NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 JERRY WHITE

On the blog today, a player many of you will remember from the 1970s and 1980s, but was left out of the 1978 Topps set, Jerry White of the Montreal Expos:

White appeared in only 16 games for Montreal during the 1977 season, hitting .190 with four hits in 21 at-bats, with four runs scored and a single RBI.

He would be with the Expos 10 of his 11 seasons in the Majors, playing half a season with the Chicago Cubs in 1978 and finishing up with 25 games as a St. Louis Cardinal in 1986, with some time in the Japanese League in 1984 and 1985.

Never a full-timer, the most action he ever saw in any one season was 114 games in 1976, hitting .245 over 309 plate appearances and 278 official at-bats.

By the time he did retire after those 12 seasons, he finished with a .253 batting average, with 303 hits in 1196 at-bats over 646 games, with 155 runs scored and 109 runs batted in, stealing 57 bases and hitting 21 homers.

 

REVISIT: 1978 MISSING IN ACTION STEVE HARGAN

Time to revisit another post from 10 years ago, this time my "missing" 1978 card for former pitcher Steve Hargan who put together a decent 12-year career between 1965 and 1977:

Hargan played for no less than three teams during the 1977 season: Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves, appearing in 28 games and pitching 78.1 innings with a 2-6 record and a 6.55 earned run average.
The first eight years of his career were with the Cleveland Indians, where he put in some solid seasons, posting three sub-3.00 ERA campaigns while even leading the American League in shutouts with six in 1967, his only all-star nod.
Overall Hargan ended up with a 87 and 107 career record with a 3.92 ERA and 891 strikeouts accumulated over 354 appearances, 215 of which were starts, with 17 shutouts and 56 complete games.

REVISIT: 1978 "TURN BACK THE CLOCK" STAN MUSIAL

Up on the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1978 "Turn Back The Clock" card for all-time great Stan Musial, celebrating his 3000th hit from 20 years earlier:

He would go on to collect another 630 more hits to become the leading National League hit-maker before Hank Aaron would overtake him about 10 years later.
Throw in 725 doubles, 177 triples and 475 home runs and you have yourself one of THE best all-around hitters the game ever saw.
Three Most Valuable Player Awards, FOUR second-place finishes, including three in a row between 1949-1951, and twenty consecutive all-star appearances, Musial definitely is a member of that rarified stratosphere of baseball royalty along with the likes of Ruth, Cobb, Mays and Wagner, among others.

 

REVISIT: 1978 CAREER-CAPPER FOR COOKIE ROJAS

Good day all!

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1978 "career-capper" for Cookie Rojas, long-time Major League infielder:

Rojas appeared in 64 games for the Western Division champ Royals in 1977, hitting an even .250 with 39 hits over 156 at-bats.
A five-time all-star, Rojas slapped his way through the Majors, collecting 1660 lifetime hits over 1822 games, with only 333 of those hits going for extra bases.
Of his 16 years in the Major Leagues, he played eight with the Royals and seven with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he first made a name for himself between 1963 and 1969.

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1978 DAVE GIUSTI CAPPER (A'S)

On the blog today, a special request for a 1978 career-capper for Dave Giusti, who recently passed away at the age of 86:

Technically Giusti finished his career with the Chicago Cubs in 1977 after starting the season with the Oakland A's.

With the Cubs he went 0-2 with a 6.04 ERA over 20 games and 25.1 innings pitched, while it was a completely different outcome with the A's when he appeared in 40 games, going 3-3 with a very nice 2.98 ERA over 60.1 innings of work.

Giusti originally came up with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 22-year old starter out of Syracuse University in 1962, their inaugural season in the National League.
He appeared in 22 games and posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 5.62 earned run average before spending the entire 1963 season in the Minor Leagues.
After some brief MLB action in 1964, Giusti was a big leaguer for good in 1965, going 8-7 with a 4.32 E.R.A. Along with a shutout as well as three saves for the newly tabbed “Astros”.
After a few more decent seasons as a starter, he found himself in St. Louis for the 1969 season, and thus began his transition to the bullpen, where he’d become a very effective reliever for another eight years, seven of which were with the Pirates.
Between 1970 and 1973 he topped 20 saves each year and posted solid E.R.A.’s, including a career-low of 1.93 in 1972 over 54 appearances and 74.2 innings pitched.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season he appeared in 668 games, 133 of them starts, finishing with a 100-93 record and 3.60 E.R.A., along with the aforementioned 145 saves.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 BREWERS MANAGER-ALEX GRAMMAS

On the blog today, finally "fixing" a missing manager card in the fabulous 1978 sub-set, that of Milwaukee Brewers Alex Grammas, who skippered the team in 1977:

Grammas put in two seasons with Milwaukee, leading them to almost identical records in 1976 and 1977, 66-95 (1976) and 67-95 (1977).

It was the only two years at the helm of the team, and besides a temporary stint as Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969 (season-ending 5 games as a fill-in for Danny Murtaugh), his only taste as a Big League manager.

The Brewers decided to go with George Bamberger in 1978, for which I did produce a card for way back in 2013 here on the blog, but felt that Grammas really deserved one here.

I've always been a huge fan of the 1978 Topps managers sub-set, and wished they would have used that template for something else, with star players instead.

Ah well...

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1978 JIM UMBARGER

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my "missing" 1978 card for former pitcher Jim Umbarger of the Texas Rangers:

Umbarger appeared in 15 games over the 1977 season, split between the Oakland A’s and Texas, posting a 2-6 record with a 6.32 earned run average over 57 innings of work.
His first two years in the Majors were much better, as he went 8-7 and 10-12 in 1975 and 1976 respectively with Texas, posting ERA’s of 4.12 and 3.15 with five shutouts splitting time between starting and the bullpen.
He wouldn’t fare much better in 1978, posting a 5-8 record with a 4.88 ERA, thus completing what would be his 4-year career, giving him a 25-33 record with a 4.14 ERA over 133 games, 61 of which were starts, and 483 innings pitched.

 

MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 MIKE MARSHALL

Good day all!

At long last! After 12 years of creating cards for this blog, I have finally found an image good "enough" to create a "missing" 1978 card for reliever extraordinaire Mike Marshall:

Granted, it took a ton of work to make this card actually usable for this card, but dammit, it has been way too long and I wanted to put this card behind me.

Marshall split the 1977 season between the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, where he went a combined 3-2 over 16 games, four of them starts, picking up a save and pitching to an ERA of 4.75.

But the man was FAR from finished in the Big Leagues, as evidenced by his comeback 1978 campaign with the Minnesota Twins.

He'd finish that season with a record of 10-12 over 54 games, all out of the bullpen, saving 21 games while posting a very nice 2.45 ERA over 99 innings.

Mike Marshall is about as interesting a character in Major League baseball during the 1970's as any other. And considering some of the characters we've looked at in the past, that is saying something.
How else can you describe a guy who seriously considered retiring from the sport so he could focus on his P.H.D. studies before his record setting 1974 season?
If you've ever read Jim Bouton's hilarious and landmark book "Ball Four" you read about Marshall's legendary battles with his then-manager Jim Schultz while both were members of the ill-fated single-season organization Seattle Pilots.
This guy was something else. And his arm was undoubtedly something else as well. In no less than three seasons, Marshall appeared in 90 or more games, including his record-setting mark of 106 in 1974 that still stands today.
And UNLIKE today with specialty pitchers who come in and face a batter or two, when Marshall came into a game, he pitched.
In 1974, purely a relief role, Marshall threw an astounding 208.1 innings, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A. and a league-leading 21 saves. Amazing by any standard, any era.
This easily got him a Cy Young award that year, beating out fellow teammate Andy Messersmith, while also finishing third in M.V.P. voting as well.
When it came to baseball cards, Marshall was equally as "unique". Rumor has it that he was a bit of a headache for Topps, refusing to "pose" for pictures. Because of this, his cards featured action shots between 1974 through 1977.
Then, after his '77 card, he disappeared altogether. Why I have no idea. But even though Marshall played through the rest of the decade, there were no cards for him in the 1978 and 1979 set.
The 1979 season was another amazing year for Marshall. He appeared in an A.L. record 90 games, closing out 84 of them, good enough for a 10-15 record with a league-leading 32 saves. Those numbers got him a fifth-place finish in the Cy Young voting that year, which marked the fifth time he was in the running for the award in his career.
He even finished in 11th place for M.V.P. as well, which was the fourth time he garnered serious attention as "Most Valuable Player" during his playing days.
But because of what I understand as "problems" between Topps and Marshall, he was not included in the set that year, leaving a gaping hole for a guy who was as good as any coming into a game as a reliever.
It must have been frustrating for fans of the Twins, and more specifically Marshall, to rip open packs during the late '70's only to find that one of your best pitchers wasn't even depicted on a card.
Then again, from everything I've read online, he's about as tough an autograph to get as anyone else out there, long refusing to sign his name for fans, so perhaps they weren't really missing him too much after all.

 

BY SPECIAL REQUEST: "GIMMIE A DO-OVER" 1978 TERRY FORSTER

A special request has come in to the blog to re-do Terry Forster's 1978 card, which originally had him airbrushed into a Los Angeles Dodgers uni after signing with them as a Free Agent in November of 1977.

Here, I have created a 1978 card showing him as a Pittsburgh Pirate, for whom he suited up in 1977 in his lone season there:

Forster was already a proven Big League reliever after six seasons with the Chicago White Sox, even leading the league with 24 save in 1974.

In December 1976 he was traded to the Pirates along with Rich Gossage (ouch!), for Richie Zisk and Silvio Martinez.

Forster did well as a set-up man, appearing in 33 games, with six of those games starts, collecting one save and going 6-4 with a 4.43 ERA in 87.1 innings.

He would go on to play five years with the Dodgers, helping them to two World Series, winning it all in 1981, before moving on to the Atlanta Braves between 1983 and 1985, then one final year in 1986 as a member of the California Angels.

All told, he appeared in 614 games between 1971 and 1986, picking up 127 saves to go along with a record of 54-65, with a nnice 3.23 ERA over 1105.2 innings.

Not too shabby!

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING 1978 TERRY CORNUTT

Time once again to revisit a ten-year-old post here on the blog, for the late-comers to WTHBALLS, this time my "missing" 1978 card for former San Francisco Giant pitcher Terry Cornutt:

Cornutt appeared in 28 games for the Giants in 1977, posting a 1-2 record with 23 strikeouts and a 3.86 earned run average over 44.1 innings of work.

Except for a single solitary appearance in 1978, that would be the entirety of his Major League career.

Curious as to why he never made it back up to the "big show", as he put in a few more decent seasons in the minor leagues until 1980 for the Giants organization out of the 'pen.

 

REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1978 VIC BERNAL CARD

Good day all!

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post, this time it's my 1978 "missing in action" card for San Diego Padres pitcher Vic Bernal:

Bernal appeared in 15 games during the 1977 for the San Diego Padres, the only games he'd ever suit up for on the Major League level.

He pitched 20.1 innings and posted a 1-1 record with a 5.31 earned run average and six strikeouts, all in relief.

After his Major League career, he'd go on to coach high school ball for many years in his home state of California.

Sadly, he would pass away at the young age of 52 in September of 2006.

 

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.

REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 ART GARDNER

Let's go and revisit my post from July of 2015 featuring my "missing in action" card for Art Gardner of the Houston Astros shall we:

Gardner appeared in 66 games for the Astros in 1977, hitting .154 with 10 hits over 65 at-bats.

He debuted in the Majors in 1975, playing in 13 games for Houston with equal luck at the plate, before playing the entire 1976 season in the Minor leagues.

In 1978 he'd play in only seven games with the Giants, before playing out his professional career in the Minor Leagues and the Japanese league in the early 1980's before retiring for good.

His total in the Big leagues: a .162 average with 16 hits (all singles) in 99 official at-bats, with 12 runs scored and five runs batted in. 

And though he was a speedster in the Minors (196 steals in his Minor League career), he tallied one single stolen base while up in the Majors, coming in his rookie year of '75.

 

REVISITING A "MISSING" 1978 CARD FOR PAUL SIEBERT

Time to go and revisit a "missing" 1978 card for former New York Mets pitcher Paul Siebert, originally on the blog in October of 2015:

Siebert appeared in 25 games with the Mets after coming over from the San Diego Padres during the season.
He posted a 2-1 record (all with the Mets), with a 3.69 earned run average over 29 games and 31.2 innings of work.
In his short five-year career he went on to post a 3-8 record with a 3.77 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 129 innings and 87 appearances.
Keep an eye out for his “missing” 1979 card in the near future as well!

 

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.

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!

 

"NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION": 1978 GARY GRAY

Up on the blog today, a 1978 "not so missing" card for Gary Gray, a player with one of the cooler names in the course of baseball history:

Gray appeared in one game for the Texas Rangers in 1977, his first taste of the Big Leagues, going 0-for-2 at the plate while putting in some time out in leftfield.

He'd go on to put in parts of six years in the Majors, playing for the Rangers, Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners between 1977 and 1982.

Over that time he'd never put in a full season, topping out with 80 games in his last year as a Big league first baseman/outfielder.

By the time he hung them up, he hit .240 with 150 hits in 625 at-bats, appearing in 211 games, with 65 runs scored and 71 runs batted in, moving on to the Mexican League in the mid-80s and playing through the 1987 season.

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1978 CARL YASTRZEMSKI

On the blog today, my do-over for Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski and his 1978 card, something I've wanted to do for some time now:

Rather than the boring (to me at least) close up of the man staring up into the air that Topps had out there, I wanted a nice action shot of him to go along with the legendary All-Star badge that I hold so dear.

This image seems to do the trick, and was good enough for me to include in my recent Series 16 set released a month ago.

As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island, New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.

And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18 all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive categories.

By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816 runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in along with a .285 batting average.

He was just plain awesome…

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1978 SPARKY ANDERSON

Good day everyone!

Up on the blog today, we have the "missing" 1978 N.L. All-Star manager card, and for the second year in a row it is Cincinnati Reds skipper Sparky Anderson, who guided the "Big Red Machine" to a second straight World Series victory in 1976 over the New York Yankees:

After a phenomenal 108 win season in 1975 that saw them march to a title over the Boston red Sox, the Reds kept on winning, taking home 102 victories the following year before disposing of the Yankees in four straight.

For Anderson, it was his fourth first-place finish in five years, with only a second place finish in 1974 the only "blemish".

In the All-Star game, the national league beat the American league once again, this time winning 7-1 as they pounced on starter Mark Fidrych for two runs in the first two innings before touching Catfish Hunter for two more runs in the third and then three runs to break it wide open in the eighth off Frank Tanana.

Anderson would go down as one of the greatest managers in Major League history, moving on to the Detroit Tigers in 1979, where he would go on to manage 17 years, giving him a combined 26 years of Big League managing, even taking home another title with that great 1984 Tiger team that was in first "wire-to-wire", winning 104 games before beating the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

All told the man won 2194 games as a manager, finishing with a .545 winning percentage, three titles, 5 pennants, and of course a Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

Legend, and perpetually looking like an "old man" even when he was in his 30's!

 

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1978 BILLY MARTIN

Today's blog post has a "missing" All-Star manager card for the man who led the A.L. in the 1977 "Midsummer Classic", Billy Martin of the New York Yankees:

Martin brought the Yankees back to Postseason Glory in 1976 before losing to the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.

That 97 win season got him the manager role in the 1977 game, something he would repeat in 1978 as he would finally guide a team to a World Championship.

Martin was a winner wherever he managed. Just look it up!

He began his managerial career in 1969 with the Minnesota Twins and took them straight to the Playoffs, guiding the team to a first place finish with a 97-65 record.
He would move on to Detroit, and would take them to a first place finish by his second year in 1972 with a record of 86-70.
He’d move on to the Texas Rangers and they’d have their first successful season in 1974, albeit a second place finish behind league MVP Jeff Burroughs and ace Fergie Jenkins, then of course he would move on to the New York Yankees, where the “Bronx Zoo” was in full swing, eventually bringing Martin a World Championship in 1977.
He’d move on to the Oakland A’s where “Billy-Ball” was in full effect, losing to the Yankees in the Championship Series while burning through every arm on his pitching staff with overuse.
Then finally, there was the back-and-forth period between he and the Yankees, specifically owner George Steinbrenner, where he managed in 1983, 1985 and finally 1988, almost a comedic show of hiring and firing that really was an embarrassment to us Yankee fans of the era.
Nevertheless, Martin was a winner, though one with a temper at that, leaving the game with a .553 winning percentage and over 1200 wins.
Should he be in the Hall of Fame?
I do think so more for his personality than anything else. As a symbol of the wild 1970’s with his managerial style a'la Earl Weaver, arguing and fighting his way through each season.
Rest in Peace Billy, you are missed.