MISSING IN ACTION: 1985 OLYMPIC B.J. SURHOFF

Super fun card to add to the WTHBALLS checklist, a "missing" 1985 Olympic sub-set card for B.J. Surhoff, who was also the 1985 #1 overall draft pick:

The University of North Carolina star went #1 overall in 1985, picked by the Milwaukee Brewers after a stellar collegiate career, and it was a great pick!

All Surhoff went on to do in the Major Leagues was put in 19 years under the Big League sun, hitting .282 over 2313 games and 8258 at-bats, collecting 2326 hits.

Hewould be a consistent threat at the plate, hitting 188 homers along with 440 doubles, 42 triples and 1153 runs batted in, scoring 1062 runs himself.

Beginning his career as a catcher, he would become incredibly versatile, playing both the infield and outfield later on, putting in significant time at five different positions.

Would have been great to have had a Surhoff card in that landmark 1985 Olympic sub-set!

 

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…

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: "UPDATE SERIES" 1985 VIDA BLUE

Up on the blog today, we have a special request creation, a 1985 "Update Series" Vida Blue card, celebrating his return to the majors after a year:

Blue made it back to a Major League mound in 1985 with another stint with the San Francisco Giants, for whom he previously played for from 1978 through 1981.

He would do well for them in his return, going 8-8 over 33 games, 20 of those starts, pitching to a 4.47 ERA over 131 innings with 103 strikeouts and a complete game.

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 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.

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.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1985 AMOS OTIS

On the blog today, we have a 1985 "Career-Capper" for one of my favorite underrated players of the 1970s, Amos Otis:

Otis wrapped up a very nice 17-year Big League career with 40 games as a Pittsburgh Pirate in 1984, the only season he suited up for the team after 14 years with the Royals, preceded by two years as a New York Met.

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.

 

JAPANESE SPECIAL: 1985 KOJI YAMAMOTO

Good day all!

On the blog today, time for another "Japan Special" featuring a legend from the Japan League, this time a 1985 card for slugging outfield legend Koji Yamamoto:

Yamamoto was close to wrapping up a legendary 18-year career in japan, all with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, by the time this card would have seen the light of day.

Over those 18 seasons, the man was a beast at the plate, hitting 536 homers, with nine 30 Home Run seasons, with five of those 40+, while also driving in 1475 runs, with six 100+ RBI years in the mix.

His 536 homers are fourth All-Time in Japan, taking home four home run titles, as well as reaching the 40-home run mark five years in a row between 1977-1980.

He helped lead the Toyo Carp to five league championships, and three Japan League titles in 1979, 1980 and 1984.

On the defensive side, Yamamoto was also awarded the Mitsui Golden Glove Award for ten straight years between 1972 and 1981, also setting a record of 302 consecutive plays with no errors in 1975.

Some of the records he finished his career with were 40-home run seasons (5), 30-home run seasons (9), consecutive seasons with 20+ homers (13), and consecutive hits (9).

Finally, in 2008, he was awarded his rightful spot in the Japanese baseball Hall of Fame, joining the other legends you've seen me profile here on the blog so far.

CUSTOM CARD SPOTLIGHT- 1985 OLYMPIC BARRY LARKIN

Up on the blog today, I spotlight my “missing” 1985 Barry Larkin USA card that could have been part of the 1985 Topps set (which also featured the ever popular Mark McGwire pre-rookie, Oddibe McDowell, Shane Mack and Corey Snyder cards, among others):

 

 

I remember first seeing this special sub-set when first opening packs back then, and thought they were really cool, and already recognized a few names here and there thanks to my trusty Street & Smith yearbook which also featured a College Baseball section in the back.

Years later of course, we realized that Topps missed a chance at a pre-rookie card for Will Clark, and the subject of today, Cincinnati Reds future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin.

However it is absolutely understandable how this occurred, as Topps really picked the main players on the 1984 USA Olympic team, so the younger players fell by the wayside.

Larkin was a two-time All-American at the University of Michigan, even though he originally went signed on to play football under legendary coach Bo Schembechler, and helped lead the Wolverines to the College World Series in 1983 and 1984.

In 1984 and 1985 he was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, and eventually had his number “16” retired by the school in 2010.

In the 1985 draft Larkin was the fourth overall pick in the first round by the Cincinnati Reds, and they did very well with that pick, as he would go on to put in his entire 19-year Major League career with the organization, taking home the 1995 N.L. MVP Award while also helping the team win it all in 1990 with a stunning upset of the favored Oakland A’s.

By the time Larkin retired after the 2004 season, he finished with 12 All-Star nods, three Gold Gloves, six Silver Slugger Awards, 2340 hits, 198 homers and 379 stolen bases to go with his .295 career average.

In 2012, the cherry was placed on top of it all with his selection to the Hall of Fame.

Not a bad Big League resume to say the least!