1970 "20-WIN CIRCLE" DAVE McNALLY

Today on the blog we add Baltimore Orioles great Dave McNally to my fun 1970 "20-Win Circle" sub-set, something I plan to produce and release this year:

McNally was in the middle of a tremendous four-year run by the time this card would have come out, posting four straight 20+ win seasons along with three wins spread over three World Series (1969-1971) and a World Championship.

His 20-win season in 1969 was this second, going 20-7 over 40 starts, with four shutouts and 166 K's along with an ERA of 3.22.

Between 1969-1971 he finished in the top-5 in Cy Young voting each time, with a second place finish in 1970 behind Jim Perry.

Along with Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar he formed one of the most talented pitching rotations in the game, and in 1971 was one of FOUR Oriole pitchers to post 20 or more wins.

By the time he retired after the 1975 season, he finished with a 184-119 record, with a 3.24 earned run average, 33 shutouts and 1512 strikeouts.

Some of the other highlights of his career are pretty nifty: still the only pitcher to hit a Grand Slam in a World Series game; he had three different streaks of 12 or more wins in a row during his career (Roger Clemens would later match this) including a 17-game streak between 1968-69; and he threw a Series-clinching shutout against the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series to match teammates Jim Palmer and Wally Bunker, completing an improbable sweep of the reigning champs and their staff which had future Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

Quite a career for the man from Billings, Montana.

1970 "IN-GAME ACTION": DAVE McNALLY

Adding to my on-going 1970 "In-Game Action" thread, spotlighting individual cards from my two-series custom set released over the past few months, we have Baltimore Orioles pitching great Dave McNally:

 

McNally was in the middle of a tremendous four-year run by the time this card would have come out, posting four straight 20+ win seasons along with three wins spread over three World Series (1969-1971) and a World Championship.

Between 1969-1971 he finished in the top-5 in Cy Young voting each time, with a second place finish in 1970 behind Jim Perry.

Along with Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar he formed one of the most talented pitching rotations in the game, and in 1971 was one of FOUR Oriole pitchers to post 20 or more wins.

By the time he retired after the 1975 season, he finished with a 184-119 record, with a 3.24 earned run average, 33 shutouts and 1512 strikeouts.

Some of the other highlights of his career are pretty nifty: still the only pitcher to hit a Grand Slam in a World Series game; he had three different streaks of 12 or more wins in a row during his career (Roger Clemens would later match this) including a 17-game streak between 1968-69; and he threw a Series-clinching shutout against the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series to match teammates Jim Palmer and Wally Bunker, completing an improbable sweep of the reigning champs and their staff which had future Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

Quite a career for the man from Billings, Montana.

A RE-DO OF ONE OF MY OWN: MISSING IN ACTION/CAREER-CAPPER 1976 DAVE McNALLY

I am SO happy with a new previously unseen image of Dave McNally suited up as a Montreal Expo! So much so that I am today giving myself a "do-over" of one of my early "missing in action" cards and posting it up here:

 

Man, I have been searching for a better image of McNally at his last Big League stop for so long I almost gave up hope (kind of like I did with Sam McDowell as a Pittsburgh Pirate!).

But out of nowhere I stumble across this image, and to top it off it is high resolution enough to even be printed for one of my future "packs", so keep an eye out for that for you card purchasers out there!

Here's my original post writing from way back on May 27th, 2014:

For the 1975 season, McNally started 12 games for the Expos, and posted a 3-6 record with a 5.24 E.R.A and 33 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched.

However it was how he ended up playing in 1975 that made history.

Never intending to play beyond 1974, McNally actually retired before being convinced by Player's Union Executive Director Marvin Miller to add his name to the grievance the Player's Union filed contesting the age-old "Reserve Clause" along with star pitcher Messersmith.

As explained online under the "Seitz Decision" (named for the ruling arbitrator Peter Seitz):

"In 1975, Messersmith of the Los Angeles Dodgers and McNally of the Montreal Expos had had their 1974 contracts renewed by their teams on the basis of this reserve clause. Since neither signed a contract during that option year, both insisted that they were free to sign with other teams the following season. The owners disagreed, arguing that under the reserve clause the one-year contracts were perpetually renewed.

The two players submitted the grievance to arbitration, and Seitz later issued his ruling that Messersmith and McNally were free to bargain with other teams because organized baseball could only maintain a player's services for one year after expiration of the previous contract."

This was HUGE, as it led to what we all know today as Free Agency.

For McNally, he ended up retiring at the young age of 32, leaving behind quite a resume: four 20-game winning seasons, two World Championships, a 184-119 career record, and a title-winning shutout in the 1966 World Series where the Orioles upset the favored Dodgers, sweeping them 4 games to none.

McNally threw a four-hit shutout against losing pitcher Don Drysdale to go along with shutouts thrown by teammates Wally Bunker and Jim Palmer.

He's also the only pitcher to hit a grand slam in the World Series, doing so in Game 3 of the '70 series against the Reds, and only one of two pitchers (Roger Clemens the other) of winning 12 straight decisions three times in his career, including 17 straight over the 1968 and 1969 seasons.

On top of all of that, he also came into the big leagues with a bang, tossing a 2-hit shutout against the Kansas City Athletics on September 26th, 1962 at the ripe old age of 19! Nice…

So call this a "career capper", or a "missing in action" card, but let's close the books on McNally and his solid career with one last card.

1971 SPECIAL- THE BALTIMORE ORIOLES YOUNG ARMS RACE

Up on the blog today I’m posting up a nice 1971 custom featuring three studs for the Baltimore Orioles, who all posted 20+ wins in 1970:

Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally won a combined 68 games between them, helping the Orioles post 108 wins in 1970, on their way to a World Championship over the Cincinnati reds.
Those 108 wins would end up being the high-mark for wins by a team during the decade, matched by the 1975 “Big Red Machine” Reds, who also took home the title that year.
For future Hall of Fame pitcher Palmer, it would be the first of eight 20-win seasons, with only the 1974 and 1979 seasons where he didn’t win at least 20 during the wild-70’s.
McNally and Cuellar would finish second and fourth respectively in the Cy Young race at the end of year, behind winner Jim Perry of the Minnesota Twins, with Palmer following right behind at number 5.
What a magnificent stable of young arms!
As an aside to the way the game has changed over the generations, the Orioles only used six starters all season in 1970, with one of them, Marcelino Lopez, starting only three games.
Their other five starters accounted for 159 of 162 starts that season. Incredible.

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #33: 1972 DAVE McNALLY

Here's a "missing" In-Action 1972 card for former Baltimore Oriole pitching great Dave McNally.

Take a look:

McNally just wrapped up a tremendous four-year run by the time this card would have come out, posting four straight 20+ win seasons along with three wins spread over three World Series (1969-1971) and a World Championship.

Between 1969-1971 he finished in the top-5 in Cy Young voting each time, with a second place finish in 1970 behind Jim Perry.

Along with Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar he formed one of the most talented pitching rotations in the game, and in 1971 was one of FOUR Oriole pitchers to post 20 or more wins.

By the time he retired after the 1975 season, he finished with a 184-119 record, with a 3.24 earned run average, 33 shutouts and 1512 strikeouts.

Some of the other highlights of his career are pretty nifty: still the only pitcher to hit a Grand Slam in a World Series game; he had three different streaks of 12 or more wins in a row during his career (Roger Clemens would later match this) including a 17-game streak between 1968-69; and he threw a Series-clinching shutout against the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series to match teammates Jim Palmer and Wally Bunker, completing an improbable sweep of the reigning champs and their staff which had future Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

Quite a career for the man from Billings, Montana.

POST #600!! SO LET'S LOOK AT THE 600'S OF THE DECADE!

Well, another hundred posts have gone by and I find myself at #600 for the blog!

Thank you all for reading this far. It's been a blast and I hope to keep it going for a long while!

So let's dive right in and check out cards numbered "600" through the decade of the 1970's…

1970 Willie Mays

 

 

Was never a fan of this card. The boring 1970 template paired up with a boring photo of the "Say Hey Kid" has always made this one of my least favorite Willie Mays cards.

What a shame, but then again the 1970 was a bit on the boring side anyway.

Nevertheless, it's Willie Mays, beyond super-star, beyond legend…

1971 Willie Mays

 

 

Well what do you know, two years in a row for Mays!

Nice card of the future Hall of Fame star at the tail end of his career.

The 1971 black-bordered template has always been one of my favorites!

Love this card!

1972 Al Kaline

 

 

Great card of the Tigers great!

What a set, and what a nice colorful slab of cardboard showing perhaps the most popular Detroit Tiger player ever!

1973 Dave McNally

 

 

The Baltimore star pitcher in the prime of his career. One of the anchors of that Baltimore pitching staff also featuring Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, etc.

184 lifetime wins, 3.24 E.R.A., and a .607 winning percentage, and the winner of 20+ four years in a row between 1968 and 1971.

1974 Rookie Outfielders (Bill Madlock)

 

 

If not for Madlock, a forgettable card if there ever was one.

But hey, you have a future four-time batting champ, so it's a keeper for sure!

I'll be designing a "dedicated rookie card" for Madlock in the near future, so keep an eye out for it!

1975 Rod Carew

 

 

Great card of the perennial batting champ and future 3000-hit club member!

In the prime of his career, 1975 would be his fourth batting championship in a row, sixth of his career.

For good measure he'd go on to tack on two more in 1977 and 1978.

Another future Hall of Fame star on a beautiful piece of cardboard!

1976 Tom Seaver

 

 

I have always loved this card. I don't know why since it doesn't have a great action shot, but I've always been a fan of the 1976 set design, and it's "Tom Terrific" in the prime of his career.

Another future Hall of Fame player, winner of 311 games, and over 3600 career strikeouts.

One of those "legends beyond legends"! I was lucky enough to be at his 300th win at Yankee Stadium (Phil Rizzuto Day) in 1985. Will never forget it!

1977 Jim Palmer

 

 

Great card of the Orioles Hall of Fame hurler!

Beautiful action shot on the clean 1977 design.

Palmer was just incredible that decade! Eight-times a 20+ game winner, sub-3.00 earned run average, and six-time all-star in the '70's.

The best pitcher in the American League for the decade.

1978 Frank Tanana

 

 

A pitcher with a very bright future until injuries curtailed his career.

Great set and nice card for the Angels flame-thrower.

Even with his injuries he went on to win 240 games with 2773 strikeouts and 34 shutouts over 21 seasons.

Very underrated career!

1979 George Foster

 

 

I have always hated this card! I'm sorry, but the "blank" batting helmet Foster is wearing just annoys the heck out of me!

The reigning home run champ in the National league, former Most valuable Player in 1977, member of the "Big Red Machine", and yet the card reeks of "unauthorized" garbage!

Ugh. Lousy way to wrap up the decade and cards numbered 600.

But a nice collection nevertheless!

Six out of ten cards bearing future Hall of Famers isn't bad, right!?

Now onto 700!!!

MISSING IN ACTION-1976 DAVE McNALLY

Here's a guy who get's overlooked quite a bit when we think of pitchers from the 1970's: Dave McNally.

And it's really a shame since not only was he an all-star performer for a bunch of years, but he was also instrumental in eradicating baseball's reserve clause in the mid-70's along with more notable names like Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith.

But before we get to all of that, let's take a look at the 1976 Topps card I designed for him, showing him as a Montreal Expos player:

This would have been his final card, as he never played beyond the 1975 season and appeared in that Topps set as a Baltimore Oriole, the only team he played for before that last "hurrah" North of the border.

For the 1975 season, McNally started 12 games for the Expos, and posted a 3-6 record with a 5.24 E.R.A and 33 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched.

However it was how he ended up playing in 1975 that made history.

Never intending to play beyond 1974, McNally actually retired before being convinced by Player's Union Executive Director Marvin Miller to add his name to the grievance the Player's Union filed contesting the age-old "Reserve Clause" along with star pitcher Messersmith.

As explained online under the "Seitz Decision" (named for the ruling arbitrator Peter Seitz):

"In 1975, Messersmith of the Los Angeles Dodgers and McNally of the Montreal Expos had had their 1974 contracts renewed by their teams on the basis of this reserve clause. Since neither signed a contract during that option year, both insisted that they were free to sign with other teams the following season. The owners disagreed, arguing that under the reserve clause the one-year contracts were perpetually renewed.

The two players submitted the grievance to arbitration, and Seitz later issued his ruling that Messersmith and McNally were free to bargain with other teams because organized baseball could only maintain a player's services for one year after expiration of the previous contract."

This was HUGE, as it lead the the free for all we all know today as Free Agency.

For McNally, he ended up retiring at the young age of 32, leaving behind quite a resume: four 20-game winning seasons, two World Championships, a 184-119 career record, and a title-winning shutout in the 1966 World Series where the Orioles upset the favored Dodgers, sweeping them 4 games to none.

McNally threw a four-hit shutout against losing pitcher Don Drysdale to go along with shutouts thrown by teammates Wally Bunker and Jim Palmer.

He's also the only pitcher to hit a grand slam in the World Series, doing so in Game 3 of the '70 series against the Reds, and only one of two pitchers (Roger Clemens the other) of winning 12 straight decisions three times in his career, including 17 straight over the 1968 and 1969 seasons.

On top of all of that, he also came into the big leagues with a bang, tossing a 2-hit shutout against the Kansas City Athletics on September 26th, 1962 at the ripe old age of 19! Nice…

So call this a "career capper", or a "missing in action" card, but let's close the books on McNally and his solid career with one last card.

"HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1970'S" #1: 1971 ORIOLES 20-WIN FOURSOME

Today I start a new thread that I know will be fun to work on: "highlight" cards throughout the decade of events and milestones that didn't get enough play by Topps (in MY book) in any set.

Record Breaker and Highlight cards did indeed appear in sets during the 1970's, but they still left some accomplishments that I always felt were big out of the picture.

A good example of this would be today's baseball achievement: the 1971 Baltimore Orioles and their 20-game winning foursome of Jim Palmer, Pat Dobson, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally.

I mean come on! Only once before (and since) has a team sported FOUR starters that won 20 or more games, and that was the much-maligned Chicago White Sox team from 1920 when Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Red Faber and Dickie Kerr all won 20+.

Not until this fearsome foursome showed up everyday in 1971 did a team have such a luxury.

First, take a look at my design for what should have been a nice insert into the 1972 Topps set to celebrate this rare achievement:

Ok, I got a little "cheeky" with the text on the card. But I didn't want to just list their names.

You'll find this as a common thread with a bunch of the card designs I come up with for this thread.

Back to what this staff did: think about it: 80+ wins just like that on the shoulders of four starters.

That's amazing, and obviously something we will never see again the way Major League ball is played these last 30 years or so.

McNally led the way with a 21-5 record, followed by the other three with Cuellar going 20-9, Dobson going 20-8 and Palmer going 20-9.

Only Cuellar sported an E.R.A. Over 3.00, with a 3.08 showing, while Palmer had the lowest at 2.68, McNally at 2.89 and Dobson at 2.90.

Oddly enough the biggest winner had the fewest starts, as McNally took the mound 30 times in '71 while the others all posted 37 or 38 starts for the year.

Palmer was the last to reach 20-wins with a sparkling 5-0 shutout of the Cleveland Indians on September 26th, his last start!

Cuellar won his 20th a couple games before on the 24th, (1st Game of a doubleheader), beating Sam McDowell 9-2, while McNally pitched a shutout against the Yankees on the 21st of September to reach HIS milestone win.

Incredibly Dobson also threw a shutout for HIS 20th win, this one in the second game of a doubleheader on the 24th against the Indians.

Dobson and Cuellar both won their 20th on the same day, and three of the four starters threw shutouts for their wins!

How awesome is that?!

Since that awesome pitching staff performance, the closest any team has had to four 20-game winners seems to be the 1989 Oakland A's, who had Dave Stewart with 21 wins, Mike Moore and Storm Davis win 19, and Bob Welch chip in 17 wins.

Still pretty impressive, especially considering that team played at the beginning of the "middle relief" era, FOR the guy who really began implementing it the way we see it used today: skipper Tony LaRussa.

Anyway, if you like this sort of stuff, keep an eye out for more of the same in the coming weeks, as I'll design cards for such baseball accomplishments as the 1977 Dodgers having four players slam 30+ homers, the 1973 Braves with three batters swat 40+ homers, and much more.