Allow
me to post my newest “Traded” card, this one as part of the 1977 set
and featuring former A.L. MVP Jeff Burroughs, who found himself in
Atlanta after spending the first 7 years in the Washington
Senators/Texas Rangers organization:
The Braves gave up five players PLUS $250,000 for Burroughs, and he
would make an immediate splash in the National league, hitting 41 home
runs (a career high) while driving in 114 runs playing at the “Launching
Pad”, Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium.
Though he wouldn’t match those numbers again in his career, he would put
together a very nice 16-year career that saw him hit 240 homers while
driving in 882 runs between 1970 and 1985.
As stated earlier he would take home the 1974 A.L. MVP Award when he hit
25 homers and led the league with 118 runs batted in along with a .301
batting average, arguably his finest season in the big leagues.
A #1 pick in the amateur draft of 1969 out of Long Beach, California, he
would be one of the first members of the 30-home runs-in-both-leagues
club (30 with the Rangers in 1973/41 Braves in 1977), and actually one
of the most successful #1 over-all picks at the time.
At the tail end of his career during the early-1980’s he was a potent
bat off the bench for teams like the Seattle Mariners, Oakland A’s and
Toronto Blue Jays.
Knowing what we know about all-time great Ted Williams, how could career end in any other way, correct?
So let’s celebrate arguably the greatest all-around hitter of all-time
with a 10th anniversary card in the 1970 set of his home run in the
final at-bat of his legendary career:
“The Splendid Splinter” was just incredible as a hitter. The last .400
hitter, 521 home runs, a .344 lifetime average with SIX batting titles,
and the man missed MULTIPLE years in his prime due to war and his
service in the military.
I remember as a kid (nerd alert) I used to love averaging out the three
seasons before and after his missed seasons and then factoring them into
his final career numbers, and they were insane!
If I remember correctly (‘cause I ain’t doing it now) he would have had
somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 home runs, 3500 hits, 2000+ runs
scored and runs batted in along with the slugging and on-base
percentages that would have made his already monster career just
other-worldly!
So yes, having his Hall of Fame career end with a home run, the 29th of his final season, makes total sense to me.
On a side note, David Ortiz is currently putting together what can be
the greatest “final season” in baseball history, and it is just awesome
to watch it all unfold.
The numbers he’s on pace to finish with are staggering for someone (who
still) states that he is retiring at the end of the year.
Today’s
“missing” player is former Houston Astros infielder Ray Busse, who
could have gotten a card in the 1974 Topps set. Take a look at the card I
came up with:
Busse appeared in 39 games during the 1973 season, split between the St.
Louis Cardinals and Astros, and hit a combined .126 with 11 hits in 87
at-bats.
That would end up being the most action he’d see in any of his three
Major League seasons, which would end after the 1974 season after only
appearing in 19 games, hitting .209 with seven hits in 34 at-bats.
Overall he would hit .148 over the 68 games played in the big leagues,
with 23 hits over 155 at-bats while playing both third base and
shortstop for both St. Louis and Houston.
Don’t
know why it took so long, but here’s a “nickname” card for all-time
legend Nolan Ryan, the “Ryan Express”, who was starting a run like no
other by the time this 1974 card would have been issued:
What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?
300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters,
two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas
Rangers!
I used the 1974 template since he was fresh off his record-breaking 383
strikeout season of 1973, his second consecutive 300+ strikeout season,
and on his way to make the Mets regret BIG TIME for letting him go.
I love thinking about the fact that he did all of this in the American
League, with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he
could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the
pitcher batted?!
Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total?
Hey, you never know…
Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his
place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an
absolute no-brainer.
I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!
Here’s
a “missing” 1972 card for former first-baseman/outfielder Frank
Tepedino, who put together an eight-year career in the Major Leagues
between 1967 and 1975:
Tepedino appeared in 59 games during the 1971 season, split between the
New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, batting .188 with 21 hits over
112 at-bats.
After playing in only eight games the following year for the Bronx
Bombers, he would move on to the Atlanta Braves, where he would play the
final three years of his pro days, seeing the most action of his
career, helping out at first base as well as pinch-hitting.
He would end up batting .241 as a Major League player, totaling 122
hits in 507 at-bats in 265 games, with 50 runs scored and 58 runs batted
in.
The
next “Fantasy Coach Card” to hit the blog is former Pittsburgh Pirates
great Bill Mazeroski and a 1974 card celebrating him in his new duties
post-playing-career:
Mazeroski just wrapped up what would turn out to be a 17-year Hall of
Fame career, all with the Pirates, that saw him bring home two world
championships, one of which he literally won himself on a dramatic
series-ending home run against the heavily favored New York Yankees in
1960, and that had him be declared one of the best defensive second
basemen the game ever saw.
He topped 2000 hits, took home eight Gold Gloves, and became an instant
hero in Pittsburgh after his 1960 heroics in the World Series, all
leading to his place in Cooperstown.
Mazeroski turned to coaching right after his career as a player ended,
and eventually would become a “special infield instructor” for the
Pirates every Spring training to this very day.
Time to give former Philadelphia Phillies player Rick Joseph a “missing” 1971 card, closing out a short five-year career:
Joseph finished-off his career batting .227 with 27 hits over 119
at-bats in 71 games in the City of Brotherly Love, giving him a .243
career average with 154 hits in 633 at-bats, with 13 homers and 65 runs
batted in along with 69 runs scored.
All but four of his pro seasons had him playing for the Phillies, with
his rookie year of 1964 seeing him suit up for the Kansas City
Athletics.
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