1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": NORM CASH

Today on the blog we celebrate former Detroit Tigers slugger Norm Cash with a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card, marking his monster 1961 season that was sadly lost amidst the Maris/Mantle home run chase, where he took home the batting title with a .361 mark:

Cash's season has always blown me away considering that over his borderline Hall of Fame tenure, it was the ONLY year he hit .300!

That is correct, the only time Norm Cash reached the .300 mark was when he hit .361 in 1961, his next highest mark at .283 over a full season in 1971.

Along with his .361 average, the man was a hitting machine, hitting 41 homers, scoring 119 runs, driving in 132, also leading the league with 193 hits, a .487 on-base-percentage and 19 intentional walks to go along with his 124 walks outright.

By the time he retired after the 1974 season he slammed 377 homers and drove in 1103 runs while collecting 1820 hits.

Not a bad compliment in the line-up to guys like Al Kaline and Willie Horton!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": WAYNE SIMPSON

On the blog today, I'll add Cincinnati reds pitching phenom Wayne Simpson to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" sub-set, celebrating his splash in the Majors back in 1970:

Simpson came up with an absolute "BANG" in 1970, going 14-3 with a 3.02 E.R.A., two shutouts and 10 complete games in 24 starts with the Cincinnati Reds, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

He won 13 of his first 14 decisions, including a one-hitter, a two-hitter and a three-hitter!

Needless to say, the Reds looked like they had quite the prospect on their hands the first half of the 1970 season.

But by July 26th of that year arm troubles set in, ending his season with a 14-3 record and a 3.02 earned run average.

Turns out the arm problems were serious enough to curtail his career right from the start, as he'd never pitch a full season for the Reds over the next few years.

After landing in Kansas City for the 1973 season, Simpson didn't fare much better, going 3 and 4 with a 5.73 E.R.A. over 16 games, 10 of which were starts.

He never saw any Major League action in 1974, and in 1975 he was now in Philadelphia, appearing in seven games, five of which were starts for the Phillies, going 1-0 with a 3.23 E.R.A., pitching 30.2 innings.

However more arm troubles caused him to miss the 1976 season, and in 1977 he found himself on yet another team, the California Angels.

It turned out he would start the most games next to his stellar rookie season for his career, toeing the rubber 23 times, 27 games total for California, throwing 122 innings with a 6-12 record and 5.83 E.R.A.

His 1970 season was one of those rookie splashes up there with Von McDaniel, Mark Fidrych and Herb Score, enough so that he would still be a figure baseball magazines would write about years later as far as a young arm making an immediate impact.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": TOMMY DAVIS

Today we have another "missing" 1971 Baseball's Greatest Moments" card, this time a card celebrating underrated Tommy Davis and his two straight batting titles in the early 1960's while with the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Still in his early 20's, the Brooklyn native reeled off two titles in 1962 and 1963 when he hit .346 and .326 respectively, giving him top-10 MVP finishes each year.

The highlight of his career is easily his 1962 season when he won the first of his two straight batting titles, hitting .346 with 230 hits, 27 homers, 153 RBIs and 120 runs scored.

Incredibly, those numbers only got him a third place finish in the National league MVP race at season's end, with teammate Maury Wills taking the award and Willie Mays seemingly robbed with a second place finish.

By the time he finished up, he played in 1999 games, with a nice .294 lifetime average, 2121 hits, 153 homers and 1052 runs batted in.

The advent of the Designated Hitter prolonged his career between 1973 and 1976, as the previous few years were sporadic efforts at best with no less than five teams: the White Sox, Pilots, Astros, A's and Cubs.

As a D.H. he found new life with the Baltimore Orioles as their main "man with the bat" between 1973 and 1975.

One last thought: interesting to remember that between 1949 and 1998, Tommy Davis was the ONLY Major League player to reach 150+ runs batted in for a season, when he did so in 1962, funny enough the ONLY time he even topped 100 in his 18-year career.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": CESAR TOVAR

Today on the blog we add Cesar Tovar to the 1971 Topps "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, one of the greatest oddball sets ever made, celebrating his unique game where he played all nine positions:

On September 22nd of 1968, Tovar became the second Major League player ever (after Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City Athletics) to play all nine positions in one Big League game, doing so against the Oakland A's, ironically enough starting the game as a pitcher and facing Campaneris, who was the lead-off batter!

As a matter of fact, in his one-inning stint as a pitcher, Tovar even fanned Reggie Jackson, before moving on to the other eight positions as the game wore on.

Since then, Campaneris and Tovar have been joined in the "all-nine-position" club by Scott Sheldon (2000), Shane Halter (2000) and Andrew Romine (2017), still a very exclusive club considering the game's long and illustrious history!

As for Tovar and his career, over his 12-year career he batted a very respectable .278 considering the “modern-dead ball era” he played in, with 1546 hits over 5569 at-bats in 1488 games, with 834 runs scored and 435 RBI’s and 226 stolen bases.

With guys like Tony Oliva, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew in the same line-up, it made for some good offense in their prime.

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": JIM MALONEY

Today on the blog we celebrate Jim Maloney's 10-inning no-hitter of 1965 with a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card:

The fire-balling Cincinnati Reds righty was truly a beast on the mound, and on August 19th of 1965 he was unstoppable when he tossed 10 innings against Chicago, keeping them hitless until his own team finally got him a run in the top of the 10th inning when shortstop Leo Cardenas homered of starter Larry Jackson. Yep, BOTH starters went the full distance that day, with Jackson on the short end of history.

For Maloney, he tossed 10 innings, allowed zero hits, while also (gulp!) walking TEN batters and striking out 12, facing 40 batters in his "masterpiece".

He also would put in a decent day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two singles to try and help his own cause.

Incredibly, earlier in the very same season Maloney held the New York Mets hitless through nine innings, only to lose in extra innings after striking out 18 Met batters before allowing a Johnny Lewis homer in the 11th frame to take the heartbreaking loss.

Four years later in 1969, Maloney would toss his second "official" no-hitter when he beat the Houston Astros 10-0 at Crosley Field, striking out 13 while walking five.

He tends to get overlooked as far as pitching stars of the 1960’s go.
Granted when you’re up against guys like Koufax, Marichal, Drysdale and Gibson, it’s easy to see why.
Nevertheless, in Maloney’s seven full seasons of Major League ball, he posted five seasons of sub-3.00 ERA, four 200+ strikeout years, and six 15+ win seasons, with two of them topping 20.
The guy was a machine! 29 of his 30 lifetime shutouts were in those seven years, with four seasons of five or more.
And consider this: until Major League officials changed the rules of what a no-hitter was years later, Maloney was considered as one of the few to throw THREE or more such gems.

By the time Maloney wrapped up his career after the 1971 season because of injuries at the young age of 31, he finished with a very nice 134-84 record, with a 3.19 ERA and 1605 strikeouts over 302 games and 1849 innings pitched, and a reputation as one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the game during the 1960’s.

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": DON WILSON

Today on the blog, we celebrate former Houston Astros hurler Don Wilson and his 1967 no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves with this "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card:

On June 18th of the 1967 season, the 22-year-old dominated the Braves, on his way to what would be the first of two career no-no's with a 15 strikeout performance, even striking out Hank Aaron for the final out of his gem at the Astrodome.

It turned out to be the first no-hitter tossed under a roof, as well as the first on artificial turf, unique in quite a few ways!

Two years later he'd repeat the feat, this time against the Cincinnati Reds, striking out 13 on his way to history yet again.

Wilson would go on to have arguably his best season in the Big Leagues in 1969, finishing up with a record of 16-12 with an ERA at 4.00 with 235 strikeouts over 34 starts.
He’d match those 16 wins a couple of years later, his high-water mark for a season, with another 15 wins the following year, with ERA’s under 3.00 each time.
A bright star on the Houston Astros team, tragically, on January 5th of 1975 he passed away under mysterious circumstances in his home of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, which also took the life of his 5-year-old son who was sleeping upstairs above the garage. Wilson was only 29-years-old.

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": DEAN CHANCE & HIS 1964 SEASON

On the blog today we add former Cy Young winner Dean Chance to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" sub-set, celebrating the man's incredible 1964 season while with the Los Angeles Angels:

Chance had himself a monster year in 1964 with the Los Angeles Angels that saw him go 20-9 with a sparkling 1.65 earned run average, 11 shutouts and 207 strikeouts, making him the only pitcher besides a guy named "Koufax" to win the Cy Young Award between 1963 and 1966.

Over 46 appearances he made 35 starts, completing 15 and tossing 278.1 innings, while also picking up four saves.

Those numbers were also good enough to give him a fifth=place finish in the MVP race when awards season came around.

For the Cy Young Award, he got 17 of 20 votes, easily out-distancing Larry jackson of the Chicago Cubs, who got 2 votes, and Koufax who got one.

In 1967, now as a member of the Minnesota Twins, Chance had another excellent campaign, posting a 20-14 record with a 2.73 E.R.A., five shutouts and 220 strikeouts.

By the time he retired, he put together a career 128-115 record with a 2.92 E.R.A., 33 shutouts and 1534 strikeouts, with two All-Star game nods and that incredible Cy Young hardware from '64.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": PHIL NIEKRO

On the blog this fine day, we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro, celebrating his league-leading 1.87 earned run average of 1967:

It was his first full season in the Major Leagues after parts of three years between 1964 and 1966, but don't forget he was already 28 years of age when he finally got his shot.

And with that shot he did not disappoint, going 11-9 over 46 games, 20 of those starts, tossing a shutout while collecting nine saves with 10 complete games, throwing 207 innings for the Atlanta Braves.

Incredibly, though getting a bit of a "late-start" in his career, the man would end up putting in 24 years in the Majors, pitching his knuckler until the age of 48 in 1987.

It really is astonishing to think Niekro didn’t have a full season on Big League duty until 1967, yet still went on to pitch those 24 seasons, winning 318 games with a very nice 3.35 ERA along with 45 shutouts and 3342 strikeouts before he was done at the age of 48!
I always thought it amazing that at the age of 44 in 1983, he took home the last of his five Gold Gloves, ALL of which were garnered beginning his age 39 season in 1978.

Just an amazing talent!

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": NOLAN RYAN TOSSES 15K ONE-HITTER

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for uber-star Nolan Ryan, who was just starting out his historic baseball carer as a member of the New York Mets:

In the ninth-game of the 1970 season, the reigning World Champion Mets had their young starter put in the type of game he would become famous for later on in his Hall of Fame career, tossing a 15-strikeout one-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, absolutely dominating the game aside from his six walks.

A day after being shut out by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, the Phillies found themselves victims of an even more dominating performance, this time by the young righty from Texas, allowing only a Denny Doyle single on his way to his first Major League Shutout.

Well, as we all know, it certainly would NOT be the last shutout of his career!

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 used the 1974 template since he was fresh off his record-breaking 383 strikeout season of 1973, his second consecutive 300+ strikeout season, and on his way to make the Mets regret BIG TIME for letting him go.

I love thinking about the fact that he did all of this 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?

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!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": GAYLORD PERRY

Today we go and add Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry to my on-going "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" sub-set, perhap the nicest and hardest to find Topps oddball set there is:

The subject is Perry's no-hitter from 1968 against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 17th at Candlestick Park, where he fanned nine while walking only two, defeating Bob Gibson during HIS incredible MVP year, 1-0.

Perry was dominant that day, lowering his earned run average to 2.46, while posting his 15th win against 14 losses.

For Gibson, the one earned run allowed had his ERA at 1.13, just ridiculous, while he also walked two while striking out 10.

The only run of the game was a Ron Hunt home run in the first inning, before both pitchers shut down any chance of offense, with the Giants managing only three more hits the rest of the game.

Incredibly, the very next day the Cardinals got their revenge by no-hitting the Giants 2-0, with Ray Washburn turning in the gem, striking out eight while allowing five walks.

Can you imagine THAT!?

In that game, there were three pitchers total, Washburn and his 2.28 ERA for the Cardinals, Bobby Bolin and his 1.96 ERA staring for the Giants, and reliever Frank Linzy and his 2.26 ERA.

Indeed the "Year of the Pitcher"!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": ROD CAREW STEALS HOME FOR 7TH TIME

Hello everyone!

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for Rod Carew, who was missing from one of my all-time favorite card sets, the uber-expensive Topps set of the same name:

On July 16th of 1969, the young Minnesota Twins second baseman tied Brooklyn Dodger Pete Reiser's MLB record with his seventh steal of home.

With the bases loaded against the Chicago White Sox Jerry Nyman, Carew took off from third base and successfully stole home, helping the Twins sweep a double-header and march to a first-ever "American League West" title in the first year of the new divisional format.

Now, while this WAS marked as a record, since then new research has uncovered that the great Ty Cobb actually stole home EIGHT times back in 1912.

But I thought it'd be fun to highlight stealing home for Carew instead of the "usual" hitting machine that he became over his incredible career.

He would go on to play in 18 All-Star games, missing only his final season in the Majors in 1985. Just incredible.

The first nine seasons of his career were as an All-Star second baseman, while the last nine were as an All-Star first baseman.

The man topped .300 15 years in a row, with a high of .388 in 1977 on his way to a Most Valuable Player Award and capturing the public’s attention with his .400 chase late in the season.
A clear-cut Hall of Fame player, he was inducted on his first year of eligibility in 1991 when he garnered 90.5% of the vote, which leaves me with the question: who the hell are the 9.5% who DIDN’T vote for him!!!???

3053 hits, a .328 career average, 353 stolen bases and 15 straight seasons of .300+ batting.

The man was a hitting machine, and I'm so glad I got to see him play during his magnificent career!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": LUIS TIANT

Time to add "El Tiante", Luis Tiant to my extended "Baseball's Greatest Moments" missing extension set, celebrating both he and perhaps the greatest Topps odd-ball set ever made:

I celebrated the man's incredible 1968 campaign, which would have earned him a Cy Young Award in any other season but the 1968 "Year of the Pitcher".

Of course, we know that with Denny McLain winning 31 games and leading the Detroit Tigers to a World Championship, he had that award wrapped up, as well as the MVP.

But for Tiant, it was a year to remember, as he gave the Cleveland Indians a 1-2 punch on the mound any team would envy, teaming up with flamethrower Sam McDowell.

All Tiant did that season for the Cleveland Indians was go 21-9 with nine shutouts over 32 starts, 19 of which he completed, and sport a sparkling 1.60 E.R.A. along with 264 strikeouts!

He also threw nine shutouts while tossing  while allowing only 5.3 hits per nine innings, with a stellar 0.871 WHIP.

Forget Cy Young Award, those are MVP numbers!

By the time he finished his career in 1982, 18 years later, he finished with a 229-172 record, with a 3.30 E.R.A., 49 shutouts and 2416 strikeouts, with two seasons of sub-2.00 E.R.A., four 20-win campaigns as well as three 200+ strikeout years.

After getting 30.9% support in his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1988, he never got close again to those numbers, topping out at 18.0% in his final year of eligibility in 2002.

Do I think he's a Hall of Fame pitcher? Tough call based on statistics alone. However I do feel that when you add in his personality, his long-lasting mark on the game in that time and place, he should be in.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": VIDA BLUE

Today we go and add Oakland A's ace Vida Blue to my growing "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" thread, celebrating his no-hitter the year before, giving everyone a glimpse into what to expect:

The game marked the “arrival” of the young Oakland A’s pitcher, who no-hit a very good Minnesota Twins line-up on September 21st, 1970.

Blue struck out nine with only one walk, facing the minimum 27 batters in his gem, giving him a 2-0 record with a 2.28 earned run average with the 6-0 win.
The offense supplied was pretty much all by lead-ff hitter Bert Campaneris, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, all on a three-run homer off Twins starter Jim Perry in the 8th inning.
Of course, we all know that the 21-year old lefty was just getting started, as he would take over the Majors the following season, going on to not only win the Cy Young Award, but take the league MVP Award as well with a 24-8 showing, along with a 1.82 earned run average and eight shutouts, with 301 strikeouts as the A’s were just about to become a three-peat world champion dynasty.
Blue would go on to six All-Star games, starting and winning one in each league, and eventually retire with 209 wins and a 3.27 ERA with 37 shutouts, posting three 20-win seasons over his 17-year career.
A true icon of 1970’s baseball.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": RON SANTO

On the blog today, my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo, Hall of Fame third baseman:

Between 1964 and 1968 the man reeled in five straight Gold Gloves for his great defensive work, while also putting in stellar offensive seasons that saw him average 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in.

By the time he hung up his spikes after the 1974 season, Santo established himself as one of the all-time greats at third base.

A wonderful 15 year career that saw him suit up for the Cubs for all but his final season, Santo was about as solid as you could ever want, especially during the modern "dead-ball" era of the mid-1960's through the mid-1970's.

He walloped 342 lifetime homers, along with 1331 runs batted in, 1138 runs scored and a .277 batting average.

Four times he drove in more than 100 runs, with another four years of 90+. As I stated earlier he he also hit 30+ homers four straight years, between 1964-1967, as well as topping .300 four times.

A nine time all-star and five time Gold Glover, it's a shame it took so long for him to be acknowledged as such, getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, two years after he passed away.

If it wasn't for long time teammate Ernie Banks, we'd be calling Santo "Mr. Cub".

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": RICHIE ALLEN

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, another "missing" 1971 Greatest Moments card, this time celebrating Dick (Richie) Allen and his fantastic Rookie of the Year winning 1964 season:

His rookie year was phenomenal, as he'd score 125 runs, collect 201 hits, lead the league with 13 triples, while collecting 38 doubles, hit 29 homers and drive in 91 runs, and hit .318, finishing seventh for the MVP Award.

Needless to say, he took home the Rookie of the Year in 1964, and in 1972 would take home the MVP trophy while with the White Sox when he paced the American League with 37 homers and 113 RBI's, while just missing out on the Triple Crown, batting .308, just ten points off the league-leading mark by perennial winner Rod Carew.

By the time he left the game at the age of 35, Allen hit over 350 homers, batted .292 and scored 1099 runs with 1119 RBI's.

The seven-time all-star also led his league in triples once, walks once, on-base-percentage twice and slugging three times.

I'm not saying the man is a lock-tight Hall of Fame candidate, but I do think in light of some of the guys already in, HE should also be in there.

The fact that the most support he got was an 18.9% showing in 1996 seems like a joke to me.

What do you all think?

971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": JUAN MARICHAL

Time to add another player to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, this time Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants, celebrating his explosive MLB debut when he tossed a one-hitter to announce his arrival:

All the man did in his Big League debut was one-hit the Philadelphia Phillies, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning before a two-out single by Clay Dalrymple broke it up.

He would end up with a one-hit shutout, and give everyone a glimpse at what we were all in store for over the next 16 seasons.

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!

He would go on to collect 243 wins, 2303 strikeouts, 52 shutouts and a sparkling 2.89 earned run average over 16-seasons, getting named to nine all-star teams. Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": WILLIE STARGELL

In my on-going thread of filling-in "missing" players in the great 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, we add "Pops" Willie Stargell, who had himself a huge day on August 1st of 1970:

On that day in Atlanta, Georgia, the Pittsburgh Pirates slugger collected five hits, all of them for extra bases, becoming just the third player at the time to do so.

Stargell had three doubles and two home runs in the 20-10 victory at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, padding his already impressive Major League credentials while still in his 20's.

As we all know by now, over 21 seasons, he would lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to two world championships, take home an MVP Award in 1979 (shared with the Cardinals Keith Hernandez), and get named to seven All-Star teams.

"Pops" would also have a great three-year run between 1971 and 1973 that saw him finish second, third and second respectively in MVP voting, winning two home run titles, an RBI title and even lead the league with 43 doubles (1973).

Luckily, I got to see him towards the end of his career in the late-70's/early-80s before he retired after the 1982 season.

His final numbers? Hall of Fame worthy as he'd finish with 475 home runs, 1540 RBIs, a surprisingly high .282 batting average and 2232 hits over 2360 games and 7927 at-bats.

Think about those numbers in UNDER 8000 at-bats!

Of course when eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in, with 82.4% of the vote in 1988.

So sad that he would pass away at only 61 years of age in 2001.

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": BOOG POWELL

Today's blog post has us adding former Baltimore Orioles slugger Boog Powell to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" thread, celebrating his MVP season of 1970:

After finishing second in the MVP race in 1969, helping the Orioles get to the World Series with 37 homers and 121 runs batted in with a career-best .304 average, Boog came back with an equally impressive season in 1970, enough to take home the award, hitting 35 homers with 114 RBIs, walking 104 times while hitting .297.

He would go on to finish his Major League career with 339 home runs, 1187 runs batted in and a .266 average, while being named to four all-star teams, taking home the aforementioned Most Valuable Player Award in 1970, and two other top-3 MVP finishes in 1966 and 1969, playing for 17 Major League seasons.
Always a fan-favorite in Baltimore, Boog can still be seen around Camden Yards at his "Boog's Barbeque" restaurant.
And who can forget those awesome Miller Lite commercials in the 1980's!? Those were great!

BASBEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS: FERGIE JENKINS

On the blog today, adding to the "missing" 1971 Baseball's Greatest Moments checklist with a card for the great Fergie Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs, celebrating his fourth straight 20-win season in 1970:

Fergie was just tacking on great season after great season at this time, with 1970 seeing him post a career-best (at the time) 22 wins while completing 24 of his 39 starts, tossing three shutouts and pitching to a 3.39 ERA over 313 innings, with 274 strikeouts, topping his previous high mark by one.

An absolute machine, he still had another three 20-win season's in the tank, including his 24 from 1971 that brought home a Cy Young Award, when he also completed an astounding 30 of 39 starts, striking out 263 batters and posting a 2.77 ERA over 325 innings.

As we all know, he put together a Hall of Fame career, topping 280 wins, 3000 strikeouts, with 49 shutouts, the aforementioned Cy Young Award in 1971 and four other top-3 finishes in the award voting.
In 1991 he capped off his career with an induction into Cooperstown on his third try, just getting the 75% of the vote with 75.4% support.
On a geeky side-note, “Fly” was also the first pitcher to ever regsiter 3000+ strikeouts while issuing less than 1000 base on balls.

 

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": STEVE CARLTON

On the blog this fine day, we add legend Steve Carlton and his historic 19-strikeout day to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, one of my favorite sets of all time by Topps:

Ironically enough, Carlton actually lost the game on September 15th, 1969, because of Ron Swaboda's TWO two-run home runs which gave the Mets all the runs they needed to beat Carlton and the Cardinals, 4-3.
However Carlton had it all working for him that day, as he marched right into the record books by beating the previous record of 18 strikeouts which was jointly held by Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax and Don Wilson.
This was pretty much the first historic highlight of the future Hall of Famer's stellar career, as he'd go on to then post his first 20-win season in 1971 while still with the Cardinals, then post his uber-famous 1972 Triple-Crown winning year as a Philadelphia Phillie, winning his first of four Cy Young Awards.
Carlton would end his 24 year career with 329 wins, 55 shutouts, a 3.22 earned run average and a whopping 4136 strikeouts.
Those monster numbers got him inducted to Cooperstown on his first try in 1994, getting named on 436 of 456 ballots.
I remember attending a game Carlton pitched at the end of his career when he was trying to hang on those last couple of years. He pitched for the Cleveland Indians against the New York Yankees at the Stadium on April 14th, 1987 (had to look it up), giving up a grand slam homer to Yankee catcher Joel Skinner, and eventually taking the loss.
It was kind of a bummer, as he was a shell of his former self, and was caught in that vicious "hanging on" phase some players tend to get stuck in.
He'd move on to Minnesota later that year, and even pitch in four games for them in 1988 before finally hanging them up, putting to rest an incredible baseball resume that only a couple of other lefties can match in the history of the game.