UNISSUED PROOF: 1977 WAYNE GARLAND

Up on the blog today, another fun "un-issued" proof card to spotlight, this one a 1977 proof of former 20-game winner Wayne Garland of the Baltimore Orioles and soon to be Cleveland Indians:

 

Garland was coming off a great 1976 season with the Orioles that saw him go 20-7 with a very nice 2.67 earned run average over 38 appearances, 25 of which were starts.

It was certainly a "career-year" and one that got him a fat Free Agent contract with the Indians over the Winter, sadly one that the Indians would definitely want back.

Arm injuries set in soon after and Garland never got close to his 1976 numbers, going 13-19 in 1977, and never winning more than six games in any of his remaining four seasons after that before retiring in 1981 at only 30 years of age.

Of his 10140 career innings over his nine year career, a whopping HALF of those were thrown in the two seasons of 1976 and 1977, with a high of 282.2 in his first year with Cleveland in 1977.

All told he finished with a 55-66 career record along with a 3.89 ERA and 450 strikeouts over 190 games, 121 of them starts, with seven shutouts and six saves.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1977 A.L. WINS

On the blog today, we move on to the American League’s top three pitchers in terms of victories for the 1976 season, shown on an “expanded” 1977 league-leader card:

 

 

We begin with Baltimore orioles great Jim Palmer, who paced the A.L. for the second straight year in wins, this time with 22 after leading in 1975 with 23, both seasons leading him to take home the Cy Young Award.

Palmer paired those 22 wins with a 2.51 ERA over 40 starts, with 23 complete games and six shutouts, along with 159 strikeouts over a league-leading 315 innings of work.

This would give him three Cy Young Awards in four seasons, first taking home the award back in 1973 when he also finished second in the MVP race, going 22-9 with a leading 2.40 ERA over 38 games.

Right behind Palmer with 21 wins, “El Tiante” Luis Tiant, who was churning out winning season after winning season for the Boston Red Sox after being pulled from the trash heap back in 1972.

Tiant posted his fourth and final 20-win season, going 21-12 over 38 games, with a 3.06 ERA and three shutouts, his third 20-win season in four years, with just an 18-win season breaking the streak in 1975.

Incredible to think back in 1970, still only 29 years of age, it looked like his career was over after losing 20 games with the Indians in 1969, appearing in only 18 games for the Minnesota twins in 1970, then going 1-7 for Boston in 1971.

1972 saw Tiant return to his great form, leading the A.L. with a 1.91 ERA while going 15-6 over 43 appearances, tossing six shutouts while also saving three, eventually putting in 19 years and winning 229 games.

In third place with 20 wins, another Oriole starter, Wayne Garland, who had his breakthrough season in 1976, and sadly also his breakdown season, going 20-7 over 38 games, with four shutouts and a brilliant 2.67 ERA.

Those numbers got him a big contract with the Cleveland Indians the following year, only to see him falter and lose 19 against 13 wins, with an ERA a full run higher.

Arm troubles derailed his career, never even approaching double-digit wins the rest of the way, retiring in 1981, still only 30 years of age, with 55 wins, almost half the total won in 1976.

There you have the big-three winners of the A.L. for 1976, on an “expanded” league-leader card.

Next week we move on to strikeouts.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 WAYNE GARLAND

The next “missing” card is a 1975 slab for former pitcher Wayne Garland of the Baltimore Orioles:

Garland put up some decent numbers during the 1974 season, appearing in 20 games and posting a 5-5 record with a very nice 2.97 ERA over 91 innings of work.
Two years later in 1976 he would become the latest in the Baltimore 20-win club of the decade, going 20-7 with a brilliant 2.67 ERA and four shutouts for Earl Weaver and the O’s, joining other pitchers like Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson and others with those 20 victories.
SADLY for the Cleveland Indians, they jumped at the chance to sign him during baseball’s first season of large-scale free agency, and gave him a 10-year contract for $2.3 million, but he was never able to repeat that 1976 season.
As a matter of fact Garland BEST season as a Cleveland Indian would arguably be his first, in 1977 when he posted a 13-19 record, leading the American League in losses, along with a 3.60 ERA over 38 starts and 282.2 innings pitched.
He would never reach double-digits in wins again, retiring after the 1981 season with a 55-66 career record along with a 3.89 ERA and 450 strikeouts over 190 games, 121 of them starts, with seven shutouts and six saves.