WTHBALLS "BASEBALL ICONS" SPECIAL SET: JUAN MARICHAL

On the blog today, the "Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal gets a card in my future custom "Icons" set, to be released in special packaging with still to be decided inserts and extras:

Legendary leg kick for a legendary pitcher!

The man was born to pitch.

Once called up to the big show in 1961, he would go 6-2 over his first 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he had his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

"Dominican Dandy" indeed!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: JUAN MARICHAL

Today on the blog, we add the "Dominican Dandy", Juan Marichal to my upcoming custom "Classic Baseball" set, to see the light of day later this year in multiple series on deluxe card-stock:

Just a nice close-up shot of the Hall of Famer pitcher.

The man was born to pitch.

Once called up to the big show in 1961, he would go 6-2 over his first 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

"Dominican Dandy" indeed!

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."

 

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER: JUAN MARICHAL

Hello all!

On the blog today, my pick for the "All-1960s" National League right-handed pitcher of the decade, and I went with an easy pick, San Francisco Giants legend Juam Marichal, the "Dominican Dandy":

I don't think many of you would argue with me on this pick!

The man was born to pitch.

Once called up to the big show in 1961, he would go 6-2 over his first 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

"Dominican Dandy" indeed!

 

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1967 JUAN MARICHAL

Today on the blog, a fun 1967 "In-Action" card for the "Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal, from my Series 2 "1960s In-Action" set to be released next week:

The man was born to pitch!

Once called up to the big show in 1961, he would go 6-2 over his first 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

"Dominican Dandy" indeed!

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: THEN& NOW 1974 JUAN MARICHAL

Thought we'd revisit a blog post from almost ten years ago today, my 1974 "Then and Now" card for the great Juan Marichal, who had quite the magnificent Big League career:

Here's the original write-up from July of 2014 as it appeared.

This was the third such "Then and Now" card I created for the blog at the time:

"Following the basic idea of my previous subjects: Bob Gibson and Hank Aaron, this card features Marichal in the last Topps set he actually appeared on (1974), with a new card concept showing him at the end of his career, along with his Topps rookie card, in this case his 1961 debut.

No need getting into his career accomplishments here since it was well documented already, but the "Dominican Dandy" would eventually find himself enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, capping off a stellar career which saw him post a 243-142 record with a 2.89 earned run average, 2303 strikeouts and 52 shutouts, 10 of which came in 1965 alone.

Next up on this thread…well let's keep that a secret for now.

You'll just have to keep an eye out for it…"

971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": JUAN MARICHAL

Time to add another player to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" set, this time Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants, celebrating his explosive MLB debut when he tossed a one-hitter to announce his arrival:

All the man did in his Big League debut was one-hit the Philadelphia Phillies, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning before a two-out single by Clay Dalrymple broke it up.

He would end up with a one-hit shutout, and give everyone a glimpse at what we were all in store for over the next 16 seasons.

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!

He would go on to collect 243 wins, 2303 strikeouts, 52 shutouts and a sparkling 2.89 earned run average over 16-seasons, getting named to nine all-star teams. Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.

1970 "20-WIN CIRCLE": JUAN MARICHAL

Today we add the "Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal to my 1970 "20-Win Circle" set, celebrating the stable of 20-game winners in 1969:

For Marichal, it was the sixth and final time he'd reach the mark over his amazing career, winning 21 games for the San Francisco Giants while leading the N.L. with a 2.10 earned run average and eight shutouts.

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT: "LOST" 1963 FLEER SECOND SERIES: JUAN MARICHAL

On the blog today, adding the "Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal to my 1963 Fleer "Lost Second Series" thread:

 

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

1970 IN-GAME ACTION: JUAN MARICHAL

On the blog today, we go and add the "Dominican Dandy", Juan Marichal to my on-going 1970 "In Game Action" sub-set:

 

Marichal was coming off his sixth and final 20-win season in 1969, while leading the National League with his brilliant 2.10 earned run average and eight shutouts.

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- JUAN MARICHAL

Time to add to my on-going “Minor League Days” thread, celebrating the stars of 1971 by showing them back when they were still in the Minors.
Today we add the great Juan Marichal to the set:

Marichal was a 22-year-old about to embark on a Hall of Fame career in 1960, playing for the Tacoma Giants before making his Major League debut later in the season.
During his time with the team he posted a record of 11-5 with a 3.11 earned run average, completing 12 of his 18 starts while tossing three shutouts.
Once called up to the big show he would go 6-2 over 11 starts, with a 2.66 ERA and six complete games, including a shutout in his 1st MLB start.
As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.
In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.
In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.
In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.
But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.
What a BEAST on the mound!
Easily would have been the first 3-time Cy Young winner if not for Koufax and Gibson.
Ah well, I’m sure his spot in Cooperstown makes it a bit easier to take.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK- 1963 SPAHN AND MARICHAL HAVE A DUEL FOR THE AGES

Today’s “Turn Back the Clock” profile is of “The Game”, the CLASSIC pitching duel between Hall of Fame pitchers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal, as the Milwaukee Braves faced the San Francisco Giants on July 2nd 1963 at San Fran:

To start off, the game went 16-innings, with the Giants eventually winning on a Willie Mays home run.
The home run came off of Warren Spahn, and Juan Marichal got the win.
Yep, BOTH pitchers went the distance! Spahn threw 201 pitches while his counterpart threw 227!
“Masterful” doesn’t even come close to describing one of the all-time best pitching duels the game ever saw!
Spahn was 42-years old against a 25-year old Marichal, kind of “the old giving way to the new” as Spahn was in the middle of his last 20-win season, the 13th of his career, while Marichal funny enough was on his way to the first of  his eventual six 20-win campaigns.
Imagine the story here: a Hall of Fame pitcher losing to a Hall of Fame pitcher, thanks to a Hall of Fame hitter winning it with a home run in the 16th!
Just amazing!
Go and check out the box score of the game, it’ll blow your mind.
Some of the other players on these two teams: Eddie Mathews, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron…Not too shabby.
The definition of the word “epic”.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970S: "THE DOMINICAN DANDY" JUAN MARICHAL

Time to go and give former San Francisco Giants great Juan Marichal, aka “The Dominican Dandy” a nickname card in my on-going series of great “Nicknames of the 1970’s”:

I used the 1970 template since Marichal was coming off of yet another 20-win season in 1969, giving him six such campaigns in seven years!
He would go on to collect 243 wins, 2303 strikeouts, 52 shutouts and a sparkling 2.89 earned run average over 16-seasons, getting named to nine all-star teams.
If it wasn’t for a couple of guys named Koufax and Gibson, we’d be looking at the first 3-time Cy Young winner here.
Nevertheless he would find his way into Cooperstown’s doors in 1983, and rightfully so as one of the greats of the Major League mound.

THEN AND NOW #3: JUAN MARICHAL 1974

Here's the third installment in a new fun topic on this blog: "Then and Now" for pitching great Juan Marichal.

Take a look:

Following the basic idea of my previous subjects: Bob Gibson and Hank Aaron, this card features Marichal in the last Topps set he actually appeared on (1974), with a new card concept showing him at the end of his career, along with his Topps rookie card, in this case his 1961 debut.

No need getting into his career accomplishments here since it was well documented already, but the "Dominican Dandy" would eventually find himself enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, capping off a stellar career which saw him post a 243-142 record with a 2.89 earned run average, 2303 strikeouts and 52 shut outs, 10 of which came in 1965 alone.

Next up on this thread…well let's keep that a secret for now.

You'll just have to keep an eye out for it…

"1960'S ALL-DECADE TEAM" SUB-SET FOR THE 1970 TOPPS SET: RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS

Today we come to the final position on my "1960's All-Decade Team" sub-set for the 1970 Topps set: right-handed pitchers.

While the National League pick was an easy one, Juan Marichal, the American League choice was tough, but I eventually went with Dean Chance.

Take a look at my card design:

As much as Marichal is celebrated as an all-time pitching legend, you still have to feel for the guy when you consider the timing of all his banner years in the big leagues.

In 1963 he has his breakout year, going 25-8 with a 2.41 E.R.A., but takes a back seat to another guy who has a breakout year, Sandy Koufax.

In 1966 he wins 25 games again, but again takes a backseat to a now dominating Koufax, who wins 27 along with a bunch of other eye-popping numbers.

In 1968 he sets a career high of 26 wins to go along with a 2.43 earned run average, but wait, a guy named Bob Gibson has a year for the ages, winning both the Cy Young Award and the M.V.P.

But when you look at the decade as a whole, there wasn't a better pitcher in the game from 1960-1969, as Marichal went on to win 191 games, winning 25 or more wins three times, post seven sub-3.00 E.R.A. seasons,  top 200+ strikeouts six times , and get selected as an all-star every year between 1962-1969.

A lefty-righty combo of Koufax and Marichal would make any baseball fan drool to no end.

Now over in the American League it got a bit trickier, as there wasn't any one dominating hurler from the right side who made a clear cut pick here.

I went with Dean Chance based on his two 20-win seasons, his sick 1964 Cy Young winning year, 11 shutouts in 1964, and five sub-3.00 E.R.A. campaigns by the time the '60's were in everyone's rear-view mirrors.

In 1962, his first full-year in the Majors, he finished third for Rookie of the Year, going 14-10 with a 2.96 E.R.A.

Throughout the rest of the decade it was more of the same, as he posted solid numbers year in and year out.

But it was his 1964 season that was far and away his best year in the Majors, as he finished with a 20-9 record with a sparkling 1.65 earned run average, 11 shutouts and 207 strikeouts, leading to a Cy Young win and a fifth-place finish in M.V.P. voting for the Los Angeles Angels.

He'd post another 20-win season in 1967, now as a member of the Minnesota Twins, going 20-14 with a 2.73 E.R.A., five shutouts and 220 strikeouts, and followed up in 1968 with a career high of 234 K's along with a 2.53 E.R.A., six shutouts and a mediocre 16-16 record.

Sadly for Chance this would be his last full season in the Majors, even though he was still only 27 years old.

1969 would see Chance make only 15 starts, going 5-4 with a 2.95 E.R.A. and 50 K's in only 88.1 innings before scraping together two more years playing for the Indians, Mets and Tigers.

He would be out of baseball for good by 1972, only 30 years old, but his solid seven years between 1962-1968 still makes him my pick as the righty pitcher on my A.L. All-Decade team for my 1970 sub-set.

Hope you enjoyed this thread while it lasted. 

It was fun designing the cards and getting a chance to have some players that would not have been on my blog to begin with since they didn't play into the '70's.

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 I: 1970 NATIONAL LEAGUE E.R.A.

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.

Two legends at the tail end of their career and one starting out.

JUAN MARICHAL: FILLING IN THE FINAL PIECES

I never realized how Topps missed out on Juan Marichal, not only with a card in 1976 capping off his career, but also how they missed out on a card for him in 1975 when really, there should have been one issued anyway.
After playing out the 1974 season with the Red Sox, appearing in 11 games and finishing with a 5-1 record, Marichal was released in late October, but wasn't officially retired, so it would have been cool to have a card for him in '75. No reason not to.
So I went ahead and designed a 1975 card for him as a Boston player, being that in reality, Topps would never have had a card issued as a Dodger since he didn't sign with them until the end of March.
His stint in L.A. didn't last very long, a total of 2 games and six innings for an 0-1 record. And with that line capped off a Hall of Fame career, sporting a record of 243-142, 2.89 E.R.A. and 2303 K's.
Throw in three seasons of 25+ wins (each time overshadowed by a monster season by either Koufax or Gibson), nine All Star games, and a no-hitter on June 15th, 1963, and Marichal was arguably the best pitcher of the 1960's when considering the FULL decade: six 20+ win seasons, eight sub-3.00 E.R.A.'s, and winning the most games during the 1960's for any Major league pitcher.
After leaving the game in 1975, a 1976 card for him in a Dodger uniform would have been nice, and somewhat ironic considering that the one true blemish on his career would be the "Johnny Roseboro bat incident" in 1965. Google it if you're not familiar. No need to delve into that fiasco here.
Anyway, I've also gone and designed a 1976 Marichal Dodger card, capping off his amazing career which lead to a Hall induction in 1983.

Missing in the 1975 set.

Capping off his legendary career.

"GIMME A DO-OVER"- PART IX: 1973 #480 JUAN MARICHAL

Ugh.

Ok, I know I'm getting a bit repetitive with the 1973 set, but come on! Just look at this image.

This is Juan Marichal, one of the greatest pitchers of the a generation with one of the most photographic pitching wind-ups in history, and THIS is what they used?!

First off you have the batter dominating the foreground of the image, and to top it off his bat partially obscures Marichal's face. And let's not even get into the legs that are coming out of nowhere under the batter.

Bad bad bad.

As a kid I was mesmerized by the photos of Marichal winding up for a pitch. I used to wonder why I never saw modern day pitchers winding up like him or Warren Spahn. Classic baseball right there.

Anyway, I went ahead a re-did this card, using an image worthy of the Marichal legend, high-kick and all.

Topps issued card.

My re-designed version.