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.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1974 JERRY JOHNSON

Up on the blog today, we have a "missing" 1974 card for former pitcher Jerry Johnson, who suited up for the Cleveland Indians in 1973:

Johnson, who I always remember as the man with the “iron jaw”, appeared in 39 games for Cleveland that season, going 5-6 with a 6.18 earned run average over 59.2 innings, all but one appearance out of the bullpen.
In 1977 he would be a member of the inaugural Blue Jay team, his last season in the Big Leagues, going 2-4 with an ERA of 4.60 over 43 appearances and 86 innings pitched.
His finest season would have to be 1972 when he was with the San Francisco Giants, a year which saw him post a record of 12-9 with a nice 2.97 earned run average over 67 appearances, all out of the bullpen, with 18 saves in 109 innings pitched.
All told, by the time he retired, he finished up with a record of 48-51, with an ERA of 4.31 and 41 saves over 365 appearances and 770.2 innings of work.

REVISITING AN OLD POST: MISSING 1977 TOM SHOPAY

On the blog today, we revisit a post from 10 years ago, my "missing" 1977 card for former outfielder Tom Shopay, who had a FEW missing cards through his career:

Shopay appeared in only 14 games for the O’s, hitting an even .200 with four hits over 20 at-bats while playing the outfield aside from one game at catcher.
He’s a bit of a novelty for me since he really could have had cards in multiple Topps sets between 1970-1978 but only got two, in the 1970 and 1972 editions.
I already created 1976 and 1978 versions on this blog, and will most likely add a 1973 version as well, so keep an eye out for it!
As for Shopay’s career, he hit .201 over 7-partial seasons with 62 hits over 253 games and 309 at-bats playing for the New York Yankees and Orioles between 1967 and 1977, missing any Major League playing time in the 1968, 1970, 1973 and 1974 seasons.

 

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: BRUCE SUTTER

Good day all!

On the blog today, we spotlight another card from my recent custom WTHBALLS set, "1981 Drake's Big Pitchers", this time Hall of Fame reliever Bruce Sutter:

The man absolutely revolutionized the idea of a "relief" pitcher, dominating as soon as he came into the league in 1976 with the Chicago Cubs.

He led the league in saves five times, including a then record 45 saves with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1984.

Between 1977 and 1984 he'd finish top-5 in the Cy Young voting four times, taking home the Award in 1979.

He also finished top-10 in N.L. MVP voting five times, while getting named to six All-Star teams.

These were the days when your "Fireman" would pitch more than 100 innings a year, with Sutter topping that mark five times, as well as a 99 inning year in 1978.

Simply amazing to watch back then, as he mastered the split-fingered fastball that came to prominence in the 1980s.

Arm issues curtailed his career in 1986, and by the age of 35 he was done, but not before he picked up 300 saves, and posted an ERA of 2.83 over 661 appearances and 1042 innings, striking out 861 batters.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 CHARLIE MANUEL

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1976 card for future Big League manager Charlie (Chuck) Manuel, who played what turned out to be the last Major League games of his career in 1975 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Manuel appeared in 15 games for the Dodgers in 1975, after only four the previous year, collecting three hits over 18 at-bats combined, with three RBIs and a walk.

Between 1969 and 1972 he saw part-time action with the Minnesota Twins, never hitting above .207, with his rookie year seeing the most game-time, as he appeared in 83 games for the American League West champs.

After his brief season with the Dodgers in 1975, Manuel would go and take his talents to Japan, where he would downright mash the ball between 1976 and 1981.
From 1977 to 1980, his home run totals were 42, 39, 37 and 48, while driving in no less than 94 runs for Yakult and Osaka Kintetsu.
Of course, we all know that after his playing days, he’d become a long time coach and manager in the Big Leagues, guiding the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies to the Post-Season, winning it all with the Phillies in 2008 while taking home the NL Pennant the following year.

He would end up with exactly 1000 managerial wins in 12 seasons at the helm of a Major League club.