DEDICATED ROOKIE (#2): 1972 JON MATLACK

Time to go and create a second "dedicated rookie" for former New York Mets pitcher Jon Matlack, who was on two straight multi-player rookie cards in 1971 and 1972. As I have previously created a 1971 edition, today we have the 1972 version:

Matlack joined an already solid New York Mets staff in 1972 and proceeded to post a 15-10 record in his rookie year, with a very nice 2.32 earned run average over 32 starts, including four shutouts.

Those numbers got him a Rookie of the Year Award, easily finishing ahead of second-place Dave Rader and fellow teammate John Milner, who finished third.

It would pretty much be the prototypical Matlack season as he’d go on to lead the league in shutouts twice, and average about 15 wins over the next seven years.

Easily overshadowed by teammates like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman through the 1970's, he was about as solid a #3 starter you could ask for.

Overall, he’d split his time as a big league pitcher evenly between the Mets and Texas Rangers, over 13 seasons, and retire with an excellent 3.18 E.R.A., along with a final record of 125-126 and 30 shutouts in 361 appearances, 318 of them starts, with 1516 strikeouts.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: JON MATLACK

Today on the blog, we have my 1977 "National League Centennial" card for underrated starter Jon Matlack of the New York Mets:

Matlack joined an already solid New York Mets staff in 1972 and proceeded to post a 15-10 record in his rookie year, with a very nice 2.32 earned run average over 32 starts, including four shutouts.

Those numbers got him a Rookie of the Year Award, easily finishing ahead of second-place Dave Rader and fellow teammate John Milner, who finished third.

It would pretty much be the prototypical Matlack season as he’d go on to lead the league in shutouts twice, and average about 15 wins over the next seven years.

Easily overshadowed by teammates like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman through the 1970's, he was about as solid a #3 starter you could ask for.

Overall, he’d split his time as a big league pitcher evenly between the Mets and Texas Rangers, over 13 seasons, and retire with an excellent 3.18 E.R.A., along with a final record of 125-126 and 30 shutouts in 361 appearances, 318 of them starts, with 1516 strikeouts.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 A.L. E.R.A.

Up on the blog today, we have a 1979 "expanded league leader" card celebrating the top three ERA men in the American League for 1978:

Of course we begin with the pitching apex of 1978 in Major League baseball, New York Yankees great Ron Guidry.

Guidry was unstoppable that season, cruising to an incredible 25-3 record, helping the Yankees win their second straight championship while setting a new MLB record .893 winning percentage for 20+ win seasons, which still stands today.

Along with his 25 wins, “Louisiana Lightning” led the league with his nine shutouts and 1.74 earned run average, while finishing second with 248 K’s, a new Yankee record that stood until last season when Gerrit Cole topped the mark.

That all resulted in a Cy Young Award while coming in second for the MVP, which arguably should have been his. Just a legendary season for the whip-it from Lafayette, Louisiana.

Lost in the Ron Guidry performance in 1978, the wonderful season the second place finisher in ERA had in his first year with the Texas Rangers, former N.L. Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack, who posted an excellent 2.27 ERA while going 15-13 over 35 appearances, completing 18 starts while striking out 157 batters.

Matlack, who spent the first seven years of his Big League career with the New York Mets, was as solid as they came between 1972 and 1980, regularly putting in 200+ innings of work a year with double digit wins for some pretty bad teams.

By the time he hung them up he finished with 125 wins and 1516 K's, with 30 shutouts  and a very nice 3.18 ERA.

In third place, the man who had the misfortune of having his best Big League season in 1978, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mike Caldwell, who along with his 22 wins and six shutouts, posted an ERA of 2.36 over 293.1 innings.

Incredibly Caldwell completed 23 of his 34 starts, the top mark in the A.L. that year, even picking up a save as he also made three relief appearances over the course of the season.

That year would begin a six-year run for him that saw double-digit wins and 200+ innings every year except the strike-year of 1981, when he still tossed 144.1 over 23 starts.

Three great starters right here!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1975 N.L. E.R.A.

On the blog this Sunday, we move on to the top three pitchers in the National League in Earned Run Average for 1974 in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread:

 

Leading off, coming out of nowhere was Atlanta Braves pitcher Buzz Capra, a New York Mets cast-ff, who had the season of his career in 1974 when he led the league with a sparkling 2.28 ERA, completing eleven of his 27 starts while tossing five shutouts.

Those five shutouts would end up being the only ones of his seven-year Big League career, while the 16 wins represented just over half of his 31 wins.

He'd struggle with injuries after his banner year, and would play parts of the next three seasons before calling it a career at the end of 1977, still only 29 years of age.

Right behind Capra with a very nice 2.38 ERA is teammate Phil Niekro, who also led the league with his 20 wins in 1974, throwing six shutouts while completing 18 games in his 39 starts.

It was the second 20-win season of the Hall of Famer's career, and the fifth season of sub-3.00 ERA to that point.

Incredible to think that although already 35 years of age in 1974, he STILL had 13 years to go in his career, eventually finishing up with 318 wins by the time he retired after the 1987 season.

In third place with a 2.41 ERA is New York Mets pitcher Jon Matlack, who was the league leader with his seven shutouts in 1974 on his way to an unfortunate record of 13-15, completing 14 of 34 starts while striking out 195, making his first All-Star team.

There you have it! The top three ERA men of the Senior Circuit for 1974, as we move along next week for the American League.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1974 N.L. STRIKEOUTS

Next up in the "expanded league leader" thread is my 1974 National League Strikeout kings celebrating the top three pitchers of 1973 for the N.L.:

 

Leading the way with 251 strikeouts is all-time great Tom Seaver, who took home his third K-Crown after leading the league in 1970 & 1971.

Seaver would go on to lead the league two more times before he was through, on his way to 3640 strikeouts over his illustrious career which also saw him post 311 wins, a 2.86 earned run average and 61 shutouts between 1967 and 1986.

Behind him with 223 strikeouts, thN.L. league leader the year before, Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, who came off his 310 K's of 1972 with another 200+-K season.

For Carlton, 1973 was a tough one as he would lead the league with 20 losses against his 13 victories, tossing three shutouts while posting an ERA some two runs higher than his 1972 number at 3.90.

Needless to say, "Lefty" would bounce back on his way to a cool 329 wins, 55 shutouts and 4136 strikeouts over 24 Big League seasons, chiseling his name into the Major League record books as one of the best to ever toe-the-rubber.

In third place with 205 strikeouts we have another New York Mets pitcher, the Rookie of the Year for 1972 Jon Matlack, who followed up his award-winning rookie year with another solid season, finishing up 14-16 with a 3.20 ERA over 34 appearances, tossing three shutouts to go along with his impressive K-total.

Matlack would go on to have a very nice 13-year Major League career, splitting his tenure with the Mets and Texas Rangers, posting a record of 125-126 with a 3.18 ERA over 361 appearances, throwing 30 shutouts while striking out 1516 batters.

Not a bad three to start ANY rotation!

Next week, we look at the American League's top-3 strikeout pitchers for 1973!

"DEDICATED ROOKIE"- 1971 JON MATLACK

Up on the blog today we have a card that really would have had to be in a "Traded" or "Update" set at season's end, a "dedicated rookie" for former New York Met Rookie of the Year pitcher Jon Matlack:

The reason I say all of that regarding a post-season set is obviously because Matlack didn't appear in a Big League game until the 1971 season, so for Topps to have an in-action shot of him for a card was 0out of the question.

However I wanted to create an action card resembling some of those other great action cards of the 1971 set (Lindy McDaniel, Chris Short, Nolan Ryan), so here you go.

Though only appearing in seven games for the Mets in 1971, it was 1972 before he got a full-time shot, and he made the most of it!

Matlack joined an already solid New York Mets staff and proceeded to post a 15-10 record in his rookie year, with a very nice 2.32 earned run average over 32 starts, including four shutouts.

Those numbers got him a Rookie of the Year Award, easily finishing ahead of second-place Dave Rader and fellow teammate John Milner, who finished third.

It would pretty much be the prototypical Matlack season as he’d go on to lead the league in shutouts twice, and average about 15 wins over the next seven years.
He’d split his time as a big league pitcher evenly between the Mets and Texas Rangers, and retire with an excellent 3.18 E.R.A., along with a final record of 125-126 and 30 shutouts in 361 appearances, 318 of them starts.

 

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD- 1973 SUB-SET

The final 1972 award we celebrate with a 1973 sub-set card is Rookie of the Year, won by a solid starter over the next decade, Jon Matlack, and future Hall of Famer catcher Carlton Fisk:

In the National League, Matlack joined an already solid New York Mets staff and proceeded to post a 15-10 record, with a very nice 2.32 earned run average over 32 starts, including four shutouts.
It would pretty much be the prototypical Matlack season as he’d go on to lead the league in shutouts twice, and average about 15 wins over the next seven years.
He’d split his time as a big league pitcher evenly between the Mets and Texas Rangers, and retire with an excellent 3.18 E.R.A., along with a final record of 125-126 and 30 shutouts in 361 appearances, 318 of them starts.
In the American League, Carlton Fisk of the Boston Red Sox immediately made his impact on the game, unanimously winning the award by hitting .293 and leading the league with nine triples along with 22 homers and 61 runs batted in.
Of course, we all know he’d go on to star for both the Red Sox and then the Chicago White Sox over the next 21 seasosn, 24 overall, becoming one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
He be named to eleven all-star games, collect 2356 Major League hits, and slam 376 home runs with 1330 runs batted in and 1276 runs scored.
Of course, he’d also give us one of baseball’s all-time moments, hitting the game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series versus the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, the image of him waving the ball fair a part of Major League history.
After eleven years in Boston, he would go on to play 13 more with the White Sox, playing until the age of 45! A tank of a man, and continue to put in solid season after season.
In 1985 at the age of 37, he set career highs in home runs (37) and Runs batted in (107), while tying his career high in stolen bases (17) while catching 130 games. Just amazing.
After missing out on a Hall of Fame selection in 1999 (how the Hell did that happen?), he made it in the following year when he was named on 79.6% of ballots, joining other all-time catchers like Campanella, Berra and Bench in baseball immortality.