1975 "IN-ACTION"- HAL McRAE

On the blog today, adding to a series I haven't touched in a long while, a 1975 "In-Action" card for DH extraordinaire Hal McRae:

After a Big League debut in 1968, appearing in 17 with the Cincinnati Reds, he’d be back in the Majors in 1970, where he would stay for the next 18 seasons putting together an excellent career, becoming one of the first true full-time designated hitters once he was traded to the Kansas City Royals before the 1973 campaign.
All McRae would end up doing once in a Royals uniform is put in a 15-year run where he became one of the best hitters in the league, with three All-Star nods, six .300+ batting average seasons, and MVP consideration four times.
By the time he was done, he retired with a career .290 batting average, with 2091 hits, 484 doubles and 1097 runs batted in over 2084 games and 7218 at-bats, making three All-Star teams and finishing top-5 in MVP voting twice (1976 and 1982).

As a kid growing up during that era, I got to appreciate what a solid player McRae was, fearing him up at the plate against "my" New York Yankees, since he always seemed to do damage against them.

1975 IN-ACTION: TOMMY HARPER

Good day everyone.

Felt like adding Tommy Harper to my long-running 1975 "In-Action" sub-set today, giving the former two-way threat another card in the colorful 1975 set:

An All-Star in 1970 for the Milwaukee Brewers in their first season, Harper became an early member of the 30-homer/30-steals club when he hit 31 taters and swiped 38 bases, just one season removed from leading the American League with 73 steals for the one-year Seattle Pilots franchise in 1969.
He’d also lead the league with 54 steals while with the Boston Red Sox in 1973, while also hitting 17 homers and hitting .281 with 92 runs scored.

Harper was traded to the Angels for Bob Heise before the 1975 season, and ended up playing only 89 games with them before moving on to the Oakland A’s later in the year.

He then went on to play for the Baltimore Orioles in 1976 for what turned out to be the last 46 games of his 15-year career, beginning in 1962 with the Cincinnati Reds.

By the time he retired, Harper finished with 146 homers and 408 stolen bases, with a .257 batting average and 1609 hits in 6269 at-bats over 1810 games, with one All-Star nod, leading the league twice in stolen bases and runs scored with 126 in 1965 while with the Reds.

1975 IN-ACTION: BILLY WILLIAMS

Today's blog post has a 1975 "In-Action" card for "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler", Billy Williams, Hall of Fame outfielder extraordinaire of the Chicago Cubs:

Williams was truly a magnificent player that gets lost in the crowded Hall of Fame N.L. outfield of the era filled with guys like Aaron, Mays and Clemente.

However he was a player ANY team would kill for, putting in All-Star calibre season after season through the 1960s and beyond.

He wrapped up a Hall of Fame career in 1976 with the Oakland A’s, his second season with the team after 16 years with the Chicago Cubs.
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.
He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1961, 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.

1975 IN-ACTION: WILBUR WOOD

Up on the blog this fine day we have a 1975 "In-Action" card for Chicago White Sox ace Wilbur Wood, innings-machine who had himself quite a run in the mid-70s:

The reliever-turned-starter strung four straight 20-win seasons for the Chicago White Sox after some pretty amazing years coming out of the bullpen in the late-60’s, with three top-5 Cy Young finishes between 1971-1973.
His 1972 season is the stuff of legends, as he started 49 games, knuckling his way through an astounding 376.2 innings!!!
The following season he worked another 359.1 innings on 48 starts, equaling his 24 wins from the year prior and leading the American League once again.
I’ve also always been fascinated with his 1968 season when, appearing in 88 games, all but two as a reliever, he went 13-12 with a microscopic 1.87 earned run average, with 16 saves over 159 innings pitched.
The man was incredible no matter where his team used him!
Sadly for him however, when you’re pitching during the same era as Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, etc, you’ll tend to get lost in the shuffle, thus the Cy Young snubs each year.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season, Wood finished with a 164-156 record, appearing in 651 games, with 297 of them starts.
He’d have a final ERA of 3.24, with 24 career shutouts, 1411 strikeouts and 57 saves over 2684 innings pitched.
He led his league in pitching appearances three times, all consecutive, then went on to lead the league in starts four years in a row soon after.

1975 IN-ACTION: JERRY KOOSMAN

Good day everyone!

Been a while since I added someone to my long-running 1975 "In-Action" set, so today let's add overlooked starting pitcher Jerry Koosman of the New York Mets:

“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...

1975 IN-ACTION: FELIX MILLAN

Today on the blog we go and add former All-Star Felix Millan to my 1975 "In-Action" thread, a sub-set I hope to release in two series in the near future:

 

Millan came to Shea from the Atlanta Braves, where he put up some excellent Major league seasons, getting names to three straight All-Star teams and winning two Gold Gloves.

While with the Mets he again was solid, collecting as many as 191 hits in a season (1975), which would stand for many years as the team record, hitting as high as .290 before a gruesome injury pretty much ended his career in 1977.

After Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ed Ott tried to break up a double-play, Millan took exception to the slide and exchanged words, leading to Millan striking Ott with his fist.

Ott, who was a former wrestler, literally picked Millan up and slammed him down onto his knee, injuring Millan's shoulder so badly it ended his career. Just like that. Terrible.

All told, Millan played between 1966 and 1977, hitting .279 with 1617 hits in 5791 at-bats over 1480 games, scoring 699 runs and driving in 403 for the Braves and Mets.

1975 "IN-ACTION": MIKE CUELLAR

Haven't added a player to my 1975 "In-Action"  set in a long while, so today we go and add Baltimore Orioles ace Mike Cuellar:

By 1975 Cuellar was coming close to closing out a nice 15-year career that saw him win 185 games, post four 20+ win seasons, win a Cy Young Award (shared with Tigers pitcher Denny McLain in 1969) and post four sub-3.00 E.R.A. Seasons.

His 1974 season saw him post his last 20-win season, going 22-10 for the Orioles with a 3.11 ERA over 38 starts, with five shutouts and 20 complete games, ending up sixth in the Cy Young race at season's end.

I never realized that even though he came up in 1959 with the Cincinnati Reds, appearing in two games as a 22-year old, he didn't make it back to the Major's until 1964 at the age of 27, now as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Considering his lifetime win total mentioned above, he could have possibly approached 250 wins had he not missed those four-plus years in the early-1960's.

In 1977 Cuellar found himself with the California Angels, appearing in only two games, which would be the last two games of his career.

His lifetime numbers were impressive: the 185 wins mentioned above, a 3.14 lifetime E.R.A., 36 shutouts and 1632 strikeouts over 453 games, 379 of which were starts.

1975 "IN-ACTION": GEORGE SCOTT

Today we go an add former thumper George Scott of the Milwaukee Brewers to my long-running 1975 "In-Action" thread:

 

Scott was right in the middle of an impressive career-run by 1975, on his way to a home run title, hitting 36, with a league-leading 106 runs batted in and 318 total bases, as well as his seventh Gold Glove for his defensive work at first base.

All those numbers would get him an eight-place finish for the MVP Award by season's end, MVP attention that he'd receive for the fifth straight year at that point.

Overall he put together an excellent career playing for the Red Sox, Brewers, Royals and Yankees between 1966 and 1979, slamming 271 home runs with 1051 RBI's, 1992 hits and a .268 batting average.

Defensively all he managed to do was take home eight Gold Gloves for his work at first base, and though he was only named to three all-star games, he garnered MVP attention in seven seasons, or half his career!

Not too shabby to say the least...

1975 IN-ACTION: REGGIE SMITH

It’s been a while since I added to my 1975 “In-Action” sub-set, so today I’ll go ahead and post up my card for former slugger Reggie Smith, then of the St. Louis Cardinals:

 

Smith now found himself as a Cardinal after a very nice run in Boston between 1966 and 1973.
During that run he finished second in Rookie of the Year, was an all-star twice, led the league in doubles twice, and led the league in total bases in 1971.
It's easy (and sad) to forget just what a nice career "the other Reggie" put together through the decade.
His first year with the Cardinals was indeed a good one, as Smith would not disappoint by hitting 23 homers with 100 runs batted in, while scoring 79 runs and hitting a robust .309, good enough for an 11th-place finish in the MVP race.
Not only was he a legitimate home run threat (finishing his career with 314), but he hit .300 or better seven times during his run, and even managed to swipe 137 bases as a Major League player.
He'd finish his career with over 1000 runs scored, 1000 runs batted in, 300 homers and 2000 hits.
And let's not forget that he was one of those FOUR Dodger sluggers in 1977 to become the first set of quadruple 30+ homers hitters during the same season.
Definitely an under-appreciated player from the era!

1975 IN-ACTION: BERT BLYLEVEN

Been a while since I created a new 1975 "In-Action" card, so I went ahead and created one for Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven to add to my long-running thread:

 

Blyleven was already five years into his Big League career, and still only 24 years old entering the 1975 season, topping 200 strikeouts four times, four seasons of 16+ wins and four of sub-3.00 ERA's.

1975 would be more of the same, as he'd post 15 wins with an even 3.00 ERA and 233 strikeouts, completing 20 of his 35 starts.

Born in Zeist, Holland (now the Netherlands), Blyleven started his 22-year career in 1970 with the Minnesota Twins and quickly established himself among the best pitchers in baseball.
During his great MLB run, he posted 17 seasons of 10+ victories, with a high of 20 in 1973, along with eight 200+ strikeout campaigns and nine with a 2.99 ERA or lower.
By the time the prankster retired after the 1992 season, he finished with 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, 60 career shutouts and 3701 strikeouts over 692 games and 4970 innings pitched.
After having to wait 14 years, the BBWA finally voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2011, finally claiming a spot which he rightfully deserved.

1975 IN-ACTION: DAVE WINFIELD

Today we add the great Dave Winfield to my 1975 “In-Action” set, as the young stud was quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the National League by the time this card would have hit the shelves:

One of my favorite players as a youngster growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1980’s, Winfield would become the favorite player of many young kids in the San Diego area during the 1970’s, giving the Padres a new-look outfielder, bringing a whole new type of athleticism (along with Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates), with speed, stellar defense, a gun for an arm, and power at the plate.
By the time he retired after the 1995 season, his 22nd as a Big Leaguer, he finished with eight 100-RBI seasons, 15 20-home run seasons, 3110 hits, 1669 runs scored and 1833 RBIs.
He made the All-Star team 12 times, took home seven Gold Gloves, finished Top-10 in MVP voting seven times and was awarded six Silver Slugger Awards.
Man I loved this guy! I’ll never forget his line-drive home runs deep into left field at Yankee stadium as a kid, wondering what he would do in a stadium like today where he wasn’t looking at 430 to left-center.
One of the game’s greatest all-around athletes!

 

1975 IN-ACTION: GEORGE BRETT

After I recently added Hall of Famer Robin Yount to my long-running 1975 “In-Action” series, I figured it’d only make sense to add another future HOFer, the great George Brett, who was just starting out his stellar career with his first full season in 1974:

Brett finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year race in 1974, hitting .282 with 129 hits, 49 runs scored and 47 runs batted in over 133 games for the Kansas City Royals.
He’d have his breakout season quickly, leading the league with 195 hits as well as 13 triples in 1975 before winning his first batting title a year later when he hit .333 with a league-leading 215 hits and 14 triples.
The man was born to hit, and would finish his career with 3154 hits, a .305 average, 317 homers and let’s not forget the 201 stolen bases and 137 triples!
The 13-time all-star was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1993, getting named to 98.2% of the ballot, while taking home the MVP in 1980 after his magical .390 hitting season, while finishing second twice and third once.
Legend!

 

1975 IN-ACTION: ROBIN YOUNT

Now, today on the blog I may be stretching it a bit, but I’ll go ahead and add Milwaukee Brewers all-timer Robin Yount to my long-running 1975 “In-Action” thread:

Yount just played the first season of his brilliant Hall of Fame career in 1974, bursting onto the baseball spotlight as an 18-year-old.
Incredibly, he performed admirably, hitting .250 with 86 hits over 344 at-bats, scoring 48 runs and driving in 26, making his Big League debut not even a year after being drafted third overall in the 1973 draft.
A Milwaukee Brewer for life, Yount finished his great career with 3142 hits, 1632 runs scored, 251 homers and 271 stolen bases, taking home two A.L. MVP Awards and incredibly only making three All-Star teams. How on earth?!
Anyway, it’s amazing to realize that when he had his first true All-Star season in 1980, after what was already seven years in the Big Leagues, Yount was STILL only 24 years of age!
He was on cruise-control from then on, elevating his game to become one of the elite players in the American League, with 1982 the high point when he led the Brewers to the World Series and taking home his first MVP Award.
What a player!  

 

1975 IN-ACTION: MICKEY RIVERS

Haven’t added to my long-running “1975 In-Action” series in a while, so let’s go and add “Mick the Quick” Mickey Rivers to it today shall we:
Take a look:

Mickey was coming off his first full year in the Big Leagues, leading the American League with 11 triples in 1974 while batting .285 with 133 hits in 466 at-bats while stealing 30 bases.
1975 would see him lead the American League once again in triples, this time with 13, while also topping the Junior Circuit with 70 steals while hitting .284 on 175 hits in 616 at-bats.
Man, "Mick the Quick" was a player I loved when I first got seriously into baseball in 1976 or so. He was that New York Yankee with the speed and flash that my six-year-old mind latched on to back then.
He put together a nice 15-year career that saw him lead the league in stolen bases once and triples twice, while topping 200 hits in 1980 with the Rangers when he hit .333.
He even managed to retire from the game hitting .300 his final year in the big leagues, playing for Texas in 1984.
He'd finish with a .295 batting average with 1660 hits and 267 stolen bases, as well as those two World Championships in the Bronx in 1977 and 1978.

 

1975 IN-ACTION: DON MONEY

Time to add former All-Star infielder Don Money to my long-running 1975 “In-Action” thread, as he was smack in the middle of a very nice 16-year Major League career:

Money was coming off of his first All-Star season of 1974, a year that also saw him set a new record of 78 straight games at third base without an error.
One thing I never realized is that he was the starting second baseman for the American League in the 1978 All-Star game, yet ended up playing more games at first base that year.
The man was versatile to say the least!
He wasn’t all defense however, as he’d hit as many as 25 home runs in a season (1977), as well as collect as many as 178 hits (1974) during his career.
The four-time all-star would retire after the 1983 season with 1623 hits, 176 homers and 798 runs scored over 1720 games.

1975 IN-ACTION: ROY WHITE

Up on the blog today we have a 1975 In-Action card for Roy White, the quiet and steady outfielder of the New York Yankees for 15 seasons.
Admittedly not necessarily an "action-packed" photo. But it caught my eye and is "in-game", so why not?
This card would have been right about I the middle of his very nice career:

White came up with the Yankees in 1965 and became a dependable starting outfielder within three years, on his way to a career that spanned the “dark years” in the Bronx from 1965 through the end of the decade through to the successes of the “Bronx Zoo” teams that won two World Series and three pennants before White took his talents to Japan.
Even though the man was a New York Yankee "lifer", playing 15 years between 1965 and 1979 wearing only the Yankee pinstripes, White was often overshadowed by the likes of Mantle, Munson, Murcer, Nettles and Jackson.
Nevertheless he put in a very solid career, amassing over 1800 hits, with just under 1000 runs scored, 160 home runs and 233 stolen bases.
After his Major League playing days he even put in three good years in Japan, playing for the Yomiuri Giants between 1980-1982.
Just a quiet, solid player who more than did his job while between the foul lines, year in and year out.
I've mentioned this earlier here on this blog: years later I would end up befriending and DJ-ing in the same club scene here in NYC with his son Reade, even though he never DID tell me who his father was!
I'd only find out years later from a mutual friend after I was long gone from the club-circuit…
Would have been nice to try and schmooze a conversation or two with the senior White in the early-90's!

1975 IN-ACTION: LEE MAY

Time to add the “Big Bopper” Lee May to my long running 1975 “In-Action” sub-set, celebrating the steady first baseman who put in a very nice 18-year major League career:

You have to wonder what could have been with May, since he was already a feared slugger putting together a very nice career before he was traded to the Astros as part of the Joe Morgan trade before the 1972 season opened up.
Would the "Big Red Machine" have happened? If so, would May's legacy on the diamond have been elevated to the point of true stardom?
He put up big seasons with the Reds, the Astros, and then the Orioles before ending his career after two partial seasons with the Royals in 1982.
His total numbers are very good, especially for a guy who played the bulk of his career in the "dead" late-60's/early-70's: 959 runs, 2031 hits, 354 home runs and 1244 runs batted in.
He was also named to three All-Star teams while getting MVP consideration in six seasons between 1969 and 1976, finishing as high as ninth twice.
His last year in Cincinnati, 1971 was killer: 39 homers with 98 R.B.I.'s, 85 runs scored and a .278 average to compliment the likes of Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Johnny Bench.
Nevertheless, the swap to get Joe Morgan was key to the Cincinnati Reds and their “Big Red Machine” run, while May had nothing to be ashamed of to say the least.

1975 IN-ACTION: RON SANTO

Adding to my long-running 1975 “In-Action” sub-set today, we have a bit of a swan-song for Hall of Fame third baseman Ron Santo, who finished up his excellent Big League career with one season out of a Chicago Cubs uniform, now as a cross town Chicago White Sox player:

Santo hit only .221 as mainly their Designated Hitter in what was his 15th and final Major League campaign, retiring soon after at only 34 years of age.
Of course it was his stalwart career with the Chicago Cubs that eventually got him his rightful place in Cooperstown, hitting .277 with 342 home runs and 1331 runs batted in while playing stellar third base.
Between 1963 and 1973 Santo was selected for nine All-Star games, received five Gold Gloves for his defensive work, and four-time finished Top-10 in the National League MVP race, with a high of fourth in 1967.
Post-playing career, Santo moved on to broadcasting, where he was a beloved color commentator over the years, working with guys like Harry Caray, Thom Brennaman and Steve Stone.
But it was mainly his working relationship with Pat Hughes on the radio that were enthusiastically known as the “Pat and Ron Show”.
Sadly, Santo would die from bladder cancer and complications from diabetes in December, 2010, and would not live to see himself selected for the Hall of Fame, as that would come almost a year later when he was the only player selected by the Golden Era Committee.
Just a crying shame if you ask me.

1975 IN-ACTION: GARRY MADDOX

Time to go and give the “Secretary of Defense” Garry Maddox a 1975 “In-Action” card in my long-running sub-set, celebrating his ascent to becoming one of the all-time greatest defensive outfielders we’ve ever seen:

Maddox was still with his original Big League team, the San Francisco Giants, when this card would have seen the light of day, with him just about to begin his fourth season.
1975 would see him get traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Willie Montanez in May, and he would take that opportunity to take home the first of eight Gold Gloves over his brilliant 15-year career.
He would spent the rest of his career with the Phillies, hitting as high as .330 in 1976, helping them to a World Championship in 1980, and finishing with 1802 hits and a .285 batting average when it was all said and done.
Incredibly, the man was never tabbed for an All-Star game, which stuns me since he had some excellent seasons during his career.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired after the 1986 season he was regarded as one of the best defensive outfielders ever, prompting one of the best quotes, “Two-thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, the other one-third by Maddox”.
Brilliant!

1975 IN-ACTION: JOE RUDI

Adding to my long-running 1975 “in-Action” thread, I post my Joe Rudi edition, one of the important cogs in the Oakland three-peat World Champion teams of the mid-70’s:

Rudi had two second-place MVP finished during his great run, in 1972 and 1974, while also taking home three straight Gold Gloves between 1974 and 1976.
He led the league with 181 hits and nine triples in 1972 along with doubles (39) and total bases (287) in 1974 while also giving the A’s a flexible fielder that could play all three outfield positions as well as first base.
Such a solid player teamed up with others like Sal Bando and Gene Tenace that made the A’s much more than just superstars like Reggie Jackson and Jim “Catfish” Hunter.
By the time Rudi retired, he finished up with a career .264 average, with 179 homers and 810 RBIs over 1547 games and 5556 at-bats playing for the A’s, California Angels and Boston Red Sox between 1967 and 1982.