A NOT SO MISSING 1977 CAREER-CAPPER FOR ROGER NELSON

Up on the blog today we have a career-capping 1977 card for former pitcher Roger Nelson, aka “Spider”, who played the last of his Major League games during the 1976 season:

Nelson appeared in three games for the Kansas City Royals in 1976, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a very nice 2.08 earned run average over 8.2 innings.
His finest MLB season was 1972 during his first stint with the Royals, when he posted a record of 11-6 with an excellent 2.08 ERA with six shutouts over 34 appearances, 19 of them starts.
What made the season really impressive is that he posted the lowest WHIP of any pitcher through the Greg Maddux years a couple of decades later when he finished with a WHIP of 0.871, allowing only 31 walks and 120 hits over his 173.1 innings.
I was always fascinated by this out-of-nowhere year for a relatively unknown pitcher, especially when this happened during the era of Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton et. al.
All told, he finished with a career 29-32 record, with a very nice 3.06 ERA over 135 appearances and 636.1 innings, with seven shutouts and four saves.
Half of his career 20 complete games and all but one of his career shutouts were during that magic run of 1972 when he had it running on all cylinders.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1972 MISSING ROGER NELSON

Up on the blog today, I wanted a shot a re-doing my much earlier “missing card” for Kansas City Royals pitcher Roger Nelson, which I created almost SEVEN years ago (time flies!):

Now the first one I created wasn’t all that bad, but this image here is an actual Topps photo, so it just completes what I wanted to accomplish for the guy who would go on to post one of the best WHIP-seasons of our lifetime!.
Here’s my original post written up on June 13th, 2013:

“Quick, if someone were to ask you to name the top 3 "WHIP" pitching seasons since 1970, I'm sure at some point you can guess the names Pedro Martinez or Greg Maddux if you don't already know the answer.
Martinez set the MLB record with a .737 WHIP in 2000 (unreal considering it was smack in the middle of steroid-era baseball), while Maddux turned in an incredible .810 WHIP in 1995. Both were Cy Young award winners those years, and both were already considered the top pitchers in the game.
Now, if you were to take a guess at #3 on the WHIP list post-1970, how long would it take for you to name Roger Nelson of the 1972 Royals!?
Yes, journeyman pitcher and one of the original Royals from their debut 1969 season, Roger Nelson.
He of the nine-year, 29-32 career, pulled off an amazing, yet unappreciated season in 1972 where he posted a 2.08 E.R.A.,  with 10 complete games out of 19 starts, for a team that went 76-78.
Yet despite the valiant effort, he ended up sporting a paltry 11-6 record by season's end, though six of those 11 wins were by shutout.
But what really set this season apart from so many others was his WHIP (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched), which is so valued in today’s game.
In 1972 Nelson recorded an amazing .871 WHIP, easily finishing ahead of Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter, Gaylord Perry and Jim Palmer. Definitely one of those trivia questions that can win you some money in a bar one night!
Now, as if the poor guy's season isn't respected enough, turns out Topps didn't even have a card for him in the 1972 set even though he had cards from 1968-1971, and 1973-1975. But for his best season in the Majors, nothing. That is, until today.”

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S- "SPIDER" ROGER NELSON

Fun card to add to the “Nicknames of the 1970’s” stable, a 1973 edition featuring Kansas City pitcher Roger Nelson, aka “Spider”, who came out of nowhere in 1972 with a season for the ages, albeit somewhat under the radar:

Nelson, who barely played the previous two seasons, so much so that he wasn’t even in the 1972 Topps set, went on to post one of the lowest WHIP’s in MLB history in 1972 with a 0.871 mark.
He’d post a record of 11-6 over 34 appearances, 19 of them starts, with six shutouts and two saves while striking out 120 batters while walking only 31.
His 3.87 strikeouts to walks ratio also led the American League, while also finishing the season with a stellar 2.08 earned run average.
However he quickly fell to earth the following year, now pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in only 14 games while going 3-2 with a decent 3.46 ERA, throwing only 54.2 innings.
He’d pitch parts of the 1974 and 1976 seasons, spending all of 1975 in the Minors, finishing up his nine year Big League career with three games for the Royals out of the bullpen during the Bicentennial year.
All told, he finished with a career 29-32 record, with a very nice 3.06 ERA over 135 appearances and 636.1 innings, with seven shutouts and four saves.
Half of his career 20 complete games and all but one of his career shutouts were during that magic run of 1972 when he had it running on all cylinders.

"WHIP(ING) UP A CARD FOR AN UNDER-APPRECIATED SEASON- 1972 ROGER NELSON"

Quick, if someone were to ask you to name the top 3 "WHIP" pitching seasons since 1970, I'm sure at some point you can guess the names Pedro Martinez or Greg Maddux if you don't already know the answer.

Martinez set the MLB record with a .737 WHIP in 2000 (unreal considering it was smack in the middle of steroid-era baseball), while Maddux turned in an incredible .810 WHIP in 1995. Both were Cy Young award winners those years, and both were already considered the top pitchers in the game.

Now, if you were to take a guess at #3 on the WHIP list post-1970, how long would it take for you to name Roger Nelson of the 1972 Royals!? 

Yes, journeyman pitcher and one of the original Royals from their debut 1969 season, Roger Nelson.

He of the nine-year, 29-32 career, pulled off an amazing, yet unappreciated season in 1972 where he posted a 2.08 E.R.A.,  with 10 complete games out of 19 starts, for a team that went 76-78. 

Yet despite the valiant effort, he ended up sporting a paltry 11-6 record by season's end, though six of those 11 wins were by shutout. 

But what really set this season apart from so many others was his WHIP (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched), which is so valued in todays game. In 1972 Nelson recorded an amazing .871 WHIP, easily finishing ahead of Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter, Gaylord Perry and Jim Palmer. Definitely one of those trivia questions that can win you some money in a bar one night!

Now, as if the poor guy's season isn't respected enough, turns out Topps didn't even have a card for him in the 1972 set even though he had cards from 1968-1971, and 1973-1975. But for his best season in the Majors, nothing. That is, until today. 

Here is my take on a 1972 Roger Nelson Topps card, in appreciation of one of those quirky seasons that makes Major League Baseball so awesome to follow, year in and year out.

3rd best WHIP season since 1970