SPECIAL REQUEST: 1978 DAVE GIUSTI CAPPER (A'S)

On the blog today, a special request for a 1978 career-capper for Dave Giusti, who recently passed away at the age of 86:

Technically Giusti finished his career with the Chicago Cubs in 1977 after starting the season with the Oakland A's.

With the Cubs he went 0-2 with a 6.04 ERA over 20 games and 25.1 innings pitched, while it was a completely different outcome with the A's when he appeared in 40 games, going 3-3 with a very nice 2.98 ERA over 60.1 innings of work.

Giusti originally came up with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 22-year old starter out of Syracuse University in 1962, their inaugural season in the National League.
He appeared in 22 games and posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 5.62 earned run average before spending the entire 1963 season in the Minor Leagues.
After some brief MLB action in 1964, Giusti was a big leaguer for good in 1965, going 8-7 with a 4.32 E.R.A. Along with a shutout as well as three saves for the newly tabbed “Astros”.
After a few more decent seasons as a starter, he found himself in St. Louis for the 1969 season, and thus began his transition to the bullpen, where he’d become a very effective reliever for another eight years, seven of which were with the Pirates.
Between 1970 and 1973 he topped 20 saves each year and posted solid E.R.A.’s, including a career-low of 1.93 in 1972 over 54 appearances and 74.2 innings pitched.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season he appeared in 668 games, 133 of them starts, finishing with a 100-93 record and 3.60 E.R.A., along with the aforementioned 145 saves.

 

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1974 N.L. FIREMEN

Up on the blog to close out another week, an expanded 1974 league leader card for the National League's top relief pitchers of 1973:

 

We begin of course with the Montreal Expos' reliever extraordinaire Mike Marshall who was the dominant "closer" of the era.

Marshall led the pack with his 45 "points", combining saves and wins at that time to determine the top arm to put out late-inning fires for his team.

Marshall was on his way to a dominant few seasons, with his 1974 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers the peak, as he would set the Major League record with 106 appearances, taking home the Cy Young Award and helping the Dodgers make the World Series for the first time since 1966 before losing to the three-peat Oakland A's.

Right behind him with 30 points is the New York Mets reliever Tug McGraw, who had a very nice 1973 campaign with 25 saves and five wins for the National League champs.

For McGraw, his 1973 season was actually a bit of a step DOWN from his previous two seasons where he posted ERA's of 1.70, with 19 wins and 35 saves combined.

Nevertheless, he was far from over as a Big League reliever, going on to the Philadelphia Phillies where he would close out games until 1984 and helping the team take home the championship in 1980.

One point behind McGraw with 29 points in 1973 was another long time Major League reliever, Dave Giusti of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who posted nine wins to go along with his 20 saves.

Giusti had a very nice 15 year career that saw him post 145 saves and a 100-93 record, leading the league in 1971 with 30 saves, helping the Pirates to their World Championship over the Baltimore Orioles.

The year prior, he finished fourth in the Cy Young race after he posted 26 saves while winning nine, even getting enough points in MVP voting to end up with a sixth-place showing.

Next week, we move on to the American League and their top relievers of 1973.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1970 DAVE GIUSTI

Up on the blog this Sunday we have a re-done 1970 card for veteran pitcher Dave Giusti, who was originally shown in a non-descript photo as a Pittsburgh Pirate, who he was about to start pitching for.
Here, I created a 1970 card showing him as a St. Louis Cardinal, for whom he pitched one season, in 1969:

For those that don’t remember, here’s the original card as issued by Topps:

Giusti originally came up with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 22-year old starter out of Syracuse University in 1962, their inaugural season in the National League.
He appeared in 22 games and posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 5.62 earned run average before spending the entire 1963 season in the Minor Leagues.
After some brief MLB action in 1964, Giusti was a big leaguer for good in 1965, going 8-7 with a 4.32 E.R.A. Along with a shutout as well as three saves for the newly tabbed “Astros”.
After a few more decent seasons as a starter, he found himself in St. Louis for the 1969 season, and thus began his transition to the bullpen, where he’d become a very effective reliever for another eight years, seven of which were with the Pirates.
Between 1970 and 1973 he topped 20 saves each year and posted solid E.R.A.’s, including a career-low of 1.93 in 1972 over 54 appearances and 74.2 innings pitched.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season he appeared in 668 games, 133 of them starts, finishing with a 100-93 record and 3.60 E.R.A., along with the aforementioned 145 saves.
BTW- I am desperately trying to find a nice color image of Giusti suited up for his last MLB stint, the Chicago Cubs for the second half of the 1977 season, so I can make up a 1978 “career-capper”! If anyone can steer me in the right direction I’d be most appreciative!

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" 1972 DAVE GIUSTI

Here’s a “missing” 1972 “In-Action” card for Dave Giusti of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the National League saves leader the previous year with 30, helping the Bucs take home the World Championship:

Giusti originally came up with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 22-year old starter out of Syracuse University in 1962, their inaugural season in the National League.
He appeared in 22 games and posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 5.62 earned run average before spending the entire 1963 season in the Minor Leagues.
After some brief MLB action in 1964, Giusti was a big leaguer for good in 1965, going 8-7 with a 4.32 E.R.A. Along with a shutout as well as three saves for the newly tabbed “Astros”.
After a few more decent seasons as a starter, he found himself in St. Louis for the 1969 season, and thus began his transition to the bullpen, where he’d become a very effective reliever for another eight years, seven of which were with the Pirates.
Between 1970 and 1973 he topped 20 saves each year and posted solid E.R.A.’s, including a career-low of 1.93 in 1972 over 54 appearances and 74.2 innings pitched.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season he appeared in 668 games, 133 of them starts, finishing with a 100-93 record and 3.60 E.R.A., along with the aforementioned 145 saves.
BTW- I am desperately trying to find a nice color image of Giusti suited up for his last MLB stint, the Chicago Cubs for the second half of the 1977 season, so I can make up a 1978 “career-capper”! If anyone can steer me in the right direction I’d be most appreciative!