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!

MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 DAL MAXVILL

Let’s go and give former shortstop Dal Maxvill one last Topps card, this one in the 1975 set, shall we?
Take a look:

Maxvill would actually play in a handful of games during the 1975 season, 20 games to be precise, but he was left out of the 1975 set even though he played in 68 games during the 1974 season, so I figured why not whip up a card for ‘75.
Splitting time between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland A’s, Maxvill hit .189 with 14 hits in 74 at-bats, all singles.
It was the fourth championship team he’d play for during his 14-year career, with the first three being the Cardinals in 1964 &1967, and the A’s in 1972.
For his career Maxvill was pretty much a “Mendoza-Line” hitter, finishing with a .217 lifetime average with 748 hits over 3443 at-bats, topping .250 only once, in 1968.
Incredibly, he received MVP votes that year while taking home a Gold Glove for his defensive work. Easily the best season of his career.

NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #39: "BABY BULL" ORLANDO CEPEDA

Time to go and give Hall of Fame star Orlando “Baby Bull” Cepeda a “nickname” card in my ongoing “Nicknames of the ‘70’s” thread.
Check out the card:

I used the 1970 template since he had his last great year that year, slamming 34 homers for the Atlanta Braves with 111 runs batted in and a .305 batting average.
Cepeda’s dad was a star player in Puerto Rico, and had the nickname “Perucho”, or “Bull”, thus when Orlando came along he naturally was tagged with “Baby Bull”, and the nickname was born.
Even though Cepeda would put together a Hall of Fame worthy career, one has to wonder what numbers he could have really put up had his legs not curtailed the momentum he had in the 1960’s.
Nevertheless, the “Baby Bull” eventually found his place in Cooperstown, alongside former teammates like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal.

TURN BACK THE CLOCK 1951: ALLIE REYNOLDS SPINS TWO NO-HITTERS

Today we celebrate Allie Reynolds and his two no-hitters in 1951, which he threw against the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox, in my “Turn Back The Clock” series.
Take a look at the card I created:

The “Super Chief” had it going on in 1951, winning 17 games and leading the league with seven shutouts.
On July 12th of that year he faced his old team, the Indians, and beat them 1-0 thanks to a solo home run by Gene Woodling. He retired the last 17 batters he faced, and his rival pitcher, Bob Feller, pitched a no-hitter himself just eleven days earlier!
On September 28th, he faced Boston and easily beat them 8-0, which allowed the Yankees at least a tie for first in the American League.
Reynolds struck out nine and walked four, and of course we all know that the final batter he faced was none other than Ted Williams, arguably the greatest all-around hitter in baseball history.
All Reynolds had to do was, in a sense, retire him TWICE, as Yogi Berra dropped a foul pop-up for the final out, before catching the very next one, as Williams popped out to end the game.
Only six pitchers have thrown two no-hitters in one season, with Roy Halladay (2010) and Max Scherzer (2015) being the most recent to the exclusive club.