1976 COACH CARD- STAN WILLIAMS

Up on the blog today we have a 1976 coach card for former pitcher Stan Williams, who was lending his experience to the Boston Red Sox in the mid-70’s after a nice 14-year MLB career:

Originally a starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers between 1958 and 1962, Williams even made the All-Star team in 1960 and gave the team a solid arm paired up with the likes of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.
By the time the 1970 season was opening up, his career was in flux, but he found his groove as a reliever that season, going 10-1 with a brilliant 1.99 earned run average over 68 appearances and 113.1 innings of work.
At the age of 33, you’d think he was starting a second phase of his career, but sadly he’d only be in the Majors another two seasons, pitching for the Twins, St. Louis Cardinals and finally the Boston Red Sox in 1972, making only three appearances and getting lit up to a 6.23 ERA.
After taking 1973 off, he did pitch in the Minors for Boston in 1974, and performed very well, going 2-0 with a minuscule 0.47 ERA over five appearances and 19 innings pitched before moving on to coaching.
As for his playing days, he finished up with a 109-94 record over 14 seasons, with a nice 3.48 ERA and 1305 strikeouts in 482 appearances and 1764.1 innings, throwing 11 shutouts while collecting 42 saves along the way.

A 1970 RE-DO: STAN WILLIAMS

On the blog today is my 1970 re-do of former pitcher Stan Williams’ Topps card, which was originally a capless image that served its purpose of having him tagged with his new team, the Minnesota Twins.
But since I had a nice photo of him in a 1969 Cleveland Indians uniform, the team he suited up for that year, I wanted to create an alternate version.
First up, the original as issued by Topps:

Now for my re-do:

Nice image of Williams in the 1969 Cleveland Indians uni, for whom he pitched before heading over to the Twins as part of a trade that also had Luis Tiant heading to the Twins for Dean Chance, Graig Nettles and two others.
Originally a starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers between 1958 and 1962, Williams even made the All-Star team in 1960 and gave the team a solid arm paired up with the likes of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.
By the time the 1970 season was opening up, his career was in flux, but he found his groove as a reliever that season, going 10-1 with a brilliant 1.99 earned run average over 68 appearances and 113.1 innings of work.
At the age of 33, you’d think he was starting a second phase of his career, but sadly he’d only be in the Majors another two seasons, pitching for the Twins, St. Louis Cardinals and finally the Boston Red Sox in 1972, making only three appearances and getting lit up to a 6.23 ERA.
After taking 1973 off, he did pitch in the Minors for Boston in 1974, and performed very well, going 2-0 with a minuscule 0.47 ERA over five appearances and 19 innings pitched, but that would be it for his Pro career, finishing up with a 109-94 record over 14 seasons, with a nice 3.48 ERA and 1305 strikeouts in 482 appearances and 1764.1 innings, throwing 11 shutouts while collecting 42 saves along the way.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970s- "BIG DADDY" STAN WILLIAMS

Nice card to add to the “Nicknames of the 1970s” thread, a 1971 edition for Stan Williams, aka “Big Daddy”, who had himself a big time return to top-notch form in 1970 while with the Minnesota Twins:

Originally a starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers between 1958 and 1962, Williams even made the All-Star team in 1960 and gave the team a solid arm paired up with the likes of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.
By the time the 1970 season was opening up, his career was in flux, but he found his groove as a reliever that season, going 10-1 with a brilliant 1.99 earned run average over 68 appearances and 113.1 innings of work.
At the age of 33, you’d think he was starting a second phase of his career, but sadly he’d only be in the Majors another two seasons, pitching for the Twins, St. Louis Cardinals and finally the Boston Red Sox in 1972, making only three appearances and getting lit up to a 6.23 ERA.
After taking 1973 off, he did pitch in the Minors for Boston in 1974, and performed very well, going 2-0 with a minuscule 0.47 ERA over five appearances and 19 innings pitched, but that would be it for his Pro career, finishing up with a 109-94 record over 14 seasons, with a nice 3.48 ERA and 1305 strikeouts in 482 appearances and 1764.1 innings, throwing 11 shutouts while collecting 42 saves along the way.

THEN AND NOW #39: STAN WILLIAMS 1972

The next "Super Veteran" in my "Then and Now" thread is former pitcher Stan Williams, aka "Big Daddy":

Williams was closing out a nice 14-year career in 1972, actually appearing in three games for the Boston Red Sox, pitching only 4.1 innings.

He was just two years removed from an awesome season for the Minnesota Twins in 1970 when he posted a 10-1 record with a sparkling 1.99 earned run average and 15 saves as a reliever, appearing in 68 games, all in relief.

Williams finished his career with a 109-94 record, with a 3.48 ERA, 11 shutouts and 1305 strikeouts over 482 games and 1764.1 innings of work.

I love his final Topps card, which is in the 1972 set, that has a great night-shot with stadium lights in the background.

HIT THE LIGHTS: NIGHT BASEBALL AND STAN WILLIAMS' 1972 CARD

Stan Williams 1972 Topps card (#9) always stood out because of it's clear-cut night game photograph.
I love this card. The Cardinals uniform just "pops" off the dark background with the stadium lights glaring up at the top. There's something so "modern" about this shot, so beyond the usual photographs taken in the middle of the day.
It makes me wonder how awesome it would have been if there were more night game cards out there during the '70's? Think of all the possibilities it could have opened up for really distinct, interesting cards.
I do recall a couple of other cards depicting night games, but can't remember them at the moment. I'll be looking into this a little further in the future so I can profile them, and maybe I'll even redesign a short series of Hall of Fame player cards with night scenes as a fun little "sub-set". We shall see.
Anyway, Williams had an interesting career between 1958 and 1972. A big imposing pitcher, he started out with the Dodgers and had a few good seasons on the same staff as Drysdale and Koufax between 1960-63. But his career took a downturn as he was traded to the Yankees for Bill "Moose" Skowron in November of 1962.
After two so-so seasons in New York he was off to Cleveland, where he missed the 1966 season and part of 1967 before coming back and posting a good year in '68, finishing with a 13-11 record and 2.50 E.R.A.
In 1970 he found himself in Minnesota and had a remarkable year as a reliever, pitching to a 10-1 record with 15 saves and a sparkling 1.99 E.R.A. in 68 games.
But that was his last hurrah in the Majors, as he appeared in three games for Boston in 1972 and hung them up.
All told, he ended up 109-94 for his career, with a 3.48 E.R.A. and 1305 strikeouts. He also threw in 43 saves as well, mainly on his solid 1969 and  1970 seasons out of the pen.
One last thing: I always remember that 1962 (#60) N.L. Strikeout leaders card with L.A. Dodgers making up the top three slots for 1961: Koufax, Williams and Drysdale. Pretty cool to have the top three strikeout pitchers in your leagues anchoring your staff.

Great night shot, a rarity in baseball cards.