THE GREAT DAVE PARKER...AKA 'COBRA" WITH MY CARD!

Please allow me to indulge with posting this fantastic photo of the great Dave Parker, aka "Cobra" holding none other than my 1978 "Nickname" card that was created for this blog years ago:

Such a great moment for me to have one of my favorite players of my childhood with one of my cards honoring him!

Thank you Dave Jordan ( @instreamsports) for this!

Dave Jordan has helped Dave Parker with his new biography "Cobra.  A life of Baseball and Brotherhood". 

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1975 CHUCK DOBSON

Up on the blog today we have a do-over for Chuck Dobson and his 1975 card, which originally had him airbrushed into a California Angels uni:

Over the years I came across a nice photo of him in an actual Angels uniform, so I figure why not recreate it?

For those that don't remember what the original looked like, here you go:

 

 

Dobson appeared in nine games for California in 1975, going 0-2 with a 6.75 earned run average over 28 innings of work.
It was his second year with the Angels after coming over from the Oakland A’s, who released him just before the 1974 season started.
I always felt bad for him since he actually wasn’t a part of the Oakland A’s championship teams playing his last full season in 1971 when he posted an excellent 15-5 record with a 3.81 ERA over 30 appearances, all starts.
Because of arm injuries he missed 1972, though he did appear in nine games down in the Minor Leagues, and appeared in one solitary Big League game for Oakland during the 1973 season, pitching a total of 2.1 innings.
So he started his Major League career in 1966 with the (then) Kansas City Athletics at the age of 22, put in a very nice string of six seasons where he posted double-digit wins, even leading the American League in shutouts in 1970 with five, only to miss out on the three straight championships his teammates went on to have between 1972 and 1974.
That had to hurt!
Kind of reminds me of Lee May, who had to watch all of the guys he came through the system with in the 1960’s go on to become the “Big Red Machine” while he was down in Houston after the Joe Morgan trade.
Nevertheless, Dobson had himself a nice nine-year career that saw him go 74-69, with an ERA of 3.78 over 202 appearances, with 11 shutouts and 49 complete games.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 HANK SMALL

Really fun card to add to the blog today, a "not so missing" 1979 card for one-game Major league first baseman Hank Small, who had his day in the sun as a September call-up in 1978:

  

Small played his one game on September 27th of 1978, going 0-4 at the plate while manning first base after spending three years toiling in the Minors for the Atlanta Braves franchise.

He was tearing up the International League in 1978, with 25 homers and 101 runs batted in before getting the call.

However, you know how this goes, as he would spend all of 1979 in the Minors again, retiring at season's end.

I don't know why he didn't stick around longer as he was still only 24 years of age,so I'm hoping perhaps someone out there has a deeper story into it?

Please let me know if you do.

Sadly I see that in 2010, at the age of only 54, Small died as a result of a fall at his home in Griffin, Georgia.

R.I.P. Sir...

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 KEVIN PASLEY

On the blog today, my second "not so missing" card for former catcher Kevin Pasley, this one a 1975 edition,marking his MLB debut the season prior with the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Pasley appeared in one single game for the Dodgers in 1974, getting some time behind the plate without a plate appearance himself at the age of 20.

He'd spend all of 1975 in the Minors before making it back in 1976 with 23 games for L.A., hitting .231 with 12 hits over 52 at-bats.

He'd appear in only six games in 1977, two for the Dodgers and four for the new Seattle Mariners franchise, hitting a combined .375 with six hits in 16 at-bats.

1978 would see him play in a career-high 25 games for Seattle, hitting .241 with 13 hits, including the only home run of his career, while scoring three and driving in five.

He would go on to play four years in the Minors after this, but never get a shot in the Big Leagues again, finishing his MLB career with a .254 average, with 31 hits in 122 at-bats spread out over 55 games between 1974 and 1978.

 

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- WILLIE DAVIS

On the blog today we have another addition to my long-running 1971 "Minor League Days" sub-set, this one for All-Star Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Willie Davis:

  

Davis was absolutely tearing up the Pacific Coast League pitching when this image was taken back in 1960, when the 20-year-old hit .346 with 216 hits, 43 doubles, 26 triples and 12 homers in 147 games and 624 at-bats.

This was after a 1959 season that saw him hit .352 for the Reno Silver Sox and Green Bay Blue Jays, collecting 191 hits and scoring 135 runs in just 124 games as a 19-year-old.

He made his MLB debut at the end of the 1960 season, hitting .318 over 22 games, scoring 12 and driving in 10, but the tables were set for him to become a top-notch ballplayer for years to come.

What an underrated career for the three-time Gold Glove outfielder: 2561 hits, 1217 runs scored, 182 home runs, 398 stolen bases and 1053 runs batted in over 18 seasons, 14 of which were with Los Angeles.
His best year in the Big Leagues was arguably his finest, collecting 198 hits and batting .309 while collecting the first of his three straight Gold Gloves.
Of course, being a National League outfielder through the 1960’s in the age of Mays, Aaron, Clemente and Robinson kept him from All-Star nods, and he only made two of them, in 1971 and 1973.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired he had quite the Major League resume, including leading the league in triples twice, 13 seasons of 20+ stolen bases, and two World Championships (1963 and 1965).

"3-Dog" was certainly overshadowed by some of his contemporaries, but nevertheless put together an excellent 18-year Major League career.

 

ANOTHER FANTASY 1977 MINNIE MINOSO (YOU CAN'T HAVE TOO MANY!)

Good day everyone!

On the blog today is yet another 1977 "fantasy" card for Chicago White Sox great Minnie Minoso, who made a gimmick of a return to the Big Leagues in 1976 with some at-bats at the age of 50:

 

Now, I already created both a "not so missing" and "coach" card for him here on the blog years ago, but when I found this image of him I couldn't resist another creation in honor of the man.

Minoso, aka the “Cuban Comet”, is arguably a Hall of Famer, and I always felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of getting into Cooperstown.
From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and topping 20 homers four times.
Eight times in that span he would top a .300 batting average, and in 1951 many consider him the true American League Rookie of the Year when he his .326 split between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, while topping the league in triples with 14 and stolen bases with 31.
Along the way he was named to seven All-Star games, winning three Gold Gloves as well, funny enough finishing fourth in the A.L. MVP race four times.
Of course, 12 years after his last playing days, in 1976, he ended up going 1-for-8 at the plate as a 50 year-old, then coming back in 1980 at the age of 54 and going hitless in two at-bats.
Nevertheless, Minoso finished his career with a .298 average, with 1963 hits over 6579 at-bats, along with 186 homers and 205 stolen bases while also topping 1000 runs scored and RBIs, 1136 & 1023 respectively.

 

A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN: 1975 HORACE CLARKE

Six years ago on the blog I created a "missing" 1975 career-capper for former infielder Horace Clarke, who finished up a nice Big League career with a few dozen games as a San Diego Padre in 1974.

I recently came across a nice Topps image of him during his San Diego stint, which is much better than the original image I used, so I thought it was a perfect time to re-do the card with a proper photo:

 

 

Clarke appeared in 42 games with the Padres after starting the year with the New York Yankees, playing in 24 games before his relocation out West.

That quarter season with the Padres was the only time Clarke played for anyone other than the Yankees in his ten-year career, spanning 1965 to 1974.

Playing during those post-dynasty Yankees "dark days", Clarke endured some lean years in the Bronx with guys like Bobby Murcer, Mel Stottlemyre and Joe Pepitone.

A "typical" middle infielder of the era, Clarke was a nice-fielding/light-hitting player who had some nice years for the Yanks.

Between 1967 and 1973 Clarke, aka "Hoss", was the Yankees full-time second baseman, topping 600 plate appearances each and every year.

His average hovered around the .250 mark, with a high of .285 in 1969 when he had perhaps his best season as a Major League player: 183 hits, 82 runs, 33 stolen bases and seven triples.

He retired after 1974 with a lifetime .256 average, with 1230 hits, 548 runs, 304 runs batted in and 151 stolen bases.

Oddly the man never won a Gold Glove even though he topped the American League in putouts four times, double-plays turned twice, fielding once and assists six times.

Just one of those decent guys that got lost in the Bronx before the "Bronx Zoo" and a guy named Steinbrenner rolled in a short time later.