouts (6).
But I also have to point out his incredibly underrated 1970 season.
That year, in what turned out to be his second to last in the Majors, Grant was used as a reliever, appearing in 80 games with the Pirates and A's, good for 135.1 innings, while posting fantastic numbers by season's end, going 8-3 with 24 saves and a sparkling 1.86 E.R.A.!
Not too shabby!

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS- 1977 PEDRO GARCIA

On the blog today, the next OPC to Topps image variation to check out, this one the 1977 cards for former second baseman Pedro Garcia:

OPC version

Topps version

After putting in half a season with the Detroit Tigers, Garcia found himself heading to the start-up Toronto Blue Jays franchise before the 1977 season, which gave OPC the time to get him in the correct uniform for their set.

Topps, on the other hand, because they hit the presses earlier than their Canadian counterpart, released Garcia's card showing him as a Tiger.

Turns out Garcia would play 41 games for the Blue Jays in their inaugural season, and those would be the last of his five year Major League career, which began in 1973 when he was runner-up for the American League Rookie of the Year when he led the league with 32 doubles, hitting .245 for the Milwaukee Brewers with 142 hits, 67 suns scored and 54 runs batted in.

Sadly for him he would never come close to numbers like that again, playing for Milwaukee through the first half of 1976 before being shipped to Detroit, hitting a combined .204 in 1976 before his 1977 swan song.

Overall, he'd finish his Big League career with a .220 average, with 395 hits in 1797 at-bats over 558 games, with 196 runs scored and 184 RBIs, 37 homers and 35 stolen bases.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: YOGI BERRA

On the blog today, we add the great Yogi Berra to my "Classic Baseball" custom set, due for a multi-series release later this year:

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 A POST FROM 2014: 1975 CAREER-CAPPER FOR NORM CASH

Let's go and revisit my 1975 career-capper for Detroit Tigers great Norm Cash, arguably a Hall of Famer player in my book, and somewhat forgotten these days:

Considering what era Norm Cash played his productive years in, I'm really impressed with the 377 home runs he hit before he was released in August of 1974, ending a very productive career.

After a couple of partial seasons with the Chicago White Sox in 1958-1959, Cash was traded twice between the end of the 1959 season and beginning of the 1960 season, and found himself a member of the Detroit Tigers, the only team he would play for the rest of his 17-year career.

Eventually taking over at first base for Detroit, Cash would go on to win a batting title in 1961, hit 20 or more homers 11 times, and appear in over 2000 games.

Even though he was released "early" in the 1974 season, I feel that he should have that "last card" in the 1975 set, being that he played enough, to the tune of 53 games and 172 plate appearances.

Kind of like a show of "respect" for a solid veteran of almost two decades. No?

 

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1962 AL KALINE

The next "Series 3 1960s In-Action" card to get posted here on the blog is a 1962 edition for Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline:

Fun horizontal image to go with my previous 1962 "In-Action" cards of Stan Musial and Ernie Banks from the previous two Series.

What a quiet legend Kaline was. Buried under names like Aaron, Mays, Mantle, etc, he just went about his business year in and year out and paved the way for his eventual induction into Cooperstown's hallowed halls in 1980.

The 1960's saw Kaline make eight All-Star teams, win seven Gold Gloves, and receive solid M.V.P. support seven of ten years, finishing as high as second in 1963.

Though he only led the league in a primary offensive category only once (doubles in 1961) in the 1960s, Kaline's consistency was his strength, as he topped .300 four times, 20 homers five times, and a .500 slugging percentage five times.

The 15-time all-star topped 3000 hits, 1600 runs, 1500 runs batted in and came one home run short of 400 over his stellar career, which also included 10 Gold Gloves for his defensive prowess.
An easy Hall of Fame pick, he was inducted in his first year of eligibility in 1980 with 88.3% of the ballots cast.
“Mr. Tiger” indeed!

WTHBALLS "BASEBALL ICONS" SPECIAL SET: ERNIE BANKS

Time to post up my "Icons" special custom card for "Mr. Cub", Ernie Banks, which will be part of a special custom set later this year in fun deluxe packaging:

The man always looks good no matter what photo you decide to use for a card!

The most beloved baseball player in the North Side of Chicago, two-time Most Valuable Player (1958 and 1959), 500+ home runs, 2500+ hits, 11-time all-star and all-around great guy.

Oh, I may as well throw in the 1300+ runs scored, 1600+ runs batted in, 400+ doubles and 90 triples he chipped in as well, setting him on a straight path to the Baseball Hall of Fame with his 1977 induction, a no-brainer in anyone's book!

"Mr. Cub", wish there were more like him!

And keep an eye out for this set later this year!

REVISITING A CLASSIC CUSTOM FROM 2014: MISSING IN ACTION 1972 TONY CONIGLIARO

Let's revisit one of my favorite early "missing" cards from the blog, my 1972 card for Tony Conigliaro of the California Angels, created and posted in December, 2014:

Just a great card to design and actually print up, as part of one of my early "Series" packs a few years back.

Here's the original write-up for that post, which appeared on December 6th of 2014:

A little while back I fulfilled a request for a 1976 Tony Conigliaro card, even though it wasn't on my radar.

Today I'll post up a "Tony C" card that was INDEED on my radar: a "missing" 1972 design. Check it out.

The reason I consider it a missing card, even though Conigliaro didn't play in 1972, was that in 1971 he did suit up in 74 games for the California Angels, good for 292 plate appearances.

For the season he hit .222 with four homers and 15 runs batted in, along with 23 runs scored and 59 total hits.

It is easy to forget that after his beaning in 1967, and missing all of 1968, Conigliaro came back and posted a remarkable return season in 1969, hitting 20 homers, driving in 82, and taking home the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

1970 was even more incredible, as he swatted a career high 36 home runs, while driving in 100+ for the only time in his career (116)!

Sadly because of the beaning he suffered eye-troubles and was never the same again, and he was traded to the California Angels with pitcher Ray Jarvis and catcher Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum.

As if that wasn't enough for the poor guy, the true tragedy of the Tony Conigliaro story would be in 1982, when he was about to interview for a broadcasting job in Boston and suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state until his death eight years later in 1990.

Really a sad story that leaves you with the "what if's" of the sports world…

FANTASY CARD: 1973 DAVE WINFIELD

Good day everyone.

Up on the blog, my 1973 "Fantasy" card for Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield, one of my favorite players growing up in New York City during his tenure with the New York Yankees:

Of course, Winfield would never have gotten a card in that 1973 set, being drafted that June and skipping the Minors.

But I just could not resist using this wonderful image of him in that glorious mustard and brown San Diego Padres uniform!

Winfield would become the favorite player of many young kids in the San Diego area during the 1970’s, giving the Padres a new-look outfielder, bringing a whole new type of athleticism (along with Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos), with speed, stellar defense, a gun for an arm, and power at the plate.
By the time he retired after the 1995 season, his 22nd as a Big Leaguer, he finished with eight 100-RBI seasons, 15 20-home run seasons, 3110 hits, 1669 runs scored and 1833 RBIs.
He made the All-Star team 12 times, took home seven Gold Gloves, finished Top-10 in MVP voting seven times and was awarded six Silver Slugger Awards.
Man I loved this guy! I’ll never forget his line-drive home runs deep into left field at Yankee stadium as a kid, wondering what he would do in a stadium like today where he wasn’t looking at 430 to left-center.
One of the game’s greatest all-around athletes!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: PETE ROSE

Up on the blog today, we finally go and add Pete Rose to my upcoming custom mega-set, "Classic Baseball", a multi-series set that should see the light of day later this year:

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.

1970 "IN-GAME ACTION"- JIM KAAT

Up on the blog today, a card I almost forgot to post on the blog after it was created and included for my "1970 In-Game Action: Series 2" set a couple years back, my card for new Hall of Famer Jim Kaat:

Kaat came up to the Majors as a 20-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, developing into an All-Star starter when the organization moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
If there were a Cy Young winner for both leagues in place for the 1965 season, he most likely would have taken home the trophy when he posted a league-leading 25 wins to go along with a 2.75 ERA and 205 strikeouts for the American League champs.
After being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox in 1973, he’d go on to post two straight 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976.
In 1979, at the age of 40, he’d transition to the bullpen, where he would carve out a niche for himself as a reliable reliever, pitching another five seasons, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, fresh off a World Championship in 1982.
One of the greatest fielding pitchers the game has ever seen, Kaat took home 16 straight Gold Glove Awards between 1962 and 1977. Incredible.
By the time he retired as a player, he appeared in 898 games, posted a record of 283-237 along with a 3.45 ERA and 2461 strikeouts, as well as 31 shutouts and 17 saves.
The man is a walking baseball resource who still shares his knowledge of the game. His time as a New York Yankees announcer was one of my favorites alongside other former players like Ken Singleton and Bill White.

1960s "IN-ACTION" 1968 LOU BROCK

The next card in my third series of 1960s "In-Action" cards, none other than Hall of Famer Lou Brock of the St. Louis cardinals, on a 1968 template, doing what he did best, tearing up those base-paths:

Great shot of the legend stealing another of the 938 bases he'd swipe on his way to baseball immortality.

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

And look for this card to be part of my third 1960s In-Action set, due for a release later this year. Fun cards to create for the WTHBALLS collection!

BY SPECIAL REQUEST: AIRBRUSHING & THE 1961 BILL KUNKEL CARD

Today on the blog, a fun look at the 1961 Topps Bill Kunkel card, which was brought up recently by my buddy Thomas (Milwaukee Mauler) because of its crazy colorization:

I absolutely love all the old Topps black and white photo colorizations in the 1950s and 1960s sets, and this is one of them!

The poor guy, as his first Topps card turns out to be some cartoon-like image, obviously a black-and-white photo that Topps colored in. Not airbrushing by any means, but most likely hand-painted to the result you see here.

A much more successful card that utilized this technique would be Carl Yastrzemski's rookie card, as well as his 1961 card which was the same image.

On this Kunkel however, it is funny that while the "artist" went into some detail with the signage in the background, he kind of took a massive shortcut when it came time to work on the uniform, leaving it white except for the number "12" just above the waist.

You gotta love this stuff!!!

As for Kunkel, he put three years in the Majors, going 3-4 in his 1961 rookie season with a 5.18 earned run average for the Kansas City Athletics, followed by a no decision year in 1962 when he appeared in only nine games for K.C., capped off by a 1963 season that saw him suit up for the New York Yankees, going 3-2 over 22 games, all in relief, sporting a very nice 2.72 ERA.

After his playing days were over, he turned in quie a successful career as an official both in the Majors and the NBA/ABA.

While he only officiated in basketball for three years, he went on to umpire in the Majors for 17 years, between 1968 and 1984, umpiring a total of 2227 regular season games, including the game in which Harmon Killebrew hit his 500th home run in 1971, Nolan Ryan's third MLB no-hitter in 1974 and the Oakland A's combined no-hitter on September 28th of 1975, when four A's hurlers turned in the gem against the California Angels.

Not too shabby a baseball life!

SPECIAL REQUEST: DO-OVER FOR MY 1971 "MINOR LEAGUE DAYS" DON DRYSDALE: LEGENDS EDITION

We card collectors can be quite the fickle bunch!

And today is a good example, as I go and "fix" a card that has bugged me ever since I originally created it, my 1971 "Minor League Days" card for Don Drysdale, which I originally designed as part of the "current player" set, that is, with some color elements, with today's version the more appropriate "Legends Edition" black and white design, which is how it should have been created in the first place:

"Big D" retired at a young 32 years of age, and it's fun imagining his career extending into the mid-70's or so, something we didn't get to see.

The fresh-faced 18-year-old you see here on this card went 11-11 for the Montreal Royals, posting an ERA of 3.33 over 173 innings, with three shutouts and only 80 strikeouts.

He'd make his MLB debut in 1956 and show the Brooklyn faithfull what he was capable of, going 5-5 with a very nice 2.64 ERA over 99 innings of work, completing two of his 12 starts while relieving in another 13 games for the eventual N.L. champs.

He'd go one to become a true ace, posting double-digit wins every full year of his career, making eight All-Star teams, taking home the Cy Young Award in 1962, and posting seven seasons of sub-3.00 ERAs.

Though he did eventually make the Hall of Fame, he retired with a 209-166 career record, a 2.95 earned run average and 2486 strikeouts. Excellent numbers of course, but arguably borderline stats for the Hall (think Jack Morris, Luis Tiant, etc).
So imagine if he was able to tack on some more wins and maybe even reach 3000 strikeouts, which at the time of his retirement only the great Walter Johnson had done in Major League history.
The man WAS a beast though, intimidating batters along contemporary hurler Bob Gibson like few before or since, five times leading the National League in plunked batsmen, just to let them know who was boss.
Love guys like that!
Only wish we would have been able to see him pitch more, and more importantly regale us with stories a lot longer than his short 56 years, shockingly passing away in 1993.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" ED DELAHANTY

Up on the blog today, we come to my custom card for the great Ed Delahanty, from my early custom "19th Century Base Ball Stars" set released many moons ago:

Beautiful portrait of the Hall of Famer, who put in 16 years in the Majors and tragically had his career cut short after passing away in a freak accident that saw him fall to his death after wandering on to the Niagara Falls bridge in a drunken state on July 2nd, 1903.

One of FIVE professional baseball brothers, Ed hit a tremendous .346 over his career, with 2597 hits in 7510 at-bats between 1888 and 1903, winning two batting titles and hitting .400+ three times, with four 200+ hit seasons, seven 100+ RBIs and 10 100+ run campaigns.

Incredibly, in 1894 with the Philadelphia Phillies, he was part of a starting outfield that saw each man hit over .400, with Delahanty at .405, Sam Thompson at .415, and Billy Hamilton at .403, while Tuck Turner, the reserve fourth outfielder, hit .418 over 382 plate appearances! Just amazing.

That starting outfield all would eventually make it to the Hall of Fame years later, and rightly so!

For his career, Delahanty also finished with 1600 runs scored, 522 doubles, 186 triples, 101 homers and 1466 RBIs, with a .411 on-base-percentage and .505 slugging, stealing 456 bases.

In 1945 he'd be selected for the Hall of Fame by the "Old Timers Committee", now knows as the Veterans Committee.

Incredible baseball player who sadly met a tragic end to his career, but most importantly his life on that day in 1903 at the age of 35.

 

"ANOTHER CUP O' COFFEE" SET AVAILABLE NOW! SERIES 2

Good day everyone!

Happy to announce my newest WTHBALLS custom card set, “Another Cup O’ Coffee”, the second series featuring 11 Big League players who never had a Topps baseball card to mark their brief careers:

As with the first series released on the subject back in June of 2023, the players that will be featured in this set range from guys that played dozens of games, sometimes more, down to players that had one glorious day under the Major League sun, but never had a Topps card to commemorate their Big League tenure, including a multi-player rookie card, etc.

I’m happy to offer up this set for $10 each, with a one-time $4.50 postage fee, no matter how many sets you buy.

As usual, you can send payment via Paypal to: slogun23@gmail.com

I appreciate each and every one of you who have helped me keep this baseball & card obsession chugging along for eleven years now!

Take Care and thank you for the continued interest and support!!!

Gio/wthballs

 

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: JOHNNY BENCH

Today on the blog we have my custom mini card for all-time great Johnny Bench, from my "Gum Pack" set released a short while ago in fun packaging resembling a pack of gum:

Leading the Cincinnati Reds to two World Championships, four World Series appearances, while taking home two MVP Awards, and absolutely rewriting the catching game in Big League history, the man was already a legend by the time he was in his early-20's!

Of course as we all know, he would go on to put together a career rarely seen by ANY player, let alone a catcher: TWO N.L. MVP Awards, 14 all-star games, 10 Gold Gloves, two home run titles and three RBI titles, all while donning the “tools of ignorance” for 17 seasons, all with the Reds.

As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, this man was a mythic figure, a “god”, and he and the rest of his "Big Red Machine" teammates were steamrolling through the league towards two straight championships in 1975 & 1976, while appearing in two other series in 1970 and 1972.

L-E-G-E-N-D.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2013: GIMMIE A DO-OVER-1977 BOBBY MURCER

Revisiting a post from 2013 today, my first year of the blog, with today's card(s) being my do-over from July 6th of that year of one of the game's good guys, Bobby Murcer, and his 1977 card:

As issued by Topps

My re-do

Bobby Murcer's 1977 card was always one that I didn't like.
You see, I grew up a Yankee fan and I always loved Murcer. So even the cards of him on either the Cubs or Giants were cards I sought out as I ripped open packs in the late 70's.
So seeing this card with catcher Joe Ferguson taking up most of the frame irked me. So today I'm posting a much cleaner redesigned card with Murcer posing in a batting stance, facing the camera.
Yeah it's a little tame, but at least we're not distracted by some other guy's back to the camera instead of Murcer himself.
On a side note: I do like the fact that on the original card Murcer seems to be arguing balls and strikes with the ump. He seems a bit pissed, which if you know Murcer the player or announcer, there was probably not a nicer person on the baseball diamond or in the booth calling games.
Anyway, would have made for a great card if the photographer got Murcer and the ump in the shot instead what was actually depicted.

Reflecting the mega-trade that saw Murcer head to Chicago for reigning National League batting king Bill Madlock, OPC scrambled to get Murcer airbrushed into a Cubs uni, while Topps had an in-game shot of him at the plate.

Murcer really did have a very nice career, especially those seasons between 1969 and 1977 when he drove in over 80 runs eight times, while topping 90 five of those seasons.
He hit as high as .331 (1971) while hitting as many as 33 homers (1972), while also leading the league in runs scored with 102 in 1972, OBP with a .427 mark in 1971 and total bases with 314 again in 1972.
He made five straight All-Star teams from 1971 through 1975, and was in the top-10 in MVP voting three straight years: 1971-1973.
Much more importantly, the man was one of the nicest human beings on the planet, as I can attest to, meeting him on more than a few occasions.
He was just as “real” as it got.
Rest in Peace Bobby. You are truly missed.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" KING KELLY

Good day all!

On the blog today, we spotlight my custom card for the great King Kelly, from my early custom "19th Century Base Ball Stars" set released in 2018:

Arguably the best, if not most popular player of the 19th Century, Kelly put in 16 tumultuous years in the Major Leagues, often credited with helping popularize the hit-and-run, the hook slide, and the catcher's practice of backing up first base.

Truly a character of the early game, do yourself a favor and read what you can on the man, as I could spend the next few hours just trying to outline a basic profile of his exploits, so I'll keep to his performance between the foul lines here.

Over his 16 year career he'd take home two batting titles, while leading the league in runs scored three years in a row between 1884 and 1886.

He'd also lead the league in doubles three times and on-base-percentage twice, finishing up his Big League tenure with a .307 average, with 1813 hits over 5896 at-bats in 1456 games between 1878 and 1893.

Sadly, he passed away at the young age of only 36 from Pneumonia in November of 1894, just one year removed from his last action as a player, broke with debt, leaving behind a wife.

In 1945 he became the second player voted into the Hall of Fame by the (then) Old Timer's Committee, now what we call the Veterans Committee.

An early legend of the game who left his permanent mark on the sport.

 

"MISSING" 1969 DECKLE REGGIE JACKSON

Up on the blog today, my "missing" 1969 Deckle Edge card for "Mr. October", Reggie Jackson, from my custom 1969 "Gimmie A Do-Over" set released a few months back:

Really a fun insert to create for that set, as I had to manually hand-cut the deckle edging for each and every one of these to insert into my packs.

Truly one of the eternal icons of the game, the man was just destined for baseball greatness since his days at Cheltenham High School in Pennsylvania.
Recruited by pro teams and colleges alike, he went on to Arizona State where he was actually on a football scholarship.
Of course we all know the story of the 1966 amateur draft, where the New York Mets held the #1 pick, and opted for high school catcher Steve Chilcott instead of who many considered the true #1 overall amateur, Jackson.
With the second pick, the Kansas City Athletics (later Oakland) picked the slugger and the rest is history, as he would eventually lead the organization to three straight championships between 1972-1974 before being traded in a blockbuster to the Baltimore Orioles where he’d play for one season in 1976.
As a highly coveted free agent before the 1977 season, Jackson signed with the New York Yankees, and with Reggie in NYC, the legend exploded as he helped the Yankees to two championships in 1977-78.
With his larger than life persona, New York ate it up and before you knew it, he was known around the world, even getting his own candy-bar by the end of the decade.
For a kid like me growing up in Brooklyn in the ‘70’s, Reggie was like a God, larger than life, and before he finished up his career in 1987, putting in 21 seasons, he would put together a Hall of Fame career with 563 homers, 1702 runs batted in, an MVP Award in 1973, and five championships.
Add to that 14 all-star nods, four home run titles, a legendary homer in the 1971 All-Star Game against Dock Ellis, his 1977 World Series performance, and you can see why he goes down as one of the most well-known baseball personalities the game has ever seen!

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: MISSING 1977 LEON BROWN

On the blog today, we revisit a post from June of 2014, my "missing in action" card for Leon Brown of the New York Mets, who was left out of the 1977 Topps set:

Here's the original write-up for the card from that post over 10 years ago.

"Here's one for all you Mets fans out there!

Although he only appeared in 64 games in his Major League career (all in 1976), I came across a nice photo of former New York Mets outfielder Leon Brown recently and decided to design a 1977 card for him.

While I normally never designed cards for "missing" players with so little Major League action, I've decided to branch out a bit and start designing cards of players that fit the bill if I come across a decent enough photo, like Brown here.

As I stated earlier, Brown only appeared in 64 games in 1976, batting .214 with 15 hits in 70 at-bats while playing all three outfield positions.

While his Major League action was sparse, he did manage to pull together a 13-year Minor League career, playing for six organizations along the way: the Orioles, Giants, White Sox, Mets, Cardinals and Royals.

Ironically enough, he fared much better than his brother Curtis, who got into one Major League game, for the Montreal Expos, in 1973, going 0 for 4."

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: STEVE GARVEY

Let's go and add "Mr. Clean", Steve Garvey to my future custom "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the sport I have obsessed over for the past 45 years or so:

Just a nice portrait shot of the man who would anchor those great Los Angeles Dodger teams of the late-70s/early-80s.

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!

 

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1960 YOGI BERRA

Today's blog post has me adding a 1960 "In-Action" card for all-time great Yogi Berra, which I hope to be part of the third series in this collection in the coming months:

Fun template to play around with!

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…

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: MIKE SCHMIDT

Time to spotlight my mini card from my "Gum Pack" custom set released a few months back of perhaps the greatest third baseman the game has ever seen, that of Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies:

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

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- JOE McGINNITY

Up on the blog today, a fun guy to add to my long-running "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set, Hall of Fame pitcher Joe McGinnity, who won nearly 500 games over his professional career, which spanned a quarter century from 1893 to 1925:

By the time McGinnity decided to rest his arm for good after pitching for the Dubuque Climbers in the Mississippi Valley League in 1925, he finished his pro career with 478 wins, collected over a staggering 1048 games, which saw him throw 7091 innings.

Pictured here on this card with Dubuque, he was in his 50's when he suited up for them in 1922-1925.

Nicknamed "Iron Man", you can understand why when you look at his time with the New York Giants at the turn of the 20th Century when he teamed up with Christy Mathewson to form one of the All-Time great 1-2 pitching tandems in MLB history.

Over his 10-year MLB career spanning 1899 through 1908, he posted 20+ wins eight times, with a high of 35 wins in 1904 when he appeared in 51 games, with 44 starts and 38 complete games, amounting to 408 innings of work, with nine shutouts.

Incredibly, a year before that in 1903 he posted a record of 31-20, appearing in 55 games, with 48 starts and a ridiculous 44 complete games, pitching a mind boggling 434 innings.

He also posted a 28 win season for the Baltimore Orioles in 1899 as a rookie, followed by another 28 win year in 1900 now with the Brooklyn Superbas.

His pro breakdown for wins was 246 in the Majors and 224 in the Minors, with 32 shutouts as a Big Leaguer, with his Minor League stats lost to history. So who knows just how many shutouts, complete games, etc he racked up overall.

In 1946 he was eventually voted into the Hall of Fame by the "Old Timers Committee", joining many of his former teammates in Cooperstown, and rightly so!

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1971 DON BAYLOR

Good day everyone!

Thought it'd be fun to revisit my post from 2014, a "dedicated rookie" for Don Baylor, a favorite player of mine from my youth as I followed the New York Yankees in the mid-80's:

 

Nice shot of the slugger as he began what ended up being an excellent Major League career spanning almost two decades.

Here's the original write-up:

Let's go and give Don Baylor a dedicated rookie card in the 1971 set, where he originally shared a multi-player rookie card with Tom Paciorek and Dusty Baker.

Now while his original rookie wasn't too shabby a card, I found this nice image of Baylor during his very early years and decided to whip up a 1971 card for him. Some of you may wonder about his uniform! But if you notice all the late-series Orioles players in that 1971 set were photographed with the "new" Baltimore uniform, which Baylor is wearing on this card. As a young teen in NYC in the early 1980's, I can tell you Baylor was a favorite of ours in the schoolyards of Brooklyn for his hard-nosed play. He was cool as a cucumber, yet as likable as you can be when we'd see him at baseball card shows around town. Besides, he looked bad-ass standing there at the plate, upright and waiting to crush a ball into the stands. He finished his 19-year career in 1988, playing for his third straight American League Champion team, and all three were different: Red Sox in '86, Twins in '87, and the A's in 1988. Of those, the Twins brought home the title, giving Baylor his only Championship ring as somewhat of a "regular player". He retired with over 2000 hits, 330 homers, 285 stolen bases and over 1200 runs scored and runs batted in. In 1979 he exploded while with the Angels, bringing home the American league Most Valuable Player Award after slamming 36 home runs while leading the league in runs scored (120) and runs batted in (139), while hitting .296 with 22 stolen bases thrown in. Of course, he'll also be remembered as one of the key components in the Orioles-A's trade that sent Reggie Jackson to Baltimore in April of 1976. But by the time he hung up his cleats for good, he put together a very solid career himself, even winning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 while steering the Colorado Rockies to a 77 and 67 record (good for second place). Here's to you "Groove"! 

WTHBALLS "BASEBALL ICONS" SPECIAL SET: JUAN MARICHAL

On the blog today, the "Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal gets a card in my future custom "Icons" set, to be released in special packaging with still to be decided inserts and extras:

Legendary leg kick for a legendary 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 had 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!

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: 1979 "THEN & NOW" LOU BROCK

Good day everyone.

On the blog today we revisit a post from October of 2014, my 1979 "Then & Now" card for the great Lou Brock:

I loved creating cards for this thread a while back, fun stuff!

Here's the original post from that day:

Man! Here's a guy who is often overlooked in baseball history, and funny enough I almost forgot all about him for my "Then and Now" series: Lou Brock.

I just had to use a picture of him with that Cardinals cap on! Just takes me back…

By the end of the 1979 season Brock was closing out his Hall of Fame career, nailing down his 3000th hit to go along with his 938 stolen bases, 1610 runs scored and .293 lifetime average.

Even at the age of 40 he was doing well, batting over .300 (.304) with 21 stolen bases!

An eight-time stolen base champ, he also collected 200 hits in a season four times, with another four seasons of over 190, and he also scored 100+ runs in a season seven times.

Incredibly enough, in Brock's 19-year career, he made the All-Star team only six times! 

The price you pay for coming up during the years of Mays, Aaron, and Clemente! 

Tough luck indeed!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: MICKEY LOLICH

Time to add former Detroit Tigers ace and World Series hero Mickey Lolich to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, to be released later this year in multiple series:

Lolich was the definition of a "workhorse" for the Tigers, reeling off 12 straight seasons of 200+ innings pitched, including a staggering four straight 300+ inning stretch between 1971 and 1974.

Along the way he posted two 20-win seasons, with a high of 25 in 1971 when he started an incredible 45 games, completing 29 and throwing a staggering 376 innings!
He also posted four shutouts that year as well as a league-leading 308 strikeouts, finishing second in the Cy Young Award behind Oakland pitcher Vida Blue.
After a 12-18 campaign in 1975, Lolich was traded to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub where he went 8-13 before missing the 1977 season.
In 1978 he was back in the Big Leagues, now with the San Diego Padres, where he went 2-1 over 20 appearances, posting a brilliant 1.56 ERA over 34.2 innings pitched.
After a final season of MLB ball in 1979 that saw him go 0-2 with a bloated 4.74 ERA in 27 appearances, Lolich retired, ending up with a 217-191 record along with 2832 strikeouts, at one point the Major League record for left-handed pitchers, as well as 41 shutouts and a 3.44 ERA in 586 appearances over 16-years.