MISSING IN ACTION- 1974 JIM GOSGER

Here’s yet another “missing” New York Mets player, a 1974 card for former outfielder Jim Gosger. And I like the “authenticity” of the final result.
Check it out:

Gosger appeared in 38 games for the National League champs in 1973, hitting .239 with 22 hits in 92 at-bats while manning the outfield.
It was the second to last year of a 10-year career that saw him suit up for the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City/Oakland A’s, Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos and Mets before retiring after the 1974 season.
All told he batted .226 for his career with 411 hits, 197 runs scored, 30 homers and 177 runs batted in over 705 career games and 1815 at-bats.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK 1952: VIRGIL TRUCKS SPINS TWO NO-HITTERS

Here’s an interesting card to make up: a “Turn Back The Clock” card for one of the most unlikely “highlights” to ever occur, Virgil Trucks and his two no-hitters in 1952.
First, let’s take a look at the card I designed, following the 1972 template for a 20th anniversary:

Now, for those who do not know, why is it so unlikely that Trucks threw these two no-hitters? Well, if you look at his 1952 season you won’t even believe it. The man posted a 5-19 record, with a 3.97 earned run average over 29 starts and 35 appearances.
Granted, he was a much better pitcher than this over his career, but that 1952 season was one for the ages.
On May 15th he beat the Washington Senators 1-0, and then on August 25th he topped himself by spinning his second no-hitter of the year, beating the eventual (and reigning) World Champion New York Yankees by the very same score, 1-0.
At the time he was only the third pitcher to accomplish this feat, joining Johnny Vander Meer, who spun two consecutive no-no’s in 1938, and Allie Reynolds, who’s feat was featured here just about a week ago, as he pitched two no-hitters the year before Trucks in 1951.
Trucks would go on to pitch a very nice 17-year career in the Majors, winning 177 games with a 3.39 ERA and 1534 strikeouts.
He’d post a 20-win season in 1953, and would lead the American League in shutouts twice, with 6 in 1949 and five in 1954, while leading the league in K’s with 153 in ‘49 as well.
And speaking of K’s, in 1938 with the Andalusia team at D-Level, he posted a 25-6 record with a sparkling 1.25 ERA and an eye-popping 418 strikeouts!
Gotta love those Minor League whacky stats!

HALL OF FAME #38: JOHN "POP" LLOYD: CLASS OF 1977

Next up in our “Hall of Fame Inductees” thread is another Negro Leagues great, one of the best shortstops to ever suit up, John “Pop” Lloyd.
Check out the card I whipped up:

Jumping around from team to team since, as he put it, “wherever the money was, I went”, he played for no less than ten organizations during his Hall of Fame career, batting a cumulative .343 as far as recirds show.
Referred to as the “Black Honus Wagner”, he also played in the Cuban League between Negro League stints (and even during off-seasons) for 12 seasons, hitting a combined .329 there as well.
He finally got the recognition he deserved when the Negro League Committee elected him into Cooperstown’s hallowed halls in 1977, securing his place in baseball history.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1976 RAY SADECKI (1976 PROJECT)

Here’s one of the very first “missing” 1976 cards I created for “Reader Jim” way back when we started the “1976 Project”, a “missing” card for former pitcher Ray Sadecki.
Check it out:

Now, this card has a bit of a twist to it, since if I followed my usual routine, I’d have had Sadecki shown as a Kansas City Royal, the team that he finished the 1975 season with.
However, following Jim’s lead, we felt it better to have him for the team he saw the most action with, the Atlanta Braves, for whom he tallied 25 appearances and 66.1 innings pitched.
He also suited up for the St. Louis Cardinals (who he opened up the season with), and the Royals as I mentioned.
All together with all three organizations Sadecki appeared in 38 games, good for 80.1 innings of work, posting a combined 4-3 record with a 4.03 earned run average while striking out 32 batters.
Sadecki put in a nice long 18-year career in the Majors, coming up as a young arm with the St. Louis Cardinals, even posting a 20-win season in 1964, helping them win the World Series over the New York Yankees.
All told he pitched for six teams (Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Royals, Braves and Brewers), posting a final record of 135-131 with a 3.78 ERA and 1614 K’s over 563 games and 2500.1 innings.

JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT- 1970'S BASEBALL TRIVIA PART #123 (A REVISIT OF #41)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Another Thursday, another quiz.
Let’s revisit my 41st set from March of 2014.
Today's trivia is a bit of a mish-mosh of interesting stuff I've come across putting lists together.
See if you know any of the answers.
I'll post them up tomorrow…

1. During the decade, what player finished the season with the most at-bats and a 1.000 batting average?

2. What pitcher threw the most innings in a season while still posting a 0.00 E.R.A.?

3. What pitcher saw the most at-bats in a season during the 1970's?

4. Who had the highest batting average in a season for someone with more than 50 at-bats during the decade?

5. What pitcher faced the most hitters while allowing each one to get a hit off of him in a season?

***SPOILER ALERT! ANSWERS BELOW: 

1.  John Hale, Dodgers. He went four for four in 1974.

2. Mike Norris, A's. 16.2 innings with a 0.00 E.R.A. in 1975.

3. Wilbur Wood, White Sox. 125 at-bats in 1972.

4. Roger Freed, Cardinals. .398 average in 1977, going 33 for 83.

5. Bob Kammeyer, Yankees. He allowed all seven batters he faced to get a hit, including two homers and a hit batsman, for eight earned runs, in 1979. 

MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 JOHN ROSEBORO

Time to go and give former all-star catcher Johnny Roseboro a “caeer Capping” and “missing” 1971 card as he closed out a very nice career after the 1970 season:

Roseboro played the final 46 games of his career with the Washington Senators in 1970, posting a .233 batting average with 20 hits over 86 at-bats.
It was nice 14-year career that saw him named to four all-star teams, while taking home two Gold Gloves, both while still with the Los Angelos Dodgers, for whom he played 11-years and had his finest seasons as a big leaguer.
He would be a member of three world champion clubs while in L.A., in 1959, 1963 and 1965, and would help manage the incredible pitching staff that included the likes of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton.
Not too shabby!
Over all he batted .249 for his career, with 1206 hits in 4847 at-bats, hitting 104 homers and driving in 548 runs in 1585 games.

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1970 VIDA BLUE

Here’s a 1970 “Dedicated Rookie” card for former Oakland A’s pitching ace Vida Blue, who was about to explode onto the baseball world a year later.

Blue made a handful of appearances in 1969, and even less in 1970 before absolutely dominating the Major Leagues in 1971, posting a 24-8 record with 301 strikeouts and a 1.82 earned run average, allowing him to take home not only a Cy Young Award, but the American League MVP as well.
He would go on to post two more 20-win seasons, while also starting an all-star game for both the A.L. (1971) and N.L. (1978), with six seasons of sub-3.00 ERA as well.
By the time he retired after the 1986 season he was the owner of over 200 career wins (209), with a nice 3.27 ERA and 2175 K’s.
In addition to his Cy Young win in 1971 he also posted a third-place finish in 1978, and was named to six all-star games, while leading the Oakland A’s to three straight World Series championships between 1972-1974.
Not a bad career at that!