Time again to give former Cincinnati Reds catcher Don Werner a "not so missing" card, this time a 1977 edition to go with his 1976 and 1977 creations from years back:

 

Werner of course had the misfortune of backing up the greatest catcher of them all, Johnny Bench, on one of the greatest teams of them all, the mighty "Big Red Machine" juggernaut from the mid-70's.

In 1976 he appeared in only three games, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and an RBI, his second taste of the Big Leagues after seven games in 1975.

Werner made his Big League debut at the age of 22 and went 1-for-8 at the plate, good for a .125 batting average over seven games.
Werner actually saw substantial playing time in 1978, appearing in 50 games for Cincinnati, with 17 hits over 113 at-bats, for a .150 batting average with 11 runs batted in and seven runs scored.
Actually not a bad hits-to-RBI ratio!
Anyway, he would not see Major League action in 1979 though would make it back in 1980 before moving on to the Texas Rangers in 1981 and 1982.
For his seven year career Werner hit .176 with 49 hits in 279 at-bats over 118 games, all while catching behind the plate.

On the blog today, we have a career-capping "not so missing" 1973 card for former pitcher Paul Doyle, who saw the last of his MLB action with two games for the California Angels in 1972:

 

Doyle, who spent all of 1971 in the Minors, made it back to a Big League mound in 1971, appearing in two games, throwing a total of 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, though not factoring in a decision.

He came up to the Big Leagues in 1969 and went 2-0 with a very nice 2.08 earned run average for the Western Champ Braves, appearing in 36 games while picking up four saves.

After the season he was purchased by the Angels, where he would go 3-1 with a 5.14 ERA over 40 games before finding himself finishing the 1970 season with the San Diego Padres, going 0-2 the rest of the way with a 6.43 ERA.

He would appear in the aforementioned two games in the big leagues 1972, before closing out his short three-year career, finishing with a 5-3 record with a 3.79 ERA in 87 games and 90.1 innings with 11 saves.

Next up in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, where I give each league a dedicated league leader card with the top-3 finishers in each statistic as opposed to one card featuring the top in both leagues, is the 1973 A.L. strikeout leader card, with some top-notch arms:

 

First up, the arrival of Nolan Ryan, who made his first season as a California Angel a big one, striking out 329 batters in 1972, something we would all get used to for the next TWENTY years!

Ryan would go one to post an incredible six 300 strikeout campaigns, the last of which was in 1989 when he was 42 years old!

I mean, come on!

By the time the "Ryan Express" was done after a magnificent 27 year career, he'd make a joke out of the strikeout category, finishing with an astounding 5714.

The man posted fifteen 200+ strikeout seasons over his career, while going on to win 324 games, throwing seven no-hitters and 61 shutouts.

Just absurd.

Behind him in second place was a man who once held the Major League record for career strikeouts by a left-hander, Detroit Tigers ace Mickey Lolich, who whiffed 250 batters in 1972, the fifth time he reached 200 strikeouts in a season.

Lolich was coming off a 1971 season that saw him lead the league with 308 strikeouts, while also leading the league with 25 wins, good for a second place finish in the Cy Young race behind wunderkind Vida Blue of the Oakland A's.

By the time Lolich retired after the 1979 season, he finished with 2832 strikeouts, the most ever collected by a left-hander in MLB history.

Coming in third place in the A.L. with 234 strikeouts was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry of the Cleveland Indians, who took home the Cy Young Award with his 24-16 record, with a 1.92 ERA and five shutouts, while tossing an amazing 342.2 innings over 41 appearances, all but one starts.

It was the fifth time for Perry reaching the 200-mark in strikeouts, something he'd do another three times before he was done, finishing with 3534 for his career.

Three super-stud arms finishing 1 through 3 in strikeouts, making for what would have been a nice card to add to the collection had it been done differently by Topps.

Up on the blog today we have the next National League player to get the "on-base-card" All-Star treatment, Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Williams, aka "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler":

 

It is amazing when you consider all the great ballplayers that came out of Alabama.

Just yesterday I profiled Oscar Gamble, also from the same state, as well as thumpers like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron, Lee May, George Foster, Rudy York, Mule Suttles, Heinie Manush and Monte Irvin to name just a FEW!

Anyway, for Williams, it was to be the last All-Star nod of his great 18-year career, the sixth overall honor in his age-35 season.

By the time he retired, he finished with 2711 hits, 1410 runs scored, 426 home runs, 1475 runs batted in and a .290 batting average over 2488 games.
Along with his Rookie of the Year in 1961, he was a two-time runner-up to the MVP Award (thanks to Johnny Bench each time) in 1970 and 1972 and a six-time All-Star.
What a career he put together, yet always in the shadows of giants like teammate Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.
Nevertheless, though it took him six years of eligibility to make it, he was elected for a rightful place in Cooperstown in 1987 when he received 85.7% of the vote.
Just a great player all around.

Today on the blog we come up to Oscar Gamble in my on-going 1978 sub-set celebrating the 30-home run hitters of 1977, "30 Home Run Club", somewhat of a rip-off of the great 1977 Topps football "1000 Yard Rushers" idea:

 

Came across this nice image of former pitcher Grant Jackson suited up with the New York Yankees, and thought it would make for a great re-done 1977 card, since he was originally shown as one of the upcoming "original" Seattle Mariners, for whom he never actually ended up playing with. So here you go:

 

Well, I thought today's blog post was an oversight on my part, however I JUST found that I originally added the great "Bullet Joe" Rogan to my "Legends of the Negro Leagues" way back in 2017, not too long after beginning this sub-set. In that case, let us revisit the man and his greatness:

 

Casey Stengel once claimed Rogan was, “one of the best, if not the best, pitcher that ever lived.”

According to some records, Rogan won the most games in Negro Leagues history, while ranking fourth all-time in career batting average!
Consider these numbers: 116-50 career win-loss record, along with a 2.59 earned run average, as well as an incredible .338 batting average. Just amazing numbers.
In 1924, the man would hit .395 while going 18-6 on the mound, leading the Kansas City Monarchs to their second title, then going on to defeat the Hilldales of the Eastern Colored League in the very first Black World Series.
The following year, all he would do is post a record of 17-2 while batting .381, once again leading the Monarchs to a league title, though he would injure his knee before a rematch with Hilldale in the World Series, in which the Monarchs lost in six games.
Historian Phil Dixon compiles all of Rogan’s stats in all league play over his 23 years and has him at over 350 games won with over 2000 strikeouts, while also collecting over 2500 hits with 350+ home runs and over 500 stolen bases!
Just an amazing pro career that needs further appreciation, though the ultimate compliment would come Rogan’s way in 1998 when Cooperstown came calling.

Not too long ago my buddy Jason Schwartz asked me to create a "dedicated" 1972 Harmon Killebrew highlight card celebrating his 500th Major League home run, which he hit in 1971. 

Originally on the blog some years ago, I created a highlight card that combined both 500th homer milestones for Killebrew and Frank Robinson, who also reached the mark in 1971. Well here's the "dedicated version" to celebrate "Killer's" 500th:

 

Today on the blog we move on to strikeouts in my on-going 1973 "expanded league leaders" project, where I give each league a dedicated league-leader card, and this one is one doozy, featuring three of the best pitchers of the era:

 

We begin of course with Steve Carlton, "Lefty", who was coming off his epic "triple crown" season of 1972, dominating the league on his way to the first of his four Cy Young Awards.

Carlton struck out 310 batters over his 346.1 innings, winning 27 games for a last place team, along with eight shutouts.

The man COMPLETED 30 of his 41 starts, and pitched to a sparkling 1.97 earned run average, giving up only 76 runs. Incredible.

Behind Carlton in the strikeout race is another legend, Tom Seaver of the New York Mets, who was the N.L. strikeout king in both 1970 and 1971, this time runner-up with 249 K's.

Seaver was in his prime, winning 21 games, tossing three shutouts and finishing the season with a 2.92 ERA over 262 innings of work.

His 8.6 K's per nine innings actually led the league, something he would do six of seven seasons between 1970 and 1976!

In third place with 208 strikeouts in 1972 is yet another Hall of Fame hurler, Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals who finished with 208, the last of his nine 200-strikeouts seasons over his amazing career.

For Gibson, 1972 was the final "great" season of his 17-year career, posting a record of 19-11 with a 2.46 ERA over 34 starts, completing 23 of them with four shutouts.

In 1974 he would become (at that time) only the second pitcher to ever reach 3000 strikeouts, with only legend Walter Johnson ahead of him in the category.

Well, there you have it! The National League's top strikeout guys. Now onto the American League next week!

Moving right along in my long-running "On-Card All-Star" thread where I slap a big beautiful "All-Star" banner on a player's base Topps card, we have the National League's starting third baseman in 1973, Ron Santo:

 

Today on the blog we move on to "Mr. October", the great Reggie Jackson in my on-going "30 Home Run Club" sub-set for the 1978 set, celebrating the game's top sluggers of 1977:

 

On the blog today we have a re-do for Bob Aspromonte and his 1971 card, which originally had him in one of those subtle airbrush Topps jobs with his upcoming team, the New York Mets, but here showing him with the Atlanta Braves, for whom he played in 1970:

For those that need a refresher on his original 1971 card, here you go:

 

Nothing crazy, just a nice little upgrade to reflect where he played the previous year in that classic Braves uni of the time.

Aspromonte wrapped up a decent 13-year career in 1971, playing for the Dodgers, Colt .45's/Astros, Braves and Mets.

For the Mets in his final season, he appeared in 104 games, hitting .225 with 77 hits over 342 at-bats, driving in 33 runs while scoring 21 himself.

In 1324 games played for his career, he collected 1103 hits over 4369 at-bats, good for a .252 average with 60 homers and 457 runs batted in.

His brother Ken was also a long time Major League player as well as manager. He even appears in the 1972 set on a card I profiled a while ago because it looks like the photo was taken in the middle of the street in my old neighborhood. I kid you not. (Look it up. So odd).

On the blog today, we have a career-capping "not so missing" 1973 card for former pitcher Ron Klimkowski, who finished up a brief four-year Major League career with 16 games as a New York Yankee in 1972:

 

Today the blog offers up a "not so missing" 1975 card for former Los Angeles pitcher Greg Shanahan, who played a total of 11 games in his brief two-year Major League career:

 

On the blog today I thought we'd take a look at a Topps negative I found floating around the web for former pitcher Bob Johnson's 1974 traded card:

 

 

On the blog today we go and give San Francisco Giants shortstop Chris Speier a blazing "All-Star" banner on his 1974 base card, as part of my on-going "On-Card All-Star" thread:

 

This week's "Expanded League Leader" card is one for the American League's top three winning pitchers of 1972. Three studs if there ever were any:

 

Next up in my on-going "30 Home Run Club" 1978 sub-set is "Boomer" Geaorge Scott, who had a great return year to his original Big League franchise, the Boston Red Sox in 1977:

 

On the blog today, we have a 1974 "Nickname" card for former reliever Danny Frisella, aka "Bear", who tragically died just a few years later at the age of 30 in a dune-buggy accident:

 

Frisella was drafted by the New York Mets in 1966 out of Washington State University and made it up to the Major Leagues the following year.
He pitched for New York over the next six seasons, having his best year in the big leagues in 1971 when he went 8-5 with a sparkling 1.99 E.R.A. to go along with 12 saves in 53 games after learning to throw a forkball from Diego Segui over the Winter in Venezuela.
In November of 1972 he was traded to the Atlanta Braves along with pitcher Gary Gentry for George Stone and Felix Milan and stuck around for two years before going over to the San Diego Padres in 1975.
Though he posted a record of 1-6, he did have decent numbers overall, but San Diego shipped him to St. Louis after the season, where Frisella started the season in 1976.
But after only 18 games, he was once again traded, this time to the Brewers where he appeared in 32 games, posting impressive numbers of a 5-2 record and a 2.74 E.R.A. as a man out of the bullpen.
Sadly, Frisella never made it back to a Major League mound.
While riding a dune buggy near his home on January 1st, his vehicle tipped over and Frisella was not able to escape in time. He was caught underneath the roll bar as the vehicle rolled over his body, crushing him. He was only 30 years old with a wife and two sons.

His final numbers were: 34-40 record, 3.32 ERA and 57 saves over 351 appearances and 609.1 innings pitched between 1967 and 1976.

Let's go and give former Major League infielder and Manager Bobby Wine a "not so missing" 1973 career-capper shall we? Here you go:

Wine finished up a 12-year playing career in 1972, appearing in 34 games for the Montreal Expos, for whom he played between 1969 and 1972.

Today on the blog we have a "not so missing" 1975 career-capper for former outfielder Any Kosco, who finished up a 10-year Major League career with 33 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 1974:

 

On the blog today, we have a career-capping "not so missing" 1970 card for former Big League infielder and Manager Chuck Cottier:

 

On the blog today, we move on to the National League's top winners for 1972 in my on-going "Expanded League Leader" card series, featuring some big time studs of the era:

Next up in my on-going 1978 "30 Home Run Club" sub-set is New York Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles, who put in his top Big League power season in 1977 with 37 homers, good for second place in the American League after leading the league the previous year:

 

Nettles, coming off a 32 homer campaign in 1976 which was good for the league crown, followed that up with 37 homers for the Yanks in 1977, two behind leader Jim Rice and tied with Bobby Bonds of the California Angels.

Nettles also drove in a career-best 107 runs and scored 99 himself, giving him his second All-Star berth as well as a fifth place finish in the MVP race at season's end.

It wasn't until recently I also realized that for a guy who was considered a "slugger", he never struck out much!

I really never realized in all these years that he never struck out 100+ times in a season over his 22 year career, but incredibly, for someone who hit 390 homers, he only AVERAGED 55 strikeouts a year over his career!

Think about that. That is absolutely wild.

When it was all said and done, Nettles played for those 22 seasons, finishing up with 390 homers, 2225 hits, and 1314 runs batted in, with 1193 runs scored and a reputation that still has him considered one of the finest defensive third basemen in history.

On the blog today, we move on to the great Joe Morgan and add him to my on-going "On-Card All-Star" thread where I slap a big beautiful "All-Star" banner on the base cards of starting players in years Topps had separate All-Star cards:

 

Today we add the great Bobby Bonds to my on-going 1978 "30 Home Run Club" thread celebrating the big boppers of the 1977 season:

 

Bonds finished up yet another great year in 1977, playing for the California Angels, reaching his fourth 30-30 campaign with 37 home runs and 41 stolen bases.

The man was just electric!

The 37 home runs were just two short of American League leader Jim Rice, and were Bonds' second highest total after his 39 in 1973, when he fell one short of becoming the first 40-40 man in Major League history.

By the time he left the Majors after the 1981 season, he retired with 332 homers and 461 stolen bases, along with 1258 runs scored and 1024 runs batted in over 1849 games and 7043 at bats.
It’s a shame that by the time he turned 34 his best days were behind him. I never really understood why he dropped off the radar so quickly after a really good season with the Cleveland Indians in 1979.
The following year he found himself with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would only play in 86 games, before just 45 games in ‘81 with the Chicago Cubs, the last of his career.
An incredible talent, just seems that after his first seven seasons with the San Francisco Giants, no one really wanted to keep him around, playing for seven teams in seven years between 1975 and 1981.

Today up on the blog we have a "not so missing" 1974 card for three-year Major League pitcher Jim Strickland of the Minnesota Twins, who appeared in just seven games during the 1973 season:

 

Strickland was hit hard over those seven games, to the tune of an 11.81 earned run average over 5.1 innings of work, going 0-1, all out of the bullpen.

He'd appear in four games with the Cleveland Indians in 1975 after spending all of 1974 in the Minors, coming over from Minnesota in October of 1973 as part of a four-player trade.
Over those four appearances he didn’t factor in a decision, but sported a very nice earned run average of 1.93 over 4.2 innings.
Between 1971 and 1973 Strickland appeared in 56 games for the Twins, going 4-2 over those games, along with five saves and an ERA at around 2.75.
Overall for his career, he’d finish at 4-2 with his earned run average a nice 2.68 over 60 appearances and 77.1 innings pitched, with five saves and 60 strikeouts.

Up on the blog today we have a "not so missing" 1975 card for former catcher Larry Johnson, whose Major League career was 12 games spread out between 1972 and 1978:

 

Johnson appeared in one single game for the Cleveland Indians in 1974, scoring a run without even being credited with a plate appearance.

It was his first MLB action since 1972 when he made his debut with one game, going 1-for-2 at the plate at the age of 21.

In 1975 he’d again appear in only one game, which must be a record for a player to appear in only one game over the first three years of his career.
This time that one game was with the Montreal Expos where he went 1-for-3 at the plate, hitting a double while driving in the first run of his career.
1976 would see him break that one-game streak when he appeared in six games for the Expos, collecting two hits over 13 at-bats for a .154 batting average.
But all that got him was another full-season in the Minors for 1977 before coming back, now with the Chicago White Sox, for what ended up being the last taste of the Big Leagues, playing in three games and going 1-for-8 at the plate, good for a .125 average.
He’d go on to play another four professional seasons, the last of which was in the Mexican League in 1982, before retiring for good.
All told, he finished his MLB career with a .192 average, with five hits over 26 at-bats in 12 games, with two doubles, an RBI and run scored.

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" card for longtime Big League infielder Ivan DeJesus, who was yet to become a full-timer as the 1977 season approached:

 

DeJesus appeared in 22 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting .171 with seven hits over 41 at-bats, this after playing in 63 games in 1976 and three games in his MLB debut in 1975.

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).

On the blog today we move on to the American League Earned Run Average leaders for 1972, featuring three big time pitchers, two Hall of Famers and someone who arguably should be in: