GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1977 JOE RUDI

Time to go ahead and add Joe Rudi to my recent run of recreating the 1977 Oakland A's stars who fled Charlie Finley for greener pastures elsewhere:

 

As with Bando, Tenace, Campenaris, etc, Rudi headed for the hills and signed with the California Angels after a wonderful run with the Oakland A's beginning in 1967.

The outfielder first baseman was twice the runner-up for an A.L. MVP, in 1972 and in 1974, helping the juggernaut Oakland A's to three straight World Series crowns.

He led the league with 181 hits and nine triples in 1972 along with doubles (39) and total bases (287) in 1974 while also giving the A’s a flexible fielder that could play all three outfield positions as well as first base.
Such a solid player, he teamed up with the likes of Sal Bando and Gene Tenace that made the A’s much more than just superstars like Reggie Jackson and Jim “Catfish” Hunter.

Sadly however, as with the other Oakland players who signed elsewhere before the 1977 season, he didn't continue his star status with his new team, suffering injuries and playing only one full season out of his three with California, moving on to the Boston Red Sox in 1981 and back to Oakland for one last hurrah in 1982.

By the time Rudi retired, he finished up with a career .264 average, with 179 homers and 810 RBIs over 1547 games and 5556 at-bats playing for the A’s, California Angels and Boston Red Sox between 1967 and 1982.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1971 MIKE MARSHALL

Up on the blog today, thought it'd be fun to finally go ahead a re-do his 1971 Topps card, which originally showed him airbrushed into a Montreal Expos uni:

 

Of course by now we all know that Marshall was a player who gave Topps fits by not allowing them to photograph him. Yet apparently Topps did have rights to issue a card of him, so they would keep recycling images of him from his Detroit Tigers days.

1971 was really the beginning of his incredible run as a reliever over the next few years, culminating with a Cy Young Award in 1974 with the Dodgers when he appeared in a (still) Major League record 106 games, all in relief.

In those 106 games he went 15-12 with a 2.42 earned run average, 21 saves and 143 strikeouts in 208.1 innings of work!

Incredible…

Later in the decade he had a couple more great years with the Twins in 1978 and 1979, finding his groove again, putting in two seasons of Cy Young caliber relief work saving 53 games and appearing in 144 games between 1978 and 1979.

By the way, thanks to Marshall’s medical background, having multiple degrees in medicine, he’s also remembered for allegedly being the person suggesting to teammate Tommy John to undergo this radically new surgery when Tommy John’s career was seemingly over.
Of course, John did so and eventually the surgery would end up being so associated with him that it took on his name, “Tommy John Surgery”, and extending John's baseball career an astounding 14 years!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 HUGH YANCY

Today on the blog, yet another "not so missing" card for former Chicago White Sox infielder Hugh Yancy, who made his Big League debut in 1972, appearing in three games:

 

For Yancy, those three games would be (tied) for a career high, as he would appear in three, one (1974) and three games (1976) in his brief Major League career.

I also created "not so missing" cards for the other two seasons he appeared in the Majors, so this card today closes out his career as far as cardboard is concerned.

He appeared in three games for Chicago during the 1976 season, going 1-for-10 at the plate while playing some second base, the last action he'd have in a Big League uniform.
For Yancy and his career, as I mentioned earlier he saw three games in 1972 and just one game in 1974, giving him a career total of seven games played, with two hits over 19 at-bats for a .105 batting average.
He would go on to play in the Minor Leagues through the 1979 season but never make it back to a Major League game.

SERIES 9 NOW AVAILABLE! PLUS AN EXTRA SURPRISE RELEASE!

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all well and safe.

Series Nine is now available to purchase!

Adding to the previous eight card packs, it features 15 card selections from the blog over the years, along with an added glossy insert held together in the customary wrapper.

 

Sadly, as with everything else these days, my costs were jacked up a bit by my printer, so packs now are $13 each, with a one-time postage fee of $4.50. Sorry about this! Nothing I could do…

Remember, no matter how many packs you buy the postage stays the same.

Also something new for 2022: I wanted to start creating one-off special releases, and to keep prices as low as possible (saving on added postage), I’ll be releasing them at the same time as my “regular” packs so if anyone wants to pick any up, there will be NO added postage fees.

The very first of these special releases will be a “Missing” 1971 Milk Duds complete box of Mickey Mantle, celebrating his career that ended just a few years before these collectible boxes were released.

 

These Mantle Milk Duds boxes are true to the originals in size, color and card stock, and are in limited number.

The full, folded box comes inside a rigid holder with special sticker, and kept safe inside a team bag with small color card (see photos). If anyone wants to purchase any, they are $7 each and can be added to your Series Nine order.(No extra postage!)

I plan on a few of these special edition releases, focusing on oddball sets from the past, and already have a few of them completed and ready! Very fun stuff to be adding to the WTHBALLS stable! These are all creations that don’t “fit” the usual releases either in size or theme.

As usual, all paypal payments can be made to the usual email address: slogun23@gmail.com

Thank you all for the continued interest and support! It is very much appreciated!

Take Care

Gio/wthballs

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970's: 1971 BOB ASPROMONTE

On the blog today, a closer look at the (slightly) airbrushed image Topps used for Bob Aspromonte and his 1971 card, designating him a New York Met after a couple of seasons with the Atlanta Braves:

 

Aspromonte, who by the way comes from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn as yours truly, found himself traded to the Mets for pitcher Ron Herbel on December 1st of 1970, thus the attempt by Topps to have him with his "current" team.

Didn't take much work to just blacken out the "A" of the Atlanta Braves batting helmet, so it certainly does not fall into one of the classic airbrush cards of the 1970's.

Aspromonte wrapped up a decent 13-year career in 1971, playing for the Dodgers, Colt .45's/Astros, Braves and Mets.

For the Mets in his final season, he appeared in 104 games, hitting .225 with 77 hits over 342 at-bats, driving in 33 runs while scoring 21 himself.

In 1324 games played for his career, he collected 1103 hits over 4369 at-bats, good for a .252 average with 60 homers and 457 runs batted in.

His brother Ken was also a long time Major League player as well as manager. He even appears in the 1972 set on a card I profiled a while ago because it looks like the photo was taken in the middle of the street in my old neighborhood. I kid you not. (Look it up. So odd).

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 MAXIMINO LEON

On the blog today, a career-capping "not so missing" 1979 card for Atlanta Braves reliever Maximino Leon, who appeared in a handful of games during the 1978 season:

 

Leon appeared in five games for Atlanta that year, the last games of his six-year Major League career that began in 1973.

The entirety of his Big League tenure was with the Braves, usually out of the bullpen with a spot start here and there.

In 1978 his five appearances were all as a reliever, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a 6.35 ERA over 5.2 innings.

His numbers in the big leagues totaled a 14-18 record, with a 3.71 earned run average and 13 saves over 162 games and 310.1 innings pitched.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1975 N.L. HOME RUNS

On the blog today, we return to my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, going through the 1970's and expanding on the years that Topps only had the top performer of each league for a particular category on a league-leader card.

Today we move on to the 1975 N.L. League Leaders for Home Runs, featuring three thumpers who'd make any line-up a threat:

 

We begin with Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt, who took home the first of what would eventually be eight Home Run titles over his stellar career, pacing the league with 36 "jacks" in 1974.

He would lead the league the next two seasons as well, then go on to do the same in 1980 and 1981, 1983 and 1984, and finally 1986 when he would also take home his third MVP Award.

The man was a machine, topping 30+ homers 13 times and driving in 100+ runs nine times before he was through, while also performing on the defensive end of the game with his ten Gold Glove Awards.

In second place with 33 home runs in 1974 is another future Hall of Famer, Cincinnati Reds all-timer Johnny Bench.

Bench had himself another wonderful season in 1974, hitting the aforementioned homers while leading the league with his 129 RBIs, the third time he led in that department.

He also scored a career-best 108 runs that year, while leading the league with 315 total bases, all numbers that would get hima fourth place finish for the MVP Award at season's end.

He wasn't done yet, as he'd play another nine seasons, through the 1983 campaign, finishing up with two MVP Awards, 14 All-Star nods and 10 Gold Glove Awards. Elite to say the least!

In third place with 32 home runs, the "Toy Cannon", Jimmy Wynn of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who helped the team return to the World Series in 1974.

Wynn had an excellent year in 1974, driving in 108 runs, which were a career-best, while also scoring 104 runs, stealing 18 bases, and drawing 108 walks to give him a very nice .408 on-base-percentage.

All of that got him a fifth-place finish for the MVP Award, which was taken home by teammate Steve Garvey.

Well there you go, the top-three home run hitters in the National League in 1974, shown in all their glory on an expanded 1975 league-leader card.

Next up, the American League's best three sluggers for 1974. See you then!