1981 DRAKE'S BIG PITCHERS: NOLAN RYAN

Good day all!

On the blog today, we spotlight my 1981 "Drake's Big Pitchers" card for the great Nolan Ryan, from my fun custom set released last year:

 

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1965 PETE RUNNELS

Up on the blog today, let's delve into the 1960s and give two-time batting champ Pete Runnels a 1965 "Career-Capper" shall we?

Here you go:

Runnels put in what turned out to be the last Major League action of his career in 1964, as a member of the Houston Colt .45s, or Astros as they were making that transition at that time.

Just two years removed from his second batting title in 1962, he hit .196 over 22 games for Houston, with 10 hits over 51 at-bats with three RBIs.

Runnels took home the American League batting title in 1960 and 1962 as a member of the Boston Red Sox, hitting .320 and .326 respectively, topping the .300 mark all of his five years with Boston.

His first seven years in the Big Leagues were with the Washington Senators between 1951 and 1957, where he average about .280 while playing both the infield and outfield, even getting some MVP votes in both 1952 and 1956.

Overall, by the time he retired, he finished with a .291 batting average, with 1854 hits in 6373 at-bats over 1799 games, getting named to five All-Star teams along the way.

Not too shabby a career!

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1975 JOSE CRUZ

Good day everyone.

On the blog today, a card I've been meaning to "do-over" for years, a 1975 redo for Jose Cruz, showing him with the team he suited up with in 1974, the St. Louis Cardinals:

Now if you don't remember the card originally out there in packs that Spring of 1975 for Cruz, please look at this airbrushed gem:

Absolutely hilarious!

That Houston Astros logo is about the largest logo I've ever seen on a cap!

In late October of 1974 Jose Cruz was purchased by Houston from St. Louis, where he played from 1970-1974.
He never really got to play full-time with the Cardinals, but that changed in a hurry when he suited up for the Astros.
He immediately became a popular player, going on to play 13 solid seasons for them in the outfield and finishing in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting three times in the process.
Actually, Cruz can be the quietest 2000+ hits guy from the 1970's and '80's. He finished with 2251 hits, 165 home runs and 317 stolen bases while collecting two Silver Slugger awards over a 19-year career. Not bad at all.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 MICK KELLEHER

On the blog today, we revisit another 10-year old post, this time my 1975 "Missing in Action" card for Mick Kelleher:

It’s a stretch being that Kelleher appeared in 19 games for the Astros during the 1974 season.
But it can be argued that he easily could have appeared on a card, at the very least a multi-player rookie card, in any given year between 1974 and 1975.
As it was he didn’t appear in a Topps set until 1977 after a relatively full season with the Chicago Cubs the previous year.
Nevertheless, Kelleher hit .158 during the 1974 season, collecting nine hits over 57 at-bats while playing shortstop.
He would go on to play 11-years in his career, mainly with the Cubs where he’d see the bulk of his 622 lifetime games.
In those, he collected 230 hits in 1081 at-bats, good for a .213 average.

1960S IN-ACTION: 1966 JOE MORGAN

On the blog today, spotlighting my 1966 "In-Action" card for Joe Morgan, from my recent set released a few months ago:

 

For Mr. Morgan, the man was just beginning a run that would send him straight to the Hall of Fame, while helping eventually build a juggernaut of a team forever known as the "Big Red Machine" when he was dealt to to Cincinnati before the 1972 season.

Those Reds teams would win two straight World Series in 1975 and 1976, and field teams with the likes of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George Foster and Ken Griffey Sr.

By the time he retired after the 1984 season at the age of 40, he finished with two MVP Awards, 10 All-Star nods, five Gold Gloves, 2517 hits, 1650 runs scored, 268 homers and a cool 689 stolen bases with 1865 walks.
One of the all-timers right there at second base!

 

REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION: 1978 JIM FULLER

On the blog this fine day, we revisit a 10-year-old post featuring my 1978 "missing in action" card for Jim Fuller of the Houston Astros:

Fuller played the final 34 games of his career for the Houston Astros in 1977, collecting 16 hits in exactly 100 at-bats for a .160 batting average.

That action in 1977 was the first for him since the 1974 season when he played in 64 games for the Baltimore Orioles, for whom he came up with the previous year.

All told, Fuller's career consisted of those three years, finishing with a .194 batting average, 61 hits, 11 homers and 41 runs batted in spread over 107 games and 315 at-bats.

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1973 JR RICHARD

OK. So on the blog today, I finally break down and reuse the image I originally used for JR Richard and his 1972 "dedicated rookie" here on the blog years ago, for his "not so missing" 1973 edition:

I have been looking high and low for a nice time-sesitive image of Richard to no success, then one of you suggested I do what Topps was doing a lot of back then, reusing images, sometimes cropped differently, so here we are!

Richard appeared in his first four games during the 1971 season, and blew the MLB world wide-open when he struck out 15 batters in his first start.

In 1972 he would again appear in four games, going 1-0 with a 13.50 ERA over six innings, striking out eight while also walking eight.

It would take a few years, but he'd become the power-arm all-star by the 1975 season, and would go on to post two 300+ strikeout campaigns, four straight 200+ K years,  four straight seasons of 18+ wins (1976-1979), and an E.R.A. crown in 1979 before tragically having his career cut short in 1980 by a stroke.

His final numbers are indicative of what we could have expected well into the 1980's had he not been cut down at the age of 30: a 107-71 record with 1493 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA in 238 games and 1606 innings.

It really would have been something to see Richard and Nolan Ryan team up to rack-up incredible numbers together.

One of the ultimate "what could have been" stories in baseball during my childhood for sure…

 

REVISITING MY 1973 "NICKNAME" CARD FOR JIMMY WYNN

On the blog today, we go back 10 years or so and revisit my 1973 "Nicknames of the 1970s" card for the "Toy Cannon", Jimmy Wynn:

I used a 1973 template to play around with the cannon icon in the lower right-hand corner, while also giving him a card while he was still in a Houston uniform before he went on to play for the Dodgers and get named to two consecutive all-star starts in 1974 and 1975.

Wynn put up some solid years during his excellent 15-year career.

Eight times he'd top 20 homers, with three of them 30+, while also driving in 100+ runs twice, scoring 100+ runs four times and topping 100 walks six times, two seasons of which he'd lead the National League, with a high of 148 in 1969.

While slugging away, he was also a threat on the base paths, as he'd go on to swipe a total of 225 before retiring, with a high of 43 in 1965.

After a handful of games with the Milwaukee Brewers in the latter half of 1977, he called it a career, finishing with 1100+ runs scored, 1665 hits, 291 homers and 964 runs batted in, with a .250 average thrown in.

 

REVISITING MY MISSING IN ACTION- 1978 ART GARDNER

Let's go and revisit my post from July of 2015 featuring my "missing in action" card for Art Gardner of the Houston Astros shall we:

Gardner appeared in 66 games for the Astros in 1977, hitting .154 with 10 hits over 65 at-bats.

He debuted in the Majors in 1975, playing in 13 games for Houston with equal luck at the plate, before playing the entire 1976 season in the Minor leagues.

In 1978 he'd play in only seven games with the Giants, before playing out his professional career in the Minor Leagues and the Japanese league in the early 1980's before retiring for good.

His total in the Big leagues: a .162 average with 16 hits (all singles) in 99 official at-bats, with 12 runs scored and five runs batted in. 

And though he was a speedster in the Minors (196 steals in his Minor League career), he tallied one single stolen base while up in the Majors, coming in his rookie year of '75.

 

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- MISSING IN ACTION: 1964 JOE MORGAN

Today's blog post has my "not really missing" 1964 card for all-time second baseman Joe Morgan, who made his Major League debut for the Houston Colt .45's in 1963:

Morgan appeared in eight games for the Colt .45's that season, hitting .240 with the first six hits of his illustrious career over 25 at-bats, also stealing a base and scoring five runs.

For Mr. Morgan, the man was just beginning a run that would send him straight to the Hall of Fame, still with his original team before eventually helping to build a juggernaut of a team forever known as the "Big Red Machine" when he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1972 season in a blockbuster trade.

Those Reds teams would win two straight World Series in 1975 and 1976, and field teams with the likes of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George Foster and Ken Griffey Sr.

By the time he retired after the 1984 season at the age of 40, he finished with two MVP Awards, 10 All-Star nods, five Gold Gloves, 2517 hits, 1650 runs scored, 268 homers and a cool 689 stolen bases with 1865 walks.
One of the all-timers right there at second base!

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: J.R. RICHARD

Today on the blog, we go and add J.R. Richard to my future custom "Classic Baseball" set, which I hope to release in five series in the near future as a "monster" WTHBALLS set on high-end card stock:

Just a wonderful image of the fire-balling Astros ace flashing that great smile as he tortured National League batters with his overpowering stuff.

Richard was just becoming the great formidable pitcher mowing down N.L. batters around the time this photo was taken.

From 1976 to 1979, Richard was down-right nasty, striking out 200 or more batters, including 300+ in both 1978 and 1979 (leading the N.L. in K's each time), as well as posting 18 or more wins and 3+ shutouts each season. 

1980 was shaping up to be more of the same, as Richard was 10-4 with a 1.90 E.R.A. and 119 K's through only 113.2 innings.

But on July 30th, 1980, while playing a game of catch before a game, Richard suffered a stroke that ended his career in an instant, requiring emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot in his neck.

Though he tried a comeback once he recovered, the stroke caused enough damage to prevent him from ever playing in another Major League game.

A tragic end to one of the most promising careers in the Majors at the time.

It would have been incredible to see Richard team up with new Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan and see how many K's they could have racked up.

That would have been some 1-2 punch to watch through the 1980s, but sadly we did not have the pleasure.

Rest in Peace J.R.

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1977 ART HOWE

On the blog today, we post up my "not really missing in action" 1977 card for Art Howe, who appeared in 21 games for the Houston Astros in 1976 after parts of two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Howe hit .138 over those 21 games, with four hits in 29 at-bats along with six walks while putting in time at third and second base.

His 11-year career as a player would really hit its stride after joining the Astros, as he'd play pretty much full-time between 1977 and 1982 before a couple of part-time years in St. Louis in 1984 and 1985 (he didn't play Major League ball in 1983).

As you all know, he'd really find his niche on the Major League level as a manager, guiding the Astros, Oakland A's and New York Mets between 1989 and 2004.

His real success was leading the young studs in Oakland in the late-90's/early-00's, winning 100-games in two seasons (2001 and 2002), but never being able to get past the N.Y. Yankees (remember the now-famous "Jeter-Flip"?).

All told, Howe would win 1129 games as a manager in the Big Leagues, finishing 2nd in "Manager of the Year" voting four years in a row from 1999-2002.

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 JOE FERGUSON

Up on the blog today, we take a closer look at the OPC and Topps image variation for Joe Ferguson's 1977 cards:

OPC version

Topps version

Whereas the Topps card has the catcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he suited up in 1976, the OPC card has him airbrushed into a Houston Astros uniform, reflecting his recent trade to the team.

After putting in half a season with the Cardinals in 1976, Ferguson was part of a multi-player trade that also saw former All-Star pitcher Larry Dierker head to St. Louis.

Ferguson would have a decent year for the Astros in 1977, hitting .257 over 132 games with 16 homers and 61 runs batted in.

He'd start 1978 with the Astros before finding himself where it all began, the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he started his career in 1970 and where he played up until 1976.

He had himself a nice 14-year Major League career, really acting as a back-up or platooning catcher, with only two seasons seeing him get as many as 500 plate appearances: 1973 with L.A. and 1977 with Houston.
His 1973 season with the Dodgers got him some MVP consideration, as he hit .263 with 25 homers and 88 runs batted in, along with 87 walks and 84 runs scored. Not bad at all!
For his career, he finished with a .240 average with 122 homers and 445 RBIs, with 719 hits over 3001 at-bats.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: NELLIE FOX

The next baseball legend to get a card in my future custom "Classic Baseball" set is Hall of Fame second baseman Nellie Fox, shown here at the end of his career when he was a member of the Houston Astros (or Colt .45's):

Fox put together a brilliant Major League career, first as a Hall of Fame second baseman mainly for the Chicago White Sox, then as a coach later on, a true baseball life before sadly passing away at the young age of 47 in 1975.
He led the AL in hits four times in the 1950’s, and of course would lead the Chicago White Sox to the 1959 World Series, taking home the league’s MVP Award for his efforts.
By the time he retired as a player after two years with the Houston Astros in 1964-65, he finished with 2663 hits and a .288 batting average, with twelve all-star nods and three Gold Gloves.
Defensively, it’s incredible to see he led the American League in putouts every single season between 1952 and 1961, while leading the league’s second basemen in fielding percentage six times, double-plays five times and assists six times.
In 1997, the Veteran’s Committee selected Fox for the Hall of Fame, joining former teammates Luis Aparicio and Early Wynn from that 1959 pennant winning team.

 

1969 "DO-OVER" SET: JOE MORGAN

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we spotlight my 1969 "redo" for the great Joe Morgan, from my recent "1969 Gimmie a Do-Over" set from a few months back:

Just a nice image of the great second baseman that wasn't a reused image like Topps had out there way back when!

For Mr. Morgan, the man was just beginning a run that would send him straight to the Hall of Fame, still with his original team before eventually helping to build a juggernaut of a team forever known as the "Big Red Machine" when he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1972 season in a blockbuster trade.

Those Reds teams would win two straight World Series in 1975 and 1976, and field teams with the likes of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George Foster and Ken Griffey Sr.

By the time he retired after the 1984 season at the age of 40, he finished with two MVP Awards, 10 All-Star nods, five Gold Gloves, 2517 hits, 1650 runs scored, 268 homers and a cool 689 stolen bases with 1865 walks.
One of the all-timers right there at second base!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": DON WILSON

Today on the blog, we celebrate former Houston Astros hurler Don Wilson and his 1967 no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves with this "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card:

On June 18th of the 1967 season, the 22-year-old dominated the Braves, on his way to what would be the first of two career no-no's with a 15 strikeout performance, even striking out Hank Aaron for the final out of his gem at the Astrodome.

It turned out to be the first no-hitter tossed under a roof, as well as the first on artificial turf, unique in quite a few ways!

Two years later he'd repeat the feat, this time against the Cincinnati Reds, striking out 13 on his way to history yet again.

Wilson would go on to have arguably his best season in the Big Leagues in 1969, finishing up with a record of 16-12 with an ERA at 4.00 with 235 strikeouts over 34 starts.
He’d match those 16 wins a couple of years later, his high-water mark for a season, with another 15 wins the following year, with ERA’s under 3.00 each time.
A bright star on the Houston Astros team, tragically, on January 5th of 1975 he passed away under mysterious circumstances in his home of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, which also took the life of his 5-year-old son who was sleeping upstairs above the garage. Wilson was only 29-years-old.

 

970 "20-WIN CIRCLE": LARRY DIERKER

On the blog today, we add former Houston Astros ace Larry Dierker to my 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set, celebrating the 20-game winners of the 1969 season:

Dierker had himself an excellent year in 1969, his sixth in the Majors while still only 22 years of age!

He posted a record of 20-13 over 39 appearances, 37 of them starts, with a brilliant 2.33 earned run average in 305.1 innings.

He completed 20 of those starts and tossed four shutouts along the way, striking out 232 batters, garnering him his first All-Star berth as well.

Incredibly Dierker made his Big League debut at the age of 17 with the (tehn) Houston Colt .45's, appearing in three games and going 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA over three games and nine innings pitched.

He’d finish his playing career in 1978 with the St. Louis Cardinals, his only season outside of Houston, going 2-6 with a 4.58 ERA over 11 appearances before retiring with a record of 139-123 with a very nice 3.31 ERA over 356 games and 2333.2 innings pitched.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. STRIKEOUTS

Good day all!

On the blog today, we have the top three National League strikeout pitchers of 1978 proudly displayed on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card, featuring three studs of the mound:

 

We begin with Houston Astros ace J.R. Richard, who had himself quite a season in 1978, reaching the 300 strikeout plateau for the first time with 303 total over 275.1 innings of work.

Richard was just getting better and better at this point, reaching the 300 strikeout mark after two seasons of 214, winning 18 games each year between 1977 and 1979 with a 20-win season in 1976.

He was a beast on the mound, and would follow up his 1978 campaign with an even better 1979 season, striking out 313 batters while leading the league with a 2.71 earned run average while completing 19 of his 38 starts, throwing 292.1 innings.

I cannot even imagine how the 1980’s could have gone for him had not a tragic stroke strike him during the 1980 season, ending his career just like that.

In second place with 248 strikeouts, the 1977 K-leader in the N.L., Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro, who started 42 games while completing 22 of them, both league high marks, as well as his whopping 334.1 innings.

He went 19-18 with a very nice 2.88 ERA, tossing four shutouts and even winning the first of his five Gold Gloves, this at the age of 39! Amazing.

In third place with 226 strikeouts, a man who at that point was already a five-time K-King, Cincinnati Reds ace Tom Seaver, who had a very nice first full-season after his shocking trade to the team during the 1977 season.

“Tom Terrific” went 16-14 over 36 starts, posting an ERA of 2.88 over 259 innings, tossing one shutout while completing eight, making his eleventh All-Star team on his way to an easy Hall of Fame selection years later, in my opinion THE best pitcher of the 1970’s.

Quite the trip of arms here!

1977 N.L. CENTENNIAL: J.R. RICHARD

On the blog today, we add Houston Astros ace J.R. Richard to my 1977 "N.L. Centennial" sub-set, celebrating the Senior League's 100th anniversary of the year before:

As part of the celebration, the league wore special patches on their sleeves, so I made sure to use photos that showed them on every card.

Luckily for me there were countless photos taken that season of the players and the league's games, so it wasn't nearly as difficult for me to create the set (slated for a two-series release later this year!).

As for the great J.R., he was just becoming the great formidable pitcher mowing down N.L. batter around this time.

From 1976 to 1979, Richard was down-right nasty, striking out 200 or more batters, including 300+ in both 1978 and 1979 (leading the N.L. in K's each time), as well as posting 18 or more wins and 3+ shutouts each season. 

1980 was shaping up to be more of the same, as Richard was 10-4 with a 1.90 E.R.A. and 119 K's through only 113.2 innings.

But on July 30th, 1980, while playing a game of catch before a game, Richard suffered a stroke that ended his career in an instant, requiring emergency surgery to remove a life-threatening blood clot in his neck.

Though he tried a comeback once he recovered, the stroke caused enough damage to prevent him from ever playing in another Major League game.

A tragic end to one of the most promising careers in the Majors at the time.

It would have been incredible to see Richard team up with new Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan and see how many K's they could have racked up.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 N.L. BATTING

Good day everyone!

Up on the blog today, we move on to 1979 in my on-going “Expanded League Leaders” thread, showcasing the top three players in each category on a league leader card, beginning with the top three hitters in the National League for 1978:

 

We begin with Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Dave Parker, who took home his second straight batting title with a .334 average, following his .338 number the year before.

Parker was in the prime of his career, also chipping in 30 home runs and 117 runs batted in with 23 stolen bases to take home the league MVP Award.

He would not disappoint in 1979 either, as he would hit .310 with 25 homers and 94 RBIs while collecting 193 hits and scoring 109 runs, helping the team to a World Championship with the fan favorite “We Are Family” club.

This is a Hall of Famer in my book! I will never waiver on this.

In second place with a .316 batting average, another guy who I feel is a Hall of Famer, Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey, who put in another “Garvey-esque” season with 202 hits, 89 runs scored, 21 homers and 113 runs batted in.

It was the fourth of his six 200-hit seasons, while also posting his third 20+ homer campaign, as well as third 100+ RBI campaign.

Analytics be damned, there is no way anyone can convince me this guy isn’t a Hall of Famer considering for the better part of a decade he was THE N.L. first baseman, which carries a lot of weight in my eyes.

Just behind Garvey with a .315 batting average in 1978, underrated Houston Astros star Jose Cruz, who put in another great under-the-radar year with 178 hits, 83 runs batted in and 79 runs scored.

A quiet yet steady hitter for over 10 years, Cruz gave the Astros an anchor in the middle of their line-up who could hit for average, show some “pop” in his bat, and drive in runs until the late-80’s.

A great trio of batters here, two of which I believe should have their place in Cooperstown, while all three collected over 2000 hits over their careers.