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...

"SPECIAL REQUEST" MISSING IN ACTION: 1963 FLEER PETE ROSE

Good day all!

Up on the blog today, by special request, a "missing" 1963 Fleer Pete Rose card to add to the future WTHBALLS second series release I have planned:

Of course this would have been a pre-rookie card along with his (sadly) ugly 1963 Topps counterpart, making this one much more eye-pleasing for Pete Rose fans!

This stud pictured here would win the Rookie of the Year in 1963, three batting titles, an MVP in 1973, be selected as an All-Star at FIVE different positions, and end up the all-time hit leader with his staggering 4256 knocks over his illustrious 24-year career.

Rose also spear-headed the "Big Red Machine" to two straight championships with his relentless play, acting as the spark alongside teammate Joe Morgan to the ferocious juggernaut.

Growing up in the 1970's as a baseball nut, Pete Rose was an almost mythic figure. Even though his Reds steamrolled through "my" Yankees in the 1976 World Series, Rose, along with his all-star teammates, seemed like something made-up, not real.

I guess a part of that could be that the very first Pete Rose baseball card I ever saw, at the age of seven, was his 1976 Topps masterpiece, which had that glare of his, staring down the camera, showing that intensity that created the "Charlie Hustle" legend.

What a player, a Hall of Fame player. But I won't get into THAT here.

The "Player of the Decade" for the 1970's, Rose etched his name into the history of the game many times over.

Really, along with guys like Tom Seaver and Reggie Jackson, you just can't have too many Pete Rose cards from the 1970's in my eyes.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: IN-ACTION: HOYT WILHELM

Another special request here for my buddy Ryan, a "missing" 1972 In-Action card for the great Hoyt Wilhelm, who wrapped up an incredible MLB career that season:

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-CAPPER: 1984 JIM KAAT

On the blog today, from my wildly popular "1980s Career-Cappers" set, a 1984 capper for HOF pitcher Jim Kaat:

Kaat came up to the Majors as a 20-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, developing into an All-Star starter when the organization moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
If there were a Cy Young winner for both leagues in place for the 1965 season, he most likely would have taken home the trophy when he posted a league-leading 25 wins to go along with a 2.75 ERA and 205 strikeouts for the American League champs.
After being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox in 1973, he’d go on to post two straight 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976.
In 1979, at the age of 40, he’d transition to the bullpen, where he would carve out a niche for himself as a reliable reliever, pitching another five seasons, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, fresh off a World Championship in 1982.
One of the greatest fielding pitchers the game has ever seen, Kaat took home 16 straight Gold Glove Awards between 1962 and 1977. Incredible.
By the time he retired as a player, he appeared in 898 games, posted a record of 283-237 along with a 3.45 ERA and 2461 strikeouts, as well as 31 shutouts and 17 saves.
The man is a walking baseball resource who still shares his knowledge of the game. His time as a New York Yankees announcer was one of my favorites alongside other former players like Ken Singleton and Bill White.

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1981 JIM RICE

Today we'll really begin a fun thread that will take us into 2026, fixing up All-Star cards that Topps either messed up or just disregarded outright during the 1980s, beginning with the "Missing" 1981 A.L. outfielder, Jim Rice:

If you were a kid like me collecting then, you were immediately frustrated with the All-Star cards that were pulled out of the packs, especially when the National League starter for 1980, J.R. Richard, wasn't given the All-Star banner in lieu of Steve Carlton and Jim Bibby. Huh???

Breaking with tradition, Topps started giving All-Star cards/banners to players not necessarily voted by the fans like they always did.

In the case of Jim Rice, he was indeed voted as a starter for the 1980 game, and though he wouldn't play due to injury and was replaced by Ben Oglivie, neither of them were given the All-Star banner, with the A.L. missing a third outfielder to go with Reggie Jackson and Fred Lynn!

That killed me, especially coming off 1978 with Richie Zisk and 1979 with Freddie Patek also being denied card immortality.

Moving forward I also hope to give All-Star cards to players that were actually voted to start through the decade, as opposed to some really odd Topps picks for All-Star cards.

Keep an eye out for that!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: PETE RUNNELS

Good day all.

On the blog today we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card of two-time American League batting champ Pete Runnels, from my custom set released in 2018:

Runnel's career began with the Washington Senators in 1951, where he'd play through the 1957 season as a solid infielder who averaged about .2880 while playing mainly shortstop and second base, hitting as high as .310 in 1956.

In January of 1958 he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Albie Pearson and Norm Zauchin, and he would really find his groove, hitting .322 in his first year in Beantown, with a career-best 103 runs scored and 183 hits, finishing tenth in the MVP race by season's end.

In 1960 and 1962 he would go on to take home batting titles, hitting .320 and .326 respectively, making the All-Star team(s) each season while transitioning to first base, though still putting in some time around the infield.

Surprisingly, after that second batting title in 1962 he was traded to the new Houston franchise, then called the Colt .45's, for Roman Mejias, where he would put in a sub-par year, hitting .253 over 124 games.

The 1964 year would turn out to be his last, getting released by Houston in May after a dreadful .196 start after 22 games, with only 10 hits and three RBIs in 51 at-bats.

Nevertheless he'd finish his Big League tenure with a very nice .291 career average, with 1854 hits in 6373 at-bats, scoring 876 runs while driving in 630, with those two batting titles to cement his name in baseball history.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 ED SPRAGUE

Let's go back to years or so here on the blog and revisit a card originally posted January 16th of 2016, a “missing” card for a guy who has a few of them actually, former pitcher Ed Sprague of the Cincinnati Reds:

Sprague appeared in 33 games for the National League Champions in 1972, posting a 3-3 record with a 4.13 earned run average out of the bullpen.
He would go on to play another four seasons in the Major Leagues, finishing with a 17-23 record along with a 3.84 ERA, nine saves and 188 strikeouts over 408 innings and 198 games, 23 of which were starts.
His son, Ed Sprague Jr would also play in the Majors later on in the 1990’s and 2000’s, as a third baseman for 11-years, mainly with the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: GIMMIE A DO-OVER 1974 REGGIE SMITH

By special request today, let us go ahead and re-do Reggie Smith's 1974 card, from an airbrushed original showing him as a St. Louis Cardinal player for the upcoming season, to one last card of him with the Boston Red Sox, for whom he suited up in 1973:

Smith now found himself as a Cardinal after a very nice run in Boston between 1966 and 1973.
During that run he finished second in Rookie of the Year, was an all-star twice, led the league in doubles twice, and led the league in total bases in 1971.
It's easy (and sad) to forget just what a nice career "the other Reggie" put together through the decade.
His first year with the Cardinals was indeed a good one, as Smith would not disappoint by hitting 23 homers with 100 runs batted in, while scoring 79 runs and hitting a robust .309, good enough for an 11th-place finish in the MVP race.
Not only was he a legitimate home run threat (finishing his career with 314), but he hit .300 or better seven times during his run, and even managed to swipe 137 bases as a Major League player.
He'd finish his career with over 1000 runs scored, 1000 runs batted in, 300 homers and 2000 hits.
And let's not forget that he was one of those FOUR Dodger sluggers in 1977 to become the first set of quadruple 30+ homers hitters during the same season.
Definitely an under-appreciated player from the era!

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 TIM STODDARD

Up on the blog today, a "not so missing" 1976 card for pitcher Tim Stoddard, who had his rookie card in the 1975 set, but was left out of the 1976 set by Topps:

Stoddard appeared in only one game for the White Sox in 1975, the first game of his career, tossing an inning and giving up a run on two hits.

He would be in the Minors for the 1976 and 1977 seasons before making it back with eight games for the Orioles in 1978, going 0-1 with a 6.00 earned run average over 18 innings.

In 1979 he would have himself a very good year for the eventual American league champs, appearing in 29 games, saving three and pitching to a stellar 1.71 ERA over 58 innings.

He would go on to put in 13 seasons under the Major League sun, appearing in 485 games and compiling a final record of 41-35 with a 3.95 ERA in 729.2 innings of work.

I remember his time with the New York Yankees in the late-80s, where he performed well, going 6-5 with eleven saves in 85 games in 1987-1988.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1963 FLEER KEN HUBBS

On the blog today, it's been a while since I added to the short 1963 Fleer checklist, so I thought a "missing" card for former N.L. Rookie of the Year Ken Hubbs would be nice:

Hubbs was just coming off a great MLB debut season in 1962 when he collected 172 hits with 90 runs scored for the Chicago Cubs, eventually taking home 19 of 20 votes for the Rookie of the Year Award.

He would put in another solid season in 1963, playing in 154 games and hitting .235 while scoring 54 runs and driving in 47 for a Cubs team that was building an incredible young squad featuring the 1961 Rookie of the Year Billy Williams and third baseman Ron Santo, both future Hall of Famers.

He was such a standout athlete that while in High School he was an All-American in two sports, and baseball was NOT one of them, as he excelled in basketball and football.

Tragically, in February of 1964, just a month after receiving his pilot's license, Hubbs flew his friend from California to Utah to see his wife and newborn child, only to perish along with his buddy on the flight back to California after experiencing bad weather, with the small Cessna going down in Utah Lake, extinguishing a young, promising career.

Hubbs' legacy has been impressive, as you can clearly read in his biography, with sports, religious organizations and civic league's extending tributes even decades after his death.

Only 22 years old at the time of his death, many considered him a blossoming star in the game.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: DICK GROAT

Up on the blog today, we put the spotlight on another card from my 1960 "Stars of the Game" custom set released back in 2018, this time it's former N.L. MVP Dick Groat of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

The All-Star shortstop had quite the year in 1960, taking home the N.L. batting title when he hit .325, collecting 186 hits while scoring 85 runs for the surprising World Champion Pirates.

Three years later, now playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, Groat would finish second for the MVP when he hit .319 while collecting a career-best 201 hits, leading the league with 43 doubles while also setting a new personal best of 11 triples and 73 RBIs.

A two-sport star, Groat was an All-American in both Baseball and Basketball at Duke University, and even made the NBA with the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952-53.

He was such an accomplished athlete that he was eventually inducted to BOTH the College Baseball and Basketball Halls of Fame.

Once he chose baseball as his focus, he did not disappoint fans, as he would go on to put 14 years in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a split 1967 season with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.

His final numbers very impressive for the era: 2138 hits and a .286 batting average, with 829 runs scored and 707 runs batted in, with eight All-Star nods and an MVP.

If not for two lost years serving in the military in 1953 and 1954, he certainly could have approached 2500 career hits.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1968 TONY HORTON

Here's a really fun "missing" card to add to the WTHBALLS checklist: a missing 1968 card for slugger Tony Horton of the Cleveland Indians:

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.

REVISIT: 1971 CAREER-CAPPER FOR TITO FRANCONA

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a ten year old post from the blog today, this time my 1971 Career-Capper for Tito Francona:

Father of current Cincinnati Reds Manager Terry Francona, Tito appeared in 84 games in his final big league season, split between the Oakland A’s and Brewers.
He hit .235 with 23 hits over 98 at-bats with both four runs scored and runs batted in  while playing both first base and the outfield, the two positions he’d mainly play throughout his career.
Francona came up in 1956 with the Baltimore Orioles and ended up second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Chicago White Sox speedster and future Hall of Fame player Luis Aparicio.
In that season Tito would hit .258 with 115 hits over 445 at-bats, with nine homers, 62 runs scored and 57 RBI’s in 139 games.
His finest season was his first with the Cleveland Indians, for whom he had his best years, when he batted .363 with 20 homers and 79 RBI’s in 122 games.
He didn’t qualify for the batting title based on his 443 plate appearances, but he did finish fifth in MVP voting.
All told he’d finish his career with a .272 average with 1395 hits in 5121 at-bats over 1719 games, with 125 home runs and 656 RBI’s and 650 runs scored.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1988 PHIL NIEKRO

Today on the blog, we have my 1988 career-capper for Phil Niekro, Hall of Fame pitcher, who wrapped up an amazing Big League career back where it all started for him some 24 years earlier, as a member of the Braves organization, now in Atlanta:

It is astonishing to think Niekro didn’t have a full season on Big League duty until 1967 at the age of 28, yet still went on to pitch those 24 seasons, winning 318 games with a very nice 3.35 ERA along with 45 shutouts and 3342 strikeouts before he was done at the age of 48!
I always thought it amazing that at the age of 44 in 1983, he took home the last of his five Gold Gloves, ALL of which were garnered beginning his age 39 season in 1978.

Just an amazing talent!

 

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1972 DON BAYLOR

Good day all. On the blog we have a 1972 Dedicated Rookie" for Don Baylor, to go with my 1971 Dedicated Rookie created years ago:

Baylor had two straight years of multi-player rookie cards before becoming a regular Major League ballplayer, getting his first solo card in the 1973 set.

As a young teen in NYC in the early 1980's, I can tell you Baylor was a favorite of ours in the schoolyards of Brooklyn for his hard-nosed play. He was cool as a cucumber, yet as likable as you can be when we'd see him at baseball card shows around town. Besides, he looked bad-ass standing there at the plate, upright and waiting to crush a ball into the stands. He finished his 19-year career in 1988, playing for his third straight American League Champion team, and all three were different: Red Sox in '86, Twins in '87, and the A's in 1988. Of those, the Twins brought home the title, giving Baylor his only Championship ring as somewhat of a "regular player". He retired with over 2000 hits, 330 homers, 285 stolen bases and over 1200 runs scored and runs batted in. In 1979 he exploded while with the Angels, bringing home the American league Most Valuable Player Award after slamming 36 home runs while leading the league in runs scored (120) and runs batted in (139), while hitting .296 with 22 stolen bases thrown in. Of course, he'll also be remembered as one of the key components in the Orioles-A's trade that sent Reggie Jackson to Baltimore in April of 1976. But by the time he hung up his cleats for good, he put together a very solid career himself, even winning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 while steering the Colorado Rockies to a 77 and 67 record (good for second place). Here's to you "Groove"!