WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" ROGER CONNOR

Up next from my 2018 custom "19th Century Base Ball Champions" set to be featured here on the blog, the original Home Run King Roger Connor, who saw his career home run total fall to a guy called Ruth some 15 years later:

In his stellar 18-year career, he slammed 138 homers, which was an impressive total for the dead-ball days of yore.

A big dude (6'3"/225lbs), Connor wasn't only a slugger however, by the time he retired in 1897, he totaled 2467 hits, 1620 runs, 441 doubles, 233 triples and 1323 runs batted in.

He also managed to steal 244 bases as well, though records for some of these stats were loosely kept, I'll admit.

Nevertheless, the man topped 100+ runs scored eight times, 100+ RBI's four times, 10+ homers seven times, and 10+ triples 12 times.

A very worthy player from the 1800's to be elected into the Hall of Fame, which finally happened for him in 1976, sadly some 45 years after his passing.

REVISITING: MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #15: 1972 STEVE CARLTON

Time to revisit another custom "Missing In-Action 1972 In-Action" card, this one of "Lefty" Steve Carlton originally appearing on the blog just about 10 years ago:

"Up next in my "MIA-MIA" thread is Steve Carlton, pictured here as a St. Louis Cardinal pitcher even though by the time this card would have come out he was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, on his way to a season for the ages.

His last season as a Cardinal was a good one in 1971, as he posted his first 20-win season, going 20-9 with a 3.56 earned run average, four shutouts and 172 strikeouts.

Traded for pitcher Rick Wise, Carlton would then go on to become superstar in Philadelphia, beginning with his very first season there.

In 1972 he was just legendary, posting a 27-10 record with a tiny 1.97 E.R.A., eight shutouts and 310 strikeouts in a whopping 346.1 innings of work!

This "Triple Crown" year was all produced for a last place team, and the guy almost won HALF the teams wins!

Just monster in every sense.

All he did the rest of the way was top 300 wins, 4000 strikeouts, 50 shutouts and 700 starts in his 24 year career!

The first guy to take home four Cy Young Awards, he led his league in wins four times, strikeouts five times, E.R.A. once and was named to ten all-star teams.

Needless to say, by the time he was eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in on his first try, getting named to 436 of 456 ballots.

Sure we already had "Lefty" Grove, and "Lefty" Gomez, but Carlton was more than worthy of the same nickname for all of his accomplishments.

I'll be sure to create a "Nickname" card for him in the near future."

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 FRED KENDALL

It's been a little while since I posted an OPC/Topps Image Variation card duo, so today we take a look at former catcher Fred Kendall and his two cards from 1977:

OPC version

Topps version

The fine folks at OPC scrambled to airbrush him into a Cleveland Indians cap, while the people at Topps had no time before the presses started rolling, so they went with a nice image of him still with the San Diego Padres.

After playing the first eight years of his Big League career with the Padres, Kendall was shipped to Cleveland along with two other players for George Hendrick, in December of 1976.

He'd appear in 103 games for the Tribe that year, hitting .249 over 346 plate appearances before heading off to Boston for the 1978 season, where he would only play in 20 games, hitting just below the "Mendoza Line" at .195.

He'd find himself back in San Diego for what turned out to be the last two years of his career in 1979 and 1980, playing in a combined 65 games before retiring.

Overall, his final numbers in the Majors were a .234 batting average, with 603 hits in 2576 at-bats in 877 games, with 31 homers and 244 runs batted in over 12 seasons.

But his biggest contribution to the game? He fathered a player I feel is a border-line Hall of Fame catcher, Jason Kendall, who starred on the Big League diamond between 1996 and 2010, hitting .288 with over 2000 hits and almost 200 stolen bases.

Way to go Fred!

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: JOHNNY BENCH

Today on the blog I post the first of what is a "set that never was", a 1972 All-Star Ticket card for 1971 starting N.L. catcher Johnny Bench, which was going to be released some years back before I opted for the standard sized 1972 All-Star set that quickly sold-out:

This was a bookmark-sized set that would have had all nine starters for each league, as well as managers.

The background design is based off the actual ticket design for the historic All-Star game, along with a deckle-edge element that Topps was using at that time.

After designing everything, including the packaging for the set, I then decided to go with the other set simply because I wanted to add those cards into my 1972 set binder. Ha!

Still only 24 years old when this card would have come out, Bench was a Rookie of the Year in 1968, a two-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner by the end of 1969, and would go on to take home the first of his two MVP Awards at the end of the 1970 season.

All-time best at his position? I'd be hard-pressed to argue this.

Of course as we all know, he would go on to put together a career rarely seen by ANY player, let alone a catcher: TWO N.L. MVP Awards, 14 all-star games, 10 Gold Gloves, two home run titles and three RBI titles, all while donning the “tools of ignorance” for 17 seasons, all with the Reds.
As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, this man was a mythic figure, a “god”.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: FRANK ROBINSON

Time to add the great, and greatly underappreciated Frank Robinson to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, my way of paying hommage to the great game that has kept me obsessed for 50+ years now:

Frank put in a 21-year Big League career that saw him win Rookie of the Year in 1956 when he smashed a then record-tying 38 home runs as a rookie, win the NL MVP in 1961 when he helped the Cincinnati Reds make it to the World Series, then become the first player to win the award in both leagues when he helped the Baltimore Orioles shock the world by sweeping the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966.
Oh yeah, he also won the Triple Crown that year, leading the American League in runs, homers, RBIs, batting, on-base-percentage, slugging percentage and total bases.
Just a killer year for a guy that was already established as one of the best players in the game.
Funny thing is that this was arguably NOT even his best season as a big leaguer at that point!
Just look at some of his season’s slugging and hitting his way through the first ten years of his career with the Reds!
Though he won the National League MVP in 1961, I always thought his 1962 season was the best of his career, when he hit .342 while collecting 208 hits, leading the league with 134 runs scored and 51 doubles, hitting 39 home runs and driving in 136, while throwing in 18 stolen bases and leading the league with a .421 OBP and .624 slugging! HUGE!
And to think that was only good for FOURTH in MVP voting that year, behind winner Maury Wills, Willie Mays and Tommy Davis.
Incredible.
But that 1966 season was extra special because it also gave Robinson a World Championship, as the Orioles and their young pitching staff went on to surprise everyone and SWEEP the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Nevertheless, his Big League resume: 586 home runs, 1812 ribbies, just under 3000 hits, Rookie of the Year, and two M.V.P. awards (one in each league). You know his resume, I'm sure.
I was just too young to really be following the papers back then, but I wonder if there was any talk about continuing as a player to get to the 3000 hits. Anyone out there know?
2943 was so enticingly close to the magic hit number, but I'm assuming he really didn't have much left in the tank after only 53 hits his final three seasons.

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 ORLANDO RAMIREZ: "1976 PROJECT"

On the blog this fine day, we revisit my "missing" 1976 card for Orlando Ramirez, originally created some 10 years ago for my buddy Jim and his "1976 Master Set" project:

In 1975 Ramirez played in 44 games, good for 113 plate appearances, yet he missed out on a card in that awesome set from 1976.

Yet Topps decided that after he appeared in 30 games with 83 plate appearances in 1976, he'd get a card the following year.

Actually, he also had more playing time during the 1974 season, so he's actually "missing" from the 1975 set as well! (future post!).

Those three seasons would actually be the bulk of his major League playing time, with sparse action in both 1977 and 1979 (he didn't play at all in 1978).

He finished his career with a .189 average with 53 hits in 281 at-bats, with five doubles and a triple.

Thanks to "Reader Jim" for the chance at this project, and tackling these players left out!

 

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- MISSING IN ACTION: 1981 MINNIE MINOSO

On the blog today, we have my "not really missing" 1981 card for Minnie Minoso, from my recent custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months ago:

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.