EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. VICTORIES

On the blog today, we move on to the National League’s top winners for 1978, shown on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card from my long-running thread:

 

 

We begin with the 40-year-old wonder, Gaylord Perry, who would stun everyone with a season like no other for a man of his age, taking home the Cy Young Award that year by going 21-6 in his first season with the San Diego Padres.

Perry  was just brilliant that year, leading the league with his 21 wins, while pitching to an excellent 2.73 earned run average, with two shutouts and five complete games while tossing 232.2 innings.

It was the 14^th season in a row that Perry topped 200 innings, while also reeling off five 300+ inning campaigns during the stretch. Just incredible!

By taking home the Cy Young in 1978, he became the first pitcher in major League history to win the award in both leagues, previously winning the award in 1972 when he posted 24 wins for the Cleveland Indians.

In second place with 20 wins, another pitcher who had a very successful first season with his new club, Ross Grimsley, who had what turned out to be the best year of his career in 1978 in his first year with the Montreal Expos.

Grimsley went 20-11 for Montreal that year, with a 3.05 ERA over 263 innings in 36 starts, with three shutouts and 19 complete games, looking like an excellent pick-up for the franchise.

Sadly however, Grimsley would begin to deal with injuries the following season, winning only 10 games in 1979, and lasting only parts of the next three years before retiring for good, winning only seven games between 1980 and 1982

In third place tied with 19 wins apiece, the Atlanta Braves Phil Niekro and the Los Angeles Dodgers Burt Hooton, who both had very nice seasons for their respective teams.

For Niekro, the 39-year-old just missed his third 20-win season by going 19-18 over 44 appearances, 42 of them starts, posting a 2.88 ERA over 334.1 innings while tossing four shutouts and completing 22 games.

He would follow that up in 1979 by becoming like Perry, a 20-game winner at that age, famously winning 21 games while also LOSING 20 games, though by no means his own fault, posting a very nice 3.39 ERA while throwing an amazing 342 innings for Atlanta.

If that wasn’t enough, it’s mind boggling that he was STILL to go one for another eight years before retiring after the 1987 season, pitching until he was 48! Just amazing.

For the Dodgers’ Hooton, the solid starter who is pretty much forgotten these days, he won a career-best 19 games that season, helping the Dodgers make their second-straight World Series, posting a very nice 2.71 ERA over 32 starts with three shutouts and 10 complete games, easily the best season of his 15-year career that began in 1971 with the Chicago Cubs.

By the time he hung them up after a brief stint with the Texas Rangers in 1985, he’d end up with 151 wins and a very nice 3.38 ERA over 480 games, 377 of those starts, striking out just under 1500 batters in that time.

Next week, the American League’s top winners of 1978!

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1978 N.L. E.R.A.

Up on the blog today, we have a 1978 “expanded league-leader” card celebrating the top three pitchers in the National League in 1977 in regards to earned run average:

 

We start off with young fellow-Brooklyn native John Candelaria of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who paced the league with his sparkling 2.34 ERA while posting a record of 20-5, with six complete games and a shutout thrown in for good measure.

Ironically, the man also led the N.L. with 29 home runs allowed over his 230.2 inning workload, something you don’t see every day for an ERA leader.

Candelaria is really an underappreciated pitcher from the era, a steady starting arm who routinely threw 200+ innings before moving into the bullpen for the second half of his career.

He’d pitch 19 years in the Majors, winning 177 games and sporting a nice 3.33 ERA over 600 appearances and 2525.2 innings pitched, with 13 shutouts and 29 saves.

In second place with a 2.59 ERA, the great Tom Seaver, who split his 1977 campaign between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds after the shocking trade that sent “The Franchise” packing from Shea Stadium, something even THIS young Yankee fan was heartbroken over as an eight-year-old.

Seaver did lead the N.L. with his seven shutouts, while finishing the season 21-6, completing 19 of his 33 starts and tossing 261.1 innings, with 196 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t reach 200 in a season since his rookie year of 1967 when he K’d 170!

The man was simply the cream of the crop as far as pitchers were concerned during the 1970’s.

In third place with a very nice 2.62 ERA for the 1977 season was Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Burt Hooton, who was enjoying the West Coast life after starting his career with the Chicago Cubs.

Hooton posted a record of 12-7 over his 31 starts, tossing two shutouts while picking up a save in his only non-start appearance that season, throwing 223.1 innings for the eventual National League champs.

Another solid pitcher, Hooton would go on to win 151 games over his 15 year career, finishing up with the Texas Rangers in 1985 after suiting up for the Cubs and Dodgers every other season in the Big Leagues.

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1972 BURT HOOTON

On the blog today, we go and give former starting pitcher Burt Hooton a "dedicated rookie" card in the 1972 set:

 

Hooton was on his way to his first full season in the Big Leagues when this card would have seen the light of day, and he would not disappoint, posting an excellent 2.80 earned run average over 33 appearances with three shutouts.

The highlight of course would be April 16th of 1972, making just his fourth start of his career, when he no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 at Wrigley Field.

He would go on to have an excellent 15-year run, mainly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which saw him be a part of three National League champion teams, as well as a World Championship in 1981.
His post-season resume was very good, finishing at 6-3 with an ERA at 3.17 over eleven starts, with 33 strikeouts and a complete game.
His final regular season numbers: 151 wins against 136 losses, a very nice 3.38 ERA and 1491 strikeouts in 480 appearances (377 of those starts), and 2652 innings pitched, with 29 shutouts and seven saves.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's- BURT "HAPPY" HOOTON

On the blog today, we have a 1973 "nickname" card for former pitcher Burt Hooton, aka "Happy", who had himself a very nice 15-year Major League career:

 

Hooton was just coming off his first full season in the Big Leagues when this card would have seen the light of day, posting an excellent 2.80 earned run average over 33 appearances with three shutouts.

The highlight of course would be April 16th of 1972, making just his fourth start of his career, when he no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 at Wrigley Field.

As I stated earlier, he would go on to have an excellent 15-year run, mainly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which saw him be a part of three National League champion teams, as well as a World Championship in 1981.
His post-season resume was very good, finishing at 6-3 with an ERA at 3.17 over eleven starts, with 33 strikeouts and a complete game.
His final regular season numbers: 151 wins against 136 losses, a very nice 3.38 ERA and 1491 strikeouts in 480 appearances (377 of those starts), and 2652 innings pitched, with 29 shutouts and seven saves.

TRADED- 1975 BURT HOOTON

I love creating these cards, so forgive me for adding yet another “traded” card to the 1975 set, my Burt Hooton edition for the overlooked reliable starter who found himself as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers after four+ seasons with the Chicago Cubs:

Making three starts with the Cubs to open the 1975 season, Hooton was traded to the Dodgers on May 2nd for pitchers Eddie Solomon and Geoff Zahn, and he would not disappoint, going 18-7 the rest of the way with an ERA at 2.82.
He would then give Los Angeles a reliable starter of the next nine seasons, posting 4 years of sub-3.00 ERAs and even coming in second in the NL Cy Young Award in 1978 when he went 19-10 with a 2.71 ERA.
Between 1972 and 1980 he threw over 200 innings eight of nine seasons, and by the time he retired after a year with the Texas Rangers in 1985, he finished with a record of 151-136, with a very nice 3.38 ERA over 480 appearances, tossing 29 shutouts while striking out 1491 batters.

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: BURT HOOTON, APRIL 16TH, 1972

Moving ahead in my “No-Hitters Through the 1970’s” thread, we have the first gem tossed during the 1972 season, Burt Hooton’s No-No against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 16th:

Hooton, making only the fourth start of his Major League career, went on to strike out seven Phillies, while also issuing seven walks in front of the home-town fans at Wrigley Field, completing the game in 2 hours and 22 minutes.
The 4-0 win was helped by two RBIs by catcher Randy Hundley, as well as an RBI by second baseman Glenn Beckert, with future Hall of Famers Billy Williams and Ron Santo each collecting three hits and scoring a run.
Hooton would go on to have a nice first full-season in 1972, posting an ERA of .280, though his record betrayed the year, finishing at 11-14.
He would go on to have an excellent 15-year run, mainly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which saw him be a part of three National League champion teams, as well as a World Championship in 1981.
His post-season resume was very good, finishing at 6-3 with an ERA at 3.17 over eleven starts, with 33 strikeouts and a complete game.
His final regular season numbers: 151 wins against 136 losses, a very nice 3.38 ERA and 1491 strikeouts in 480 appearances (377 of those starts), and 2652 innings pitched, with 29 shutouts and seven saves.