MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- PETE ROSE

Next in line for a 1971 “Minor League Days” card in my long-running sub-set is the great Pete Rose, a Hall of Famer in my book, who was tearing up D-League pitching in 1961 as a member of the Tampa Tarpons:

The 20-year-old Rose ended up hitting .331 for the Tarpons, with 160 hits in 484 at-bats over 130 games, but what was extraordinary were his 30 triples, along with 20 doubles, 77 runs batted in and 30 stolen bases.
The man was on a mission, and with one more year of Minor League ball in 1962, he was ready to take the Majors by storm in 1963, which would end up with him taking home the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Of course, all he did after that was win three batting titles, an MVP Award in 1973, become a key part of a juggernaut with the “Big Red Machine” Reds of the 1970’s that led to two World Championships, and of course being named the Sporting News “Player of the Decade” for the 1970’s.
In the ten years spanning 1970-1979, he was on two world champion teams, four pennant winners, had six 200-hit seasons, and lead his league in no less than 13 offensive categories!
And that's not all: in NINE of those years he received Most Valuable Player consideration, taking home the award as I stated earlier in 1973.
As a player, the man was incredible. A Hall of Famer. The all-time hit leader in Major League baseball’s 150+ year history.
“Charlie Hustle”!!!

TURN BACK THE CLOCK- 1954: KARL SPOONER'S ELECTRIC MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT

I realized I haven’t created a “Turn Back the Clock” card in a long while, and recently was reminded of Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Karl Spooner’s incredible Big League debut on September 22nd, 1954.
So without further delay, here you go:

On that September day, Spooner took the mound for the Dodgers a day after the New York Giants clinched the National League title on their way to a World Championship.
All the young lefty would do that day is shut out the Giants on three hits while striking out 15 batters, while walking three, setting a new MLB record for K’s in a debut.
In addition to that, he would also set a new record with six straight strikeouts over the seventh and eighth innings, by now on cruise control as he was heading towards his amazing complete game.
In his very next start, now against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he would again put in an electric performance, striking out 12 batters, a new National League record (one short of Bob Feller’s MLB record of 28 K’s in successive starts), while posting his second straight shutout.
Not too shabby!
The next season Spooner was a highly anticipated rookie who had Dodger fans waiting for magical season, but as we have seen over and over again, the unexpected happened as he was rushed into a Spring Training game to relieve starting pitcher Johnny Podres.
In warming up too fast so as to be ready when the signal came, Spooner later recalls that he entered the game and felt a slight pull on his throwing shoulder.
Though he didn’t think anything of it at the time, by the time his day was over and he was in the dressing room, it got to the point where he couldn’t even put his shirt on.
And just like that, though he did pitch the rest of the season, appearing in 29 games while going 8-6 with a 3.65 earned run average over 98.2 innings, the damage was done, and he never pitched another Major League game again.

 

JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT- 1975 JACK HEIDEMANN RE-DO

I recently came across this nice image of former infielder Jack Heidemann as a Cleveland Indian and figured, “why not?” to a re-done 1975 card, even though he didn’t finish the 1974 season in Cleveland, but in St. Louis as Topps correctly depicted for their 1975 set:

Heidemann started the 1974 season as an Indian, appearing in 12 games before heading over to St. Louis where he’d finish the season with 47 games as a Redbird.
Overall he hit .247 over 59 games for both teams, collecting 20 hits over 81 at-bats, with ten runs scored and three runs batted in.
He finished his Major League tenure with a .211 batting average, with 231 hits in 1093 at-bats over 426 games, hitting nine home runs and driving in 75, scoring 94 himself between 1969 and 1977.
So this wasn’t a technical “re-do” as I usually define it, but just a filler for those who like a complete run of players with the teams they suited up for.
Enjoy!

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 ED PHILLIPS

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1971 card for one-year Major League pitcher Ed Phillips of the Boston Red Sox:

Phillips’ entire Major League career was played between April and August of 1970, appearing in 18 games for Boston while going 0-2 along the way.
In that time he posted an earned run average of 5.32 over 23.2 innings of work, striking out 23 while walking 10, all out of the bullpen.
He would spend all of 1971 in the Boston and New York Mets Minor League systems, appearing in 28 games (??) while tossing only six innings (that’s what Baseball_Reference has listed), to the tune of a 12.00 ERA. Ouch.
That would be the end of his Pro baseball career, which began in Boston’s system in 1966.
Nevertheless, at least for four to five months in 1970 he knew what it was like to be a Major League pitcher!

 

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 JIM ROOKER

On the blog today we have a “borderline” missing 1973 card for former pitcher Jim Rooker, who I feel had enough playing time in 1972 to warrant a card the following year:

Rooker appeared in 18 games for the Kansas City Royals, pitching 72 innings and posting a record of 5-6 with an ERA of 4.38.
Considering some of the other players who got cards in the 1973 set, I figure Rooker could have easily gotten one as well.
Anyway, in 1973 he would find himself now a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the change of scenery would be beneficial, as he’d post a record of 10-6 with a very nice 2.85 ERA over 41 appearances and 170.1 innings, with three shutouts and five saves.
He would go on to post another four straight seasons of double-digit wins for the Pirates, including career-bests 15 in both 1974 and 1976, with three seasons of sub-3.00 ERAs.
By the time he retired after the 1980 season, all with Pittsburgh, he finished with a career record of 103-109, with a nice 3.46 ERA over 319 appearances and 1810.1 innings pitched, along with 15 shutouts and seven saves between 1968 and 1980.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 GARY ROSS

Up on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1975 card for former pitcher Gary Ross, who barely saw any action during the 1974 season with the San Diego Padres:

Ross appeared in nine games for the Padres that season, not factoring in a decision while pitching to an earned run average of 4.50 in 18 innings of work.
For the 1975 campaign Ross would appear in one single game, now with the California Angels, throwing five innings and allowing three runs for a 5.40 ERA, taking the loss.
He would bounce back nicely somewhat in 1976 when he appeared in 34 games, 31 of them starts, going 8-16 but with a very nice 3.00 earned run average with seven complete games and two shutouts in 225 innings of work.
Sadly, his 1977 season was another bust as he went 2-4 in only 14 games with a 5.55 ERA over 58.1 innings, which would end up being his last as a Big League pitcher.
He’d retire after the season, never even playing Minor League ball after that, finishing up with a career 25-47 record over 283 appearances, with a 3.92 ERA in 713.2 innings pitched between 1968 and 1977.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- HOYT WILHELM

Fun card to add to the long-running 1971 “Minor League Days” sub-set, a Hoyt Wilhelm edition for the Hall of Fame reliever:

Incredibly, Wilhelm was already 27 years old when this photo was taken when he was a member of the Minneapolis Millers in 1950.
The man STILL had another full year in the Minors before he ever made his major League debut in 1952 when he led the league with a 2.43 earned run average while posting a brilliant 15-3 record over 71 appearances.
Truly one of the unique Big League careers, over his 21 MLB seasons, he only had two where he pitched enough innings to qualify for an ERA title, and he won BOTH years, the other happening in 1959 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles when he paced the league with a 2.19 ERA over 226 innings.
He would really hit his stride AFTER TURNING 40 in 1963 as a member of the Chicago White Sox, when he would post five straight seasons of a sub-2.00 ERA between 1964 and 1968!
As a kid growing up a Yankee fan during the 1970’s and 1980’s, we’d always be reminded of the “last time the Yanks were no-hit” every time a starter was getting close (Moose Haas, Nolan Ryan, etc), which he did on September 20th of 1958.
Before I ever even knew of the incredible career of Wilhelm, I knew of him just for this one fact.
It wasn’t the most memorable of seasons for the future Hall of Famer by any means, as he’d post a combined 3-10 record, though he’d pair that with a great 2.34 ERA, but certainly had one heck of a memorable moment.
Wilhelm would end up pitching 21 seasons in the big leagues, and again keep in mind he didn’t start playing until he was 29 years old!
He finished his brilliant career with a 143-122 record along with a sparkling 2.52 ERA over 1070 games, the first pitcher to reach 1000 appearances, before retiring after the 1972 season at the ripe old age of 49.