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.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: BILLY WILLIAMS

Today on the blog we add "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Hall of Famer Billy Williams, to my future multi-series custom set "Classic Baseball":

Just a beautiful photo of the overlooked and underappreciated All-Star outfielder for the Chicago Cubs.

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 calibre 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.

 

1975 IN-ACTION: BILLY WILLIAMS

Today's blog post has a 1975 "In-Action" card for "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Billy Williams, Hall of Fame outfielder extraordinaire of the Chicago Cubs:

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 calibre 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.

IMAGE SPOTLIGHT: 1974 BILLY WILLIAMS AND THAT STRANGE BACKGROUND

Good day all!

I've always been interested in the 1974 card for HOF outfielder Billy Williams because of the crowd background and its yellow hue, and I finally found the original image, untouched by the fine folks at Topps, and as I figured, it was NOT as we saw on the card.

So today we'll take a closer look:

Just a great action shot of "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler" before Topps gave it that strange yellow coloring. Don't know why.

As for Billy himself, by the time he retired after the 1976 season, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
Along with his Rookie of the Year in 1961, he was a 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.

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1977 BILLY WILLIAMS CAREER-CAPPER

Hello everyone.

Today on the blog I thought it'd be fun to revisit a 10-year old post many of you may not have seen before, a 1977 "Career-Capper" for under-rated and overlooked Hall of Famer (if there is such a thing), Billy Williams:

"Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler" 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 calibre 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.

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1975 BILLY WILLIAMS

On the blog today, we go and do-over a 1975 card for underrated Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Williams, who saw himself out West after a stellar career in the "Windy City":

I wanted a nice Chicago Cubs card for him in the 1975 set, as he played the last season there in 1974, before heading to the Oakland A's.

I just love the colors on the Cubs version, though as usual, the A's color sheme in this era of Topps was always top notch!

For those that need a refresher on what Topps had out there for "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", here you go:

They did a decent airbrush job in anticipation of his new team, but I'm a fan of sets reflecting the previous season as opposed to the upcoming one.

By the time Williams retired after the 1976 season, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
Along with his Rookie of the Year in 1961, he was a 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.

 

STARS RETIRE: 1977 BILLY WILLIAMS AND TONY OLIVA

Up on the blog today, another 1977 "Stars Retire" card, this time one for two wonderful hitters of the 1960's and 1970's, Billy Williams and Tony Oliva:

Beginning with "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Williams 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.
Is it possible to be considered overshadowed and underrated yet still make the Hall of Fame? Williams is the perfect example!
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.

As for the great Oliva, he established himself as possibly the second best Twins hitter ever at that point (behind Rod Carew), and would retire with a .304 career average, 220 homers and just under 2000 hits (1917) in his 15 year career.

Oliva was well on his way to the Hall of Fame until injuries derailed his Cooperstown march once he reached his 30's.

He burst onto the Major League scene in 1964 when he easily won the American League Rookie of the Year award.

In that year, all he did was lead the league in batting, hitting .323, while slamming 32 homers with 94 runs batted in. 

He also lead the league in runs scored with 109, hits with 217, doubles with 43 and total bases with 374!

Those numbers also got him a fourth place finish in M.V.P. voting as well.

The following year there was no sign of a sophomore jinx, as he once again lead the lead in batting, this time hitting .321, with 16 homers, 98 R.B.I.'s, 40 doubles and 107 runs scored.

He also lead the league in total hits again, this time with 185.

All told in his career, Oliva would win three batting titles (the third coming in 1971 when he hit .337), and would lead the league in hits five times, slugging once (1971), get named to eight straight all-star teams, and have two second-place finishes for M.V.P., in 1965 and 1970.

When you really take a look, he only had 11 full seasons in the Majors, with the half-season in 1976 and three pretty much non-existant years in 1962, 1963 and 1972. 

So his numbers carry a bit more weight in that light.

And wow, what a great hitting combo he and Rod Carew made for the Twins, huh?!

Nice 1-2 punch right there.

 

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT: "LOST" 1963 FLEER SECOND SERIES: BILLY WILLIAMS

On the blog today, we add "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Billy Williams, to my 1963 "Lost Second Series" Fleer set, released last year:

 

As I stated earlier here on the blog: Is it possible to be considered overshadowed and underrated yet still make the Hall of Fame? Williams is the perfect example!

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, and any chance I have to focus on him for a card creation I will happily take it!

1970 IN-GAME ACTION: BILLY WILLIAMS

Moving on with spotlighting cards from past custom produced sets here at WTHBALLS, we have my 1970 “In-Game Action” card for Chicago Cubs all-timer Billy Williams, aka “Sweet Swingin’ Billy from Whistler”:

 

Is it possible to be considered overshadowed and underrated yet still make the Hall of Fame? Williams is the perfect example!

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, and any chance I have to focus on him for a card creation I will happily take it!

ON-CARD ALL-STAR: 1974 BILLY WILLIAMS

Up on the blog today we have the next National League player to get the "on-base-card" All-Star treatment, Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Williams, aka "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler":

 

It is amazing when you consider all the great ballplayers that came out of Alabama.

Just yesterday I profiled Oscar Gamble, also from the same state, as well as thumpers like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron, Lee May, George Foster, Rudy York, Mule Suttles, Heinie Manush and Monte Irvin to name just a FEW!

Anyway, for Williams, it was to be the last All-Star nod of his great 18-year career, the sixth overall honor in his age-35 season.

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.
Along with his Rookie of the Year in 1961, he was a 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.

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 N.L. RUNS BATTED IN

On the blog today, a nifty expanded 1973 league leader card for the National League's top RBI men of 1972, three future Hall of Famers with some serious fire-power:

 

Leading the league in 1972 was none other than Johnny Bench, with 125 runs batted in, and giving him his second RBI title in three years after his monster 1970 campaign that saw him drive in 148 at the age of only 22!

Just behind Bench in RBIs for the 1972 season was Chicago Cubs great Billy Williams, who drove in 122 runs while also taking home the N.L. batting title with his .333 batting average.

Sadly for him, his TWO best Major League seasons happen to come when Bench had HIS two best seasons, so there you have Billy Williams coming in second place for MVP, both times behind Bench. That is some tough luck!

Coming in third place in the RBI race for 1972, "Pops" Willie Stargell, who drove in 112 runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates, his fourth time reaching the 100-RBI mark, and funny enough, helping him finish third in the N.L. MVP voting by season's end.

So here you have the top 3 RBI guys in the National League, and they all finished first through third in MVP voting as well, in the same order!

Fun stuff!

Next up, we move on to the American League and their top three RBI men for 1972!

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 N.L. HOME RUNS

The next league leaders we tackle in my new "expanded league leader" card series is National League home run leaders for 1972:

 

We begin with the great Johnny Bench, who took home his second home run title in three years with his 40 jacks, leading to his second N.L. MVP Award.

He also drove in a league-leading 125 runs while helping the Cincinnati reds make their second trip to the World Series in three years. Not too shabby!

Coming in second place in the home run race was San Diego Padres slugger Nate Colbert, who hit 38 taters for the young Padre franchise, while also driving home 111 runs, getting him some MVP attention to the tune of an eighth place finish by season's end.

In third place, in what was easily an MVP year any other year a guy named Johnny Bench didn't win the award, was Chicago Cubs great Billy Williams, who hit 37 homers while leading the league in hitting at a .333 clip.

Once again the man took a second place finish in the league MVP race, as he did in 1970, to Johnny Bench, and I'm sure it was enough to make anyone crazy!

Nevertheless, Williams got the ultimate reward years later when he joined Bench in the Hall of Fame, so it all works out to a point!

There you have it, the top three home run hitters of 1972 on an expanded 1973 league leader card!

Next up, the American League's top-3 homer guys...

BY SPECIAL REQUEST- EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 N.L. BATTING LEADERS

A short while ago a few of you asked or requested that I tackle the fact that over some years during the 1970's Topps created a simpler league leader card that featured two players, each leagues leader in a particular hitting or pitching category instead of expanded cards with the top three or so in each league, like the 1976 sub-set or 1972.

Well today we have the beginning of what will be a long thread creating just that, beginning with 1973, the first such year during the decade that went to the two-player format.

We'll start with the National League and it's top-3 hitters of 1972:

 

Betcha didn't have Dusty Baker in third that year huh?

Of course Billy Williams took home the batting crown that year, putting in another amazing year for the Chicago Cubs, yet sadly once again during another even BETTER year from some catcher on the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench.

Ralph Garr, the runner-up in the NL batting race, of course would go on to top the league in 1974, so he'd eventually know the feeling of batting champ soon enough.

For Baker, it turned out it was his career-best with a .321 batting average, though he would hit .320 in 1981.

The 1972 season was actually his first full year as a Major Leaguer, and he did not disappoint!

That is why I do love the expanded league leader cards so much, since there were a great many players who ended up just short of glory that would surprise you.

We'll do this by category so the next card in the thread will be the American League batting leaders, with another player who may surprise some of you.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- BILLY WILLIAMS

The next player featured in my new thread “Minor League Days” is Hall of Famer Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs, “Sweet Swingin’ Billy from Whistler”:

Williams was a 22-year-old when he played the last of his Minor League days, suiting up for the Houston Buffs in 1960 and hitting .323 with 26 homers and 80 runs batted in.
The following season he’d get his full-time break in the Big Leagues and wouldn’t disappoint, hitting 25 homers with 86 ribbies and a .278 batting average that was good enough to take home league Rookie of the Year honors.
Is it possible to be considered overshadowed and underrated yet still make the Hall of Fame? Williams is the perfect example!
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.
Along with his Rookie of the Year in 1961, he was a 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.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN- 1977 CAREER-CAPPING BILLY WILLIAMS

I always figured I’d come back to my 1977 Billy Williams “Career-capper” since I never really liked the image I used, and that day is today as I replace it with a much better shot:

“Sweet Swingin’ Billy from Whistler” 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.
Is it possible to be considered overshadowed and underrated yet still make the Hall of Fame? Williams is the perfect example!
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.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "SWEET SWINGIN BILLY FROM WHISTLER" BILLY WILLIAMS

I just had to create a “nickname” card for Billy Williams, even if the name itself would be a doozy to fit on ANY card.
So without much choice, I went a created a 1974 card since the horizontal format helped cramming the name in there:

By then Williams was about to move on to the Oakland A’s for the last couple seasons of what was to be a Hall of Fame career, which ended in 1976.
A mainstay of the Chicago Cubs along with Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, Williams would have been a two-time National League MVP if it weren’t for a guy by the name of Johnny Bench, who Williams finished second in voting to in BOTH 1970 and 1972.
Regardless, “Sweet Swingin’” Billy was one heck of a player, smashing 426 lifetime homers along with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 1475 runs batted in and getting named to six all-star teams over 18-years.

ANOTHER AWESOME CARD FROM THE 1976 SET- BUT WAIT A MINUTE...???

I have always loved Billy Williams final card as a Major League player, his 1976 edition as an Oakland A’s player. Then again, I love many of those Oakland cards from that set since the colors of both the card design and the players uniforms make for great stuff.
But first, the Williams card:

GREAT action shot of the future Hall of Famer! Also gotta love the facial hair, a clue as to the age and era we are dealing with.
However, though I still love the card, upon further inspection I have to wonder about a few things.
First off his hands look awkward for his follow through swing, as if they were airbrushed in, and poorly at that. And when you do look closer, you see that they were in fact airbrushed. At least the lead, left arm.
Why?!
When you look at the “Williams” across his back you can see it seems to have been brushed in as well.
Am I wrong?
Strange, and I wonder what the original negative looked like before Topps felt the need to mess with it.
Anyone know what the deal was?
Still a GREAT card from that awesome set! 


***THANKS TO RAJ HERE IS THE ORIGINAL IMAGE THAT WAS ON GETTY-IMAGES:

I really don't see why they had to mess with it. Strange. And look at the bottom, there's MORE on the card than in the original (player in the dugout).

"GIMME A DO-OVER"- PART XXXVI: 1975 #545 BILLY WILLIAMS

Here is a card I have always wanted to "Re-do", Topps' 1975 Billy Williams card (#545).
I've just always disliked the airbrushed portrait, which reminds me of some Hollywood mugshot to this very day.
Take a look at the "as-is" card put out by Topps back then:

And even though I could not find a really good usable image, I did find this rather unique shot of him at bat that I have never seen before, so I used it here.
Take a look:

Not the best photo to fill out the great 1975 template, but better than the airbrushed image Topps threw out there in my opinion.

Eventually I hope to find an even better image to "Re-Do my Re-Do"...

"Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler" was closing out his tremendous Hall of Fame career the following year, closing the books on an 18-year career (all but the last two as a Chicago Cub) with over 2700 hits, 400 home runs, 1400 runs scored and runs batted in, and a .290 batting average.

He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961, and finished in second place for M.V.P. in both 1970 and 1972 (thanks to Johnny Bench BOTH years!).

He had to wait a little while, but was finally elected to the Hall in 1987, joining former teammate Ernie Banks, and later joined by both Fergie Jenkins and Ron Santo.

1974 TOPPS BILLY WILLIAMS: BLINDED BY YELLOW

I have always wondered why Topps messed around with the photo used on the 1974 Billy Williams card.

Take a look:

What on earth is with ALL that yellow?!

Would love to know where the image is from, and why Topps felt the need to mess with the background like that.

So strange, no?

Anyone have any ideas?

They over saturated the background, and you can even see where the batter's box is divided between the over-saturated side and the "untouched" side (Williams' side).

It's a nice action photo, but sadly ruined with the "effect" going on…

THEN AND NOW #12: BILLY WILLIAMS 1976

Here's a colorful 1976 "Then and Now" card for Hall of Famer Billy Williams:

After 16 stellar seasons playing at Wrigley for the Chicago Cubs, Williams took his talents over to Oakland where he played the last two years of his career for the A's, generally as their designated hitter.

In his 18 years in the big leagues, Williams put up some great numbers: 2700+ hits, 400+ homers, 1400+ runs batted in and 1400+ runs scored.

If not for a guy named Johnny Bench, he'd also have TWO Most Valuable Player awards as well, finishing second to the Reds Hall of Famer in both 1970 and 1972.

He finally found his way to Cooperstown in 1987, and rightfully so.