WHEN TOPPS HAD (BASE)BALLS!: January 2023

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1979 ENZO HERNANDEZ

Today's blog post has a "not so missing" 1979 card for former infielder Enzo Hernandez, who wrapped up an eight-year MLB career with four games as a Los Angeles Dodger in 1978:

Hernandez, who spent the previous seven seasons as a member of the San Diego Padre, went 0-3 at the plate for the Dodgers in his brief tenure, closing out a career that was quite "typical" as a light-hitting infielder during the 1970's.

Of course, what Hernandez is most famous for is his rookie year of 1971 when he had 618 plate appearances and 549 at-bats, and somehow managed to drive in ONLY 12 runs!

Incredible when you think about it.

The rest of his career was pretty much the same, as he would finish with a .224 average, with 522 hits over 2327 at-bats, with 241 runs scored and 113 RBIs.

The light-hitting infielder did manage to swipe a few bases along the way, with 129 in his Big League career, with a high of 37 in 1974, easily his best year as a Major Leaguer.

Monday, January 30, 2023

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 WAYNE GARRETT

Up on the blog today, we check in on another OPC to Topps image variation, this time the images used between the 1977 cards for former infielder Wayne Garrett of the Montreal Expos:

This is another of the rare cases where I easily prefer the Topps version to the OPC image used.

However I will state that it certainly seems the OPC image is a more recent one used, with Garrett sporting the longer hair and mustache.

Originally up with the New York Mets in 1969 at the age of 21, Garrett put in 10 years in the Big Leagues, the bulk of it with the Mets between 1969 and 1976, then 1976 through 1978 with the Expos and a second half of 1978 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

In between he hit .239 with 786 hits over 3285 at-bats in 1092 games, with 61 homers and 340 runs batted in.

His only full-time seasons were 1973 and 1974 with the Mets, where he pretty much set career-bests across the board, including homer (16 in 1973), RBIs (58 in 1973), walks (89 in 1974) and Plate Appearances (619 in 1974).

Sunday, January 29, 2023

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1978 A.L. VICTORIES

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and their top three winning pitchers for 1977, displayed on an “expanded” 1978 league leader card:

This card is unique that all three pitchers shown were tied for the league lead with 20 wins, beginning with the Minnesota Twins Dave Goltz.

The Twins’ ace had a career year in 1977, posting a record of 20-11 over 39 starts, with 19 complete games and a couple of shutouts, striking out 186 over 303 innings.

Goltz had a nice run between 1974 and 1979, posting double-digit wins, with the 20 in 1977 his career-best, as were his strikeout totals and games started.

Sadly, after a 1979 season when he went 14-13, he moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and suffered career-derailing injuries that pretty much ended his career by 1983, still only 34 years of age.

Tied with his 20 wins in 1977, Kansas City Royals ace Dennis Leonard, who had a very nice season for the A.L. West champs, posting the first of what would be his three 20-win seasons over his career, which was also curtailed by injuries by the mid-80s.

Leonard went 20-12 for the Royals in 1977, completing 21 of his 37 starts while tossing five shutouts over 292.2 innings of work.

The man was a stud between 1975 and 1981, finishing near the top of the A.L. for wins each year while taking the mound every fourth or fifth day without fail, logging a boatload of innings, even leading the league in the strike-shortened 1981 season with 201.2 over his 26 starts.

Sadly arm injuries kicked in during the 1982 season, something he’d never recover from, missing the 1984 season and retiring soon after in 1986.

The third and final pitcher to tie for the league-lead with his 20 wins, all-time great Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles, who posted yet another “Palmer-esque” year.

The man was indeed a win-machine, posting his seventh (of eight!) 20-win seasons in 1977, completing a league-leading 22 of his 39 starts and posting 319 innings of work, also tops in the A.L. that year.

Those numbers were good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race that year, getting beaten out by reliever Sparky Lyle of the New York Yankees.

If not for the Yankee reliever’s great season, Palmer would have been the first pitcher in Major League history with four Cy Young Awards instead of Philadelphia Phillies great Steve Carlton some five years later.

It was the third year in a row Palmer led the league in wins, on his way to 268 total over his 19-year career that also included 53 shutouts and a brilliant 2.86 ERA.

Well there you have it!

Onto the top National League strikeout men of 1977 next week!

Saturday, January 28, 2023

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL SPECIAL: CESAR CEDENO

On the blog today, continuing with my 1977 "National League Centennial" special set, we have my card for Cesar Cedeno, one of THE talents of the league through the decade:

Cedeno had the speed, the power, and the talent to put together a five-year stretch where he brought home 5 straight Gold Gloves, get named to four all-star teams while topping the 20/50 mark three years in a row.
In 1974 he had a monster season that saw him hit a career-high 26 homers AND steal a career-high 57 stolen bases along with, you guessed it, a career-high 102 runs batted in.
I would love to know the numbers he could have put up had he not played in the cavernous Astrodome for the first 12 years of his career!
By the time he was done after the 1986 season, he retired with 199 homers and 550 stolen bases, along with a very nice .285 batting average and 2087 hits.
An excellent player who was easily overshadowed by contemporaries of the era.

Friday, January 27, 2023

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS: 1965 DUKE SNIDER

Up on the blog today, we visit another of my previous custom sets, and spotlight a card, this time my 1965 "career-capper" for the great Duke Snider:

Snider played 91 games for San Francisco in 1964, capping off a great 18-year Major League career that saw him make eight All-Star teams while post six seasons where he finished in the top-10 for N.L. MVP.

Snider was an absolute beast of a hitter through the 1950's with the Dodgers, driving in over 100 runs six times, 30+ homers six times including five straight seasons of 40 or more, five years of scoring over 100 runs and seven seasons of .300 hitting or better.

By the time he retired after the 1964 season he hit 407 homers, with 1333 RBIs and a .295 average, with 2116 hits and 1259 runs scored over 18 seasons as a player.

It must have been painful for Dodger-faithful to see their beloved "Duke of Flatbush" suit up for the Giants, something Giants fans had to deal with about 10 years later with their beloved ace Juan Marichal.

Go figure.

Thursday, January 26, 2023

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2015: 1976 RON GUIDRY "DEDICATED ROOKIE"

Thought it would be fun today to revisit a blog post from May of 2015, my 1976 "Dedicated Rookie" of my favorite childhood pitcher, Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees:

"Louisiana Lightning" was a God in Brooklyn in the late 1970's into the 1980's, and rightly so, given his electric pitching and helping the Yankees to back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978.

His 1978 season was the stuff of legend, going 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA and nine shutouts, with 248 strikeouts, just ridiculous numbers while taking home the Cy Young Award, though getting robbed of the MVP (at least to me anyway).

Here's my original blog write-up for that post all those years ago:

"Beyond his great career, he was, and still is, a great man. One of those guys that everyone seemed to respect no matter what.

On the mound, all he did was win a Cy Young in 1978, get ripped off an MVP that very same year (sorry Jim Rice), get named to four all-star teams, win five Gold Gloves, lead the league in wins twice, ERA twice, shutouts once, WHIP twice, and of course post that awesome 18-strikeout game against the Angels in 1978 during his magical 25-3 season which also saw him post 248 K's.

For his 14-year career he went 170-91, good for a .651 winning percentage, along with a 3.29 ERA, 26 shutouts and 1778 strikeouts.

He'd also go 5-2 in postseason play, with a 3.02 ERA and 51 K's in 62.2 innings, and was part of two World Champion teams (1977/78)."

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

1960'S DEDICATED ROOKIES: 1964 PHIL NIEKRO

On the blog today, from my 1960's "Dedicated Rookies" set released a couple of years ago, my 1964 card for Hall of Famer Phil Niekro:

Though getting a spot on a multi-player rookie card in the 1964 Topps set, he was yet to make his Big League debut until that very season as a 25 year-old.

Incredibly, though getting a bit of a "late-start" in his career, the man would end up putting in 24 years in the Majors, pitching his knuckler until the age of 48 in 1987.

It is astonishing to think Niekro didn’t have a full season on Big League duty until 1967 at the age of 28, yet still went on to pitch those 24 seasons, winning 318 games with a very nice 3.35 ERA along with 45 shutouts and 3342 strikeouts before he was done at the age of 48!
I always thought it amazing that at the age of 44 in 1983, he took home the last of his five Gold Gloves, ALL of which were garnered beginning his age 39 season in 1978.

Just an amazing talent!

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1971 AL HRABOSKY

On the blog today, a fun card to create for a fun 1970's personality, a 1971 "dedicated rookie" for the "Mad Hungarian" Al Hrabosky, who made his Big League debut in 1970 with 16 appearances:

Hrabosky went 2-1 in those games, which included what turned out to be his only start over his 13-year career, posting a ERA of 4.74 over 19 innings as a 20-year-old.

It wouldn't be until 1973 that Hrabosky would become a solid man out of the pen, appearing in 44 games and posting a sparkling 2.09 earned run average with five saves and 57 K's in 56 innings.

His next two seasons of 1974 and 1975 would be the best of his 13-year career, as he went a combined 21-9 with 35 saves, posting E.R.A.'s of 2.95 and 1.66 over 130 games.

He would finish a very nice 64-35, with a 3.10 ERA and 97 saves over 545 appearances and 722 innings pitched between 1970 and 1982, finishing in the Top-5 in NL Cy Young voting in both 1974 and 1975.

Of course, the mark he really left on the game were his insane antics, psyching himself up on the mound like a madman with his back to the batter before he spun around in an apparent rage.

The "Mad Hungarian"!

Monday, January 23, 2023

AIRBRUSHING THROUGH THE 1970's: 1976 TRADED RON REED

On the blog today, we take a look at the original film of the 176 Ron Reed traded card Topps had out there, airbrushed to its beautiful 1970's glory:

Reed was in a transition point in what turned out to be a long 19-year Major League career, becoming a reliever after 10 seasons as a starter between 1966 and 1975.

On December 9th of 1975 he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Anderson, with the Phillies definitely getting the steal in this trade.

You can clearly see the St. Louis uni on his chest before the Topps airbrush specialists took charge.

Once in the bullpen, he'd go on to pitch another nine years, all but his last for Philadelphia, for whom he'd perform very well, giving the Phillies a solid one-two punch alongside Tug McGraw.

It would reach its peak in 1980 when the Phillies would march straight to a World Series title over the Kansas City Royals, with Reed going 7-5 that year with nine saves over 55 appearances.

By the time he retired in 1984 after 51 games for the Chicago White Sox at the age of 41, he appeared in 751 games, going 146-140 with a 3.46 ERA over 2477.1 innings, with eight shutouts and 103 saves.

Just prior to his Big League career, Reed played for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA from 1965 through 1967, one of the few two-sport players to come along over the years.

Sunday, January 22, 2023

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1978 N.L. VICTORIES

On the blog today, we move on to the N.L.’s top three winning pitchers for 1977 shown on an “expanded” 1978 league leader card:

Actually the card shows SIX pitchers, as the third place spot was taken up by four guys who posted 20 wins each in 1977.

But first, we begin with all-timer Steve Carlton, who took home his second Cy Young Award that season after pacing the league with his 23 wins, while posting a very nice 2.64 earned run average and 198 strikeouts for the Philadelphia Phillies.

It was Carlton’s fourth 20-win season, something he will do another two more times before he’s done, retiring with 329 wins along with 4136 strikeouts and 55 shutouts over his incredible 24 year career.

In second place with 21 wins, “Tom Terrific” Tom Seaver, who split the 1977 campaign with the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds, going 21-7 with a league-leading seven shutouts, while striking out 196 batters with 19 complete games, having arguably a better year than Carlton to be honest.

For Seaver it was his fifth and final 20-year season, on his way to 311 wins for his stellar career, while fanning 3640 batters and throwing 61 shutouts over 20 years under the Big League sun.

Just incredible, and easily my favorite pitcher of the decade if I say so myself.

In fourth place with 20 wins, four pitchers who all put in decent MLB careers: John Candelaria of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ken Forsch of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tommy John of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Rick Reuschel of the Chicago Cubs.

These are all men who at one point in their careers were the aces of their staffs, putting in solid Big League tenures well into the 1980’s, with Tommy John especially unique do to his surgery just a couple of years before that would have ended his career in another time or era.

The man went on to pitch over a quarter of a century and receive a surgery that ultimately bears his name and is almost a par-for-the-course ritual for today’s pitchers. Just incredible that he was able to go on for so long and end up with 288 wins over 26 years!

There you have it! The top winning pitchers in the National League in 1977, proudly displayed on a 1978 “expanded league leader” card.

Next week, the A.L.!

Saturday, January 21, 2023

OPC VARIATION: 1977 PHIL ROOF

On the blog today, we take a look at another OPC to Topps image variation, this one for former catcher Phil Roof, who was one of the original members of the Toronto Blue Jays franchise:

OPC version

Topps version

Just a nicer posed photo used for his OPC card over the airbrushed close-up that Topps had.

Roof came up in 1961 as a member of the Milwaukee Braves, and went on to a solid career as a back-up catcher for eight teams: Braves, California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox and Blue Jays.
As a matter of fact Roof was the very first player taken by Toronto in the expansion draft! The very first Blue Jay!
He finished with a .215 career batting average, with 463 hits in 2151 at-bats over 857 games, all but four of them behind the plate (with three at first base and one as a designated hitter).
Post playing career, Roof went on to become a coach and manager in the Major and Minor league levels, holding various positions between 1978 until his retirement in 2005, almost 50 years in organized pro-ball.

Friday, January 20, 2023

COACH CARD: 1970 DUKE SNIDER

Good day all! Found this cool image of Hall of Famer Duke Snider during his San Diego Padres coaching days and figured it'd make for a nice card, so here it is:

After a Hall of Fame career between 1947 and 1964, mainly slugging his way into the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers record books, Snider took on a successful role as a play-by-play analyst and some coaching for both the San Diego Padres and Montreal Expos beginning in 1969 straight through to the late-80’s.
This included some coaching time with the Padres during their inaugural season of 1969, when San Diego and Montreal were given franchises in Major League ball.

By the time he retired after the 1964 season he hit 407 homers, with 1333 RBIs and a .295 average, with 2116 hits and 1259 runs scored over 18 seasons as a player.

Thursday, January 19, 2023

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1972 DON ROSE

On the blog today, we have a 1972 "not so missing" card for former pitcher Don Rose, who made his Big League debut with the New York Mets in 1971, appearing in one single game:

In that game, Rose tossed two innings, allowing two hits with no runs while striking out one, before being sent along with a guy named Nolan Ryan to the California Angels for All-Star infielder Jim Fregosi during the off-season.

Well we all know how that turned out...

Rose would go 1-4 in his lone season with the Angels in 1972, pitching to a 4.22 earned run average over 16 games and 42.2 innings.

During the 1974 season Rose appeared in two games with the San Francisco Giants after spending the previous season in the Minors.
Over those two games he didn’t factor in a decision, posting an earned run average of 9.00 in exactly one inning of work.

Those would end up being the last Big League games of his three-year career.

He would finish his career with 19 appearances and a record of 1-4 along with an E.R.A. of 4.14 over 45.2 innings pitched.

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

CAREER-CAPPER: 1964 STAN MUSIAL

Today's blog post has a 1964 "career-capper" for all-time great Stan Musial, from my "1960's Capper" pack released a couple years back:

For Musial, his MLB numbers are just absurd: seven batting titles, two R.B.I. titles, five triples titles and eight doubles titles, with career numbers of 475 home runs, 1951 runs batted in and a .331 career average. Throw in his 725 doubles, 177 triples and 3630 hits along with 1949 runs scored and the numbers are staggering.

And don't forget that Musial also lost a year to military duty, easily putting him over 500 homers, close to 3900 hits and around 2100 runs batted in if he played in 1945.

Along with the great Frank Robinson I always felt Stan Musial was often overlooked in the decades since his playing days ended.

When talk of "Greatest Living Player" came up it was always Williams, DiMaggio, Mays or even Aaron that would come up. But Stan Musial would always kind of be that after-thought.

Criminal.

Three Most Valuable Player Awards, FOUR second-place finishes, including three in a row between 1949-1951, and twenty consecutive all-star appearances, Musial definitely is a member of that rarified stratosphere of baseball royalty along with the likes of Ruth, Cobb, Mays and Wagner, among others.

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1978 LYMAN BOSTOCK

Up on the blog today, by special request, a re-done 1978 card for former Minnesota Twins centerfielder Lyman Bostock, who was originally included in the 1978 Topps set airbrushed into a California Angels uniform:

Bostock had a wonderful year in 1977 that saw him collect 199 hits while scoring 104 runs, with 36 doubles, 12 triples and 14 homers while driving in 90 runs for the Twins, teaming up with Rod Carew to give them a formidable 1-2 punch in the line-up.

He would take that production and sign via Free Agency with the California Angels at season’s end, putting in another solid campaign in 1978 when he hit .296 with 168 hits, scoring 74 runs and driving in 71 before being tragically murdered in his hometown of Gary, Indiana as an innocent bystander, being shot sitting in a car, just short of his 28^th birthday.

In only four Major League seasons Bostock hit .311, sadly having that talent taken from us and leaving us to wonder what could have been, especially given the Angels team that had guys like Don Baylor, Bobby Grich and ex-teammate Rod Carew in the line-up.

Monday, January 16, 2023

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: BOB WATSON

On the blog today, we have Bob Watson in my on-going 1977 "National League Centennial" sub-set that I started recently, celebrating the 100th season of N.L. ball in 1976:

Watson was in the prime of his career when this card would have come out, putting in consistent seasons year in and year out for the Houston Astros, with whom he came up with back in 1966 as a 20-year-old.
After 14 seasons in the Houston sun (under a dome), he’d move on to the Boston Red Sox for half a year in 1979, then on to the Yankees, where I got to see him play for two-and-a-half-years until he moved on to the Atlanta Braves for the last 2+ years of his 19-year career.
He’d finish with a very nice .295 career average, with 184 homers and 989 runs batted in, while collecting 1826 hits with two All-Star nods.
Later on, he moved into coaching and then became GM of the Yankees in 1993, helping the team draft wisely, refrain from dumb trades (ala George Steinbrenner), helping the team build up their young core that would lead to World Series titles in 1996, 1998-2000.
Truly a baseball lifer and underrated player in my book.

Sunday, January 15, 2023

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADER: 1978 A.L. E.R.A.

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and the top three pitchers in regards to earned run average for the 1977 season, displayed on an “expanded league leader” card:

We begin with young power-pitching stud Frank Tanana, who was building an impressive career in just a couple of seasons in the Big Leagues, leading the American League with his 2.54 ERA for the California Angels.

Still only 23 years of age, the man was already a strikeout king in 1975 with his 269 K’s, a 19-game winner the following year, and now an ERA leader along with a league-leading seven shutouts in 1977.

He’d continue this into 1978 when he posted 18 wins, though his strikeouts decreased from 205 in 1977 to 137, a sign of things to come.

In 1979 he’d appear in only 18 games, with arm trouble settling in, but he managed to successfully turn his pitching style into one of “pitcher” instead of “flamethrower”, incredibly putting in another 15 years in the Major Leagues, retiring in 1993 with 240 wins and 2773 K’s, along with 34 shutouts over 638 games.

In second place with a 2.72 ERA in 1977, a pitcher who seemed to be in second place in many categories over the decade, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who put in another “typical” Blyleven-esque season with 14 wins, five shutouts and 182 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t reach 200 in over seven years.

Another absolute stud from that era who was grossly overlooked, thanks in part because of pitching at the same time as guys named “Seaver”, “Palmer” and “Carlton”, among many others.

Blyleven also pitched more than 20 years in the Majors, finishing up in 1992 after 22 years, with 287 wins and 3701 strikeouts, along with 60 shutouts and a very nice 3.31 ERA.

In third place with a 2.77 ERA in 1977, yet ANOTHER pitcher who played for over 20 years, the great Nolan Ryan, who put in a staggering 27 seasons under the Big League sun!

His 1977 season was another successful one for the “Ryan Express”, posting 19 wins along with a league-leading 22 complete games and 341 strikeouts, giving him a third place finish in the Cy Young race, one of three such finishes over the course of his career.

By the time he was done in 1993, all he did was post 324 wins over 807 appearances, with a 3.19 ERA and 61 shutouts, with an astronomical 5714 strikeouts over 5386 innings. Just insane.

What a trio of pitchers here! Perhaps a record for total number of years shown on a three-panel card!

Saturday, January 14, 2023

CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1963 WILLIE STARGELL "DEDICATED ROOKIE"

On the blog today, we spotlight my 1963 "dedicated rookie" for Pittsburgh Pirates all-time great Willie Stargell, from my "1960's Dedicated Rookie" set released a couple years back:

This was a great set to produce, allowing me to branch out into some 1960's Topps sets to create rookie cards for greats such as Stargell, Pete Rose and Nolan Ryan.

As for Stargell, over 21 seasons, he would lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to two world championships, take home an MVP Award in 1979 (shared with the Cardinals Keith Hernandez), and get named to seven All-Star teams.

"Pops" would also have a great three-year run between 1971 and 1973 that saw him finish second, third and second respectively in MVP voting, winning two home run titles, an RBI title and even lead the league with 43 doubles (1973).

Luckily, I got to see him towards the end of his career in the late-70's/early-80s before he retired after the 1982 season.

His final numbers? Hall of Fame worthy as he'd finish with 475 home runs, 1540 RBIs, a surprisingly high .282 batting average and 2232 hits over 2360 games and 7927 at-bats.

Think about those numbers in UNDER 8000 at-bats!

Of course when eligible for the Hall of Fame, he was in, with 82.4% of the vote in 1988.

So sad that he would pass away at only 61 years of age in 2001.

Friday, January 13, 2023

1978 CAREER-CAPPER: RAY SADECKI

On the blog today, a 1978 "career-capper" for pitcher Ray Sadecki, who had himself a nice Major League career before retiring after the 1977 season:

Sadecki put together a nice 18-year career on a big league mound, both as a starter and a reliever between 1960 and 1977.
He was a 20-game winner in 1964 with the St Louis Cardinals, and three-times posted an earned run average under 3.00, with a low of 2.78 in 1967 with the San Francisco Giants.

All told he pitched for six teams (Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Royals, Braves and Brewers), posting a final record of 135-131 with a 3.78 ERA and 1614 K’s over 563 games and 2500.1 innings, tossing 20 shutouts and starting 328 games.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1977 DIEGO SEGUI

Been a while since I re-did one of the 1977 Seattle Mariner or Toronto Blue Jay cards, so today on the blog I post up a "re-do" for starter Diego Segui, who started the first game in Mariner history, as well as the first game in Seattle Pilots history back in 1969:

Re-done version

Original Topp-issued card

Segui closed out a decent 14-year career in 1977 with the expansion Seattle Mariners, appearing in 40 games for the new franchise, going 0-7 with a 5.69 earned run average.
He’d post a 92-111 lifetime record with a 3.81 ERA and 71 saves between 1962 and 1977, even winning the ERA crown in the American League when he finished with a 2.56 mark splitting time as a starter and an arm out of the ‘pen.

Look for Segui as the subject for an upcoming 1978 "Highlights" card celebrating the first game in Mariner history coming up in the next few weeks!

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: RAY FOSSE

On the blog today, by special request, adding young All-Star catcher Ray Fosse to my on-going 1971 "Minor League Days" thread:

Fosse is pictured here during his stint with the Portland Beavers, either in 1967 or 1968, before making the Major Leagues for good and becoming a rising star for the Cleveland Indians in the early part of the 1970's.

The catcher, forever remembered for being on the wrong end of a Pete Rose collision at home plate in the 1970 All-Star game, had a nice run between 1970 and 1973 when he put up very nice numbers for a catcher in the era.
In 1970 he hit 18 homers while batting .307, with 61 runs batted in and 62 runs scored, along with the first of his two Gold Gloves.
Contrary to what many believe, the All-Star injury at the hands of Pete Rose did not derail his career, as other injuries along the way in the following years also contributed to his drop in performance.
Nevertheless, by the time Fosse retired after a brief stint with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1979, he finished with a .256 average, with 758 hits over 2957 at-bats, driving in 324 runs while scoring 299 himself over 924 Big League games.
On another note, you really have to wonder how good those Cleveland Indians could have been by the late-70’s had they NOT traded away players like Graig Nettles, Dick Tidrow, Chris Chambliss and Fosse.

Iguess in all fairness we can say that about many teams back then.

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2013: 1972 ERNIE BANKS CAREER-CAPPER

On the blog today, thought it'd be fun to revisit a post from almost 10 years ago, my 1972 "career-capper" for the great Ernie Banks:

This was one of my early "career-cappers", posting just a few months after I started this blog in May of 2013.

Here's the original post:

"I missed a day posting for the first time in a long while yesterday. Life reared it's ugly head and kept me busy all day.
But I'm jumping right back in and celebrating the most popular Chicago Cubs player of all-time, Ernie Banks.
"Mr. Cub" had a nice enough "last card" in the 1971 set, but again I wish Topps would have created a card for the super stars of the game AFTER they retired so we could have gazed upon their final Hall-worthy statistics in the days before the internet.
Besides, it would have been cool to have an Ernie Banks card in the ultra-funky 1972 set. A colorful set for a colorful player.
As for the Banks himself, what else can be said about a two-time M.V.P., 500+ home run hitting shortstop in an era when such a thing was unheard of?
He was just plain awesome, and was an easy choice for the Hall of Fame, getting inducted in 1977."

Monday, January 9, 2023

CAREER-CAPPER: 1978 AL DOWNING

Up on the blog today, we have a 1978 "career-capper" for former starter Al Downing, who put together a very nice 17-year Major League career:

Downing appeared in 12 games for the National League champs in 1977, going 0-1 with an ERA at 6.75.

It was his seventh and final season with the Dodgers after resurrecting his career after a transition season in 1970 split between the Oakland A's and Milwaukee Brewers when he struggled, going 5-13.

After that season, he moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers and had a remarkable comeback year, going 20-9 with a 2.68 earned run average and a league-leading five shutouts.

Those numbers got him a third place finish in Cy Young voting, and some M.V.P. consideration as well.

But after a decent 1972 season where he sported a 9-9 record with a sub-3.00 E.R.A., he could never again stay healthy enough for a full year.

By the time he did retire, he finished with a very nice 3.22 E.R.A., 123 wins and over 1600 strikeouts over 405 appearances, 317 of them starts, with 24 shutouts and a strikeout title back in 1964 with the New York Yankees when he K'd 217.

Sunday, January 8, 2023

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1978 N.L. E.R.A.

Up on the blog today, we have a 1978 “expanded league-leader” card celebrating the top three pitchers in the National League in 1977 in regards to earned run average:

We start off with young fellow-Brooklyn native John Candelaria of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who paced the league with his sparkling 2.34 ERA while posting a record of 20-5, with six complete games and a shutout thrown in for good measure.

Ironically, the man also led the N.L. with 29 home runs allowed over his 230.2 inning workload, something you don’t see every day for an ERA leader.

Candelaria is really an underappreciated pitcher from the era, a steady starting arm who routinely threw 200+ innings before moving into the bullpen for the second half of his career.

He’d pitch 19 years in the Majors, winning 177 games and sporting a nice 3.33 ERA over 600 appearances and 2525.2 innings pitched, with 13 shutouts and 29 saves.

In second place with a 2.59 ERA, the great Tom Seaver, who split his 1977 campaign between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds after the shocking trade that sent “The Franchise” packing from Shea Stadium, something even THIS young Yankee fan was heartbroken over as an eight-year-old.

Seaver did lead the N.L. with his seven shutouts, while finishing the season 21-6, completing 19 of his 33 starts and tossing 261.1 innings, with 196 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t reach 200 in a season since his rookie year of 1967 when he K’d 170!

The man was simply the cream of the crop as far as pitchers were concerned during the 1970’s.

In third place with a very nice 2.62 ERA for the 1977 season was Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Burt Hooton, who was enjoying the West Coast life after starting his career with the Chicago Cubs.

Hooton posted a record of 12-7 over his 31 starts, tossing two shutouts while picking up a save in his only non-start appearance that season, throwing 223.1 innings for the eventual National League champs.

Another solid pitcher, Hooton would go on to win 151 games over his 15 year career, finishing up with the Texas Rangers in 1985 after suiting up for the Cubs and Dodgers every other season in the Big Leagues.

Saturday, January 7, 2023

1970 "IN-GAME ACTION": MEL STOTTLEMYRE

Today on the blog we spotlight my 1970 "In-Game Action" card for former New York Yankees ace Mel Stottlemyre, from my Series 2 edition released a few months back:

Stottlemyre was coming off his third and final 20-win season in 1969, finishing up with a record of 20-14 with a 2.82 ERA over 39 appearances, all starts, throwing a league-leading 24 complete games.

With a half-season in 1964 (his first year), and 1974 (his last), he put up nine full seasons in between, and all but one (1966) rock solid for some poor Yankee teams.

In nine full years on the mound, he posted three 20-win seasons (all while pitching during the Bronx "lean years"), five sub-3.00 ERA years, seven 15+ win seasons, nine 250+ innings seasons, and six years of four or more shutouts, topping out with seven in both 1971 and 1972.

How solid is THAT!?

A five-time all-star, I can't even imagine what his win totals could have been had he stayed healthy and pitched into the late-1970's/early-80's, or even if he wasn't starring for those bad Yankee teams post-dynasty between 1965-on.

Consider his numbers in the small amount of time he was a Major League pitcher: a 164-139 record, with a nice 2.97 ERA, 40 shutouts and 1257 K's in only 356 starts!

Those are really some seriously great numbers.

Sadly because of a rotator-cuff injury in 1974, he had to retire at the young age of only 32, leaving us to wonder "what could have been".

Of course we know that he later went on to become one of the most respected pitching coaches in the Majors from the 1980-s with the Mets on through to the "new" Yankee dynasty in the late-90's/early-00's, before retiring for good after the 2008 season.

Friday, January 6, 2023

NEGRO BASEBALL LEAGUES ALL-TIME LEGENDS: JOHN BECKWITH

On the blog today, we give former Negro leagues legend John Beckwith a card in my long-running 1972 sub-set, my way of celebrating what was the 25th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's MLB debut in 1947:

The slugging infielder was one of the most powerful players to ever play in the Negro Leagues, swinging his 38-ounce bat and consistently batting over .300, including his 1925 season where he batted .404.

Babe Ruth once quipped, " Not only can Beckwith hit harder than any Negro ballplayer, but any man in the world," as evidenced by blasts such as his 460-foot bomb at Griffith Stadium, which would have actually traveled further had it not been for the 40-foot sign that stopped it.

Beckwith ranks among career leaders in Negro League history in batting average, home runs, runs batted in and slugging percentage, hitting .349 with 76 homers, 461 RBIs and a very nice .583 slugging percentage between 1920 and 1935.

For some more info on the all-time great, check out his Wiki-page here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Beckwith_(baseball)

Thursday, January 5, 2023

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1972 JACK WHILLOCK

Up on the blog today, a 1972 "not so missing" card for one-year Big League pitcher Jack Whillock of the Detroit Tigers:

The 28-year-old appeared in what was the entirety of his career during the Summer of 1971, seven games total, going 0-2 with a 5.63 earned run average in eight innings of work.

Sadly for him he wouldn't make it back to a Big League mound again, toiling another three years in the Minors before calling it quits after the 1974 season, when he played in the Cleveland Indians system.

All told he put in 11 years as a pro, originally in the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1964, but alas a Major Leaguer for just those seven games in August and September of 1971.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL SPECIAL: BILL MADLOCK

The next National League player in my new 1977 "Centennial Celebration" sub-set is reigning batting champ Bill Madlock of the Chicago Cubs:

Funny enough, Madlock was coming off of TWO straight National League batting titles in 1977 when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants in a multi-player deal, with Chicago landing Bobby Murcer among others.
The “Mad Dog” didn’t disappoint, as he’d put in two solid seasons of .300+ averages with some pop before he was shipped off to Pittsburgh in the middle of the 1979 season.
He would go on to put together a very nice 15-year career between 1973 and 1987, but apparently not quite Hall material, finishing with a .305 average with 2008 hits, 920 runs scored and 860 runs batted in with 163 homers and 174 stolen bases.
Just one of those historical quirks that has him as a four-time batting champ, but not really one of the all-time greats.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

1960'S CAREER-CAPPERS: 1964 EARLY WYNN

Up on the blog today, from my "1960's Career-Cappers" set released in 2021, a 1964 capper for 300-game winner Early Wynn, who wrapped up a Hall of Fame career in 1963:

Wynn's Major League romp towards 300 career wins didn't really pick up steam until he was 30-years old and a member of the Cleveland Indians in 1950, as he posted an 18-8 record with a league-leading 3.20 earned run average.

From then on he was hovering around 20-wins every year for the next ten years, topping the mark five times.

In 1959, now a member of the "Go-Go" Chicago White Sox, Wynn anchored the staff that led the team to a World Series appearance against the eventual champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, by posting a 22-10 record, leading the league in wins and copping a Cy Young Award at the age of 39.

However, the struggle to get that elusive 300th win is now well-documented, as he hung on for the next four years until he got that final victory in 1963 at the age of 43, thus joining the exclusive club and pretty much sealing his Cooperstown induction in his fourth year of eligibility, getting 76% of the BBWA vote.

All told, Wynn finished his 23-year career with a 300-244 record, with a 3.54 E.R.A., 49 shutouts and 2334 strikeouts in 691 games, 611 of which were starts, and was named to seven all-star teams.