WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: DAVE PARKER

Today on the blog, my Dave Parker mini-card from my custom "Gum Pack" set released months ago as a bit of an "extra" kick to the WTHBALLS checklist:

Fun little set to create and produce in unique gum pack packaging!

An all-around super-star, Parker hit for average, for power, had a cannon for an arm, and would even steal some bases if needed.

By the time he retired after the 1991 season, a nice 19-year career, he posted over 2700 hits, 1200 runs scored, 500 doubles, almost 1500 runs batted in, 339 home runs and over 150 stolen bases!

He was a seven-time all-star who also finished in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting six times, with three Gold Gloves thrown in for good measure.

The fact that Dave Parker never garnered more than 24.5% of the BBWA Hall of Fame vote (1998) before becoming ineligible in 2011 is just criminal in my eyes.

This man should be in the Hall of Fame. Plain and simple! "Analytics" be damned!

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: CARLTON FISK

Time to go and add Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk to my custom WTHBALLS "Classic Baseball" set, a custom production I plan on issuing over five series later this year in celebration of the sport I love so much pretty much my entire life:

Just a nice in-game shot of the elite catcher.

Carlton Fisk immediately made his impact on the game, unanimously winning the 1972 Rookie of the Year Award by hitting .293 and leading the league with nine triples along with 22 homers and 61 runs batted in.
Of course, we all know he’d go on to star for both the Red Sox and then the Chicago White Sox over the next 21 seasosn, 24 overall, becoming one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game.
He'd be named to eleven all-star games, collect 2356 Major League hits, and slam 376 home runs with 1330 runs batted in and 1276 runs scored.
Of course, he’d also give us one of baseball’s all-time moments, hitting the game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series versus the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, the image of him waving the ball fair a part of Major League history.
After eleven years in Boston, he would go on to play 13 more with the White Sox, playing until the age of 45! A tank of a man, and continue to put in solid season after season.
In 1985 at the age of 37, he set career highs in home runs (37) and Runs batted in (107), while tying his career high in stolen bases (17) while catching 130 games. Just amazing.
After missing out on a Hall of Fame selection in 1999 (how the Hell did that happen?), he made it in the following year when he was named on 79.6% of ballots, joining other all-time catchers like Campanella, Berra and Bench in baseball immortality.

1960S "IN-ACTION": 1961 HANK AARON

Up on the blog today, my 1961 "In-Action" card for "Hammerin' Hank Aaron", from my recent custom "1960s In-Action" Series 2 set released a couple months back:

Love this image of Aaron at the plate, and it was fun to create a unique 1961-based template to place it into for the set!

As I've stated so many times on this blog, the man was simply out of this world...

Let his numbers do all the talking: 2174 runs scored, 3771 hits, 624 doubles, 98 triples, 755 home runs, 2297 runs batted in, a .305 batting average no less than 21 all-star selections!
Just tremendous!
He also had eight top-5 finishes for MVP, including taking home the award in 1957, as well as three Gold Gloves won consecutively between 1958-1960.
It's incredible to look at his 15 years of topping 100 or more runs scored, 11 seasons of 100 or more runs batted in, five more seasons of 90+ RBI's, and TWENTY STRAIGHT years of 20 or more home runs.

How can he be underrated, yet celebrated so much? Yet it seems to be true.

Just incredible.

"Oh Henry!"

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 PETE MACKANIN

Good day all!

On the blog today we take a closer look at former Montreal Expo infielder Pete Mackanin and his 1977 image variations between OPC and Topps:

OPC version

Topps version

 

While OPC went with a clear posed photo for their card, the Topps version had this shadowy image of Mackanin out in the Sunshine.

Nothing Earth-shattering by any means, but again, questionable image pick for the fine folks at Topps!

Mackanin put in nine years in the Majors, between 1973 when he came up with the Texas Rangers and 1981 when he wrapped up his Big League tenure as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

In between he hit .226 over that time, collecting 355 hits over 1570 at-bats in 548 games, with his finest year 1980 when he hit .266 for the Twins, with 31 runs scored and 35 runs batted in.

A versatile player out in the field, he would see time at both corner outfield spots and all four infield positions during his career.

He would also put in time as a Major League manager in parts of five seasons: 2005 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds, and 2015 through 2017 as skipper of the Philadelphia Phillies.

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1970 MAYO SMITH

On the blog today, a "missing" 1970 All-Star manager card, even though Topps didn't have base-card All-Star designations, but I did a while back, so I added to that thread with such a card for former Detroit Tigers skipper Mayo Smith, who led the A.L. in the 1969 game:

Thanks to his World Championship season of 1968 at the helm of the Detroit Tigers, Smith was the manager for the A.L. in the 1969 "Midsummer Classic", a game that saw the National League prevail 9-3.

The Tigers marched to a championship with a memorable 1968 year that saw them win 103 games before stunning the reigning champion St. Louis Cardinals and taking home the title.

Smith was manager of the Tigers from 1967 to 1970, posting three 90+ win seasons and two second place finishes in addition to the first place finish of 1968.

His other managerial jobs were as skipper of the Philadelphia Phillies between 1955 and 1958, and a part of the 1959 season with the Cincinnati reds in 1959, with his greatest success in those tenures two .500 seasons with Philly when he finished 77-77 in both 1955 and 1957.

As a player, he put in only 73 games during the 1945 season with the Philadelphia Athletics as an outfielder, hitting .212 with 18 runs scored and 11 runs batted in.

 

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. THIRD BASEMAN BROOKS ROBINSON

Today's blog post has my pick (as well as I'm assuming everyone else's pick) for the American League third baseman of the 1960s, Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson:

I mean, as if there would be any other selection for the position!

In 1958 he’d play his first full season in the Big Leagues, and it was all cruise control from there, as the great third baseman would go on to grab 16 Gold Gloves, an MVP Award in 1964, appear in 15 All-Star games, and help guide the Baltimore Orioles to two Championships and four A.L. Pennants.
By the time he hung up that golden glove after the 1977 season, he finished with 2848 hits, 1357 runs batted in, 268 home runs and 1232 runs scored in 2896 games.
Needless to say, by the time Cooperstown came calling, he was voted in on his first try, receiving 92% support in 1983.

The man set the standard for superstar third basemen, at the plate and with his glove, a standard they still use to this day, some 50 years after his retirement.

WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: CARL YASTRZEMSKI

Today on the blog, we have my mini custom card for Boston Red Sox legend Carl yastrzemski, from my "Gum Pack" custom set released a few months back:

Really fun set to create!

The man was at his height at the time this card would have seen the light of day in the mid to late 1970s, already a three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner in 1967, and five-time Gold Glove winner.

As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island, New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.

And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18 all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive categories.

By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816 runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in along with a .285 batting average.

He was just plain awesome…