"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: MICKEY LOLICH

Time to add former Detroit Tigers ace and World Series hero Mickey Lolich to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, to be released later this year in multiple series:

Lolich was the definition of a "workhorse" for the Tigers, reeling off 12 straight seasons of 200+ innings pitched, including a staggering four straight 300+ inning stretch between 1971 and 1974.

Along the way he posted two 20-win seasons, with a high of 25 in 1971 when he started an incredible 45 games, completing 29 and throwing a staggering 376 innings!
He also posted four shutouts that year as well as a league-leading 308 strikeouts, finishing second in the Cy Young Award behind Oakland pitcher Vida Blue.
After a 12-18 campaign in 1975, Lolich was traded to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub where he went 8-13 before missing the 1977 season.
In 1978 he was back in the Big Leagues, now with the San Diego Padres, where he went 2-1 over 20 appearances, posting a brilliant 1.56 ERA over 34.2 innings pitched.
After a final season of MLB ball in 1979 that saw him go 0-2 with a bloated 4.74 ERA in 27 appearances, Lolich retired, ending up with a 217-191 record along with 2832 strikeouts, at one point the Major League record for left-handed pitchers, as well as 41 shutouts and a 3.44 ERA in 586 appearances over 16-years.

1970 IN-GAME ACTION: MICKEY LOLICH

Today on the blog we go and add Detroit Tigers ace Mickey Lolich to my 1970 "In-Game Action" set, which is a two-part custom set released by yours truly, with the Second Series about to be released in about a month:

 

Lolich was the definition of a "workhorse" for the Tigers, reeling off 12 straight seasons of 200+ innings pitched, including a staggering four straight 300+ inning stretch between 1971 and 1974.

Along the way he posted two 20-win seasons, with a high of 25 in 1971 when he started an incredible 45 games, completing 29 and throwing a staggering 376 innings!
He also posted four shutouts that year as well as a league-leading 308 strikeouts, finishing second in the Cy Young Award behind Oakland pitcher Vida Blue.
After a 12-18 campaign in 1975, Lolich was traded to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub where he went 8-13 before missing the 1977 season.
In 1979 he was back in the Big Leagues, now with the San Diego Padres, where he went 2-1 over 20 appearances, posting a brilliant 1.56 ERA over 34.2 innings pitched.
After a final season of MLB ball in 1979 that saw him go 0-2 with a bloated 4.74 ERA in 27 appearances, Lolich retired, ending up with a 217-191 record along with 2832 strikeouts, at one point the Major League record for left-handed pitchers, as well as 41 shutouts and a 3.44 ERA in 586 appearances over 16-years.

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

Next up in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, where I give each league a dedicated league leader card with the top-3 finishers in each statistic as opposed to one card featuring the top in both leagues, is the 1973 A.L. strikeout leader card, with some top-notch arms:

 

First up, the arrival of Nolan Ryan, who made his first season as a California Angel a big one, striking out 329 batters in 1972, something we would all get used to for the next TWENTY years!

Ryan would go one to post an incredible six 300 strikeout campaigns, the last of which was in 1989 when he was 42 years old!

I mean, come on!

By the time the "Ryan Express" was done after a magnificent 27 year career, he'd make a joke out of the strikeout category, finishing with an astounding 5714.

The man posted fifteen 200+ strikeout seasons over his career, while going on to win 324 games, throwing seven no-hitters and 61 shutouts.

Just absurd.

Behind him in second place was a man who once held the Major League record for career strikeouts by a left-hander, Detroit Tigers ace Mickey Lolich, who whiffed 250 batters in 1972, the fifth time he reached 200 strikeouts in a season.

Lolich was coming off a 1971 season that saw him lead the league with 308 strikeouts, while also leading the league with 25 wins, good for a second place finish in the Cy Young race behind wunderkind Vida Blue of the Oakland A's.

By the time Lolich retired after the 1979 season, he finished with 2832 strikeouts, the most ever collected by a left-hander in MLB history.

Coming in third place in the A.L. with 234 strikeouts was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry of the Cleveland Indians, who took home the Cy Young Award with his 24-16 record, with a 1.92 ERA and five shutouts, while tossing an amazing 342.2 innings over 41 appearances, all but one starts.

It was the fifth time for Perry reaching the 200-mark in strikeouts, something he'd do another three times before he was done, finishing with 3534 for his career.

Three super-stud arms finishing 1 through 3 in strikeouts, making for what would have been a nice card to add to the collection had it been done differently by Topps.

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 A.L. VICTORIES

This week's "Expanded League Leader" card is one for the American League's top three winning pitchers of 1972. Three studs if there ever were any:

 

We begin with the two tied for first with 24 wins each, knuckle-baller Wilbur Wood and Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.

For Wood, it was his second of four straight 20-win seasons, as he was racking up the innings with an astounding 376.2 in 1972. Think about that for a minute!

The man STARTED 49 games for the Chicago White Sox, completing 20 of them, tossing eight shutouts along the way and striking out 193, with a final record of 24-17.

All of those numbers were good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race at the end of the year because of the next guy, Gaylord Perry.

Perry, who led the National League in wins in 1970 with 23 as a member of the San Francisco Giants, took to his new league immediately, winning 24 games for the Cleveland Indians, finishing with a record of 24-16 over 41 appearances, 40 of those starts, with a brilliant 1.92 earned run average and five shutouts.

He too racked up the innings, completing 29 of those starts and finishing with 342.2 innings of work, with 234 strikeouts.

THOSE numbers would be the ones that brought home a Cy Young Award, the first of his two over his storied career.

Next up with 22 wins is the league leader from 1971, Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich, who would have won himself a Cy Young of not for the previous two guys, as he'd finish the year with a record of 22-14 over 41 starts, completing 23 of them and tossing yet again an incredible 327.1 innings with four shutouts and 250 strikeouts.

It would get him a third place finish in the Cy Young race, this after his incredible 1971 season which saw him finish second after leading the league with 25 wins, throwing an astounding 376 innings when he completed 29 of 45 starts, striking out a leading 308 batters while throwing four shutouts.

Three workhorses who really put up astounding numbers in 1972!

1975 IN-ACTION: MICKEY LOLICH

Former Detroit Tigers ace Mickey Lolich is the latest player to be added to my on-going 1975 “In Action” sub-set, one of my favorites here on the blog for some time now:

Lolich was coming off of his sixth straight season of over 200 strikeouts, and seventh overall in his great career which began in 1963, all with Detroit.
Along the way he posted two 20-win seasons, with a high of 25 in 1971 when he started an incredible 45 games, completing 29 and throwing a staggering 376 innings!
He also posted four shutouts that year as well as a league-leading 308 strikeouts, finishing second in the Cy Young Award behind Oakland pitcher Vida Blue.
After a 12-18 campaign in 1975, Lolich was traded to the New York Mets for Rusty Staub where he went 8-13 before missing the 1977 season.
In 1979 he was back in the Big Leagues, now with the San Diego Padres, where he went 2-1 over 20 appearances, posting a brilliant 1.56 ERA over 34.2 innings pitched.
After a final season of MLB ball in 1979 that saw him go 0-2 with a bloated 4.74 ERA in 27 appearances, Lolich retired, ending up with a 217-191 record along with 2832 strikeouts, at one point the Major League record for left-handed pitchers, as well as 41 shutouts and a 3.44 ERA in 586 appearances over 16-years.

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #16: 1972 MICKEY LOLICH

Let's give Detroit Tigers workhorse Mickey Lolich an "In Action" card in the 1972 set.

Take a look:

What a MONSTER year he had in 1971 huh?!

All Lolich put in for Detroit was a 25-14 record (39 decisions!), 2.92 earned run average, 308 strikeouts, four shutouts and 29 complete games in 45 starts! Good for an eye-popping 376 innings of work! 

Just incredible!

All of those numbers got Lolich a second-place finish in Cy Young voting at the end of the year, as well as a fifth-place finish in M.V.P. Voting.

By the time he hung up his cleats in 1979, Lolich posted a 217-191 record with a 3.44 E.R.A., 41 shutouts and 2832 strikeouts, which were the most for a left-hander at that point in history.