1970 IN-GAME ACTION: RICHIE ALLEN

The next player up in my on-going 1970 "In-Game Action" set is none other than Richie Allen (Topps was still using "Rich" or "Richie" instead of "Dick"), who was coming off yet another marvelous season for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969:

 

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 a 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?

 

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT: "LOST" 1963 FLEER SECOND SERIES: RICHIE ASHBURN

The next card from my "Lost Second Series" 1963 Fleer set released last year to get the spotlight treatment is Richie Ashburn, who was wrapping up a Hall of Fame career in the Big Leagues with the upstart New York Mets:

 

Ashburn just completed his 15th and final season in the Major leagues in 1962, hitting a very impressive .306 for the Mets in their inaugural season and making his fifth All-Star team in the process.

The former anchor of the Philadelphia Phillies, he won two batting titles over his career (1955 & 1958), while leading the league in hits three times, triples twice, stolen bases once, walks four times and on-base-percentage four times between 1948 and 1962.

By the time he hung up the cleats, he finished with 2574 hits, a .308 batting average, 1322 runs scored, 109 triples and 234 stolen bases in 2189 games.

Often overshadowed by contemporaries, the man was about as solid as they came, rarely missing a game during his prime and giving the Phillies a defensive whiz out in centerfield, leading the league in putouts every season between 1949 and 1958 except for 1955, while pacing the league in assists three times and "range factor" (for you new-stat guys) 10 times.

It's amazing to me that he was never selected for the Hall of Fame by the BWAA, and had to wait until 1995 to be selected by the Veteran's Committee for his rightful place in Cooperstown.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 DAVE McKAY

Up on the blog today, we have a "missing" 1978 card for "original" Blue Jay Dave McKay, who mysteriously was left out of the set after 93 games during the inaugural 1977 Toronto season:

 

McKay hit .197 over those 95 games, picking up 54 hits in 274 at-bats, scoring 18 while driving in 22 after spending parts of his first two Big League campaigns with the Minnesota Twins in 1975 and 1976.

He would put in eight seasons as a Major League infielder, playing for the Twins, Blue Jays and Oakland A's between 1975 and 1982, with the 1978 season being his only full-time year, appearing in 145 games with 537 plate appearances.

Overall he would bat .229 for his career, collecting 441 hits over his 645 games and 1928 at-bats before becoming a long-time coach, putting in almost 40 years in that capacity between 1984 and the present day.

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2015- "MISSING IN ACTION" 1978 BOBBY TOLAN

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit an old blog post from July 21st, 2015, where I created a "missing" 1978 card for former outfielder/1st baseman:

 

Tolan appeared in 64 games in 1977, 15 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 49 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, good for 97 plate appearances and 90 at-bats.

He hit .189 with 17 hits, eight runs scored and 10 runs batted in, with a single stolen base.

His best years were with the Cincinnati Reds between 1969 and 1973, topping .300 a couple of times and leading the league in stolen bases in 1970 with 57 and even slamming 21 home runs in 1969 with 93 runs batted in.

He missed all of 1971 after a fantastic 1970 season after rupturing his achilles tendon while playing basketball, violating a clause in his contract, but did make it back to win the 1972 "Comeback Player of the Year" Award in 1972.

Sadly for him however, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Clay Kirby after the 1973 season, which saw his performance drop dramatically, hitting only .206, thereby missing out on the tremendous "Big Red Machine" run the next few years.

Dig the awesome 1970's sideburns-into-'stache going on with him on this 1978 card! Love it!

He'd actually make one more "comeback" of sorts in 1979, this time for the Padres, after being out of baseball all of 1978, appearing in 22 games though hitting only .190 with four hits over 21 at-bats, retiring soon after.

In all he'd finish with a .265 average with 193 steals and 1121 hits over 1282 games and 4238 at-bats, as well as a World Series ring as a member of the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals, when they defeated the Boston Red Sox.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 GAYLEN PITTS

On the blog today, a 1976 "not so missing" card for former Oakland A's infielder Gaylen Pitts, who played the last of his Big League games during the 1975 season:

 

Pitts appeared in only 10 games for Oakland in 1975, going 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI in that limited play.

The previous season he made his MLB debut, appearing in 18 games for the eventual World Champs, hitting .244 with 10 hits in 41 at-bats, scoring four while driving in three.

Sadly for him that would be it in the Big Leagues, as he’d go on to play a couple more seasons in the Minor Leagues for Oakland and the Chicago Cubs before retiring as a player after 1977.
Later on he’d go on to coach and manage in the Minor Leagues, while also coaching with the St. Louis Cardinals under Joe Torre between 1991 and 1995.

CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT- "CAREER CAPPER" 1957 BOB FELLER

Today on the blog I spotlight my 1957 "Career Capper" for Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, from my custom "The Whole Nine" set released last year:

 

Feller finished up an incredible 18-year Major League career in 1956, one that saw him win 266 games, toss 44 shutouts including three no-hitters, and striking out 2581 batters between 1936 and 1956.

And don't forget, the man lost almost FOUR seasons in his prime serving in the military from 1942 through 1945, easily bringing him close to 400 wins, 3500 K's and 60 shutouts if it wasn't for the war.

What an unsung hero all-around!

He led the league in wins six times, strikeouts seven times, shutouts four times and earned run average once, completing 279 of his 484 career starts.

The eight-time All-Star finished in the top-3 for league MVP three straight seasons between 1939 and 1941, winning 24, 27 and 25 games before sailing off to fight in World War II at the age of 23.

Just an astounding man who incredibly gets left out of the conversation when we talk about all-time greats, especially post-war.

Legend!

1970 "IN-GAME ACTION" SERIES ONE SET AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Greetings everyone!

That time again!

The newest WTHBALLS custom set is upon us!

The first of what will be two series of 1970 "In Game Action" cards. The first series is 25 cards along with a sticker and vintage 1970 Baltimore Orioles Kelloggs Decal, all packaged inside an Ultra Pro two-piece 25-card hard case with color wrap!

Sets are $21 each plus $4.50 postage. Of course as usual, if you buy more than one set postage always stays the same.

See photos attached for the cards and packaged sets.

My paypal is the usual: slogun23@gmail.com

Thank you all for the continued support and interest!

Be well and safe!

Gio/wthballs