REVISIT: DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1976 HENRY CRUZ

Up on the blog today, we have a "Dedicated" rookie card for Henry Cruz, originally posted 10 years ago as part of my "1976 Project" for my buddy Jim:

Cruz actually saw a chunk of playing time during the 1975 season, appearing in 53 games and collecting 25 hits over 94 at-bats, good for a .266 average.
Jim needed him on a dedicated card for his special project so here you go.
Actually, as far as I’m concerned, Cruz has two other “missing” cards, in the 1977 and 1979 sets, which will be tackled in the near future.
What’s funny about that is the fact that he DOES get a card in the 1978 set, after seeing the LEAST playing time of his short 4-year career the year before!
Go figure...

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: TOM SEAVER

Good day all!

On the blog today we start spotlighting my 1981 "Drakes Big Pitchers" custom set released a few months ago, adding pitchers to one of my favorite oddball sets, the '81 "Big Hitters" set.

We start off with the great Tom Seaver, "Tom Terrific", my favorite pitcher as a kid growing up in New York City, even though I was a Yankees fan:

What needs to be said about this man?

By the time he was done he would end up with a 311-205 record along with 61 shutouts and 3640 strikeouts to go with a brilliant 2.86 ERA over 20-seasons and 656 appearances, 647 of which were starts.

He was in prime form in the mid-70’s, putting together nine straight 200 strikeouts seasons while getting tabbed to ten all-star teams in his first eleven seasons.

God I loved Tom Seaver when I was a kid. More than any other pitcher of that era I was in awe of this man. He just seemed like a "super-hero" to me.

Just look at all my other posts dedicated to the man here on this blog. He was other-worldly to me growing up in New York City as a kid in the 1970's.

Even if he WAS a Met, to this young Yankee fan he was unquestionably the best pitcher in the game at that time.

Rest in Peace "Tom Terrific"!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: DON SUTTON

Today on the blog, we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card for "Double-D" Don Drysdale, Hall of Fame pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Though retiring at such a young age, Drysdale still collected 209 wins along with a 2.95 earned run average and 2486 strikeouts.
Imagine if he were able to pitch another three or four years. Would we be looking at a 300-win guy? Most assuredly a 3000 strikeout pitcher for sure.
Nevertheless, his accomplishments in such a short time were good enough for the BBWAA to elect him into the Hall of Fame in 1984, joining old teammate Sandy Koufax and eventually joined by Don Sutton.
Drysdale took home the Cy Young in 1962 while pacing the Senior Circuit in wins, starts, innings and strikeouts, while also posting one of his NINE sub-3.00 ERA campaigns.
Tough as nails when on the mound, he was named to eight All-Star Games, and of course had that magical run in 1968 when he threw 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, including six straight shutouts.

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN: 1975 DAMASO BLANCO

Since I found a better image for Damaso Blanco of the San Francisco Giants over what I originally used, I went ahead a recreated the "missing" card originally on the blog back in 2019, so here it is:

Closing out what was a three-year Big League career that saw him hit .212 over 72 games and 33 at-bats, with seven hits and nine runs scored between 1972 and 1974, all for the Giants.
A career Minor Leaguer, he originally became a pro back in 1961 at the age of 19 before toiling through the Giants system until his big break in 1972 at the age of 30.
His career was played entirely for the San Francisco organization, with only those three partial years in the Majors mentioned above, totaling 14 years as a professional.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: TED KLUSZEWSKI

The next baseball star to get a card in my long-running WTHBALLS original custom set is slugger Ted Kluszewski, Cincinnati Reds legend:

Kluszewski made his mark with the Reds’ organization in the 1950’s as a slugging first baseman who made four straight all-star teams between 1953-1956, with a power display of 40, 49 47 and 35 homers, all with 100+ runs batted in.
He even finished second in the National League MVP voting in 1954 (behind Willie Mays), after leading the league in HR’s with his 49 and RBI’s with 141.
His playing career lasted through the 1961 season after a season with the (then) Los Angeles Angels, before moving into coaching.
Who could ever forget those awesome photos of Kluszewski and his cut-off sleeves on his baseball cards!? Looked like a damn Paul Bunyon swinging an axe. Awesome.

 

MISSING IN ACTION- 1988 STEVE CARLTON

Up on the blog today, we have my "missing" 1988 card for Steve Carlton, who was hanging on for a few more seasons before calling it an incredible career:

"Lefty" appeared in 32 games during the 1987 season, splitting time between the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins, going 6-14 with a bloated 5.74 ERA over 152.1 innings of work, with a save and 91 strikeouts.

He made his major League debut during the 1965 season, appearing in 15 games, with two of those starts, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a 2.52 earned run average as a 20-year-old.

In 1966 it would be more of the same, as he'd appear in only nine games, going 3-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 52 innings of work, striking out 25 while walking 18, also tossing the first shutout of his young Big League tenure.

1967 would see him begin his next level of play, as he'd go 14-9 with a 2.98 ERA over 30 appearances and 193 innings, with two shutouts and 168 strikeouts, helping the St. Louis Cardinals win it all, their second championship in three years.

For Carlton, all he did the rest of the way was take his game to an elite, astronomical level, as we see him 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.

One of the all-time greats, I'm so happy I got to see him pitch live during the 1980s!

 

1963 FLEER EXTENSION MISSING IN ACTION: HOYT WILHELM

On the blog today we add the great Hoyt Wilhelm to my "extended" 1963 Fleer set, expanding the great set beyond its 66-card original output due to Topps claiming sole rights to creating baseball cards at the time:

I've always been fascinated by Wilhelm's career.
Who knows what he could have done if he remained a starter. Who knows what his career numbers would have been if he began his career in his early 20's instead of at the ripe "old" age of 29!
Think about this for a second: the man started his career at 29 and he STILL pitched in 21 seasons. He still ended up setting what was then the all-time record for appearances by a pitcher with 1070.
Throw in seven seasons of sub-2.00 E.R.A.'s, 227 saves, and on top of all of that, TWO E.R.A. crowns in the ONLY two years he even threw enough innings to qualify, and you definitely have a Hall of Fame career when it's all said and done.
Take a look at Wilhelm's rookie season. In 1952 he shows up in New York, pitching for the Giants, and all he does is go 15-3 in 159.1 innings, with a league-leading 2.43 E.R.A. and 11 saves. And this was ALL in relief! He appeared in 71 games without a single start. Just awesome.
He also managed to hit a home run in his first Major League at bat on April 23, 1952, never to hit another one in his career. Go figure.
It would then be another seven years before he would pitch more than 154 innings, this time topping out with a career high 226 with the Baltimore Orioles in 1959 mainly as a starter.
His other numbers that year were good enough to have him selected as an All-Star: 15-11, league-leading 2.19 E.R.A., and 13 complete games with three shut outs.
Whether you had him starting or coming in as a reliever, he was up for the challenge.
Wilhelm finally called it a career after the 1972 season where he appeared in only 16 games for the L.A. Dodgers.
Over the course of his last five seasons (all post-45 years of age), he bounced around a bit and pitched for five teams: White Sox, Angels, Braves, Dodgers and Cubs, going 17-18 with 43 saves.
Nevertheless, Wilhelm was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, generally considered the first relief pitcher to have this honor bestowed upon him.

CAREER-CAPPERS: 1981 SADAHARU OH SPECIAL

Today on the blog we spotlight my bonus card from my recent custom "1980s Career-Cappers" set, the 1981 Sadaharu Oh capper:

Super fun card to add to the wildly popular set, and a perfect fit to the WTHBALLS checklist.

As I've stated earlier here on the blog, I just love creating cards for Japanese Hall of Famers onto Topps templates!

Sadaharu Oh is a GOD in Japan, and rightfully so, topping 100 runs batted in 14 times, 100 runs scored 10 times and 30+ homers 19 times, which he did consecutively including his last year in 1980.

He topped 40 homers 13 times, including 55 in 1964, a Japanese record, then 51 in 1973 and 50 in 1977 when he broke the record to much fanfare.

When you look at his career stats it's like a thing out of a softball league, or some latter Barry Bonds numbers, with on-base-percentages above .500, slugging percentages above .700, and 100+ base on balls year after year, 16 consecutive to be precise, on his way to 2390 by the time he hung them up.

Just a fun angle for the blog to start designing some cards for legends of other leagues around the world, which I hope to continue in the new year.

Oh's final numbers: a .301 average with 2786 hits, 1967 runs scored, 2170 RBIs, 868 homers in 2831 games and 9250 official at-bats.

Just incredible!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: BROOKS ROBINSON

Good day all!

On the blog today, we spotlight another card from my 1960 "Stars of the Game" custom gelatin set, this one Brooks Robinson:

In 1958 he’d play his first full season in the Big Leagues, and it was all cruise control from there, as the great third baseman would go on to grab 16 Gold Gloves, an MVP Award in 1964, appear in 15 All-Star games, and help guide the Baltimore Orioles to two Championships and four A.L. Pennants.
By the time he hung up that golden glove after the 1977 season, he finished with 2848 hits, 1357 runs batted in, 268 home runs and 1232 runs scored in 2896 games.
Needless to say, by the time Cooperstown came calling, he was voted in on his first try, receiving 92% support in 1983.

 

REVISIT: DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1974 KEN GRIFFEY Sr.

Thought it'd be fun to delve into the archives and revisit another ten-year-old post, this time my 1974 "Dedicated Rookie" for Ken Griffey Sr:

Griffey began what was to become a brilliant 19-year career that saw him hit .296 with 2143 hits in 7229 at-bats, with 1129 runs scored, 152 homers and 859 runs batted in.
During the 1973 season he made the most of his short stay, hitting .384 in 25 games with 33 hits in 86 at-bats.
He was named to three all-star games during his career, and was a member of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds of the 1970’s, taking home two consecutive World Championships in 1975 and 1976.
Of course, we HAVE to mention something else he did, which was father a kid who would become one of the players of his generation, Ken Griffey Jr, recent Hall of Fame inductee and super-star extraordinaire.
I still think one of the coolest moments in baseball history was when Griffey Sr and Griffey Jr BOTH hit homers for the same team in the same game!  I just couldn’t believe it actually happened.

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 MARIO SOTO

Today on the blog we go ahead and "fix" another All-Star card snub, this time a 1984 All-Star card for the National League starter for the 1983 game, Mario Soto of the Cincinnati Reds:

1984 is really where Topps went off the rails with their All-Star cards, pretty much just ignoring the starters of the Midsummer Classic and just giving the honor to whomever they wanted.

There's NO better example than ignoring the pitcher who started the game in 1983 for the N.L., Mario Soto, ace of the Reds.

Soto started the game, tossing two innings and taking the rare loss for the N.L., though he only gave up two unearned runs in that game before the American League blew it open later on, capped off with the Fred Lynn grand slam off Atlee Hammaker.

Soto would go on to have an excellent 1983 season, finishing runner-up for the Cy Young Award with a record of 17-13, with a 2.70 ERA and 242 strikeouts, with three shutouts along the way.

An absolute stud on the mound between 1980 and 1985, he'd strikeout as many as 274 batters (1982) while averaging 14 wins a season before arm troubles did him in by the age of 30.

He'd retire at only 33 after the 1988 season with 100 wins and a 3.47 ERA over 297 appearances, with 13 shutouts over 72 complete games, striking out 1449 along the way.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 ROY HARTSFIELD

Today on the blog, another image/card variation between Topps and OPC, this time the 1977 cards for inaugural Toronto Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield:

OPC version

Topps version

While I do like what Topps did with their card, giving the new franchise skipper a horizontal layout with the coaches listed as well (like earlier in the decade for manager cards), I definitely prefer what OPC did, just giving the field manager a card of his own.

Funny enough, OPC did NOT do the same for the other new franchise manager, Darrell Johnson of the Seattle Mariners, instead giving the same honor to the Montreal Expos skipper, Dick Williams, the other Canada-based leader.

As for Hartsfield, he certainly did not have an easy task taking over a new team, as the Blue Jays struggled (as any new franchise would), going a combined 166 and 318 record over his three-year tenure.

His Blue Jay teams would lose 107, 102 and 109 games respectively in those three seasons, finishing last each time in the tough American League East.

As a player, Hartsfield played three years in the Big Leagues, 1950 through 1952, all for the Boston Braves, hitting .273 over that time while playing second base.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: DAVE PARKER

The next baseball star to get a card in my ongoing "Classic Baseball" custom set is "Cobra", Dave Parker, one of my favorite players growing up and now rightfully a member of the Hall of Fame:

An all-around super-star, Parker hit for average, for power, had a cannon for an arm, and would even steal some bases if needed.

By the time he retired after the 1991 season, a nice 19-year career, he posted over 2700 hits, 1200 runs scored, 500 doubles, almost 1500 runs batted in, 339 home runs and over 150 stolen bases!

He was a seven-time all-star who also finished in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting six times, with three Gold Gloves thrown in for good measure.

The fact that Dave Parker never garnered more than 24.5% of the BBWA Hall of Fame vote (1998) before becoming ineligible in 2011 is just criminal in my eyes.

This man should have been in the Hall of Fame YEARS ago. Plain and simple! "Analytics" be damned!

Rest in Peace Dave Parker, a heck of a ballplayer.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1975 CURT MOTTON

On the blog today, we post up a 1975 "Career-Capper" for Curt Motton of the Baltimore Orioles, who wrapped up an eight-year Major League career with seven scane games in 1974:

Motton went 0-8 at the plate over those seven games, this after going two-for-six at the plate the previous season when he appeared in five games for the O's.

Over his eight-year MLB tenure, he hit .213 with 121 hits in 567 at-bats, but most importantly was a member of the juggernaut Oriole teams between 1969 and 1971, with a World Championship in 1970.

Of his eight MLB seasons, seven were with the Orioles, while he split the 1972 season between the Milwaukee Brewers and California Angels.

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: REGGIE JACKSON

Here's a special request for a card to be added to my 1971 "All-Star Game Ticket" set, which I never did print up as originally planned, a Reggie Jackson edition to add to the starting line-up of both leagues as well as manager cards:

Now, I still haven't designed an Earl Weaver card yet since I'm looking for a full-resolution time appropriate image of him, but this Reggie card is the first for any non-starting player in that classic All-Star game.

Granted, it was his epic home run off the Detroit Stadium light tower that most remember from that magical game, which saw no less than six future Hall of Famers hit one out of the park.

Just an incredible game that saw the aging stars of the 1950s and 1960s play with the up and coming stars of the 1970s, changing the landscape of the game and pushing towards what I consider a second "Golden Age" for baseball over the next 10-15 years.

I do still think I'll print this set up in the future, just have to fit it in my planned release schedule for 2026!

Keep and eye out for it!

1963 FLEER EXTENSION MISSING IN ACTION: WILLIE STARGELL

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, a fun one requested by my buddy Ron, a 1963 Fleer Willie Stargell "rookie", if the Fleer company was allowed to continue making cards for the inaugural set:

For Stargell, over 21 seasons, he would lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to two world championships, take home an MVP Award in 1979 (shared with the Cardinals Keith Hernandez), and get named to seven All-Star teams.

"Pops" would also have a great three-year run between 1971 and 1973 that saw him finish second, third and second respectively in MVP voting, winning two home run titles, an RBI title and even lead the league with 43 doubles (1973).

Luckily, I got to see him towards the end of his career in the late-70's/early-80s before he retired after the 1982 season.

His final numbers? Hall of Fame worthy as he'd finish with 475 home runs, 1540 RBIs, a surprisingly high .282 batting average and 2232 hits over 2360 games and 7927 at-bats.

Think about those numbers in UNDER 8000 at-bats!

Of course when eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in, with 82.4% of the vote in 1988.

So sad that he would pass away at only 61 years of age in 2001.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1978 JIM UMBARGER

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my "missing" 1978 card for former pitcher Jim Umbarger of the Texas Rangers:

Umbarger appeared in 15 games over the 1977 season, split between the Oakland A’s and Texas, posting a 2-6 record with a 6.32 earned run average over 57 innings of work.
His first two years in the Majors were much better, as he went 8-7 and 10-12 in 1975 and 1976 respectively with Texas, posting ERA’s of 4.12 and 3.15 with five shutouts splitting time between starting and the bullpen.
He wouldn’t fare much better in 1978, posting a 5-8 record with a 4.88 ERA, thus completing what would be his 4-year career, giving him a 25-33 record with a 4.14 ERA over 133 games, 61 of which were starts, and 483 innings pitched.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1969 TONY HORTON

Today on the blog, we have my "missing" 1969 card for former Cleveland Indians slugger Tony Horton, who famously did not have any Topps cards during his career:

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-months out of every year.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: JIM PERRY

Today on the blog, we spotlight my "1960s Stars of the Game" card for Jim Perry, from my custom set released back in 2018 in WTHBALLS gelatin box:

Making his Major League debut in 1959, he was runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, and went on to win a Cy Young Award in 1970 while a member of the Minnesota Twins.

As I've mentioned a few times over on this blog by now, Perry was winding down a very nice 17-year career by 1975, appearing in 23 games split between the Cleveland Indians and Oakland A's, posting a 4-10 record with a 5.38 earned run average.

All told he posted a career 215-174 record with a 3.45 E.R.A., 32 shutouts and 1576 strikeouts over 630 games, 447 of which were starts.

Now imagine all of that and NOT even being the best pro baseball player in the family!

What a brother-combo he and Gaylord made huh?!

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 GARY PETERS

Today on the blog we'll revisit a 10-year-old post, this time my "missing" 1973 card for pitcher Gary Peters:

Peters appeared in 33 games for the Boston Red Sox in 1972, posting a 3-3 record with a 4.32 earned run average over 85.1 innings of work.
That would close out a very respectable 14-year career that saw him lead the league in wins with 20 in 1964, while also leading the league in ERA in both 1963 (his rookie year) as well as 1966 with a sparkling 1.98 figure.
His rookie year was awesome, as he went 19-8 for the Pale Hose with that league-leading ERA, along with 189 strikeouts and four shutouts to take home the R.O.Y. honor.
His final numbers were 124-103 with a 3.25 ERA, along with 23 shutouts and 1420 K’s over 2081 innings and 359 games, 286 of which were starts.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1968 AMOS OTIS

Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS family today, a "not so missing" 1968 card for one of the under-appreciated stars of the 1970s, Amos Otis, who was just starting out his great career as a member of the New York Mets:

He came up with the New York Mets in 1967 with 19 games as a 20-year-old, hitting .220 with 13 hits over 59 at-bats with six runs scored and a run batted in.

Otis could very well be THE most overlooked player of the 1970's as he was nothing but steady through the entire decade, going on to be the American League's top run scorer with 861. driving in 90+ three times while stealing 30+ bases five times.

By the time he retired after the 1984 season after one year with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he ended up with 193 homers, 341 stolen bases, 1092 runs scored and 2020 hits along with a batting average of .277 and 1007 runs batted in.
Considering the “dead ball” era of the early-70’s in the American League, his numbers are up there with the best of them, and it’s sad he gets lost among his contemporaries when looking back at that time in Major League baseball.

1980S CAREER-CAPPERS: 1989 DON SUTTON

Today on the blog, we take a look at my 1989 "Career-Capper" for Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton, from my recent custom set released a couple months back:

Everything Sutton did led him to Cooperstown, where he can proudly display his 324 wins, 58 shutouts and 3574 strikeouts over 774 games, 756 of which were starts.

Over his 23 years as a Major League pitcher, he was a part of six Pennant winners, and a minor part of a World Championship team during his final year in 1988 with the team he spent most of his career with, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

There are those that say Sutton, like a few other players who racked up big numbers, was a product of "tenure over domination", that is, that the numbers he garnered in the bigs was more about the amount of years he played over a bunch of dominating seasons.

I don't find that as a problem actually.

Being that there are just as few guys who played a long time while staying very productive as those legends who dominated for a somewhat brief time during their careers, I like to see the Don Suttons, Phil Niekros, Eddie Murrays and Tony Perez' get their due.

Almost a quarter-century of productivity on a Major League mound, leading to numbers like Sutton put up are definitely worth a plaque in Cooperstown, no?

Hope you all agree…

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: FRANK HOWARD

On the blog today, we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card for Frank Howard from my custom gelatin set released back in 2018:

The man was already on his way to a wonderful Major League career, taking home top Rookie honors in the National League for 1960, and having a great 1962 season when he slammed 31 homers with 119 runs batted in, earning a ninth-place finish in the MVP race by season's end.

Later in the decade, after finding himself playing for the Washington Senators, he won two home run titles, and ironically hitting a career high 48 in 1968 in between (falling one homer short, behind Harmon Killebrew), driving in over 100 runs each year.

Those efforts got him top-10 finishes in the league MVP voting each year, finishing 8th, 4th and 5th respectively between 1968 and 1970.

An absolute beast at the plate, he would be the last Big League player until Jay Buhner (1995-97) to hit 40+ homers three years in a row from 1968-1970, with a high of 48 in 1969, though leading the league in 1968 and 1970 with 44.
He was also one of the early players to join the 30-home runs in each league club, hitting 31 with the Dodgers in 1962 before reaching the plateau again in 1967 when he slammed 36 taters.
All told, he finished his career with 382 homers over 16 seasons, before moving on to a coaching and managerial career, making him somewhat of a baseball lifer.
I loved him when he was with the New York Yankees later in his coaching career! I mean, how often do you get to appreciate a guy who was so nasty as a player that he had THREE great nicknames: “The Capital Punisher”, "The Washington Monument" and “Hondo"!

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 ALVIS WOODS

Up on the blog today, we take another look at OPC to Topps image variations, this time the difference for Alvin Woods and his 1977 cards:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps inserted Woods onto a multi-player rookie card, OPC gave him a dedicated rookie card in the set since he was representing a Canadian team, the newly formed Toronto Blue Jays.

Woods ended up having a decent seven year MLB career, starting off with a nice 1977 rookie year when he hit .284 over 122 games, collecting 125 hits in 440 at-bats.

He'd play through the 1982 season with the Blue Jays before putting in four years in the Minors, eventually making it back to a Big League field in 1986 as a member of the Minnesota Twins when he hit a robust .321 over what turned out to be the last 23 games of his career, going 9-for-28 at the plate.

Overall, he finished with a career .271 batting average, with 538 hits in 1986 at-bats over 618 games, driving in 196 runs while scoring 233 himself.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM HIGHLIGHT: 1960 LEAF "IN-ACTION"

Good day all!

On the blog today, we spotlight my 1960 Leaf "In-Action" card for Hall of Fame reliever Hoyt Wilhelm, which was part of my "1960s In-Action" Series 3 set released earlier this year:

I've always been fascinated by Wilhelm's career.
Who knows what he could have done if he remained a starter. Who knows what his career numbers would have been if he began his career in his early 20's instead of at the ripe "old" age of 29!
Think about this for a second: the man started his career at 29 and he STILL pitched in 21 seasons. He still ended up setting what was then the all-time record for appearances by a pitcher with 1070.
Throw in seven seasons of sub-2.00 E.R.A.'s, 227 saves, and on top of all of that, TWO E.R.A. crowns in the ONLY two years he even threw enough innings to qualify, and you definitely have a Hall of Fame career when it's all said and done.
Take a look at Wilhelm's rookie season. In 1952 he shows up in New York, pitching for the Giants, and all he does is go 15-3 in 159.1 innings, with a league-leading 2.43 E.R.A. and 11 saves. And this was ALL in relief! He appeared in 71 games without a single start. Just awesome.
He also managed to hit a home run in his first Major League at bat on April 23, 1952, never to hit another one in his career. Go figure.
It would then be another seven years before he would pitch more than 154 innings, this time topping out with a career high 226 with the Baltimore Orioles in 1959 mainly as a starter.
His other numbers that year were good enough to have him selected as an All-Star: 15-11, league-leading 2.19 E.R.A., and 13 complete games with three shut outs.
Whether you had him starting or coming in as a reliever, he was up for the challenge.
Wilhelm finally called it a career after the 1972 season where he appeared in only 16 games for the L.A. Dodgers.
Over the course of his last five seasons (all post-45 years of age), he bounced around a bit and pitched for five teams: White Sox, Angels, Braves, Dodgers and Cubs, going 17-18 with 43 saves.
Nevertheless, Wilhelm was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, generally considered the first relief pitcher to have this honor bestowed upon him.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 JOE MOELLER

Today on the blog we'll revisit a post from 10 years ago.

Here’s a “missing” 1972 card for former pitcher Joe Moeller, who finished up an eight-year career in 1971, all with the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Moeller appeared in 28 games for L.A., posting a 2-4 record with a 3.80 earned run average out of the bullpen, with 32 strikeouts in 66.1 innings of work.
To this day he is the youngest starter in Dodger history at 19 years and two months when he did so in his rookie season of 1962.
He’d miss both the 1963 and 1965 season which must have SUCKED since they were BOTH World Championship years for the Dodgers, but between every year from 1962 and 1971 that he was a Major League pitcher, he’d put on the Dodger blue.
He would wrap up his career with a 26-36 record with a 4.01 ERA, with seven saves and a shutout with 307 K’s over 583.2 innings and 166 appearances, 74 of which were starts.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1981 LEE MAY

Up on the blog today, we go and create a "missing" 1981 card for the "Big Bopper", Lee May, who was left out of the 1981 Topps set even though he played in 78 games during the 1980 season:

May was certainly coming to the end of his brilliant Major League career by then, but still had some left in the tank.

In 1980 he hit .243 for the Baltimore Orioles, with seven homers and 31 runs batted in over 222 at-bats at the age of 37.

You have to wonder what could have been with May, since he was already a feared slugger putting together a very nice career before he was traded to the Astros as part of the Joe Morgan trade before the 1972 season opened up.

Would the "Big Red Machine" have happened? If so, would May's legacy on the diamond have been elevated to the point of true stardom?

He put up big seasons with the Reds, the Astros, and then the Orioles before ending his career after two partial seasons with the Royals in 1982.

His total numbers are very good, especially for a guy who played the bulk of his career in the "dead" late-60's/early-70's: 959 runs, 2031 hits, 354 home runs and 1244 runs batted in.

His last year in Cincinnati, 1971, was killer: 39 homers with 98 R.B.I.'s, 85 runs scored and a .278 average to complement the likes of Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Johnny Bench.

Granted the guy struck out a ton, and his final batting average of .267 leaves a lot to be desired, but it's interesting to wonder "what could have been" with both his career and the legend of the Reds teams of the mid-70's.

 

AVAILABLE NOW! WTHBALLS 1976 "POWER ROLL" DICE GAME SET

Hello Everyone!

Hope you're all sliding right into Autumn.

I am happy to announce the next WTHBALLS custom set is now available: "1976 Power Roll", a baseball-game set featuring 25 star cards with two mini pencils, two mini dice, WTHBALLS 1" pinback button and two wrapped pieces of Bazooka bubble gum inside hard plastic snap-case.

 

Each star card has unique dice rolls listed on back indicating results for each dice total, 2 through 12, with a special "power roll" for each player that's an automatic home run.

As an added bonus to make the card set more fun, the wrap band includes a QR code that, once scanned on your phone, will take you directly to the set page on my blog so you can download and print a specially designed scorecard page (8.5x11) as many times as you wish to score your games if you decide to play!

See photos attached!

Sets are $16 each plus a one-time $5.00 shipping charge (sorry, postage has gone up $0.50), no matter how many sets you purchase.

Usual Paypal address: slogun23@gmail.com

Again, thank you all so much for the interest and support!

Take Care

Gio/wthballs

REVISIT: CAREER-CAPPER: 1974 JOHNNY CALLISON

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post from the WTHBALLS vault, this time my 1974 "career-capper" for Johnny Callison:

Callison played in his final 45 games during the 1973 in the Bronx, hitting .176 with 24 hits over 136 at-bats, including the last of his 226 career taters.
His career spanned 16-years between 1958 and 1973, where he collected 1757 hits with 926 runs scored, 840 runs batted in and the aforementioned 226 homers with a .264 average.
A three-time all-star, he was also the National league runner-up in MVP voting in 1964, certainly a victim to the colossal collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals, which propelled third baseman Ken Boyer to capture the award.
In both ‘64 and 1965 Callison topped 30+ homers, 25+ doubles and 10+ triples, while driving in over 100 both seasons as well.
After the Phillies he played with the Chicago Cubs for two years in 1970 and 1971 before moving on to the Yankees for the 1972 and 1973 campaigns, thus closing the books on a very respectable career in the big leagues.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1987 GEORGE FOSTER

Up on the blog today, we have my 1987 "Career-Capper" for former N.L. MVP George Foster, who wrapped up an excellent Major League career in 1986:

Foster split his final year in the Big Leagues between the New York Mets and Chicago White Sox, unfortunately for him missing out on the eventual World Championship at season's end.

Overall he hit .225 over 87 games, with 14 homers and 42 RBIs on 284 at-bats.

Back in 1969 Foster appeared in nine games for the San Francisco Giants, hitting a robust .400 with two hits in five at-bats, with both a run scored and an RBI.

It was his first taste of the Majors, and he would again appear in nine games during the 1970 season, hitting .316 with six hits over 19 at-bats, including his first double, triple and home run.

The 1971 season would bring him incredible fortune when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert, part of the building process that would eventually lead to the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" two-time champion Reds teams of the mid-70s.

As for Foster’s career, all he would go on to do is give the Reds another big time bat along with Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez, with Joe Morgan soon joining them in 1972, forming one of the all-time great line-ups the game has ever seen.
Between, Foster, Bench, Rose and Morgan, it would give the Reds five MVP seasons in the decade, just insane, with Foster having his career-year in 1977 when he slammed 52 homers along with 149 RBIs and 124 runs scored, all leading numbers in the National League.
He’d go on to play 18 years in the Big Leagues, finishing in the top-3 in MVP voting three times, while making five All-Star teams and retiring with 348 home runs, 1239 RBIs and just under 2000 hits with 1925.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: ROGER MARIS

Good day everyone.

On the blog today we'll go and add Roger Maris to my "Classic Baseball" WTHBALLS custom set, celebrating the great game and its incredible history:

As we all know, Maris' Yankee tenure resulted in that historic 1961 season that saw him hit "61 in '61", setting a new Major League record with 61 home runs, leading to what was his second straight MVP Award after a wonderful 1960 season that saw him 39 homers and a league-leading 112 RBIs.

Talk about "right place at the right time", Maris then went to the Cardinals just as they put together a World Championship in 1967, and a return to the World Series in 1968, though that resulted in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Maris appeared in 100 games for the N.L. champs, hitting .255 with 5 homers and 45 RBIs in the "Year of the Pitcher" of 1968.

He spent the last two years of his career with the Cardinals after his historic tenure with the New York Yankees.

By the time he hung them up in 1968, he hit 275 homers with 850 RBIs and 826 runs scored, hitting .260 over 1463 games between 1957 and 1968.

It's easy to forget that he retired very young, at only 33 years of age.

Would have been cool if he got to play into the mid-70's, just as I was getting into baseball...