Up
on the blog today, a fun card to add to the collection, a 1976 “not so
missing” card for 18-year Major League veteran Denny Walling, who
appeared in the first games of his Big League tenure during the 1975
season:
Walling played in six games for the Oakland A’s, hitting .125 with a hit
over eight at-bats, that being a double that drove in two runs.
He would go on to put in a very nice 18-year Big League career that saw
him play through the 1992 season, finishing up with a .271 batting
average, with 799 hits over 2945 at-bats, most for the Houston Astros
for whom he played between 1977 and 1988.
The most action he ever got in any one season would be 1986, helping the
Houston Astros reach the National League championship series against
the New York Mets, which was epic.
That season all Walling did was hit a career high .312 with 119 hits
over 382 at-bats, the only time over his career he’d reach triple-digits
in hits.
A man of all positions, Walling played all three outfield slots while
also putting in substantial time at third base and first base, with
third seeing the most action over his career.
Up
on the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1971 card for former St.
Louis cardinals pitcher Santiago Guzman, who played in parts of four
seasons between 1969 and 1972:
Guzman appeared in eight games for the Cardinals during the 1970 season,
the most action he’d see in any of his Big League campaigns.
Over those eight appearances he posted a record of 1-1 with an earned
run average of 7.24 in 13.2 innings of work, with three starts and a
complete game thrown in.
Originally up in 1969 as a 19-year-old, Guzman appeared in only 12 games
over his four seasons, with a high of those eight in 1970 when he
picked up his only Major League win.
After pitching in the Chicago White Sox organization during the 1973
season, Guzman was out of Pro Ball for good, finishing up with an MLB
record of 1-2 with an earned run average at 4.50 over 32 innings of
work, all for St. Louis.
Today
on the blog we have the fourth and final 1978 “fantasy” card of former
slugger Dave Kingman, celebrating his whirlwind 1977 season when he
played for four different teams, each one in a different league or
division.
This one is the California Angels edition:
Kingman only appeared in ten games for the Angels before getting moved
once again , this time to the eventual World Champion New York Yankees.
In his time with California, he hit two homers over 36 at-bats, driving
in four and hitting .194 with seven hits, two of them doubles.
With all of that he still hit 26 homers that season, with 78 runs batted
in and a “Dave Kingman-like” .221 batting average along with 143
strikeouts in 439 at-bats.
Of course he’d be “Kong” once again the following year with the Chicago
Cubs, hitting 28 homers before leading Major League ball in 1979 with 48
bombs, a career-high, and another HR title in 1982 when he hit 37 for
the New York Mets.
I was mesmerized and still am somewhat that the guy’s final year in the
Majors produced 35 home runs and 94 RBI’s, only to walk away after being
signed as a Free Agent by the San Francisco Giants that never led to
anything after some Minor League action.
The enigma that is “Kong”.
Today
on the blog we have a 1972 “traded” card for long-time Major League
catcher Tim McCarver, who found himself shipped North of the Border to
the Montreal Expos on June 14th of 1972:
McCarver started the year with the Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he
played the previous two seasons, and would only play this half season
with Montreal before heading back to his original MLB team, the St.
Louis Cardinals in 1973.
For his career, McCarver played in 1909 games, hitting .271 with 1501
hits over 5529 at-bats, with his best years in the mid-60’s with the St.
Louis Cardinals when he even finished second to teammate Orlando Cepeda
for National League Rookie of the Year and led the league with 13
triples the year before.
He’d play through the 1980 season, good for 21 years as a Big Leaguer,
before going on to an even more successful career as a baseball
broadcaster/commentator for almost 40 years, especially known for his
analytical approach.
One of my favorite quotes about him; “If you ask Tim McCarver what time
it is, he’ll explain how a watch works.”-Sports Writer Norman Chad.
Here’s
a nice “not so missing” card to add to the collection, my 1978 slab for
21-year Major League pitcher Rick Honeycutt, who started off his Big
League tenure with 10 appearances in 1977:
Honeycutt went 0-1 for the new Seattle mariner team in the Summer of
1977, posting a 4.34 earned run average over 29 innings as a
23-year-old, with three starts.
He would go on to pitch through the 1997 season, 21 years as both a
starter and a reliever, almost evenly split between the first half and
second half of his career respectively.
In 1983 he led the American League with a 2.42 ERA while with the Texas
Rangers in a season that saw him finish with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a
year that saw him post a career high 16 wins combined.
By the time he retired, he finished with a record of 109-143, with a
3.72 ERA over 797 appearances and 2160 innings of work, with 11 shutouts
and 38 saves along the way.
Here’s
a career-capping not so missing 1975 card for former All-Star and
Rookie of the Year runner up Jim Ray Hart, who finished up his Big
League tenure with 10 games as a New York Yankee in 1974:
Hart collected only one hit over 19 at-bats for an unsightly .053
batting average, closing out a career that actually started off
wonderfully with five excellent seasons between 1964 and 1968.
Over those seasons he topped 20 home runs every year, averaging 90 runs
batted in and hitting around .285 for the San Francisco Giants.
Between 1969 and 1974 he never played more than a part-time role,
playing with the Giants into the 1973 season before moving on to the
Yankees for the last two years of his career.
All told, he finished his 12-year career with 170 home runs, with a .278
batting average and 578 runs batted in over 1125 games, collecting 1052
hits in 3738 at-bats.
Up
on the blog today I have a 1972 “not so missing” card for former San
Francisco Giant pitcher Jim Willoughby, who made his Major League debut
in 1971 with two scant games:
The 22-year-old went 0-1 over those two games, pitching four innings to a
9.00 earned run average, with one of those appearances being a start.
He’d go on to play eight years in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a
career 26-36 record, with an ERA of 3.79 over 238 appearances, 28 of
those starts, with a shutout and 34 saves thrown in.
His best season could arguably be 1972 when he appeared in eleven games,
all starts, and completed seven games, going 6-4 with an ERA of 2.36
over 87.2 innings pitched.
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER...
@wthballs
Everything baseball: cards, events, history and more.
