On the blog this fine day, a "missing" 1954 Wilson's Franks card for the great Early Wynn, adding to my all-time favorite "odd-ball" set over the next few months:
The
set is extremely popular for vintage collectors, and rightly so,
sporting such a great design against solid color backgrounds, perfectly
representing the era.
Oddly, the set had
both superstars and middle-of-the-road players in it's limited 20-card
set, ranging from uber-stars like ted Williams to White Sox outfielder
Johnny Groth, so I figured I'd add the biggest stars of the game that
are missing for fun.
Wynn's Major League romp towards 300 career wins didn't really pick
up steam until he was 30-years old and a member of the Cleveland
Indians in 1950, as he posted an 18-8 record with a league-leading 3.20
earned run average.
From then on he was hovering around 20-wins every year for the next ten years, topping the mark five times.
In 1959, now a member of the "Go-Go" Chicago White Sox, Wynn
anchored the staff that led the team to a World Series appearance
against the eventual champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, by posting a 22-10
record, leading the league in wins and copping a Cy
Young Award at the age of 39.
However, the struggle to get that elusive 300th win is now
well-documented, as he hung on for the next four years until he got that
final victory in 1963 at the age of 43, thus joining the exclusive club
and pretty much sealing his Cooperstown induction
in his fourth year of eligibility, getting 76% of the BBWA vote.
All told, Wynn finished his 23-year career with a 300-244 record,
with a 3.54 E.R.A., 49 shutouts and 2334 strikeouts in 691 games, 611 of
which were starts, and was named to seven all-star teams.
