WHY? 1970 TOPPS BOB HEISE

Here's another one of those "head-scratchers" for those of us who pay attention to stuff like this: why did Topps issue a card for Bob Heise in their 1970 set?

First, the card:

If you go and look at Heise's action in 1969, you'll quickly see that the guy only appeared in four games for the New York Mets. Four games.

On top of that, in 1968 he appeared in only six games for the Mets.

So for a total of ten games in two years, he got a card in the 1970 set. Odd.

On top of all THAT, at the tail-end of his career, when he played in 63, 32 and 54 games respectively between 1975-1977, he was omitted from all Topps sets.

(Needless to say I'll be "fixing" THAT soon enough!).

Did Topps need to "fill out" the Ginats roster in the set, so they found a spot for Heise. I find that questionable. So your guess is as good as mine!

Heise did manage to put together an eleven-year career that saw him suit up for the Mets, Giants, Brewers, Cardinals, Red Sox and Royals before retiring after the 1977 season.

He batted .247 with a single homer (in 1970), 86 runs batted in and 104 runs scored over 499 games and 1144 at-bats.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 BOBBY FLOYD

Here was a fun card to create and go over for the blog: a 1973 "missing" card for infielder Bobby Floyd.

Check out the card first:

The reason I found this card interesting is because Floyd has a card in 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974, yet the most action he ever saw in his seven-year career was in 1972, which means that the ONE year he didn't get a card was after the most action he had in any season!

How on earth does that happen?

In 1972 Floyd appeared in 61 games, good for 140 plate appearances.

After that the most he ever got up to bat was in 1969 when he had 94 plate appearances.

After his 61 games in 1972 the most he ever played in was 51 the following year in 1973.

As long as I live I just can never figure out the selection process implemented by Topps for their card sets.

In that 1972 season Floyd played just about equal games at third base and shortstop, 30 at third and 29 at short, so I went ahead and had him as a third baseman on the card.

Originally up as a Baltimore Oriole in 1968, he'd play for the O's two years before finding himself in Kansas City in 1970, where he'd play the final five years of his career.

He was out of the Major Leagues after the 1974 season, and his final numbers were: a .219 batting average with 93 hits, 18 doubles and a triple over 425 at-bats in 214 games.

THEN AND NOW #37: LINDY McDANIEL 1975

Today I go ahead and give long time relief pitcher Lindy McDaniel a "Then and Now" card.

Check it out:

McDaniel put in a nice 21-year career in the Major Leagues, collecting a 141-119 record with 174 saves over 987 games.

He just missed becoming the second pitcher all-time to reach 1000 appearances, where he could have joined Hoyt Wilhelm in the exclusive club.

He pitched for five organizations during his career: the Cardinals, Yankees, Giants, Cubs and Royals before retiring after the 1975 season.

In 1960 he put in a heck of a year, finishing third in Cy Young voting as well as fifth in MVP balloting, based on his 12-4 record with a sparkling2.09 earned run average with a league-leading 27 saves over 65 games and 116.1 innings pitched.

He'd also lead the league in saves two other times, in 1959 with 16 and in 1963 with 22 as a member of the Cubs.

In 1970 he actually posted his career high, now with the Yankees, of 29 saves, along with a 9-5 record and a 2.01 E.R.A.

Certainly a fine career that deserves a bit more attention that it gets these days.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 DOUG HOWARD

Here's an interesting card I designed for a "missing" player, a 1977 Doug Howard card.

Check it out:

The reason it's somewhat different than the others is because even though Howard was left out of the Topps set, he actually appeared in the 1977 OPC set, as an "original" Toronto Blue Jay.

Funny enough he never ended up playing a game for them on the Major League level, so I went and designed a card with him shown as a Cleveland Indian, for whom he suited up in 1976.

He appeared in 39 games for the Tribe, and batted .211 with 19 hits in 99 official at-bats.

It was the most time he saw in any of his five seasons in the big league, and his only season as an Indian. 

He came up with the California Angels in 1972 and played for them three years before moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975, but he never did appear in a Topps set, even with his 97 career games and 233 at-bats.

Would have been a nice hole filled in as far as the more obscure players from the decade, especially when you think of some guys that DID get a card in the 1977 set who saw far less action in '76 like Jim Holt, Larry Cox or Jack Kucek.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 TOM SHOPAY: "1976 PROJECT"

Here's the next "missing" 1976 Topps card in my "1976 Project" for "reader Jim", former Baltimore Oriole Tom Shopay:

Shopay had a few missing cards through the 1970's, and I have already created and posted a 1978 card for him earlier on this blog.

In 1975 Shopay appeared in 40 games, mainly in the outfield and as a pinch hitter, collecting five hits in 31 at-bats, good for a .161 batting average with a double and two runs batted in.

That year was typical for Shopay's entire seven–year career with the Yankees and Orioles, as he never appeared in more than 67 games or had more than 74 at-bats in any season.

Nevertheless, as we've seen with guys like the Red Sox Bob Montgomery, Topps did in fact give guys who stuck around cards year to year, yet after the 1972 set Shopay was shut out until he retired in 1977.

Shopay ended up playing in 253 games during his Major League career, and ended up with a .201 batting average based on his 62 hits over 309 at-bats.

Funny enough he hit a total of three home runs in those seven partial seasons, yet two of the three were hit during his rookie year with the Yankees in 1967 in only eight games. He'd go on to hit only one more in 245 games the rest of the way.

HALL OF FAME #17: ROSS YOUNGS: CLASS OF 1972

Next up on the Hall of Fame Inductee hit parade is former New York Giants player Ross Youngs, who was inducted into the Hall by the Veteran's Committee in 1972, and not without controversy.

Take a look at my card design card first:

Now while the man had a very productive, yet short and tragic career, baseball historians such as Bill James cite Youngs as one of the "questionable" inductees selected by his cronies Bill Terry and Frankie Frisch who led the committee then.

Along with other inductees around this time (Jesse Haines, George Kelly, Chick Hafey, Dave Bancroft), Youngs does indeed seem like he falls a bit short of true Hall of Fame standards.

Granted, if not for the tragic fact that Youngs died at the age of 30 of "Bright's Disease", he may have well put up some serious Hall-worthy numbers.

But as it stands, in his abbreviated ten-year career, he batted .322 while collecting 1491 hits, 812 runs scored and 592 runs batted in, with 153 stolen bases over 1211 games and 4627 at-bats.

He posted two 200-hit seasons, scored 100+ runs twice, drove in 100+ once and batted .350+ twice before his illness ended his career in 1926.

While the numbers he put up season to season were above average, it does leave you scratching your head compared to the careers of some other guys.

Nevertheless, his former manager John McGraw considered him one of his favorite players, and even opposing player and fellow Hall of Famer Burleigh  Grimes commented that Youngs was the best player he ever saw.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 DAVE BOSWELL

Here's a "missing" 1972 Topps card for former pitcher Dave Boswell.

Check it out:

Boswell wrapped up an eight-year career with 15 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1971 after opening the year with Detroit, for whom he appeared in three games.

So his totals for the 1971 season were 18 games and 29 innings of work, with a 1-2 record and 4.66 E.R.A.

The first seven years of his career were spent with the Minnesota Twins, where he had some solid campaigns.

In 1966 he posted a 12-5 record with a 3.14 earned run average, and in 1969 he had his only 20-win season when he went 20-12 with a 3.32 E.R.A. and 190 strikeouts.

For his career Boswell went 68-56 with a 3.52 E.R.A., six shutouts and 882 strikeouts before leaving the game at a young 26 years of age due to an arm injury he actually suffered in the 1969 American league Championship Series against the Orioles.