MINOR LEAGUE DAYS LEGENDS EDITION: WARREN SPAHN

Up on the blog today, adding one of my all-time favorite players, Warren Spahn, to my on-going "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set, celebrating his time in the Minors before moving on to greatness on the Major League diamond:

Spahn is shown here suited up for the Hartford Bees of the Eastern League in 1942 at the age of 21.

It was his only season with the team and he did not disappoint, going 17-12 over 33 games with a brilliant 1.96 earned run average over 248 innings of work.

This earned him his promotion to the Majors later in the year, appearing in four games for the Boston Braves, getting hit hard to the tune of a 5.74 ERA over 15.2 innings.

Sadly, with the onset of World War II, Spahn, as well as so many others, found themselves trading baseball cleats for army boots, serving his country for the next three years before returning in 1946, now 25 years old.

Anyone who has followed this blog long enough knows by now that any time I can create a card for the mighty lefty, I will take it!

The man was amazing, flat out, and by the time he retired in 1965 he posted a 363-245 record, with a 3.09 ERA, 63 shutouts, 28 saves and 2583 strikeouts over 750 appearances, 665 of which were starts.

Oh yeah, he also hit 35 career home runs along with 189 runs batted in with (coincidentally) 363 hits!

And again, remember he didn’t win his first game until he was 25 years of age, as he served in the military from 1943 to 1945.

His first 20-game season was 1947 (at the age of 26), and he kept right on rolling until his final 20-game season in 1963!

In between, he ended up posting 13 such campaigns, leading the league eight times (with five of those coming consecutively from 1957 to 1961).

Just an incredible career for the lefty from Buffalo, New York, who would have easily posted over 400 wins had it not been for a World War.

 

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: N.L. OUTFIELDER HANK AARON

Good day all!

On the blog today, my final pick for National League outfielder of the decade to go along with Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, none other than Hank Aaron, which makes for a RIDICULOUS outfield trip leading the Senior League through the 1960s:

I mean, it's not even fair to have these three together patrolling the outfield under any circumstance.

As for Aaron?

There's really no need to get into it with one of the All-Time best, but let's do it anyway.

For the decade, all Aaron did was score over 100 runs a season every year but 1968 (the "year of the pitcher"), hit over 40 homers five times, drive in over 100 runs six times, and lead the National league in primary offensive categories 17 times.

He was an All-Star every single season, and finish in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting seven times.

The man was a machine, and it was that consistency that lead to his massive lifetime totals in almost every offensive category: homers, runs batted in, runs scored, hits, total bases, you name it.

On top of all of that, the 1960's brought out the "speed" in Aaron, as he totaled double digits in stolen bases nine times during the decade, the ONLY times he stole as much in his entire 23 year career.

Imagine: Mays, Clemente and Aaron on the same team. Just wild...

WTHBALLS "BASEBALL ICONS" SPECIAL SET: WILLIE MAYS

The next "icon" of the sweet game of baseball to be featured in my custom "Icons" set that will see the light of day later this year is none other than Willie Mays, perhaps the greatest of them all:

This set features greats of the game during the "Golden Era" of baseball, with special home field background art from the 1950s and 1960s.

Just a fun creative set to work on, which will come in a special package that I conceived some time ago.

Keep your eyes peeled for it!

As for the man himself, what needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history?
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.

MISSING ALL-STAR MANAGER: 1972 SPARKY ANDERSON

Up on the blog today, something we'll see a lot of through the 1970s, Cincinnati reds manager Sparky Anderson leading the National League in the All-Star game over their American League rivals, with this one a "missing" 1972 All-Star card:

Again, being a fan of base-card All-Star designations a la 1975-1981, I went and created "missing" versions from 1970-1974, including cards for the managers.

Arguably leading the team of the decade, the Cincinnati Reds, Anderson was at the helm of a team that featured many of the top players of the era.

In 1975 the Reds were arguably one of the best teams in baseball history, steamrolling to 108 victories before eventually beating the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

In 1976, more of the same as the team would win 102 games before sweeping the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Throw in the fact that they were also in the World Series in both 1970 and 1972, and it really looked like the team, stacked with guys like Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and George Foster, would be keeping our attention for quite some time.

But alas, according to Sparky, it was the trading of one of their OTHER stars, Tony Perez, that took the heart and soul out of the team, and shockingly the "Big Red Machine" would not bring home another championship, and the franchise would have to wait until 1990 before experiencing it again.

For Anderson however, the man would go down as one of the greatest managers in Major League history, moving on to the Detroit Tigers in 1979, where he would go on to manage 17 years, giving him a combined 26 years of Big League managing, even taking home another title with that great 1984 Tiger team that was in first "wire-to-wire", winning 104 games before beating the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

All told the man won 2194 games as a manager, finishing with a .545 winning percentage, three titles, 5 pennants, and of course a Hall of Fame induction in 2000.

Legend, and perpetually looking like an "old man" even when he was in his 30's!

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: MISSING 1972 ZOILO VERSALLES

Good day all!

On the blog today, we revisit a ten-year-old post, this time my "missing" 1972 card for former MVP Zoilo Versalles, who was wrapping up a nice Major League career by the time this card would have seen the light of day:

Here's the original write-up from that post:

You think a former Most Valuable Player would get a little more love from Topps than 1965 winner Zoilo Versalles got in 1972.

After appearing in 66 games for the Atlanta Braves, hitting .191 in 194 at-bats, Versalles was still a member of the organization by the time the 1972 set was being printed, yet he wasn't given a slot on the checklist while quite a few "no-names" with even less action did.

Not the best picture out there, but believe me when I tell you I looked far and wide for a better one of him in an Atlanta uniform. Couldn't find one.

Now, I'll admit that Versalles really was one of those "who?" M.V.P. names when you go through the awards history.

Sure he had a nice season in 1965 as part of the pennant winning Minnesota Twins.

However that team was loaded with "co-stars", from Tony Oliva, to Harmon Killebrew, to Mudcat Grant and Jim Kaat on the mound.

Nevertheless, Versalles ended up leading the American League in at-bats, runs, doubles, triples and total bases, and even pulled in a Gold Glove.

So when voting time came around, he outdistanced teammate Oliva 275 to 174 in points.

It's interesting to note that to reinforce the fact that Versalles had quite a co-starring cast helping him out, no less than six Twins finished in the top-15 in M.V.P. voting that year: Versalles, Oliva, Grant (6th), Earl Battey (10th), Jimmie Hall (13th) and Killebrew (15th).

Not too bad, even IF they ended up losing to the Dodgers in the World Series.

For Versalles, he'd never again come close to those type of numbers, finishing up his career in 1971 after a few mediocre years with the Dodgers, Indians, Senators and Braves.

I guess you could consider this a "career-capper" card as well for what it's worth. However I really left that thread to retired Hall of Famers.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: TONY CONIGLIARO

On the blog today, we have my "Classic Baseball" custom card for Boston Red Sox young slugger Tony Conigliaro, who was on his way to a wonderful career before his tragic beaning in 1967:

Just a beautiful photograph of the promising right-fielder, who was already a home run champ by the age of 21, two years before a Jack Hamilton pitch to the face derailed his career.

We all know the story by now: "Tony C" was a budding star in the big leagues, leading the league in homers at the young age of 20 in 1965 and building on a career that was making the homegrown player a Boston darling.

But in 1967 he was hit in the face by a Jack Hamilton pitch that permanently derailed his career, eventually playing a single year for the Angels in 1971 before leaving the game for three years before making a dramatic "comeback" in 1975.

That season he appeared in only 21 games, good for 69 plate appearances. But it was an emotional return of sorts for Conigliaro, even if it would be the last games of his career, forcing him to retire at the age of 30.

Since he actually appeared in those final games during the 1975 season, I figured a 1976 card for him was more appropriate.

It is easy to forget that after his beaning in 1967, and missing all of 1968, Conigliaro came back and posted a remarkable return season in 1969, hitting 20 homers, driving in 82, and taking home the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award.

1970 was even more incredible, as he swatted a career high 36 home runs, while driving in 100+ for the only time in his career (116)!

Sadly because of the beaning he suffered eye-troubles and was never the same again, and he was traded to the California Angels with pitcher Ray Jarvis and catcher Jerry Moses for Doug Griffin, Jarvis Tatum and Ken Tatum.

As if that wasn't enough for the poor guy, the true tragedy of the Tony Conigliaro story would be in 1982, when he was about to interview for a broadcasting job in Boston and suffered a catastrophic stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state until his death eight years later in 1990.

Really a sad story that leaves you with the "what if's" of the sports world…

CUSTOM SPECIAL INSERT: 1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS THURMAN MUNSON REDO

Hello everyone!

On the blog today, my special insert card for my "Series 16" set, a redo of the never-released Topps 1971 Rookie All-Stars card of Thurman Munson:

Profiled here on the blog a while back, Topps had a prototype set made of the 1970 Rookie All-Stars, with Munson as the key player.

It was just a paste-up 5x7 set on card-stock that never ended up getting released, but that set did make it out there into the collecting world, thus creating the "unicorn" status for uber-collectors.

I wanted to create something special as far as an insert for my Series 16 set, so I just recreated the Munson card with the original template, with a new image of the future Yankees captain.

I guess you can say the future Yankee dynasty of the late 1970's started right here with this guy when he came up and won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970.

Soon after he was joined by the likes of Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph, on their way to back-to-back titles as well as an American League pennant in 1976.

Not only did he take home the Rookie of the Year in 1970, but he'd go on to win the Most Valuable Player award six years later, to go along with seven all-star berths as well as three Gold Gloves.

For three consecutive seasons he drove in 100+ runs with LESS than 20 homers, topping out at 18 in 1977, while hitting over .300 each and every time.

I particularly love his M.V.P. year, where he had 665 plate appearances yet only struck out 38 times while collecting 186 hits over 616 at-bats. Pretty amazing stuff. He even stole 14 bases as well!

What an age for catchers huh? You had Munson, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons all putting in all-star seasons after all-star seasons.

Sadly we all know how Munson's story played out. I remember that day like it was yesterday and will never forget it.