1960s "IN-ACTION" SPECIAL: 1963 FRANK ROBINSON

Today on the blog, a new and exciting thread which will also be a fun custom printed set, my "1960s In-Action" set, creating special In-Action cards throughout the 1960s imagining if Topps utilized such photos for their cards and sets.

We start it off with Frank Robinson, and a 1963 "In-Action" card, showing the All-Timer in action while with the Cincinnati Reds:

Just a great action shot of the man, with a slightly altered 1963 template, imagining what Topps would have done had they released such a sub-set.

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.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION: PAUL WANER

Chugging along with my 1971 "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" thread today, we add Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Paul Waner, who had himself both and amazing Major and Minor League career that led him straight to Cooperstown some 30 years later:

The man could just flat-out hit!

During his three-year Minor League stint with the San Francisco Seals before tearing up National League pitching, he hit .369, .356 and .401 between 1923 and 1925, collecting as much as 280 hits (1925) with a ridiculous 75 doubles and 402 total bases.

Quite clearly stating that he was indeed ready for Major League play, the Pirates signed the 22 year-old and all he did was go on to hits .333 over the next 20 seasons under the Major League Sun, winning three batting titles, topping 200-hits eight times, 100+ runs nine times, 10+ triples ten times and 300+ total bases seven times.

In his second season, 1927, the 24-year-old led the N.L. with a .380 average, 237 hits, 18 triples, 131 RBIs and 342 total bases.

The following year he'd lead with 142 runs scored, 50 doubles while "dropping" to a .370 average with "only" 86 RBIs.

Over his 15 years with the Pirates he finished with a .340 career average before playing the last five years with the Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, hitting .290 thus dropping his career number to .333.

After one game in 1945 he called it a career, finishing with 3152 hits, 1627 runs, 605 triples, 191 triples and 1309 RBIs, making the first three All-Star games between 1933 and 1935.

Just an incredible player who anchored the Pirates for so many seasons, while playing alongside his younger brother Lloyd, who was NO slouch himself, totaling 2459 hits with a .316 career average over 18 seasons!

Incredible!

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2014: 1972 CY YOUNG AWARD SPECIAL OF 1975

On the blog today, I wanted to revisit a blog post from almost 10 years ago, part of that year's thread of imagining if Topps also did a Cy Young Award sub-set in their 1975 to accompany the wildly popular MVP set.

What made creating the 1972 award fun was that I had to also recreate cards for both the winners, being that they were shown with their previous teams due to late trades: Gaylord Perry and Steve Carlton:

Really fun "what if?" card to add to the WTHBALLS stable!

Here's the original write-up for that post that was on the blog June 20th of 2014:

"Today's post for my 1975 Cy Young sub-set thread is a fun one since both cards represented for the 1972 award winners have been redesigned.

I already redesigned the 1972 Topps Gaylord Perry card (the American League winner) earlier on the blog, but let me refresh your memory:

For the National League winner, Steve Carlton, I've also gone and redesigned his 1972 Topps card since his regular card in the set still had him as a St. Louis Cardinal.

And I wasn't going to use his "Traded Card" that came out as part of the late-series "traded" sub-set that year.

So before we look at my 1975 "Cy Young 1972 Winners" card, take a look at my redesigned Carlton card:

So with those two new cards designed, here's my 1972 card for the 1975 Cy Young sub-set that I thought would be nice to partner up with Topps' M.V.P. set of the same year:

Both Perry and Carlton were running on all cylinders in 1972, finally putting it all together and posting career years for their new teams.

Perry did everything the Indians were hoping for when they added him to their staff, posting a record of 24-16 (40 DECISIONS!) with a 1.92 earned run average and 234 strikeouts.

He also added 29 complete games, five of which were shutouts, over an incredible 342.2 innings of work.

For Carlton, he dominated, plain and simple, going 27-10 with a 1.97 E.R.A., as well as 310 strikeouts with 30 complete games and eight shutouts.

The man just took over that year on his way to his "Lefty" legend, and both men would find themselves in the Hall of Fame years later, as 3000+ strikeout guys, 300+ win guys, and 20+ year career guys.

Not too shabby…

Next up, 1973 and a return visit from New York Met fireballer Tom Seaver, along with the first appearance from a guy who'd end up a three time Cy Young winner, Jim Palmer.

Stay tuned…"

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 BARRY FOOTE

The next OPC to Topps image variation profiled here on the blog will be the 1977 cards of former catcher Barry Foote, with Topps coming out the winner in my humble opinion:

OPC version

Topps version

While OPC went with a posed shot of Foote staring off into the distance, Topps opted for a batting pose with Foote looking right into the camera.

Nothing earth-shattering by any means, but in my opinion a nicer photo of the young backstop who was still in his early 20's with a few seasons already under his belt.

Foote put in 10 years as a Big League catcher, coming up in 1973 with six games for the Expos and playing through the 1982 when he appeared in 17 games for the New York Yankees, which I remember very well.

In between he was generally a back-up catcher, playing for the Expos, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Yanks, never having a season where he totaled more than what would be officially a "full season".

In 1979 while with the Cubs he did appear in 132 games, hitting .254 over 469 plate appearances, hitting a career-best 16 homers while scoring 47 runs.

His rookie season of 1974 could be his best year in the Majors, when he ended up the Topps rookie all-star catcher after he hit .262 over 125 games, collecting what would end up being a career-best 110 hits, with 60 runs batted in.

Nevertheless, a solid back-up for a decade that ended up with a career .230 batting average, with 489 hits, 191 runs scored and 230 RBIs over 687 games and 2127 at-bats.

CLOSING OUT ANOTHER YEAR, LOOKING FORWARD TO 2024!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

With another new year upon us, I wanted to take today to thank each and every one of you for the continued support and interest, keeping my baseball and baseball card obsession alive!

Continuing to create and present new customs to all of you on a daily basis is a staple of my day, and if anything I am even MORE excited to keep doing so in the new year.

I have some great new threads coming up, including a 1960's "In-Action" thread which will also be a new custom printed set soon, as well as an "Icons" special set celebrating some of the all-time greats of the game.

The most exciting part of my plans for 2024 here on the blog are two true custom "WTHBALLS" sets, a "Classic Baseball" set paying homage to all-timers and a "retro" 1970's set, as if I created a base set under the WTHBALLS moniker.

I'm also ready to start branching out into other sports! Hope to have : "missing" cards from football, basketball and hockey sprinkled in as well.

When I started the blog in May of 2013 I never in my wildest dreams thought it would grow to what it is now, with not only a blog a day, every day, but with almost a couple of dozen custom-printed sets produced!

None of that would have happened without all your support, and it is never taken for granted!

Honestly, thank you all so very much!

Here's to a fun 2024, and more importantly a safe and happy year for us all!

Thank you and be well!

Gio/wthballs

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: TOM SEAVER

Next up in my spotlights of cards from my recent custom "1969 Gimmie A Do-Over" set, Tom Seaver, perhaps my favorite pitcher of all-time, "Tom Terrific", three-time Cy Young winner, New York Mets legend, Hall of Famer:

Topps originally reused the image they had on his 1968 card, I'm sure much to the annoyance of young collectors pulling cards from packs way back when.

Here I used a nice posed shot, showing the young pitching ace smiling as he would soon guide the young Mets franchise to the most unlikely of World Championships later that year.

What needs to be said about the greatest New York Met to ever suit up?

The man would end up with a 311-205 record along with 61 shutouts and 3640 strikeouts to go with a brilliant 2.86 ERA over 20-seasons and 656 appearances, 647 of which were starts.

He was in prime form in the mid-70’s, putting together nine straight 200 strikeouts seasons while getting tabbed to ten all-star teams in his first eleven seasons.

God I loved Tom Seaver when I was a kid. More than any other pitcher of that era I was in awe of this man. He just seemed like a "super-hero" to me.

Just look at all my other posts dedicated to the man here on this blog. He was other-worldly to me growing up in New York City as a kid in the 1970's.

Even if he WAS a Met, to this young Yankee fan he was unquestionably the best pitcher in the game at that time.

Rest in Peace "Tom Terrific"!

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1970 RICHIE (DICK) ALLEN

Good day everyone!

On the blog this fine morning we have a do-over for the great Richie (Dick) Allen, the second such "correction" I have done for his 1970 card, this time reflecting his last season with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969, as opposed to the revised St. Louis Cardinals version I created years ago:

Re-Done version

Topps issued version

Just a nice shot of the "Wampum Walloper" in his Philly uni before he was shipped off to the St. Louis Cardinals in a blockbuster trade.

Allen hit 32 homers in baseball's centennial season, along with 89 runs batted, 79 runs scored and a .288 batting average.

He would find himself part of the aforementioned blockbuster trade on October 7th of 1969 when he was shipped off to the St. Louis Cardinals with Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas for Byron Brown, Joe Hoerner and Curt Flood.

Allen would fare well for the Cardinals in 1970, hitting 34 homers while driving in 101 runs in only 122 games, yet would be on the move again, this time being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he'd suit up in 1971, driving in 90 while hitting 23 homers, hitting .295 over on the West Coast.

The man was a beast at the plate, putting up numbers that were consistently up in the league-leaders year after year.

Needless to say, he took home the Rookie of the Year in 1964, and in 1972 would take home the MVP trophy while with the White Sox when he paced the American League with 37 homers and 113 RBI's, while just missing out on the Triple Crown, batting .308, just ten points off the league-leading mark by perennial winner Rod Carew.

By the time he left the game at the age of 35, Allen hit over 350 homers, batted .292 and scored 1099 runs with 1119 RBI's.

The seven-time all-star also led his league in triples once, walks once, on-base-percentage twice and slugging three times.

I'm not saying the man is a lock-tight Hall of Fame candidate, but I do think in light of some of the guys already in, HE should also be in there.

The fact that the most support he got was an 18.9% showing in 1996 seems like a joke to me.

What do you all think?