REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST- JULY 29TH, 2015

Thought it'd be fun to revisit an old blog post from over six years ago, my "Missing" 1972 In-Action card for Lou Piniella of the Kansas City Royals, which was a really fun thread where I created a bunch of missing 1972 In-Action cards Topps should have had out there:

 

Here's the original blog post write-up for that day:

"Piniella was establishing himself as a solid Major League player, already taking home the American League Rookie of the Year in the 1969, the Royals inaugural season, and just putting in consistent numbers every year there.

After being traded to the New York Yankees before the 1974 season, Piniella found his permanent home in the big leagues, playing the final eleven seasons of his career there.

Along the way he was a member of two championship teams, hit .300 or better five times, and eventually would even become manager of the Yanks before moving on to a long career leading Major League squads.

Over his 18-year career he hit .291, with 1705 hits in 5867 at-bats, and besides 10 games split between the Orioles in 1964 and the Indians in 1968, he'd do it all with the Roylas and Yankees between 1969-1984.

In 1986 he took over as Yankee manager, and would go on to manage for another 23 seasons, guiding the Yanks, Reds, Mariners, Devil Rays and Cubs.

He would lead his teams to a World Series win in 1990 (Reds), an American League record 116 win season in 2001 (Mariners), eight 90+ win seasons (all but the Devil Rays), and six 1st place finishes (with the Reds, Mariners and Cubs).

Not a bad career spanning 46 years!"

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 ALBERT LOIS

Up on the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1979 card for former outfielder Abert Lois of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

 

Lois made his Big League debut during the 1978 season, appearing in three games at the age of 22, collecting one hit over four at-bats, that one hit being a triple.

He would make the team again in 1979, albeit for only eleven games, and all as a pinch-runner, which would see him score six runs without ever having a plate appearance.

Sadly for him, because of recurring issues on and off the field, Lois never fulfilled his once high-promise due to injuries and issues taking his opportunities seriously.

On January 5th, 1980, Lois was driving drunk with friends in the Dominican Republic, and crashed into a train while trying to cross railroad tracks, killing six passengers while he avoided death solely because of what he stated was a last second left turn.

Tragically, he lost an eye and just like that, his career was over.

Here's a great link to the SABR bio written about him by Tom Crist for those that want to read a little more about his off-field (and on field) problems that curtailed a promising career:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/alberto-lois/

All told Lois' MLB career consisted of those 14 games in 1978 and 1979, with only four plate appearances and one hit.

JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT: 1966 SATCHEL PAIGE

Today on the blog, just for the fun of it, we have a "not so missing" 1966 card for the great Satchel Paige, a card that was featured in my last custom set the "Whole Nine":

 

On September 25th of 1965, as a publicity stunt by the publicity-loving Charlie Finley, owner of the Kansas City Athletics, the 58-year-old Paige was "signed" to pitch a Major League game.

Twelve years removed from his last Big League game, the incredible ageless one did not disappoint, as he pitched three innings of scoreless ball against the Boston Red Sox, allowing only one hit while striking out a batter.

Just phenomenal, and adding to the legend that was Satchel Paige!

From his start as a 20-year old playing for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1927 to his final Major League appearance as a 58-year old for the Kansas City Athletics, Paige became an American icon not only for his on-field play but for his infectious personality.
Though his career Negro League record is listed as 100-50 over 18-seasons, he won countless other games along the way, as was the usual for the Negro Leagues as they played exhibition and non-league games during gaps in their schedule.
His stories are legend, enough so that by the time the Baseball Hall of Fame got off their ass and finally began electing Negro League all-time greats to Cooperstown, Paige was the very 1st to be so honored.
A 5x time Negro League all-star, 2x American League all-star, Negro League champ in 1942 with the Homestead Grays, and Major League World Champion with the 1948 Cleveland Indians, Paige left a baseball legacy that few could come close to.

This card was one of 16 produced for my "Whole Nine" set, which also had full statistic backs in my October, 2021 set.

Featuring other fun cards "that never were" like 1959 Ted Williams, 1933 Delong Babe Ruth, 1966 Steve Carlton, it was available for a short time through yours truly.

1972 ALL-STAR SUB-SET: DOCK ELLIS

Really fun card to add to the blog AND my on-going 1972 All-Star "missing" sub-set today, a card for the National League's starting pitcher in the 1971 Midsummer Classic, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis:

 

Ellis was on his way to his best year as a Big League pitcher in 1971, and with that was given the honor of starting what turned out to be one of the historic All-Star game in baseball history, featuring somewhat of a transition of the "old" classic baseball of the 1950's and 1960's with stars like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente, while also showcasing young up and coming superstars of the new age like Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew.

By the time 1971 ended Ellis finished with a very nice 19-9 record for the eventual World Champions, sporting an earned run average of 3.06 over 31 starts, with 11 complete games and two shutouts, tossing a career-best 226.2 innings.

Those numbers would get him a fourth place finish in the Cy Young Award race in November, with Chicago Cubs great Fergie Jenkins winning it based on his league-leading 24 wins.

Of course, we would be terribly negligent here without also mentioning that Ellis was the pitcher who served up the classic bomb hit by Reggie Jackson in the All-Star game that almost cleared the ballpark, a moment that marked somewhat of the arrival of the man who would go on to be nicknamed "Mr. October" and become a household name across the country by decade's end.

Nevertheless, Ellis would go on to pitch 12 years in the Majors, finishing up after the 1979 season, posting a final record of 138-119 over 345 games, 317 of them as a starter, tossing 14 shutouts and striking out 1136.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1974 N.L. WINS

On the blog today, we have a 1974 "expanded league leaders" card celebrating the three top winners in the National League for 1973:

 

Leading off is one of those great anomalies in the annals of "league leaders", San Francisco Giants pitcher Ron Bryant, who won 24 of his career 57 games in 1973 alone.

Bryant was coming off of a 1972 season that saw him post a record of 14-7, not bad, before he steamrolled to 24 wins in 1973.

However it wasn't necessarily a dominating year for the lefty, as he'd also post an earned run average of 3.53 over 270 innings, with 143 strikeouts and zero shutouts.

The following season he would plummet to a record of 3-15 with a 5.61 ERA over the same 41 appearances, tossing only 126.2 innings before having one last year in the Big Leagues in 1975, going 0-1 in only 10 appearances with a bloated 16.62 ERA over 8.2 innings.

The definition of "career year" if there ever was one!

Right behind him with 19 wins was the National League's Cy Young winner, the great Tom Seaver, who put in a "typical" Seaver year with a league-leading 2.08 ERA and 251 strikeouts, as well as 18 complete games with three shutouts over 36 games and 290 innings of work, helping the New York Mets make the World Series before an eventual loss to the three-peat Oakland A's.

Before he was done Seaver would win one more Cy, two years later, and get ripped of another in 1981 (in my humble opinion), on his way to "All-Time Great" status.

Tied with Seaver with those 19 wins was the Cincinnati Reds pitcher who really gets lost in the shuffle of the mid-70's, Jack Billingham, who had the first of his two straight 19-win seasons for the burgeoning "Big Red Machine" Reds teams.

For a juggernaut of a team those Reds were, they did not have that star "ace" that we can find with other dynasties.

Those Reds teams had guys like Don Gullett, Fred Norman, and Billingham, who were solid pitchers but were also helped a great deal by lineups that included dudes like Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and George Foster.

For Billingham, in addition to the 19 wins he posted an ERA of 3.04 with a league-leading seven shutouts and 293.1 innings pitched, striking out 155 batters, finishing fourth at year's end in the Cy Young race, making his only All-Star team as well.

A bit of an odd year as far as "league leaders" in wins go for that period, but great nevertheless!

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1977 ORLANDO ALVAREZ

Today's blog post has a "not so missing" career-capper for former outfielder Orlando Alvarez, he of a 25-games Major League career spread out over four Big League seasons:

 

After three years as a Los Angeles Dodger where he only appeared in 10 total games, Alvarez remained "local" and played in 15 games with the California Angels in 1976.

Over those two-dozen+ games he hit .167 with seven hits in 42 at-bats, scoring four runs while driving in eight with two homers and a double.

He would spend 1977 and 1978 bouncing around the Minors for four different organizations before calling at a career, finishing up with a Big League resume that included 25 games, with eight hits over 51 at-bats, good for a .157 batting average, with four runs scored and eight RBI's.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 LARRY JOHNSON

On the blog this fine day, we have a career-capping 1979 card for former catcher Larry Johnson, who appeared in three scant games for the Chicago White Sox during the 1978 season:

 

After a full season in the Minor Leagues in 1977 Johnson made it back to the Majors in 1978, albeit for those three games, collecting a single and a walk over nine plate appearances.

It would be the last action for him as a Major League catcher, playing parts of five seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos and White Sox.

However over those five seasons he only played in 12 games total, appearing in one game each of 1972, 1974 and 1975, six for the Expos in 1976 and the three games in 1978.

Over those dozen games, he collected five hits in 26 at-bats, "good" for a .192 batting average with a run scored and an RBI.

This is the third card I've created for him for the blog over the years, with a 1973 and then a 1975 coming before today's custom.

Gotta respect those "cup-o-coffee" Big Leaguers!