REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1974 CARD FOR GARY ROSS

On the blog today, we revisit my 10-year-old post of a "missing" 1974 card for former pitcher Gary Ross of the San Diego Padres:

For the 1973 season Ross appeared in 59 games for the Padres, finishing 29 of them with a total of 76.1 innings pitched.

He fashioned a 4-4 record with a 5.42 earned run average and 44 strikeouts.

I always remember him towards the end of his career when with the California Angels, for whom he pitched between 1975 and 1977.

Overall he played for the Chicago Cubs, Padres and Angels between 1968 and 1977, finishing with a 25-47 career record, with a 3.92 ERA and 378 K's over 283 games and 713.2 innings pitched.

For what it's worth, over the years I also created a 1975 and 1976 set of "missing" cards to help us "complete" our collections!

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: "CORRECTED" 2024 HERITAGE SHOHEI OHTANI (ORIGINAL VERSION BY TOPPS)

As I did earlier with a "corrected" 2025 Topps Heritage card for Juan Soto, showing him with the Yankees and having an All-Star on his card, I went ahead and dug up the ORIGINAL 2024 Heritage card for all-world Shohei Ohtani, from the design Topps was originally going to put out there had he not signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the initial advertising for the set:

 

Topps simply took this image, airbrushed the correct uniform, and TOOK AWAY the All-Star designation to create their as-issued Dodgers version.

This of course pissed off those of us who want the FULL all-star teams designated on their base-cards to build out sets (just like the Soto dilemma a year later).

I do remember Topps' first advertising for the 2024 Heritage set showed this Ohtani Angels version, then quickly changed once he signed with the Dodgers.

Since he was the American League All-Star DH in the 2023 game, he should have had this card with the All-Star designation, them maybe an update Dodger version (harking back to the Hank Aaron treatment in 1975).

So I hope this helps clear up the "missing" A.L. All-Star in the Heritage set!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: RON SANTO

On the blog today, we give Hall of Famer third baseman Ron Santo a card in my custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game's rich history:

Ron Santo was no slouch at the hot corner: nine All-Star games, five Gold Gloves, 342 lifetime homers and 1331 runs batted in in a somewhat short 15-year career, mainly for the North Side Chicago Cubs (he played his last year for the South Side Chicago White Sox) in 1974.

Just take a look at his career, and see the solid numbers year after year, about as consistent a player you could ever ask for.

Between 1963 and 1973 Santo was selected for nine All-Star games, received five Gold Gloves for his defensive work, and four-time finished Top-10 in the National League MVP race, with a high of fourth in 1967.
Post-playing career, Santo moved on to broadcasting, where he was a beloved color commentator over the years, working with guys like Harry Caray, Thom Brennaman and Steve Stone.

He was about as beloved a Cub as there ever was, and finally made it into the Hall of Fame in 2012 as a Veteran's Committee selection, even though tragically it was two years after he passed away.

 

REVISITING MY "NOT REALLY MISSING" 1971 RAY OYLER FROM 10 YEARS AGO

Good day all!

On the blog today, revisiting a post from 10 years ago, my "not really missing" 1971 card for Ray Oyler of the California Angels:

I recently came across this nice usable image for former shortstop Ray Oyler as a California Angel, and since he didn't have a card in the 1971 set I figured I'd whip one up, even though it's a bit of a stretch considering the minimal time he played in 1970.

The 1970 would end up being the last in Oyler's six-year career.

It wasn't much of a showing, as he collected two scant hits over 24 at-bats, good for a .083 batting average in the 24 games he got into that season.

But when you look at his career, Oyler was all glove and no bat, almost literally.

By the time he hung up his cleats after 1970, he retired with a .175 batting average, based on his 221 hits over 1265 at-bats.

Between 1965 and 1970, he topped .200 once, when he hit .207 in 1967 for the Detroit Tigers.

However, on a positive note, during the Tiger's World Series run in 1968 Oyler played in 111 games for the champs, arguably the high point of his career before being selected by the expansion Seattle Pilots for the 1969 season.

Quite a few teammates reflected on Oyler's defensive prowess, some even stating that no matter what the batting average was, having Oyler as their shortstop helped their team.

Talk about the epitome of "good field, no hit"!

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1989 GRAIG NETTLES

Fun card to post up today, a 1989 "Career-Capper" for third baseman extraordinaire Graig Nettles, who wrapped up a borderline Hall of Fame career as a Montreal Expo in 1988:

The card was part of my latest custom set, "1980s Career-Cappers", which was a big success! Thank you all who ordered one!

Nettles originally came up with the Minnesota Twins in the late-60’s, but it wasn’t until he got some full-time action with the Cleveland Indians did he put up some nice numbers in 1970, becoming a productive third baseman for three years before finding himself in the Bronx after a six-player trade that left the Indians organization scratching their heads.
All Nettles would do is go on to slug 20+ homers seven straight years, leading the American League with 32 in 1976, and then topping that with 37 the following season while being an integral part of the “Bronx Zoo” championship teams of 1977 and 1978.
His incredible defensive work during the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers put him in exclusive company as a Fall Classic icon alongside the likes of Brooks Robinson and HIS defensive work in the 1970 classic against the Cincinnati Reds.
By the time Nettles was done after 22-years in the big leagues, he finished with 390 home runs, 2225 hits and 1314 runs batted in, with six all-star game nods and two Gold Gloves.

 

OPC VARIATIONS (OF A SORT): 1977 DOUG HOWARD

On the blog today, an OPC "variation" of a different sort, a spotlight on Doug Howard's 1977 OPC card, even though he never got a Topps card that year:

OPC card

Actually he never got a Topps card at all for his brief career, something I remedied a FEW times on the blog over the years, including my own 1977 Indians Topps version, seen here originally posted 10 years ago:

WTHBALLS creation

Funny enough he never ended up playing a game for the Blue Jays 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. 

Turns out it was the last Major League action he'd see in his five-year career.

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.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: STAN MUSIAL

Today on the blog we have my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card for "The Man", Stan Musial, from my 2018 custom set packaged in gelatin WTHBALLS box with gelatin packet:

His MLB numbers are just absurd: seven batting titles, two R.B.I. titles, five triples titles and eight doubles titles, with career numbers of 475 home runs, 1951 runs batted in and a .331 career average.

Throw in his 725 doubles, 177 triples and 3630 hits along with 1949 runs scored and the numbers are staggering. 

And don't forget that Musial also lost a year to military duty, easily putting him over 500 homers, close to 3900 hits and around 2100 runs batted in if he played in 1945.

Along with the great Frank Robinson I always felt Stan Musial was often overlooked in the decades since his playing days ended.

When talk of "Greatest Living Player" came up it was always Williams, DiMaggio, Mays or even Aaron that would come up. But Stan Musial would always kind of be that after-thought.

Criminal.

Three Most Valuable Player Awards, FOUR second-place finishes, including three in a row between 1949-1951, and twenty consecutive all-star appearances, Musial definitely is a member of that rarified stratosphere of baseball royalty along with the likes of Ruth, Cobb, Mays and Wagner, among others.