"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: JUAN MARICHAL

Today on the blog, we add the "Dominican Dandy", Juan Marichal to my upcoming custom "Classic Baseball" set, to see the light of day later this year in multiple series on deluxe card-stock:

Just a nice close-up shot of the Hall of Famer pitcher.

The man was born to pitch.

Once called up to the big show in 1961, he would go 6-2 over his first 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

"Dominican Dandy" indeed!

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- WALTER JOHNSON

On the blog today, we keep building on my future custom "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set by adding "The Big Train", my personal pick as greatest pitcher ever, Walter Johnson:

Funny enough, Johnson's only time in the "true" Minors was after his Big League tenure, appearing in one single game for the Newark Bears in 1928, facing one batter, whom he walked.

That was it!

99.9% of his time on a mound was for the Washington Senators between 1907 and 1927, producing one of the all-time greatest careers the game has ever seen.

Perhaps the greatest all-time pitcher PERIOD when you consider all the bad teams this guy pitched for.

All Johnson did while pitching his entire career for the Washington Senators was win 417 games (second all-time), throw 110 shutouts (all-time high), whiff 3509 batters (the record until the late-70's), and post a stellar 2.17 earned run average.

Can you imagine if Johnson pitched for good teams most of his career!? He'd probably have an extra 50-100 wins thrown in!

His 1913 season is just too sick: a 36-7 record with a 1.14 E.R.A, and 243 strikeouts, all league highs, as well as leading numbers in complete games (29), shutouts (11), winning percentage (.837)and WHIP (0.780). 

Needless to say he won the first of two M.V.P. awards that year, with his other award coming in 1924 when at the age of 36 he went 23-7 with a 2.72 earned run average and 158 K's (again winning the pitching Triple Crown) as he led Washington to a World Series win over the New York Giants.

He actually won a third "Triple Crown" in 1918 as well, when he posted a 23-13 record with a 1.27 E.R.A. and 162 strikeouts.

All told he led the league in wins six times, E.R.A. five times, shutouts seven times and strikeouts twelve times, twice topping 300 for a season (1910 & 1912).

And for you "modern" analytics fans out there, how about EIGHT seasons of 10+ WAR, with an INSANE 15.2 mark in 1913!?

And the year before THAT he posted a WAR of 14.3!

He was really a player from out of this world pitching among children. Incredible.

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING IN ACTION 1975 DICK McAULIFFE

Hello everyone!

On the blog today, we revisit my "missing" 1975 card for long time infielder Dick McAuliffe, which originally appeared here on the blog on October 22nd of 2014:

Here's my original write-up for the card way back when:

The long time Detroit Tiger infielder was wrapping up a nice 16-year career in 1975, appearing in only seven games for the BoSox.

However in 1974 he did appear in 100 games for Boston, batting .210 over 316 plate appearances.

Those two seasons would be the only ones where McAuliffe didn't suit up for the Tigers, for whom he played between 1960 and 1973 manning both second and shortstop.

He made three consecutive all-star teams between 1965 and 1967, and even finished seventh in MVP voting in 1968 when the Tigers won it all.

All told he batted .247 for his career, with 197 homers and 697 runs batted in over 1700 games.

 

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: CARLTON FISK

Today on the blog we take a look at my mini Carlton Fisk custom, from my fun "Gum Pack" set released last year in special packaging:

This was a quick little set that slipped under the radar for many, selling out pretty quickly I am proud to say!

Beautiful velvet touch card stock mini-cards that came wrapped in a pack of gum-sized package a la Wrigleys, etc.

As for Carlton Fisk, he immediately made his impact on the game, unanimously winning the 1972 Rookie of the Year Award by hitting .293 and leading the league with nine triples along with 22 homers and 61 runs batted in.
Of course, we all know he’d go on to star for both the Red Sox and then the Chicago White Sox over the next 21 seasosn, 24 overall, becoming one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
He'd be named to eleven all-star games, collect 2356 Major League hits, and slam 376 home runs with 1330 runs batted in and 1276 runs scored.
Of course, he’d also give us one of baseball’s all-time moments, hitting the game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series versus the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, the image of him waving the ball fair a part of Major League history.
After eleven years in Boston, he would go on to play 13 more with the White Sox, playing until the age of 45! A tank of a man, and continue to put in solid season after season.
In 1985 at the age of 37, he set career highs in home runs (37) and Runs batted in (107), while tying his career high in stolen bases (17) while catching 130 games. Just amazing.
After missing out on a Hall of Fame selection in 1999 (how the Hell did that happen?), he made it in the following year when he was named on 79.6% of ballots, joining other all-time catchers like Campanella, Berra and Bench in baseball immortality.

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1967 ROCKY COLAVITO

Good day everyone.

On the blog today, we have the first card from what will be my third series of "1960s In-Action" set, this one a card of former slugger Rocky Colavito of the Cleveland Indians on a 1967 template:

I chose the 1967 template since his base 1967 card is a complete pain in the butt to get for those of us completing that legendary set!

I found a nice "action" shot of him in-game, stretching before an at-bat.

Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASE BALL CHAMPIONS" CHARLES RADBOURN

The next card from my early WTHBALLS custom set, "19th Century Base Ball Stars" is of HOF pitcher Charles Radbourn, he of the STILL record 60 win season in 1884:

The man won 310 games over just eleven seasons of Major League ball, not only winning those 60 games in 1884 when Providence found themselves with only one pitcher down the stretch, giving Radbourne the opportunity of pitching every day, but 48 wins the year prior, as well as seven other 20+ win campaigns between 1881 and 1891.

Of course, his 1884 season is the stuff of legends, as his 60-12 record still rings ludicrous, while also starting 73 games, COMPLETING ALL OF THEM, tossing eleven shutouts, tossing 678.2 innings and striking out 441 batters.

Oh, and his earned run average? That was a microscopic 1.38!!

How are those numbers even real!?

By the time he left the game after a year with Cincinnati in 1891, he finished with 310 wins over 527 appearances, with 502 starts, 488 of them completed, 35 shutouts, a 2.68 ERA over 4527.1 innings, and 1830 strikeouts.

Just amazing.

If you haven't read his biography "59 in '84", I suggest you give it a whirl. Some funny anecdotes in there as well as serious baseball history for fans of the early game.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- JIMMIE FOXX

The next legend added to my long-running "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set is the "Beast", Jimmie Foxx, all-timer and about as nasty a batter the game has ever seen:

Shown here as a 16-year old with the Easton Farmers in his first year of pro ball, Foxx would hit .296 over 76 games as a catcher with 10 homers among his 77 hits.

He'd put in another year of Minor League ball the following season with Newark and Providence before making it to the Majors in 1925, and ripping the cover off the ball over the next 20 years.

From age 21 through 32 he was absolutely ELITE, with only guys like Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth that could compare to both the average and power numbers he was putting up year after year.

He'd win TWO Triple Crowns, four home run titles, three RBI titles, and his high mark in offensive categories were, well, offensive to opposing pitchers!

His career-bests: 151 runs scored in 1932, 58 home runs in 1932, 213 hits in 1932, 175 RBIs in 1938, .364 average in 1932, 438 total bases in 1932, .749 slugging in 1932.

Clearly, it's also obvious his 1932 seasons goes down as one of the top offensive years by a player in baseball history, and it brought him the first of his eventual three MVP Awards.

Incredibly, by the time he was 33 in 1941, his numbers would drop off dramatically, with his career done in 1945 after some time with the Philadelphia Phillies.

However, his final stats: a .325 batting average, 534 homers, 1922 RBIs, 1751 runs scored, 2646 hits, and a career .609 slugging percentage.

Just incredible.