1960'S "IN-ACTION": 1966 SANDY KOUFAX

Closing out another week here on the blog, we spotlight my 1966 "In-Action" card for Hall of Fame lefty Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers legend and fellow-Bensonhurst, Brooklyn native:

Just a fun card imagining if Topps got into producing cards with action photography years before the 1971 set, making for a more varied card collection in the 1960s.

Koufax was unstoppable yet again in 1966, posting an incredible 27-9 record along with a 1.72 earned run average and 317 strikeouts in 41 starts, along with five shutouts and 27 complete games.
Along with an easy Cy Young Award, giving him an unprecedented third such claim to baseball’s top pitching prize, he finished second to the Pirates’ Roberto Clemente for league MVP.
It was the fifth season in a row that Koufax overpowered National League batters, leading the league in ERA each and every time, along with THREE 25+ win & 300+ strikeout campaigns.
But sadly and shockingly, Koufax would have to retire at the top of his game because of recurring arm problems that could have left him without the use of his left arm the rest of his life.
Rather than suffer long-term injury, Koufax left the game and many of us to wonder so many “what-if’s” had he been able to continue on into the 1970’s.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- RUBE WADDELL

Really fun card to create for the blog posted today, my "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" card for that clown-prince of baseball, Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Waddell, a man whose stories off the field rival his accomplishments on it:

Shown here as a member of Los Angeles of the Independent League in 1902, he was already a Major League veteran of five years when he found himself out West playing in California, going 11-8 with a 2.42 earned run average over 19 starts.

Not yet the pitcher that he would go down in history as, that would begin the very next season, his first with the Philadelphia Athletics, as he would post the first of his four straight 20-win seasons, going 24-7 with a 2.05 ERA over 33 games, striking out 210 batters, which was good for the top mark in the American League, his first of six straight strikeout titles, topped by his staggering 349 K's in 1904.

In 1905 he'd have his Triple Crown year, leading the A.L. with 27 wins, a ridiculous 1.48 ERA and 287 strikeouts over 46 appearances, tossing seven shutouts while completing 27 of his 34 starts.

Of course, what made the legend of Waddell even more unforgettable were his shenanigans off the field: chasing fire engines, leading random parades, disappearing for stretches with no notice, and so much more.

It's obvious today that there was something more to the man, perhaps autism, perhaps mental challenges either dismissed or just laughed at in that era.

However his legacy as one of the true eccentric ballplayers in the long history of the game, along with a Hall of Fame career that saw him post 193 Major League victories along with 65 documented non-league wins between the Minors and Independent ball, along with a fantastic 2.16 ERA in the Big Leagues over his 13 seasons, leaves no argument that he is a true legend of the game some 100 years later.

WTHBALLS NEWEST CUSTOM: 1969 NABISCO "TEAM FLAKES" EXTENSION BOX NOW AVAILABLE!

 

Good day everyone!

Really happy to announce that my 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes cereal box extension set is FINALLY available for release:

 

Featuring eight Hall of Famers originally not available in the initial release way back when, this is a true 8.5" x 10" glossy cereal box shipped flat, along with hand-numbered postcard as well as additional limited edition WTHBALLS postcard.

The players: Rod Carew, Johnny Bench, Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski, Fergie Jenkins, Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson and Ernie Banks, all ready to be cut out from the back panel (if you so choose) to add to your collections!

The front box artwork features the great Bob Gibson, one of the 24 players originally available in the initial set.

A really fun item to design and release under the "WTHBALLS" name!

The release is priced at $13 each, plus $5.50 postage (due to size), and will come shipped folded flat, securely packaged against corrugate backer card inside poly bag, all inside folded corrugate mailer.

As usual, my paypal address: slogun23@gmail.com

Thank you all for the continued support and interest!

Take Care

Gio

MISSING IN ACTION: 1975 N.L. ALL-STAR MANAGER: YOGI BERRA

Today on the blog, we go and add the "missing" 1975 National League All-Star manager card to compliment my recent A.L. counterpart, the Senior League's skipper in Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra, who led the N.L. for the 1974 Midsummer Classic based on his pennant winning 1973 season with the New York Mets:

Sadly for him, Berra was coming off a disappointing 1974 season that saw the reigning National League champs fall from first to fifth after a World Series loss in 1973 to the Oakland A's.

Turns out the 1975 season he would be let go about three quarters into the year, having the Mets in third place with a record of 56-53. Not exactly a horrible year, and ironically winning at a higher clip than their 1973 season when the team made the World Series with a record of only 82-79.

Berra wouldn't manage again until 1984 after years of coaching, coming back to the New York Yankees and guiding them to a record of 87-75, good for a third place finish.

The following season he'd be let go after only 16 games, with the Yanks at 6-10, which would be the last Managerial position of his long baseball career.

His only other manager spot was way back in 1964 when he led the Yankees to the World Series with a record of 99-63 before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals and Bob Gibson.

Little did Yankee fans know it would be the last time they'd be in the World Series until 1976 after an incredible run of Postseason berths the previous 40 some odd seasons.

For Berra, the Hall of Famer finished his managing career with a record of 484-444, good for a .522 winning percentage, with two pennants.

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS INSERTS: DUKE SNIDER

Today on the blog we feature my Duke Snider insert from my "1960's Career-Cappers" custom set from a few years ago, one of my favorite sets produced since I started the WTHBALLS blog:

The "Duke of Flatbush" was incredibly underrated over his career, which sadly (for him) coincided with the careers of men like Mickey mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

Nevertheless, all he would do in the Majors was hit, finishing his career with the San Francisco Giants in 1964, capping off a great 18-year Major League career that saw him make eight All-Star teams while post six seasons where he finished in the top-10 for N.L. MVP.

Snider was an absolute beast of a hitter through the 1950's with the Dodgers, driving in over 100 runs six times, 30+ homers six times including five straight seasons of 40 or more, five years of scoring over 100 runs and seven seasons of .300 hitting or better.

A HUGE cog in the Brooklyn Dodger machine of the 1950s, he was also part of the "Holy Trinity of New York center-fielders of the era, along with Willie Mays of the New York Giants and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees.

What a time it must have been to be a young baseball fan!

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: CARL YASTRZEMSKI

Today on the blog, we spotlight my 1969 do-over for Carl Yastrzemski, from my recent custom set released a few months ago "fixing" the issue of repeated images Topps used in that set:

Just a nice portrait shot of the man just a year or so removed from his MVP Triple Crown season of 1967, when he took the team on his shoulders and marched straight to the World Series, cementing his legendary status in New England.

The man was at his height of his game at the time this photo was taken, already a three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner in 1967, and five-time Gold Glove winner.

As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island, New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.

And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18 all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive categories.

By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816 runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in along with a .285 batting average.

He was just plain awesome…

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1979 DEDICATED ROOKIE DALE MURPHY

Up on the blog today, revisiting a post just short of ten years old, my 1978 "dedicated rookie" for Dale Murphy, who unfortunately was on his second straight multi-player rookie card in the 1978 set:

Just a nice dedicated card to the man most feel is a Hall of Famer, me included.

Here's the original write-up from the post:

"Considering that the 1978 Topps set is rife with players that barely, if at all, played the previous year, why Topps didn't give this up-and-coming Braves prospect a card is beyond me.

A first round pick (5th pick overall) in the 1974 amateur draft out of Portland, Oregon, Murphy was already up for a cup of coffee in 1977, and performed well in his limited time in the Majors, hitting .316 with a couple of homers and 14 runs batted in in only 18 games.

Pretty nice if you ask me.

He was also up for 19 games in 1976, and did a decent job of it then as well, hitting .262 with nine R.B.I.'s.

He also ripped it up in the Minors during the 1977 season, hitting .305 with 22 homers and 90 ribbies in 127 games for Richmond in Triple-A ball.

You think this would have all been good enough to give the guy a card all by his lonesome.

As we all know, Murphy went on to have a borderline Hall of Fame career, winning the National League M.V.P. twice, in 1982 and 1983, as well as five Gold Gloves and appearing in five All-Star games.

During the first part of the 1980's he was up there as one of the best in the game.

By the time he retired after the 1993 season, his 18-year career gave us 398 homers, 1266 runs batted in, 2111 hits and 1197 runs scored.

But it was his peak years between 1980 and 1987 that made Murphy a household name in the baseball world, just falling short of Cooperstown as one of those players just outside the bubble (like Dave Parker, Steve Garvey, et al).

Factor in his boring 1979 Topps card as his first solo card, and this 1978 card would have been nice as a collector to have out there.

Oh well…"