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.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: ROCKY COLAVITO

Time for another "Classic Baseball" custom WTHBALLS card to post up here on the blog, with today's player slugger Rocky Colavito, who had himself an excellent Major League career during baseball's "Golden Age":

Colavito ended his playing days back in 1968 before immediately going into coaching, putting in a great MLB “lifer” career that began way back in 1955 when the 21-year-old debuted with the Indians.
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.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1988 JOHNNIE LEMASTER

Good day all!

On the blog today we cap-off Johnnie LeMaster's career with a 1988 card showing him as a member of the Oakland A's, with whom he suited up in 1987:

Lemaster made it back to the Majors in 1987 after a year in the Minors, appearing in 20 games for Oakland and hitting a low .083 with two hits over 24 at-bats.

He previously split the 1985 season with three teams, the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates, appearing in a combined 45 games and hitting .128.

Pretty much spending his entire career in San Francisco, LeMaster originally came up in 1975 and played through the 1984 season with the Giants, generally a light bat, good fielding shortstop.

His finest season would arguably be the 1983 campaign when he set personal bests in games, at-bats, runs (81), hits (128) and stolen bases (39) while hitting .240 over 132 games.

The typical 1970s middle infielder, though his average hovered around the .220-.240 mark, he always had a job.

By the time he retired he finished with a .222 career average, with 709 hits over 3191 at-bats in 1039 games, scoring 320 runs while driving in 229.

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1969 IN-ACTION JOHNNY BENCH

By special request, today on the blog we have a 1969 "In-Action" card for Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, perhaps the greatest of them all:

Fun picture of the young Bench arguing a call with an umpire at the beginning of his incredible career.

Leading the Cincinnati Reds to two World Championships, four World Series appearances, while taking home two MVP Awards, and absolutely rewriting the catching game in Big League history, the man was already a legend by the time he was in his early-20's!

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”, and he and the rest of his "Big Red Machine" teammates were steamrolling through the league towards two straight championships in 1975 & 1976, while appearing in two other series in 1970 and 1972.

L-E-G-E-N-D.

By the time he retired after the 1983 season, he collected 2048 hits, hit 389 homers, drove in 1376 runs, and scored 1091 runs, all mainly done during the "dead ball" decade of the 1970s.

Just the best!

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1970 BILL SHORT

On the blog today, we have a 1970 "not so missing" card for former pitcher Bill Short, who finished up a six-year Big League career with four games as a Cincinnati Red in 1969:

Over those four games Short didn't factor in a decision, while pitching to a 15.43 ERA over 2.1 innings.

Originally up with the New York Yankees in 1960, he posted a record of 3-5 in 10 appearances, posting an ERA of 4.79 over 47 innings of work.

He'd spend all of 1961 in the Minors before coming back in 1962, now a member of the Baltimore Orioles, appearing in five games and going 0-0 with a bloated 15.75 ERA in four innings.

It would be a while before he made it back to a Major League mound, that being 1966 when he split the season between the Orioles and the Boston Red Sox, going 2-3 over 14 games with a 3.13 ERA, even tossing his only MLB shutout.

In 1967 he'd find himself in Pittsburgh with the Pirates, appearing in six games though only throwing 2.1 innings, allowing a hit and a run which translates to a 3.86  ERA.

In 1968, new year, new team! Now with the New York Mets, he would appear in a career-high 34 games, all in relief, going 0-3 with a 4.85 ERA over 29.2 innings, picking up a save along the way.

Overall, Short appeared in 73 games as a Big League pitcher, going 5-11 with a 4.73 ERA in 131.1 innings, striking out 71 batters while walking 64, with a shutout and two saves.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: ERNIE BROGLIO

Good day all!

On the blog today, we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" custom card for former pitcher Ernie Broglio, from my set released back in 2018 inside printed WTHBALLS gelatin set:

Broglio was coming off a rookie 1959 season that saw him go 7-12 for the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching to a 4.72 ERA over 181.1 innings with three shutouts.

In 1960 he had himself a fantastic year, leading the National League with 21 wins, posting a record of 21-9 with a nice 2.74 ERA over 226.1 innings, appearing in 52 games while starting 24. 

Those numbers got him a third-place finish in the Cy Young race, as well as a ninth-place finish for N.L. MVP.

He'd struggle a bit in 1961, going 9-12 over 29 appearances with a 4.12 ERA, but bounced back with two good years in 1962 and 1963, going 12-9 and 18-8 respectively, with nine shutouts and a 2.99 ERA overall.

Now, with those numbers, the Chicago Cubs made what was eventually seen as one of the worst trades ever, sending their young speedster outfielder Lou Brock to the Cardinals for the young pitcher, a move that would bite them in the ass.

While Brock would blossom into a record-breaking Hall of Fame outfielder over the next two decades, Broglio struggles mightily over the next two and a half seasons, managing only a combined record of 7-19 between 1964 and 1966, with an ERA North of 6.00 during his tenure with Chicago.

By the end of 1966, his career was over, leaving the Cubs with an all-time "what-if", imagining their 1960's teams anchored by guys like Santo, Williams, Jenkins AS WELL as Lou Brock.

Instead the Cardinals would go on to arguably be the second best team of the decade in the National League behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, taking home two World Series titles while appearing in another.