1970 "IN-GAME ACTION": MEL STOTTLEMYRE

Today on the blog we spotlight my 1970 "In-Game Action" card for former New York Yankees ace Mel Stottlemyre, from my Series 2 edition released a few months back:

Stottlemyre was coming off his third and final 20-win season in 1969, finishing up with a record of 20-14 with a 2.82 ERA over 39 appearances, all starts, throwing a league-leading 24 complete games.

With a half-season in 1964 (his first year), and 1974 (his last), he put up nine full seasons in between, and all but one (1966) rock solid for some poor Yankee teams.

In nine full years on the mound, he posted three 20-win seasons (all while pitching during the Bronx "lean years"), five sub-3.00 ERA years, seven 15+ win seasons, nine 250+ innings seasons, and six years of four or more shutouts, topping out with seven in both 1971 and 1972.

How solid is THAT!?

A five-time all-star, I can't even imagine what his win totals could have been had he stayed healthy and pitched into the late-1970's/early-80's, or even if he wasn't starring for those bad Yankee teams post-dynasty between 1965-on.

Consider his numbers in the small amount of time he was a Major League pitcher: a 164-139 record, with a nice 2.97 ERA, 40 shutouts and 1257 K's in only 356 starts!

Those are really some seriously great numbers.

Sadly because of a rotator-cuff injury in 1974, he had to retire at the young age of only 32, leaving us to wonder "what could have been".

Of course we know that he later went on to become one of the most respected pitching coaches in the Majors from the 1980-s with the Mets on through to the "new" Yankee dynasty in the late-90's/early-00's, before retiring for good after the 2008 season.

NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES ALL-TIME LEGENDS: JOHN BECKWITH

On the blog today, we give former Negro leagues legend John Beckwith a card in my long-running 1972 sub-set, my way of celebrating what was the 25th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut in 1947:

The slugging infielder was one of the most powerful players to ever play in the Negro Leagues, swinging his 38-ounce bat and consistently batting over .300, including his 1925 season where he batted .404.

Babe Ruth once quipped, " Not only can Beckwith hit harder than any Negro ballplayer, but any man in the world," as evidenced by blasts such as his 460-foot bomb at Griffith Stadium, which would have actually traveled further had it not been for the 40-foot sign that stopped it.

Beckwith ranks among career leaders in Negro League history in batting average, home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage, hitting .349 with 76 homers, 461 RBIs and a very nice .583 slugging percentage between 1920 and 1935.

For some more info on the all-time great, check out his Wiki-page here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Beckwith_(baseball)

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1972 JACK WHILLOCK

Up on the blog today, a 1972 "not so missing" card for one-year Big League pitcher Jack Whillock of the Detroit Tigers:

The 28-year-old appeared in what was the entirety of his career during the Summer of 1971, seven games total, going 0-2 with a 5.63 earned run average in eight innings of work.

Sadly for him he wouldn't make it back to a Big League mound again, toiling another three years in the Minors before calling it quits after the 1974 season, when he played in the Cleveland Indians system.

All told he put in 11 years as a pro, originally in the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1964, but alas a Major Leaguer for just those seven games in August and September of 1971.

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL SPECIAL: BILL MADLOCK

The next National League player in my new 1977 "Centennial Celebration" sub-set is reigning batting champ Bill Madlock of the Chicago Cubs:

Funny enough, Madlock was coming off of TWO straight National League batting titles in 1977 when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player deal, with Chicago landing Bobby Murcer among others.
The “Mad Dog” didn’t disappoint, as he’d put in two solid seasons of .300+ averages with some pop before he was shipped off to Pittsburgh in the middle of the 1979 season.
He would go on to put together a very nice 15-year career between 1973 and 1987, but apparently not quite Hall material, finishing with a .305 average with 2008 hits, 920 runs scored and 860 runs batted in with 163 homers and 174 stolen bases.
Just one of those historical quirks that has him as a four-time batting champ, but not really one of the all-time greats.

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS: 1964 EARLY WYNN

Up on the blog today, from my "1960's Career-Cappers" set released in 2021, a 1964 capper for 300-game winner Early Wynn, who wrapped up a Hall of Fame career in 1963:

Wynn's Major League romp towards 300 career wins didn't really pick up steam until he was 30-years old and a member of the Cleveland Indians in 1950, as he posted an 18-8 record with a league-leading 3.20 earned run average.

From then on he was hovering around 20-wins every year for the next ten years, topping the mark five times.

In 1959, now a member of the "Go-Go" Chicago White Sox, Wynn anchored the staff that led the team to a World Series appearance against the eventual champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, by posting a 22-10 record, leading the league in wins and copping a Cy Young Award at the age of 39.

However, the struggle to get that elusive 300th win is now well-documented, as he hung on for the next four years until he got that final victory in 1963 at the age of 43, thus joining the exclusive club and pretty much sealing his Cooperstown induction in his fourth year of eligibility, getting 76% of the BBWA vote.

All told, Wynn finished his 23-year career with a 300-244 record, with a 3.54 E.R.A., 49 shutouts and 2334 strikeouts in 691 games, 611 of which were starts, and was named to seven all-star teams.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1971 JIM DAVENPORT

On the blog today, we have a career-capping “not so missing” 1971 card for former long-time San Francisco Giant Jim Davenport, who called it a career after 13 years:

 

Davenport played all of his career with the Giants, coming up in 1958, the first year the franchise relocated to San Francisco following a storied history in New York.

Over that time Davenport gave the team a solid glove at third base, with time also spend at shortstop and second base, with occasional “pop” in his bat.

In his final season of 1970, he appeared in only 22 games, hitting .243 with nine hits over 37 at-bats, and finished up with 1501 games played, which is STILL fourth most in team history believe it or not, with his 1130 games at third place still the most ever at that position for the team.

Known more for his fielding, he led the National league in fielding at third base three years in a row: 1959-1961, winning a Gold Glove in 1962, and set a record at that time with 97 straight games without an error from July 1966 to April 1968.

He’d finish his career with a .258 batting average, along with 77 homers and 456 runs batted in over 4427 at-bats, before moving on to coaching, and even a managerial stint with the team in 1985.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1978 A.L. STOLEN BASES

On the blog today, we reach the top three stolen base guys of the American League for 1977, celebrated on an “expanded” 1978 league-leader card:

 

We begin with the Kansas City Royals Freddie Patek, who paced the league with his 53 steals, the second straight year where he swiped over 50, and seventh season in a row with over 30.

Patek gave the Royals a solid run through the 70’s at shortstop, even making a few All-Star teams after coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971.

In his first full season that year, he swiped 49 bases, hit .267 and scored 86 runs, finishing sixth in the MVP race by year’s end.

In second place with 42 steals, the runner-up to the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award for 1977, Mitchell Page, who had an excellent debut in the Majors.

That season saw him hit 21 home runs, with 85 runs scored and 75 runs batted in, while hitting a very nice .307 with 154 hits in 501 at-bats.

Sadly for him however, there was a first baseman by the name of Eddie Murray making HIS MLB debut that season, and he’d be the one to take home the Rookie honors.

For Page, he could never match those numbers again, having only two other full-time seasons over his eight-year career before retiring after the 1984 campaign, appearing in 16 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In third place with 41 steals, a tie between two teammates, the great Bobby Bonds and infielder Jerry Remy of the California Angels.

For Bonds, it was business as usual, as he was also second in the league with his 37 homers, while reaching the 30-30 club for a record fourth time in 1977, while also setting a career best with his 115 RBIs.

For his teammate, second baseman Jerry Remy, it was his third straight solid Big League season since making his debut in 1975, hitting .252 with those 41 steals, with 74 runs scored and 10 triples.

He’d find himself with the Boston Red Sox in 1978, where he’d play the final seven years of his career before becoming a much-loved announcer for the team for many years before succumbing to cancer in 2021, putting in a long baseball life either on the field or behind the mic, highly respected on both ends.