REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 PAUL JATA

Good day all.

On the blog today, since I mentioned him recently on "X", revisiting my "missing" 1973 card for one-year catcher Paul Jata of the Detroit Tigers, originally posted 10 years ago:

I came across this photo which would be perfect for a 1973 card, in honor of his sole taste of the Majors during the 1972 season.
Jata appeared in 32 games with the division champs, hitting .230 with 17 hits over 74 at-bats while playing first base, catcher and outfield.
Though the photo used shows him in catching mode, he played the bulk of his games at first and in the outfield.
Sadly for him that would be it in the Majors, though he did make a comeback of sorts in the Twins organization a few years later in 1976 in their Double-A affiliate after being out of the game in 1974 and 1975.

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 STEVE SAX

The next All-Star "fix" on the blog will be the one for Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax in the 1984 set, since he was elected as starter for the 1983 game:

The guy who was given an All-Star card in that set turned out to be Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Johnny Ray, who certainly was not a horrible choice.

However, why Topps moved away from just showing the Midsummer Classic starters beginning in 1981 is beyond me, and I always hated it.

Sax was a solid player throughout his somewhat brief career, coming up with the Dodgers for a handful of games in 1981 before putting in his first full year in 1982, leading to a National League Rookie of the Year Award based off his .282 hitting with 59 stolen bases, 88 runs scored and 180 hits.

I enjoyed his time at the end of the decade with the New York Yankees, where he played three years between 1989 and 1991, posting a 200-hit season while just missing out on a second in '91 when he totaled 198.

His 1986 was arguably his best when he collected career-highs in hits (210), doubles (43), OBP (.390) and SLG (.441).

By the time he retired after the 1994 season, he finished with 1949 hits over 1769 games, hitting .281 with 913 runs scored and 444 stolen bases. 

Not a bad career at all.

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: STEVE CARLTON

Up on the blog today we have my 1981 Drake's "Big Pitchers" card of Steve Carlton, from my recent custom set released a few months ago:

"Lefty" was in his absolute prime when this card would have seen the light of day in 1981, coming off his third Cy Young Award while helping the Philadelphia Phillies win their first World Championship.

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!

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 BREWERS MANAGER-ALEX GRAMMAS

On the blog today, finally "fixing" a missing manager card in the fabulous 1978 sub-set, that of Milwaukee Brewers Alex Grammas, who skippered the team in 1977:

Grammas put in two seasons with Milwaukee, leading them to almost identical records in 1976 and 1977, 66-95 (1976) and 67-95 (1977).

It was the only two years at the helm of the team, and besides a temporary stint as Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969 (season-ending 5 games as a fill-in for Danny Murtaugh), his only taste as a Big League manager.

The Brewers decided to go with George Bamberger in 1978, for which I did produce a card for way back in 2013 here on the blog, but felt that Grammas really deserved one here.

I've always been a huge fan of the 1978 Topps managers sub-set, and wished they would have used that template for something else, with star players instead.

Ah well...

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DICK WILLIAMS

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we focus on the OPC to Topps difference for Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams in their 1977 sets:

OPC version

Topps version

Williams was about to take the helm of the Montreal Expos in 1977 after three years with the California Angels, and OPC was quick to get him a dedicated card as opposed to the Topps team card appearance shown here.

Williams would take the Expos to two 90+ win seasons (in 1979 and 1980) after a couple of sub-.500 seasons in 1977 and 1978.

Over the course of his 21-year managerial career, Williams managed five first-place teams, reaching the playoffs with four of his teams: Red Sox, A's, Expos and Padres.

He guided three of THOSE teams to the World Series, and finished with 1571 wins, four pennants and two World Series wins.

All of that eventually led to Williams being inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2008.

A solid baseball man and lifer in the sport with a much deserved place in Cooperstown.

FANTASY CARD: 1977 MIKE EASLER

Today on the blog I've created a fantasy card, that being a 1977 card for Mike Easler as a St Louis Cardinal player:

Some of you may remember that I have already created (and printed!) a "missing" 1977 card for "The Hit Man" as a California Angel, for whom he played the 1976 season with.

However when I came across this image of him as a Cardinal player I checked it out, and low and behold he spent most of the 1976 season in the St. Louis Minor League system with the Tulsa Oilers, where he mashed the ball at a .352 clip, with 26 homers and 77 RBIs in 118 games, so I figured, "why not?"

Though Easler would have his rookie card in the 1978 set on one of those multi-player jobs, he could have easily gotten a card in the '77 set based on his action in the 1976 season with the California Angels.

In the bicentennial year, Easler played in 21 games with 59 plate appearances, with 13 hits in 53 at-bats, good for a .241 batting average.

He also collected a double, triple and four runs batted in along with six runs scored, all as a designated hitter.

It wasn't until 1980 that he saw full-time work, and he came in with a bang, hitting a robust .338 with 21 homers and 74 RBI's in only 393 at-bats for the reigning champion Pirates.

Six years later I remember him joining the Yankees and he performed well, hitting .302 with 14 homers and 78 RBI's, before playing out his final year in the Majors in 1987, split between the Yanks and Phillies.

By the time he closed out his 14-year career, he finished with a very nice .293 average with 118 homers, 522 runs batted in and 465 runs scored.

 

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

Up on the blog today, we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card for the great Frank Robinson, from my 2018 custom gelatin set:

Really fun set to put together, which included a gelatin pack inside the WTHBALLS printed gelatin box!

Robinson is perhaps the “greatest underrated player” in Major League history.
A two-time Most Valuable Player, and the first to do it in both leagues, Robinson also took home a Triple Crown in 1966, was a twelve time All-Star, finished in the Top-4 in MVP voting outside his two wins, and oh yeah, as mentioned earlier was also the first African-American Manager in league history.
When he retired as an active player in 1976, Robinson was in the top-5 in so many offensive categories he was in the company of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
Yet oddly enough, perhaps because of the era he played in, he would get buried in the “all-time greats” conversation in lieu of the aforementioned players along with guys like Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams.
I would say he and Stan Musial are the TWO greatest “underrated” players of all-time, and you could arguably throw in others like Bob Feller for good measure.
Just an all-out legend in so many ways.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1985 MIKE TORREZ

I have finally gotten around to creating a 1985 "Career-Capper" for long-time Major League pitcher Mike Torrez, about as solid a guy you could throw out there on the mound during the 1970s, as he wrapped up a very nice career in 1984:

I’ve always been fascinated by Torrez’s run between 1974 and 1978 when he posted 15+ wins each and every year, playing for a different team each and every season!
In 1974 he won 15 for the Montreal Expos, then 20 for the Baltimore Orioles in 1975, then 16 for the Oakland A’s, then the aforementioned 17 combined wins with the Yanks and A’s in 1977, then finally 16 for the Boston Red Sox in 1978.
Toss in his 16 wins for the Expos in 1972 and then another 16 for the Red Sox in 1979, and we are talking a solid eight-year run of dependability that gets overlooked.
By the time he retired after the 1984 season, Torrez fashioned himself a solid 18-year career that saw him go 185-160, with a 3.96 E.R.A., 1404 strikeouts and 15 shutouts over 494 games, 458 of which were starts.
He also won two games in the 1977 World Series against the Dodgers, pitching a complete game in both starts, yielding a 2.50 E.R.A. with 15 strikeouts. Not bad at all…

 

1981 DRAKES BIG PITCHERS: TOMMY JOHN

Today on the blog, we spotlight my 1981 Drake's "Big Pitchers" custom card for Tommy John, from my recent custom set released a couple of months ago:

Fun set to create in special zip-lock package, adding to the fun oddball "Big Hitters" set Drakes put out there in 1981.

Tommy John had an incredible Major League career that was essentially "done" in 1975 after developing arm trouble.

However thanks to a new surgery technique that eventually took his name, he managed to not only come back but pitch for another 14 seasons, 26 TOTAL, leading to 288 wins over 760 games, with 700 of those as a starter.

He went on to post three 20-win seasons after his surgery, along with two top-5 Cy Young finishes, as well as three All-Star teams.

By the time he did finally retire at the age of 46 after the 1989 season, he wound up with a record of 288-231, with an ERA of 3.34 in 4710 innings, with 46 shutouts and 2245 strikeouts.

Just amazing, and I'm glad I got to see him pitch at the end of his career with the New York Yankees.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: DAVE WINFIELD

The next ballplayer to get a card in my custom "Classic Baseball" set is one of my childhood favorites, Dave Winfield, though I decided on a photo of him with the San Diego Padres:

Before becoming a favorite among us New York City kids in the 1980s, Winfield would become the favorite player of many young kids in the San Diego area during the 1970’s, giving the Padres a new-look outfielder, bringing a whole new type of athleticism (along with Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos), with speed, stellar defense, a gun for an arm, and power at the plate.
By the time he retired after the 1995 season, his 22nd as a Big Leaguer, he finished with eight 100-RBI seasons, 15 20-home run seasons, 3110 hits, 1669 runs scored and 1833 RBIs.
He made the All-Star team 12 times, took home seven Gold Gloves, finished Top-10 in MVP voting seven times and was awarded six Silver Slugger Awards.
Man I loved this guy! I’ll never forget his line-drive home runs deep into left field at Yankee stadium as a kid, wondering what he would do in a stadium like today where he wasn’t looking at 430 to left-center.
One of the game’s greatest all-around athletes!

 

FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 AL OLIVER

The next 1980's "All-Star Card Fix" is a 1984 card for Al Oliver, who was the starting first baseman for the National League in the 1983 game, though George Hendrick of the St. Louis Cardinals got the card instead by Topps (???):

Again, why Topps decided to just go and select who THEY wanted to get an All-Star card starting in 1981 is beyond me.

Oliver was at the top of his game in the early-80s, and his two seasons with the Montreal Expos were fantastic, including leading the N.L. in doubles both years, while also taking home the batting title in 1982 along with most hits (204) and most RBIs (109).

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.