WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: WILLIE MAYS

The next custom card from my "1960s Stars of the Game" set released in 2018 and long sold-out, the great Willie Mays:

The set featured 40 postcard-sized cards with cut-out player cards to mimic the Jello sets of that era.

Fun set to produce, as it even contained a packet of gelatin to complete the set!

What needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history?
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.

 

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: BILL FREEHAN

On the blog today, the next American League starter in that classic 1971 All-Star game for my 1971 "Ticket" custom design, Detroit Tigers star and in my opinion, Hall of Fame catcher Bill Freehan:

 

It's safe to say that between Berra and Fisk, Freehan was easily the best catcher in the American League.
With all the superstars on the filed during the decade, it's easy to forget that Freehan was an eleven-time all-star, five-time Gold Glover, and finished in the top-ten in M.V.P. voting three times, with a second place finish in 1968 behind teammate Denny McLain.
1964, his first full year in the Majors, was arguably his finest season, as he hit .300 for the only time in his career along with 18 homers and 80 R.B.I.'s.
But for the rest of the decade Freehan put up comparable numbers year after year, while taking are of a Detroit pitching staff that featured guys like McLain, Mickey Lolich and Earl Wilson.
He really was ahead of the rest of the pack as far as A.L. catchers during the decade.

A solid player through and through, he'd retire after the 1976 season with a .262 lifetime average, 200 homers and 758 runs batted in over 1774 games and 6073 at-bats.

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 10 YEARS AGO: 1974 "THEN AND NOW" MILT PAPPAS

From exactly 10 years ago, we revisit my 1974 "Then and Now" card for pitcher Milt Pappas, who had himself a very nice Major League career before he hung them up:

Pappas was one of those few guys that actually had a "career capper" card of sorts since he retired AFTER Topps set up their set for the new year.

In this case, Pappas appears in the '74 set even though he was already done with Major League ball.

Therefore that is why I have him here on a 1974 template, which came out nice and clean.

Pappas was only 34 years old when he retired, even with the 17-year career, as he came up with the Baltimore Orioles as an 18-year old back in 1957.

Though never a 20-game winner or big strikeout guy, he did have consistent, solid years that led him to a 209-164 record with a 3.40 E.R.A., 43 shutouts and 1728 strikeouts as he pitched for the Orioles, Reds, Braves and Cubs.

A little historical footnote: when Pappas won his 200th game in 1972, he became the first pitcher in Major League history to reach that mark without a 20-win season.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: HARMON KILLEBREW

On the blog today, we add one of my favorites, "Killer" Harmon Killebrew to my custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game I have loved all my life:

I remember the first time I saw Harmon Killebrew's statistics when my cousin gave me a 1973 card of him when I was about 11 years old in 1980.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. All the home runs, all the R.B.I.'s from a player I never knew about. To count out EIGHT 40+ home run seasons blew me away.
This was right before I got my first Macmillan Encyclopedia, so baseball cards really were the only place back then to see stats of players who were around before you were a fan. I just kept rereading those power stats again and again, amazed every time as if I was seeing them for the first time.
Throw in the fact that the 1973 card of Killebrew is pretty damn cool, I was hooked on "Killer" ever since.
Over the years I was able to meet him on more than one occasion and just listen to him tell some stories, not just about baseball but some golf thrown in for good measure. He was an amazing person who was friendly, patient and always seemed to have a smile on his face.
Playing for Washington, Minnesota and a final season in Kansas City between 1954 and 1975, Killebrew mashed 573 home runs to go along with 1584 R.B.I.'s, winning an M.V.P. award along the way in 1969 while finishing in the top five in voting five other seasons.
In 1984 he was inducted in the Hall of Fame, capping off a stellar career that sometimes gets lost among the Mantles, Mays, Clementes and Aarons that were garnering all the attention in the same era.

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: A DO-OVER FOR THE 1973 OLLIE BROWN CARD

Finally got around to fulfilling a special request, creating a 1973 card for Ollie Brown showing him with the Oakland A's, for whom he appeared in 20 games before getting sent over to the Milwaukee Brewers, where he finished the 1972 season:

Bwon hit .241 for the A's in his stay there, collecting 13 hits, with a homer and four RBIs while scoring five runs.

Brown had his best MLB seasons behind him at this point, when he was one of the first fan favorites for the expansion San Diego Padres from 1969 through 1972.
But his career wasn’t done yet as he would go on to play through the 1977 season, finishing up his 13-year Big League career with a .265 batting average along with 102 homers, 454 runs batted in and 964 hits over 1221 games between 1965 and 1977.
It’s amazing to realize that he retired at the age of only 33. For me it seemed like by the time he was with the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of his career he was pushing 40!

 

REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 JIM FULLER

On the blog this fine day, we revisit a 10-year-old post featuring my 1978 "missing in action" card for Jim Fuller of the Houston Astros:

Fuller played the final 34 games of his career for the Houston Astros in 1977, collecting 16 hits in exactly 100 at-bats for a .160 batting average.

That action in 1977 was the first for him since the 1974 season when he played in 64 games for the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he came up with the previous year.

All told, Fuller's career consisted of those three years, finishing with a .194 batting average, 61 hits, 11 homers and 41 runs batted in spread over 107 games and 315 at-bats.

WTHBALLS 1970 "ALL-1960s ALL-STARS" 21 CARD SET

Good day all! Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy to say that the newest WTHBALLS offering is now available for purchase, my 1970 "All-1960s All-Stars" set.

Featuring a full 21-cards, this set celebrates my picks for the all-decade teams of both the A.L. and N.L. for the decade of the 1960s.

I picked all eight positions plus a RHP and LHP pitcher for each league, as well as an overall MLB pick for reliever of the 1960s, since I'll use any excuse to create another Hoyt Wilhelm card!

All-time greats line Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente among others are featured in this one, with 16 (17 including Pete Rose) players being Hall of Famers.

As an added treat, the backs have a brief bio on what the players did over the 1960s, earning their spot on these squads and set.

Each set comes wrapped in a "tweaked" 1970 wrapper (see photos attached), and is available for $20 plus $4.50 shipping.

Paypal as usual: slogun23@gmail.com

Fun set to add into my 1970 set binder!

Any questions feel free to contact me...

Gio/wthballs

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1963 FLEER ELSTON HOWARD

Time to go and add the great Elston Howard to my long-running 1963 Fleer extension set, giving the eventual 1963 A.L. MVP a card in this iconic set:

After putting in some time in the Negro Leagues, he would eventually break the Yankees' color-barrier in 1955, immediately showing he belonged, with a .290 batting average and 10 homers in only 97 games, driving in 43 runs and scoring 33.

Two seasons later he would make his first All-Star team, the first of nine straight seasons doing so, and of course in 1963 would also be named the A.L. MVP when he hit 28 home runs with 85 RBIs while hitting .287, taking home the first of two straight Gold Gloves for his work behind the plate.

After a nice 14-year career as a player, finishing up his playing days as a member of the Boston Red Sox, he returned to the Bronx as a coach, a position he would hold for the next ten years until his untimely death from heart disease in 1980.

Four years later the Yankees would retire Howard's #32 in 1984, and I was actually at that ceremony as a young teen-aged kid of 15.

Incredible to think that was already over 40 years ago.

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: NORM CASH

Today on the blog, we add Detroit Tigers first baseman Norm Cash to my 1971 special All-Star Game set based on the design of the game's ticket:

Though Cash was actually not selected by fans in the All-Star voting, he ended starting the game for injured Boog Powell, so I thought it'd be fun to include him here in this set.

Cash really did put together a solid 17-year career that stands out even more when you consider the modern "dead-ball" era he played in.

By the time he retired after the 1974 season he slammed 377 homers and drove in 1103 runs while collecting 1820 hits.

Not a bad compliment in the line-up to guys like Al Kaline and Willie Horton!

Of course, his monster season happened to be the same year of Mantle and Maris and their pursuit of Babe Ruth's home run record, 1961.

That year Cash tore it up, as he led the league in batting with a .361 average (the only time he batted .300 or better in a season oddly enough), while also slamming 41 home runs and driving in 132 runs.

Even with a league-leading .487 on-base-percentage and 193 hits, all it got him was a fourth place finish for MVP behind Maris, Mantle and Orioles slugger Jim Gentile.

Timing, as they say, is everything…

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: MICKEY MANTLE

On the blog today, we begin to spotlight my custom WTHBALLS Gelatin "1960 Stars of Baseball" set released back in 2018 in custom Gelatin box with lots of goodies:

We'll start off with uber-star Mickey Mantle.

The set featured 40 postcard-sized cards with cut-out player cards to mimic the Jello sets of that era.

Fun set to produce, as it even contained a packet of gelatin to complete the set!

As I have stated before here on the blog many times, Mantle is one of those guys I really don't think we need to get into as far as his tenure on the baseball diamond. It'd be kind of a joke to start writing about his career since it would take up a book's worth.

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

"The Mick" in all his glory, enshrined in his rightful place in Cooperstown, along with his longtime buddy Whitey Ford in the same HOF class.

One of the great icons of the sport over its 150+ year history.

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

I just wished I would have gotten to see him play!

CAREER-CAPPER: 1968 LEW BURDETTE

Up on the blog today, we have a 1968 "Career-Capper" for pitcher Lew Burdette, who put together an excellent 18 year Major League career:

Burdette appeared in 19 games for the California Angels in 1967, the last season he'd suit up in the Majors, going 1-0 with a 4.91 earned run average over 18.1 innings at the age of 40.

Burdette of course will always be known as the hero of the 1957 World Series when he pitched the (then) Milwaukee Braves to a surprising championship win over the favored New York Yankees, winning three games, all complete games, two of them shutouts.
He put in 18 seasons in the Big Leagues, winning 203 games while posting and earned run average of 3.66 along with 33 shutouts and 32 saves over 626 appearances.
Between 1956 and 1961 he averaged just under 20 wins a season for the Braves, with a high of 21 in 1959 which led the National League, as well as his four shutouts and 39 starts.
Great playing career for a baseball lifer, who’d retire after a couple of seasons with the California Angels in 1967 as an arm out of the bullpen at the age of 40.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: ORLANDO CEPEDA

Today on the blog, we add the "Baby Bull" Orlando Cepeda to my long-running custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and it's Golden Era:

While Cepeda's career was productive enough to get into Cooperstown, it's well known that if not for his bad knees, his final statistics could have been mind blowing.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired, he posted final numbers of: 379 homers, 1365 runs batted in, 2351 hits and a .297 average, with a Rookie of the Year (1958) and M.V.P. award (1967) thrown in.
It took a little while, but he was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 after being selected by the Veteran's Committee.
What a power trio San Francisco had in Cepeda, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey! Power to the ultimate degree!”

 

REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1971 JOE GIBBON CARD

Let's delve back about 10 years here on the blog and revisit my "missing" 1971 card for former pitcher Joe Gibbon of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

In 1970 Gibbon actually got into 41 games for the Pirates, good for 41 innings of work as an arm out of the 'pen.

He posted an 0-1 record with a 4.83 earned run average and five saves with 26 strikeouts.

Seems like enough action to warrant a card, no?

Funny enough by the time the 1971 season opened he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds, before closing out his 13-year career with the Astros by the end of the 1972 season.

His finest season would arguably be his second, back in 1961 when he posted a 13-10 record with a 3.32 E.R.A., three shutouts and 145 strikeouts over 195.1 innings of work in 29 starts.

Generally however, the bulk of his career was out of the bullpen, and by the time he retired he had a record of 61-65, with a 3.52 E.R.A., four shutouts, 32 saves and 743 strikeouts over 419 games, 127 of which were starts.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1984 VIDA BLUE

Good day all! On the blog today, we have a "missing" 1984 card for Vida Blue, who had his career derailed a bit in the mid-80's:

In 1983 Blue appeared in only 19 games for the Kansas City Royals, going 0-5 with a 6.01 ERA at the relatively young age of 33.

The following year he'd be out of baseball completely before coming back with the San Francisco Giants, where he'd put in two seasons before retiring for good after 1986.

Of course, we all know that Vida Blue absolutely exploded onto the Major League scene in 1971, on his way to capturing both the Cy Young and MVP awards by season's end.

All he did in this epic season was post a record of 24-8, with a league-leading 1.82 earned run average, striking out 301 batters and tossing eight shutouts.

Oh yeah, he was only 21 years of age!

His WHIP of 0.952 and strikeouts-per-nine-innings of 8.7 also led the league, and he completed 24 of his 39 starts, putting in 312 innings of work for the upstart Oakland A's, who were about to go on the three-peat championship run between 1972 and 1974.

Blue would go on to post 209 career victories in the Majors, having some successful seasons with the San Francisco Giants, even starting the 1978 All-Star game for the National League, while finishing up his 17-year career in 1986.
It’s amazing for me to remember that when Blue started that NL All-Star game in 1978, he wasn’t even 30 years old, yet to me he already seemed to be an aging veteran by then.

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1979 "MISSING" HOSTESS RICKEY HENDERSON

Special request that was posted to Twitter a couple months ago that I created for my buddy Alan gets the spotlight here on the blog today, "missing" 1979 variations for Rickey Henderson Hostess cards:

Fun idea that I was happy to whip up!

Coming into 1979 Henderson was on fire in 1977 and 1978 playing for Modesto and Jersey City in the Minors.

In '77 with Modesto, all he did was hit .345 with 120 runs scored and 95 stolen bases to go along with a sick .465 on-base-percentage.

The following year, getting promoted to Double-A ball, Henderson kept on hitting, this time to the tune of .310 with 81 runs scored and 81 steals.

So at the dawn of the 1979 season Henderson was ready to just about take over the game, straight to the Hall of Fame some 25 years later.

Greatest lead-off man the game has ever seen!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1973 JR RICHARD

OK. So on the blog today, I finally break down and reuse the image I originally used for JR Richard and his 1972 "dedicated rookie" here on the blog years ago, for his "not so missing" 1973 edition:

I have been looking high and low for a nice time-sesitive image of Richard to no success, then one of you suggested I do what Topps was doing a lot of back then, reusing images, sometimes cropped differently, so here we are!

Richard appeared in his first four games during the 1971 season, and blew the MLB world wide-open when he struck out 15 batters in his first start.

In 1972 he would again appear in four games, going 1-0 with a 13.50 ERA over six innings, striking out eight while also walking eight.

It would take a few years, but he'd become the power-arm all-star by the 1975 season, and would go on to post two 300+ strikeout campaigns, four straight 200+ K years,  four straight seasons of 18+ wins (1976-1979), and an E.R.A. crown in 1979 before tragically having his career cut short in 1980 by a stroke.

His final numbers are indicative of what we could have expected well into the 1980's had he not been cut down at the age of 30: a 107-71 record with 1493 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA in 238 games and 1606 innings.

It really would have been something to see Richard and Nolan Ryan team up to rack-up incredible numbers together.

One of the ultimate "what could have been" stories in baseball during my childhood for sure…

 

REVISITING MY "MISSING" 1971 CARD FOR JOHN DONALDSON

Let's go back in time and revisit my "missing" 1971 card for former infielder John Donaldson, who could have gotten a card in the classic set after seeing sufficient playing time in 1970:

Donaldson came back to play for the A's in 1970 after playing part of 1969 for the Seattle Pilots in their lone Major League season.

I had to resort to a little Photoshop trickery, airbrushing in an Oakland A's logo to his cap since the image was actually of him in a Kansas City A's uni.

The photo was too good to pass up, so I resorted to the digital re-creation instead of using another, less appealing Oakland image.

In 1970, Donaldson appeared in 41 games, with 98 plate appearances while hitting .247 with 22 hits with four runs scored and eleven runs batted in.

He'd be out of Major League ball until the 1974 season, when he'd make a brief reappearance with the A's, appearing in only 10 games for the World Champions.

All told, Donaldson's career lasted 6-years, playing in 405 games, with a .238 lifetime batting average, 96 runs scored, 292 hits and 86 RBI's over 1225 at-bats and 1380 plate appearances.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: JOE MORGAN

Today we add perhaps the most dynamic player of the 1970s to my ongoing custom "Classic Baseball" set, Joe Morgan, spark plug of the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds:

Morgan was "all-world" by the time he had a few seasons with the Cincinnati Reds under his belt!

What else could Morgan have accomplished by the end of the 1970s?! The two-time MVP led his “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds to two straight World Series wins in 1975 & 1976, took home his third straight Gold Glove Award, was RIPPED OFF a Rookie of the Year Award back in 1965 (look it up), and was well on his way to the Hall of Fame.
His 1976 season was the stuff of legend at the time: a .320 batting average, 27 homers, 111 runs batted in, 113 runs scored and 114 base on balls, leading his league in On-Base-Percentage and Slugging while claiming a spot on his seventh National League All-Star team.

He created a modern standard for a middle infielder, a standard that rarely has been matched since.

One of the all-time greats of the game.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1980 DAVE RIGHETTI

Fun card to add to the WTHBALLS stable today, a "not so missing" 1980 card for Dave Righetti, a New York Yankee mainstay through the 1980s, but someone who actually made his Big League debut in 1979:

Righetti appeared in three games, all starts, for the Yankees, tossing 17.1 innings and going 0-1 with a 3.63 ERA at the age of 20.

He'd be back with a bang the next season, as he posted a record of 8-4 over 15 starts, just missing the ERA crown by falling short of innings required by 1.2 innings! Yep, someone on the Yankees dropped the ball on this and didn't get Righetti some mop-up role at the end of the year to bring home the ERA crown, as his 2.05 mark was far better than the guy who did win the ERA title, Oakland A's pitcher Steve McCatty, who finished with a 2.33 ERA over 185.2 innings.

Nevertheless, Righetti became a cog of the Yankees through the 1980's as a starter and reliever, posting a few solid seasons as a starter between 1981 and 1983 including the classic July 4th no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in '83, before converting to a relief role the rest of his very nice 16 year career, including his 1986 campaign that saw him establish the (then) MLB record 46 saves, earning him a fourth-place finish in the Cy Young race.

By the time he retired after the 1995 season, he finished with a record of 82-79 over 718 games, with a 3.46 ERA in 1403 innings, with 252 saves.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1974 RICK REICHARDT

Time to finally create a "missing" 1974 card for uber-Bonus-Baby Rick Reichardt, who was coming to the end of an unfulfilled Major League career after only a decade or so:

Reichardt appeared in 87 games over the 1973 season, split between the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals, hitting .250 with six homers and 33 runs batted in.

He'd appear in one single game in 1974 before finally retiring, ending what was once a very promising career that was derailed by kidney problems.

Of course, Reichardt is well remembered as a spectacular two-sport superstar at the University of Wisconsin, so much so that a bidding war began by Major League clubs for his services, eventually having him sign a then unheard of $200,000 signing bonus with the (then) Los Angeles Angels of the American League.
This necessitated the development of the Amateur Draft, which began the very next year in hopes of curtailing such a wild scenario as the Reichardt affair.
Sadly for Reichardt, a serious kidney ailment cut short an excellent 1966 season which saw him have a kidney removed, and though he put up some decent numbers from time to time through the rest of his career, he was never the same again.
His last Topps card was in the 1971 set, which is odd since he really should have had a card from 1972 to 1974.

 

REVISITING MY 1973 "NICKNAME" CARD FOR JIMMY WYNN

On the blog today, we go back 10 years or so and revisit my 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for the "Toy Cannon", Jimmy Wynn:

I used a 1973 template to play around with the cannon icon in the lower right-hand corner, while also giving him a card while he was still in a Houston uniform before he went on to play for the Dodgers and get named to two consecutive all-star starts in 1974 and 1975.

Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year career.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1967 ROY WHITE

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1967 card for the quiet one, former New York Yankee lifer Roy White, about as solid and under the radar as they came:

Though White was part of a multi-player rookie card in the 1966 set, Topps left him out of the '67 set, even though he appeared in 115 game in 1966, hitting .225 over 356 plate appearances.

By now White was where he would play all the way through the 1979 campaign before making his way to Japan to finish up his pro career.

He became a dependable starting outfielder within three years, on his way to a career that spanned the “dark years” in the Bronx from 1965 through the end of the decade through to the successes of the “Bronx Zoo” teams that won two World Series and three pennants.
Even though the man was a New York Yankee "lifer", playing 15 years between 1965 and 1979 wearing only the Yankee pinstripes, White was often overshadowed by the likes of Mantle, Munson, Murcer, Nettles and Jackson.
Nevertheless he put in a very solid career, amassing over 1800 hits, with just under 1000 runs scored, 160 home runs and 233 stolen bases.
After his Major League playing days he even put in three good years in Japan, playing for the Yomiuri Giants between 1980-1982.
Just a quiet, solid player who more than did his job while between the foul lines, year in and year out.
I've mentioned this earlier here on this blog: years later I would end up befriending and DJ-ing in the same club scene here in NYC with his son Reade, even though he never DID tell me who his father was!
I'd only find out years later from a mutual friend after I was long gone from the club-circuit…
Would have been nice to try and schmooze a conversation or two with the senior White in the early-90's!

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1970 RUDY MAY

Thought it'd be fun to give former pitcher Rudy May a "do-over" on his 1970 card, so here you go, using a much better image of him during his time as a California Angel:

My re-done version

Original Topps release

May made his Major League debut in 1965 as a 20-year-old, appearing in 30 games and tossing 124 innings, certainly good enough for a card in the 1966 set.

He posted a record of 4-9 with a 3.92 earned run average, striking out 76 batters while throwing a shutout.

All told, he posted a 152-159 career record, with a 3.46 earned run average, 24 shutouts, 12 saves and 1760 strikeouts between 1965 and 1983.

His finest year was easily 1980, when he led the American League in E.R.A. with a nice 2.46 mark, WHIP at 1.044 and strikeouts-to-walks with a 3.41 number as a member of the New York Yankees.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: MINNIE MINOSO

Let us go and add the great Minnie Minoso to my long-running custom "Classic Baseball" set, a WTHBALLS exclusive design that I hope to have printed up this Spring:

I'm so happy that Minoso is finally a Hall of Famer, and I always felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of getting into Cooperstown.
From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and topping 20 homers four times.
Eight times in that span he would top a .300 batting average, and in 1951 many consider him the true American League Rookie of the Year when he hit .326 split between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, while topping the league in triples with 14 and stolen bases with 31.
Along the way he was named to seven All-Star games, winning three Gold Gloves as well, funny enough finishing fourth in the A.L. MVP race four times.
Of course, 12 years after his last playing days, in 1976, he ended up going 1-for-8 at the plate as a 50 year-old, then coming back in 1980 at the age of 54 and going hitless in two at-bats.
Nevertheless, Minoso finished his career with a .298 average, with 1963 hits over 6579 at-bats, along with 186 homers and 205 stolen bases while also topping 1000 runs scored and RBIs, 1136 & 1023 respectively.

If only he didn't have to wait until his age 27 season to show the ENTIRE country what he could do on a ball field.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1985 JIM PALMER

Let's venture into the 1980s again and have me post up my 1985 "career-capper" for the great Jim Palmer, who finished up his incredible Hall of Fame career in 1984:

Palmer’s road to Cooperstown was a bit rocky at first, with a couple of jumps and starts because of injuries between 1964 and 1968.
As a matter of fact we’d probably be looking at a 300-game winner if not for over a season of missed time between 1967 and 1968.
Though he had a great first professional season in 1964 as an 18-year-old, going a combined 15-5 in the O’s system, he found himself on a Major League mound in 1966, still a teen, going 5-4.
In 1966 he’d improve to a record of 15-10 for the surprising eventual World Champs, shocking everyone with a sweep of the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with Palmer contributing a complete game shutout.
But injuries derailed him until 1969 when he hit his stride, going 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA and six shutouts, completing 11 of 23 starts.
From there, all the man did was top 20-wins in eight of the next nine seasons, winning three Cy Young Awards, the first American League pitcher to do so, helping the Orioles to another championship in 1970, eventually finishing with a career 268-152 record along with a brilliant 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts before he was done in 1984.

 

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1969 AL OLIVER

Super psyched to post today's card creation, a 1969 "Dedicated Rookie" of "Scoop" Al Oliver, which I definitely hope to have printed up sometime soon:

Now, what do you call a guy who was a seven-time all-star, Silver Slugger winner at three different positions, collector of over 2700 hits, 200 home runs, .300 career average, 1300 runs batted in, and 500 doubles?

I call that a Hall of Famer, especially when you consider that the first nine years or so of his career were the "dead" 1970's.

Yes I know an argument can be made here for Oliver's Hall-worthiness.

But I have always felt that he fell into that Vada Pinson, Dave Parker, Steve Garvey crowd that should have gotten, at the very LEAST, more of a shot at Cooperstown.

I mean, when he was finally eligible for Hall voting, he only got 4.3% and was dropped just like that! THAT is just insane.

He won three consecutive Silver Slugger Awards in 1980-1982, as an outfielder, a designated hitter and a first baseman and he batted .300 or better eleven times in his 18-year career!

He finished in the top-10 in batting eight times during his career, in the top-10 in hits eight times in his career, top-10 in doubles nine times in his career, top-10 in total bases five times, runs scored four times, runs batted in four times, triples three times, extra base hits five times and slugging percentage twice.

Is THAT enough of a statement? His consistency was amazing.

And to top it off, he should have been the National League Rookie of the Year in 1969 but got ripped off, with the award going to Los Angeles Dodger Ted Sizemore.

Al Oliver is grossly overlooked as far as players of that era in my book.

REVISITING MY 1974 "MISSING IN ACTION" FOR LARRY BIITNER

Time to revisit a ten-year-old post featuring my "missing" 1974 card for Larry Biitner, from October 23rd, 2015:

For some reason he was left out of the ‘74 set even though he played in 83 games during the 1973 season.
In that campaign he he collected 65 hits over 258 official at-bats. Good for a .252 average with a homer and 12 runs batted in.
He’d go on to play straight through to the 1983 season before retiring, a nice 14-year career that saw him hit a very respectable .273 with 861 hits in 3151 at-bats in 1217 games
I’ll always remember him as a Chicago Cubs player, for whom he suited up between 1976 and 1980, even though he also played for the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos and Cincinnati Reds.
And of course for his unique surname with the consecutive "I"...

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 BOB BAILOR

The next OPC to Topps image variation to get the spotlight here on the blog is the one for "original" Blue Jay Bob Bailor:

OPC version

Topps version

While Topps gave him a spot in their multi-player rookie card, OPC of course gave him a dedicated card celebrating the new Canadian franchise.

Bailor originally made his Big League debut as a Baltimore Oriole in 1975 when he appeared in only five games, before returning for another nine games in 1976, collecting three hits over those 14 appearances with two runs scored and a triple among the scant highlights.

1977 would see him suited up for the new Toronto Blue jays franchise, being their second overall pick in the expansion draft held on November 5th, 1976.

With a chance to play everyday, Bailor did not disappoint, hitting a very nice .310 over a full rookie year, with 154 hits in 496 at-bats, stealing 15 bases and scoring 62 runs.

Surprisingly, he didn't get a single vote for Rookie of the Year, though he had tough competition with Eddie Murray leading the way followed by the Oakland A's Mitchell Page.

Nevertheless, he was one of the bright spots of the Blue Jays inaugural season for sure.

While he would never come close to that performance over the next eight seasons of his career, he did provide his team with a player who could fill in both all over the outfield and infield, putting in time "around the horn" as a solid utility man for the Jays, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers before calling it a career after the 1985 campaign.

All told, he finished with a career .264 average, with 775 hits in 2937 at-bats in 954 games, with 90 stolen bases and 339 runs scored along the way.

 

1980 CAREER-CAPPER: LOU BROCK

Fun card on the blog today, and one that will get printed in the future for sure, my 1980 "Career-Capper" for Lou Brock:

Man! Here's a guy who is often overlooked in baseball history!

By the end of the 1979 season Brock was closing out his Hall of Fame career, nailing down his 3000th hit to go along with his 938 stolen bases, 1610 runs scored and .293 lifetime average.

Even at the age of 40 he was doing well, batting over .300 (.304) with 21 stolen bases!

An eight-time stolen base champ, he also collected 200 hits in a season four times, with another four seasons of over 190, and he also scored 100+ runs in a season seven times.

Incredibly enough, in Brock's 19-year career, he made the All-Star team only six times! 

The price you pay for coming up during the years of Mays, Aaron, and Clemente! 

Tough luck indeed!

 

VINTAGE SPECIAL! "MISSING" 1954 WILSON'S FRANKS WHITEY FORD

Today on the blog, we spotlight my "missing" 1954 Wilson's Franks card for the great Whitey Ford, part of my recent custom set released a few months ago:

What needs to be said about quite possibly the greatest Yankee pitcher of them all?

Cy Young winner in 1961, winner of 236 games against only 106 losses (a nifty .690 winning percentage), a 2.75 career earned run average, and a member of six world championship clubs.

He led the league in wins three times, winning percentage three times, ERA twice, shutouts twice, and was named to eight all-star teams during his 16-year career.

His 10 World Series wins (along with his eight losses) are Major League high marks to this day, and who knows how much more he could have padded all of his numbers had he not lost two seasons to the military in 1951 and 1952!

When the Hall of Fame came calling he was inducted on his first try, getting named to 284 of 365 ballots in 1974.

Obviously there's so much more to get into with Whitey, but I could end up writing a book here if I did, so I'll leave it up to the Wikipedia's out there to fill anyone in who wants to learn more.

I only wish Ford didn't try to hang on those last couple of years in 1966 and 1967, when he went a combined 4-9, thus eliminating the chance of him being only the second pitcher to this day to retire with 200+ wins and LESS than 100 losses (the other being 19th-century pitcher Bob Caruthers, who finished at 218-99 between 1884-1893).

Oh well, I know I'm nitpicking here…It's the nerd in me I guess.

 

REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 JOE GILBERT

On the blog today, we revisit a post from 10 years ago, my "missing in action" card for former Montreal Expos pitcher Joe Gilbert:

Gilbert's career was already over by the time this card would have come out, as he pitched what would be his final big league game on July 15th of 1973.

For the year he appeared in 21 games, good for 29 innings of work, with a 1-2 record, 4.97 earned run average and 17 strikeouts.

The previous year, his rookie year, he appeared in 22 games, good for 33 innings of work with a 0-1 record, 25 strikeouts and a bloated 8.45 E.R.A.

Yet he didn't get a card in the 1973 set either, so watch for THAT "missing" card here in the near future.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: GREG LUZINSKI

Time to add "The Bull", Greg Luzinski to my custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and the Philadelphia Phillie slugger who terrorized pitchers through the decade of the 1970s:

Any time I can have a guy who slugs the heck out of the ball while also hovering near .300, I'll take him!

Between 1975 and 1978 Luzinski was a top-10 MVP candidate, with two second-place finishes in 1975 and 1977 when he drove in 120 and 130 runs respectively along with 34 and 39 home runs.
And like I stated earlier, he was a .300 hitter! He topped .300 three straight seasons, from 1975 to 1977 while making the All-Star team each year.
Thing about this: Luzinski retired after the 1984 season with 307 homers, 1128 runs batted in, and 1795 hits, and he was only 33 years of age.

He topped 100 RBIs four times, 20 homers seven times, and got MVP attention seven times.

It’s easy to forget that he really put up great numbers while retiring at a relatively young age, even if he played for parts of 15 seasons between 1970 and 1984.

CAREER-CAPPER: 1971 BO BELINSKY

Up on the blog today, we feature a 1971 "Career-Capper" for one-time phenom Bo Belinsky, who wrapped up a Big League career as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1970:

Belinsky made a huge splash back in 1962 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, tossing a no-hitter in his fourth start, allowing him to start his career 4-0.

He was an instant "player" of another sort in L.A., known for his night-life action and dating of a handful of Hollywood starlets like Ann Margaret, Mamie Van Doren, Connie Stevens and Tina Louise.

He didn't exactly finish his rookie year as a star himself however, going 10-11 with a 3.56 ERA over 33 games and 187.1 innings, while leading the league in walks.

The following year, his star fell even further as injuries limited his season to just 13 games, going 2-9 with a 5.75 ERA over 76.2 innings, completing two games.

1964 saw him bounce back a bit, arguably posting his best season as a Big Leaguer when he went 9-8 over 23 games, 22 of them starts, with a nice 2.86 ERA over 135.1 innings, striking out 91 while tossing a shutout.

It would give the Angels a promising two-man punch along with their Cy Young winner Dean Chance, who had a monster year that season.

Sadly, that was all short-lived as Belinsky would come back in 1965, now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, and go 4-9 over 30 games, only 14 of them starts, finishing with an ERA of 4.84 in 110 innings.

Turns out the Angels would trade Belinky to Philly for Rudy May and Minor Leaguer Costen Shockley.

He would never again find that "spark" in the remaining parts of four seasons left in his career, as he would go on to pitch for the Houston Astros in 1967, Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969 and Reds in 1970, never winning more than three games in any season, reaching 100 innings once.

By the time he was done, he finished with a record 28-51 over 146 games, with an ERA at 4.10 in 665.1 innings pitched.

The white-hot start way back in 1962 now a long-ago memory.