CAREER-CAPPER: 1987 GARRY MADDOX

Good day all.

On the blog today, by special request, a 1987 "career-capper" for one of the greatest fielding outfielders of all-time, Garry Maddox, the "Secretary of Defense":

Maddox appeared in only six games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1986, closing out a wonderful 15-year career that started with the San Francisco Giants in 1972.

Maddox, eventually to be known as the “Secretary of Defense” for his defensive prowess, came up with the San Francisco Giants in 1972 and had a nice rookie campaign when he hit .266 with 122 hits, 12 homers and 58 runs batted in.
The man went on to have an excellent Major League career over the next 15-years, primarily with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was traded in 1975 for Willie Montanez.
He’d go on to win eight Gold Gloves, all with the Phillies, while hitting .285 for his career, throwing in about 25 stolen bases a year.
In 1976 he’d even hit as high as .330, earning him a fifth place finish in the National League’s MVP race, batting in a line-up with other stars like Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski.
He’d retire just a couple of weeks into the 1986 season, finishing up with that .285 batting average, 1802 hits, 248 stolen bases, and a reputation as being one of the greatest defensive outfielders to play the game.

 

1980s CAREER-CAPPERS: 1980 JIM "CATFISH" HUNTER

Today on the blog, from my recent and wildly popular "1980s Career-Cappers" set, my 1980 capper for Jim "Catfish" Hunter, who prematurely retired after suffering arm troubles a couple of season earlier:

Over his 15-year career, which wrapped up in 1979, Hunter racked up 224 wins, a 3.26 earned run average, 42 shutouts and 2012 strikeouts.

He took home the Cy Young Award in 1974 in his last season with the A's, came in second for the award the following year in his first year as a landmark Free-Agent with the Yankees, and threw a perfect game back in 1968 at the young age of 22.

A big-game pitcher, Hunter was a member of no less than five World Champion teams: 1972-74 Oakland A's, and the "Bronx Zoo" Yankee teams of 1977-78.

Did you know that Hunter is the last pitcher in the Major Leagues to complete 30 or more games in a season? 

In 1975 he completed 30 of his 39 starts, on his way to a 23-14 record with seven shutouts and a 2.58 E.R.A.

Between 1971 and 1975 he won 20 or more games each year, a great five year run which saw him win 111 games.

As a matter of fact, Hunter was the first pitcher since the all-time great Walter Johnson to win 200 games before the age of 31! And the only other guys at that time to also do it? Christy Mathewson and Cy Young. Incredible.

Sadly arm troubles and diabetes started to affect his career, forcing him to retire in 1979 at the age of only 33.

The final feather in his baseball cap would be a Hall of Fame induction in 1987 along with Chicago Cubs great Billy Williams, giving him a solid place in baseball history, if he didn't have one already...

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1975 RUDY MAY

On the blog today, a long overdue redo for Rudy May and his 1975 card, since he put in about half a season with them in 1974 yet Topps had a hilarious airbrushed card for him the following year:

For those who don't remember the original, oh please, allow me:

 

Ha! Just LOOK at that "NY" on his cap!

Wow. Not even close! That "N" is actually hilarious to look at!

May made his Major League debut in 1965 as a 20-year-old, appearing in 30 games and tossing 124 innings, certainly good enough for a card in the 1966 set.

He posted a record of 4-9 with a 3.92 earned run average, striking out 76 batters while throwing a shutout.

All told, he posted a 152-159 career record, with a 3.46 earned run average, 24 shutouts, 12 saves and 1760 strikeouts between 1965 and 1983.

His finest year was easily 1980, when he led the American League in E.R.A. with a nice 2.46 mark, WHIP at 1.044 and strikeouts-to-walks with a 3.41 number as a member of the New York Yankees.

 

WTHBALLS NEWEST SET AVAILABLE NOW: 1981 DRAKES "BIG PITCHERS"

Hello Everyone!

Hope all is well!

It's that time again, the newest WTHBALLS set is available for purchase, 1981 Drakes "Big Pitchers", a 21-card set featuring the game's top pitchers to compliment the wildly popular Drakes "Big Hitters" set, including a header card with QR code that links to the WTHBALLS printed blog:

 

The cards have full printed stat backs and come packaged in acetate clear box with die cut sticker, all housed in a double-sided printed stand-up zip-lock pouch.

I was really psyched to find a place that prints up the pouches at an affordable price! New packaging for the WTHBALLS brand!

Everyone from Seaver, Carlton, Palmer, Ryan etc are here, including some future HOF relievers like Sutter, Gossage and Eckersley.

Sets are $15 each plus a one-time $4.50 shipping charge, no matter how many sets you purchase.

Usual Paypal address: slogun23@gmail.com

Again, thank you all so much for the interest and support!

Take Care

Gio/wthballs

SPECIAL REQUEST: "UPDATE SERIES" 1985 VIDA BLUE

Up on the blog today, we have a special request creation, a 1985 "Update Series" Vida Blue card, celebrating his return to the majors after a year:

Blue made it back to a Major League mound in 1985 with another stint with the San Francisco Giants, for whom he previously played for from 1978 through 1981.

He would do well for them in his return, going 8-8 over 33 games, 20 of those starts, pitching to a 4.47 ERA over 131 innings with 103 strikeouts and a complete game.

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 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.

FANTASY CARD: 1972 "TRADED" NOLAN RYAN

Hot on the heels of my re-done base 1972 card for the "Ryan Express", I now post up a "Traded" late-series 1972 card I had printed up for one of my recent printed sets, which would have made that 1972 set even more of a beast:

Would have been a great card to add to that cool 1972 sub-set!

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1972 NOLAN RYAN

I never realized that I failed to post here on the blog the 1972 "do-over" Nolan Ryan card I had printed up for one of my recent "Series" sets from about a year ago, that of him with a New York Mets version:

I thought it'd be fun to have a Mets version, followed by a late-series "Traded" version which I also included in the set.

As we all know, Ryan was traded to the Angels along with three other players for Jim Fregosi, star shortstop.
And as we ALSO know, this goes down as one of the worst trades in baseball history, as Ryan IMMEDIATELY became THE fire-balling pitcher of his day.
I know I don't have to state the obvious here, but we're talking: 300+ wins, 5000+ strikeouts, seven no-hitters, 11 strikeout titles with six of them being 300+ seasons, two E.R.A. crowns and an almost unanimous Hall of Fame induction.
You can see why people can forget that Fregosi was a legitimate star the Mets were trading for, while Ryan was still trying to prove himself on the Major League level.
I got to see Ryan pitch a few times before he hung them up, and he was STILL throwing high-heat (with a loud GRUNT with every delivery) well into his LATE-40's!
It was truly something to behold...