CAREER-CAPPER: 1967 BOBBY RICHARDSON

Today on the blog we have a 1967 "Career-Capper" for New York Yankees great Bobby Richardson, who closed out a wonderful Big League career in 1966:

An often overlooked important cog in the last great Yankee dynasty "hurrah" of the early '60's, Richardson won five Gold Gloves during the decade, as well as finishing second in M.V.P. voting in 1962 behind teammate Mickey Mantle while making eight All-Star teams.
As a matter of fact, between 1961 and 1965 he garnered M.V.P. consideration each year, and was named to the American League all-star team five times between 1962-1966.
Even though he retired at the young age of 30, Richardson ended up with 1432 hits, leading the A.L. with 209 in 1962.
Little bit of a side note: I remember as a young Don Mattingly fanatic in 1984 that Richardson was being mentioned repeatedly during the season as the last Yankee to attain 200 hits, since it was clear Mattingly was well on his way to that magic number himself while battling teammate Dave Winfield for the batting title.

For his career, which spanned 1955 through 1966, Richardson hit .266 with 1432 hits in 5386 at-bats in 1412 games, all for the Yankees, while being a part of four World Series winning squads.

CAREER-CAPPER: 1984 BOBBY MURCER

Up on the blog today, from my next WTHBALLS custom set, we finally get around to creating a 1984 "Career-Capper" for one of the nicest men to ever take the field, Bobby Murcer:

Murcer appeared in only nine games for the New York Yankees in 1983, the final games of his very nice 17-year career.

He made his MLB debut in 1965, appearing in 11 games for the New York Yankees and hitting .243 with a homer and four runs batted in while putting in time at shortstop.

After 21 more games in 1966, he lost two years to military service before coming back as a full-time Big League outfielder in 1969, slugging 26 homers with 82 RBIs and a .259 batting average over 152 games.

Murcer really did have a very nice career, especially those seasons between 1969 and 1977 when he drove in over 80 runs eight times, while topping 90 five of those seasons.
He hit as high as .331 (1971) while hitting as many as 33 homers (1972), while also leading the league in runs scored with 102 in 1972, OBP with a .427 mark in 1971 and total bases with 314 again in 1972.
He made five straight All-Star teams from 1971 through 1975, and was in the top-10 in MVP voting three straight years: 1971-1973.
Much more importantly, the man was one of the nicest human beings on the planet, as I can attest to, meeting him on more than a few occasions.
He was just as “real” as it got.
Rest in Peace Bobby. You are truly missed.

 

1981 DRAKE'S BIG PITCHERS: GAYLORD PERRY

The next card from my "Drake's Big Pitchers" custom set to get the spotlight is my card for 300-game winner Gaylord Perry:

For me growing up in the late-70’s/early-80s, Perry was the stuff of legend since he was the first player I remember reaching 3000 strikeouts, which at the time made him only the THIRD player to do so behind Walter Johnson and Bob Gibson.
He was also (and I remember this vividly) the first pitcher to reach 300 wins since Early Wynn, which was a 20 year gap, the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in both leagues, which he did with the Indians in 1972 and the Padres in 1978.
That 1978 season saw him take home the award after a fantastic year that saw him go 21-6 with a 2.73 earned run average at the age of 39 after coming over from the Texas Rangers.
People may also forget that for a relatively brief moment he was the all-time strikeout king before a couple of guys by the name of Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton caught up soon after.
He posted five 20-win seasons, finishing with 314 for his career, along with 53 shutouts and 3534 strikeouts over a 22-year Big League career, tossing 300+ innings six times.
Is it safe to say that he’s almost a forgotten all-time great?

CAREER-CAPPER: 1981 PAUL BLAIR

As requested a while back, here is the long overdue 1981 "Career-Capper" for defensive outfielder extraordinaire, Paul Blar, who wrapped up a wonderful Major League career in 1980 as a member of the New York Yankees:

Blair appeared in only 12 games for the Yankees in his final Big League season, going 0-for-2 at the plate while putting in time as a defensive replacement in the outfield.

Though a decent hitter in his own right, Blair was a superstar fielding outfielder for the O's, taking home eight Gold Gloves for his excellence in the field, seven consecutively between 1969-1975.

He was known to taunt hitters by playing shallow, then sprinting deep to track down fly balls.

A member of four world champion teams (Orioles in 1966/70; Yankees 1977/78), Blair put together an excellent 17-year career playing between 1964 and 1980 for the Orioles, Yanks and Reds.

He'd finish with a .250 batting average with 1513 hits, 134 homers and 171 stolen bases over 1947 games and 6673 plate appearances.

 

WTHBALLS 1950 CUSTOM SET: YOGI BERRA

Today we'll finally put a spotlight on my 1950 WTHBALLS custom set, released back in 2018, celebrating the stars of the game at that time, beginning with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra:

The set of bookmark sized cards were packaged with a bonus "all-time leaders" six card set, packaged inside a candy bar themes wrap as seen in the image included here.

It was a popular release and sold out quickly, and I thank you all who purchased one!

As for Mr. Berra, let's see, the man was a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, a FIFTEEN-TIME all-star, and received Most Valuable Player votes every single year between 1947 and 1961. As a matter of fact, between 1950 and 1956 he never finished lower than fourth for the MVP, with three wins, and two second place finishes!

That's seven top-4 finishes in seven years! Just awesome.

Oh yeah, let's not forget the fact that he was a member of TEN world championship teams! Amazing!

Except for four scant games in 1965 with the New York Mets, Berra played the rest of his 19-year career with the Bronx Bombers, amassing 358 homers, 1430 runs batted in and a .285 average.

One other note about his amazing career: the man only struck out 414 times over 8359 at-bats!

YOGI!!! I loved that man!

A true baseball treasure…

 

REVISIT: 1972 "MISSING IN ACTION" DANNY WALTON

Today on the blog we revisit another 10+ year-old post from the blog, this one my "missing" 1972 card for Danny Walton:

Walton appeared in a combined 35 games in ‘71 between the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees, the last five with the Yankees on his way to a .193 batting average with 16 hits in 83 at-bats.
It was a bit of a disappointment for a guy who played very well in 1970, batting .257 with 17 home runs and 66 runs batted in over 117 games for the Brewers.
It would turn out to be his only somewhat full-time season in his nine-year career that was spread out between 1968 and 1980, playing for six teams.
Always a “future star” while in the minor leagues, he put up some monster numbers, hitting as many as 42 home runs (with Albuquerque in 1977) and batting as high as .332 (with Oklahoma City in 1969).
He would hit 238 homers in the minors, topping 20 six different years.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1980 DAMASO GARCIA

Fun card to add to the blog today,a "not so missing" 1980 card for All-Star infielder Damaso Garcia, who got his start in the Majors as a member of the New York Yankees:

Garcia appeared in 18 games with the eventual World Champions in 1978, hitting .195 with eight hits over 41 at-bats, playing both shortstop and second base.

He'd play in eleven games with the Bronx Bombers in 1979 before finding himself traded to the Toronto Blue Jays along with Chris Chambliss and Paul Mirabella on November 1st of 1979 for Rick Cerone, Tom Underwood and Ted Wilborn, a trade that helped his career with the given opportunity to play everyday.

With that chance he would not disappoint, finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year race in 1980, hitting .278 with 151 hits, 30 doubles and 13 stolen bases.

He would go on to make two All-Star teams while also taking home a Silver Slugger Award in 1982 when he collected a career-best 185 hits, 80 runs scored and 54 stolen bases.

While a consistent contributor to the Blue jays through the 1986 season, his relationship with manager Jimy Williams went South, leading to a trade to the Atlanta Braves before the 1987 season, with him spending the entire season in the Minors.

He'd make it back to the Majors in 1988, but for only 21 games, hitting .117 before finding himself with the Montreal Expos in 1989, for what turned out to be the last 80 games of his career, hitting .271.

Sadly, shortly after his playing days were over, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, with subsequent surgery saving his life but leading to physical impairments that would stay with him the rest of his days.

Happily, he would live until the age of 63, eventually passing away due to cancer in April of 2020.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: THURMAN MUNSON

Today on the blog we add the great Thurman Munson to my long-running WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" custom set, celebrating the great game:

Such a great career cut short by tragedy, though as I recall, Munson was seriously considering retirement by the end of the decade because of nagging injuries and missing his family because of the grind of a full-season.
Nevertheless, a Rookie of the Year in 1970, an MVP in 1976, and two straight championships in 1977 and 1978. A wonderful career for the New York Yankees legend.

Munson, who came out of Kent State in his native Ohio, became an instant Yankee favorite in 1970 while becoming the leader of the organization in transition on the field.
By 1976 he was a legitimate star, winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award while leading the Yanks to their first World Series since 1964, followed by consecutive championships in 1977 and 1978.
Of course, this was all shattered when he died while piloting a small plane in August of 1979, shocking everyone, including myself as a 10-year old Yankee fan who idolized the catcher on a team filled with big personalities, like Reggie Jackson, Rich Gossage and Sparky Lyle.

Such a loss.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1989 JOSE CRUZ

Super fun card to add to the WTHBALLS roster today, that a 1989 "Career-Capper" for Jose Cruz, who closed out a brilliant Major League career in 1988:

Playing in his 19th Big League season, Cruz suited up for 38 games with the New York Yankees, and I was happy to have witnessed some of them in person!

The man hit an even .200 over 80 at-bats with the Yankees, hitting a homer and driving in seven with nine runs scored and eight walks.

Cruz, who would go on to find fame and fortune with his 13 seasons playing for the Houston Astros between 1975 and 1987, appeared in six games for St. Louis in his first taste of the Big Leagues in 1970, hitting a robust .353 with six hits over 17 at-bats.
He’d never find his true hitting stroke over the parts of five seasons he spent in St. Louis, but after being purchased by the Astros in December of 1974, he would go on to become an All-Star outfielder.
He would be named to two All-Star teams, win two Silver Slugger Awards, and three times finish in the top-10 for N.L. MVP, even leading the league in hits with 189 in 1983.
By the time he finished with one season as a New York Yankee in 1988 at the age of 40, he retired with 2251 hits, a .284 batting average, 165 homers and 317 stolen bases.

 

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: RICH GOSSAGE

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, a spotlight on another card from my 1981 "Drake's Big Pitchers" custom set released late last year, this one of Hall of Fame reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage:

After spending his first five Major League seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Gossge found himself with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 1977 season, performing very well as he would go 11-9 over 72 appearances, with 26 saves and a sparkling 1.62 earned run average over 133 innings, striking out 151 batters.

He parlayed that season in the new Free Agent world, signing with the New York Yankees, where he would star for the next six years, gaining tons of fans, me included.

Gossage was a true character of the game. He was all legs and arms whipping near-100 mile-per-hour fastballs while sporting that trademark 'stache, closing out games for those "Bronx Zoo" teams I loved so much.

He spent six years in the Bronx, and never had an E.R.A. over 2.62, even sporting a microscopic 0.77 in 1981!

He also led the league in saves twice while wearing pinstripes, as well as getting named to three all-star teams.

In 1978, 1980 and 1981 he'd also finish in the top-5 in Cy Young voting, in addition to getting some M.V.P. attention.

Around the school-yard I literally spent most of my childhood in, the nickname "Goose" was taken by so many kids it was ridiculous. We all loved that "crazy dude" who looked as mean as any biker.

By the time he was done, Gossage put in a 22 year career that landed him in the Hall of Fame, being inducted in 2008.

He was also given a plaque out in Yankee Stadium this year (to which I am a bit puzzled by), cementing his Yankee legend for all to look back on.

The "Goose", a real wild-man of a closer…

 

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: RON GUIDRY

Up on the blog today, a spotlight on my 1981 "Drake's Big Pitchers" custom for my favorite childhood pitcher, Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees, from my set released late last year:

"Louisiana Lightning" was a God in Brooklyn in the late 1970's into the 1980's, and rightly so, given his electric pitching and helping the Yankees to back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978.

His 1978 season was the stuff of legend, going 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA and nine shutouts, with 248 strikeouts, just ridiculous numbers while taking home the Cy Young Award, though getting robbed of the MVP (at least to me anyway).

Beyond his great career, he was, and still is, a great man. One of those guys that everyone seemed to respect no matter what.

On the mound, all he did was win a Cy Young in 1978, get ripped off an MVP that very same year (sorry Jim Rice), get named to four all-star teams, win five Gold Gloves, lead the league in wins twice, ERA twice, shutouts once, WHIP twice, and of course post that awesome 18-strikeout game against the Angels in 1978 during his magical 25-3 season which also saw him post 248 K's.

For his 14-year career he went 170-91, good for a .651 winning percentage, along with a 3.29 ERA, 26 shutouts and 1778 strikeouts.

He'd also go 5-2 in postseason play, with a 3.02 ERA and 51 K's in 62.2 innings, and was part of two World Champion teams (1977/78).

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1977 OTTO VELEZ

Good day all!

On the blog today, just for the fun of it, a re-do for Otto Velez and his 1977 card, which originally had him airbrushed into a Toronto Blue Jays uni by Topps way back when:

Here I have him suited up and shown as a New York Yankee, for whom he played in 1976.

After playing for the New York Yankees in parts of four seasons between 1973 and 1976, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in their inaugural expansion draft before the 1977 campaign.

He was the 53rd pick in the 1976 expansion draft, and would have a decent year for the Jays in 1977 when he batted .256 with 16 homers and 62 runs batted in.
He would stay with the team for the next five seasons, hitting as many as 20 homers (1980) as well as matching his 1977 RBI total that very same year.

In 1983 he would find himself with the Cleveland Indians, where he would play what turned out to be the final 10 games of his career, hitting only .080 with two hits over 25 at-bats, with a run scored and an RBI.

Velez would put 11 years in the Major Leagues, batting .251 with 78 homers and 272 runs batted in, while collecting 452 hits in 1802 at-bats over 637 games.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1972 JAKE GIBBS

On the blog today, we cap-off the career of catcher Jake Gibbs with a 1972 card, as Gibbs played the last of his ten Big League seasons in 1971, all with the New York Yankees:

Gibbs appeared in 70 games for the Yanks in 1971, hitting .218 with 45 hits in 206 at-bats while filling in for a young Thurman Munson.

Though he only appeared in nine total games between 1962 and 1964, Gibbs spent his entire career in the Bronx, with 1967 and 1968 as the only full years during his Major League career.

Overall, Gibbs finished with a .233 batting average, with 382 hits over 1639 at-bats, with 157 runs scored, 25 homers and 146 runs batted in.

Along with others like Mel Stottlemyre and Horace Clarke, Gibbs was one of those players that "lived" through the Yankee dark era of the latter-half of the 1960s.

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: TOMMY JOHN

Today on the blog, we spotlight my 1981 Drake's "Big Pitchers" custom card for Tommy John, from my recent custom set released a couple of months ago:

Fun set to create in special zip-lock package, adding to the fun oddball "Big Hitters" set Drakes put out there in 1981.

Tommy John had an incredible Major League career that was essentially "done" in 1975 after developing arm trouble.

However thanks to a new surgery technique that eventually took his name, he managed to not only come back but pitch for another 14 seasons, 26 TOTAL, leading to 288 wins over 760 games, with 700 of those as a starter.

He went on to post three 20-win seasons after his surgery, along with two top-5 Cy Young finishes, as well as three All-Star teams.

By the time he did finally retire at the age of 46 after the 1989 season, he wound up with a record of 288-231, with an ERA of 3.34 in 4710 innings, with 46 shutouts and 2245 strikeouts.

Just amazing, and I'm glad I got to see him pitch at the end of his career with the New York Yankees.

 

REVISIT: CAREER-CAPPER: 1974 JOHNNY CALLISON

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post from the WTHBALLS vault, this time my 1974 "career-capper" for Johnny Callison:

Callison played in his final 45 games during the 1973 in the Bronx, hitting .176 with 24 hits over 136 at-bats, including the last of his 226 career taters.
His career spanned 16-years between 1958 and 1973, where he collected 1757 hits with 926 runs scored, 840 runs batted in and the aforementioned 226 homers with a .264 average.
A three-time all-star, he was also the National league runner-up in MVP voting in 1964, certainly a victim to the colossal collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals, which propelled third baseman Ken Boyer to capture the award.
In both ‘64 and 1965 Callison topped 30+ homers, 25+ doubles and 10+ triples, while driving in over 100 both seasons as well.
After the Phillies he played with the Chicago Cubs for two years in 1970 and 1971 before moving on to the Yankees for the 1972 and 1973 campaigns, thus closing the books on a very respectable career in the big leagues.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: ROGER MARIS

Good day everyone.

On the blog today we'll go and add Roger Maris to my "Classic Baseball" WTHBALLS custom set, celebrating the great game and its incredible history:

As we all know, Maris' Yankee tenure resulted in that historic 1961 season that saw him hit "61 in '61", setting a new Major League record with 61 home runs, leading to what was his second straight MVP Award after a wonderful 1960 season that saw him 39 homers and a league-leading 112 RBIs.

Talk about "right place at the right time", Maris then went to the Cardinals just as they put together a World Championship in 1967, and a return to the World Series in 1968, though that resulted in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Maris appeared in 100 games for the N.L. champs, hitting .255 with 5 homers and 45 RBIs in the "Year of the Pitcher" of 1968.

He spent the last two years of his career with the Cardinals after his historic tenure with the New York Yankees.

By the time he hung them up in 1968, he hit 275 homers with 850 RBIs and 826 runs scored, hitting .260 over 1463 games between 1957 and 1968.

It's easy to forget that he retired very young, at only 33 years of age.

Would have been cool if he got to play into the mid-70's, just as I was getting into baseball...

1980s CAREER-CAPPERS: 1980 JIM "CATFISH" HUNTER

Today on the blog, from my recent and wildly popular "1980s Career-Cappers" set, my 1980 capper for Jim "Catfish" Hunter, who prematurely retired after suffering arm troubles a couple of season earlier:

Over his 15-year career, which wrapped up in 1979, Hunter racked up 224 wins, a 3.26 earned run average, 42 shutouts and 2012 strikeouts.

He took home the Cy Young Award in 1974 in his last season with the A's, came in second for the award the following year in his first year as a landmark Free-Agent with the Yankees, and threw a perfect game back in 1968 at the young age of 22.

A big-game pitcher, Hunter was a member of no less than five World Champion teams: 1972-74 Oakland A's, and the "Bronx Zoo" Yankee teams of 1977-78.

Did you know that Hunter is the last pitcher in the Major Leagues to complete 30 or more games in a season? 

In 1975 he completed 30 of his 39 starts, on his way to a 23-14 record with seven shutouts and a 2.58 E.R.A.

Between 1971 and 1975 he won 20 or more games each year, a great five year run which saw him win 111 games.

As a matter of fact, Hunter was the first pitcher since the all-time great Walter Johnson to win 200 games before the age of 31! And the only other guys at that time to also do it? Christy Mathewson and Cy Young. Incredible.

Sadly arm troubles and diabetes started to affect his career, forcing him to retire in 1979 at the age of only 33.

The final feather in his baseball cap would be a Hall of Fame induction in 1987 along with Chicago Cubs great Billy Williams, giving him a solid place in baseball history, if he didn't have one already...

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1975 RUDY MAY

On the blog today, a long overdue redo for Rudy May and his 1975 card, since he put in about half a season with them in 1974 yet Topps had a hilarious airbrushed card for him the following year:

For those who don't remember the original, oh please, allow me:

 

Ha! Just LOOK at that "NY" on his cap!

Wow. Not even close! That "N" is actually hilarious to look at!

May made his Major League debut in 1965 as a 20-year-old, appearing in 30 games and tossing 124 innings, certainly good enough for a card in the 1966 set.

He posted a record of 4-9 with a 3.92 earned run average, striking out 76 batters while throwing a shutout.

All told, he posted a 152-159 career record, with a 3.46 earned run average, 24 shutouts, 12 saves and 1760 strikeouts between 1965 and 1983.

His finest year was easily 1980, when he led the American League in E.R.A. with a nice 2.46 mark, WHIP at 1.044 and strikeouts-to-walks with a 3.41 number as a member of the New York Yankees.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: ROGER MARIS

On the blog today, we spotlight my "1960 Stars of the Game" custom card of Roger Maris, from my custom set released in 2018:

Of course his Yankee tenure resulted in that historic 1961 season that saw him hit "61 in '61", setting a new Major League record with 61 home runs, leading to what was his second straight MVP Award after a wonderful 1960 season that saw him 39 homers and a league-leading 112 RBIs.

He spent the last two years of his career with the Cardinals after his historic tenure with the New York Yankees.

Talk about "right place at the right time", Maris came to the Cardinals just as they put together a World Championship in 1967, and a return to the World Series in 1968, though that resulted in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.

By the time he hung them up in 1968, he hit 275 homers with 850 RBIs and 826 runs scored, hitting .260 over 1463 games between 1957 and 1968.

It's easy to forget that he retired very young, at only 33 years of age.

Would have been cool if he got to play into the mid-70's, just as I was getting into baseball...

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: WHITEY FORD

Good day all! 

On the blog today, we come to my custom "1960s Stars of the Game" card for the great Whitey Ford, from my set released back in 2018:

Super fun set to create, which included custom WTHBALLS gelatin box with actual gelatin packet inside.

What needs to be said about quite possibly the greatest Yankee pitcher of them all?

Cy Young winner in 1961, winner of 236 games against only 106 losses (a nifty .690 winning percentage), a 2.75 career earned run average, and a member of six world championship clubs.

He led the league in wins three times, winning percentage three times, ERA twice, shutouts twice, and was named to eight all-star teams during his 16-year career.

His 10 World Series wins (along with his eight losses) are Major League high marks to this day, and who knows how much more he could have padded all of his numbers had he not lost two seasons to the military in 1951 and 1952!

When the Hall of Fame came calling he was inducted on his first try, getting named to 284 of 365 ballots in 1974.

Obviously there's so much more to get into with Whitey, but I could end up writing a book here if I did, so I'll leave it up to the Wikipedia's out there to fill anyone in who wants to learn more.

I only wish Ford didn't try to hang on those last couple of years in 1966 and 1967, when he went a combined 4-9, thus eliminating the chance of him being only the second pitcher to this day to retire with 200+ wins and LESS than 100 losses (the other being 19th-century pitcher Bob Caruthers, who finished at 218-99 between 1884-1893).

Oh well, I know I'm nitpicking here…It's the nerd in me I guess.