MISSING IN ACTION: 1985 OLYMPIC B.J. SURHOFF

Super fun card to add to the WTHBALLS checklist, a "missing" 1985 Olympic sub-set card for B.J. Surhoff, who was also the 1985 #1 overall draft pick:

The University of North Carolina star went #1 overall in 1985, picked by the Milwaukee Brewers after a stellar collegiate career, and it was a great pick!

All Surhoff went on to do in the Major Leagues was put in 19 years under the Big League sun, hitting .282 over 2313 games and 8258 at-bats, collecting 2326 hits.

Hewould be a consistent threat at the plate, hitting 188 homers along with 440 doubles, 42 triples and 1153 runs batted in, scoring 1062 runs himself.

Beginning his career as a catcher, he would become incredibly versatile, playing both the infield and outfield later on, putting in significant time at five different positions.

Would have been great to have had a Surhoff card in that landmark 1985 Olympic sub-set!

 

REVISIT: 1978 MISSING IN ACTION STEVE HARGAN

Time to revisit another post from 10 years ago, this time my "missing" 1978 card for former pitcher Steve Hargan who put together a decent 12-year career between 1965 and 1977:

Hargan played for no less than three teams during the 1977 season: Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves, appearing in 28 games and pitching 78.1 innings with a 2-6 record and a 6.55 earned run average.
The first eight years of his career were with the Cleveland Indians, where he put in some solid seasons, posting three sub-3.00 ERA campaigns while even leading the American League in shutouts with six in 1967, his only all-star nod.
Overall Hargan ended up with a 87 and 107 career record with a 3.92 ERA and 891 strikeouts accumulated over 354 appearances, 215 of which were starts, with 17 shutouts and 56 complete games.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1963 FLEER LOU BROCK

Up on the blog today, we have another "missing" 1963 Fleer card from my recent "extension third series" custom set, that of the great Lou Brock:

About as quiet and reserved a Hall of Famer as they come, Brock put together quite the Major League career.

Brock really was an under-appreciated player in my book, having to get what little spotlight he could playing the outfield in the National League when you had guys like Mays, Aaron and Clemente there as well.
Nevertheless, the man made six All-Star squads, finished second in the MVP race for the National League in 1974, and would go on to a Hall of Fame induction thanks to 3000+ hits, an MLB record 938 stolen bases, and 1610 runs scored.
Did you realize that between 1964 and 1974 the LEAST amount of hits he collected in any one season was 182!?
As a matter of fact in those eleven seasons he collected over 190 hits eight times, while scoring less than 90 only once.
Just an amazing 19-year career!

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1963 FLEER RED SCHOENDIENST

Up on the blog today, from my recent 1963 "Fleer Series Extension #2" custom set, a "missing" card for Hall of Fame baseball lifer Red Schoendienst:

What really needs to be said about the man!?
Schoendienst first put together a 19-year Hall of Fame career between 1945 and 1963, winning a championship with the Cards as well as the Milwaukee Braves in 1957, before coaching and then managing St. Louis from 1965 to 1976, winning yet another championship in 1967, with a spot managing gig in 1980 and then 1990 all while coaching the team in between, including the 1982 season, giving him a FIFTH championship in his illustrious career.
He put in 2216 games as a player, then went on to manage 1999 games, winning 1041 of them for a .522 winning percentage, while coaching at LEAST another couple thousand games on top of that!
A baseball treasure!
Rest in Peace Red: 1923-2018

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 RICK JOSEPH

Today on the blog, we revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1971 "missing" card for former infielder/outfielder Rick Joseph of the Philadelphia Phillies, who already wrapped up a five-year Big League career in 1970:

Joseph finished-off his career batting .227 with 27 hits over 119 at-bats in 71 games in the City of Brotherly Love, giving him a .243 career average with 154 hits in 633 at-bats, with 13 homers and 65 runs batted in along with 69 runs scored.
All but four of his pro seasons had him playing for the Phillies, with his rookie year of 1964 seeing him suit up for the Kansas City Athletics.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 HAWK TAYLOR

On the blog today, we revisit a 10-year-old post featuring a "missing" 1971 card for Hawk Taylor of the Kansas City Royals:

Taylor put in an 11-year career between 1957 and 1970, even though the most action he ever saw in a season was back in 1964 as a member of the New York Mets when he appeared in 92 games.
Other than that he mainly got to play in about a few dozen games every year of his career, playing for the Milwaukee Braves (1957-1963), Mets (1964-1967), California Angels (1967) and Kansas City Royals (1969-1970).
For the 1970 season Taylor appeared in 57 games, batting .164 with nine hits over 55 official at-bats while splitting time behind the plate and first base.
For his career, Hawk batted .218, with 158 hits over 724 at-bats spread out over 394 games, just about 38 games a year.

 

1963 FLEER EXTENSION MISSING IN ACTION: FELIPE ALOU

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1963 Fleer card for baseball lifer Felipe Alou, which also happens to be part of my latest WTHBALLS custom set:

During his career he'd top the National League in hits twice, runs once and total bases once.

His finest year would have to be 1966, when he led the N.L. in runs with 122, hits with 218, at-bats with 666, total bases with 355, while hitting 31 home runs, driving in 74 and batting a cool .327.

He'd end up fifth in MVP voting, and was named to his third all-star team.

After his playing days were over he'd coach and eventually manage in the Major Leagues, leading both the Expos and Giants to first place finishes (1994 and 2003 respectively) during his 14 years as a skipper.

Of course it's also worth mentioning that Alou comes from an incredible baseball family, as brothers Jesus and Matty, son Moises, cousin Jose Sosa and nephew Mel Rojas all got to play in the Big Leagues as well.

As a matter of fact, Felipe got to play with both his brothers, AND even go on to manage his son and nephew later on.

Pretty cool…

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1957 BILL WHITE

Really fun card to create for today's blog post: a "missing" 1957 card for All-Star first baseman and true baseball "lifer" Bill White:

Sorry for the watermark!

For the life of me I can't figure out why White was left out of the 1957 set considering he had a "Rookie of the Year"-worthy 1956 campaign with the New York Giants.

In 138 games that season, White hit .256 with 22 homers and 56 runs batted in, with 63 runs scored.

He would put in military time for the entire 1957 season and part of the 1958 campaign, but I'm still surprised Topps didn't include him in their 1957 set.

Growing up with watching the Yankees on T.V., I was very familiar with White, being that he was a longtime announcer on channel 11 here in the NYC area for games along with Phil Rizzuto.

As a matter of fact White would end up being a sort of fall-guy for all of Rizzuto's hilarious antics, which made for some really funny moments during the game.

White closed out a brilliant, if not shortened 13-year career in 1969, returning to the Cardinals, for whom he played between 1959 and 1965 and put together his best years as a big-league player.

In '69, he appeared in 49 games, hitting .211 with 12 hits over 57 official at-bats.

But when you take a good look at what he did over the eleven seasons that he played full-time, you see an excellent, consistent player who also played his position superbly.

At the plate White put together four 100-RBI seasons, reached 200 hits once (with two other 190+ hit years thrown in), clubbed 20+ homers seven times, topped .300 four times and scored 100+ runs once.

Defensively, all White did was take home seven consecutive Gold Glove Awards between 1960 to 1966, leading his league in fielding twice along the way as well.

Admittedly I didn't know any of this as a young kid watching Yankee games at first.

Wasn't until I was bestowed with my first MacMillan Encyclopedia around 1979 that I was able to soak it all in.

I just remember him as a somewhat reserved guy who'd crack a joke here and there while Rizzuto was running wild at the mouth with all of his anecdotes.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1975 GEORGE THEODORE

Time for another "revisit" for many of you that weren't following the blog 10 years ago.

This time it's my "missing" 1975 card for former New York Mets first baseman/outfielder Geprge Theodore:

Theodore did get a card in the 1974 set after his rookie year of ‘73, but after appearing in 60 games during the 1975 season, it didn’t warrant a card the following year in Topps’ eyes, and considering he never played another Major League game again, they made the right choice.
For the ‘74 season, Theodore hit .158 with 12 hits over 76 at-bats, giving him a combined .219 career batting average based on 42 hits in 192 at-bats over 105 games.

 

EVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 DIEGO SEGUI

Good day all!

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post, this time my "missing" 1976 card for pitcher Diego Segui:

Segui appeared in 33 games for Boston in their American League championship season, posting a 2-5 record with a 4.82 earned run average over 71 innings of work.
He would miss the 1976 season before joining the Seattle Mariners team for their inaugural 1977 year, a forgettable one for Segui as he went 0-7 with a bloated 5.69 ERA in his swan-song.
For his 15-year career he would go 92-111 with a 3.81 ERA over 639 games, 171 of them starts, leading the A.L. in ERA in 1970 with a 2.56 mark when he split the year between starting and relieving for the Oakland A’s.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 BRENT ALYEA

Today on the blog I thought we'd revisit another 10+ year old post many may have forgotten about, this one my 1973 "missing in action" card for outfielder Brent Alyea of the Oakland A's:

Alyea played in 33 games during the 1972 season, starting off with 10 for the A’s before being traded to St. Louis where he’d suit up for 13 games, before being returned of all things BACK to the A’s where he would play the final 10 games of his career.
Alyea combined for a .180 average in 1972, with nine hits over 50 at-bats with a single home run while playing the outfield.
For his career, he ended up with a .247 batting average with 214 hits over 866 at-bats, along with 38 homers and 148 runs batted in. Not bad production for the limited play when you do the math.
His finest season was in 1970 while with the Minnesota Twins, when he hit .291 with 16 homers and 61 RBI’s in just 94 games and 258 at-bats.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 MICK KELLEHER

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year old post, this time my 1975 "Missing in Action" card for Mick Kelleher:

It’s a stretch being that Kelleher appeared in 19 games for the Astros during the 1974 season.
But it can be argued that he easily could have appeared on a card, at the very least a multi-player rookie card, in any given year between 1974 and 1975.
As it was he didn’t appear in a Topps set until 1977 after a relatively full season with the Chicago Cubs the previous year.
Nevertheless, Kelleher hit .158 during the 1974 season, collecting nine hits over 57 at-bats while playing shortstop.
He would go on to play 11-years in his career, mainly with the Cubs where he’d see the bulk of his 622 lifetime games.
In those, he collected 230 hits in 1081 at-bats, good for a .213 average.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1981 DAVE HEAVERLO

Good day all!

On the blog today, a player new to the WTHBALLS blog, pitcher Dave Heaverlo and a "missing" 1981 card for the young man:

I don't know why Topps would have skipped him in their 1981 set since he had a rather productive 1980 season for the Seattle Mariners.

Donruss and Fleer included him in their 1981 sets, but Topps saw different for some reason.

In 1980, pitching his only season for the Seattle Mariners, Heaverlo went 6-3 over 60 games, with a 3.89 earned run average spread across 78.2 innings of work.

Definitely a decent season for a middle-reliever, while also picking up four saves and striking out 42 batters along the way.

Heaverlo would pitch one more year in the Big Leagues, closing out a seven-year run with a return to the Oakland A's in 1981 when he appeared in only six games, going 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings.

Originally up with the San Francisco Giants in 1975, he ended up with a record of 26-26 over 356 games between 1975 and 1981, pitching to a respectable 3.41 ERA over 537.2 innings, saving 26 games while striking out 288 batters, with every single appearance out of the bullpen.

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1965 DON MOSSI

As promised recently on Twitter, today on the blog we have a "missing" 1965 card for pitcher Don Mossi, who suited up for the Chicago White Sox in 1964, having a decent year, and for some reason getting ignored by Topps the following year:

Mossi appeared in 34 games for the White Sox, all in relief, going 3-1 with a nice 2.93 ERA over 40 innings, with seven saves and 36 strikeouts.

The following season turned out to be his last as a Big Leaguer, suiting up for the Kansas City Athletics, going 5-8 over 51 games at the age of 36, pitching to a 3.74 ERA in 55.1 innings, once again posting seven saves.

Mossi had some really good years in the Majors over his 12 seasons under the Sun, with his two finest arguably 1959 and 1961 with the Detroit Tigers when he posted records of 17-9 and 15-7 respectively with ERAs of 3.36 and 2.96 as a starter.

By the time he did retire, he finished with a record of 101-80 over 460 appearances, with a 3.43 ERA and 50 saves between 1954 and 1965.

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.

REVISITING AN OLD POST: MISSING 1977 TOM SHOPAY

On the blog today, we revisit a post from 10 years ago, my "missing" 1977 card for former outfielder Tom Shopay, who had a FEW missing cards through his career:

Shopay appeared in only 14 games for the O’s, hitting an even .200 with four hits over 20 at-bats while playing the outfield aside from one game at catcher.
He’s a bit of a novelty for me since he really could have had cards in multiple Topps sets between 1970-1978 but only got two, in the 1970 and 1972 editions.
I already created 1976 and 1978 versions on this blog, and will most likely add a 1973 version as well, so keep an eye out for it!
As for Shopay’s career, he hit .201 over 7-partial seasons with 62 hits over 253 games and 309 at-bats playing for the New York Yankees and Orioles between 1967 and 1977, missing any Major League playing time in the 1968, 1970, 1973 and 1974 seasons.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1975 KURT BEVACQUA

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we revisit a ten-year-old post, that of a "missing" 1975 card for Kurt Bevacqua, who split the 1974 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals:

Bevacqua played in 57 games in 1974, hitting .184 with 23 hits over 125 at-bats while DH-ing and playing both the infield and outfield.
He would end up playing 15 seasons as a Major League player, the highlight for him being his heroics in the 1984 World Series as a member of the San Diego Padres, giving them their only win against the eventual World Champion Detroit Tigers.
All told he’d hit .236 over his career, with 499 hits in 2117 official at-bats while playing every position but pitcher and catcher.
And let’s not forget he won that Bubble-Gum blowing contest, leading to one of the quirkier cards in the Topps stable in the 1970’s...

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 BREWERS MANAGER-ALEX GRAMMAS

On the blog today, finally "fixing" a missing manager card in the fabulous 1978 sub-set, that of Milwaukee Brewers Alex Grammas, who skippered the team in 1977:

Grammas put in two seasons with Milwaukee, leading them to almost identical records in 1976 and 1977, 66-95 (1976) and 67-95 (1977).

It was the only two years at the helm of the team, and besides a temporary stint as Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969 (season-ending 5 games as a fill-in for Danny Murtaugh), his only taste as a Big League manager.

The Brewers decided to go with George Bamberger in 1978, for which I did produce a card for way back in 2013 here on the blog, but felt that Grammas really deserved one here.

I've always been a huge fan of the 1978 Topps managers sub-set, and wished they would have used that template for something else, with star players instead.

Ah well...

MISSING IN ACTION- 1988 STEVE CARLTON

Up on the blog today, we have my "missing" 1988 card for Steve Carlton, who was hanging on for a few more seasons before calling it an incredible career:

"Lefty" appeared in 32 games during the 1987 season, splitting time between the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins, going 6-14 with a bloated 5.74 ERA over 152.1 innings of work, with a save and 91 strikeouts.

He made his major League debut during the 1965 season, appearing in 15 games, with two of those starts, not factoring in a decision while pitching to a 2.52 earned run average as a 20-year-old.

In 1966 it would be more of the same, as he'd appear in only nine games, going 3-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 52 innings of work, striking out 25 while walking 18, also tossing the first shutout of his young Big League tenure.

1967 would see him begin his next level of play, as he'd go 14-9 with a 2.98 ERA over 30 appearances and 193 innings, with two shutouts and 168 strikeouts, helping the St. Louis Cardinals win it all, their second championship in three years.

For Carlton, all he did the rest of the way was take his game to an elite, astronomical level, as we see him top 300 wins, 4000 strikeouts, 50 shutouts and 700 starts in his 24 year career!

The first guy to take home four Cy Young Awards, he led his league in wins four times, strikeouts five times, E.R.A. once and was named to ten all-star teams.

Needless to say, by the time he was eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in on his first try, getting named to 436 of 456 ballots.

Sure we already had "Lefty" Grove, and "Lefty" Gomez, but Carlton was more than worthy of the same nickname for all of his accomplishments.

One of the all-time greats, I'm so happy I got to see him pitch live during the 1980s!

 

1963 FLEER EXTENSION MISSING IN ACTION: HOYT WILHELM

On the blog today we add the great Hoyt Wilhelm to my "extended" 1963 Fleer set, expanding the great set beyond its 66-card original output due to Topps claiming sole rights to creating baseball cards at the time:

I've always been fascinated by Wilhelm's career.
Who knows what he could have done if he remained a starter. Who knows what his career numbers would have been if he began his career in his early 20's instead of at the ripe "old" age of 29!
Think about this for a second: the man started his career at 29 and he STILL pitched in 21 seasons. He still ended up setting what was then the all-time record for appearances by a pitcher with 1070.
Throw in seven seasons of sub-2.00 E.R.A.'s, 227 saves, and on top of all of that, TWO E.R.A. crowns in the ONLY two years he even threw enough innings to qualify, and you definitely have a Hall of Fame career when it's all said and done.
Take a look at Wilhelm's rookie season. In 1952 he shows up in New York, pitching for the Giants, and all he does is go 15-3 in 159.1 innings, with a league-leading 2.43 E.R.A. and 11 saves. And this was ALL in relief! He appeared in 71 games without a single start. Just awesome.
He also managed to hit a home run in his first Major League at bat on April 23, 1952, never to hit another one in his career. Go figure.
It would then be another seven years before he would pitch more than 154 innings, this time topping out with a career high 226 with the Baltimore Orioles in 1959 mainly as a starter.
His other numbers that year were good enough to have him selected as an All-Star: 15-11, league-leading 2.19 E.R.A., and 13 complete games with three shut outs.
Whether you had him starting or coming in as a reliever, he was up for the challenge.
Wilhelm finally called it a career after the 1972 season where he appeared in only 16 games for the L.A. Dodgers.
Over the course of his last five seasons (all post-45 years of age), he bounced around a bit and pitched for five teams: White Sox, Angels, Braves, Dodgers and Cubs, going 17-18 with 43 saves.
Nevertheless, Wilhelm was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, generally considered the first relief pitcher to have this honor bestowed upon him.