Good day everyone!

Today on the blog, we add one of my favorite players, Harmon Killebrew, to my 1969 Nabisco "Team Flakes" cereal box extension set, a custom set I plan on releasing in the coming months, adding eight more superstars who were "missing" when Nabisco released their original set way back when:

Killebrew was about to put in an MVP 1969 season when this card would have seen the light of day, matching his career-best with 49 home runs while setting a new best with his 140 runs batted in, 145 walks and .427 on-base-pct, all numbers that led the American League.

After a second-place finish for the MVP in 1967, a third-place finish in 1962, and two fourth-place finishes in 1963 and 1966, he finally brought home the hardware, finishing ahead of the Orioles Boog Powell, 294 points to 227.

The man was amazing!

He was an absolute BEAST at the plate, crushing 573 lifetime homers, MOST of them during the pitching-era of the 1960's into the '70's.
Eight 40+ home run seasons, nine 100+ runs batted in seasons, seven 100+ base-on-balls seasons, an M.V.P. in 1969 (with five top-5 finishes in M.V.P. voting as well), and a Hall of Fame induction in 1984.

A favorite player of mine "before my time" since I first discovered him when I flipped over his 1973 card, not believing the numbers I was seeing as a 10-year-old in 1979 at my cousin's house.

Up on the blog this fine day, my "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes card for Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, part of a custom release I plan on producing later this year as a full-sized cereal box with cut-out cards:

This should be a really fun set to add to theWTHBALLS stable, recreating the original cereal issue of my birth year with card panel on back that kids could cut and trade one of 24 different players.

I go an add eight more players, all whom would go on to the Hall of Fame later on, such as the great "Yaz" in today's post.

The man was at his height at the time this card would have seen the light of day, already a three-time batting champion, Triple Crown winner in 1967, and five-time Gold Glove winner.

As someone who grew up in New York City during the second half of his career, it's really easy to forget that Yastrzemski was a Long Island, New York boy before he went on to become a New England legend.

And how could he NOT become a legend, what with 23 years of Major League ball, all with the Red Sox, turning in three batting titles, a Triple Crown in 1967 along with an MVP Award, seven Gold Gloves, 18 all-star nods, and 25 league-leads in primary offensive categories.

By the time he did the retirement tour in 1983, he scored 1816 runs, collected 3419 hits, 646 doubles, 452 homers, 1844 runs batted in along with a .285 batting average.

He was just plain awesome…

Next up in my "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes set, the great (if not greatest) Johnny Bench, who was just starting out on his mission to become perhaps the greatest catcher the game has ever seen:

All the man would do in his first full season at the age of 20 in 1968 was catch a staggering 154 games, hitting .275 with 15 homers and 82 RBIs, with 67 runs scored and 40 doubles, easily taking home the Rookie of the Year Award.

Of course as we all know, he would go on to put together a career rarely seen by ANY player, let alone a catcher: TWO N.L. MVP Awards, 14 all-star games, 10 Gold Gloves, two home run titles and three RBI titles, all while donning the “tools of ignorance” for 17 seasons, all with the Reds.
As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, this man was a mythic figure, a “god”, and he and the rest of his "Big Red Machine" teammates were steamrolling through the league towards two straight championships in 1975 & 1976, while appearing in two other series in 1970 and 1972.

It still amazes me that they didn't win any other titles during the 1970's, especially after adding Tom Seaver in 1977.

Go figure...

Hello everyone!

Today on the blog, we have a "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes card for the great Mickey Mantle, from my upcoming custom printed cereal box "extending" the fun odd-ball set released way back when:

Would have been awesome to have a card representing the all-time great as he was closing out a magnificent Hall of Fame career.

Sure, it'd make things tough these days for guys like me that are trying to complete the original set, giving us what would have been an uber-expensive card, but heck, would have been great nevertheless!

Mantle is one of those guys I really don't think we need to get into as far as his accomplishments on the baseball diamond. It'd be kind of like a joke to start writing about his career since it would take up a book's worth.

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

"The Mick" in all his glory, enshrined in his rightful place in Cooperstown, along with his longtime buddy Whitey Ford in the same HOF class.

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

Good day all!

Today on the blog we have my "missing" 1969 Nabisco Team Flakes card for Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins, a fun extension to the under-appreciated food-issue of my birth year:

This is going to be a unique WTHBALLS release in the coming months, in a full-sized cereal box with cut-out cards on the back as it was originally released, true to the box art!

As for the great Jenkins, he was smack in the middle of an incredible run of six straight 20-win seasons, as well as five straight 200+ strikeout campaigns.

For the 1969 season, Jenkins posted 21 wins for the Cubs, while leading the N.L. with 273 strikeouts, starting 42 games, completing 23 and tossing seven shutouts.

As we all know, he put together a Hall of Fame career, topping 280 wins, 3000 strikeouts, with 49 shutouts, a Cy Young Award in 1971 and four other top-3 finishes in the award voting.
In 1991 he capped off his career with an induction into Cooperstown on his third try, just getting the 75% of the vote with 75.4% support.
On a geeky side-note, “Fly” was also the first pitcher to ever register 3000+ strikeouts while issuing less than 1000 base on balls.
Love stuff like that!

Jenkins was just plain awesome. And he went about being awesome while pretty much performing under the radar.

Hello everyone!

 Super fun entry today!

I introduce you all to an upcoming WTHBALLS release in 2023, my 1969 "Team" cereal box extension set, beginning with the great Rod Carew:

This will be a full printed cereal box true to the original Nabisco "Team" cereal box released way back when, adding eight more greats of the game to the oddball set.

I took the liberty of recreating the front of the box, replacing a generic action baseball scene with the great Bob Gibson, but the rest of the package is true to the original.

I also went as far as erasing any team logos as the original did, giving it the authenticity to the 1969 edition, even IF I find it annoying.

Look for this to be released later in the year, though it could be sooner since it is print-ready and I found a special commercial printer who prints food boxes of this sort.

As for the first player presented here, what really needs to be said about the greatest hitter of his generation?

Rod Carew would go on to play in 18 All-Star games, missing only his final season in the Majors in 1985. Just incredible.

The first nine seasons of his career were as an All-Star second baseman, while the last nine were as an All-Star first baseman.

The man topped .300 15 years in a row, with a high of .388 in 1977 on his way to a Most Valuable Player Award and capturing the public’s attention with his .400 chase late in the season.
A clear-cut Hall of Fame player, he was inducted on his first year of eligibility in 1991 when he garnered 90.5% of the vote, which leaves me with the question: who the hell are the 9.5% who DIDN’T vote for him!!!???

3053 hits, a .328 career average, 353 stolen bases and 15 straight seasons of .300+ batting.

The man was a hitting machine, and I'm so glad I got to see him play during his magnificent career!