On the blog today, we have my "not really missing" 1981 card for Minnie Minoso, from my recent custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months ago:

I'm so happy that Minoso is finally a Hall of Famer, and I always felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of getting into Cooperstown.
From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and topping 20 homers four times.
Eight times in that span he would top a .300 batting average, and in 1951 many consider him the true American League Rookie of the Year when he hit .326 split between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, while topping the league in triples with 14 and stolen bases with 31.
Along the way he was named to seven All-Star games, winning three Gold Gloves as well, funny enough finishing fourth in the A.L. MVP race four times.
Of course, 12 years after his last playing days, in 1976, he ended up going 1-for-8 at the plate as a 50 year-old, then coming back in 1980 at the age of 54 and going hitless in two at-bats.
Nevertheless, Minoso finished his career with a .298 average, with 1963 hits over 6579 at-bats, along with 186 homers and 205 stolen bases while also topping 1000 runs scored and RBIs, 1136 & 1023 respectively.

If only he didn't have to wait until his age 27 season to show the ENTIRE country what he could do on a ball field.

Time to showcase my custom "19th Century Base Ball Champions" card for the "Little Steam Engine", Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin, from my custom set released in 2018:

Branching out into the 1960s with my "Dedicated Rookies" theme, this time a 1962 card for flame-thrower Bob Veale of the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Veale would make his MLB debut that season at the age of 26, appearing in elevel games for the Pirates, going 2-2 with a 3.74 earned run average over 45.2 innings.

After a Sophomore season that saw him go 5-1 with a brilliant 1.04 ERA over 34 games in 1963, generally in relief, the lefty put in his first full year in 1964 and had a great year, going 18-12 over 39 games, all but two of them starts, posting an ERA of 2.74 in 279.2 innings with a league-leading 250 strikeouts, the first of what would be four seasons topping 200 K's.

He'd retire after the 1974 season with a tidy 120-95 record, with a 3.07 earned run average and 1703 K's with 20 shutouts.

Between 1964 and 1970 Veale was a very solid Major League starter, averaging 15 wins and 213 strikeouts over those seven years, easily keeping pace with contemporaries like Don Drysdale, Jim Bunning and Jim Maloney.

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a post from just about ten years ago featuring my "missing" 1975 card for former reliever Jack Aker, who wrapped up a very nice MLB career in 1974:

For the 1974 season, his last as a Major League player, Aker appeared in 41 games for both the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

He posted a record of 2-2 with a couple of saves and a 3.57 earned run average, all out of the pen.

As a matter of fact, in his entire 11 year career he never started a single game, appearing in a total of 495 games in relief, posting a (then) very respectable 124 saves, including 32 in 1966 alone when he had his best season in the big leagues for the Kansas City Athletics, going 8-4 with a 1.99 ERA to go along with those league-leading saves.

Between 1964 and 1974 he'd suit up for the Athletics, Pilots, Yankees, Cubs, Braves and Mets, finishing with a 47-45 record with a nice 3.28 ERA and 404 strikeouts over 746 innings of work in 495 appearances.

On the blog today, a beautiful card I hope to have released as part of a multi-series custom set, "Beautiful Baseball", by the end of the year, featuring one of my favorite players, All-Star outfielder Vada Pinson:

Just a beauty of a photo I found to celebrate both the sport I love and the man himself, who put in season after season as a top-notch player who got lost amid the Mays, Aarons and Clementes reigning the National League when he came up.

Heck, he even got lost on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds, trying to share the spotlight with guys like Frank Robinson and Pete Rose!

When you look at Pinson’s career, you should be impressed with what he accomplished between 1958 and 1975.
The man could slug the ball, hitting 256 home runs, while also swipe the base, as his 305 steals show. He collected 200+ hits in a season four times while topping .300 four times with a high of .343 in 1961 for the pennant winning Reds.
He led the N.L. in hits, doubles and triples two times each, while also topping the Senior Circuit in runs in his first full season, 1959, with 131.
By the time he completed his career, he topped 2700 hits, 1300 runs, 1100 runs batted in, 250 homers and 300 stolen bases.
To this day it amazes me that guys like Pinson, Al Oliver, Ted Simmons, Steve Garvey, Dave Parker and Jack Morris get snubbed by both the BBWA at first, then the Veterans Committee, yet Cooperstown has players like Stonewall Jackson, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines and “High Pockets” Kelly in there.

Today on the blog, we finally add the greatest of them all, Willie Mays, to my upcoming custom "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and its impact on my life all these decades:

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.

From way back in 2015, today we revisit my "missing" 1976 card for Ivan DeJesus, originally for a project for my buddy Jim, who was creating a master 1976 set, including many players originally left out of the classic set:

Turns out DeJesus played in 63 games for the Dodgers in 1975, good for 99 plate appearances and 87 at-bats.

He hit .184 with a couple of doubles and a triple, with 10 runs scored and two runs batted in.

It really wasn't until 1977, now as a Chicago Cub, that he would become a full-time Major League player. 

By the time he retired as a player after the 1988 season, he played for the Dodgers, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Yankees, Giants and Tigers over the course of 15 seasons, and finished with a .254 average with 1167 hits and 194 stolen bases.

Between 1977 and 1980 he had some solid seasons for the Cubs, even leading the National League in runs scored in 1978 with 104, and twice topping 40 stolen bases (in 1978 and 1980).

I just always figured he came up with the Cubs. Goes to show you learn something new every day!

On the blog today, we spotlight SHOULD-BE Hall of Famer Pete Browning, from my 2018 custom "19th Century Base Ball Champions" set:

How is this man still not in the Hall!?

Over the course of his tumultuous 13-year career, he took home three batting titles, topped .400 in 1887 when he also stole 103 bases, and finished with a .341 career average.

He is also famously the man who put "Louisville Slugger" on the map, with company founder John Andrew "Bud" Hillerich custom-making Browning a bat when he was mired in a slump.

Almost at the level of "quirky" as Rube Waddell, please do yourself a favor and read more about his life here:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Pete-Browning/

Nevertheless, by the time he retired after the 1894 season, Browning finished with a .341 average, with 1646 hits over 4820 at-bats, with a .403 OBP while stealing 258 bases and scoring 954 runs.

Because so much of his career was in the American Association, playing for Louisville, it seems to have kept him out of the Hall, where I feel he should be.

On the blog today, we dip into the 1960s and post up my 1968 "Dedicated Rookie" card for New York Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman, who had himself a wonderful Major League career:

“Kooz” spent the first 12 years of his Major League career as a New York Met, and performed marvelously, posting solid seasons which saw him finish behind Johnny Bench in 1968 for National League Rookie of the Year in 1968, and in second-place for Cy Young in 1976 when he won a career high 21 games to along with a 2.69 earned run average and 200 strikeouts.
But over the following two seasons, and not entirely HIS fault, Koosman posted a combined 11-35 record, even though his ERA was around 3.62 and he struck out 352 batters.
That was enough for the Mets to ship him to Minnesota on December 8th, 1978 for a relief pitcher that would pay off years later, Jesse Orosco.
Koosman immediately made an impact in Minnesota, posting another 20-win season (at the time one of the few to do so in both leagues), while posting a 3.38 ERA and 157 strikeouts.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season he’d win 222 games, while collecting a nice 3.36 ERA with 2556 strikeouts and 33 shutouts over 612 games, 527 of which were starts.
I remember hearing years ago that Koosman loved to tell people how his “rookie card” was worth a lot of money and was the hottest card in the 1968 set, only to follow up and casually mention that “Oh yeah, some guy named Nolan Ryan is on there too.”
Love it...

On the blog today, we revisit my "missing" 1976 card for pitcher Wayne Simpson, which was originally created for my buddy Jim for his "1976 Project".

The newest edition to the "1976 Project", as I like to refer to the series I am producing for "Reader Jim", is former pitcher Wayne Simpson, who I will admit played sparingly in 1975 for the Philadelphia Phillies, so Topps' omission of him in their set the following year is understood, but I felt was still a valid card to design.

Check out the card:

Simpson pitched in only seven games for the Phillies, five of them starts, totaling 30.2 innings of work. He posted a 1-0 record with a respectable 3.23 earned run average.

He missed the previous year after playing for the Kansas City Royals in 1973, and would actually miss all of 1976 before making a bit of a "comeback" with the California Angels in 1977 (see my 1978 "Missing in Action" card for him by clicking on his name on the right under "Labels").

Simpson came up with an absolute "BANG" in 1970, going 14-3 with a 3.02 E.R.A., two shutouts and 10 complete games in 24 starts with the Cincinnati Reds, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.

But arm injuries derailed his career, and he never reached those heights again before leaving the game after posting a 6-12 record for the Angels in 1977.

Normally I would not be designing a card for a guy who only appeared in seven games the previous year, but with "Reader Jim's" completist mission for the 1976 set, which happens to be my all-time favorite, I am always down to design more cards in the 1976 template. It's just a matter of finding the suitable images of the players themselves.

Hello everyone!

Excited to announce the release of my 1954 Wilson's Franks extension set:

 

I went and added 15 baseball stars of that era to the classic and highly sought after oddball set, finally finding a commercial printer who could guarantee the very tight white borders particular to the original set.

On the blog today, we add an incredibly underrated and under-appreciated Hall of Famer, Detroit Tigers great Al Kaline, to my custom "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and it's "Golden Era":

What a great all-around player the Tigers had for 20 years!

Buried under names like Aaron, Mays, Mantle, etc, he just went about his business year in and year out and paved the way for his eventual induction into Cooperstown's hallowed halls in 1980.

The 1960's saw Kaline make eight All-Star teams, win seven Gold Gloves, and receive solid M.V.P. support seven of ten years, finishing as high as second in 1963.

Though he only led the league in a primary offensive category only once (doubles in 1961) in the 1960s, Kaline's consistency was his strength, as he topped .300 four times, 20 homers five times, and a .500 slugging percentage five times.

The 15-time all-star topped 3000 hits, 1600 runs, 1500 runs batted in and came one home run short of 400 over his stellar career, which also included 10 Gold Gloves for his defensive prowess.
An easy Hall of Fame pick, he was inducted in his first year of eligibility in 1980 with 88.3% of the ballots cast.
“Mr. Tiger” indeed!

Up on the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for former New York Mets pitcher John Strohmayer, who wrapped up a brief Big League career with a single game in 1974:

Here's a "missing" 1973 card for pitcher John Cumberland of the St. Louis Cardinals:

After a very nice 1971 season with the San Francisco Giants which saw him post a 9-6 record with a 2.92 E.R.A. and two shutouts in 45 games and 185 innings, Cumberland started the 1972 season 0-4 with a bloated 8.64 E.R.A., finding himself traded to the Cardinals for a minor league player on June 16th.

The change of scenery didn't exactly help, as he went on to a 1-1 record with a 6.65 earned run average over 14 games.

All told he went 1-5 with a 7.71 E.R.A. over 23 games and 46.2 innings of work.

He actually didn't appear in a Major League game in 1973, but came back for 17 appearances in 1974 with the California Angels, fairing a bit better with an 0-1 record and 3.74 E.R.A. over 21.2 innings, his last on the big league level.

For his career, Cumberland went 15-16 with a 3.82 earned run average over 110 appearances, 36 of which were starts.

Today we'll revisit my "missing" 1972 card for Gomer Hodge, whose only taste of the "Big Time" was in 1971 with the Cleveland Indians:

Hodge only saw big league action during the 1971 season with the Tribe, playing in 80 games and collecting 90 plate appearances.

Used generally as a pinch-hitter, he also played first, second and third base for a total of eight times.

He batted .205 for the year, getting 17 hits in 83 official at-bats, with three doubles and a home run with nine runs batted in and three runs scored.

Hodge played all of his 16-year professional ball in the Cleveland organization between 1963 and 1976, playing in over 1000 minor league games before calling it a career at the age of 32.

On the blog today, we break away from the 1970s and create a 1981 Career-Capper for Willie McCovey, something I plan on doing more of in the upcoming new year:

When he got called up to the Big Leagues in 1959, all he did was tear the seams off the ball by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 runs batted in along with 32 runs scored in only 52 games, copping a Rookie of the Year Award and setting the tone for his 22-year career.

In 1969 he had his finest season, as he made his fifth All-Star team, on his way to taking home the league MVP Award after a year that saw him lead the league with 45 homers, 126 RBIs, a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, as well as a whopping 45 intentional base on balls.

The man put it ALL together that year!

By the time he retired in 1980, he crushed 521 home runs, collected over 2000 hits, drove in over 1500, and left his mark as one of the most feared sluggers of his generation.

In 1986, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall of Fame with 81.4% of the ballots cast.

Man, what a threesome McCovey, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda made back in the 1960's for San Francisco, huh?

Just incredible.

On the blog today, we revisit my "missing" 1979 card for former New York Mets pitcher Mardie Cornejo:

Cornejo is a bit of a mystery since he appeared in only one season of Major League ball (1978), and performed rather well, posting a 4-2 record with the Mets while posting a 2.45 earned run average over 25 appearances and 36.2 innings, all out of the bullpen.
So why no other action in his career? Anyone familiar with Cornejo and what happened?
Nevertheless it was awesome finding this photo of the guy so I could whip this card up for the blog.

Found this great image of former catcher Pete Varney, and figured I'd create a "not so missing" 1977 card, even though he did finish the 1976 season as a member of the Atlanta Braves after starting the season on the South Side of Chicago:

The Harvard educated young man appeared in 14 games for the White Sox, hitting .244 before getting traded to Atlanta for "Blue Moon" Odom on June 15th, 1976.

He'd only appear in five games for the Braves the rest of the way, the last five games of his brief four-year career, hitting .100 for them with a single hit over ten at-bats.

In 1975 he’d see the most action in any one season, playing in 36 games for the White Sox, batting .271 with 29 hits in 107 official at-bats, including 12 runs scored and eight runs batted in.

He’d play all of 1977 in the Minors for Atlanta before retiring as a player, finishing up with a career .247 average, with 47 hits over 190 at-bats, with 18 runs scored and 15 RBIs.

By special request today, we have on the blog a "do-over" for Elliott Maddox and his 1974 card, with today's example showing him as a New York Yankee, the team he helped finish in second place in perhaps his finest season in the Major Leagues:

Coming over from the Texas Rangers after three years with that franchise, Maddox immediately paid dividends, as he helped the Yanks to a very nice 89-73 record, good for second place in the American League East.

In his three seasons with the New York Yankees, the first two saw him top a .300 batting average, easily his two best seasons as a Big League player.

His 1974 seasons saw him hit .303 in a full-time role, scoring 75 runs and setting personal season-bests across the board, topped off with a surprising 8th-place finish for the MVP Award later that year.

In 1977 he'd play for the Baltimore Orioles, though appearing in only 49 games, hitting .262 while playing center field and third base, before going on to the New York Mets.

He'd play well for them, hitting about .260 overall over what turned out to be his last three seasons in the Majors.

He would play in the Minors during the 1981 season but he would leave the Big Leagues shortly after, with a career .261 average, with 742 hits in 2843 at-bats in 1029 games.