REVISITING A POST FROM 10 YEARS AGO: 1974 "THEN AND NOW" MILT PAPPAS

From exactly 10 years ago, we revisit my 1974 "Then and Now" card for pitcher Milt Pappas, who had himself a very nice Major League career before he hung them up:

Pappas was one of those few guys that actually had a "career capper" card of sorts since he retired AFTER Topps set up their set for the new year.

In this case, Pappas appears in the '74 set even though he was already done with Major League ball.

Therefore that is why I have him here on a 1974 template, which came out nice and clean.

Pappas was only 34 years old when he retired, even with the 17-year career, as he came up with the Baltimore Orioles as an 18-year old back in 1957.

Though never a 20-game winner or big strikeout guy, he did have consistent, solid years that led him to a 209-164 record with a 3.40 E.R.A., 43 shutouts and 1728 strikeouts as he pitched for the Orioles, Reds, Braves and Cubs.

A little historical footnote: when Pappas won his 200th game in 1972, he became the first pitcher in Major League history to reach that mark without a 20-win season.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: HARMON KILLEBREW

On the blog today, we add one of my favorites, "Killer" Harmon Killebrew to my custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game I have loved all my life:

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

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: A DO-OVER FOR THE 1973 OLLIE BROWN CARD

Finally got around to fulfilling a special request, creating a 1973 card for Ollie Brown showing him with the Oakland A's, for whom he appeared in 20 games before getting sent over to the Milwaukee Brewers, where he finished the 1972 season:

Bwon hit .241 for the A's in his stay there, collecting 13 hits, with a homer and four RBIs while scoring five runs.

Brown had his best MLB seasons behind him at this point, when he was one of the first fan favorites for the expansion San Diego Padres from 1969 through 1972.
But his career wasn’t done yet as he would go on to play through the 1977 season, finishing up his 13-year Big League career with a .265 batting average along with 102 homers, 454 runs batted in and 964 hits over 1221 games between 1965 and 1977.
It’s amazing to realize that he retired at the age of only 33. For me it seemed like by the time he was with the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of his career he was pushing 40!

 

REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 JIM FULLER

On the blog this fine day, we revisit a 10-year-old post featuring my 1978 "missing in action" card for Jim Fuller of the Houston Astros:

Fuller played the final 34 games of his career for the Houston Astros in 1977, collecting 16 hits in exactly 100 at-bats for a .160 batting average.

That action in 1977 was the first for him since the 1974 season when he played in 64 games for the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he came up with the previous year.

All told, Fuller's career consisted of those three years, finishing with a .194 batting average, 61 hits, 11 homers and 41 runs batted in spread over 107 games and 315 at-bats.

WTHBALLS 1970 "ALL-1960s ALL-STARS" 21 CARD SET

Good day all! Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy to say that the newest WTHBALLS offering is now available for purchase, my 1970 "All-1960s All-Stars" set.

Featuring a full 21-cards, this set celebrates my picks for the all-decade teams of both the A.L. and N.L. for the decade of the 1960s.

I picked all eight positions plus a RHP and LHP pitcher for each league, as well as an overall MLB pick for reliever of the 1960s, since I'll use any excuse to create another Hoyt Wilhelm card!

All-time greats line Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente among others are featured in this one, with 16 (17 including Pete Rose) players being Hall of Famers.

As an added treat, the backs have a brief bio on what the players did over the 1960s, earning their spot on these squads and set.

Each set comes wrapped in a "tweaked" 1970 wrapper (see photos attached), and is available for $20 plus $4.50 shipping.

Paypal as usual: slogun23@gmail.com

Fun set to add into my 1970 set binder!

Any questions feel free to contact me...

Gio/wthballs

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1963 FLEER ELSTON HOWARD

Time to go and add the great Elston Howard to my long-running 1963 Fleer extension set, giving the eventual 1963 A.L. MVP a card in this iconic set:

After putting in some time in the Negro Leagues, he would eventually break the Yankees' color-barrier in 1955, immediately showing he belonged, with a .290 batting average and 10 homers in only 97 games, driving in 43 runs and scoring 33.

Two seasons later he would make his first All-Star team, the first of nine straight seasons doing so, and of course in 1963 would also be named the A.L. MVP when he hit 28 home runs with 85 RBIs while hitting .287, taking home the first of two straight Gold Gloves for his work behind the plate.

After a nice 14-year career as a player, finishing up his playing days as a member of the Boston Red Sox, he returned to the Bronx as a coach, a position he would hold for the next ten years until his untimely death from heart disease in 1980.

Four years later the Yankees would retire Howard's #32 in 1984, and I was actually at that ceremony as a young teen-aged kid of 15.

Incredible to think that was already over 40 years ago.

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: NORM CASH

Today on the blog, we add Detroit Tigers first baseman Norm Cash to my 1971 special All-Star Game set based on the design of the game's ticket:

Though Cash was actually not selected by fans in the All-Star voting, he ended starting the game for injured Boog Powell, so I thought it'd be fun to include him here in this set.

Cash really did put together a solid 17-year career that stands out even more when you consider the modern "dead-ball" era he played in.

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

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

Of course, his monster season happened to be the same year of Mantle and Maris and their pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record, 1961.

That year Cash tore it up, as he led the league in batting with a .361 average (the only time he batted .300 or better in a season oddly enough), while also slamming 41 home runs and driving in 132 runs.

Even with a league-leading .487 on-base-percentage and 193 hits, all it got him was a fourth place finish for MVP behind Maris, Mantle and Orioles slugger Jim Gentile.

Timing, as they say, is everything…

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: MICKEY MANTLE

On the blog today, we begin to spotlight my custom WTHBALLS Gelatin "1960 Stars of Baseball" set released back in 2018 in custom Gelatin box with lots of goodies:

We'll start off with uber-star Mickey Mantle.

The set featured 40 postcard-sized cards with cut-out player cards to mimic the Jello sets of that era.

Fun set to produce, as it even contained a packet of gelatin to complete the set!

As I have stated before here on the blog many times, Mantle is one of those guys I really don't think we need to get into as far as his tenure on the baseball diamond. It'd be kind of a joke to start writing about his career since it would take up a book's worth.

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

"The Mick" in all his glory, enshrined in his rightful place in Cooperstown, along with his longtime buddy Whitey Ford in the same HOF class.

One of the great icons of the sport over its 150+ year history.

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

I just wished I would have gotten to see him play!

CAREER-CAPPER: 1968 LEW BURDETTE

Up on the blog today, we have a 1968 "Career-Capper" for pitcher Lew Burdette, who put together an excellent 18 year Major League career:

Burdette appeared in 19 games for the California Angels in 1967, the last season he'd suit up in the Majors, going 1-0 with a 4.91 earned run average over 18.1 innings at the age of 40.

Burdette of course will always be known as the hero of the 1957 World Series when he pitched the (then) Milwaukee Braves to a surprising championship win over the favored New York Yankees, winning three games, all complete games, two of them shutouts.
He put in 18 seasons in the Big Leagues, winning 203 games while posting and earned run average of 3.66 along with 33 shutouts and 32 saves over 626 appearances.
Between 1956 and 1961 he averaged just under 20 wins a season for the Braves, with a high of 21 in 1959 which led the National League, as well as his four shutouts and 39 starts.
Great playing career for a baseball lifer, who’d retire after a couple of seasons with the California Angels in 1967 as an arm out of the bullpen at the age of 40.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: ORLANDO CEPEDA

Today on the blog, we add the "Baby Bull" Orlando Cepeda to my long-running custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and it's Golden Era:

While Cepeda's career was productive enough to get into Cooperstown, it's well known that if not for his bad knees, his final statistics could have been mind blowing.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired, he posted final numbers of: 379 homers, 1365 runs batted in, 2351 hits and a .297 average, with a Rookie of the Year (1958) and M.V.P. award (1967) thrown in.
It took a little while, but he was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 after being selected by the Veteran's Committee.
What a power trio San Francisco had in Cepeda, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey! Power to the ultimate degree!”

 

REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1971 JOE GIBBON CARD

Let's delve back about 10 years here on the blog and revisit my "missing" 1971 card for former pitcher Joe Gibbon of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

In 1970 Gibbon actually got into 41 games for the Pirates, good for 41 innings of work as an arm out of the 'pen.

He posted an 0-1 record with a 4.83 earned run average and five saves with 26 strikeouts.

Seems like enough action to warrant a card, no?

Funny enough by the time the 1971 season opened he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds, before closing out his 13-year career with the Astros by the end of the 1972 season.

His finest season would arguably be his second, back in 1961 when he posted a 13-10 record with a 3.32 E.R.A., three shutouts and 145 strikeouts over 195.1 innings of work in 29 starts.

Generally however, the bulk of his career was out of the bullpen, and by the time he retired he had a record of 61-65, with a 3.52 E.R.A., four shutouts, 32 saves and 743 strikeouts over 419 games, 127 of which were starts.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1984 VIDA BLUE

Good day all! On the blog today, we have a "missing" 1984 card for Vida Blue, who had his career derailed a bit in the mid-80's:

In 1983 Blue appeared in only 19 games for the Kansas City Royals, going 0-5 with a 6.01 ERA at the relatively young age of 33.

The following year he'd be out of baseball completely before coming back with the San Francisco Giants, where he'd put in two seasons before retiring for good after 1986.

Of course, we all know that Vida Blue absolutely exploded onto the Major League scene in 1971, on his way to capturing both the Cy Young and MVP awards by season's end.

All he did in this epic season was post a record of 24-8, with a league-leading 1.82 earned run average, striking out 301 batters and tossing eight shutouts.

Oh yeah, he was only 21 years of age!

His WHIP of 0.952 and strikeouts-per-nine-innings of 8.7 also led the league, and he completed 24 of his 39 starts, putting in 312 innings of work for the upstart Oakland A's, who were about to go on the three-peat championship run between 1972 and 1974.

Blue would go on to post 209 career victories in the Majors, having some successful seasons with the San Francisco Giants, even starting the 1978 All-Star game for the National League, while finishing up his 17-year career in 1986.
It’s amazing for me to remember that when Blue started that NL All-Star game in 1978, he wasn’t even 30 years old, yet to me he already seemed to be an aging veteran by then.

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1979 "MISSING" HOSTESS RICKEY HENDERSON

Special request that was posted to Twitter a couple months ago that I created for my buddy Alan gets the spotlight here on the blog today, "missing" 1979 variations for Rickey Henderson Hostess cards:

Fun idea that I was happy to whip up!

Coming into 1979 Henderson was on fire in 1977 and 1978 playing for Modesto and Jersey City in the Minors.

In '77 with Modesto, all he did was hit .345 with 120 runs scored and 95 stolen bases to go along with a sick .465 on-base-percentage.

The following year, getting promoted to Double-A ball, Henderson kept on hitting, this time to the tune of .310 with 81 runs scored and 81 steals.

So at the dawn of the 1979 season Henderson was ready to just about take over the game, straight to the Hall of Fame some 25 years later.

Greatest lead-off man the game has ever seen!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1973 JR RICHARD

OK. So on the blog today, I finally break down and reuse the image I originally used for JR Richard and his 1972 "dedicated rookie" here on the blog years ago, for his "not so missing" 1973 edition:

I have been looking high and low for a nice time-sesitive image of Richard to no success, then one of you suggested I do what Topps was doing a lot of back then, reusing images, sometimes cropped differently, so here we are!

Richard appeared in his first four games during the 1971 season, and blew the MLB world wide-open when he struck out 15 batters in his first start.

In 1972 he would again appear in four games, going 1-0 with a 13.50 ERA over six innings, striking out eight while also walking eight.

It would take a few years, but he'd become the power-arm all-star by the 1975 season, and would go on to post two 300+ strikeout campaigns, four straight 200+ K years,  four straight seasons of 18+ wins (1976-1979), and an E.R.A. crown in 1979 before tragically having his career cut short in 1980 by a stroke.

His final numbers are indicative of what we could have expected well into the 1980's had he not been cut down at the age of 30: a 107-71 record with 1493 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA in 238 games and 1606 innings.

It really would have been something to see Richard and Nolan Ryan team up to rack-up incredible numbers together.

One of the ultimate "what could have been" stories in baseball during my childhood for sure…

 

REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1971 CARD FOR JOHN DONALDSON

Let's go back in time and revisit my "missing" 1971 card for former infielder John Donaldson, who could have gotten a card in the classic set after seeing sufficient playing time in 1970:

Donaldson came back to play for the A's in 1970 after playing part of 1969 for the Seattle Pilots in their lone Major League season.

I had to resort to a little Photoshop trickery, airbrushing in an Oakland A's logo to his cap since the image was actually of him in a Kansas City A's uni.

The photo was too good to pass up, so I resorted to the digital re-creation instead of using another, less appealing Oakland image.

In 1970, Donaldson appeared in 41 games, with 98 plate appearances while hitting .247 with 22 hits with four runs scored and eleven runs batted in.

He'd be out of Major League ball until the 1974 season, when he'd make a brief reappearance with the A's, appearing in only 10 games for the World Champions.

All told, Donaldson's career lasted 6-years, playing in 405 games, with a .238 lifetime batting average, 96 runs scored, 292 hits and 86 RBI's over 1225 at-bats and 1380 plate appearances.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: JOE MORGAN

Today we add perhaps the most dynamic player of the 1970s to my ongoing custom "Classic Baseball" set, Joe Morgan, spark plug of the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds:

Morgan was "all-world" by the time he had a few seasons with the Cincinnati Reds under his belt!

What else could Morgan have accomplished by the end of the 1970s?! The two-time MVP led his “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds to two straight World Series wins in 1975 & 1976, took home his third straight Gold Glove Award, was RIPPED OFF a Rookie of the Year Award back in 1965 (look it up), and was well on his way to the Hall of Fame.
His 1976 season was the stuff of legend at the time: a .320 batting average, 27 homers, 111 runs batted in, 113 runs scored and 114 base on balls, leading his league in On-Base-Percentage and Slugging while claiming a spot on his seventh National League All-Star team.

He created a modern standard for a middle infielder, a standard that rarely has been matched since.

One of the all-time greats of the game.