SPECIAL 1969 "TEAM" CEREAL EXTENSION SET: MICKEY MANTLE

Hello everyone!

Today on the blog, we have a "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes card for the great Mickey Mantle, from my upcoming custom printed cereal box "extending" the fun odd-ball set released way back when:

Would have been awesome to have a card representing the all-time great as he was closing out a magnificent Hall of Fame career.

Sure, it'd make things tough these days for guys like me that are trying to complete the original set, giving us what would have been an uber-expensive card, but heck, would have been great nevertheless!

Mantle is one of those guys I really don't think we need to get into as far as his accomplishments on the baseball diamond. It'd be kind of like a joke to start writing about his career since it would take up a book's worth.

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

"The Mick" in all his glory, enshrined in his rightful place in Cooperstown, along with his longtime buddy Whitey Ford in the same HOF class.

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES ALL-TIME LEGENDS: RAY BROWN

Time to add one of the great pitchers of the Negro Leagues to me long-running "Negro Leagues All-Time Legends" thread, celebrating the greats of the game that were not given the chance to play in the (then) Major Leagues, Ray Brown:

Brown put in most of his Hall of Fame career with the Homestead Grays, playing between 1931 and 1945, and he put up some incredible numbers.

Finishing his career with a ridiculous .721 winning percentage, he went 119-46, leading the NBL in wins five times, while also taking home two ERA titles and three strikeout titles.

His 1938 season could be the greatest year of any pitcher in the long history of the NBL when he posted a record of 14-0 with a 1.88 ERA, completing 11 of his 20 starts with four shutouts and three saves and 70 strikeouts, ALL league-leading marks!

On top of all that, the man his .286 at the plate with 20 runs scored and 20 runs batted in over 32 games, proving he could do it all!

So often overshadowed by teammates such as Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Jud Wilson, Brown was rightfully celebrated in 2006 with his spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

1970'S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. THIRD BASEMAN: GEORGE BRETT

OK, now today I post a card that was a tough one for me, my choice for the American League's top third baseman of the 1970s, and I went with George Brett:

Originally I did go with Graig Nettles, since he did put in a full decade in the league and put up some excellent power numbers while helping the New York Yankees to two World Championships.

However, I reconsidered and decided that this guy, as much as I hated him as a young Yankee fan growing up in Brooklyn at that time, was just tops and deserved the "honor".

Brett made his Big League debut in 1973 with 13 games for the Kansas City Royals, the only team he'd suit up for over his magnificent 21 year career.

In that initial showing he hit .125 with five hits in 40 at-bats, including two doubles and two runs scored.

The following season he'd be here to stay, finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year race in 1974, hitting .282 with 129 hits, 49 runs scored and 47 runs batted in over 133 games for the Kansas City Royals.
He’d have his breakout season quickly, leading the league with 195 hits as well as 13 triples in 1975 before winning his first batting title a year later when he hit .333 with a league-leading 215 hits and 14 triples.

His 1979 season is just not appreciated enough!

That season Brett led the league with 212 hits and 20 triples, while also collecting 42 doubles, 23 homers, 107 runs batted in and 119 runs scored, hitting .329 and also stealing 17 bases!

This was arguably his best season overall for his career, and remember, he hit .390 the following year!

The man was born to hit, and would finish his career with 3154 hits, a .305 average, 317 homers and let’s not forget the 201 stolen bases and 137 triples!
The 13-time all-star was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1993, getting named to 98.2% of the ballot, while taking home the MVP in 1980 after his magical .390 hitting season, while finishing second twice and third once.
Legend!

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: LARRY BOWA

Good day everyone.

Up on the blog today, we begin a card by card spotlight of the never-issued 1971 Topps All-Star Rookies set, beginning with Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa:

This is a fun looking set that would have been cool to pull from packs way back when!

Now, as my buddy Tim Jenking ("Pilot Sighting!") mentioned in a write-up he had on the SABR blog some five years ago, these were never made into cards, but prototypes that were pasted onto poster board.

Well, as is usually the case with this stuff, somehow one full set made it out and began floating on the auction circuit some years ago, giving many their first look at perhaps the rarest Topps odd-ball set.

Basically if you remember the players that got a Rookie Trophy on their 1971 card, that's who represents the full checklist here, with the biggie being New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson.

I love the way this set looks, and look forward to posting each one for you all to see them, if you haven't already.

As for Bowa, the future five-time all-star and two-time Gold Glove winner would make a great addition to guys like Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt, helping the organization become a powerhouse in their division later in the decade.
Bowa would make an immediate impact, finishing third in National League Rookie of the Year voting, and if it wasn’t for a guy named Dave Concepcion of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, would have been the perennial N.L. Short Stop in the all-star game between 1974 and 1980.
Nevertheless, Bowa wrapped up his solid career with a half season playing for the New York Mets in 1985 after three and a half years with the Chicago Cubs, playing his entire career in the National League East, and finishing with 2191 hits, a .260 average, 318 stolen bases and just under 1000 runs scored with 987.

Keep an eye out for future posts covering this uber-rare Topps sub-set!

For those that want a little more info, here's the Tim Jenkins piece I mentioned earlier:

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2018/11/26/proofs-of-the-mythical-rookies/

 

VINTAGE CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1950 DRAKE'S "EXTENDED" SET: JACKIE ROBINSON

Up on the blog today, we add the great Jackie Robinson to me 1950 Drakes "extension set", which was produced and released in deluxe packaging a couple of years ago:

A really fun set to create, I went and added ten stars of the game at that time to the fantastic oddball set that has had my attention since I first laid eyes on it decades ago as a kid.

As for the man himself, what needs to be stated at this point regarding his Hall of Fame career?

He broke the color-line, which I cannot even begin to imagine the difficulty in that alone, yet still managed to put in 10 great years as a Major League all-star second baseman, winning Rookie of the Year in 1947, league MVP in 1949, six all-star nods, and a batting title in 1949 when he hit .342.

Before he made baseball history in 1947, he suited up with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1945 while he was still in college.

He played in only 47 games, but excelled, hitting .387 with 5 home runs and 13 stolen bases, even appearing in the East-West All Star Game.

At this point talking about statistics seems trivial in relation to the sheer impact he had to the sport and American culture.

It still crushes me when I remember that the man was still only 53 years of age when he passed away, imagining if he would have lived another 20, 30 years and gracing us into the 21st Century.

WTHBALLS SERIES 14 NOW AVAILABLE!

Hello Everyone!

It's that time again!

 

The newest WTHBALLS custom set is here, and it's the "SERIES 14" set!

As usual, this features 15 cards, but in this "pack" there will be a fun bonus card instead of the glossy insert (not shown in attached image so it can be a surprise)!
Of course, the sets come wrapped inside a "WTHBALLS" wrapper following the other "Series" set packs from the past.

Sadly, the "packs" are now $14 each plus $4.50 postage, due to rising printing costs. Sorry about that. 

Of course as usual, if you buy more than one set, postage always stays the same at $4.50.

SPOILER ALERT! See photos attached for the cards in this set. Again, I'm keeping the insert a secret until you all receive them, so no images of it here.
My paypal is the usual: slogun23@gmail.com
Thank you all for the continued support and interest!
Be well and safe!
Gio/wthballs

SPECIAL 1969 "TEAM" CEREAL EXTENSION SET: FERGIE JENKINS

Good day all!

Today on the blog we have my "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes card for Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins, a fun extension to the under-appreciated food-issue of my birth year:

This is going to be a unique WTHBALLS release in the coming months, in a full-sized cereal box with cut-out cards on the back as it was originally released, true to the box art!

As for the great Jenkins, he was smack in the middle of an incredible run of six straight 20-win seasons, as well as five straight 200+ strikeout campaigns.

For the 1969 season, Jenkins posted 21 wins for the Cubs, while leading the N.L. with 273 strikeouts, starting 42 games, completing 23 and tossing seven shutouts.

As we all know, he put together a Hall of Fame career, topping 280 wins, 3000 strikeouts, with 49 shutouts, a Cy Young Award in 1971 and four other top-3 finishes in the award voting.
In 1991 he capped off his career with an induction into Cooperstown on his third try, just getting the 75% of the vote with 75.4% support.
On a geeky side-note, “Fly” was also the first pitcher to ever register 3000+ strikeouts while issuing less than 1000 base on balls.
Love stuff like that!

Jenkins was just plain awesome. And he went about being awesome while pretty much performing under the radar.