REVISITING MY 1973 "NICKNAME" CARD FOR JIMMY WYNN

On the blog today, we go back 10 years or so and revisit my 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for the "Toy Cannon", Jimmy Wynn:

I used a 1973 template to play around with the cannon icon in the lower right-hand corner, while also giving him a card while he was still in a Houston uniform before he went on to play for the Dodgers and get named to two consecutive all-star starts in 1974 and 1975.

Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year career.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

 

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: JIM WYNN

On the blog this fine day, we add to my fun 1977 "N.L. Centennial" series, by including former slugger, the "Toy Cannon" Jim Wynn:

I love this image of the former All-Star, clearly showing the ceremonial patch all National League teams wore during their 100th anniversary season of 1976.

I actually used this earlier on the blog as a 1977 "do-over" about two years ago, but really wanted this to be a part of this set.

Though at the tail-end of his career,  Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year Big League run.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1978 JIM WYNN

Fun card to add to the blog today, and one that was included in my Series 13 set printed up a month or so ago, a 1978 "career-capper" for the "Toy Cannon", Jim Wynn, who closed out a very nice Big League career with some games as a Milwaukee Brewer in 1977:

Wynn appeared in 36 games for Milwaukee after starting the season with the New York Yankees, hitting .197 while hitting .143 for New York, a combined .175 figure over 66 games total.

He put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year Big League run between 1963 and 1977.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After those handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

Just a solid, overlooked player from the era that deserves a spotlight for his excellent career!

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM DECEMBER, 2015: A DO-OVER FOR THE 1976 JIMMY WYNN

Good day everybody!

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a blog post from December of 2015, featuring my do-over for slugger Jimmy Wynn and hgis 1976 card:

 

Way back when this was part of the "1976 Project" for my man Jim, who had me create a bunch of 1976 variations for his master set.

We BOTH loved the idea of recreating Wynn's All-Star appearance, which was while he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers, not the Atlanta Braves as Topps had him issued.

Here's the original post:

"A fun card to create since he was one of the “all-stars” in my all-time favorite set, and I was never a fan of his 1976 card showing him in an airbrush job with the Atlanta Braves.
Wynn didn’t have nearly the success in 1975 that he had the year before, hitting 18 homers with 58 runs batted in and 80 runs scored, with a low .248 average.
Nevertheless he started his second straight all-star game for the Dodgers, his only two years in Los Angeles.
He put together a very nice 15-year career that saw him hit 291 homers, drive in 1224 runs and walk 1427 times, including a league-leading 148 in 1969 while with the Houston Astros, while finishing with a .250 batting average."

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1975 N.L. HOME RUNS

On the blog today, we return to my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, going through the 1970's and expanding on the years that Topps only had the top performer of each league for a particular category on a league-leader card.

Today we move on to the 1975 N.L. League Leaders for Home Runs, featuring three thumpers who'd make any line-up a threat:

 

We begin with Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt, who took home the first of what would eventually be eight Home Run titles over his stellar career, pacing the league with 36 "jacks" in 1974.

He would lead the league the next two seasons as well, then go on to do the same in 1980 and 1981, 1983 and 1984, and finally 1986 when he would also take home his third MVP Award.

The man was a machine, topping 30+ homers 13 times and driving in 100+ runs nine times before he was through, while also performing on the defensive end of the game with his ten Gold Glove Awards.

In second place with 33 home runs in 1974 is another future Hall of Famer, Cincinnati Reds all-timer Johnny Bench.

Bench had himself another wonderful season in 1974, hitting the aforementioned homers while leading the league with his 129 RBIs, the third time he led in that department.

He also scored a career-best 108 runs that year, while leading the league with 315 total bases, all numbers that would get hima fourth place finish for the MVP Award at season's end.

He wasn't done yet, as he'd play another nine seasons, through the 1983 campaign, finishing up with two MVP Awards, 14 All-Star nods and 10 Gold Glove Awards. Elite to say the least!

In third place with 32 home runs, the "Toy Cannon", Jimmy Wynn of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who helped the team return to the World Series in 1974.

Wynn had an excellent year in 1974, driving in 108 runs, which were a career-best, while also scoring 104 runs, stealing 18 bases, and drawing 108 walks to give him a very nice .408 on-base-percentage.

All of that got him a fifth-place finish for the MVP Award, which was taken home by teammate Steve Garvey.

Well there you go, the top-three home run hitters in the National League in 1974, shown in all their glory on an expanded 1975 league-leader card.

Next up, the American League's best three sluggers for 1974. See you then!

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: A MUCH MORE "FUN" 1977 JIM WYNN!

I came across this magnificent photo of former slugger Jimmy Wynn a while back and just knew I would have to re-do his Topps 1977 card, so today is the day:

 

I mean, this would have been such a great card to go along with the '77 Mark Fidrych, to brighten anyone's day!

Though at the tail-end of his career,  Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year Big League run.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

Just a fun card to add to my "virtual" collection. Hope you all agree!

1975 IN-ACTION: JIMMY WYNN

The next 1975 “In-Action” card in my running sub-set is of the “Toy Cannon”, Jimmy Wynn, who was coming off of a great season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, his 1st MLB season with a team other than the Houston Astros in 12 years as a big leaguer:

Wynn came in 5th for the N.L. M.V.P. Award in 1974 after helping the Dodgers make it back to the World Series, though losing to the three-peat Oakland A’s dynasty.
He hit 32 homers, drove in 108 runs and of course, walked 108 times, the fourth of what would be six seasons of 100+ walks during his career.
He’d play one more year out in L.A. before heading over to the Atlanta Braves for a season before finishing up his career with a split season as a New York Yankee & Milwaukee Brewer in 1977.
In his 15-year career he’d end up with 291 homers along with 964 runs batted in and 1105 runs scored with a .250 batting average and 1224 walks in 1920 games and 6653 at-bats.

PHOTO SPOTLIGHT-1976 HOSTESS JIMMY WYNN AIRBRUSHING

Today I wanted to take a look and spotlight a photo negative that was airbrushed and used on a 1976 Hostess card, the Jimmy Wynn card from the set:

Just interesting to see how they airbrushed “just enough” to get the job done, leaving the rest of Wynn’s Los Angeles Dodger uniform untouched.
I’m assuming this was from the same photo shoot that gave us his regular 1976 Topps set card as well, though THIS card seems to have been a better job! Go figure.
Those Hostess sets had some horrid airbrush jobs, and I may spotlight more of them in the future as I have come across more of the negative film used in the sets.
For Wynn, after a true all-star caliber season in 1974 with the Dodgers, his 1st for L.A., he ended up having a “decent” 1975 campaign, hitting 18 homers while driving in 58 runs, though he did walk 110 times giving him a nice .403 on-base-percentage.
For the Atlanta Braves, he’d put in one season where he’d lead the N.L. In walks with 127, while slugging 17 homers and driving in 66 runs, before a split 1977 season with the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees which saw him hit .175 with a single home run, ending a very nice 15-year career that saw him hit 291 homers and get named to three all-star teams.

"1976 PROJECT" REVISED 1976 JIMMY WYNN

Here’s a card for a guy that WASN’T missing from the 1976 set, but for his own (good) reasons, “Reader Jim”, for whom I’m doing this “1976 Project”, wanted revised, the “Toy Cannon” Jimmy Wynn:

A fun card to create since he was one of the “all-stars” in my all-time favorite set, and I was never a fan of his 1976 card showing him in an airbrush job with the Atlanta Braves.
Wynn didn’t have nearly the success in 1975 that he had the year before, hitting 18 homers with 58 runs batted in and 80 runs scored, with a low .248 average.
Nevertheless he started his second straight all-star game for the Dodgers, his only two years in Los Angeles.
He put together a very nice 15-year career that saw him hit 291 homers, drive in 1224 runs and walk 1427 times, including a league-leading 148 in 1969 while with the Houston Astros, while finishing with a .250 batting average.

NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #36: THE "TOY CANNON" JIMMY WYNN

Here's a fun card: a "Nicknames of the '70s" card for former slugger Jimmy Wynn.

Take a look:

I used a 1973 template to play around with the cannon icon in the lower right-hand corner, while also giving him a card while he was still in a Houston uniform before he went on to play for the Dodgers and get named to two consecutive all-star starts in 1974 and 1975.

Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year career.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #31: 1972 JIMMY WYNN

Time for the "Toy Cannon", former slugger Jim Wynn, to have a "missing" In Action card in the 1972 set.

Take a look at what I came up with:

Nice period photo of the Astros top home run hitter of the late-60's/early-70's.

Wynn put in a nice 15-year career that saw him bash 291 homers with 964 runs batted in and 1105 runs scored.

But what really may surprise many of you is that the man also stole 225 bases during his career, pulling off 20/20 seasons three times.

After his eleven productive years in Houston, Wynn moved on to Los Angeles where he had two consecutive all-star years in 1974 and 1975.

1976 saw him with the Atlanta Braves, and he did manage to hit 17 homers while leading the league with 127 walks. But he also led the league with the lowest batting average among qualifiers, and the following season he split time between the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, hitting .175 with a single homer and 13 R.B.I.'s over 66 games.

That would be the last Major League action Wynn would see in the Majors, calling it a career at the age of 35.