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.

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.

 

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: 1978 "TURN BACK THE CLOCK" STAN MUSIAL

Up on the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1978 "Turn Back The Clock" card for all-time great Stan Musial, celebrating his 3000th hit from 20 years earlier:

He would go on to collect another 630 more hits to become the leading National League hit-maker before Hank Aaron would overtake him about 10 years later.
Throw in 725 doubles, 177 triples and 475 home runs and you have yourself one of THE best all-around hitters the game ever saw.
Three Most Valuable Player Awards, FOUR second-place finishes, including three in a row between 1949-1951, and twenty consecutive all-star appearances, Musial definitely is a member of that rarified stratosphere of baseball royalty along with the likes of Ruth, Cobb, Mays and Wagner, among others.

 

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.

REVISIT: 1978 CAREER-CAPPER FOR COOKIE ROJAS

Good day all!

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my 1978 "career-capper" for Cookie Rojas, long-time Major League infielder:

Rojas appeared in 64 games for the Western Division champ Royals in 1977, hitting an even .250 with 39 hits over 156 at-bats.
A five-time all-star, Rojas slapped his way through the Majors, collecting 1660 lifetime hits over 1822 games, with only 333 of those hits going for extra bases.
Of his 16 years in the Major Leagues, he played eight with the Royals and seven with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he first made a name for himself between 1963 and 1969.

 

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...

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 PAUL JATA

Good day all.

On the blog today, since I mentioned him recently on "X", revisiting my "missing" 1973 card for one-year catcher Paul Jata of the Detroit Tigers, originally posted 10 years ago:

I came across this photo which would be perfect for a 1973 card, in honor of his sole taste of the Majors during the 1972 season.
Jata appeared in 32 games with the division champs, hitting .230 with 17 hits over 74 at-bats while playing first base, catcher and outfield.
Though the photo used shows him in catching mode, he played the bulk of his games at first and in the outfield.
Sadly for him that would be it in the Majors, though he did make a comeback of sorts in the Twins organization a few years later in 1976 in their Double-A affiliate after being out of the game in 1974 and 1975.

 

REVISIT: DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1976 HENRY CRUZ

Up on the blog today, we have a "Dedicated" rookie card for Henry Cruz, originally posted 10 years ago as part of my "1976 Project" for my buddy Jim:

Cruz actually saw a chunk of playing time during the 1975 season, appearing in 53 games and collecting 25 hits over 94 at-bats, good for a .266 average.
Jim needed him on a dedicated card for his special project so here you go.
Actually, as far as I’m concerned, Cruz has two other “missing” cards, in the 1977 and 1979 sets, which will be tackled in the near future.
What’s funny about that is the fact that he DOES get a card in the 1978 set, after seeing the LEAST playing time of his short 4-year career the year before!
Go figure...

REVISIT: DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1974 KEN GRIFFEY Sr.

Thought it'd be fun to delve into the archives and revisit another ten-year-old post, this time my 1974 "Dedicated Rookie" for Ken Griffey Sr:

Griffey began what was to become a brilliant 19-year career that saw him hit .296 with 2143 hits in 7229 at-bats, with 1129 runs scored, 152 homers and 859 runs batted in.
During the 1973 season he made the most of his short stay, hitting .384 in 25 games with 33 hits in 86 at-bats.
He was named to three all-star games during his career, and was a member of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds of the 1970’s, taking home two consecutive World Championships in 1975 and 1976.
Of course, we HAVE to mention something else he did, which was father a kid who would become one of the players of his generation, Ken Griffey Jr, recent Hall of Fame inductee and super-star extraordinaire.
I still think one of the coolest moments in baseball history was when Griffey Sr and Griffey Jr BOTH hit homers for the same team in the same game!  I just couldn’t believe it actually happened.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1978 JIM UMBARGER

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post, this one my "missing" 1978 card for former pitcher Jim Umbarger of the Texas Rangers:

Umbarger appeared in 15 games over the 1977 season, split between the Oakland A’s and Texas, posting a 2-6 record with a 6.32 earned run average over 57 innings of work.
His first two years in the Majors were much better, as he went 8-7 and 10-12 in 1975 and 1976 respectively with Texas, posting ERA’s of 4.12 and 3.15 with five shutouts splitting time between starting and the bullpen.
He wouldn’t fare much better in 1978, posting a 5-8 record with a 4.88 ERA, thus completing what would be his 4-year career, giving him a 25-33 record with a 4.14 ERA over 133 games, 61 of which were starts, and 483 innings pitched.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 GARY PETERS

Today on the blog we'll revisit a 10-year-old post, this time my "missing" 1973 card for pitcher Gary Peters:

Peters appeared in 33 games for the Boston Red Sox in 1972, posting a 3-3 record with a 4.32 earned run average over 85.1 innings of work.
That would close out a very respectable 14-year career that saw him lead the league in wins with 20 in 1964, while also leading the league in ERA in both 1963 (his rookie year) as well as 1966 with a sparkling 1.98 figure.
His rookie year was awesome, as he went 19-8 for the Pale Hose with that league-leading ERA, along with 189 strikeouts and four shutouts to take home the R.O.Y. honor.
His final numbers were 124-103 with a 3.25 ERA, along with 23 shutouts and 1420 K’s over 2081 innings and 359 games, 286 of which were starts.

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 JOE MOELLER

Today on the blog we'll revisit a post from 10 years ago.

Here’s a “missing” 1972 card for former pitcher Joe Moeller, who finished up an eight-year career in 1971, all with the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Moeller appeared in 28 games for L.A., posting a 2-4 record with a 3.80 earned run average out of the bullpen, with 32 strikeouts in 66.1 innings of work.
To this day he is the youngest starter in Dodger history at 19 years and two months when he did so in his rookie season of 1962.
He’d miss both the 1963 and 1965 season which must have SUCKED since they were BOTH World Championship years for the Dodgers, but between every year from 1962 and 1971 that he was a Major League pitcher, he’d put on the Dodger blue.
He would wrap up his career with a 26-36 record with a 4.01 ERA, with seven saves and a shutout with 307 K’s over 583.2 innings and 166 appearances, 74 of which were starts.

 

REVISIT: CAREER-CAPPER: 1974 JOHNNY CALLISON

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year-old post from the WTHBALLS vault, this time my 1974 "career-capper" for Johnny Callison:

Callison played in his final 45 games during the 1973 in the Bronx, hitting .176 with 24 hits over 136 at-bats, including the last of his 226 career taters.
His career spanned 16-years between 1958 and 1973, where he collected 1757 hits with 926 runs scored, 840 runs batted in and the aforementioned 226 homers with a .264 average.
A three-time all-star, he was also the National league runner-up in MVP voting in 1964, certainly a victim to the colossal collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals, which propelled third baseman Ken Boyer to capture the award.
In both ‘64 and 1965 Callison topped 30+ homers, 25+ doubles and 10+ triples, while driving in over 100 both seasons as well.
After the Phillies he played with the Chicago Cubs for two years in 1970 and 1971 before moving on to the Yankees for the 1972 and 1973 campaigns, thus closing the books on a very respectable career in the big leagues.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION 1973 ED SPRAGUE

Let's go back to years or so here on the blog and revisit a card originally posted January 16th of 2016, a “missing” card for a guy who has a few of them actually, former pitcher Ed Sprague of the Cincinnati Reds:

Sprague appeared in 33 games for the National League Champions in 1972, posting a 3-3 record with a 4.13 earned run average out of the bullpen.
He would go on to play another four seasons in the Major Leagues, finishing with a 17-23 record along with a 3.84 ERA, nine saves and 188 strikeouts over 408 innings and 198 games, 23 of which were starts.
His son, Ed Sprague Jr would also play in the Majors later on in the 1990’s and 2000’s, as a third baseman for 11-years, mainly with the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

REVISIT: 1971 CAREER-CAPPER FOR TITO FRANCONA

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a ten year old post from the blog today, this time my 1971 Career-Capper for Tito Francona:

Father of current Cincinnati Reds Manager Terry Francona, Tito appeared in 84 games in his final big league season, split between the Oakland A’s and Brewers.
He hit .235 with 23 hits over 98 at-bats with both four runs scored and runs batted in  while playing both first base and the outfield, the two positions he’d mainly play throughout his career.
Francona came up in 1956 with the Baltimore Orioles and ended up second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Chicago White Sox speedster and future Hall of Fame player Luis Aparicio.
In that season Tito would hit .258 with 115 hits over 445 at-bats, with nine homers, 62 runs scored and 57 RBI’s in 139 games.
His finest season was his first with the Cleveland Indians, for whom he had his best years, when he batted .363 with 20 homers and 79 RBI’s in 122 games.
He didn’t qualify for the batting title based on his 443 plate appearances, but he did finish fifth in MVP voting.
All told he’d finish his career with a .272 average with 1395 hits in 5121 at-bats over 1719 games, with 125 home runs and 656 RBI’s and 650 runs scored.