FIXING UP ALL-STAR CARDS: 1984 MANNY TRILLO

Today on the blog we fix another 1980's Topps All-Star snub, this time a 1984 card for Manny Trillo of the Cleveland Indians, the starter at second base for the American league in the 1983 game:

Topps decided to give the All-Star card to Lou Whitaker of the Detroit Tigers, a practice that I came to hate as a kid collecting back then. Why stray from the voted players? 

Anyway, Trillo would find himself shipped off to the Montreal Expos after the All-Star game, before ending up with the San Francisco Giants for the 1984 season.

He’d put together an excellent career that saw him win a World Championship with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980, win three Gold Gloves between 1979 and 1983 and get tabbed for four All-Star games.
By the time he retired after the 1989 season he finished up with 1562 hits over 5950 at-bats, good for a .263 average, with 598 runs scored and 571 runs batted in.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1974 JERRY JOHNSON

Up on the blog today, we have a "missing" 1974 card for former pitcher Jerry Johnson, who suited up for the Cleveland Indians in 1973:

Johnson, who I always remember as the man with the “iron jaw”, appeared in 39 games for Cleveland that season, going 5-6 with a 6.18 earned run average over 59.2 innings, all but one appearance out of the bullpen.
In 1977 he would be a member of the inaugural Blue Jay team, his last season in the Big Leagues, going 2-4 with an ERA of 4.60 over 43 appearances and 86 innings pitched.
His finest season would have to be 1972 when he was with the San Francisco Giants, a year which saw him post a record of 12-9 with a nice 2.97 earned run average over 67 appearances, all out of the bullpen, with 18 saves in 109 innings pitched.
All told, by the time he retired, he finished up with a record of 48-51, with an ERA of 4.31 and 41 saves over 365 appearances and 770.2 innings of work.

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: ROCKY COLAVITO

Time for another "Classic Baseball" custom WTHBALLS card to post up here on the blog, with today's player slugger Rocky Colavito, who had himself an excellent Major League career during baseball's "Golden Age":

Colavito ended his playing days back in 1968 before immediately going into coaching, putting in a great MLB “lifer” career that began way back in 1955 when the 21-year-old debuted with the Indians.
Between 1956 and 1966 there were few Major League batters who hit homers as frequently as he, hitting 358 home runs playing for the Indians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics.
He topped 40+ homers three times, with a career-best 45 in 1961 while also leading the American League in 1959 with 42 blasts.
By the time he retired, he hit 374 homers with 1159 RBIs over 1841 games in 14-years, finishing Top-5 in MVP voting three times and making the All-Star team six times.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1969 TONY HORTON

Today on the blog, we have my "missing" 1969 card for former Cleveland Indians slugger Tony Horton, who famously did not have any Topps cards during his career:

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-months out of every year.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: JIM PERRY

Today on the blog, we spotlight my "1960s Stars of the Game" card for Jim Perry, from my custom set released back in 2018 in WTHBALLS gelatin box:

Making his Major League debut in 1959, he was runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting, and went on to win a Cy Young Award in 1970 while a member of the Minnesota Twins.

As I've mentioned a few times over on this blog by now, Perry was winding down a very nice 17-year career by 1975, appearing in 23 games split between the Cleveland Indians and Oakland A's, posting a 4-10 record with a 5.38 earned run average.

All told he posted a career 215-174 record with a 3.45 E.R.A., 32 shutouts and 1576 strikeouts over 630 games, 447 of which were starts.

Now imagine all of that and NOT even being the best pro baseball player in the family!

What a brother-combo he and Gaylord made huh?!

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1968 TONY HORTON

Here's a really fun "missing" card to add to the WTHBALLS checklist: a missing 1968 card for slugger Tony Horton of the Cleveland Indians:

Horton originally came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1964 as a 19-year old, appearing in 36 games, hitting .222 with a homer and eight runs batted in.

After a couple of more sporadic seasons bouncing between the Majors and Minors with Boston, Horton was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 1967 for pitcher Gary Bell, and finally got some full-time work with the parent club.

After a couple of decent years he really came into his own in 1969, hitting .278 with 27 homers and 93 runs batted in on 174 hits in 625 at-bats.

1970 started out well for the young slugger, as he had a three-homer game against the Yankees as well as hitting for the cycle on July 2nd against the Orioles, but after a prolonged slump and constant booing from the fans, the emotional toll finally came to a head for Horton as he took himself out of a game on August 28th against the Angels.

It was the second game of a double-header, and he voluntarily left the game after the fifth inning.

Sadly, later that evening he attempted suicide, but luckily survived and eventually got treatment for his problems.

But as for his baseball career, he'd never appear in another Major League game again.

His former manager, Alvin Dark, stated that in his long baseball career, the Horton situation was the "most sorrowful incident I was ever involved in, in my baseball career."

Tony Horton was only 25 years old when he left the game, after only 636 games and seven years, and has always been a stark reminder of the pressures professional athletes have day to day that fans can easily overlook as they're entertained on an almost nightly basis for six-months out of every year.

REVISITING MY "THEN & NOW" 1972 CARD FOR MUDCAT GRANT

Let's have some fun today and revisit my ten-year-old 1972 "Then and Now" card for Jim "Mudcat" Grant, one of Baseball's "Black Aces":

Though he did have a card in the 1972 Topps set, he was already done with his Major League days, finishing up with the Oakland A's at the end of the 1971 season after starting it with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Between 1958 and 1966 he was primarily a starter, putting in his finest big league season in 1965 while a member of the American League champion Minnesota Twins, going 21-7 with a 3.30 earned run average, six shutouts and 142 strikeouts over 270.1 innings and 41 games, 39 of which were starts.

By the time he retired, Grant posted a 145-119 record with a 3.63 ERA, 18 shutouts and 54 saves over 571 games and 2442 innings playing for the Indians, Twins, Dodgers, Expos, Cardinals, A's and Pirates.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1973 GRAIG NETTLES

On the blog today, I recently spoke about having to re-do the 1973 card for Graig Nettles since I always hated the airbrush job, and wanted a version that showed him with the Cleveland Indians since that's who he suited up for in 1972, so here you are:

Luckily there are some good images out there of "Puff" during his tenure with the Indians, so I was able to find this nice posed shot of the third baseman.

Nettles originally came up with the Minnesota Twins in the late-60’s, but it wasn’t until he got some full-time action with the Cleveland Indians did he put up some nice numbers in 1970, becoming a productive third baseman for three years before finding himself in the Bronx after a six-player trade that left the Indians organization scratching their heads.
All Nettles would do is go on to slug 20+ homers seven straight years, leading the American League with 32 in 1976, and then topping that with 37 the following season while being an integral part of the “Bronx Zoo” championship teams of 1977 and 1978.
His incredible defensive work during the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers put him in exclusive company as a Fall Classic icon alongside the likes of Brooks Robinson and HIS defensive work in the 1970 classic against the Cincinnati Reds.
By the time Nettles was done after 22-years in the big leagues, he finished with 390 home runs, 2225 hits and 1314 runs batted in, with six all-star game nods and two Gold Gloves.

 

OPC VARIATIONS (OF A SORT): 1977 DOUG HOWARD

On the blog today, an OPC "variation" of a different sort, a spotlight on Doug Howard's 1977 OPC card, even though he never got a Topps card that year:

OPC card

Actually he never got a Topps card at all for his brief career, something I remedied a FEW times on the blog over the years, including my own 1977 Indians Topps version, seen here originally posted 10 years ago:

WTHBALLS creation

Funny enough he never ended up playing a game for the Blue Jays on the Major League level, so I went and designed a card with him shown as a Cleveland Indian, for whom he suited up in 1976.

He appeared in 39 games for the Tribe, and batted .211 with 19 hits in 99 official at-bats.

It was the most time he saw in any of his five seasons in the big league, and his only season as an Indian. 

Turns out it was the last Major League action he'd see in his five-year career.

He came up with the California Angels in 1972 and played for them three years before moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975, but he never did appear in a Topps set, even with his 97 career games and 233 at-bats.

Would have been a nice hole filled in as far as the more obscure players from the decade, especially when you think of some guys that DID get a card in the 1977 set who saw far less action in '76 like Jim Holt, Larry Cox or Jack Kucek.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1977 DOUG HOWARD MISSING IN ACTION

Revisiting a post from over 10 years ago here on the blog today, my "missing in action" 1977 card for infielder Doug Howard, who got quite a few "missing" cards from me here over the years:

The reason it's somewhat different than the others is because even though Howard was left out of the Topps set, he actually appeared in the 1977 OPC set, as an "original" Toronto Blue Jay.

Funny enough he never ended up playing a game for them on the Major League level, so I went and designed a card with him shown as a Cleveland Indian, for whom he suited up in 1976.

He appeared in 39 games for the Tribe, and batted .211 with 19 hits in 99 official at-bats.

It was the most time he saw in any of his five seasons in the big league, and his only season as an Indian. 

He came up with the California Angels in 1972 and played for them three years before moving on to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975, but he never did appear in a Topps set, even with his 97 career games and 233 at-bats.

Would have been a nice hole filled in as far as the more obscure players from the decade, especially when you think of some guys that DID get a card in the 1977 set who saw far less action in '76 like Jim Holt, Larry Cox or Jack Kucek.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 RICK CERONE

Up on the blog today we move on to an unusual OPC image variation, that of former catcher Rick Cerone, who had a multi-player rookie card debut with Topps in 1977, though as a member of the Cleveland Indians, whereas with OPC he got a dedicated card as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays:

OPC version

Topps version

Cerone, who would soon be part of the inaugural Toronto Blue Jays team of 1977, began his 18-year Major League career with the Cleveland Indians with seven games in 1975, batting .250 with three hits over 12 at-bats while getting his first taste behind the plate.
He would go on to play through the 1992 season, with 1980 easily his best season as he surprised everyone, especially us kids here in NYC when he hit .277 with 14 homers and 85 runs batted in after taking over as the first full-time catcher after the tragic death of Thurman Munson the year before.
His efforts that year got him a seventh-place finish in American League MVP voting, yet ironically he’d never get to play full-time in any season the rest of the way.
Nevertheless, he retired with 1329 games under his belt, with three tours in the Bronx, batting .245 based on 998 hits in 4069 at-bats along with 436 runs batted in and 393 runs scored.

 

REVISITING MY 1971 NICKNAME CARD FOR "SUDDEN SAM" McDOWELL

Time for another revisit of an old blog post, especially with many new eyes checking out the blog these days.

Today we check back on a post from 10 years ago, my 1971 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for "Sudden Sam" McDowell, Cleveland Indians flamethrower:

McDowell was a beast on the mound during his prime, which was sadly shortened because of various issues including injuries.
Three times topping 200 strikeouts, two of those seasons saw him top 300, with a league-leading high of 325 in 1965 when he also led the American League with a 2.18 earned run average to go along with a 17-11 record.
He’d go on to lead the league in K’s four other times during this run between 1965 and 1970, along with a 20-win season in 1970 and a career low 1.81 ERA in the “Year of the Pitcher” 1968.
It’s a shame he only had ten full seasons during his career, seeing as he ended up with 2453 career strikeouts with a 141-134 record and a nice 3.17 ERA.
Once he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Gaylord Perry after the 1971 season his career went downhill quickly, barely hanging on the final four years before retiring after 1975.
Nevertheless between 1964 and 1971 he was a monster on that mound, striking fear in opposing batters while racking up the K’s and getting named to six all-star teams.

 

VINTAGE SPECIAL! "MISSING" 1954 WILSON'S FRANKS AL ROSEN

Up on the blog today, we have my "missing" 1954 Wilson's Franks card for Al Rosen, from my recent custom set released in acetate packaging a couple months back:

This was the first of five additional cards created for the set to the original 10 I posted here on the blog many months ago. Look for the following four in the next four successive weeks!

Rosen had somewhat of a meteoric Major League career, with superstar seasons between 1950 and 1955 before a pedestrian 1956 season, then retirement. Just like that.

One of the heavy hitters of the Indian teams blessed with uber-pitching (Feller, Garcia, Lemon, Wynn), Rosen had his peak season in 1953 when he just missed a Triple Crown, though taking home the American League MVP Award when he led the league with 43 homers and 145 RBIs to go along with 201 hits and a .336 batting average.

His rookie season of 1950 would have normally gotten someone the Rookie of the Year Award, when he led the league with 37 homers, while driving in 116 runs and scoring 100.

But it happened to fall in the same season as Walt Dropo, who put in one of the greatest rookie seasons of all-time, easily taking home the award over the Cleveland third baseman.

Sadly for him, though still only 32 years of age by 1956, he retired from baseball due to back and leg injuries, thus ending an amazing Big League career just like that, to which he then moved into the world of stock brokerage, which he held for the next two decades before returning to baseball as a Front Office figure.

As a Front Office man, Rosen also saw success, guiding the New York Yankees during their return to greatness during the "Bronx Zoo" days before moving on to the Houston Astros and then the San Francisco Giants through the 1980's.

The man was as tough as they came, and because of his Jewish ancestry, would challenge those who hurled ethnic slurs at him throughout his career, usually with the person backing down.

A very interesting personality in baseball's rich history!

Nevertheless, over his shortened 10 year career, of which there were only seven full seasons, Rosen retired with a .285 average, with 192 homers and 717 RBIs, making four All-Star teams and taking home the aforementioned MVP in 1953.

Not too shabby!

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 GEORGE HENDRICK

Today on the blog, we take a look at the image variation between OPC and Topps for George Hendrick's 1977 cards, which include some really funny airbrushing going on for his Canadian cardboard:

OPC version

Topps version

Seems this San Diego Padres job was somewhat half-assed, though you can clearly notice the cool Cleveland Indians wind-breaker he's wearing.

After a couple of very productive seasons with the Indians, Hendrick found himself out West again, putting in a very nice 1977 year that saw him hit 23 homers with 81 ribbies, hitting .311 for San Diego.

Not bad for a trade that only cost the Padres Hector Torres, Johnny Grubb and Fred Kendall.

The following year he'd end up getting traded to the St. Louis Cardinals however, for pitcher Eric Rasmussen, a trade the Padres most assuredly would love to take back.

Hendrick would go on to play through the 1988 campaign, finishing up with 267 homers, 1111 RBIs, a .278 batting average and 1980 hits in 2048 games and 7129 at-bats.

He was an important cog in the Cardinals '80s machine that would net a World Championship in 1982, while taking home two Silver Slugger Awards and making two All-Star teams.

Apparently his nickname was “Silent George”, though I do not remember that, but perhaps I need to whip up a “nickname of the 1970’s” card for him as well!

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 FRED KENDALL

It's been a little while since I posted an OPC/Topps Image Variation card duo, so today we take a look at former catcher Fred Kendall and his two cards from 1977:

OPC version

Topps version

The fine folks at OPC scrambled to airbrush him into a Cleveland Indians cap, while the people at Topps had no time before the presses started rolling, so they went with a nice image of him still with the San Diego Padres.

After playing the first eight years of his Big League career with the Padres, Kendall was shipped to Cleveland along with two other players for George Hendrick, in December of 1976.

He'd appear in 103 games for the Tribe that year, hitting .249 over 346 plate appearances before heading off to Boston for the 1978 season, where he would only play in 20 games, hitting just below the "Mendoza Line" at .195.

He'd find himself back in San Diego for what turned out to be the last two years of his career in 1979 and 1980, playing in a combined 65 games before retiring.

Overall, his final numbers in the Majors were a .234 batting average, with 603 hits in 2576 at-bats in 877 games, with 31 homers and 244 runs batted in over 12 seasons.

But his biggest contribution to the game? He fathered a player I feel is a border-line Hall of Fame catcher, Jason Kendall, who starred on the Big League diamond between 1996 and 2010, hitting .288 with over 2000 hits and almost 200 stolen bases.

Way to go Fred!

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 GOMER HODGE

Today we'll revisit my "missing" 1972 card for Gomer Hodge, whose only taste of the "Big Time" was in 1971 with the Cleveland Indians:

Hodge only saw big league action during the 1971 season with the Tribe, playing in 80 games and collecting 90 plate appearances.

Used generally as a pinch-hitter, he also played first, second and third base for a total of eight times.

He batted .205 for the year, getting 17 hits in 83 official at-bats, with three doubles and a home run with nine runs batted in and three runs scored.

Hodge played all of his 16-year professional ball in the Cleveland organization between 1963 and 1976, playing in over 1000 minor league games before calling it a career at the age of 32.

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- CAREER-CAPPER: 1961 DON NEWCOMBE

Time today to spotlight my 1961 "career-capper" for Don Newcombe, baseball's first Cy Young Award winner, from my recent custom set "The Whole Nine: Series 2":

Newcombe finished up and excellent 12-year career with 36 games split during the 1960 season with the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, posting a record of 6-9 with a 4.48 ERA over 136.2 innings at the age of 34.

He'd put in a year in the Minors in 1961 with Spokane before playing one game overseas in Japan with Chunichi in 1962, thus ending his playing career.

The N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1949 when he posted 17 wins for the Dodgers, he followed that up with 19 wins in 1950 before the first of his three 20-win seasons the following year.

Sadly for him, he would spend the next two years in the military, losing two peak seasons to serving his country before coming back in 1954 when he would go 9-8 over 29 games.

In 1955 he'd be in the 20-win circle once again, helping the Dodgers win the World Series as he would go 20-5 and finishing seventh in the MVP race, the last year without an Award dedicated to pitchers.

And then came 1956...

For Don Newcombe, 1956 was a magical year. He was a monster on the mound, going 27-7 with a 3.06 earned run average and five shutouts and leading the Dodgers to another face-off with the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Not only did that get him the very first Cy Young Award, but it also bagged him a Most Valuable Player Award, thus making him the answer to a clever trivia question: who was the only pitcher to win a Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and M.V.P.? (He would be joined in this by Detroit Tiger pitcher Justin Verlander in 2011).

However, it would be the peak, followed by a quick decline at only 31 years of age, winning 11 games in 1957 before managing just 26 wins over the last three years of his career, which came to a close in 1960 after that split year with the Reds and Indians.

All told, the man won the aforementioned awards while posting 153 wins against just 96 losses, good for a very nice .614 winning percentage, with a 3.57 earned run average and 24 shutouts over 360 games.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOHN LOWENSTEIN

On the blog today, another image variation between OPC and Topps, this one of John Lowenstein, who found himself North of the border with the new Toronto Blue Jays franchise...or DID he?!:

OPC version

Topps creepy version

While the fine folks at OPC managed to get him into his Blue Jays attire for his 1977 card, it turns out they were a little too quick with their actions, as the infielder/outfielder ended up getting traded BACK to the Cleveland Indians after being traded traded away from them just three months earlier!

On December 6th of 1976 Lowenstein was traded to the Blue Jays along with Rick Cerone for Rico Carty.

Well wouldn't you know it, he found himself turning right back around on March 29th of 1977 straight up for Hector Torres.

It's cards like this OPC that ruin "Immaculate Grid" games for players when they remember and think he did in fact play for them.

I'll always remember Lowenstein as one of the most successful platoon players of the 1980's, when he was paired up with Gary Roenicke on the Baltimore Orioles.

For example check out their awesome combined 1982 season where Lowenstein and Roenicke outright mashed the ball in part-time rolls.

The two combined for 45 homers, 140 runs batted in, 209 hits and 127 runs scored in 715 at-bats! Granted it's a bit more playing time than a "regular" full season, but not by THAT much.

Lowenstein ended up with a very decent 16-year career playing for the Indians (1970-77), Rangers (1978) and Orioles (1979-85), generally as a part-time player.

As a matter of fact his 1974 season with Cleveland would be the only time he posted enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title throughout his career.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1973 MARCELINO LOPEZ

On the blog today, a "not so missing" 1973 card for former pitcher Marcelino Lopez, who closed out a decent 8-year Major League career in 1972, appearing in four games with the Cleveland Indians:

Originally up as a 19-year-old with the Philadelphia Phillies for four games in 1963, he was runner-up for the American League rookie of the year award two years later as a member of the California Angels when he posted a record of 14-13 over 35 games, posting a 2.93 earned run average with 122 strikeouts and eight complete games.

He'd never reach those numbers again during the rest of his career, moving on to the Baltimore Orioles in 1967, Milwaukee Brewers in 1971 and that last stop in Cleveland in 1972.

Overall, he appeared in 171 games, with 93 of those starts, posting a final record of 31-40 with a 3.62 ERA in 653 innings of work.

Along the way he also tossed three shutouts and saved two games, striking out 426 batters while walking 317.

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- CAREER-CAPPER: 1959 BOB LEMON

Today on the blog we post up my 1959 "career-capper" for Hall of Fame righty Bob Lemon, who closed out an excellent Big League career in 1958 with the Cleveland Indians:

Over the course of his 13-year career, he only actually put in 10 full seasons, yet he posted an incredible seven 20-win campaigns!

Along the way as part of the legendary Indians rotation that also included Early Wynn, Mike Garcia and a dude named Bob Feller, Lemon led the league in wins three times, complete games five times, shutouts (with 10) once, and was named to seven straight all-star teams between 1948-1954.

When he retired after the 1958 season, he finished with a 207-128 record with a 3.32 earned run average, 31 shutouts and 1277 K's over 460 games (350 of which were starts), and 2850 innings pitched.

After his playing days were over he went on to a respectable managerial career, leading the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees between 1970 and 1982.

Of course he's remembered as the skipper who took over the famous "Bronx Zoo" Yankees in 1978 and led them to an incredible drive that saw them go 48-20.

That drive eventually tying the Boston Red Sox and forcing the "Bucky &^%$% Dent Game", and a World Championship over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If not for the War, we could easily be looking at a near-300 game winner being that he didn't even start playing until he was 25.

Nevertheless, Cooperstown came calling and he found his place alongside former teammates Feller and Wynn. 

Three Hall of Fame starters on one rotation. Awesome…