REVISIT: "HALL OF FAME LEADERS-1970 N.L. ERA" POST FROM 2013

Good day all.

Thought it'd be fun to revisit an old thread of mine here on the blog, "Hall of Fame League Leaders", spotlighting league leader cards from the 1970s that were entirely populated by future Hall of Famers, beginning with the 1970 National League E.R.A. card:

Now that is an elite threesome I'd build any team around!

Here's the write-up for that post as it was posted:

"I'm going to go ahead and start a new thread today called "Hall of Fame Leaders", which are league leader cards throughout the decade of the 1970's that featured ONLY Hall of Fame players.
When I got back into collecting vintage cards after a long absence in the mid-2000's, I really got into tracking down any of these cards for their "star power".
Luckily, the '70's were loaded with such cards.
Here we have Topps 1970 National league E.R.A. leader card (#67), which features no less that three top-notch Hall of Famers: Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton.
I like the fact that we have a sort of "passing the torch" with this card. Gibson and Marichal were at the latter half of their powerful careers, and Steve Carlton was just getting started.
We have two pitchers who dominated throughout the 1960's sandwiched around a guy who would star throughout the 1970's and into the 1980's.
Combined, we're looking at 823 wins and 9556 strikeouts in 57 years of Major League action.
Oddly enough, the three legends you see here each lead the N.L. in E.R.A. only once, and only a couple years apart: Gibson in his phenomenal 1968 season (how he lost nine games that year is STILL incredible!), Marichal in 1969, and Carlton in 1972.
Nevertheless, if there was ever a definition of "star power", this would be up there.
Bob Gibson would be the first to enter the Hall in 1981, with Marichal joining him just two years later in '83 and Carlton rounding out the party in 1994 after a 24 year career."

 

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XVIII: 1979 LEADING FIREMEN

Today we come to the final Topps "League Leader" card of the 1970's that (at the moment) features solely Hall of Famers: 1979 Leading Firemen (#8) with "Goose" Gossage and Rollie Fingers.

Take a look at the card first:

For Gossage, it was a successful first year in the Bronx in 1978, as he lead the American League in saves with 27 to go along with a 10-11 record and 2.01 earned run average.

He was already entrenched as a "beast" out of the bullpen, firing 100-mile-an-hour fastballs out of a wind-up that was all arms and legs.

I used to LOVE seeing this guy pitch when I was a kid! He just looked like a mad-man to me.

Then I got the chance to meet him years later and he was just about the coolest, nicest person you could ask for, with that no-nonsense approach to talking to people that immediately made you comfortable.

Gossage would end up fifth in Cy Young Award voting that year, as well as 13th in M.V.P. voting, while also becoming a catalyst in one of my favorite stories about the crazy "Bronx Zoo" days.

In 1977 Sparky Lyle, the Yankees relief whiz, went on to win the Cy Young and seemed to be THE Yankee closer with no end in sight.

Then the Yankees go out and get Gossage as a free agent, leading to a CLASSIC quote by Yankee third baseman Graig Nettles, telling Lyle that he went, "from Cy Young to Sayonara".

It turned out to be true, as Lyle was gone, getting traded to the Texas Rangers in November of 1978.

Gossage on the other hand went on to be the Yankee closer for six years, never posting an E.R.A. over 2.62 in any of those seasons, with an incredible low of 0.77 during the strike season of 1981.

He'd also finish in the top-5 in Cy Young voting three times, with a high of third-place in 1980 when he went 6-2 with a league-leading 33 saves and a 2.27 earned run average.

He hung around the Majors for 22 years, retiring after the 1994 season with the Mariners at the age of 42, eventually getting the Hall of Fame nod in 2008.

As for Rollie Fingers, one of the all-time classic characters of the 1970's baseball era, 1978 was an excellent year for the veteran, as he lead the Majors with 37 saves to go with a 6-13 record and 2.52 E.R.A.

It was his second straight year leading the league in saves, and his third year getting into the top-10 in Cy Young voting, finishing in 8th-place.

As we all know, his best season was still ahead of him, as 1981 saw him win not only a Cy Young Award, but also an M.V.P., as he went 6-3 with a league-leading 28 saves and microscopic 1.04 E.R.A. for the Milwaukee Brewers during the strike year, as the "Brew Crew" were on the verge of some solid seasons with guys like Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Cecil Cooper and Gorman Thomas powering them to the World Series the following year.

1983 saw Fingers suffer some arm problems, rapidly ending his Major League career after the 1985 season at the age of 38.

But the numbers were already there, and Fingers found himself voted into Cooperstown as the first pitcher whose career was solely as a relief pitcher in 1992.

Of course he also left us with the trademark "Rollie" mustache, about as cool a souvenir from the 1970's as you can get, initially grown as a member of the awesome Oakland A's dynasty of the mid-70's.

It's been a nice little "sub-set" of sorts to focus in on for a little while.

Hope you enjoyed it as well…

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XVII: 1978 STRIKEOUT LEADERS

Next up on my "Hall of Fame" league-leader card thread we move onto 1978, and the only leader card that would feature solely future Hall of Famers: #206 Strikeout Leaders, with (once again) Nolan Ryan and knuckle-baller Phil Niekro.

For Ryan, this was beginning to be "old hat", as he whiffed 300+ batters for the fifth time in his career (already a Major League record), and won his fifth strikeout title.

This was the height of the "Ryan Express", and he'd go on to win another SIX titles before he was done, including another 300+ K season in 1989 at the incredible age of 42!

All told Ryan would win 11 strikeout crowns and post six 300+ strikeout seasons.

Just sick…

For Niekro, this would be the only time he'd lead the league in strikeouts, whiffing a nice 262 in 330.1 innings. The total would be a career high, and actually was the first time he struck out over 200 batters in a season in his 14-year career at that point.

On top of that, he was 38 years old when he did it, and he'd follow that up with his second best strikeout season the very next year with 248.

1977 was actually a bit of a down year for "Knucksie", as he also lead the National League in losses (20), earned runs (148), wild pitches (17) and walks (164).

It would also mark four straight seasons of leading the league in losses, with totals of 20, 18, 20 and 18 between 1977 and 1980.

But that didn't hurt his path straight to the Hall of Fame, as he eventually topped 300 career wins and 3000 career strikeouts, benchmarks for induction (at the time), getting voted in in 1997.

Next up on this thread, the last "Hall of Famer" leader card of the decade: 1979 #8 Leading Firemen featuring "Goose" Gossage and Rollie Fingers.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XVI: 1977 STRIKEOUT LEADERS

In 1977 Topps went back to having both league's leaders in a statistical category on the same card, and it brings us to the next leader card that featured solely future Hall of Famers: card #6, "1976 Strikeout Leaders" with two of the all-time best, Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver.

Take a look:

This was the very first leader card I was in awe of as a kid.

By 1977 I was collecting hardcore, and seeing this card of these two "monsters" on the mound was awesome.

We saw these two guys earlier on the 1974 strikeout leaders card, and it's no surprise they'd lead their league again during the same year, as they were at the height of their careers at this point, well on their way to the Hall of Fame and amassing staggering career numbers.

All Ryan did in 1976 was lead the American League in K's for the fourth time, all seasons in which he whiffed over 300 batters. This time he struck out 327, to go along with a 17-18 record with a 3.36 E.R.A. and a league-leading seven shutouts.

This would be the first of four straight strikeout leading season for Ryan, a streak he would incredibly match eleven years later at the age of 40!

I swear it's still mind-boggling to talk about what Ryan accomplished during his 27 year career. Just incredible!

For Seaver, 1976 would be the last of five strikeout crowns during his stellar career, as he paced the Senior Circuit with 235 K's to go along with a 14-11 record and a 2.59 E.R.A.

He also threw five shutouts in his 34 starts for the year, which would be his last as a New York Met before being traded during the next season to the Cincinnati Reds, breaking the heart of many in the Big Apple, including a Yankee fan like myself!

Ryan and Seaver, two of the all-time classic fire-ballers in baseball history during their prime.

Nice card to say the least.

Next up in this thread: the 1978 strikeout leader card, featuring Ryan once again for the A.L., and Atlanta Braves knuckleballer Phil Niekro for the N.L.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XV: 1976 A.L. E.R.A. LEADERS

Today we move ahead to 1976 in our chronological look at 1970's League Leader cards that feature solely future Hall of Famers.

The only card in the 1976 Topps set to feature such a group is the American League E.R.A. card (#202), featuring to established veterans at the time, and one young stud who'd make a change in career path, and walking that path straight to Cooperstown: Jim Palmer, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, and Dennis Eckersley.

Take a look:

Palmer, who lead the league with a sterling 2.09 E.R.A., would win his second of three Cy Young awards in 1975, leading the league not only in earned run average but wins, with 23, and shutouts, with 10 (the only pitcher to reach double-digits in the decade).

It was also the fifth time Palmer would top 20-wins in his career, something he'd go on to do eight times!

Hunter, in his first season pitching for the Yankees after a highly publicized free agent courtship, did not disappoint the Bronx fans, as he tied Palmer for the league lead in wins with 23, as well as a second place finish in E.R.A. at 2.58, to go along with an amazing 30 complete games (out of 39 starts) and seven shutouts. 

That performance would get him a second place finish in Cy Young voting, a year after he won the award while in Oakland in 1974.

For Dennis Eckersley, 1975 was an excellent rookie campaign, as he posted a 13-7 record to along with his third-place 2.60 earned run average in 24 starts.

But sadly for him, this was the year a couple of Boston Red Sox rookies (Fred Lynn and Jim Rice) made a splash, leaving "Eck" out in the cold when it came time for "Rookie of the Year" consideration.

Nevertheless, Eckersley would stick around the Majors for another 23 years, switching over to a relief role after an effective 12 years as a starter, and redefining the relief pitcher role while pitching for the Oakland A's and Tony LaRussa, eventually getting him a Hall of Fame induction in 2004.

He narrowly missed being the only player ever to both win and save 200+ games in a career, finishing with 197 wins and 390 saves.

I do remember a moment back in 1987, when he was called in to relieve a starter against the Yankees, and I thought, "Huh, he's a reliever now?", thinking his career was pretty much done.

Little did I know…

Not a bad trio of future Hall members here.

Next up we move to the 1977 set and a couple of guys we've seen before: Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XIV: 1975 STRIKEOUT LEADERS

Today we'll take a look at the next Topps league leader card f the 1970's that solely featured future Hall of Famers: #312 Strikeout Leaders with Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton.

 

 

This would be the third strikeout leader card in a row that would feature Hall of Famers.

Granted, each of those featured Nolan Ryan, while two of the three had Steve Carlton, with Tom Seaver making an appearance on the 1974 card.

This was smack in the middle of the Nolan Ryan "Express", as he lead the Majors in strikeouts yet again with 367 in 1974 after fanning a still-record 383 batters in 1973.

It was the third strikeout crown for Ryan, on his way to 11 titles in his storied 27 year career.

Ryan finished in third place in the Cy Young race, posting a 22-16 record along with a 2.89 E.R.A., three shutouts and an incredible 202 walks!

Over in the National League, we have Steve Carlton who lead the league with 240 K's in 1974 for his second strikeout crown.

Carlton would lead the league in K's another three times before retiring, missing by one strikeout in 1981 of four straight crowns between 1980 and 1983 (Fernando Valenzuela would total 180 during the strike-shortened 1981 season).

Carlton's 1974 was somewhat mediocre for him, as he posted a record of 16-13 with a 3.22 E.R.A., one shutout and a league leading 136 walks.

Nevertheless we have a great card here, with two of the top power pitchers of the era in the prime of their careers in one of the best card sets of the decade.

Next up we'll look at the 1976 American League E.R.A. leader card, featuring guys by the name of Palmer, Hunter and Eckersley.

Not too shabby…

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XIII: 1974 R.B.I.'s LEADERS

Next up on my "Hall of Fame" league leader card series is the 1974 Runs Batted In card (#203) featuring two of THE power hitters of the decade: Reggie Jackson and Willie Stargell.

First up the card:

In a bit of a surprise, 1973 was the only time these future Hall members would lead their leagues in R.B.I.'s.

For Reggie, his 117 ribbies paced the American League, contributing to his only Most Valuable Player award that season. It was also one off of his career high, as he drove in 118 in 1969 when he slammed 47 homers in his first big year in the Majors.

Even though the late 1960's and 1970's were a bit of an offensive down-time for baseball, it's still surprising to remind yourself that Reggie's high in ribbies is so low. Then again, he also lead the league in homers in '73 with 32, his only outright home run title during his career. In a bit of an odd coincidence, his other three home run titles were all shared, and all with a Milwaukee Brewer player: 1975- George Scott; 1980- Ben Oglivie and 1982- Gorman Thomas.

Go figure.

For Stargell, 1973 was arguably the finest offensive year of his career. In addition to his league leading 119 runs batted in, he slammed 44 homers and also lead the league in doubles with 43. His .646 slugging percentage also lead the league, and he hit just a shade under .300, finishing up with a .299 B.A.

It would also mark the last time Stargell would drive in 100 or more runs in a season, even though he'd play for another nine years before retiring after the 1982 season.

1973 would also be the third year in a row where he'd finish in the top-3 in Most Valuable Player voting, ending up second behind winner Pete Rose. In 1971 he finished second behind Joe Torre, while in 1972 he finished third behind Johnny Bench and Billy Williams.

Next up on this thread we move on to 1975 and take a look at the strikeout leader card, featuring two of the all-time best: Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XII: 1974 STRIKEOUT LEADERS

As we chronologically move through the decade and look for league leader cards that feature only future Hall of Famers, we get the the 1974 Topps Strikeouts Leader card featuring two of the all-time greats: Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver.

Just an awesome card people!

Let's take a look:

The "Ryan Express" and "Tom Terrific" in their prime.

Ryan was just coming off his record setting (and still standing) 383 strikeout season in California that also saw him go 21-16 with a 2.87 E.R.A.

He was named to the A.L. all-star team and finished second in the Cy Young Award voting behind Jim Palmer.

It would be the second of his incredible six years of 300+ strikeouts, the last coming at the age of 42 in 1989, as well as his sick total of FIFTEEN years of 200+ K's in the Majors!

Luckily I got to see Ryan pitch a few times at Yankee Stadium, and his grunting after every pitch could be heard no matter where you were seated.

For Tom Seaver, he was coming off of his second Cy Young Award winning season, leading the league for the third time in strikeouts with 251, while going 19-10 with a league leading 2.08 E.R.A.

He'd eventually tack on two more strikeout crowns during the decade, as well as another Cy Young Award in 1975.

Two HUGE monsters of the mound during the wild-70's: "The Ryan Express" and "Tom Terrific".

And to think they were part of the same rotation in the early part of their careers.

Oh "what could have been"!

Just takes me back to my youth every time I see these guys...

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XII: 1974 BATTING LEADERS

Next up on my thread on league leader cards that featured only future Hall of Famers is the 1974 Topps Batting Leaders card (#201), which featured two of the top hitting stars of the game during the 1970's: Rod Carew and Pete Rose.

What more can you say about these two that hasn't already been said?

Rose was coming off his last batting title, where he lead the N.L. with a .338 average on 230 hits in 680 at-bats. For Carew, it would be the third title of his illustrious career, based on his 203 hits out of 580 at-bats.

Rose would eventually be named "Player of the Decade" for the 1970's by the Sporting News, and Rod Carew arguably could have been the American League representative had there been one.

By the time they would retire, Rose would win three batting titles during his amazing career (1968, 1969 and 1973), while Carew would rack up titles like few others have done before or since, SEVEN batting titles, and all but one (1969) during the decade.

Both guys topped 3000+ career hits, with Rose eventually setting the all-time career mark with 4256, and both won an M.V.P. Award each, with Rose winning it in 1973 and Carew in 1977 when he set the baseball world on fire, hitting .388.

Great card showing two of the all-time best hitting stars of the game.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS XI: 1974 E.R.A. LEADERS

Getting back on track after jumping backwards to 1972 last time, today we look at the next League-Leader card that features solely future Hall of Famers: the 1974 E.R.A. leader card ( #206) featuring Jim Palmer and Tom Seaver:

A classic to say the least!

Arguably the two best pitchers in their respective leagues for the decade, we're looking at six Cy Young Awards, twelve 20-win seasons, and SIXTEEN league leads in the "Triple Crown" categories!

1973 was a banner year for both starters, as they each won their league's Cy Young and finished in the top-10 for Most Valuable Player as well.

Palmer's line read: 22-9 record, 2.40 E.R.A., 6 shutouts and 158 K's, while Seaver's line was equally as brilliant: 19-10, 2.08 E.R.A., 3 shutouts and a league-leading 251 K's.

By the time these two hung up their spikes, it was just a formality before they were inducted into the Hall of Fame, with Palmer going in in 1990, and Seaver following him in 1992 with a record 98.8% of the ballot (tied by Nolan Ryan years later).

It's funny to focus on the fact that some baseball "writers" felt they were both not worthy of induction their first year on the ballot and didn't vote for them!

Five schmucks left Seaver off while an astonishing 33 left Palmer off!

Seriously, what can you say about that? Just absurd…

HALL OF FAME LEADERS X: BACK-TRACKING A BIT: 1972 R.B.I. LEADERS

Well well.

In light of recent events, specifically Joe Torre becoming a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, seems there's a "new" card that falls into the "Hall of Fame Leader Cards" from the 1970's, card # 87 from the 1972 Topps set, N.L. R.B.I. Leaders".

Now that Torre is in the Hall, we see that he was featured on the card along with other Hall of Famers Willie Stargell and Hank Aaron.

 

 

And though technically Torre was inducted as a manager, he did fashion an excellent career as a player over the course of 18 years, playing for the Braves, Cardinals and Mets.

For this card, we see Torre lead the National league in ribbies during his M.V.P. 1971 season with a nice total of 137, followed by Stargell's 125 and Aaron's 118.

Nice bit of National League power right here. 1482 homers and 5022 runs batted in between them!

While Torre had to wait until this year for Hall induction, Aaron was voted in almost unanimously in 1982, with Stargell joining him in 1988.

A little oddity here to mention: seems that Stargell's image on the leader-card is a closely cropped version of the image on his 1970 baseball card. Wonder why?

HALL OF FAME LEADERS IX: 1974 HOME RUN LEADERS

Up next on my thread of 1970's leader cards featuring solely future Hall of Famers is card #202 from the 1974 set, Home Run Leaders featuring two of the decade's best: Reggie Jackson and Willie Stargell.

 

 

 

A nice card showing classic sluggers at the height of their careers, as Jackson lead the American League with 32 in 1973, on his way to his only Most Valuable Player award, while Stargell blasted a Major League high 44 homers, while finishing second in M.V.P. In the N.L.

Both players were well on their way to Hall of Fame selection, as Reggie was a major cog in the Oakland A's AND New York Yankees dynasties of the '70's, while Stargell was about to become "Pops" on the 1979 Pirates championship team, after already playing a huge part of the 1971 World Series winning squad.

Combined we're looking at 1038 lifetime home runs along with 3242 runs batted in and six home run titles over the course of 42 years of Major League ball, as well as five top-3 M.V.P. finishes with both of them winning the award once each (Reggie in 1973 and Stargell in 1979 as co-winner with Keith Hernandez).

They were also part of seven championships between them (Reggie with five and Stargell with 2).

After their superstar careers were all said and done, Stargell found himself elected to the Hall in 1988, with Reggie joining him in 1993.

Easy to see why this is a very cool "Hall of Fame" League Leader card from the 1970's of two of the game's top sluggers from that era.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS IX: 1973 STRIKEOUT LEADERS

Today we will look at quite possibly my favorite leader card from the decade: the 1973 "Strikeout Leaders" card (#67) featuring two budding superstars of the 1970's, Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan.

The reason I was SO into this card was the fact that both Carlton and Ryan had HUGE breakout years in 1972, and this card was a marker of some sort of what was to come in the next 10-15 years.

Let's take a look:

 

Just an awesome card of things to come...

 

Carlton's 1972 season was one for the ages, as he exploded onto the baseball world with a monstrous 27-10 record along with a 1.97 earned run average and the lead leading 310 K's.

Of course we all know that what made this performance even more extraordinary was the fact that he was pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, who went 59-97!!! 

Quite simply, the guy almost won HALF his teams games that year! Incredible.

Carlton went on to collect four Cy Young Awards (the first to do so), as well as 329 career wins, 4136 strikeouts and 55 shutouts in 24 seasons on the mound.

Needless to say, when Cooperstown came calling he was in without a problem, getting elected in 1994.

Steve Carlton was THE dominant pitcher in the game between 1977 and 1983, and this card was a great kick-starter as far as the legend of "Lefty" was concerned.

Luckily for all of us, it just so happened that someone else burst onto the baseball world with an amazing 1972 season, giving us all a glimpse into what was about to be a SICK 27-year career unmatched on the mound before or since: Nolan Ryan.

After pitching for the New York Mets for five years and having moments of brilliance, it wasn't until he was famously traded to the California Angels that Ryan became an instant legend.

His 1972 season took everyone by surprise, as he went 19-16 with a 2.28 E.R.A. But what got everyone going was his Major League leading 329 strikeouts and nine shutouts.

He was an instant force on the mound, blowing everyone away and giving us a peek at what we were about to witness for the next 20+ years!

The very next year Ryan whiffed a Major League record 383 batters (which still stands), and was well on his way to throwing SEVEN no-hitters, 12 one-hitters, and 18 two-hitters! 

How ridiculous is that!?

By the time the "Ryan Express" gave the arm a rest after the 1993 season, he won 324 games, threw 61 shutouts, and struck out a STILL amazing 5714 batters.

I look at this league leader card and just sit amazed at how these two guys were on their way to Hall of Fame careers, dominating batters for the next two decades.

I also think back to the 1980 Topps set and remember how they both also had those nice "all-star" cards for the first time in their careers as well.

Amazing card for Hall of Fame collectors.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS VIII: 1973 BATTING LEADERS

By 1973 Topps decided it would no longer have statistical leader cards for the National and American leagues, but just portray the leader of both leagues on the same card.

It would remain this way for the rest of the decade and make for some classic leader cards featuring some of baseball's all-time greats.

Today we take a look at the 1973 Batting Leaders card (#61), which shows to of the game's best, Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs and Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins.

 

Topps' first year of dual league leaders.

 

Each lead their league in batting in 1972 and as such, we are given a nice card featuring two future Hall of Famers.

Billy Williams hit a robust .333 to pace the National league, also slamming 37 home runs and driving in 122 runs, good enough for an M.V.P. award most years if it wasn't for a guy in Cincinnati named Johnny Bench.

It would be the only batting title for "Billy from Whistler", but combined with all the other achievements during his 18 year baseball career he would be elected to Cooperstown's hallowed halls in 1987.

Next up we have the batting champ of the 1970's, Rod Carew. In 1972 Carew sported the lowest batting average of all his seven batting championships, but it would be the first of six batting titles in seven years! George Brett would break his string in 1976 by only two points! Or we'd be looking at seven titles in a row between 1972 and 1978.

Carew was a machine in the 70's and into the 80's, and was WELL on his way to Hall of Fame enshrinement on his first try in 1991.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS VII: 1971 NATIONAL LEAGUE STRIKEOUT LEADERS

Today's Hall of Fame leaders post features a great card (#72) of three Hall of Fame powerhouse flame-throwers of the era: Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Fergie Jenkins.

All three posted big strikeout seasons in 1970, with Seaver leading the way at 283 and Gibson and Jenkins tied for second with 274 each.

 

Three consecutive Cy Young winners between 1969-71.

 

What can you say about a card featuring players that account for 846 wins, 9949 strikeouts and 166 shutouts over the course of 56 combined Major League seasons?!

Throw in on top of all that six Cy Young awards and an M.V.P. for Gibson during his 1968 dream season, and you pretty much have as good a card as any featuring moundsman-perfection in the 1970's.

Just awesome.

A nice little quirk: starting with Seaver and going counter-clockwise, you have the three successive Cy Young winners in the National league from 1969 through 1971.

Not too shabby huh?

HALL OF FAME LEADERS VI: 1971 NATIONAL LEAGUE R.B.I. LEADERS

Basically a "repeat" of the last entry for this thread, these three Hall of Famers had quite a 1970 season, as they paced the National League both in Home Runs AND Runs Batted In, which we see here on card #64.
The only difference here is that Perez and Williams tied for the second and third place spots with R.B.I.'s., both driving in 129 for the year.
Nothing really more to say about this awesome trio that I didn't mention with the previous post on the Home Run leader card.
Just over-flowing star power on a nice-looking card from one of my favorite sets.

Monster seasons by all THREE future H.O.F.'ers.

One thing I WILL mention here is something I never forgot that former "Big Red Machine" skipper Sparky Anderson said about the Reds dynasty years later.
When asked why the Reds didn't win more championships after 1976, especially since they added Tom Seaver to their already powerful squad in 1977, Anderson was quick to reply that the Reds trading away Tony Perez in December of 1976 "killed" the team.
Interesting to hear since the you always think of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Dave Concepcion and even George Foster on those all-star loaded teams.
It's easy to forget just how consistent and important Perez was to that Cincinnati juggernaut of the 1970's.

HALL OF FAME LEADERS V: 1971 NATIONAL LEAGUE HOME RUN LEADERS

Here's a nifty league leader card from 1971 that has THREE prominent Hall of Famers: the National League Home Run Leaders card (#66).

Beautiful!

 

 

 

Johnny Bench, Billy Williams and Tony Perez.

58 years of star baseball between them, amassing 7491 hits, 1194 home runs and 4503 runs batted in.

While Perez and Bench were powering the pre-"Big Red Machine" at this point, Williams was clubbing his way into legendary status on the North side of Chicago with the Cubs.

(Un)funny enough for Billy Williams, he would finish second in Most Valuable Player voting BOTH in 1970 and 1972, losing out tho Bench both times.

Even funnier regarding this card: just as we saw on the previous "Hall of Fame Leader Card" in my last post for this thread, here we have the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the stat being represented being the same as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the M.V.P. voting. 

Perez ended up in third place (his highest finish during his career) in 1970, behind Bench and Williams.

All three of these players were at the height of their careers here, with Williams an established veteran, Bench the "new superstar on the block" and Perez somewhere in between.

I've always been a big fan of those 1971 league leader cards...

HALL OF FAME LEADERS IV: 1971 NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHING LEADERS

So, let's take a gander at card #70 of the 1971 Topps set and see what "Hall of Fame" galore looks like!
I love this card: Bob Gibson, Gaylord Perry and Fergie Jenkins, three POWERHOUSE pitchers during the 1970's, all represented on the same piece of beautiful cardboard.
What I also love about this card is the fact that the order you see here is the exact order of the N.L. Cy Young voting for 1970. Bob Gibson took home his second such award (1968 being his other), while Gaylord Perry came in second, having to wait until the 1972 season with Cleveland to land HIS first, and Jenkins only had to wait one more year, as he took home his only Cy Young in 1971.
First, second and third in wins, first, second and third in Cy Young voting.
We are looking at 5 Cy Young awards among the three, as well as an M.V.P. (Gibson in 1968), AND eight top-5 Cy Young finishes throughout their careers.
Oh, and let me not forget that among these three, we have 849 wins, 9843 strikeouts, 158 shutouts and 1882 games spread out over 58 Major League seasons!
It's also fitting that while Gibson was inducted into the Hall in 1981, Perry and Jenkins found themselves inducted together in 1991. Perfect!
I have always found the 1971 leader cards as the nicest for the decade. The black border made the various team uniform colors POP off the card more than any other year.
Just nice cards FULL of star power to have in your collection, especially for younger collectors who can't afford the "regular" issues of each player.

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HALL OF FAME LEADERS III: 1970 NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHING LEADERS

Now HERE is one of the best leader cards of the 1970's.
Four players pictured, ALL four Hall of Famers. It doesn't get any better than that.
Card #69 in Topps 1970 set pictures the National leagues biggest winners from 1969, and all four are big-time names: Tom Seaver, Phil Niekro, Fergie Jenkins and Juan Marichal.
Where do you even begin with these guys?
We're looking at 1156 combined big league wins, 12477 strikeouts, and 79 years of Major League service!
As far as awards go, Seaver bagged three Cy Youngs (1969, 1973 & 1975), while Jenkins won one in 1971. However among the four pitchers, there were NINE top-3 finishes as well as ELEVEN top-10 finishes for M.V.P.'s! Just awesome.
In the end, Seaver was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992, Niekro in 1997, Jenkins in 1991 and Marichal in 1983.
Star power to the highest degree to say the very least!

HALL OF FAME LEADERS II: 1970 NATIONAL LEAGUE R.B.I.

Continuing with this new thread profiling league leader cards that feature only Hall of Fame players,  today we have three sluggers who finished 1-2-3 in the National League in R.B.I.'s in 1969, making for a fantastic superstar loaded baseball card in the 1970 set (#63): Willie McCovey, Ron Santo and Tony Perez.
Combined, we're looking at 1242 lifetime home runs, 4538 runs batted in, 7197 hits and 22 all-star appearances over SIXTY Major League seasons!
All three players were stalwarts of the N.L. throughout their careers and each finished in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting for the 1969 season: McCovey won the award while Santo finished fifth and Perez finished tenth.
As a matter of fact, these three stars received M.V.P. votes in a staggering 24 years during their playing careers.
Needless to say, the Hall of Fame inevitably came calling for each of them: 1986 for McCovey, 2000 for Perez and 2012 Santo, cementing their rightful place in baseball history.

Three R.B.I. machines at the height of their careers.