NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1984 OREL HERSHISER

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, a fun 1980s card to add to the roster, a "not so missing" 1984 card for Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser, who made his MLB debut in September of 1983 but did not get a card the following year:

Hershiser appeared in only eight games for the Dodgers in 1983 as a late-season call-up, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a 3.38 earned run average over eight innings.

The following year he had an excellent rookie campaign, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year balloting behind Dwight Gooden and Juan Samuel when he finished 11-8 over 45 appearances, 20 of those starts, with a league-leading four shutouts and a brilliant 2.66 ERA in 189.2 innings.

He would follow that up with arguably his second best season as a Major Leaguer, going 19-3 with a 2.03 ERA and five shutouts, completing nine of 34 starts with 157 strikeouts, good for third in the Cy Young voting with some MVP votes thrown in.

After two effective, though .500 years in 1986 and 1987, he would have his best year in the Big Leagues in 1988, guiding the Dodgers to a World Championship and becoming "All-World" when he went 23-8 with a 2.26 ERA, 15 complete games and eight shutouts over 34 starts and 267 innings pitched.

He also established a new record for consecutive scoreless innings when he topped the previous record held by another Dodger legend, Don Drysdale, reaching 59 straight innings without giving up a run.

By the times awards were being handed out that year, he finished with the N.L. Cy Young Award, as well as an All-Star nod and a Gold Glove, while finishing sixth in the MVP race.

After a couple of injury-plagued years in 1989 and 1990, he made it back and remained a solid starter for another ten seasons, moving on to the Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets before one final year with the Dodgers in 2000.

By the time he retired, he finished with a record of 205-150, with a 3.48 ERA over 510 appearances, with 25 shutouts and 2014 strikeouts.

He made three All-Star teams and also took home a Silver Slugger in 1993, while finishing top-4 in Cy Young voting four times.

Not bad for a guy the Dodgers considered only a reliever when he came up!

CAREER-CAPPER: 1962 WALT DROPO

Good day everyone!

Up on the blog today, a card I just learned needed to be done, a 1962 "career-capper" for Walt Dropo:

Dropo finished up a nice 13-year Major League career in 1961 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

He appeared in only 14 games, hitting .259 with seven hits in 27 at-bats with a homer and two runs batted in.

I remember thinking of Dropo a lot back in 2012 when Mike Trout was having his amazing rookie season.
I always felt that Trout, while an incredible talent, was a bit over-hyped with his rookie season numbers, especially when people kept saying it was the greatest rookie season of all-time.
Right off the bat I kept thinking of a few that I felt were better, including Dropo’s unreal rookie year that saw him hit .322 with 34 homers, 144 runs batted in and 101 runs scored, with a .583 slugging percentage and 326 total bases.
Now I’m not saying it’s THE best rookie year, but it IS a season I felt was on par, if not better than Trout’s.
Anyone have another rookie season they feel was “the best”?
I think of two that “technically” weren’t rookie years, but should be: Joe Jackson’s 1911 season and Alex Rodriguez’ 1996 season.
Why ISN’T Jackson’s 1911 season considered a rookie season anyway?

As for Dropo's MLB career, he played through the 1961 season, finishing up with a .270 average with 152 homers and 704 RBIs over 1288 games and 4124 at-bats.

Though he never matched those rookie numbers again, he did have some very good seasons playing for not only the Red Sox, but the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 ORLANDO ALVAREZ

Up on the blog today, a guy who has had two other "missing" cards created here over the years, former outfielder Orlando Alvarez, with a 1976 edition this time:

Alvarez appeared in only four games for the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 1975 season, going 0-4 at the plate while putting in some time out in left field.

He made his MLB debut in 1973 with four games, going 1-for-4 at the plate, that first Big League hit a double.

He would find himself as a California Angel in 1976, where he'd get into 15 games, collecting seven hits over 42 at-bats, including the only two home runs of his career, as well as runs batted in, eight.

He would spend 1977 and 1978 bouncing around the Minors for four different organizations before calling it a career, finishing up with a Big League resume that included 25 games, with eight hits over 51 at-bats, good for a .157 batting average, with four runs scored and eight RBI's.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1969 TED SIMMONS

Good day all!

Today on the blog, from my WTHBALLS custom "1960s Special" set released earlier this year, a 1969 "not so missing" card for Hall of Fame catcher Ted Simmons:

Look at this guys career!

He made his MLB debut during the 1968 season when he appeared in two games for the St. Louis Cardinals, going 1-for-3 at the plate.

The following year he played in five games, hitting .214 with three hits over 14 official at-bats, including his first three runs batted in.

Simmons went on to post a Big League resume that included eight All-Star nods, six seasons of 20+ homers, eight 90+ RBI campaigns and seven years of a .300 or better average.
By the time he retired after the 1988 season, he finished with 2472 hits, 248 homers, 1389 RBIs and a .285 average.
At the same time, playing in the era of the free-swinging 70’s and 80’s, he struck out only 694 times in 9685 plate appearances while twice leading his league in Intentional Base on Balls.
I have always been stunned at the fact that “Simba” garnered a meager 3.7% vote in his first chance at the Hall of Fame, thus becoming a ridiculous “one and done” candidate.

SO happy that they finally made this right and voted him in for his rightful place in Cooperstown!

 

WTHBALLS 1950 CUSTOM SET: WALT DROPO

Good day al!

On the blog today, another card from my 2018 WTHBALLS "Stars of 1950" candy-bar custom card set, this one of Walt Dropo, who had himself one of the greatest rookie seasons the game has ever seen:

I remember thinking of Dropo back in 2012 when Mike Trout was having his amazing rookie season.
I always felt that Trout, while an incredible talent, was a bit over-hyped with his rookie season numbers, especially when people kept saying it was the greatest rookie season of all-time.
Right off the bat I kept thinking of a few that I felt were better, including Dropo’s unreal rookie year that saw him hit .322 with 34 homers, 144 runs batted in and 101 runs scored, with a .583 slugging percentage and 326 total bases.
Now I’m not saying it’s THE best rookie year, but it IS a season I felt was on par, if not better than Trout’s.
Anyone have another rookie season they feel was “the best”?
I think of two that “technically” weren’t rookie years, but should be: Joe Jackson’s 1911 season and Alex Rodriguez’ 1996 season.
Why ISN’T Jackson’s 1911 season considered a rookie season anyway?

As for Dropo's MLB career, he played through the 1961 season, finishing up with a .270 average with 152 homers and 704 RBIs over 1288 games and 4124 at-bats.

Though he never matched those rookie numbers again, he did have some very good seasons playing for not only the Red Sox, but the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1967 BOBBY RICHARDSON

Today on the blog we have a 1967 "Career-Capper" for New York Yankees great Bobby Richardson, who closed out a wonderful Big League career in 1966:

An often overlooked important cog in the last great Yankee dynasty "hurrah" of the early '60's, Richardson won five Gold Gloves during the decade, as well as finishing second in M.V.P. voting in 1962 behind teammate Mickey Mantle while making eight All-Star teams.
As a matter of fact, between 1961 and 1965 he garnered M.V.P. consideration each year, and was named to the American League all-star team five times between 1962-1966.
Even though he retired at the young age of 30, Richardson ended up with 1432 hits, leading the A.L. with 209 in 1962.
Little bit of a side note: I remember as a young Don Mattingly fanatic in 1984 that Richardson was being mentioned repeatedly during the season as the last Yankee to attain 200 hits, since it was clear Mattingly was well on his way to that magic number himself while battling teammate Dave Winfield for the batting title.

For his career, which spanned 1955 through 1966, Richardson hit .266 with 1432 hits in 5386 at-bats in 1412 games, all for the Yankees, while being a part of four World Series winning squads.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1982 JIM NETTLES

Fun card to create for the blog today, a "not so missing" 1982 card for Jim Nettles, who appeared in one solitary game for the Oakland A's in 1981:

Jim, the younger brother of third base star Graig, bunted in his sole at-bat in 1981, which turned out to be the last at-bat of his MLB career.

Originally up with the Minnesota Twins in 1970, the most he ever played in one season was 1972 when he suited up for 102 games in Minnesota, hitting .204 with 48 hits in 235 at-bats with four homers and 15 runs batted in.

He played 1970-1972 with the Twins, 1974 with the Detroit Tigers, 1979 with the Kansas City Royals and 1981 with the A's.

In 1975 and 1976 he did play in Japan and Mexico respectively, but hit .234 and .196 in those two international performances.

By the time he called it a career, his MLB numbers added to a .220 average with 129 hits, 16 homers, 57 RBIs and 68 runs scored over 240 games and 587 at-bats.