REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 JOE GILBERT

On the blog today, we revisit a post from 10 years ago, my "missing in action" card for former Montreal Expos pitcher Joe Gilbert:

Gilbert's career was already over by the time this card would have come out, as he pitched what would be his final big league game on July 15th of 1973.

For the year he appeared in 21 games, good for 29 innings of work, with a 1-2 record, 4.97 earned run average and 17 strikeouts.

The previous year, his rookie year, he appeared in 22 games, good for 33 innings of work with a 0-1 record, 25 strikeouts and a bloated 8.45 E.R.A.

Yet he didn't get a card in the 1973 set either, so watch for THAT "missing" card here in the near future.

 

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1980 TIM RAINES

Today on the blog, we have my "not so missing" 1980 card for Hall of Famer Tim Raines, from my "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months back:

The "four-decade" player made his Big League debut with six games for the Montreal Expos in 1979, all as a pinch-runner, giving him three runs scored and two stolen bases without an official at-bat at the age of only 19.

From there the man was nothing short of elite, leading the league in steals four straight seasons from 1981 through 1984, winning a batting title in 1986 when he led the N.L. with a .334 mark, twice pacing the league in runs scored, and making seven straight All-Star teams from 1981 to 1987.

The National League's counterpart to Rickey Henderson, Raines went on to play 23 seasons in the Majors, including a very nice three year run with the New York Yankees during their Dynasty from 1996 to 1998, giving him two Championships, the only two he'd have.

I loved watching him play, and was especially happy to see him play "live" when he suited up for the Yanks those three seasons, when I was pretty much at almost all Yankee home games.

By the time he retired after the 2002 season, Raines finished with 2605 hits over 8872 at-bats, hitting .294 with 1571 runs scored and 808 stolen bases, collecting 113 triples while striking out only 966 times!

That is an average of only 42 strikeouts a season!

In 2017 he was elected to the Hall of Fame, his place in baseball history cemented for all to appreciate in years to come.

Cheers "Rock" Raines!

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 TONY PEREZ

Today we take a look at the image variation between the great Tony Perez's 1977 OPC and Topps cards after his shocking trade to the Montreal Expos, the beginning of the end for the juggernaut Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine" dynasty:

OPC edition

Topps edition

OPC managed to get him out as a member of "their" Montreal Expos, something I am sure the Canadian baseball world was excited about.

Perez was sent to Montreal along with pitcher Will McEnaney for two guys out of the bullpen: Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray.

Now, I don't really remember the reasoning for this trade (Tony! Help me out here!), but it seems ABSURD all these years later.

Nevertheless, the "Big Dog" kept on producing for the next four years (three with the Expos and one with the Boston Red Sox in 1980) before becoming a solid veteran bat off the bench between 1982 and 1986 with Boston, Philadelphia and back in Cincinnati before retiring.

All told, he put together a magnificent 23 years career, collecting over 2700 hits, 375 home runs, 1600 runs batted in, and a .279 lifetime batting average.

He was also named to seven all-star teams and got Most Valuable Player attention in seven seasons.

It took a long while, but he was eventually elected into the Hall of Fame in 2000, joining former teammates Joe Morgan, Sparky Anderson and Johnny Bench, with Dave Concepcion and Pete Rose still out in the cold.

As I've stated earlier on this blog, I was always fascinated that former "Big Red Machine" skipper Anderson considered the Perez trade a severe blow to the Reds' continued dominance of Major League ball after 1976.

Here's a team that pretty much had their entire squad intact, and even picked up TOM SEAVER in June of 1977, but could never make it back to the top of the baseball world.

A good idea of how important Perez was…

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: "THEN AND NOW" 1974 FELIPE ALOU

Thought I'd revisit a 10-year old post celebrating the playing career of Felipe Alou, elite hitter who went on to a very nice managerial career in the Big Leagues:

By 1974 Alou was wrapping up a very nice 17-year career that saw him top 2000 hits, 200 home runs and 100 stolen bases.

He'd only play three games in '74, with the Milwaukee Brewers, but I have him shown here as an Expos player, the team he was suited up for on his regular Topps card in the set. (Ignoring the awful Traded card as a Brewer he was airbrushed into).

During his career he'd top the National League in hits twice, runs once and total bases once.

His finest year would have to be 1966, when he led the N.L. in runs with 122, hits with 218, at-bats with 666, total bases with 355, while hitting 31 home runs, driving in 74 and batting a cool .327.

He'd end up fifth in MVP voting, and was named to his third all-star team.

After his playing days were over he'd coach and eventually manage in the Major Leagues, leading both the Expos and Giants to first place finishes (1994 and 2003 respectively) during his 14 years as a skipper.

Of course it's also worth mentioning that Alou comes from an incredible baseball family, as brothers Jesus and Matty, son Moises, cousin Jose Sosa and nephew Mel Rojas all got to play in the Big Leagues as well.

As a matter of fact, Felipe got to play with both his brothers, AND even go on to manage his son and nephew later on.

Pretty cool…

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 WOODIE FRYMAN

On the blog today, we take a closer look at another OPC to Topps image variation, this one the 1977 differences for Woodie Fryman's cards:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps had the lefty in his 1976 team's duds, the Montreal Expos, OPC tried to show him in the uniform of his new team, the Cincinnati Reds, where he was sent as part of a blockbuster trade that saw the "Big Dog" Tony Perez heading North of the border, the beginning of the end for the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" champions.

Fryman would appear in 17 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1977, going 5-5 with a 5.38 earned run average over 75.1 innings.

He would start the 1978 campaign with the Cubs, appearing in 13 games, before moving on to the Montreal Expos for another 19 appearances on the season, going a combined 7-11 over 32 appearances, completing four games with three shutouts, as well as a save thrown in for good measure.

He'd stay with Montreal for the rest of his career, pitching five more years with them before retiring at the age of 43 after the 1983 season.

Overall, Fryman finished with a career 141-155 record in 625 appearances, with a 3.77 ERA over 2411.1 innings, tossing 27 shutouts while saving 58 between 1966 and 1983.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: MISSING 1972 MIKE TORREZ

Today we'll revisit my "missing" 1972 card for long-time pitcher Mike Torrez, at one time about as reliable an arm there was in the Big Leagues:

Torrez barely played in 1971, as he split time between the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos (for only one game), totaling 10 games and 39 innings of work.

But in 1972 he would begin a nice run when he posted a 16-12 record with a 3.33 earned run average and 112 strikeouts over 34 games, 33 of which were starts, and 243.1 innings pitched.

During the middle of the decade he did something I always thought was amazing: he won 14 or more games five years in a row, with FIVE different teams!

He won 15 in 1974 with the Expos, 20 in 1975 with the Orioles (of course, right?), 16 in 1976 with the A's, 14 in 1977 (after coming over from Oakland with a 3-1 record) with the Yankees, and then 16 with the Red Sox in 1978.

That's a pretty cool run! He even went on to win 16 games yet again the following year while still pitching for Boston.

By the time he retired after the 1984 season, Torrez fashioned himself a solid 18-year career that saw him go 185-160, with a 3.96 E.R.A., 1404 strikeouts and 15 shutouts over 494 games, 458 of which were starts.

He also won two games in the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers, pitching a complete game in both starts, yielding a 2.50 E.R.A. with 15 strikeouts. Not bad at all…

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2013: 1975 GARY CARTER DEDICATED ROOKIE

On the blog today, we revisit a post from October, 2013, my 1975 "Dedicated Rookie" for one of the all-time great catchers, Gary Carter:

Loved Carter as a kid growing up in the early 80's, seeing him pick up where Johnny Bench left off as the game's best catcher.

Here's the original write-up for that post:

Let's give another Hall of Famer a "proper" rookie card, as opposed to some lame multi-player card that was actually issued by Topps.
Today's player, Gary Carter, was a former teammate of my first subject in this thread (Andre Dawson), part of that young talented Montreal Expos roster in the late-70's/early-80's.
In 1975 Carter made his first card appearance on the multi-player card you see below (#620).
It was an awesome set with some fantastic rookies (Brett, Yount, Lynn, Hernandez) and all-time legends winding down their careers (Aaron, B. Williams, Ron Santo, F. Robinson), so really I'm not trying to complain about it here.
However as I stated with the first post on this thread, I was never a fan of these multi-player rookie cards. Looking back on them now it's incredible to see how many of the players depicted never even made it up to the Majors in the future. Wasted space in my eyes (the 1977 set was particularly brutal in this respect).
Sadly Gary Carter was picked by Topps to be on one of these cards, so we also have the "un"legendary Dan Meyer, Marc Hill and Leon Roberts taking up space on what should have been a classic card of the best catcher in the 1980's and eventual Hall of Famer.
But today, allow me to imagine what a "dedicated" rookie card of Gary Carter in 1975 could have looked like had Topps issued one.
Instead of using one of those "Gary Carter-like" smiling poses we're used to, I found a slightly more serious shot of him posing at-bat. Just seemed nice and different for a change.

I remember when Gary Carter really took over the "best catcher" tag from Johnny Bench around 1981. It was like he was suddenly everywhere with that smile of his!
Sure you still had Carlton Fisk producing in the American League, but Carter really took over as the top backstop and held onto that title for pretty much the rest of the decade.
This was a guy who had nine seasons of 20+ homers and four 100+ R.B.I. seasons as a catcher. Not too shabby!
After finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1975, Carter also went on to have 11 All-Star game nods, five Silver Slugger awards, three Gold Gloves and seven seasons where he garnered M.V.P. votes, finishing in the Top-10 four times.
By the time he retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 2092 hits, 324 home runs and 1225 runs batted in.
Needless to say Cooperstown came calling, and in 2003 he easily got voted in after being selected on 387 of 496 ballots, securing his place in baseball history forever.
However, sadly years later Carter was diagnosed with brain cancer, and despite undergoing aggressive treatment he succumbed to the disease about nine months later in February of 2012.
A tragic and shocking loss for the baseball world to say the least.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 JACKIE BROWN

Up on the blog today we take a closer look at the image variations between former pitcher Jackie Brown's 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

After two seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Brown found himself North of the border with the Montreal Expos, and the fine folks at OPC tried their best to show him with his new team, giving us the airbrushed beauty you see here.

As for Topps, since they hit the presses earlier than OPC, we're given the nice posed shot of the righty in all that maroon Cleveland glory, which is fine by me!

Brown pitched for seven years in the Majors, originally coming up in 1970 with the Washington Senators, for whom he'd pitch the first four and a half years of his career.

As mentioned earlier he'd put in two years with the Indians before one season in Montreal, where he'd go 9-12 over 42 appearances, tossing 185.2 innings with six complete games and a couple of shutouts, finishing with an ERA of 4.51.

For his playing career he would go 47-53 over 214 games, with a 4.18 ERA in 892.2 innings of work, with eight shutouts and three saves along the way.

After his playing days he would go into coaching, where he would put in time with the Texas Rangers (1979-82), Chicago White Sox (1992-95), and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2002), while also holding the title of Minor League Pitching Coordinator for various organizations before passing away at the age of 73 in 2017.

A baseball lifer through and through.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 PETE MACKANIN

Good day all!

On the blog today we take a closer look at former Montreal Expo infielder Pete Mackanin and his 1977 image variations between OPC and Topps:

OPC version

Topps version

 

While OPC went with a clear posed photo for their card, the Topps version had this shadowy image of Mackanin out in the Sunshine.

Nothing Earth-shattering by any means, but again, questionable image pick for the fine folks at Topps!

Mackanin put in nine years in the Majors, between 1973 when he came up with the Texas Rangers and 1981 when he wrapped up his Big League tenure as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

In between he hit .226 over that time, collecting 355 hits over 1570 at-bats in 548 games, with his finest year 1980 when he hit .266 for the Twins, with 31 runs scored and 35 runs batted in.

A versatile player out in the field, he would see time at both corner outfield spots and all four infield positions during his career.

He would also put in time as a Major League manager in parts of five seasons: 2005 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds, and 2015 through 2017 as skipper of the Philadelphia Phillies.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 BILL GRIEF

Good day all.

On the blog today, we take a closer look at another image variation between OPC and Topps, this one of pitcher Bill Grief and his 1977 cards:

OPC VERSION

TOPPS VERSION

While Topps had their airbrushed beauty out there for kids to rip, OPC put out a nice up to date portrait shot.

Turns out he would be released by Montreal just before the 1977 season started after getting traded there in a multi-player deal in November of the previous year.
For his career, Greif started off with seven games with the Houston Astros in 1971, going 1-1 before moving on the to team he’d play most of his Big League tenure for, the San Diego Padres.
Beginning in 1972, Greif would put in just over four season with San Diego, starting the first three before being moved to the bullpen in 1975.
His best year would be 1973 when he would go 10-17 on a hard-luck Padre team, pitching to a nice 3.21 earned run average over 36 appearances, 31 of them starts, tossing three shutouts while striking out 120 batters.
By the time he was done, he finished his career with a record of 31-67 over 231 appearances, with a 4.41 ERA in 715.2 innings, with five shutouts and 19 saves between 1971 and 1976.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION- 1977 ELLIS VALENTINE

Good day all!

On the blog today, a closer look at the image variation between the 1977 OPC and Topps cards for former all-star Montreal Expos outfielder Ellis Valentine:

OPC version

Topps version

 

Nothing too crazy here, though it seems evident that OPC once again used a newer image of the young star outfielder over Topps.

Valentine had his first taste of the Big Leagues in 1975, hitting a blistering .364 with 12 hits in 33 at-bats as a September call-up.

His 1976 season was solid, hitting .279 over 94 games, with seven homers and 14 stolen bases while scoring 36 runs and driving in 39.

Between 1977 and 1979 he became a solid, Gold Glove winning outfielder along with Andre Dawson and Warren Cromartie.

Just an amazing young trio of outfielders to come up at the same time and give the team a bolt of energy.

For Valentine, between 1977 and 1979 he put in three very good seasons that saw him top 20 homers, 76 RBIs and hit at least .276 getting named to the NL All-Star team in '77 while taking home his lone Gold Glove the following year.

Sadly, on May 30th of 1980, already putting together another solid campaign, Valentine was hit in the face with a pitch by St. Louis Cardinals Roy Thomas.

He would miss over a month before coming back with the famous football guard on his batting helmet, hitting .331 the rest of the way to end up at .315 for the abbreviated season.

Other injuries began to plague him, from a pinched-nerve, his wrist, and even a hamstring pull, and just like that Valentine managed to play parts of the next few seasons for the New York Mets, California Angels and finally the Texas Rangers in 1985.

Still only 30, he played what turned out to be that last of his Major League games, finishing up with a .278 average with 123 homers, 474 RBIs, 380 runs on 881 hits over 3166 at-bats.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 BARRY FOOTE

The next OPC to Topps image variation profiled here on the blog will be the 1977 cards of former catcher Barry Foote, with Topps coming out the winner in my humble opinion:

OPC version

Topps version

While OPC went with a posed shot of Foote staring off into the distance, Topps opted for a batting pose with Foote looking right into the camera.

Nothing earth-shattering by any means, but in my opinion a nicer photo of the young backstop who was still in his early 20's with a few seasons already under his belt.

Foote put in 10 years as a Big League catcher, coming up in 1973 with six games for the Expos and playing through the 1982 when he appeared in 17 games for the New York Yankees, which I remember very well.

In between he was generally a back-up catcher, playing for the Expos, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Yanks, never having a season where he totaled more than what would be officially a "full season".

In 1979 while with the Cubs he did appear in 132 games, hitting .254 over 469 plate appearances, hitting a career-best 16 homers while scoring 47 runs.

His rookie season of 1974 could be his best year in the Majors, when he ended up the Topps rookie all-star catcher after he hit .262 over 125 games, collecting what would end up being a career-best 110 hits, with 60 runs batted in.

Nevertheless, a solid back-up for a decade that ended up with a career .230 batting average, with 489 hits, 191 runs scored and 230 RBIs over 687 games and 2127 at-bats.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DENNIS BLAIR

Here's a strange one for you all today, a closer look at the image variation on former Montreal Expos pitcher Dennis Blair's 1977 Topps and OPC cards:

OPC version

Topps version

Not much of a difference huh? Yet they went ahead and used pretty much the same image with a slightly different angle for his cards. Very odd for the effort.

Looks to be the same photo shoot, with one shot from a few steps to the left of the other, as you can see the light tower and scoreboard shift way in the background. Oh well!

As for Blair, he originally came up to the Big Leagues in 1974 as a 20-year-old, having a nice rookie year that saw him go 11-7 for the Expos, with a nice 3.27 earned run average over 22 appearances, all starts.

Over those 22 starts he threw 146 innings, completing four games with one of them a shutout, striking out 76 while walking 72 (ouch).

He'd pretty much pitch just as well the following year, with a lot less support, as evidenced by his 8-15 record with a 3.80 ERA over 30 appearances (27 starts), though he did walk 106 batters against his 82 strikeouts.

Sadly arm issues set in during the 1976 season, as he would appear in only five games, going 0-2 with a 4.02 ERA before spending the next four years in the Minors Leagues for various organizations.

In 1980 he would make a comeback to the Majors, now with the San Diego Padres, appearing in five games but with little success, going 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA over 14 innings of work, thus concluding a four-year Big League tenure that had him end up 19-25 over 62 games, with a 3.69 ERA in 339 innings, with 178 strikeouts and 192 walks allowed.

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 CHIP LANG

Good day all!

On the blog today we take a look at the image variation between the 1977 Topps and OPC cards of former Montreal Expos pitcher Chip Lang:

OPC Version

Topps Version

 

Certainly one of the rare occasions where the Topps card is better than the OPC version, with Topps opting for an action shot of the righty instead of a posed image.

Now, as for the player himself, when I say Chip Lang was a “two-year” MLB pitcher I am stretching it quite a bit, as Lang appeared in one single game during the 1975 season, his Big League debut, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing two hits and three walks for a cool 10.80 earned run average, with two strikeouts.
He’d be back on a Major League mound the following season, appearing in 29 games for Montreal, with two of them starts, going 1-3 with a 4.19 ERA over 62.1 innings of work, striking out 30 but walking 34.
He would go on to play two years in the Minors, for both the Montreal and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations, but never get back to the Big Leagues, finishing up with those 30 appearances in 1975/1976, with a record of 1-3 along with a 4.36 ERA in 64 innings pitched.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DAVE CASH

Today on the blog we take a look at another OPC/Topps image variation in the 1977 sets, this time for Dave Cash of the Montreal Expos:

OPC version

Topps version

Obviously, as with so many others, the OPC Cash has a nice posed shot as opposed to the Topps airbrush monster you see here.

Cash, who played the first five years of his Big League career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, came over to the Philadelphia Phillies in October of 1973 in a trade for pitcher Ken Brett, and did not disappoint the Phillie faithful, having his three best years as a Major Leaguer between 1974-1976.
In those three seasons Cash averaged over 200 hits a season, along with a .300 average while playing pretty much every single game, even setting the MLB record (since broken) of 699 at-bats during the 1975 season.
He’d sign with the Montreal Expos in the Winter of 1976 as a Free Agent, and would have one more very good year in 1977 before quickly having his career turn South.

In his 1977 season, Cash would collect 188 hits, with 42 doubles and 21 stolen bases while hitting .289 in 650 at-bats.

The following year he took a bit of a dip, hitting only .252 with 166 hits, scoring 66 runs with 12 steals, though he did appear in 159 games.

After an injury-plagued 1979 season he found himself with the San Diego Padres in 1980, where he hit .227 over 130 games, before retiring at only 32 years of age.
All told, Cash finished with a very nice .283 career average, with 1571 hits over 5554 at-bats and 1422 games between 1969 and 1980, stealing 120 bases and scoring 732 runs.

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: CARL MORTON

The next unreleased 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card we spotlight here on the blog will be the N.L.'s top rookie of the 1970 season, former Montreal Expos pitcher Carl Morton, who took home top honors:

After a brief cup-of-coffee in 1969 on the inaugural Expos team, Morton came back in 1970 and put together an excellent rookie year, posting a record of 18-11 with a 3.60 earned run average and four shutouts over 43 appearances, 37 of which were starts, with a whopping 284.2 innings pitched.

Those numbers also got him a ninth-place finish in the Cy Young race as well, while getting him some points in MVP voting by baseball writers too.

He would go on to put in eight years in the big leagues, never really matching the numbers he put up that first year, but a solid starter nevertheless, finishing up with a career 87-92 record with a 3.73 E.R.A., 13 shutouts and 650 strikeouts over 1648.2 innings of work, pitching for the Expos and Atlanta Braves.

Typical of pitchers of the era, Morton put in some innings-heavy years over his career, with four of his eight seasons topping 250+, three times over 270.

Certainly a far cry for today's handling of moundsmen!

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 JOE KERRIGAN

Good day all.

On the blog this morning we have a look at another OPC to Topps image variation, the 1977 cards for former reliever Joe Kerrigan of the Montreal Expos:

OPC Version

Topps version

 

As usual, just a more up to date image of the pitcher than the Topps card, as well as what I believe to be some light airbrushing on the Topps version that wasn't needed on the OPC card.

As for Kerrigan, he put in parts of four seasons in the Big Leagues, beginning with the Expos in 1976 and 1977 before finding himself a member of the Baltimore Orioles in 1978 and 1980, with Minor League time in between.

Over those four seasons under the Major League Sun, he finished with a record of 8-12 with a 3.89 earned run average in 131 appearances, only two of those starts, saving 15 games while throwing 220 innings.

His best season is easily 1977 when he appeared in 66 games for the Expose, going 3-5 with a nice 3.22 ERA with 11 saves, striking out 43 over 89.1 innings, finishing out 36 games.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 STEVE ROGERS

Today on the blog, we take a look at another image variation between Topps and their North-of-the-border OPC cousin, this time the 1977 cards for Montreal Expos ace Steve Rogers:

OPC version

Topps version

 

Easily we can see that while Topps used an older image of the pitcher, showing him without a mustache, OPC had an up-to-date image with the man how we remember him.

Just nicer photography overall.

Rogers, who would go on to play all 13 years of his career with the Montreal Expos, had himself a wonderful rookie campaign in 1973, finishing second in the league’s rookie of the year voting with a 10-5 record along with a microscopic 1.54 earned run average with three shutouts over 17 starts and 134 innings pitched.
I always felt he should have won the award over Garry Mathews actually, completing seven of his starts and giving up only 23 earned runs while striking out 64.
Of course Rogers would go on to become an all-star pitcher, having five such nods over his career, while finishing second in the Cy Young vote in 1982, then coming in fourth the following season.
Arm trouble cut his career somewhat short at the age of 35 in 1985, as he retired with a record of 158-152, pitching on some tough losing teams early in his MLB tenure.
Nevertheless, the man put in some stellar performances on a Big League mound, leading the league in shutouts twice, ERA in 1982, and ending up with 37 shutouts over 399 appearances.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. ERA

On the blog today, we move on to the National league and their top three ERA pitchers of 1978, displayed on a 1979 "expanded league leader" card:

We begin with New York Mets starter Craig Swan, who surprisingly put in a solid year for the cellar-dwelling Mets, leading the league with his 2.43 earned run average.

Though his record was only 9-6 over his 29 appearances, he did toss 207.1 innings, giving up only 56 earned runs while completing five games, including a shutout.

He'd follow that season up with another solid season, posting a record of 14-13 over 35 starts, with an ERA of 3.29 along with three shutouts and twn complete games, striking out a career-best 145 batters.

Sadly for him injuries began setting in, and aside from 1982 when he threw 166.1 innings, over the rest of his career he'd never throw more than 96.1, retiring in 1984 at the age of only 34.

In second place with a fin 2.47 ERA, Montreal Expos All-Star Steve Rogers, about as solid a starter in the game between 1973 and 1983 before injuries also derailed his career.

For Rogers, he gave the upstart Expos 13 wins against 10 losses, with eleven complete games and a shutout, throwing 219.1 innings.

Of course we know now that he would go on to become a top starter in the early-80's, taking home an ERA crown himself in 1982 with a 2.40 mark, winning 19 games and coming in as runner-up in the Cy Young Race.

In third place with a 2.54 ERA, St. Louis Cardinals starter and future A.L. Cy Young winner Pete Vuckovich, who put in a very nice year for his new team after coming over from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Vuckovich was used as both a starter and reliever, appearing in 45 games, with about half of those starts, completing six games and tossing two shutouts on his way to 198.1 innings of work.

After two more solid years with the Cardinals, he'd find himself with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981, tying for the league-lead with his 14 wins during the strike-shortened season, then following that up with his Cy Young year, helping Milwaukee make it all the way to the World Series as he'd go 18-6 with a 3.34 ERA over 30 starts.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. VICTORIES

On the blog today, we move on to the National League’s top winners for 1978, shown on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card from my long-running thread:

 

 

We begin with the 40-year-old wonder, Gaylord Perry, who would stun everyone with a season like no other for a man of his age, taking home the Cy Young Award that year by going 21-6 in his first season with the San Diego Padres.

Perry  was just brilliant that year, leading the league with his 21 wins, while pitching to an excellent 2.73 earned run average, with two shutouts and five complete games while tossing 232.2 innings.

It was the 14^th season in a row that Perry topped 200 innings, while also reeling off five 300+ inning campaigns during the stretch. Just incredible!

By taking home the Cy Young in 1978, he became the first pitcher in major League history to win the award in both leagues, previously winning the award in 1972 when he posted 24 wins for the Cleveland Indians.

In second place with 20 wins, another pitcher who had a very successful first season with his new club, Ross Grimsley, who had what turned out to be the best year of his career in 1978 in his first year with the Montreal Expos.

Grimsley went 20-11 for Montreal that year, with a 3.05 ERA over 263 innings in 36 starts, with three shutouts and 19 complete games, looking like an excellent pick-up for the franchise.

Sadly however, Grimsley would begin to deal with injuries the following season, winning only 10 games in 1979, and lasting only parts of the next three years before retiring for good, winning only seven games between 1980 and 1982

In third place tied with 19 wins apiece, the Atlanta Braves Phil Niekro and the Los Angeles Dodgers Burt Hooton, who both had very nice seasons for their respective teams.

For Niekro, the 39-year-old just missed his third 20-win season by going 19-18 over 44 appearances, 42 of them starts, posting a 2.88 ERA over 334.1 innings while tossing four shutouts and completing 22 games.

He would follow that up in 1979 by becoming like Perry, a 20-game winner at that age, famously winning 21 games while also LOSING 20 games, though by no means his own fault, posting a very nice 3.39 ERA while throwing an amazing 342 innings for Atlanta.

If that wasn’t enough, it’s mind boggling that he was STILL to go one for another eight years before retiring after the 1987 season, pitching until he was 48! Just amazing.

For the Dodgers’ Hooton, the solid starter who is pretty much forgotten these days, he won a career-best 19 games that season, helping the Dodgers make their second-straight World Series, posting a very nice 2.71 ERA over 32 starts with three shutouts and 10 complete games, easily the best season of his 15-year career that began in 1971 with the Chicago Cubs.

By the time he hung them up after a brief stint with the Texas Rangers in 1985, he’d end up with 151 wins and a very nice 3.38 ERA over 480 games, 377 of those starts, striking out just under 1500 batters in that time.

Next week, the American League’s top winners of 1978!