1970 "20 WIN CIRCLE": JIM PERRY

The next pitcher to be featured in my 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set is former Cy Young winner Jim Perry, older brother of Gaylord and quite the pitcher himself:

Perry the elder would post the first of his two career 20-win seasons in 1969, helping the Minnesota Twins to a first place finish in the newly designated American League West, as he posted a record of 20-6 with a 2.82 earned run average over 46 appearances, 36 of those starts, with 12 complete games, three shutouts and 153 strikeouts.

The following year he'd top that with a league-leading 24 wins, completing 13 of his 40 starts, tossing four shutouts while striking out 168 batters to take home his Cy Young Award.

By the time he retired after 1975, he finished with 215 wins, along with a 3.45 ERA and 32 shutouts over 630 appearances, winning 20 games twice, including his Cy Young winning 1970 season, and teaming up with his brother to combine for over 500 MLB wins.
Amazing.

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2014- THE PERRY BROTHERS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME

Up on the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit my blog post from August 19th of 2014, some seven and a half years ago, celebrating the incredible pitching brother duo of Gaylord and Jim Perry, with my 1971 "Highlights of the 1970's" card.

I have always been impressed when members of the same family make it to the big leagues.

That being said, I am incredibly impressed when those family members BOTH succeed on an all-star level.

In 1970 brothers Jim and Gaylord Perry both led their respective leagues in wins, and that is about as cool as it gets for me...

So I wanted to celebrate that feat with a "highlight" card in the 1971 set.

Check out my design:

 

Jim Perry even took home the Cy Young Award for the American League that year, while brother Gaylord finished second in the National League behind Bob Gibson! 

Again, as cool as it gets!

Jim recorded 24 wins in his award winning season with the Minnesota Twins, while younger brother Gaylord won 23 for the San Francisco Giants.

Combined, the brothers ended up pitching for 39 years! And their win total was a staggering 529!

Just awesome!

TRADED- 1973 JIM PERRY

Time to go and give Jim Perry a 1973 traded card after his move from the Minnesota Twins to the Detroit Tigers just before the season began:

The elder Perry was traded over to the Tigers for cash and Danny Fife after a very nice ten-year run for the Twins, which included a Cy Young Award in 1970 when he led the league with 24 wins.
He’d end up putting in a solid year for the Tigers, going 14-13 over 35 appearances, with a 4.03 earned run average over 203 innings of work.
Nevertheless, after the season he was on the move again, going from the Tigers back to the team he came up with, the Cleveland Indians, which also allowed him to team up with his brother Gaylord.
Jim didn’t disappoint, going 17-12 with a 2.96 earned run average over 36 starts, tossing three shutouts, all at the age of 38 in his 16th season in the Big Leagues.
By the time he retired after 1975, he finished with those 215 wins, along with a 3.45 ERA and 32 shutouts over 630 appearances, winning 20 games twice, including his Cy Young winning 1970 season with the Twins when he won a career-high 24, teaming up with his brother to combine for over 500 MLB wins.

TRADED- 1974 JIM PERRY

Time to go and give former pitcher Jim Perry a “traded” card from the 1974 set. Not one of my favorite Topps designs but I figured I’d give him one of these rather than the reformatted layouts I’ve done before:

The 215-game winner sort of bounced around his final three years in the Majors, going from Minnesota to Detroit, to Cleveland then to Oakland between 1972 and 1975.
This trade had him going from the Tigers back to the team he came up with, also allowing him to team up with his Hall of Fame brother Gaylord.
Perry didn’t disappoint, going 17-12 with a 2.96 earned run average over 36 starts, tossing three shutouts, all at the age of 38 in his 16th season in the Big Leagues.
By the time he retired after 1975, he finished with those 215 wins, along with a 3.45 ERA and 32 shutouts over 630 appearances, winning 20 games twice, including his Cy Young winning 1970 season with the Twins when he won a career-high 24, teaming up with his brother to combine for over 500 MLB wins.
Amazing.

CY YOUNG- 1971 SUB-SET

Today we come to the 1971 sub-set celebrating the big award winners of the year before, in this case the Cy Young Award, given to Bob Gibson of the Cardinals and Jim Perry of the Twins:

Gibson took home his second such award, winning it for the first time in 1968 when he also was named the National League MVP for his season of a lifetime.
Though his 1970 wasn’t as incredible, it was still awesome, as he posted a 23-7 record along with a 3.12 earned run average, three shutouts and a career-high 274 strikeouts while also getting his sixth Gold Glove.
The 1970 season would be the last of his five 20-win seasons in his career, along with the eighth of nine career 200-K campaigns.
Over in the American League, Jim Perry would be named the top pitcher in the league with his 24-12 record, along with a 3.04 E.R.A., four shutouts and 168 strikeouts in a very tight race.
While Perry took the award with his 55 overall points in voting, he barely edged out the Baltimore Orioles Dave McNally, who received 47 points based on his 24-9 record, while teammate Mike Cuellar actually matched Perry’s six 1st Place votes, ending up with 44 points overall as he also posted 24 wins, against only eight losses.
Cleveland Indians fire-baller Sam McDowell was sandwiched in between Oriole hurlers with 45 points, receiving four first place votes based on his 20-12 record with a league-leading 304 strikeouts to go with a nice 2.92 E.R.A.
Ironically, Perry’s younger brother Gaylord would finish a distant second in the N.L. voting with his 23-13 record, along with a 3.20 E.R.A., five shutouts and 214 strikeouts.
How awesome is that?!

1976 JIM PERRY REDUX! THE WHITE WHALE APPEARS!

Well well well!
Just when you thought the ever elusive Jim Perry/Oakland A’s image was not to be had, “Boom”, (as Reader Jim so eloquently stated), HERE IT IS!!!
Needless to say I couldn’t wait to get home and modify my Photoshopped Franken-Card with the real deal:

As we all know by now, Jim Perry wrapped up a very nice Major League career with the Oakland A’s before getting released in August 1975, and the hunt for an image of him, especially a COLOR image, has been on many a want-list for decades now.
With the very interesting article recently on the Baseball Hall of Fame site into the final two Perry cards of his career (1974 and 1975), there was special mention of the fact that this A’s image has been long sought, and wouldn’t you know it, they even included one in the article!
Seems that there were five color images of Perry donning an Oakland uniform by a Topps photographer, long retired, and this was one of them.
Awesome!
So I had the template already made, a little presto-change-o, and voila!!
It’s like a Christmas present in February!!!

BASEBALL BROTHERS- JIM AND GAYLORD PERRY

The next “baseball brothers” card is a 1970 edition featuring one of the all-time best brother combos, Jim and Gaylord Perry, who were in their prime at this time:

What needs to be said for a brother duo who finished 1st and 2nd in their respective league’s Cy Young Award voting that year!
Jim Perry took home the American League’s award with 24 wins, while younger brother Gaylord finished second to Bob Gibson with his 23 wins for the San Francisco Giants.
But he didn’t have to wait too long, as he’d also take home the A.L.’s award just two years later in his first season with the Cleveland Indians in 1972.
Between the two we are talking over 500 Major League wins between them , with the “youngster” Gaylord finding his way to the Hall of Fame.
Just awesome!

MISSING IN ACTION- "IN ACTION"- 1972 JIM PERRY

Here’s the next “MIA-MIA” card, one of 215 games winner and 1970 Cy Young Award recipient Jim Perry, who was in the middle of his most productive run of his 17-year career:

Perry was coming off a 17-win season in 1971, which followed his 24-win award-winning campaign of the year before while pitching for the Minnesota Twins.
He would go on to win 13, 14 and 17 wins each of the next three years, the last of which was back with the team he came up with in 1959, the Cleveland Indians.
He’d wrap up his Major League action with 15 games with the Oakland A’s (of which I am DESPERATELY looking for color photos of), going 3-4 with a 4.66 earned run average, leaving him with a 215-174 record along with a 3.45 ERA and 1576 strikeouts over 3285.2 innings and 630 appearances, 447 of which were starts.
Along with his Hall of Fame brother Gaylord, the pair would go on to win over 525 Major League games between them! Amazing...

ANOTHER AIRBRUSHING SPOTLIGHT- 1975 JIM PERRY

Here’s an airbrushed card that isn’t so terrible, but has me mystified as to why Topps needed one in the first place: the 1975 Jim Perry card:

You can see the Detroit Tigers uniform he had on in the photo, and the clever “spot-airbrush” on the cap by covering the Tigers’ logo with the Cleveland “C”.
What puzzles me is that Perry pitched the entire year with Cleveland, appearing in 36 games (all starts), with a whopping 252 innings pitched.
So why no photo of him as an Indian for the card?
Very strange don’t you think?
He also did very well for the Indians that season, posting a 17-12 record with a 2.96 earned run average and three shutouts.
It would be the last solid year of his excellent 17-year career before he retired after the 1975 season.
I wonder why there was no photo available for him in the 1975 set as an Indian.

THEN AND NOW #31: JIM PERRY 1975

Here's a "Then and Now Super Veteran" card for former pitcher and Cy Young Award winner Jim Perry:

As I've mentioned a few times over on this blog by now, Perry was winding down a very nice 17-year career by 1975, appearing in 23 games split between the Cleveland Indians and Oakland A's, posting a 4-10 record with a 5.38 earned run average.

Making his Major League debut in 1959, he was runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, and went on to win a Cy Young Award in 1970 while a member of the Minnesota Twins.

All told he posted a career 215-174 record with a 3.45 E.R.A., 32 shutouts and 1576 strikeouts over 630 games, 447 of which were starts.

Now imagine all of that and NOT even being the best pro baseball player in the family!

What a brother-combo he and Gaylord made huh?!

A CAREER CAPPER MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 JIM PERRY

Sometimes, as I explained with my 1972 Dean Chance Detroit Tigers card, there just isn't a photo available to execute a card you want to design, so you have to resort to Photoshop.

And for a 1976 Jim Perry "Career Capper" that also doubles as a "Missing in Action", that's exactly what I did.

Check it out:

Through the wonderful world of design software I pieced together a "decent" Jim Perry image of him at the end of his career, in an Oakland A's uniform.

There were a bunch of black-and-white images out there, but nothing as far as color.

Eh, not bad, but I'll still be on the lookout for a REAL image in the future.

I used a 1975 A's card as the foundation for this Perry edition, while using a shot of Perry from 1974.

For Perry "the elder" (brother of Gaylord), he was closing out a fine 17-year career by appearing in 15 games for the A's, 11 of which were starts. He even threw a shutout on his way to a 3-4 record after starting the season 1-6 with the Cleveland Indians.

Overall in 1975, the 39-year old went 4-10 with a 5.38 earned run average over 23 games and 105.1 innings.

For his career, Perry didn't match his brother's Hall of Fame numbers, but they were nothing to sneeze at: a 215-174 record with a 3.45 E.R.A., 32 shutouts and 1576 strikeouts over 630 games (447 of them starts) and 3285.2 innings pitched.

He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1959, and took home the American League Cy Young Award in 1970 after going 24-12 for the Minnesota Twins.

"HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1970'S" #33: THE PERRY BROTHERS AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME

I have always been impressed when members of the same family make it to the big leagues.

That being said, I am incredibly impressed when those family members BOTH succeed on an all-star level.

In 1970 brothers Jim and Gaylord Perry both led their respective leagues in wins, and that is about as cool as it gets for me...

So I wanted to celebrate that feat with a "highlight" card in the 1971 set.

Check out my design:

Jim Perry even took home the Cy Young Award for the American League that year, while brother Gaylord finished second in the National League behind Bob Gibson! 

Again, as cool as it gets!

Jim recorded 24 wins in his award winning season with the Minnesota Twins, while younger brother Gaylord won 23 for the San Francisco Giants.

Combined, the brothers ended up pitching for 39 years! And their win total was a staggering 529!

Just awesome!

#500 FOR THE BLOG!

So I've reached my 500th post for the blog, and I thank you all for reading so far!

As I've done with 100, 200, 300 and 400, let's go ahead and look at each card numbered 500 throughout the 1970's, shall we?

1970: Hank Aaron

Ugh.

As I profiled (and redesigned) this card months ago, you all know how I feel about it.

What a boring photo of "Hammerin' hank"!

Uninspired and even oddly voyeuristic, like we caught him doing something he's not pleased about. Just odd.

But hey, it's Hank Aaron, and that alone keeps this a classic for the ages.

1971: Jim Perry

I like this card because it catches Perry at the height of his career, coming off a Cy Young Award win in 1970.

The Perry household must have been incredible around this time, with Jim taking home the hardware, and brother Gaylord finishing second over in the National League.

Mom and Dad must have been proud!

And man I do love those 1971 Topps cards. Just a beautiful set.

1972: Joe Torre

Another card catching a player at the peak of his career.

Recent Hall of Famer (and fellow Bensonhurst/Dyker Heights native) Joe Torre smiling up a storm after collecting an M.V.P. Award for his tremendous 1971 season in St. Louis.

Besides his solid playing career (somewhat underrated if you ask me), his LONG managerial career eventually got him to Cooperstown, and I'm sure that smile on his '72 Topps card would truly be ear-to-ear if he knew then where his baseball resume would get him come 2014.

1973: A's team card

Now, my first reaction was, "boring, a freaking team card!".

However, when you really take a look at the photo, it's just a perfect 1970's baseball time capsule!

The shaggy players, the technicolor sports coats, and the fact that it depicts the three-time World Champs with guys like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, all now members of the Hall of Fame.

It really becomes clear quickly that this is indeed a special card! Love it!

1974: Lee May

Easy to forget how good a player May was throughout his career.

The man was downright thumping the baseball during a weak offensive era in the game's history.

The choice of photo Topps went with is a bit lame, but it does show the dude's quite "substantial" size as one of the games underrated sluggers.

2000 hits, 350+ homers, 1200+ runs batted in…not too shabby for the "Big Bopper"!

1975: Nolan Ryan

Well, what can you say?

Classic card set, classic player, nice photo.

I love this card.

The "Ryan Express" at the height of his career, tearing through line-ups and smashing records.

And who would even imagine that when this card came out, Ryan would STILL pitch for almost another 20 years!

Just incredible.

And every time I see a 1975 or 1976 baseball card, I can STILL get that little tingle of excitement, just like I did so many years before!

1976: Reggie Jackson

Just pure CLASSIC baseball card right there!

One of my all time favorite cards.

Here we have a beautiful card set design, with a fantastic photo of one of the game's most popular players, and that brilliant "All-Star" designation for all to see!

What a card, what a player, what a set!

1976 all the way for me my friends. Easily my favorite set of all time. 

Just perfect…

1977: Dave Kingman

Another one of my all-time favorite cards!

Great photo of "Kong" watching another of his famous blasts leaving the stadium, with all that blue throughout the card, and that "All-Star" banner running across the bottom.

I always thought those Mets cards from the 1976 and 1977 sets looked so good because of the blue color scheme. And you throw in a blue all-star banner along the bottom, and "bam!", just a great card!

1978: George Foster

I wish Topps would have had a better photo of Foster for this card.

The man does NOT look like a guy sitting on top of the baseball world here!

Fresh off his monster 1977 M.V.P. year, Foster should be positively BEAMING after slugging 52 home runs and nearly driving in 150 for the Reds.

It's a shame since the 1978 set is another of my favorite sets, but this card leaves a lot to be desired.

I may have to redesign this card in the near future.

1979: Ron Guidry

Funny story…I remember pulling my first 1979 Ron Guidry card out of a pack back then as a ten year old rabid Yankee fan, and was CRUSHED to see that he didn't have an All-Star banner running across the card!

This was before I learned that Topps didn't just go and pick all-stars based on their seasons, but based on who started the previous all-star game.

So I thought it was a terrible injustice to "Louisiana Lightning". I was already pissed that Guidry was ripped off an M.V.P. (sorry Jim Rice!), so seeing that "all-star" was missing bothered me to no end.

Well, I've calmed down a bit years later (but NOT about the Most Valuable Player Award!), and have come to appreciate the card for what it is.

Not the best action shot of the Yankee ace, but a nice photo nevertheless…

So there you have it...

All cards numbered 500 through that awesome decade of the 1970's!

Hopefully this blog will keep on rolling to all the cards numbered 600, as well as 700!

After that, we'll just get creative and see where we end up…

Thanks for the support so far!

1975 "CY YOUNG AWARD" SUB-SET: WHAT IF? 1970

Today we move into a new decade as far as the Cy Young Award is concerned, yet we meet up with two players who were pretty well established by then: Jim Perry and Bob Gibson.

Take a look at my 1970 "Cy Young Award Winners" 1975 sub-set design before we delve into the players themselves:

In the American League we have a player who would have won his second such award had they voted for two winners back in 1960.

That year, while pitching for the Cleveland Indians, Perry posted a decent season on an off-year for A.L. Pitchers, and could have walked away with some hardware for his effort (according to the SABR guys).

Ten years later however, he posted an excellent season for the Minnesota Twins, going 24-12 with a 3.04 earned run average, four shutouts and 168 strikeouts, even finishing 9th in M.V.P. voting as well, officially taking home the award for the only time in his career.

As you all know by now, Jim Perry is half of the only brother-duo to both win the Cy Young, as his brother Gaylord took home the award just two years later (and again in 1978).

As a matter of fact, Gaylord ended up in second place for the National League award in 1970, almost giving us an award winning brother duo in the same year!

Gaylord would receive 51 points in 1970, well behind the next guy we're looking at today, Bob Gibson, who received 118 points, and his second Cy Young award.

Smack in the middle of Gibson's dominance over National League batters, he posted awesome numbers in 1970, going 23-7 (the win total marking a career high), with a 3.12 E.R.A., three shutouts and 274 strikeouts.

He'd also take home his sixth Gold Glove Award, as well as get named to his seventh all-star team and finish fourth in the National League M.V.P. Race.

Gibson would eventually become only the second pitcher in Major League history to reach 3000 strikeouts, and find himself elected to the Hall of Fame in 1981, closing out a storied career, all with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Next up on this thread we'll look at the 1971 season, where one league had an established pitcher take home the award, Fergie Jenkins, while another had a super-nova of a bright young star on their hands walk away with it, as well as the Most Valuable Player Award, Vida Blue.

1975 "CY YOUNG AWARD" SUB-SET: WHAT IF? 1960

Today we move into a new decade regarding my 1975 Topps "Cy Young Award" sub-set based on the popular M.V.P. Sub-set of the same year.

1960 was not only the dawn of a new decade, but the dawn of a new era in baseball, with new stars popping up and staking their claim to fame in the sport.

The outright Cy Young winner that year ended up being a "new" name of sorts, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Vern Law, who guided the Bucs to the World Series and an eventual shocking win against the heavily favored New York Yankees on the now legendary Bill Mazeroski home run in the seventh and final game.

Over in the American League, the people at SABR felt that relative newcomer Jim Perry (brother of future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, and eventual Cy Young winner himself in 1970) would have taken home the award had there been winners in EAXCH league at the time.

First up, my card design for the card as part of my imagined 1975 sub-set:

Although Vern Law was already beginning his ninth season as a big-league pitcher when 1960 broke, it was only in the past two seasons that he established himself as a solid starter, winning 14 and 18 games respectively in 1958 & 1959.

He'd carry that success right into the 1960 season, ending up as the anchor of the Pirate staff, going 20-9 with a 3.08 E.R.A., along with a league-leading 18 complete games and 120 strikeouts with three shutouts in 35 starts.

Personally, I think St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Ernie Broglio had a better season on the mound, but it wouldn't be the first time that an award was influenced by a team reaching the post-season (something they say doesn't factor in awards voting).

Regardless, Law would end up a solid starter for the rest of his 16-year career, retiring after the 1967 season, all for Pittsburgh.

In the American League, it's fun to see a "rookie" card in this card design, as Jim Perry finished second in 1959 for A.L. Rookie of the Year, going 12-10 with a nifty 2.65 E.R.A. pitching for the Cleveland Indians.

1960 would also be somewhat successful for him, ending the year with an 18-10 record, the win total pacing the Junior Circuit, with a high 3.62 earned run average and league-leading four shutouts and 120 strikeouts.

While those numbers don't seem to jump off the page, 1960 didn't have a pitcher in the American League who posted stellar stats.

Nowadays you could make an argument for Jim Bunning winning the award, even with a losing record of 11-14.

Besides that record, he had better numbers than other hurlers in the A.L., based on his 2.79 E.R.A., 201 strikeouts and three shutouts.

But alas, we'll never know who would have won the American League Cy Young, as the voting wasn't yet set up that way until 1967, where there'd be a winner for each league.

Next up, 1961, which saw Whitey Ford win his only Cy Young Award, while in the National League, Warren Spahn would have almost assuredly taken home the award at the ripe old age of 40!

Keep an eye out for it…