DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1968 JERRY KOOSMAN

On the blog today, we dip into the 1960s and post up my 1968 "Dedicated Rookie" card for New York Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman, who had himself a wonderful Major League career:

“Kooz” spent the first 12 years of his Major League career as a New York Met, and performed marvelously, posting solid seasons which saw him finish behind Johnny Bench in 1968 for National League Rookie of the Year in 1968, and in second-place for Cy Young in 1976 when he won a career high 21 games to along with a 2.69 earned run average and 200 strikeouts.
But over the following two seasons, and not entirely HIS fault, Koosman posted a combined 11-35 record, even though his ERA was around 3.62 and he struck out 352 batters.
That was enough for the Mets to ship him to Minnesota on December 8th, 1978 for a relief pitcher that would pay off years later, Jesse Orosco.
Koosman immediately made an impact in Minnesota, posting another 20-win season (at the time one of the few to do so in both leagues), while posting a 3.38 ERA and 157 strikeouts.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season he’d win 222 games, while collecting a nice 3.36 ERA with 2556 strikeouts and 33 shutouts over 612 games, 527 of which were starts.
I remember hearing years ago that Koosman loved to tell people how his “rookie card” was worth a lot of money and was the hottest card in the 1968 set, only to follow up and casually mention that “Oh yeah, some guy named Nolan Ryan is on there too.”
Love it...

1975 IN-ACTION: JERRY KOOSMAN

Good day everyone!

Been a while since I added someone to my long-running 1975 "In-Action" set, so today let's add overlooked starting pitcher Jerry Koosman of the New York Mets:

“Kooz” spent the first 12 years of his Major League career as a New York Met, and performed marvelously, posting solid seasons which saw him finish behind Johnny Bench in 1968 for National League Rookie of the Year in 1968, and in second-place for Cy Young in 1976 when he won a career high 21 games to along with a 2.69 earned run average and 200 strikeouts.
But over the following two seasons, and not entirely HIS fault, Koosman posted a combined 11-35 record, even though his ERA was around 3.62 and he struck out 352 batters.
That was enough for the Mets to ship him to Minnesota on December 8th, 1978 for a relief pitcher that would pay off years later, Jesse Orosco.
Koosman immediately made an impact in Minnesota, posting another 20-win season (at the time one of the few to do so in both leagues), while posting a 3.38 ERA and 157 strikeouts.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season he’d win 222 games, while collecting a nice 3.36 ERA with 2556 strikeouts and 33 shutouts over 612 games, 527 of which were starts.
I remember hearing years ago that Koosman loved to tell people how his “rookie card” was worth a lot of money and was the hottest card in the 1968 set, only to follow up and casually mention that “Oh yeah, some guy named Nolan Ryan is on there too.”
Love it...

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: JERRY KOOSMAN

On the blog today, we add former New York Mets ace Jerry Koosman to my running 1977 sub-set celebrating the Senior League's 100th anniversary of 1976:

“Kooz” spent the first 12 years of his Major League career as a New York Met, and performed marvelously, posting solid seasons which saw him finish behind Johnny Bench in 1968 for National League Rookie of the Year in 1968, and in second-place for Cy Young in 1976 when he won a career high 21 games to along with a 2.69 earned run average and 200 strikeouts.
But over the following two seasons, and not entirely HIS fault, Koosman posted a combined 11-35 record, even though his ERA was around 3.62 and he struck out 352 batters.
That was enough for the Mets to ship him to Minnesota on December 8th, 1978 for a relief pitcher that would pay off years later, Jesse Orosco.
Koosman immediately made an impact in Minnesota, posting another 20-win season (at the time one of the few to do so in both leagues), while posting a 3.38 ERA and 157 strikeouts.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season he’d win 222 games, while collecting a nice 3.36 ERA with 2556 strikeouts and 33 shutouts over 612 games, 527 of which were starts.
I remember hearing years ago that Koosman loved to tell people how his “rookie card” was worth a lot of money and was the hottest card in the 1968 set, only to follow up and casually mention that “Oh yeah, some guy named Nolan Ryan is on there too.”
Love it...

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1977 N.L. STRIKEOUTS

Today on the blog, we move on in my on-going “expanded league-leaders” thread to the top three strikeout pitchers of the National league for 1976, proudly displayed on a 1977 expanded card:

 

 

We begin with the strikeout king of the N.L. Tom Seaver, New York Mets uber-star, who paced the league with his 235 strikeouts, 21 more than the runner-up in the league.

It was the fifth title for “Tom Terrific” since coming up in 1967, and the ninth straight season of 200+ strikeouts, a career which was already Hall of Fame worthy even though he was far from done.

By the time he retired after the 1986 season, he finished with 3640 K’s over his illustrious career, along with 311 wins, a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 61 shutouts, with three Cy Young Awards.

In second place with 214 strikeouts, young Houston Astros phenom J.R. Richard, who also turned in his first 20-win season along with a very nice 2.75 ERA over 39 starts, with three shutouts among his 14 complete games.

He would also K 214 the following season before posting two straight 300+ strikeout campaigns in 1978 and 1979, becoming a towering force on the mound before a stroke tragically ended his career in his prime halfway into the 1980 season, after starting the All-Star game that year for the N.L.

Though he did try to make it back, he could never quite get back to a Big League mound, leaving us to wonder “what could have been” ever since.

In third place with 200 strikeouts on the nose, another New York Met, underappreciated hurler Jerry Koosman, who reached the 200-strikeout mark for the only time in his excellent Big League tenure, putting in arguably the best year of his career by also posting a record of 21-10 with a very nice 2.69 ERA over 34 games, with three shutouts and 17 complete games.

By the time he retired after the 1985 season, he finished with a record of 222-209 over 612 games, with a 3.36 ERA and 33 shutouts, with 2556 strikeouts.

There you have it! Onto the American League next week!

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1977 N.L. VICTORIES

Today on the blog, we move on to the pitching leaders of the 1976 season, expanded to show the top three in each category on a 1977 card, beginning with the National League and top three in victories:

 

 

We begin with San Diego Padres ace Randy Jones, who took home the N.L. Cy Young Award that year, helped by his league-leading 22 victories, while also pitching to a 2.74 ERA over 40 starts, completing 25 of them, with five shutouts and an ironman 315.1 innings of work.

It was a wonderful follow-up season to his 1975 campaign that saw him lead the league in ERA with a 2.24 figure, winning 20 games and tossing six shutouts, leading him to a second-place finish in the Cy Young race.

Sadly arm-troubles derailed his career soon after, never winning more than 13 games in any of his six remaining seasons in the Big Leagues, retiring at only 32 years of age.

In second place with 21 wins, a tie with the New York Mets Jerry Koosman and Los Angeles Dodgers ace Don Sutton.

For Koosman, it was a career-year for a man who put in a wonderful 19-year career, going 21-10 with a 2.69 ERA over 34 appearances, with three shutouts and 200 strikeouts, those numbers giving him a second place finish in the Cy Young Race.

For Sutton, it was the only time over his Hall of Fame 23-year career that he’d win 20+ games in a season, appearing in 35 games while posting an ERA of 3.06, with four shutouts and 161 strikeouts over 267.2 innings, all good for a third-place finish for the Cy Young hardware.

By the time he was done in 1988, the man would finish with 324 wins, a 3.26 ERA, 58 shutouts and 3574 strikeouts over 774 games, completing 178.

I couldn’t even believe there were those who felt he wasn’t necessarily a Hall of Famer when his eligibility came up, citing him as a “compiler” because of the length of his career.

Makes no sense to me!

Luckily the BBWA came to their senses and voted him after, but only AFTER five years of eligibility!

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "KOOZ" JERRY KOOSMAN

Next up in my long-running “Nicknames of the 1970’s” thread through the decade is a 1972 card for “Kooz” Jerry Koosman, hard-luck pitcher who managed to win over 220 games and strikeout 2500+ batters, yet always take the back-seat to someone else:

Think about it, the man wins 19 games with an ERA of 2.08 in his rookie year, only to lose out on the Rookie of the Year Award to a guy named Johnny Bench, share his two-player rookie card with a guy named Nolan Ryan, and share a starting rotation with a guy named Tom Seaver!
Talk about hard-luck!
And then he endures an excellent Major League career generally pitching for second division teams over the course of his 19-year career.
Nevertheless, Koosman posted two 20-win seasons, one in each league, with four seasons of sub-3.00 ERA’s, while ending up with a record of 222-209 along with 2556 strikeouts and 33 shutouts.
I’ll always remember the anecdote of Koosman proudly telling people that his rookie card was worth hundreds of dollars (back in the early 90-s), then casually mentioning that Nolan Ryan was also on there.
Great career overshadowed by the big National League guns of the 1970’s like Seaver, Fergie Jenkins, Steve Carlton, etc.

TRADED- 1979 JERRY KOOSMAN

Let’s go and give future 200-game winner Jerry Koosman a 1979 “Traded” card.
Check out my design:

“Kooz” spent the first 12 years of his Major League career as a New York Met, and performed marvelously, posting solid seasons which saw him finish behind Johnny Bench in 1968 for National League Rookie of the Year in 1968, and in second-place for Cy Young in 1976 when he won a career high 21 games to along with a 2.69 earned run average and 200 strikeouts.
But over the following two seasons, and not entirely HIS fault, Koosman posted a combined 11-35 record, even though his ERA was around 3.62 and he struck out 352 batters.
That was enough for the Mets to ship him to Minnesota on December 8th, 1978 for a relief pitcher that would pay off years later, Jesse Orosco.
Koosman immediately made an impact in Minnesota, posting another 20-win season (at the time one of the few to do so in both leagues), while posting a 3.38 ERA and 157 strikeouts.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season he’d win 222 games, while collecting a nice 3.36 ERA with 2556 strikeouts and 33 shutouts over 612 games, 527 of which were starts.
I remember hearing years ago that Koosman loved to tell people how his “rookie card” was worth a lot of money and was the hottest card in the 1968 set, only to follow up and casually mention that “Oh yeah, some guy named Nolan Ryan is on there too.”
Love it...

#300's during the 1970's for my 300th

OK!

I've hit 300 posts and you know what that means: a review of all cards #'rd 300 throughout the 1970's.

And boy these were awesome cards! Best group yet.

Two of my all-time favorite cards are here, as well as nine Hall of Famers out of ten cards, with the tenth player not too shabby himself!

Let's take a look:

1970: Tom Seaver

Not the nicest card of "Tom Terrific", but it's still a decent card of Seaver as he was starting out his dominance of the baseball world throughout the next decade.

Just coming off his first Cy Young season, and leading the New York Mets to their improbable World Series win over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles.

1971: Brooks Robinson

I'm not a fan of this card, as you'll all remember how I redesigned it a while back. Don't like the image of Brooks swinging and missing, looking back towards the catcher.

But again, a future Hall of Famer in the prime of his career, albeit the tail-end of his "prime". 

THE third baseman on THE Major League team at the time. The Orioles were in the midst of three consecutive World Series appearances, winning it all in 1970 over the Cincinnati Reds.

1972: Hank Aaron "In Action"

Nice card of "Hammerin' Hank" rounding the bases in what I assume was a Home Run trot.

Also at the tail-end of his "prime" years, he was poised to take over Babe Ruth as baseball's all-time home run champ.

The next couple of years were the buzz of baseball, culminating in his 715th homer in April of 1974.

1973: Steve Carlton

Not the best photo of Carlton on this card (I may have to redesign this one in the future), but it was his first card since his truly breakout season of 1972 where he set the world on fire, winning 27 games while topping 300 strikeouts and posting a sub-2.00 E.R.A. for a last place team! 

Even though it wasn't his first 20-win season, this was the year that set his march towards the Hall of Fame and super-stardom.

1974: Pete Rose

Again, not the best shot of "Charlie Hustle", but this was Topps' offering of Rose after winning his only Most Valuable Player Award the previous year while winning the National league batting title.

Rose was to continue kicking-ass throughout the 1970's, culminating in a "Player of the Decade" award by the Sporting News in 1980.

A major cog in the "Big Red Machine" along with Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and company, Rose eventually would overtake Ty Cobb as baseball's all-time hit king in 1985.

1975: Reggie Jackson

As we all know, this card was "kind of" an error card, being that it should have been an "all-star" card with all-star in the lower right corner and yellow and red design scheme like all other all-stars in the 1975 set.

I don't know why Topps messed up this card for the future Hall of Famer, but the true Reggie Jackson take-over was a couple of years away, when he joined the Yankees and became "Mr. October", leading the Yanks to two consecutive Championships in 1977 and 1978.

Nevertheless it's a nice card in what I always felt was a very nice set.

1976: Johnny Bench

Well well. My all-time favorite card, period!

My very first post regarding a card on this blog explains it all.

It really is the "mona lisa" of my youth. The perfect card in my eyes.

The perfect photo, the perfect color-scheme, all-star designation. It has it all.

Bench was THE catcher in baseball from the late '60's to the early '80's, and was arguably the greatest catcher of all-time.

Just LOOK at this card. Just perfect!

1977: Jerry Koosman

The only player with a #300 card in the 1970's that's not a member of the Hall of Fame, Koosman was NO slouch on the baseball diamond however!

A 200+ game winner in his career, 20-game winner in both the National and American Leagues, and over 2500+ strikeouts.

The man was just simply overshadowed in a decade that saw a bunch of future Hall of Famers lighting it up on the mound.

But when it was all said and done, Koosman put together a very nice 19-year career, retiring after the 1985 season which saw him pitch for the Phillies.

1978: Joe Morgan

The greatest second baseman in the game during the decade, Morgan was the key to the Reds getting over the hump to become what was the "Big Red Machine" after being acquired from the Houston Astros before the 1972 season.

By 1978 Morgan was on his way to a Hall of Fame induction, with two M.V.P. Awards, two World Championships, and five Gold Glove awards.

Nice card in a nicely designed set.

I am such a sucker for "all-star" cards.

1979: Rod Carew

Quite possibly my third all-time favorite card (after the 1976 Bench and 1978 Reggie Jackson cards).

I just love everything about this card of the greatest hitter of the decade. (OK, maybe that giant "Topps" logo in the baseball could have been omitted in the design...)

Even though he was actually a California Angel by the time this card came out, the image captured Carew in the middle of his Hall of Fame batting stance, which lead to 3000+ hits, an M.V.P. award, and of course his seven American league batting titles!

Oh yeah, and he was named to EIGHTEEN straight all-star teams as well! Just awesome…

So there you have it: all cards numbered 300 for Topps throughout the 1970's, and what a great set of cards they are!

Onto #400!

Thanks for reading…