NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 TIM STODDARD

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1979 card for former reliever Tim Stoddard of the Baltimore Orioles:

Stoddard appeared in only eight games for the Orioles in 1978, going 0-1 with a 6.00 earned run average over 18 innings, his first action on a Big League mound other than one singular inning for the Chicago White Sox in 1975.

In 1979 he would have himself a very good year for the eventual American league champs, appearing in 29 games, saving three and pitching to a stellar 1.71 ERA over 58 innings.

He would go on to put in 13 seasons under the Major League sun, appearing in 485 games and compiling a final record of 41-35 with a 3.95 ERA in 729.2 innings of work.

I remember his time with the New York Yankees in the late-80s, where he performed well, going 6-5 with eleven saves in 85 games in 1987-1988.

Look for a "not so missing" 1975 card for him in the near future here on the blog!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: RON HANSEN

The next custom card from my 2018 "1960 Stars of the Game" set to get the spotlight is my card for A.L. Rookie of the Year in 1960, Ron Hansen of the Baltimore Orioles:

 

In 1960 he was Rookie of the Year after hitting 22 homers while driving in 86 runs for the Baltimore Orioles, also finishing fifth in the MVP race at season's end.

He was a solid shortstop, getting some MVP attention in 1964, 1965 and 1967 while playing with the Chicago White Sox, but never having a season again like he did in 1960.

All told, by the time he retired, Hansen finished with a career .234 average, with 1007 hits and 106 homers over 1384 games and 4311 at-bats, getting named to one All-Star  team.

 

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: FRANK ROBINSON

The next starting player from the 1971 All-Star Game to spotlight in my "set that never was" Ticket Set is "The Judge" Frank Robinson, perhaps the greatest "overlooked" player the game has ever seen:

It was the eleventh All-Star nod for the legend, who would have himself another great year, finishing third in the A.L. MVP race at season's end, hitting .281 with 28 homers and 99 runs batted in.

Robinson is perhaps the “greatest underrated player” in Major League history.
A two-time Most Valuable Player, and the first to do it in both leagues, Robinson also took home a Triple Crown in 1966, was a twelve time All-Star, finished in the Top-4 in MVP voting outside his two wins, and oh yeah, as mentioned earlier was also the first African-American Manager in league history.
When he retired as an active player in 1976, Robinson was in the top-5 in so many offensive categories he was in the company of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Yet oddly enough, perhaps because of the era he played in, he would get buried in the “all-time greats” conversation in lieu of the aforementioned players along with guys like Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams.
I would say he and Stan Musial are the TWO greatest “underrated” players of all-time, and you could arguably throw in others like Bob Feller for good measure.
Just an all-out legend in so many ways.

 

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: BROOKS ROBINSON

Time we moved on to third base and my 1971 All-Star Game ticket card for the great Brooks Robinson, about as loved a player for the Baltimore Orioles:

Of course Robinson pretty much had the third base position on lock-down for some 15 years in the A.L., and 1971 was no different.

It was the man's 12th straight All-Star nod at third base for the Junior Circuit, and it would also be his 12th straight Gold Glove, on his way to 16 before he was through.

In 1958 he’d play his first full season in the Big Leagues, and it was all cruise control from there, as the great third baseman would go on to grab those 16 Gold Gloves, an MVP Award in 1964, appear in 15 All-Star games, and help guide the Baltimore Orioles to two Championships and four A.L. Pennants.
By the time he hung up that golden glove after the 1977 season, he finished with 2848 hits, 1357 runs batted in, 268 home runs and 1232 runs scored in 2896 games.
Needless to say, by the time Cooperstown came calling, he was voted in on his first try, receiving 92% support in 1983.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1985 JIM PALMER

Let's venture into the 1980s again and have me post up my 1985 "career-capper" for the great Jim Palmer, who finished up his incredible Hall of Fame career in 1984:

Palmer’s road to Cooperstown was a bit rocky at first, with a couple of jumps and starts because of injuries between 1964 and 1968.
As a matter of fact we’d probably be looking at a 300-game winner if not for over a season of missed time between 1967 and 1968.
Though he had a great first professional season in 1964 as an 18-year-old, going a combined 15-5 in the O’s system, he found himself on a Major League mound in 1966, still a teen, going 5-4.
In 1966 he’d improve to a record of 15-10 for the surprising eventual World Champs, shocking everyone with a sweep of the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with Palmer contributing a complete game shutout.
But injuries derailed him until 1969 when he hit his stride, going 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA and six shutouts, completing 11 of 23 starts.
From there, all the man did was top 20-wins in eight of the next nine seasons, winning three Cy Young Awards, the first American League pitcher to do so, helping the Orioles to another championship in 1970, eventually finishing with a career 268-152 record along with a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts before he was done in 1984.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: JIM PALMER

Let's go an add the great Jim Palmer to my future custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, shall we?

Palmer’s road to Cooperstown was a bit rocky at first, with a couple of jumps and starts because of injuries between 1964 and 1968.
As a matter of fact we’d probably be looking at a 300-game winner if not for over a season of missed time between 1967 and 1968.
Though he had a great first professional season in 1964 as an 18-year-old, going a combined 15-5 in the O’s system, he found himself on a Major League mound in 1966, still a teen, going 5-4.
In 1966 he’d improve to a record of 15-10 for the surprising eventual World Champs, shocking everyone with a sweep of the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with Palmer contributing a complete game shutout.
But injuries derailed him until 1969 when he hit his stride, going 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA and six shutouts, completing 11 of 23 starts.
From there, all the man did was top 20-wins in eight of the next nine seasons, winning three Cy Young Awards, the first American League pitcher to do so, helping the Orioles to another championship in 1970, eventually finishing with a career 268-152 record along with a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts before he was done in 1984.

 

REVISITING A "MISSING" 1976 CARD FOR TOM SHOPAY

On the blog today, we revisit my "missing" 1976 card for a guy who actually had quite a few missing cards through the 1970's, former outfielder Tom Shopay:

Here's the original write-up for the card from April of 2015. What feels like a lifetime ago:

"Shopay had a few missing cards through the 1970's, and I have already created and posted a 1978 card for him earlier on this blog.

In 1975 Shopay appeared in 40 games, mainly in the outfield and as a pinch hitter, collecting five hits in 31 at-bats, good for a .161 batting average with a double and two runs batted in.

That year was typical for Shopay's entire seven–year career with the Yankees and Orioles, as he never appeared in more than 67 games or had more than 74 at-bats in any season.

Nevertheless, as we've seen with guys like the Red Sox Bob Montgomery, Topps did in fact give guys who stuck around cards year to year, yet after the 1972 set Shopay was shut out until he retired in 1977.

Shopay ended up playing in 253 games during his Major League career, and ended up with a .201 batting average based on his 62 hits over 309 at-bats.

Funny enough he hit a total of three home runs in those seven partial seasons, yet two of the three were hit during his rookie year with the Yankees in 1967 in only eight games. He'd go on to hit only one more in 245 games the rest of the way."

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: FRANK ROBINSON

Time to add the great, and greatly underappreciated Frank Robinson to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, my way of paying hommage to the great game that has kept me obsessed for 50+ years now:

Frank put in a 21-year Big League career that saw him win Rookie of the Year in 1956 when he smashed a then record-tying 38 home runs as a rookie, win the NL MVP in 1961 when he helped the Cincinnati Reds make it to the World Series, then become the first player to win the award in both leagues when he helped the Baltimore Orioles shock the world by sweeping the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966.
Oh yeah, he also won the Triple Crown that year, leading the American League in runs, homers, RBIs, batting, on-base-percentage, slugging percentage and total bases.
Just a killer year for a guy that was already established as one of the best players in the game.
Funny thing is that this was arguably NOT even his best season as a big leaguer at that point!
Just look at some of his season’s slugging and hitting his way through the first ten years of his career with the Reds!
Though he won the National League MVP in 1961, I always thought his 1962 season was the best of his career, when he hit .342 while collecting 208 hits, leading the league with 134 runs scored and 51 doubles, hitting 39 home runs and driving in 136, while throwing in 18 stolen bases and leading the league with a .421 OBP and .624 slugging! HUGE!
And to think that was only good for FOURTH in MVP voting that year, behind winner Maury Wills, Willie Mays and Tommy Davis.
Incredible.
But that 1966 season was extra special because it also gave Robinson a World Championship, as the Orioles and their young pitching staff went on to surprise everyone and SWEEP the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Nevertheless, his Big League resume: 586 home runs, 1812 ribbies, just under 3000 hits, Rookie of the Year, and two M.V.P. awards (one in each league). You know his resume, I'm sure.
I was just too young to really be following the papers back then, but I wonder if there was any talk about continuing as a player to get to the 3000 hits. Anyone out there know?
2943 was so enticingly close to the magic hit number, but I'm assuming he really didn't have much left in the tank after only 53 hits his final three seasons.

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1971 DON BAYLOR

Good day everyone!

Thought it'd be fun to revisit my post from 2014, a "dedicated rookie" for Don Baylor, a favorite player of mine from my youth as I followed the New York Yankees in the mid-80's:

 

Nice shot of the slugger as he began what ended up being an excellent Major League career spanning almost two decades.

Here's the original write-up:

Let's go and give Don Baylor a dedicated rookie card in the 1971 set, where he originally shared a multi-player rookie card with Tom Paciorek and Dusty Baker.

Now while his original rookie wasn't too shabby a card, I found this nice image of Baylor during his very early years and decided to whip up a 1971 card for him. Some of you may wonder about his uniform! But if you notice all the late-series Orioles players in that 1971 set were photographed with the "new" Baltimore uniform, which Baylor is wearing on this card. As a young teen in NYC in the early 1980's, I can tell you Baylor was a favorite of ours in the schoolyards of Brooklyn for his hard-nosed play. He was cool as a cucumber, yet as likable as you can be when we'd see him at baseball card shows around town. Besides, he looked bad-ass standing there at the plate, upright and waiting to crush a ball into the stands. He finished his 19-year career in 1988, playing for his third straight American League Champion team, and all three were different: Red Sox in '86, Twins in '87, and the A's in 1988. Of those, the Twins brought home the title, giving Baylor his only Championship ring as somewhat of a "regular player". He retired with over 2000 hits, 330 homers, 285 stolen bases and over 1200 runs scored and runs batted in. In 1979 he exploded while with the Angels, bringing home the American league Most Valuable Player Award after slamming 36 home runs while leading the league in runs scored (120) and runs batted in (139), while hitting .296 with 22 stolen bases thrown in. Of course, he'll also be remembered as one of the key components in the Orioles-A's trade that sent Reggie Jackson to Baltimore in April of 1976. But by the time he hung up his cleats for good, he put together a very solid career himself, even winning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 while steering the Colorado Rockies to a 77 and 67 record (good for second place). Here's to you "Groove"! 

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1973 EARL WEAVER

Just as I had done years ago with the starting line-ups of the 1972 All-Star game, today I add American League manager for that game Earl Weaver to my "missing" All-Star cards, in this case completely creating a new card for the Hall of Fame skipper to get it done:

With the Baltimore Orioles pennant winning season of 1971 with Weaver at the helm, the 1972 Midsummer Classic saw the diminutive yet fiery manager lead the Junior Circuit to a chance to defend their 1971 All-Star game win against the N.L.

Well sadly, it was not to be, as the National League got back to "business as usual" with another win 4-3, something they would keep on doing all the way through to the 1983 game, much to THIS young A.L. fan through his elementary and Junior High School days!

I loved Earl Weaver as a kid, who paired up nicely with my favorite manager, Billy Martin: fiery, combative, and always ready to stick his neck out for his team.

By the time he retired after the 1986 season, Weaver finished with a record of 1480 wins against 1060 losses, for a very nice .583 winning percentage, with four Pennants and a World Championship in 1970, posting a winning season every year of his tenure except his very last, when he finished 73-89.

In 1996 he was voted into the Hall of Fame as a manager, celebrating one of the most colorful managers of the era, and rightly so!

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1972 EARL WEAVER

On the blog today we once again go and give former Baltimore Orioles skipper Earl Weaver the "All-Star" treatment with a "missing" all-star card, this time a 1972 edition celebrating his 1971 position as the manager for the A.L. in the now legendary Midsummer Classic:

Weaver's road to skipper in the 1971 All-Star game was all thanks to his incredible 1970 season when he guided the juggernaut Baltimore Orioles to what ended up being his only title over his Hall of Famer managerial career, seeing the Birds beat the up-and-coming Cincinnati Reds after steam-rolling through the regular season to the tune of a 108-54 record, this after a monster 1969 season that saw the team win 109 games. Incredible.

I loved Earl Weaver as a kid, who paired up nicely with my favorite manager, Billy Martin: fiery, combative, and always ready to stick his neck out for his team.

By the time he retired after the 1986 season, Weaver finished with a record of 1480 wins against 1060 losses, for a very nice .583 winning percentage, with four Pennants and a World Championship in 1970, posting a winning season every year of his tenure except his very last, when he finished 73-89.

In 1996 he was voted into the Hall of Fame as a manager, celebrating one of the most colorful managers of the era, and rightly so!

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1963 FLEER ROBIN ROBERTS

Good day all.

On the blog today, we have my 1963 Fleer "In-Action" card for the great, and under-appreciated Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, from my custom set released a few months back:

Just a nice shot of the righty ace towards the end of his stellar career during his tenure with the Baltimore Orioles:

Roberts resurrected his career somewhat in 1962, his first season with the Baltimore Orioles, posting a very nice 2.78 earned run average over 27 appearances, going 10-9 with six complete games.

This was after a disastrous 1961 season that saw him go 1-10 over 26 appearances, with a bloated 5.85 ERA in his last year with the Philadelphia Phillies, with whom he came up to the Major Leagues back in 1948.

Roberts was a freaking machine during the 1950’s pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, posting six 20-win seasons with  a 19 and 17 win season thrown in as well.
He led the league in wins four times with a high of 28 in 1952, while also leading the National league in strikeouts twice, complete games five times, innings pitched five times and shutouts once.
By the time he retired after the 1966 season, he finished with 286 wins and a 3.41 earned run average, with 45 shutouts and 2357 strikeouts over 676 games and 4688.2 innings pitched.
Between 1950 and 1956 he was named to the all-star team each year, while also garnering MVP attention every season.
To be honest how he didn’t win the MVP in 1952 is beyond me, as the award went to Chicago Cubs slugger Hank Sauer.
Granted the Phillies finished in fourth place with an 87-67 record, 9.5 games behind the Dodgers.
But the Cubs finished in fifth place, with a 77-77 record.
So what went on there is something worth looking into considering all Roberts did was go 28-7 with a 2.59 ERA, three shutouts, 148 strikeouts and 30 complete games out of his 37 starts!

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1971 EARL WEAVER

On the blog today, a fun little "tweak" to Earl Weaver's 1971 card, this an All-Star designation as the American League's skipper in the 1970 Midsummer Classic, something I did with the starting nine for both leagues almost ten years ago:

Weaver had the honors of leading the A.L. in the 1970 All-Star game based off his pennant winning season of 1969, when the Orioles were stunned in the World Series by the "Miracle Mets".

It was Weaver's first full season as a Major League manager, taking over at mid-season the year before for Baltimore and leading them to a second place finish before his run of three first place finishes between 1969 and 1971.

I loved Earl Weaver as a kid, who paired up nicely with my favorite manager, Billy Martin: fiery, combative, and always ready to stick his neck out for his team.

By the time he retired after the 1986 season, Weaver finished with a record of 1480 wins against 1060 losses, for a very nice .583 winning percentage, with four Pennants and a World Championship in 1970, posting a winning season every year of his tenure except his very last, when he finished 73-89.

In 1996 he was voted into the Hall of Fame as a manager, celebrating one of the most colorful managers of the era, and rightly so!

 

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. THIRD BASEMAN BROOKS ROBINSON

Today's blog post has my pick (as well as I'm assuming everyone else's pick) for the American League third baseman of the 1960s, Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson:

I mean, as if there would be any other selection for the position!

In 1958 he’d play his first full season in the Big Leagues, and it was all cruise control from there, as the great third baseman would go on to grab 16 Gold Gloves, an MVP Award in 1964, appear in 15 All-Star games, and help guide the Baltimore Orioles to two Championships and four A.L. Pennants.
By the time he hung up that golden glove after the 1977 season, he finished with 2848 hits, 1357 runs batted in, 268 home runs and 1232 runs scored in 2896 games.
Needless to say, by the time Cooperstown came calling, he was voted in on his first try, receiving 92% support in 1983.

The man set the standard for superstar third basemen, at the plate and with his glove, a standard they still use to this day, some 50 years after his retirement.

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. SHORTSTOP LUIS APARICIO

Time for our next player to be named to my 1960s All-Decade All-Star team, with today's entry the American League shortstop of the 1960s, and I chose Luis Aparicio:

Now, this pick was NOT as easy as many would think, as I was seriously considering Loa Angeles Angels shortstop Jim Fregosi for the honor.

But when it came down to it, I went with "Little Louie".

Aparicio had a fine decade in the 1960s, pacing the American League in stolen bases with five crowns from 1960-1964, winning a World Series with the Orioles in 1966, being named to five all-star teams, and winning six Gold Gloves.

All in all I just feel he was a lot more solid overall than Fregosi, who had a nice run of offensive seasons from the mid-60's to 1969.

Aparicio even had six years during the decade where he got some M.V.P. attention, with a peak finish of ninth in that championship 1966 season at Baltimore.

Not too shabby for a man who would go on to be selected for the Hall of Fame, an honor worthy of the perennial All-Star.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: BROOKS ROBINSON

Today we add the great Brooks Robinson, perhaps the greatest fielding third baseman of them all, to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, which I hope to produce later this year, using iconic clean photography of some of the game's all-time greats over the decades:

In 1958 he’d play his first full season in the Big Leagues, and it was all cruise control from there, as the great third baseman would go on to grab 16 Gold Gloves, an MVP Award in 1964, appear in 15 All-Star games, and help guide the Baltimore Orioles to two Championships and four A.L. Pennants.
By the time he hung up that golden glove after the 1977 season, he finished with 2848 hits, 1357 runs batted in, 268 home runs and 1232 runs scored in 2896 games.
Needless to say, by the time Cooperstown came calling, he was voted in on his first try, receiving 92% support in 1983.

 

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: JIM PALMER

Good day all!

On the blog today, my Jim Palmer "mini Gum pack" card from my fun custom set released a few months back truly on a whim:

 

Just a fun card design to whip up and create of the top stars of the 1970's, in a really fun pack-of-gum package harking back to my days chewing gum like a maniac when I was a kid. I was never caught without a pack of gum on me around the age of ten!

Palmer’s road to Cooperstown was a bit rocky at first, with a couple of jumps and starts because of injuries between 1964 and 1968.
As a matter of fact we’d probably be looking at a 300-game winner if not for over a season of missed time between 1967 and 1968.
Though he had a great first professional season in 1964 as an 18-year-old, going a combined 15-5 in the O’s system, he found himself on a Major League mound in 1966, still a teen, going 5-4.
In 1966 he’d improve to a record of 15-10 for the surprising eventual World Champs, shocking everyone with a sweep of the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with Palmer contributing a complete game shutout.
But injuries derailed him until 1969 when he hit his stride, going 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA and six shutouts, completing 11 of 23 starts.
From there, all the man did was top 20-wins in eight of the next nine seasons, winning three Cy Young Awards, the first American League pitcher to do so, helping the Orioles to another championship in 1970, eventually finishing with a career 268-152 record along with a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts before he was done in 1984.

REVISITING A POST FROM OCTOBER, 2013: A MISSING 1973 TOMMY DAVIS CARD

On the blog today, we revisit my blog post from Halloween of 2013, a "missing" 1973 card for two-time batting champ, and a favorite of mine to use on Immaculate Grid, Tommy Davis:

Here's the original write-up for the post from way back when:

"You'd think a former two-time batting champ and twelve year veteran of the Major Leagues would get a little more respect than Tommy Davis did in 1973 with Topps.

In a year that see's Topps issue player cards to the likes of Jose Arcia, Monty montgomery or Jim Geddes, you'd think that a former star player who accumulated over 100 at-bats the previous year would warrant a card.

Well, we've seen a bunch of other strange choices Topps made regarding player selection for their sets, so I guess I shouldn't be TOO surprised here.

But funny enough, even though Tommy Davis was in a state of flux with his career in the early 1970's, 1973 would be a sort of rebirth for him, as he filled in wonderfully for the Baltimore Orioles as their first full-time designated hitter, ending the season with a 10th place finish in the A.L. M.V.P. Voting.

For the season Davis ended up hitting .306 with seven homers and 89 runs batted in over the course of 137 games. Not bad for a guy who bounced around and played for five teams the previous three years.

By all accounts Davis went on to an even better year in 1974, hitting .284 with 11 homers and 84 R.B.I.'s with 181 hits in 626 at-bats at the age of 35, once again getting Most Valuable Player attention.

Well, I've gone and created a 1973 card for Davis, one that easily should have been in place of a few players Topps decided to go with that year.

I can't finish this post profiling Tommy Davis without mentioning his kick-ass 1962 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That season he crushed everything thrown his way, hitting a league-leading .346 with 230 hits, nine triples, 27 homers and astounding 153 runs batted in! He also threw in 18 stolen bases for good measure. 

All those numbers got him a third place in M.V.P. Voting behind teammate Maury Wills and the Giants' Willie Mays, who I think got robbed of the award.

But hey, that's for another day…"

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 BOB BAILOR

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1976 card for former "everyman" Bob Bailor, who made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 1975:

Bailor appeared in only five games that year, before returning for another nine games in 1976, collecting three hits over those 14 appearances with two runs scored and a triple among the scant highlights.

1977 would see him suited up for the new Toronto Blue jays franchise, being their second overall pick in the expansion draft held on November 5th, 1976.

With a chance to play everyday, Bailor did not disappoint, hitting a very nice .310 over a full rookie year, with 154 hits in 496 at-bats, stealing 15 bases and scoring 62 runs.

Surprisingly, he didn't get a single vote for Rookie of the Year, though he had tough competition with Eddie Murray leading the way followed by the Oakland A's Mitchell Page.

Nevertheless, he was one of the bright spots of the Blue Jays inaugural season for sure.

While he would never come close to that performance over the next eight seasons of his career, he did provide his team with a player who could fill in both all over the outfield and infield, putting in time "around the horn" as a solid utility man for the Jays, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers before calling it a career after the 1985 campaign.

All told, he finished with a career .264 average, with 775 hits in 2937 at-bats in 954 games, with 90 stolen bases and 339 runs scored along the way.

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1976 MIKE FLANAGAN

On the blog today, we have a 1976 "dedicated rookie" for former Cy Young winner and Baltimore Orioles ace Mike Flanagan, who made his MLB debut during the 1975 season:

Flanagan appeared in two games for the Orioles in 1975 before earning a spot the following season, which saw him appear in 20 games, half of those out of the bullpen, with 1977 his first true year as a Big League starter.

That season saw him go 15-10 over 36 games, 33 of them starts, tossing the first two shutouts of his career, while completing 15 and throwing 235 innings.

1978 would see him make the A.L. All-Star team, incredibly the only time that would happen for him, as he would go on to win 19 games against 15 losses, throwing what would end up being a career-best 281.1 innings.

In 1979, it would all come together for the lefty, as he would go on to have his best year as a Major League pitcher, winning a league-leading 23 games for the American League champs, going 23-9 with a 3.08 ERA and five shutouts, striking out 190 batters and completing 16 games.

Those numbers would also get him a sixth-place finish in the MVP race at season's end, teaming up with Jim Palmer, Denny Martinez, Scott McGregor and Steve Stone to give Baltimore one heck of a starting five.

Though he'd never reach those numbers again, he would end up putting in 18 years in the Big Leagues, winning 167 games against 143 losses, posting a 3.90 ERA over 2770 innings with 19 shutouts and 1491 strikeouts.