1963 FLEER EXTENSION MISSING IN ACTION: FELIPE ALOU

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1963 Fleer card for baseball lifer Felipe Alou, which also happens to be part of my latest WTHBALLS custom set:

During his career he'd top the National League in hits twice, runs once and total bases once.

His finest year would have to be 1966, when he led the N.L. in runs with 122, hits with 218, at-bats with 666, total bases with 355, while hitting 31 home runs, driving in 74 and batting a cool .327.

He'd end up fifth in MVP voting, and was named to his third all-star team.

After his playing days were over he'd coach and eventually manage in the Major Leagues, leading both the Expos and Giants to first place finishes (1994 and 2003 respectively) during his 14 years as a skipper.

Of course it's also worth mentioning that Alou comes from an incredible baseball family, as brothers Jesus and Matty, son Moises, cousin Jose Sosa and nephew Mel Rojas all got to play in the Big Leagues as well.

As a matter of fact, Felipe got to play with both his brothers, AND even go on to manage his son and nephew later on.

Pretty cool…

 

MISSING IN ACTION: 1957 BILL WHITE

Really fun card to create for today's blog post: a "missing" 1957 card for All-Star first baseman and true baseball "lifer" Bill White:

Sorry for the watermark!

For the life of me I can't figure out why White was left out of the 1957 set considering he had a "Rookie of the Year"-worthy 1956 campaign with the New York Giants.

In 138 games that season, White hit .256 with 22 homers and 56 runs batted in, with 63 runs scored.

He would put in military time for the entire 1957 season and part of the 1958 campaign, but I'm still surprised Topps didn't include him in their 1957 set.

Growing up with watching the Yankees on T.V., I was very familiar with White, being that he was a longtime announcer on channel 11 here in the NYC area for games along with Phil Rizzuto.

As a matter of fact White would end up being a sort of fall-guy for all of Rizzuto's hilarious antics, which made for some really funny moments during the game.

White closed out a brilliant, if not shortened 13-year career in 1969, returning to the Cardinals, for whom he played between 1959 and 1965 and put together his best years as a big-league player.

In '69, he appeared in 49 games, hitting .211 with 12 hits over 57 official at-bats.

But when you take a good look at what he did over the eleven seasons that he played full-time, you see an excellent, consistent player who also played his position superbly.

At the plate White put together four 100-RBI seasons, reached 200 hits once (with two other 190+ hit years thrown in), clubbed 20+ homers seven times, topped .300 four times and scored 100+ runs once.

Defensively, all White did was take home seven consecutive Gold Glove Awards between 1960 to 1966, leading his league in fielding twice along the way as well.

Admittedly I didn't know any of this as a young kid watching Yankee games at first.

Wasn't until I was bestowed with my first MacMillan Encyclopedia around 1979 that I was able to soak it all in.

I just remember him as a somewhat reserved guy who'd crack a joke here and there while Rizzuto was running wild at the mouth with all of his anecdotes.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: ORLANDO CEPEDA

On the blog today, the next card from my 2019 "1960 Stars of the Game" custom WTHBALLS gelatin set, this time HOFer Orlando Cepeda:

Cepeda was a much heralded prospect coming up in the Minors before making his Big League debut in 1958, and of course, he would not disappoint, as he would take home the Rookie of the Year that season, hitting .312 with 188 hits, 25 homers, 96 RBIs and a league-leading 38 doubles, in what was to become a "typical" season for the future Hall of Famer.

While Cepeda's career was productive enough to get into Cooperstown, it's well known that if not for his bad knees, his final statistics could have been mind blowing.
Nevertheless, by the time he retired, he posted final numbers of: 379 homers, 1365 runs batted in, 2351 hits and a .297 average, with a Rookie of the Year (1958) and M.V.P. award (1967) thrown in.
It took a little while, but he was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 after being selected by the Veteran's Committee.
What a power trio San Francisco had in Cepeda, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey! Power to the ultimate degree!”

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1971 JIM JOHNSON

Today on the blog we have a great "old fashioned" 1971 "not so missing" card for three-game Major League pitcher Jim Johnson of the San Francisco Giants:

The entirety of Johnson's Big League tenure was during the month of April, 1970, when he appeared in the aforementioned three games, going 1-0 with a 8.10 earned run average over 6.2 innings.

He was hit hard over those 6+ innings, giving up eight hits and six runs while walking five, striking out two with a balk and two wild pitches.

Though he was sent down to the Minors for the rest of the season, it seemed probable that he would be back up either later in the year or the following season, however because of a stubborn Giants front office and later on a sore arm, Johnson decided the best move for his family was to retire and move onto a long and distinguished career in Education.

Sadly he passed away at the young age of only 42 due to Pancreatic Cancer in 1987, at the time he was the Superintendent of Schools at North Muskegon, Michigan High School.

He had devoted his life to Education even before he retired, attaining advanced Degrees at University while toiling in the Minors.

 

GIMMIE A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN: 1975 DAMASO BLANCO

Since I found a better image for Damaso Blanco of the San Francisco Giants over what I originally used, I went ahead a recreated the "missing" card originally on the blog back in 2019, so here it is:

Closing out what was a three-year Big League career that saw him hit .212 over 72 games and 33 at-bats, with seven hits and nine runs scored between 1972 and 1974, all for the Giants.
A career Minor Leaguer, he originally became a pro back in 1961 at the age of 19 before toiling through the Giants system until his big break in 1972 at the age of 30.
His career was played entirely for the San Francisco organization, with only those three partial years in the Majors mentioned above, totaling 14 years as a professional.

 

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION-1975 CAREER-CAPPER FOR STEVE BARBER

Thought today would be a fun time to revisit a ten year old post, this time my 1975 career-capper for pitcher Steve Barber:

Barber wrapped up a nice 15-year career as a Major League pitcher after appearing in 13 games for the San Francisco Giants in 1974, posting a 0-1 record with a 5.27 earned run average over 13.2 innings of work.
His best years were as a Baltimore Oriole, with whom he came up with in 1960, and for whom he posted a 20-win season in 1963, three seasons of sub-3.00 ERA, and leading the American league with eight shutouts in 1962.
Once he left Baltimore he became somewhat of a journeyman pitcher both as a starter and an arm out of the bullpen, pitching for the New York, Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, California Angels and Giants.
He finished his career with a 121-106 record, with a 3.36 ERA, 21 shutouts, 14 saves and 1309 K’s over 466 games and 1999 innings.

 

"CLASSIC BASEBALL" CUSTOM WTHBALLS SET: MONTE IRVIN

Good day everyone!

Let's go and add Hall of Famer Monte Irvin to my long-running "Classic Baseball" set shall we?:

Although Irvin did play in the Major Leagues for eight seasons between 1949 and 1956, it was his performance in the Negro Leagues prior that led to his Hall of Fame induction.

Starring in both the Negro and Mexican Leagues, Irvin hit for power and average, which brought attention from the Majors in the form of Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, who broke the color-barrier a couple of years earlier with Jackie Robinson.

After Rickey was unsuccessful in reaching an agreement for compensation with the Newark Eagles owner, he abandoned trying to get Irvin into the Dodger fold, leaving an opening for the Giants to swoop in and sign him, paying $5000 for his contract.

In his eight years in the Major Leagues, all but his last with the Giants, he batted .293 with 99 home runs and 443 runs batted in, while also chipping in 28 steals and 366 runs scored.

He also helped the organization by mentoring newly promoted superstar to be Willie Mays, taking him under his wing until the "Say Hey Kid" was able to get adjusted to big league life.

The 1951 season was his finest, as he led the National League in RBI's with 121 while clubbing 24 homers and batting .312.

Those numbers got him a third place finish for Most Valuable Player, behind winner Roy Campanella and Stan Musial.

After playing the 1956 season with the Chicago Cubs, Irvin retired because of a bad back.

I didn't know this until I began writing this post that Irvin is the oldest living Negro Leagues player at the moment. He is also the oldest living African-American to have played in the Majors as well.

God-speed Mr. Irvin!

 

SPECIAL REQUEST: "UPDATE SERIES" 1985 VIDA BLUE

Up on the blog today, we have a special request creation, a 1985 "Update Series" Vida Blue card, celebrating his return to the majors after a year:

Blue made it back to a Major League mound in 1985 with another stint with the San Francisco Giants, for whom he previously played for from 1978 through 1981.

He would do well for them in his return, going 8-8 over 33 games, 20 of those starts, pitching to a 4.47 ERA over 131 innings with 103 strikeouts and a complete game.

In 1983 Blue appeared in only 19 games for the Kansas City Royals, going 0-5 with a 6.01 ERA at the relatively young age of 33.

The following year he'd be out of baseball completely before coming back with the Giants, where he'd put in two seasons before retiring for good after 1986.

Of course, we all know that Vida Blue absolutely exploded onto the Major League scene in 1971, on his way to capturing both the Cy Young and MVP awards by season's end.

All he did in this epic season was post a record of 24-8, with a league-leading 1.82 earned run average, striking out 301 batters and tossing eight shutouts.

Oh yeah, he was only 21 years of age!

His WHIP of 0.952 and strikeouts-per-nine-innings of 8.7 also led the league, and he completed 24 of his 39 starts, putting in 312 innings of work for the upstart Oakland A's, who were about to go on the three-peat championship run between 1972 and 1974.

Blue would go on to post 209 career victories in the Majors, having some successful seasons with the San Francisco Giants, even starting the 1978 All-Star game for the National League, while finishing up his 17-year career in 1986.
It’s amazing for me to remember that when Blue started that NL All-Star game in 1978, he wasn’t even 30 years old, yet to me he already seemed to be an aging veteran by then.

REVISIT: MISSING IN ACTION-1976 CHRIS ARNOLD

Good day all!

On the blog today, we revisit a ten-year-old post featuring my 1976 "Missing in Action" card for former San Francisco Giant infielder Chris Arnold, which was part of my "1976 Project" for my buddy Jim:

Arnold played in 29 games during the 1975 season after coming off a half-season of play the previous year, easily the most of his six-year career.

While playing both in the infield and outfields, Arnold chipped in with a .267 batting average based on his eight hits in 41 at-bats, all of those hits being singles.

His 1976 season would end up being the last of his career, which was spent entirely in 'frisco, finishing with a .237 career average with 103 hits in 435 at-bats over 273 games.

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: MISSING 1978 TERRY CORNUTT

Time once again to revisit a ten-year-old post here on the blog, for the late-comers to WTHBALLS, this time my "missing" 1978 card for former San Francisco Giant pitcher Terry Cornutt:

Cornutt appeared in 28 games for the Giants in 1977, posting a 1-2 record with 23 strikeouts and a 3.86 earned run average over 44.1 innings of work.

Except for a single solitary appearance in 1978, that would be the entirety of his Major League career.

Curious as to why he never made it back up to the "big show", as he put in a few more decent seasons in the minor leagues until 1980 for the Giants organization out of the 'pen.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: WILLIE MAYS

The next custom card from my "1960s Stars of the Game" set released in 2018 and long sold-out, the great Willie Mays:

The set featured 40 postcard-sized cards with cut-out player cards to mimic the Jello sets of that era.

Fun set to produce, as it even contained a packet of gelatin to complete the set!

What needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history?
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.

 

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: WILLIE MAYS

Today on the blog we come to my custom "card that never was", from my unreleased 1971 All-Star ticket set celebrating the classic All-Star game, my card for National League outfield starter Willie Mays:

What needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history?
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.

A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: WILLIE McCOVEY

The second WTHBALLS "card that never was" from my never-released 1972 "All-Star Ticket" bookmark set celebrating the classic 1971 Midsummer Classic is that of Willie McCovey, starting first baseman for the National League:

Just a fun set I thought of producing a few years back before finally deciding on the All-Star set I eventually released, which sold-out quickly funny enough.

What needs to be said about the man at this point here on the blog?

When he got called up to the Big Leagues in 1959, all he did was tear the seams off the ball by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 runs batted in along with 32 runs scored in only 52 games, copping a Rookie of the Year Award and setting the tone for his 22-year career.

In 1969 he had his finest season, as he made his fifth All-Star team, on his way to taking home the league MVP Award after a year that saw him lead the league with 45 homers, 126 RBIs, a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, as well as a whopping 45 intentional base on balls.

The man put it ALL together that year!

By the time he retired in 1980, he crushed 521 home runs, collected over 2000 hits, drove in over 1500, and left his mark as one of the most feared sluggers of his generation.

In 1986, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall of Fame with 81.4% of the ballots cast.

Man, what a threesome McCovey, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda made back in the 1960's for San Francisco, huh?

Just incredible.

 

CAREER-CAPPER: 1981 WILLIE MCCOVEY

On the blog today, we break away from the 1970s and create a 1981 Career-Capper for Willie McCovey, something I plan on doing more of in the upcoming new year:

When he got called up to the Big Leagues in 1959, all he did was tear the seams off the ball by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 runs batted in along with 32 runs scored in only 52 games, copping a Rookie of the Year Award and setting the tone for his 22-year career.

In 1969 he had his finest season, as he made his fifth All-Star team, on his way to taking home the league MVP Award after a year that saw him lead the league with 45 homers, 126 RBIs, a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, as well as a whopping 45 intentional base on balls.

The man put it ALL together that year!

By the time he retired in 1980, he crushed 521 home runs, collected over 2000 hits, drove in over 1500, and left his mark as one of the most feared sluggers of his generation.

In 1986, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall of Fame with 81.4% of the ballots cast.

Man, what a threesome McCovey, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda made back in the 1960's for San Francisco, huh?

Just incredible.

THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- 1966 MASANORI MURAKAMI

On the blog today, from my recent "Whole Nine: Series 2" custom set released a few months back, my "missing" 1966 card for Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese-player to play Major League ball:

While mainly known as the groundbreaking player from Japan, many may forget that he was nothing short of excellent in his brief two year career in the Big Leagues, and could have gone on to put in a wonderful career here in the States if it wasn't for issues with the fact that he was wanted back in Japan to play by Japanese officials.

As a 20-year-old making the historic switch to American ball, Murakami fared very well in 1964, going 1-0 over nine appearances, with a sparkling 1.80 ERA over 15 innings of work, striking out 15 against only one walk, picking up a save.

After an off-season that had a lot of arguing between both sides of the Pacific as to where he'd play in 1965, Murakami was back with the San Francisco Giants, once again proving himself a worthy pitcher in the Majors, going 4-1 over 45 appearances with a 3.75 ERA in 74.1 innings of work, striking out 85 against 22 walks, recording eight saves.

This performance got him a ton of attention both here and in Japan, becoming somewhat of a folk hero in his home country, with Murakami believing he'd be playing in the States for the foreseeable future.

However, Japanese officials convinced him to stay in Japan to play there, causing some fighting among officials for both countries, each side arguing as to why Murakami should be playing for them, eventually causing a rift between American and Japanese ball that would exist for decades after that.

With his home country putting pressure on the young pitcher, he decided to resign with the Nankai Hawks, even though he did want to return to the States to play for the Giants, thus ending his career in the Big Leagues.

His final numbers were great, going 5-1 over 54 games, with a 3.43 ERA over 89.1 innings, striking out 100 batters against only 23 walks, with nine saves for the Giants.

He would return to play in Japan, where he'd put in another 17 seasons, finishing with a record of 103-82 over 566 games, retiring after the 1982 season.

Incredible that we'd have to wait until a fellow by the name of Hideo Nomo came along to see another Japanese player make it here in the States.

 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2015: "THEN AND NOW" 1974 FELIPE ALOU

Thought I'd revisit a 10-year old post celebrating the playing career of Felipe Alou, elite hitter who went on to a very nice managerial career in the Big Leagues:

By 1974 Alou was wrapping up a very nice 17-year career that saw him top 2000 hits, 200 home runs and 100 stolen bases.

He'd only play three games in '74, with the Milwaukee Brewers, but I have him shown here as an Expos player, the team he was suited up for on his regular Topps card in the set. (Ignoring the awful Traded card as a Brewer he was airbrushed into).

During his career he'd top the National League in hits twice, runs once and total bases once.

His finest year would have to be 1966, when he led the N.L. in runs with 122, hits with 218, at-bats with 666, total bases with 355, while hitting 31 home runs, driving in 74 and batting a cool .327.

He'd end up fifth in MVP voting, and was named to his third all-star team.

After his playing days were over he'd coach and eventually manage in the Major Leagues, leading both the Expos and Giants to first place finishes (1994 and 2003 respectively) during his 14 years as a skipper.

Of course it's also worth mentioning that Alou comes from an incredible baseball family, as brothers Jesus and Matty, son Moises, cousin Jose Sosa and nephew Mel Rojas all got to play in the Big Leagues as well.

As a matter of fact, Felipe got to play with both his brothers, AND even go on to manage his son and nephew later on.

Pretty cool…

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATION: 1977 MARTY PEREZ

Today on the blog we take a look at the image variation for Marty Perez and his 1977 OPC and Topps cards:

OPC version

Topps version

I always liked that 1977 Topps Perez card with him suited up with the San Francisco Giants, out in the field on a nice sunny day.

As for OPC, they quickly airbrushed him into a New York Yankees uniform , or should I say, cap, to reflect his trade in March of 1977 for Terry Whitfield.

Sadly all that airbrushing work was for nothing, as Perez made one single appearance for the Yankees that Spring before getting traded to the Oakland A's along with Dock Ellis and Larry Murray for pitcher Mike Torrez.

In that one game for the Yanks Perez went 2-for-4 with time out at third base, before going on to play 115 games for the A's the rest of the way.

Turns out the following season, he'd only appear in 16 games for Oakland before getting released, ending his playing career after 10 seasons.

Between 1971 and 1976 he was a regular player for the Atlanta Braves, putting in extensive time in the infield, averaging around .250 at the plate.

Overall, he hit .246 in 931 games between 1969 and 1978, with 771 hits in 3131 at-bats, with 313 runs scored and 241 runs batted in.

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" GEORGE DAVIS

Up on the blog today, we spotlight my early custom card for Hall of Famer George Davis, from my "19th Century Base Ball Stars" set released back in 2018, in a fun faux 1890's cigarette pack with all sorts of goodies:

Sure wish I could get in my time machine and jet back to that era to buy up all the cigarette packs I could find so I could pull out cards like this!

I'm especially fond of the 1894 Mayo Plug set, which this set right here was modeled after of course!

As for George Davis, his inclusion in this set was based on his stellar 20-year Big League career that saw him as one of the best shortstops of the era, playing for the New York Giants, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Spiders between 1890 and 1909.

Over his 2372 games, he'd hit .295 while picking up 2665 hits, with 453 doubles, 163 triples and 73 homers, with 1545 runs scored and 1440 runs batted in, as well as 619 stolen bases.

He would topp 100 runs scored five times, while also topping 100 RBIs three times, including a league-leading 135 in 1897 with the Giants.

He'd hit .300 or better nine times, all in a row between 1893 and 1901, with a high of .355 in 1893, his first year with the Giants, when he also established his career-best in hits with 195 and incredible 27 triples and 11 home runs.

Some 100 years later, the Veteran's Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame, finally getting him some recognition that slowly evaporated over the decades since his playing days ended, and rightly so!

REVISITING A POST FROM 2013: GIMMIE A DO-OVER-1977 BOBBY MURCER

Revisiting a post from 2013 today, my first year of the blog, with today's card(s) being my do-over from July 6th of that year of one of the game's good guys, Bobby Murcer, and his 1977 card:

As issued by Topps

My re-do

Bobby Murcer's 1977 card was always one that I didn't like.
You see, I grew up a Yankee fan and I always loved Murcer. So even the cards of him on either the Cubs or Giants were cards I sought out as I ripped open packs in the late 70's.
So seeing this card with catcher Joe Ferguson taking up most of the frame irked me. So today I'm posting a much cleaner redesigned card with Murcer posing in a batting stance, facing the camera.
Yeah it's a little tame, but at least we're not distracted by some other guy's back to the camera instead of Murcer himself.
On a side note: I do like the fact that on the original card Murcer seems to be arguing balls and strikes with the ump. He seems a bit pissed, which if you know Murcer the player or announcer, there was probably not a nicer person on the baseball diamond or in the booth calling games.
Anyway, would have made for a great card if the photographer got Murcer and the ump in the shot instead what was actually depicted.

Reflecting the mega-trade that saw Murcer head to Chicago for reigning National League batting king Bill Madlock, OPC scrambled to get Murcer airbrushed into a Cubs uni, while Topps had an in-game shot of him at the plate.

Murcer really did have a very nice career, especially those seasons between 1969 and 1977 when he drove in over 80 runs eight times, while topping 90 five of those seasons.
He hit as high as .331 (1971) while hitting as many as 33 homers (1972), while also leading the league in runs scored with 102 in 1972, OBP with a .427 mark in 1971 and total bases with 314 again in 1972.
He made five straight All-Star teams from 1971 through 1975, and was in the top-10 in MVP voting three straight years: 1971-1973.
Much more importantly, the man was one of the nicest human beings on the planet, as I can attest to, meeting him on more than a few occasions.
He was just as “real” as it got.
Rest in Peace Bobby. You are truly missed.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: LEGENDS EDITION- JOE McGINNITY

Up on the blog today, a fun guy to add to my long-running "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" set, Hall of Fame pitcher Joe McGinnity, who won nearly 500 games over his professional career, which spanned a quarter century from 1893 to 1925:

By the time McGinnity decided to rest his arm for good after pitching for the Dubuque Climbers in the Mississippi Valley League in 1925, he finished his pro career with 478 wins, collected over a staggering 1048 games, which saw him throw 7091 innings.

Pictured here on this card with Dubuque, he was in his 50's when he suited up for them in 1922-1925.

Nicknamed "Iron Man", you can understand why when you look at his time with the New York Giants at the turn of the 20th Century when he teamed up with Christy Mathewson to form one of the All-Time great 1-2 pitching tandems in MLB history.

Over his 10-year MLB career spanning 1899 through 1908, he posted 20+ wins eight times, with a high of 35 wins in 1904 when he appeared in 51 games, with 44 starts and 38 complete games, amounting to 408 innings of work, with nine shutouts.

Incredibly, a year before that in 1903 he posted a record of 31-20, appearing in 55 games, with 48 starts and a ridiculous 44 complete games, pitching a mind boggling 434 innings.

He also posted a 28 win season for the Baltimore Orioles in 1899 as a rookie, followed by another 28 win year in 1900 now with the Brooklyn Superbas.

His pro breakdown for wins was 246 in the Majors and 224 in the Minors, with 32 shutouts as a Big Leaguer, with his Minor League stats lost to history. So who knows just how many shutouts, complete games, etc he racked up overall.

In 1946 he was eventually voted into the Hall of Fame by the "Old Timers Committee", joining many of his former teammates in Cooperstown, and rightly so!