REVISITING MY 1973 "NICKNAME" CARD FOR JIMMY WYNN

On the blog today, we go back 10 years or so and revisit my 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for the "Toy Cannon", Jimmy Wynn:

I used a 1973 template to play around with the cannon icon in the lower right-hand corner, while also giving him a card while he was still in a Houston uniform before he went on to play for the Dodgers and get named to two consecutive all-star starts in 1974 and 1975.

Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year career.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

 

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.

 

REVISITING "THE MAD HUNGARIAN": 1976 NICKNAME CARD FOR AL HRABOSKY

Let us revisit my 1976 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for Al Hrabosky, aka "The Mad Hungarian", which was originally posted here in October of 2014:

His antics were entertaining to say the least (though not to opposing players), and I remember him towards the end of his career in the early 1980's, along with guys like Brad Leslie, "Goose" Gossage, etc that made the game a riot!

I used a 1976 template since his best year in the Majors was 1975, leading the league in saves and winning percentage with 22 and .813 respectively.

That performance got him a third-place finish in Cy Young voting, as well as a fifth place finish in Most Valuable Player voting.

Though he never quite found the success of that year again, he did play another seven years in the Big Leagues, ending up with the Atlanta Braves in 1982 before hanging them up.

He finished with a nice 64-35 career record, along with a 3.10 earned run average and 97 saves over 545 games, one of which was a start way back when he came up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1970.

REVISIT: 1975 "NICKNAMES OF THE 1970s" SPARKY ANDERSON

Thought it'd be fun to revisit my 1975 "nickname" card for Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, the skipper for the juggernaut "Big Red Machine" Reds of the 1970's:

I used a 1975 template and a fantastic photo of Anderson with his Hall of Fame catcher, Johnny Bench after (what else?), waiting for a relief pitcher!

It would have been too easy to use some portrait shot of him, but this photo just seemed "right", even WITH his back to the camera.

I used the 1975 template since he was at the height of his league domination with the Reds and his juggernaut lineup: Bench, Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey, George Foster et al. 

But the nickname, of course, comes from the fact that Sparky was really one of the first managers to rely heavily on his bullpen.

When you look at the "Big Red Machine" teams of the mid-70's you find solid Major League starters like Don Gullet, Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, etc.

But there was never a true "ace", which was actually rather abundant in the Majors during the decade.

However, the Reds DID have solid guys out of the pen like Tom Hall, Rawly Eastwick, Pedro Borbon, Clay Carroll and Will McEnaney.

These were guys that could come in at any time during the game and pitch as long as Sparky needed them to.

So while so many other teams during the decade had guys completing 20 or more of their starts every season, the Reds didn't even have one of their starters complete 10 or more in either of their World Champion years.

But how can you argue with success, right?

And Anderson found a lot of success in his 26-year managing career!

Three world titles (the third coming in 1984 with the Tigers), seven first place finishes, two more pennants (1970 and 1972), and 2194 career victories.

He also won two Manager of the Year Awards, in 1984 and 1987 (the award was instituted in 1983, or he almost assuredly would have won a couple with Cincinnati), and guided five All-Star teams (four in the N.L., one in the A.L.).

Just a classic manager who managed some classic teams!

It's amazing to think that when he took over the Reds in 1970, he was only 36 years of age! It's easy to remember him like the grandfatherly figure he was the last part of his career.

Sparky Anderson, "Captain Hook", a Hall of Famer inducted into Cooperstown in 2000 by the Veterans Committee.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR OLD POST: 1975 NICKNAME BILL LEE CARD

Thought it'd be fun today to look back to a 10-year old post from the blog, one of my first "nicknames of the 1970s" cards created by yours truly, that a 1975 "Spaceman" Bill Lee specimen:

Fun card and series to start on for the blog!

Lee was "something else". A perfect product of the times a'la Bill Walton from the NBA.

He brought a lot of that "hippie"/counterculture attitude to the game, which made him extremely popular with fans, but NOT with the people running the game.

As a pitcher, Lee was a solid starter for the BoSox during the mid-70's, winning 17 games a season three years in a row from 1973-75.

But his career would be someone derailed because of the very personality that made him popular.

His clashes with managers and management for both the Rex Sox and the other team he played for, the Montreal Expos, would make him expendable, eventually getting dumped by Montreal in 1982 because of a one-game walk-out he staged over the team releasing Rodney Scott.

He'd never play in another Major League game again.

His post-baseball days have been incredibly productive, as Lee has authored books, played semi-professionally, barnstormed, and even released his own wine, "Spaceman Red"!

He's even STILL active PLAYING ball at the ripe old age of 67!

The man is the definition of "character"!

If you're into professional athletes with a lot to say, do yourself a favor and read any of his books! Hilarious and insightful on pro-sports from a free-spirit perspective.

For his Major League career, Lee finished his 14-year run with a 119-90 record, with a 3.62 earned run average over 416 games, 225 of which were starts.

 

REVISITING A 10-YEAR OLD POST: NICKNAMES OF THE 1970S: 1971 "MUDCAT" GRANT

Today on the blog, some fun revisiting a 10-year-old blog post, my 1971 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for Jim "Mudcat" Grant, sporting the absolutely fantastic mutton chops that were making their way back in fashion, and giving us some glorious images of players breaking away from the humdrum "clean-cut" image we became accustomed to over the decades:

Just a great "1970s vibe" of an image if there ever was one!

Bad-assery by one of the early members of the "Black Aces", a group named by Grant himself celebrating the African-American pitchers who reached 20-wins in a season during their Major League career.

Here's the original write-up for the post:

"Mudcat" was coming to the end of his career by 1971, pitching for the Pirates before moving on to the Oakland A's for the last 15 games of a 14-year career.

Easily his best season was 1965 for the pennant winning Minnesota Twins, going 21-7 with a 3.30 earned run average, 142 K's and a league leading six shutouts.

Seems the way he got his now famous nickname was as follows:

"Beginning in 1958, he pitched for Cleveland through part of 1964, with a 15-9 year in 1961. He was the roommate of his boyhood idol Larry Doby when he first came to Cleveland, and Doby dubbed him "Mudcat", saying that he was "ugly as a Mississippi mudcat". The nickname stuck."

Quite an anecdote!

All in all, Grant retired with a career record of 145-119, with a 3.63 E.R.A., 18 shutouts, 53 saves and 1267 strikeouts over 571 appearances, 293 of which were starts.

And dig those crazy side-burns!!!

 

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "CHIEF" JACK AKER

On the blog today, a 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970's" card former reliever Jack Aker, who at one point held the record with 32 saves in a season in 1966 while with the Kansas City Athletics:

Since his nickname was rooted in his ancestry, I used the symbol of the Anishinaabe people, of which Aker's descendants are from, more specifically the Potawatomi tribe.

"Anishinaabe" means "Original people", and is a group of tribes that also includes the Algonquin, Ojibway, Ottawa, Mississauga, Nipissing, Saulteaux and Oji-Cree tribes.

As for Aker's playing career, over his entire 11 year career he never started a single game, appearing in a total of 495 games in relief, posting a (then) very respectable 124 saves, including 32 in 1966 alone when he had his best season in the big leagues for the Kansas City Athletics, going 8-4 with a 1.99 ERA to go along with those league-leading saves.

Interestingly, Aker picked up the save in the Seattle Pilots very first game and win in franchise history, before getting traded to the New York Yankees later in the year.

Between 1964 and 1974 he'd suit up for the Athletics, Pilots, Yankees, Cubs, Braves and Mets, finishing with a 47-45 record with a nice 3.28 ERA and 404 strikeouts over 746 innings of work in 495 appearances.

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM MARCH, 2018: 1973 NICKNAMES AL OLIVER

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit a post from five years ago, my 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for Al "Scoop" Oliver:

Here's the original write-up from that post:

"Oliver was the model of all-star consistency through the decade, from his rookie year of 1969 when he was robbed of the Rookie of the Year Award (losing to the Dodgers’ Ted Sizemore), straight through to his being colluded against in the mid-80’s with many others, prematurely ending his MLB career.
All he did was hit between .280 and .300 every season, racking up hits, doubles, runs batted in, while other players got the accolades: Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter.
Of course when you get to play alongside these guys, it’s understandable how a man who put up the numbers year after year like Oliver did could go under-appreciated like he did.
But come on! Look at his career!
The seven-time All-Star finished his Big League tenure with 2743 hits, 529 doubles, 219 homers, 1326 RBIs, a .303 batting average, with ONLY 756 strikeouts over 9049 at-bats.
In 1982 he had his best season, leading the National League in batting, doubles, total bases and RBIs while also hitting 22 homers and scoring 90 runs, finishing third in MVP voting.
In 1980, thanks to guys like George Brett, Rickey Henderson and Reggie Jackson in the American League, Oliver’s season went almost unnoticed as he collected career-highs with 209 hits, 96 runs scored, 117 RBI’s and 43 doubles while hitting .319.
I always felt he, Cecil Cooper and Miguel Dilone had great years at the wrong time (if there is such a thing), in 1980.
Seemed Oliver had a few of those years throughout his 18-year career.
Oliver for the Hall of Fame? I don’t know. I’d put him in along with Steve Garvey, Dave Parker, Vada Pinson and even Bob Johnson from the 1930’s, in appreciation for the HIGH level of play these guys put in over a long period, with brief moments of top-notch play.
Seems silly to see these careers get lost in the non-HOF shuffle for no other reason than not hitting those “magic numbers”."

REVISITING AN OLD POST FROM 2015: 1970 NICKNAME CARDS FOR FRANK HOWARD

Today we go and revisit a blog post from almost eight years ago, my TWO nickname cards for Frank Howard, so good he needed more than one nickname:

"The Capital Punisher" or "Hondo", take your pick!

Here's the original write-up for the post, which first appeared here on February 18th of 2015:

I used the 1970 template since Howard was just mashing the ball at the turn of the new decade.

Between 1968 and 1970 he'd top 40+ home runs each year (becoming the last player to do so until Jay Buhner came along during the 1995-1997 seasons).

Howard led the American League in 1968 and 1970 with 44 taters, but fell one short of the league lead with 48 in 1969 thanks to another masher, Harmon Killebrew and his 49 blasts.

Howard was also one of the first players to top 30 home runs in both leagues, as he hit 31 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962.

A National League Rookie of the Year in 1960, he'd finish in the top-10 for an M.V.P. Award four times during his 16-year career.

The man was a flat-out beast at the plate, hitting 382 home runs in only 6488 at-bats!

He also topped 100 runs batted in four times, leading the league once, and also topped a .500 slugging percentage seven times during the modern "dead-ball" era, leading the league once in that category as well.

He finally retired after the 1973 season, which saw him play in 85 games for the Detroit Tigers.

Now I'm not saying he's a Hall of Fame player, but I was surprised to see that he only garnered 1.4% of the vote when he became eligible in 1979, thus getting dropped immediately.

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM SEPTEMBER, 2014: JIM "CATFISH" HUNTER NICKNAME CARD

Thought it would be fun today to revisit a blog post from just about eight years ago, my 1973 "nicknames of the 1970's" card for Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter:

One of the earlier nickname cards I created, and a favorite!

Hunter was coming off of his second of what would be five consecutive 20-win seasons, his last one as a member of the New York Yankees after signing with them as one of the game's first big-time free agents.

What a class-act Hunter was.

A down-to-earth dude who didn't let stardom sidetrack him, it was sad that he'd have to retire from the game at the age of 33 because of arm troubles, but downright tragic that he would pass away in 1999 from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) at the young age of 53!

By the time he retired in 1979, he posted 224 wins, a 3.26 earned run average, 2012 strikeouts, and most importantly, FIVE championships: three with Oakland and two with the Yankees.

In 1987 Cooperstown came calling and elected him in, forever enshrined in baseball's all-time history.

 

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's: "SMOKEY" WALT ALSTON

Thought it'd be fun to create a "nickname" card for former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walt "Smokey" Alston, so here goes:

 

Alston, whose playing career totaled one single at-bat in one game for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936, parlayed his knowledge into a Hall of Fame managerial career that began in 1954 with the (then) Brooklyn Dodgers.

Over the next 23 years he brought home seven pennants, four world championships, and 2040 wins, with 10 90+ win campaigns.

Think about this: the man averaged 89 wins a season over almost a quarter of a century! Incredible!

Of course, Alston managed legends from Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella to Duke Snider  and Gil Hodges to Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax right through to Steve Garvey and Ron Cey. What a tenure.

1976 would be his last season as manager, handing off to another lifer, Tommy Lasorda for the 1977 season.

In his last season of 1976, Alston won 90 games and had the Dodgers in second place, his 15th season of either a first or second place finish.

In 1983, his stellar career was topped off when he was voted into the Hall of Fame.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's: "REBEL" RANDY HUNDLEY

Time to go and add former All-Star catcher for the Chicago Cubs Randy Hundly to my "forever-running" thread of Nicknames of the 1970's, with him nom-de-plume "Rebel":

 

Hundley, father of future catcher Todd of the New York Mets, was a solid catcher over a four-year stretch between 1966 and 1969 for the Cubs, picking up a Gold Glove, getting some MVP attention, and making two All-Star teams.

In 1968 he set a standard of catching 160 games (147 complete), an incredible fear considering the wear and tear on the legs.

Over the 1969 season, though heartbreaking at its end, Hundley contributed just as well as his Hall of Fame teammates, giving the Cubs 18 homers with 64 runs batted in, scoring 67 while drawing 61 waLKS.

By the time he retired after the 1977 season, he finished with a .236 lifetime average, with 82 homers and 381 RBIs in 1061 games and 3801 at-bats spread out over 14 years.

 

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's: 1970 PAUL "MOTORMOUTH" BLAIR

On the blog today, we have a 1970 "Nicknames of the 1970's" card for Gold Glove outfielder Paul Blair of the Baltimore Orioles:

 

Though a decent hitter in his own right, Blair was a superstar fielding outfielder for the O's, taking home eight Gold Gloves for his excellence in the field, seven consecutively between 1969-1975.

He was known to taunt hitters by playing shallow, then sprinting deep to track down fly balls.

A member of four world champion teams (Orioles in 1966/70; Yankees 1977/78), Blair put together an excellent 17-year career playing between 1964 and 1980 for the Orioles, Yanks and Reds.

He'd finish with a .250 batting average with 1513 hits, 134 homers and 171 stolen bases over 1947 games and 6673 plate appearances.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's: "PARAKEET" TITO FUENTES

On the blog today, figured I'd get another "Nickname of the 1970's" card done, this one of former Big League second baseman Tito Fuentes, aka "Parakeet", on a 1973 template:

 

Fuentes was about to enjoy his best season in the Big Leagues in 1973 while with the San Francisco Giants, collecting 182 hits and batting .277, with 78 runs scored and 63 runs batted in.

The man was a good contact hitter throughout his career, though he wasn't one for collecting a base on balls.

I was always interested in Fuentes as a kid because I could never figure out (before the days of the internet) why a guy who had pretty much an all-star season in 1977 seemed to disappear immediately.
While playing for the Detroit Tigers that season, Fuentes had arguably his best year in the Majors, hitting .309 with 190 hits and 10 triples with 83 runs scored.
As a kid who worshiped stats back then, you notice that nice line on the back of his 1978 card (You also couldn't help but notice his hand-written "Tito" headband around his cap, which also makes an appearance on his 1976 card as well).
But then he just vanished, and back then you didn't have all the access to information we do now, so you couldn't figure out why (football was the WORST for this! Guys came and went like nobody's business).
Anyway, it wasn't until years later that I learned Detroit let Fuentes go because they had an up-and-coming star on their hands in Lou Whitaker, who would eventually be the Rookie of the Year in 1978, and team up with another rookie, Alan Trammell to play 19 straight seasons together, until 1995.
It seems Fuentes couldn't hang on with anyone else and was out of the game after 13 games with the Oakland A's in 1978.
Pretty dramatic end to a decent 13 year career that was reasonably productive right until the end.
Fuentes did make a career for himself in the game after his playing days were over, hooking up with the Giants as their first radio announcer for their Spanish-speaking broadcasts beginning in 1981.
Eventually he was even elected into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum in 2002 in San Francisco.

REVISITING AN OLD POST FROM 2015: NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #20: "COBRA" DAVE PARKER

Thought it'd be fun to revisit my "Nicknames of the 1970's" post from January 23rd, 2015, celebrating "Cobra", Dave Parker, who I feel belongs in the Hall of fame.

  

Let's dive right in!

Here's the post as written some seven years ago:

Next up in my "Nicknames of the 70's" thread is that monster of a player of the era: Dave Parker, aka "Cobra".

Check out my card design:

I used the 1978 format since he was at the prime of his career, winning two batting titles (1977 & 1978), an M.V.P. that very year, and a World Championship the following year.

He's often fond of saying (and I totally agree) that he and Dave Winfield changed the "face" of the athletic "big guy" outfielders when they both came up in the middle of the decade.

An all-around super-star, Parker hit for average, for power, had a cannon for an arm, and would even steal some bases if needed.

By the time he retired after the 1991 season, a nice 19-year career, he posted over 2700 hits, 1200 runs scored, 500 doubles, almost 1500 runs batted in, 339 home runs and over 150 stolen bases!

He was a seven-time all-star who also finished in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting six times, with three Gold Gloves thrown in for good measure.

The fact that Dave Parker never garnered more than 24.5% of the BBWA Hall of Fame vote (1998) before becoming ineligible in 2011 is just criminal in my eyes.

This man should be in the Hall of Fame. Plain and simple!

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's: "CRAZY HORSE" TIM FOLI

On the blog today, a new "Nickname of the 1970's" card, this one a 1977 edition for former infielder and overall #1 Draft Pick Tim Foli, aka "Crazy Horse":

 

Foli was tabbed with that nickname because of his fiery temper, a temper that guided him to stardom from High School ball where he hit an incredible .562 as a Senior at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, California.

That performance got his the attention of the new York mets, who held the #1 pick in the 1968 draft, and decided to use it on the young Foli, convincing him to forgo college.

He'd make his Big League debut at 19 years of age in 1970, appearing in five games and hitting .364 with four hits in eleven at-bats.

He'd play in 97 games with the Mets the following season, hitting .226 with 65 hits in 288 at-bats, scoring 32 runs and driving in 24.

1972 was shaping up to be his first full season as a Major Leaguer, and to his surprise, just as the season was opening up, he, along with Ken Singleton and Mike Jorgensen were sent packing to the Montreal Expos for their star Rusty Staub on April 5th.

He would indeed become a full-time player with the Expos, putting in five seasons with them before getting traded to the San Francisco Giants in 1977, playing that one season before a reunion with the Mets in 1978.

In 1979 he would once again be sent packing, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates just a couple of weeks into the new season, and he'd put in the best year of his 16-year career, helping the Pirates win it all as part of the "We Are Family" champs, hitting .291 with 70 runs scored and 65 RBIs in 153 hits, all career-bests.

Still only 28, he'd play two more years with Pittsburgh before going to the California Angels in 1982 and 1983, hitting .252 in his two seasons, even leading the league with 26 sacrifice hits in 1982 when the Angels finished first in the A.L. West.

In 1984 he found himself back in New York, but now with the Yankees, where he appeared in 61 games, hitting .252 for the third year in a row.

In 1985, he was back with the Pirates, where it tuned out he played the last 19 games of his career, hitting .189 with seven hits over 37 at-bats.

All told, Foli had himself a decent career, hitting .251 with 1515 hits in 6047 at-bats over 1696 games, scoring 576 runs, driving in 501 between 1970 and 1985.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970's: "CHICKEN" FRED STANLEY

On the blog today, a card that I should have tackled a long time ago, a "Nickname" card for former infielder Fred Stanley, aka "Chicken":

 

Now, why he was tagged with that nickname I have no idea, but it was a nickname I remember as a kid during his time with the New York Yankees in the late-70's/early-80s.

But for fun, I created a 1973 card of him for this, showing him as a member of the San Diego Padres, for whom he played only the second half of the 1972 season.

Stanley originally came up with the Seattle Pilots in their lone 1969 season, moving with them to Milwaukee in 1970 before playing for the Cleveland Indians in 1971,
He’d start the year with the Indians, but get shipped off to San Diego after only nine games, appearing in another 39 games for the mustard and brown clad Padres where he’d bat an even .200 with 17 hits over 85 at-bats.
Of course, by the time the new season started in 1973 he found himself as a member of the New York Yankees, where he would go on to play the next eight years, including two championship seasons in 1977 and 1978.
He’d finish off his 14-year career with two seasons in Oakland, playing through the 1982 campaign before retiring with a career .216 batting average, along with 356 hits over 1650 at-bats while generally playing short and second with some third base work thrown in through the years.

REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST- November 4TH, 2014

For no particular reason, I thought it'd be fun to revisit an old blog post from 2014, where I created a nifty 1972 "Nickname" card for former pitcher John "Blue Moon" Odom:

 

It was the very first 1972 nickname card I created for the blog, and I was really happy with the result, with splashes of color shooting out at you from every angle!

Here's the original write-up I had to accompany the card:

"Odom spent all or parts of 12 of his 13 Major League seasons with the A's organization: the first four when they were still in Kansas City (1964-1967), and the next eight in Oakland.

I used a 1972 template for him since 1972 was his best season in the 1970's, as he posted a 15-6 record with a 2.50 E.R.A. And two shutouts over 30 starts.

After that season his career sort of went downhill from there, finding himself playing for Oakland, Cleveland, Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox all in 1975 and 1976.

However, as I profiled in one of my "Highlights of the 1970's" a little while back on this blog, one of his last Major League starts, in 1976 as a member of the White Sox, was a combined no-hitter against the Oakland A's (ironically enough), along with teammate Francisco Barrios.

By the time he wrapped up his career after 1976, he posted an 84-85 record, with a 3.70 earned run average, 15 shutouts and 857 strikeouts over 295 games, 229 of which were starts.

And he also left us with one of the best nicknames of the era, along with former teammates "Catfish" Hunter and "Mudcat" Grant."

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S- LEO CARDENAS

Time to go and give former All-Star shortstop Leo Cardenas, aka "Mr. Automatic", a spot in my long-running "Nicknames of the 1970's" thread:

 

Somewhat of a forgotten man of the era, Cardenas was a solid player for about a dozen seasons between 1962 and 1973, playing for the Cincinnati reds, Minnesota Twins and California Angels, making five All-Star teams, collecting a Gold Glove in 1965 and even getting some MVP attention in a few seasons.

Over his 16 year career, he would hit as many as 20 homers (1966), drive in as many as 81 runs (1966), collect as many as 173 hits (1962) and even lead the league two years in a row in intentional base on balls (1965, 1966).

By the time he retired after the 1975 season after 55 games with the Texas Rangers, he finished with 1725 hits, 662 runs scored, 689 runs batted in and a .257 batting average over 1941 games.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "BULLDOG" JIM BOUTON

Time to post up a long overdue "nicknames of the 1970's" card for former pitcher Jim Bouton, aka "Bulldog", for now in a Seattle Pilots 1970 edition until I can find a nice shot of him with the Houston Astros that I haven't used before:

 

Bouton was coming off seven seasons with the New York Yankees when he was purchased by the new Pilots franchise in June of 1968.
While with the Yankees he had two great seasons in 1963 and 1964 before arm injuries kept him sporadic at best over the next four years.
As a Seattle Pilot, Bouton was used as a reliever, appearing in 57 games while going 2-1 with an earned run average of 3.91 before getting traded to the Houston Astros on August 24th of ‘69, where he appeared in 16 games before the season was done.
Of course, his somewhat brief tenure with the Pilots is forever immortalized in his landmark book “Ball Four”, with anecdote after anecdote of players, coaches and managers throughout his MLB career, and the Pilots had their fair share of characters.
For Bouton, he’d also pitch in 1970 before arm troubles ended his career, but not before making a surprising comeback at the age of 39 with the Atlanta Braves in 1978, appearing in what turned out to be the last five games of his career, all starts, as he went 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA.
All told, Bouton finished his career with a record of 62-63, with an ERA of 3.57 over 304 appearances, 144 of those starts, with 11 shutouts and six saves between 1962 and 1979.