MISSING IN ACTION- 1981 DAVE HEAVERLO

Good day all!

On the blog today, a player new to the WTHBALLS blog, pitcher Dave Heaverlo and a "missing" 1981 card for the young man:

I don't know why Topps would have skipped him in their 1981 set since he had a rather productive 1980 season for the Seattle Mariners.

Donruss and Fleer included him in their 1981 sets, but Topps saw different for some reason.

In 1980, pitching his only season for the Seattle Mariners, Heaverlo went 6-3 over 60 games, with a 3.89 earned run average spread across 78.2 innings of work.

Definitely a decent season for a middle-reliever, while also picking up four saves and striking out 42 batters along the way.

Heaverlo would pitch one more year in the Big Leagues, closing out a seven-year run with a return to the Oakland A's in 1981 when he appeared in only six games, going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings.

Originally up with the San Francisco Giants in 1975, he ended up with a record of 26-26 over 356 games between 1975 and 1981, pitching to a respectable 3.41 ERA over 537.2 innings, saving 26 games while striking out 288 batters, with every single appearance out of the bullpen.

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1977 OTTO VELEZ

Good day all!

On the blog today, just for the fun of it, a re-do for Otto Velez and his 1977 card, which originally had him airbrushed into a Toronto Blue Jays uni by Topps way back when:

Here I have him suited up and shown as a New York Yankee, for whom he played in 1976.

After playing for the New York Yankees in parts of four seasons between 1973 and 1976, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in their inaugural expansion draft before the 1977 campaign.

He was the 53rd pick in the 1976 expansion draft, and would have a decent year for the Jays in 1977 when he batted .256 with 16 homers and 62 runs batted in.
He would stay with the team for the next five seasons, hitting as many as 20 homers (1980) as well as matching his 1977 RBI total that very same year.

In 1983 he would find himself with the Cleveland Indians, where he would play what turned out to be the final 10 games of his career, hitting only .080 with two hits over 25 at-bats, with a run scored and an RBI.

Velez would put 11 years in the Major Leagues, batting .251 with 78 homers and 272 runs batted in, while collecting 452 hits in 1802 at-bats over 637 games.

 

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: SPARKY LYLE

Good day all!

On the blog today, we post my 1981 "Drake's Big Pitchers" card for Sparky Lyle, from my custom set released a few months ago:

Fun card showing the relief specialist with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he finished the 1`980 season with after starting the year as a Texas Ranger.

Originally up with the Boston Red Sox in 1967, all he would do from then on is put in what I think is a Hall of Fame career, appearing in 899 games, all in relief, saving 238 games while posting a record of 99-76, with an ERA of 2.88.

He took home a Cy Young Award in 1977, helping the Yankees to their first title in 13 years, and finished in third for A.L. MVP in 1972 after getting traded from Boston in one of the most lopsided trades of all-time, as he saved a league-leading 35 games with a record of 9-5 and a 1.95 ERA.

One of the great characters of the game, his many quips, antics, etc are well documented, especially during his tenure with the "Bronx Zoo" Yankee dynasty through the 1978 season.

Just a great icon of 1970s baseball!

 

REVISIT: 1978 CAREER-CAPPER FOR COOKIE ROJAS

Good day all!

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1978 "career-capper" for Cookie Rojas, long-time Major League infielder:

Rojas appeared in 64 games for the Western Division champ Royals in 1977, hitting an even .250 with 39 hits over 156 at-bats.
A five-time all-star, Rojas slapped his way through the Majors, collecting 1660 lifetime hits over 1822 games, with only 333 of those hits going for extra bases.
Of his 16 years in the Major Leagues, he played eight with the Royals and seven with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he first made a name for himself between 1963 and 1969.

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 ROD CAREW

Up on the blog today, we go ahead and "fix up" another 1980s Topps All-Star card, this time giving Rod Carew his rightful 1984 All-Star card as the American League's starting first baseman for the 1983 game:

Topps inexplicably went and gave Baltimore Orioles legend Eddie Murray the All-Star card, but why!?

Carew was still an automatic at that slot for years at the time, and was the starter yet again in 1983 when the A.L. FINALLY won after a 12-year losing streak.

The man was a player for the ages, as he would go on to play in 18 All-Star games, missing only his final season in the Majors in 1985. Just incredible.

The first nine seasons of his career were as an All-Star second baseman, while the last nine were as a first baseman.

The legend topped .300 15 years in a row, with a high of .388 in 1977 on his way to a Most Valuable Player Award and capturing the public’s attention with his .400 chase late in the season.
A clear-cut Hall of Fame player, he was inducted on his first year of eligibility in 1991 when he garnered 90.5% of the vote, which leaves me with the question: who the hell are the 9.5% who DIDN’T vote for him!!!???

3053 hits, a .328 career average, 353 stolen bases and 15 straight seasons of .300+ batting.

The man was a hitting machine, and I'm so glad I got to see him play during his magnificent career!

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: MINNIE MINOSO

On the blog today, we spotlight another card from my 2018 custom "1960 Stars of the Game" gelatin set, this time that of HOFer Minnie Minoso:

I'm so happy that Minoso is finally a Hall of Famer, and I always felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of getting into Cooperstown.
From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and topping 20 homers four times.
Eight times in that span he would top a .300 batting average, and in 1951 many consider him the true American League Rookie of the Year when he hit .326 split between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, while topping the league in triples with 14 and stolen bases with 31.
Along the way he was named to seven All-Star games, winning three Gold Gloves as well, funny enough finishing fourth in the A.L. MVP race four times.
Of course, 12 years after his last playing days, in 1976, he ended up going 1-for-8 at the plate as a 50 year-old, then coming back in 1980 at the age of 54 and going hitless in two at-bats.
Nevertheless, Minoso finished his career with a .298 average, with 1963 hits over 6579 at-bats, along with 186 homers and 205 stolen bases while also topping 1000 runs scored and RBIs, 1136 & 1023 respectively.

If only he didn't have to wait until his age 27 season to show the ENTIRE country what he could do on a ball field.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1965 DON MOSSI

As promised recently on Twitter, today on the blog we have a "missing" 1965 card for pitcher Don Mossi, who suited up for the Chicago White Sox in 1964, having a decent year, and for some reason getting ignored by Topps the following year:

Mossi appeared in 34 games for the White Sox, all in relief, going 3-1 with a nice 2.93 ERA over 40 innings, with seven saves and 36 strikeouts.

The following season turned out to be his last as a Big Leaguer, suiting up for the Kansas City Athletics, going 5-8 over 51 games at the age of 36, pitching to a 3.74 ERA in 55.1 innings, once again posting seven saves.

Mossi had some really good years in the Majors over his 12 seasons under the Sun, with his two finest arguably 1959 and 1961 with the Detroit Tigers when he posted records of 17-9 and 15-7 respectively with ERAs of 3.36 and 2.96 as a starter.

By the time he did retire, he finished with a record of 101-80 over 460 appearances, with a 3.43 ERA and 50 saves between 1954 and 1965.