"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: WARREN SPAHN

Time to add one of my favorite subjects for the blog to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, the great Warren Spahn:

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).

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #27: 1972 AL OLIVER

Fun card to revisit that I originally created back in 2015, my "missing" 1972 In-Action card for "Scoop" Al Oliver, a Hall of Famer in my book:

Nice shot of "Scoop" at the plate!

Now, what do you call a guy who was a seven-time all-star, Silver Slugger winner at three different positions, collector of over 2700 hits, 200 home runs, .300 career average, 1300 runs batted in, and 500 doubles?

I call that a Hall of Famer, especially when you consider that the first nine years or so of his career were the "dead" 1970's.

Yes I know an argument can be made here for Oliver's Hall-worthiness.

But I have always felt that he fell into that Vada Pinson, Dave Parker, Steve Garvey crowd that should have gotten, at the very LEAST, more of a shot at Cooperstown.

I mean, when he was finally eligible for Hall voting, he only got 4.3% and was dropped just like that! THAT is just insane.

He won three consecutive Silver Slugger Awards in 1980-1982, as an outfielder, a designated hitter and a first baseman and he batted .300 or better eleven times in his 18-year career!

He finished in the top-10 in batting eight times during his career, in the top-10 in hits eight times in his career, top-10 in doubles nine times in his career, top-10 in total bases five times, runs scored four times, runs batted in four times, triples three times, extra base hits five times and slugging percentage twice.

Is THAT enough of a statement? His consistency was amazing.

And to top it off, he should have been the National League Rookie of the Year in 1969 but got ripped off, with the award going to Los Angeles Dodger Ted Sizemore.

Al Oliver is grossly overlooked as far as players of that era in my book.

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- MISSING IN ACTION: 1964 JOE MORGAN

Today's blog post has my "not really missing" 1964 card for all-time second baseman Joe Morgan, who made his Major League debut for the Houston Colt .45's in 1963:

Morgan appeared in eight games for the Colt .45's that season, hitting .240 with the first six hits of his illustrious career over 25 at-bats, also stealing a base and scoring five runs.

For Mr. Morgan, the man was just beginning a run that would send him straight to the Hall of Fame, still with his original team before eventually helping to build a juggernaut of a team forever known as the "Big Red Machine" when he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1972 season in a blockbuster trade.

Those Reds teams would win two straight World Series in 1975 and 1976, and field teams with the likes of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George Foster and Ken Griffey Sr.

By the time he retired after the 1984 season at the age of 40, he finished with two MVP Awards, 10 All-Star nods, five Gold Gloves, 2517 hits, 1650 runs scored, 268 homers and a cool 689 stolen bases with 1865 walks.
One of the all-timers right there at second base!

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1975 ART HOWE

On the blog today, we have a 1975 "not so missing" card for Art Howe, his third such card created for the blog over the years:

Howe made his Big League debut in 1974, with 29 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates that saw him hit .243 with 18 hits over 74 at-bats, with a homer and five runs batted in.

The future Major League manager actually played in 63 games for the Pirates in 1975, gathering 162 plate appearances, so really he should have had a card.

He hit .171 for the year, with nine doubles and a homer along with 10 runs batted in and 13 runs scored.

His 11-year career as a player would really hit it's stride after joining the Houston Astros, as he'd play pretty much full-time between 1977 and 1982 before a couple of part-time years in St. Louis in 1984 and 1985 (he didn't play Major League ball in 1983).

As you all know, he'd really find his niche on the Major League level as a manager, guiding the Astros, Oakland A's and New York Mets between 1989 and 2004.

His real success was leading the young studs in Oakland in the late-90's/early-00's, winning 100-games in two seasons (2001 and 2002), but never being able to get past the N.Y. Yankees (remember the now-famous "Jeter-Flip"?).

All told, Howe would win 1129 games as a manager in the Big Leagues, finishing 2nd in "Manager of the Year" voting four years in a row from 1999-2002.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" KID NICHOLS

Today on the blog we take a look at my "19th Century Base Ball Champions" card for Hall of Fame pitcher Kid Nichols, from my custom set released back in 2018 in deluxe cigarette pack packaging:

Nichols was an absolute top tier pitcher over his 15 Major League seasons, ultimately winning 362 games and at one point stringing together seven 30-win seasons in eight years between 1891 and 1898 for Boston.

In his first season at the age of 20 in 1890 he posted 27 wins, followed by those 30 win campaigns with a 27-win year thrown in, then two more 20-win seasons over his last six seasons, one of which was a 21-win season in 1904 after missing two years as he played for Kansas City of the Western League in 1902 and 1903.

Incredibly, he posted 26 and 21 wins for K.C. those two years, and he easily could have been the second 400-game winner in baseball history had he not played those two years outside of Major League ball.

By the time he retired, he finished with a record of 362-208, good for a .635 winning percentage over 621 games, 562 of which were starts, with an incredible 532 complete games, tossing 48 shutouts while saving 16, with 1881 strikeouts over 5067.1 innings.

Just insane numbers for the "Kid" from Madison, Wisconsin!

In 1949 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, rightfully having his place among other 300-game winners from the 19th Century like Charles Radbourne, Cy Young and Mickey Welch, among others.

Over his 21-year professional career, he won 504 games against 264 losses, tossing over 60 shutouts and striking out just under 2500 batters!

Amazing!

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 DAVE ROBERTS

On the blog today, we take a closer look at the image variations for former #1 overall pick Dave Roberts and his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

I covered the craziness of the Topps Blue Jays edition way back in 2013, explaining how Roberts never actually ended up playing for the them at all!

Funny story with that actually.
Roberts, who was the #1 overall draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 1972 out of the University of Oregon, never really panned out as the star infielder San Diego was hoping for.
In all fairness, that 1972 draft wasn't exactly teeming with stars. You have to go all the way to the third round to find a legitimate "star", those being Dennis Eckersley and Gary Carter. But you DID have Chet Lemon go late in the first round. Oh well...
Regardless, Roberts did manage to stick around with the Padres on the Major League level for four years, but in 1976 he spent the entire year in the minors, not really showing enough to be promoted before the year was up.
In October of 1976 San Diego sold Roberts, along with Dave Hilton and John Scott to the Toronto Blue Jays, seemingly giving up on their failed future star.
With that, Topps went ahead and airbrushed Roberts (along with Hilton, who I profiled earlier on this blog) in a Blue Jays uniform in anticipation of his new team for the upcoming season.
Only problem is Toronto then managed to turn right around and trade Roberts BACK to San Diego for pitcher Jerry Johnson in February of 1977, immediately making this an outdated card before it even came out!
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Topps must have been scratching their heads with this one.
Check out the airbrushed Blue Jay logo on Roberts' cap...a bit on the small side don't you think?

As for OPC, they had him in the correct uniform, that of the San Diego Padres, for whom he'd go on to play another two seasons before putting in two years with the Texas Rangers, followed by a year with the Houston Astros and one final MLB season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982.

All told, the former top pick finished his 10-year career with a .239 average, with 483 hits over 2017 at-bats in 709 games, with 194 runs scored and 208 RBIs, putting in time out in the field at every position except for pitcher.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1974 A'S MANAGER CARD-DICK WILLIAMS

On the blog today, we have a "missing" 1974 manager card for the Oakland A's Dick Williams, Hall of Famer who guided the team to their second straight championship in 1973, but was left out of the 1974 Topps set because he was unceremoniously fired by volatile owner Charles Finley:

As manager of the Oakland A's, Williams arrived just in time as the team was just about to become the dynasty they'd turn out to be, winning the American League West in 1971 (losing to the Baltimore Orioles in the playoffs), but then winning the following two championships in 1972 and 1973 before Williams went on to manage the California Angels in 1974.

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

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

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

A solid baseball man and lifer in the sport with a much deserved place in Cooperstown.

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- 1962 BILL FREEHAN

Today on the blog, from my custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months back, my 1962 "missing" card for SHOULD-BE Hall of Fame catcher Bill Freehan:

This man was THE top catcher in the American League for the 1960's, taking up the position after guys like Yogi Berra and Elston Howard retired, and before young studs like Carlton Fisk and Thurman Munson came along.

With all the superstars on the field during the 1960s, it's easy to forget that Freehan was an eleven-time all-star, five-time Gold Glover, and finished in the top-ten in M.V.P. voting three times, with a second place finish in 1968 behind teammate Denny McLain.

He made his Big League debut in 1961 at the age of 19 with four appearances, hitting .400 with four hits over 10 at-bats, with four RBIs and a run scored.

1964, his first full year in the Majors, was arguably his finest season, as he hit .300 for the only time in his career along with 18 homers and 80 R.B.I.'s.
But for the rest of the decade Freehan put up comparable numbers year after year, while taking care of a Detroit pitching staff that featured guys like McLain, Mickey Lolich and Earl Wilson.
He really was ahead of the rest of the pack as far as A.L. catchers during the decade.

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.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: "MISSING IN ACTION" 1978 DON COLLINS

On the blog today, we revisit a post from 10 years ago, my "missing" 1978 card for pitcher Don Collins, who made his MLB debut with the Atlanta Braves during the 1977 season and really should have had a card in the 1978 set:

Collins appeared in 40 games during that season, and posted a 3-9 record with a 5.09 earned run average and a couple of saves thrown in.

In his 70.2 innings of work he fanned 27 batters but walked 41, not the best thing to do as a guy coming out of the bullpen.

Nevertheless, 70+ innings and 40 games deserves a card, especially considering some of the other players who got on in the '78 set that played a lot less than him.

Besides the 1977 season Collins would pitch in four games for the Cleveland Indians in 1980, marking the only other season he'd make it to the top before closing out his career.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASE BALL CHAMPIONS" DAN BROUTHERS

Good day all. On the blog today, we spotlight my card for Dan Brouthers, Hall of Fame first baseman, from my custom "19th Century Base Ball Stars" set released back in 2018 in deluxe packaging:

Fun set to put together!

Brouthers put in 19 seasons under the Big League sun, and was spectacular, to the tune of a .342 career batting average with 2303 hits over 6726 at-bats in 1676 games.

He took home five batting titles, hitting as high as .374 in 1883 with the Buffalo Bisons and .373 in 1889 while with Boston.

He led the league in hits three times, runs twice, doubles three times, triples once and homers twice, with two RBI crowns thrown in for good measure in 1883 and 1892.

The man never hit below .300 in any one of his full-time seasons, and topped .350 six times, while topping the 100-RBI mark six times as well.

In 1945, he was given his rightful spot in Cooperstown when he was selected by the "Old Timers Committee".

An early elite hitter who definitely left his mark on the game, even some 130+ years later!

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1970 CHIP COULTER

Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS roster/checklist today, a "not so missing" 1970 card for former infielder Chip Coulter of the St. Louis Cardinals:

Coulter got his only taste of the Big Leagues with six games at the end of the 1969 season, putting in time at second base while hitting a very nice .316 with six hits over 19 at-bats, scoring three runs while driving in four with a double and a triple.

Sadly that would be it for the man as far as his Major League time went, as he would go on to play three more years in the Minors before retiring after the 1972 season after some time in the New York Mets organization.

At the very least, the man accomplished what so many of us could only dream about, playing Major League ball!

Cheers Chip!

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: BERT BLYLEVEN

Hello all!

Time to go ahead and take a look at my mini card for the great Bert Blyleven, Hall of Fame pitcher and longtime broadcaster, from my "Gum Pack" special custom set released in 2022 if memory serves:

Nice shot of the man from the first stretch of his Major league career with the Minnesota Twins.

Born in Zeist, Holland (now the Netherlands), Blyleven started his 22-year career in 1970 with the Twins and quickly established himself among the best pitchers in baseball.
During his great MLB run, he posted 17 seasons of 10+ victories, with a high of 20 in 1973, along with eight 200+ strikeout campaigns and nine with a 2.99 ERA or lower.
By the time the prankster retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 60 career shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games and 4970 innings pitched.
After having to wait 14 years, the BBWA finally voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011, finally claiming a spot which he rightfully deserved.

Great baseball lifer on the field and in the broadcast booth!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" JOHN WARD

On the blog today, we spotlight my "19th Century Base Ball Champions" card of Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward, from my fun custom set released back in 2018 celebrating the stars of the game during Major League Baseball's infancy in the late-1800's:

The college educated Ward put together some career between 1878 and 1894, starting out as a top-notch pitcher before becoming a great infielder for the latter part of his career.

From 1878 to 1884 he was primarily a pitcher with Providence and New York, winning 164 games with a 2.10 earned run average and 24 shutouts, leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts once each, as well as shutouts with 8 in 1880.

Incredibly, as with many pitchers at that time, he completed 245 of 262 starts, putting in an amazing 2469.2 innings in only seven seasons on the mound.

In 1884 he shifted to shortstop and then put in a Hall-worthy career over the next 11 seasons, hitting as high as .338 and stealing 540 bases, including 111 in 1887 and 88 in 1892.

Of course, the college-educated young man was also a primary factor in the formation of the Players League, who had one season of play in 1890 as players tried to gain power over their own destiny over owners and their horrid labor practices.

Now, even his SABR bio states quite accurately that no essay-length write-up could possibly do justice to his life, and I agree 100%.

To get a better understanding of the man, his career and his life, a good start would be here:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/John-Montgomery-Ward/

Nevertheless, a true legend of the game, as well as historical figure.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 GIL PATTERSON

Up on the blog today, a "not so missing" 1978 card for one-year MLB pitcher Gil Patterson of the New York Yankees:

Patterson appeared in 10 games for the eventual World Champion Bronx Bombers, going 1-2 with a 5.40 earned run average over 33.1 innings, with six of those games starts.

He also picked up a save and struck out 29 batters while walking 20, allowing three homers among his 38 hits.

You may remember that he did have a spot on one of those 1977 multi-player rookie cards, however funny enough the image is NOT Patterson at all, but another Yankee Minor Leaguer who escapes my mind at the moment.

After missing all of 1978 due to injury, he put in another three years in the Minors, the last season of 1982 in the San Francisco Giants organization, never making it to the Big Leagues again.

But hey, if you're going to put in one year in the Majors, it may as well be with the World Champs!

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: "THEN AND NOW" 1974 FELIPE ALOU

Thought I'd revisit a 10-year old post celebrating the playing career of Felipe Alou, elite hitter who went on to a very nice managerial career in the Big Leagues:

By 1974 Alou was wrapping up a very nice 17-year career that saw him top 2000 hits, 200 home runs and 100 stolen bases.

He'd only play three games in '74, with the Milwaukee Brewers, but I have him shown here as an Expos player, the team he was suited up for on his regular Topps card in the set. (Ignoring the awful Traded card as a Brewer he was airbrushed into).

During his career he'd top the National League in hits twice, runs once and total bases once.

His finest year would have to be 1966, when he led the N.L. in runs with 122, hits with 218, at-bats with 666, total bases with 355, while hitting 31 home runs, driving in 74 and batting a cool .327.

He'd end up fifth in MVP voting, and was named to his third all-star team.

After his playing days were over he'd coach and eventually manage in the Major Leagues, leading both the Expos and Giants to first place finishes (1994 and 2003 respectively) during his 14 years as a skipper.

Of course it's also worth mentioning that Alou comes from an incredible baseball family, as brothers Jesus and Matty, son Moises, cousin Jose Sosa and nephew Mel Rojas all got to play in the Big Leagues as well.

As a matter of fact, Felipe got to play with both his brothers, AND even go on to manage his son and nephew later on.

Pretty cool…

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: SANDY KOUFAX

On the blog today, we add "The Left Arm of God" Sandy Koufax to my ongoing "Classic Baseball" custom set, to be released in the near future in multiple series celebrating the game I love so much:

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?

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 MARTY PEREZ

Today on the blog we take a look at the image variation for Marty Perez and his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

I always liked that 1977 Topps Perez card with him suited up with the San Francisco Giants, out in the field on a nice sunny day.

As for OPC, they quickly airbrushed him into a New York Yankees uniform , or should I say, cap, to reflect his trade in March of 1977 for Terry Whitfield.

Sadly all that airbrushing work was for nothing, as Perez made one single appearance for the Yankees that Spring before getting traded to the Oakland A's along with Dock Ellis and Larry Murray for pitcher Mike Torrez.

In that one game for the Yanks Perez went 2-for-4 with time out at third base, before going on to play 115 games for the A's the rest of the way.

Turns out the following season, he'd only appear in 16 games for Oakland before getting released, ending his playing career after 10 seasons.

Between 1971 and 1976 he was a regular player for the Atlanta Braves, putting in extensive time in the infield, averaging around .250 at the plate.

Overall, he hit .246 in 931 games between 1969 and 1978, with 771 hits in 3131 at-bats, with 313 runs scored and 241 runs batted in.

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: 1975 DEDICATED ROOKIE FOR KEITH HERNANDEZ

Good day all.

On the blog today, we revisit a post from just about 10 years ago, my 1975 "dedicated rookie" for Keith Hernandez, of the the greatest fielding first baseman in the game's long, rich history:

Hernandez was just about to launch his stellar Major League career in 1975 after playing in 14 games during the 1974 season.

Topps gave him a spot on one of the multi-player rookie cards in the 1975 set, but a dedicated card for him seems like a natural for this blog.

As far as his career, all he would do from then on is win a batting title in 1979, a co-MVP Award the very same year (sharing it with Pirate legend Willie Stargell), take home 11 Gold Glove Awards for his magic at first base, and get named to five all-star games.

He was part of a World Champion team with both the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982 and the New York Mets in 1986, and would finish his 17-year career with over 2000 hits, 1000 runs scored, 1000 runs batted in and a .296 average.

He became an instant darling here in New York to so many kids when he arrived during the 1983 season, and I have to admit even though I was a rabid Yankee fan and WORSHIPPED Don Mattingly, Hernandez was a guy I just had to like no matter what.

It just seemed that it was the Hernandez trade that got the mid-80's Mets team going in the right direction, soon to be joined by the likes of Cone, Gooden, Carter and crew.

 

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- CAREER-CAPPER: 1961 DON NEWCOMBE

Time today to spotlight my 1961 "career-capper" for Don Newcombe, baseball's first Cy Young Award winner, from my recent custom set "The Whole Nine: Series 2":

Newcombe finished up and excellent 12-year career with 36 games split during the 1960 season with the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, posting a record of 6-9 with a 4.48 ERA over 136.2 innings at the age of 34.

He'd put in a year in the Minors in 1961 with Spokane before playing one game overseas in Japan with Chunichi in 1962, thus ending his playing career.

The N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1949 when he posted 17 wins for the Dodgers, he followed that up with 19 wins in 1950 before the first of his three 20-win seasons the following year.

Sadly for him, he would spend the next two years in the military, losing two peak seasons to serving his country before coming back in 1954 when he would go 9-8 over 29 games.

In 1955 he'd be in the 20-win circle once again, helping the Dodgers win the World Series as he would go 20-5 and finishing seventh in the MVP race, the last year without an Award dedicated to pitchers.

And then came 1956...

For Don Newcombe, 1956 was a magical year. He was a monster on the mound, going 27-7 with a 3.06 earned run average and five shutouts and leading the Dodgers to another face-off with the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Not only did that get him the very first Cy Young Award, but it also bagged him a Most Valuable Player Award, thus making him the answer to a clever trivia question: who was the only pitcher to win a Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and M.V.P.? (He would be joined in this by Detroit Tiger pitcher Justin Verlander in 2011).

However, it would be the peak, followed by a quick decline at only 31 years of age, winning 11 games in 1957 before managing just 26 wins over the last three years of his career, which came to a close in 1960 after that split year with the Reds and Indians.

All told, the man won the aforementioned awards while posting 153 wins against just 96 losses, good for a very nice .614 winning percentage, with a 3.57 earned run average and 24 shutouts over 360 games.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" JOHN CLARKSON

Today on the blog we take a look at my custom card for Hall of Fame pitcher John Clarkson, from my 2018 "1890 Base Ball Champions" set:

Really fun custom set to create and release in special cigarette box packaging with extra goodies thrown in!

Of course, for those familiar with 19th Century cards, you'll recognize that I used the 1894 Mayo Plug set as inspiration for this set design, as the Mayo Plugs are one of my very favorite card sets of all-time.

As for Clarkson, the right hander from Massachusetts put in twelve years in the Big Leagues, posting 328 victories by the time he hung them up, winning as many as 53 games in 1885, with eight seasons of 20+ wins.

In 1889 he took home the pitching Triple Crown when he led the league with 49 wins, 2.73 earned run average and 284 strikeouts, over 73 appearances, 72 of which were starts, completing an incredible 68 of them for 620 innings of work.

In 1885, when he posted his career-best 53 wins, he completed 68 of his 70 starts, tossing 10 shutouts and striking out 308 batters while finishing with another career-best of a 1.85 E.R.A. over 623 innings.

Just amazing.

On June 4th of 1889 he is credited as throwing the first record "immaculate inning", doing so against the Philadelphia Quakers in the third inning of their match-up.

His final numbers: a 328-178 record, good for a .648 winning percentage, with a 2.81 ERA over 531 appearances, 518 of those starts, with 485 complete games and 37 shutouts.

In 1963, Clarkson was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, joining fellow 19th Century 300-game winners like Cy Young, Pud Galvin and Mickey Welch.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1972 RICK STELMASZEK

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1972 card for former catcher Rick Stelmaszek, who made his MLB debut in 1971 with a handful of games with the Washington Senators in their last season of play before relocating to Texas as the Rangers:

Stelmaszek went 0-for-9 at the plate over six games while putting in time behind the plate for the Senators before spending all of 1972 in the Minors.

He'd make it back to the Big Leagues in 1973, going on to appear in seven games for the now relocated franchise before a trade in May sent him to the Angels.
He’d appear in 22 games for California, one of the MANY catchers the Angels seemed to have at that time, batting .154 for them and a combined .143 between the two organizations.
It was a short-lived tenure with his new team, and he would find himself playing for his hometown Chicago Cubs by the time the 1974 season opened up, playing in 25 games and batting .227 with 10 hits over 56 at-bats while filling in behind the plate.
Those would actually be the last Big League games for Stelmaszek, though he would toil in the Minors for another four years, each year for a different organization, retiring as a player after the 1978 season.
All told, he finished with a .170 batting average, with 15 hits over 88 at-bats in 60 lifetime games, driving in 10 runs while scoring four himself.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: J.R. RICHARD

Today on the blog, we go and add J.R. Richard to my future custom "Classic Baseball" set, which I hope to release in five series in the near future as a "monster" WTHBALLS set on high-end card stock:

Just a wonderful image of the fire-balling Astros ace flashing that great smile as he tortured National League batters with his overpowering stuff.

Richard was just becoming the great formidable pitcher mowing down N.L. batters around the time this photo was taken.

From 1976 to 1979, Richard was down-right nasty, striking out 200 or more batters, including 300+ in both 1978 and 1979 (leading the N.L. in K's each time), as well as posting 18 or more wins and 3+ shutouts each season. 

1980 was shaping up to be more of the same, as Richard was 10-4 with a 1.90 E.R.A. and 119 K's through only 113.2 innings.

But on July 30th, 1980, while playing a game of catch before a game, Richard suffered a stroke that ended his career in an instant, requiring emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot in his neck.

Though he tried a comeback once he recovered, the stroke caused enough damage to prevent him from ever playing in another Major League game.

A tragic end to one of the most promising careers in the Majors at the time.

It would have been incredible to see Richard team up with new Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan and see how many K's they could have racked up.

That would have been some 1-2 punch to watch through the 1980s, but sadly we did not have the pleasure.

Rest in Peace J.R.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 GEORGE SCOTT

Time to put the spotlight on George Scott and his 1977 image variation between his Topps and OPC cards, a classic photo with an airbrush-touch in only the way the 1970s could have given us:

OPC version

Topps version

Not too bad a job to put "Boomer" back in a Boston Red Sox uniform after some power-house years with the Milwaukee Brewers!

Already an all-star for the Red Sox between 1966 and 1971 before heading to Milwaukee, Scott came back and continued his bashing ways in 1977, hitting 33 homers with 95 runs batted in and 103 runs scored, getting him his third and final all-star nod.
Sadly for the Red Sox, Scott’s production would drop-off, to the point he found himself in Kansas City in 1979, whereas Cecil Cooper went on to a borderline Hall of Fame career with the Brewers through the 1980’s.
Nevertheless, Scott put together an excellent 14-year career that saw him collect just under 2000 hits, 271 home runs and 1051 RBI’s along with eight Gold Gloves for his fielding at first base.
Not bad at all...

A RE-DO OF ONE OF MY OWN! 1973 RICK REICHARDT

Time to finally correct a mistake I made way back when with my "missing in action" 1973 card for former Bonus Baby Rick Reichardt, when I mistakenly used an image of Pete Varney.

Well today we have the corrected version with a correct image of the man that was mainly responsible for the Amateur Draft because of the insane money and hoopla over his impending pro career:

Reichardt played in 101 games during the 1972 season, batting .251 with 73 hits over 291 at-bats with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in during his second season with the Chicago White Sox.
That is serious playing time to be omitted from the Topps set, so I’m wondering if he just didn’t want to be on a card ala Mike Marshall or Tony Horton around the same time.
Of course, Reichardt is well remembered as a spectacular two-sport superstar at the University of Wisconsin, so much so that a bidding war began by Major League clubs for his services, eventually having him sign a then unheard of $200,000 signing bonus with the (then) Los Angeles Angels of the American League.
This necessitated the development of the Amateur Draft, which began the very next year in hopes of curtailing such a wild scenario as the Reichardt affair.
Sadly for Reichardt, a serious kidney ailment cut short an excellent 1966 season which saw him have a kidney removed, and though he put up some decent numbers from time to time through the rest of his career, he was never the same again, eventually retiring after a single at-bat with the Kansas City Royals in 1974.
His last Topps card was in the 1971 set, which is odd since he really should have had a card from 1972 to 1974.
I actually already created a 1972 “missing” card for him a while back, and once I can find a decent shot of him with the Royals, I plan on doing the same for both 1974 and 1975.
Anyone have good images of him with KC?

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: MISSING IN ACTION 1974 JOHN STROHMAYER

Good day all!

On the blog today, we revisit a post from January, 2015, my "missing" 1974 card for former New York Mets pitcher John Strohmayer:

Here's the original write-up from way back when:

After about three and a half years with the Montreal Expos, Strohmayer was selected off waivers by the Mets in July of 1973 and appeared in seven games, good for 10 innings before the year was up.

For the year he appeared in 24 games and 44.2 innings between the two organizations, so I figured he'd get a 1974 card for his efforts.

In 1974 however, he appeared in one game for the Mets, pitching one inning, never to appear in another Major League game again.

Over those five years between 1970 and 1974, Strohmayer went 11-9 with a 4.47 earned run average in 143 games, 18 of which were starts.

As an aside, here's something I don't get to post everyday: seems Strohmayer was one of 15 employees of the Gateway Unified School District to share a $76 Million lottery jackpot in 2009!

Good for you John! We should all be so lucky!

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- 1960 BILLY WILLIAMS

Up on the blog today, from my recent custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months back, my 1960 "not really missing" card for the great and underappreciated Billy Williams, "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler":

This would have been a GREAT rookie card in the 1960 set to go along with the Carl Yastrzemski edition!

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 caliber 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.

WTHBALLS "BASEBALL ICONS" SPECIAL SET: AL KALINE

Today we go ahead and post up my "Icons" custom card for "Mr. Tiger" Al Kaline, often overlooked when it comes to baseball legends of the era:

What a great all-around player the Tigers had for 20 years!

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!