WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: VADA PINSON

Good day all!

On the blog today, from my custom "Stars of the Game" 1960 gelatin set, my card for the terribly underrated Vada Pinson:

The man put in season after season as a top-notch player who got lost amid the Mays, Aarons and Clementes reigning the National League when he came up.

Heck, he even got lost on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds, trying to share the spotlight with guys like Frank Robinson and Pete Rose!

When you look at Pinson’s career, you should be impressed with what he accomplished between 1958 and 1975.
The man could slug the ball, hitting 256 home runs, while also swipe a base, as his 305 steals show. He collected 200+ hits in a season four times while topping .300 four times with a high of .343 in 1961 for the pennant winning Reds.
He led the N.L. in hits, doubles and triples two times each, while also topping the Senior Circuit in runs in his first full season, 1959, with 131.
By the time he completed his career, he topped 2700 hits, 1300 runs, 1100 runs batted in, 250 homers and 300 stolen bases.
To this day it amazes me that guys like Pinson, Al Oliver, & Steve Garvey get snubbed by both the BBWA at first, then the Veterans Committee, yet Cooperstown has players like Stonewall Jackson, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines and “High Pockets” Kelly in there.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1983 JOE CHARBONEAU

On the blog today, a fun card to add to the WTHBALLS roster, and part of the next custom set, a 1983 "career-capper" for former Rookie of the Year Joe Charboneau, whose career came to a quick end after the 1982 season:

Charboneau went "from the penthouse to the basement" rather quickly, earning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1980 after hitting .289 with 23 homers and 87 RBIs for the Cleveland Indians.

He also became somewhat of a media icon at the time, gaining fame and appearing all over media outlets ala Mark Fidrych or Fernando Valenzuela.

However he could not repeat his production at the plate in 1981, hitting .210 with four homers and 18 RBIs over 48 games during the strike season.

1982 didn't fare any better for the young slugger, as it would see him appear in only 22 games, hitting .214 with two homers and nine RBIs, dealing with injuries that brought his career to a quick halt.

He'd play another two seasons in the Minors before calling it a pro career, before making a stunt of a return in the Frontier League as a 45-year-old in 2000 with Canton, collecting a single in his lone at-bat.

Sadly the "Super Joe" legend didn't last enough for the fans in Cleveland, who thought they had a young stud on their hands during that glorious Summer of 1980.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1977 JERRY CRAM

Up on the blog today, a "not so missing" 1977 card for former pitcher Jerry Cram, who suited up for the Kansas City Royals in 1976:

In 1976, he was back where it all began for him in the Big Leagues, Kansas City, where he worked what turned out to be the last four games of his career, not factoring in a decision and posting an ERA of 6.23 over 4.1 innings.
He would go on to pitch in the Kansas City minor league system for another five years, through the 1981 season, before retiring for good, ending up with a record of 0-3, with a final ERA of 2.98 over 23 games and 48.1 innings.

He broke into the Majors in 1969 with the Royals when he appeared in five games as a 21-year-old, going 0-1 over 16.2 innings with a 3.24 earned run average.

He'd spend 1970 through 1973 in the Minors before making it back to the Big Leagues, now a member of the New York Mets, appearing in a combined 14 games between 1974 and 1975, going 0-2.

 

1981 DRAKE'S BIG PITCHERS: FERGIE JENKINS

Today on the blog, another card from my 1981 "Drake's Big Pitchers" set released about a year ago, this one my Fergie Jenkins card:

He'd eventually post six 20-win seasons, six 200-strikeout seasons, five 300+-inning years, four sub-3.00 E.R.A. Years and become the first pitcher in Major League history to finish with 3000+ strikeouts with LESS than 1000 base on balls.

Overall in 19-seasons Jenkins finished with a 284-226 record, with a 3.34 earned run average, 49 shutouts and 3192 strikeouts over 664 games, 594 of which were starts.

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.

Such a treat to be able to have seen him pitch in the Big Leagues! The days of strong starters going deep into games.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 EDDIE SOLOMON

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1976 card for former pitcher Eddie Solomon, who was left out of a few Topps sets early on in his career:

Solomon, who would go on to pitch 10 years in the Major Leagues, appeared in four games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1973, not factoring in a decision with a 7.11 earned run average over 6.1 innings.
He’d appear in just four games the following season as well, but would see much better results, posting an ERA of 1.50 over 6 innings, allowing just one earned run.

In 1975 he'd appear in only six games for the Chicago Cubs, his only season with the organization, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a 1.35 ERA over 6.2 innings of work.
He’d spend the rest of his career as an arm that could start or come out of the bullpen, mainly with the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he pitched between 1977 and 1982.
He finished his career with a record of 36-42, along with an ERA of exactly 4.00 over 191 appearances and 718 innings, with 95 of those games as starts.
Sadly, in January of 1986 at the young age of only 34, he died in a car accident in Macon, Georgia.

 

WTHBALLS 1950 CUSTOM SET: WARREN SPAHN

Good day all! On the blog today, another card from my 2018 "1950 Stars of the Game" custom set, Warren Spahn, all-time great lefty and a favorite subject of mine:

Anyone who has followed this blog long enough knows by now that any time I can create a card for the mighty lefty, I will take it!

The man was amazing, flat out, and by the time he retired in 1965 he posted a 363-245 record, with a 3.09 ERA, 63 shutouts, 28 saves and 2583 strikeouts over 750 appearances, 665 of which were starts.

Oh yeah, he also hit 35 career home runs along with 189 runs batted in with (coincidentally) 363 hits!

And remember he didn’t win his first game until he was 25 years of age, as he served in the military from 1943 to 1945.

His first 20-game season was 1947 (at the age of 26), and he kept right on rolling until his final 20-game season in 1963!

In between, he ended up posting 13 such campaigns, leading the league eight times (with five of those coming consecutively from 1957 to 1961).

Just an amazing career!

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 MIKE SQUIRES

Revisiting a 10+ year-old post showing my "missing" 1976 card for former first baseman Mike Squires.

Here’s what would be a “missing” rookie card for Gold Glove winning first baseman Mike Squires, who would spend his entire 10-year career with the Chicago White Sox:

Squires came up to the Major Leagues in 1975, appearing in 20 games for the Pale Hose, batting .231 over 65 at-bats.
After a season in the Minors in ‘76, he was in the Big Leagues to say in 1977, generally a guy off the bench, specifically as a defensive replacement, leading to a Gold Glove Award in the strike-shortened 1981 season.
By the time he was out of the Majors after a couple of games in 1985, he left behind a .260 batting average with 411 hits over 1580 at-bats in 779 games, with a career .995 fielding percentage.
Nevertheless, as it stands Squires first card would be in that horrible black-and-white multi-player rookie sub-set in the 1979 set.
On a side-note, never realized that in the 1976 Topps set, there isn’t a first baseman among all the White Sox players.  I had to get creative to whip up a first baseman template for this card.