SPECIAL REQUEST: 1978 DAVE GIUSTI CAPPER (A'S)

On the blog today, a special request for a 1978 career-capper for Dave Giusti, who recently passed away at the age of 86:

Technically Giusti finished his career with the Chicago Cubs in 1977 after starting the season with the Oakland A's.

With the Cubs he went 0-2 with a 6.04 ERA over 20 games and 25.1 innings pitched, while it was a completely different outcome with the A's when he appeared in 40 games, going 3-3 with a very nice 2.98 ERA over 60.1 innings of work.

Giusti originally came up with the Houston Colt .45’s as a 22-year old starter out of Syracuse University in 1962, their inaugural season in the National League.
He appeared in 22 games and posted a 2-3 record with a bloated 5.62 earned run average before spending the entire 1963 season in the Minor Leagues.
After some brief MLB action in 1964, Giusti was a big leaguer for good in 1965, going 8-7 with a 4.32 E.R.A. Along with a shutout as well as three saves for the newly tabbed “Astros”.
After a few more decent seasons as a starter, he found himself in St. Louis for the 1969 season, and thus began his transition to the bullpen, where he’d become a very effective reliever for another eight years, seven of which were with the Pirates.
Between 1970 and 1973 he topped 20 saves each year and posted solid E.R.A.’s, including a career-low of 1.93 in 1972 over 54 appearances and 74.2 innings pitched.
By the time he retired after the 1977 season he appeared in 668 games, 133 of them starts, finishing with a 100-93 record and 3.60 E.R.A., along with the aforementioned 145 saves.

 

FANTASY CARD: 1977 MIKE EASLER

Today on the blog I've created a fantasy card, that being a 1977 card for Mike Easler as a St Louis Cardinal player:

Some of you may remember that I have already created (and printed!) a "missing" 1977 card for "The Hit Man" as a California Angel, for whom he played the 1976 season with.

However when I came across this image of him as a Cardinal player I checked it out, and low and behold he spent most of the 1976 season in the St. Louis Minor League system with the Tulsa Oilers, where he mashed the ball at a .352 clip, with 26 homers and 77 RBIs in 118 games, so I figured, "why not?"

Though Easler would have his rookie card in the 1978 set on one of those multi-player jobs, he could have easily gotten a card in the '77 set based on his action in the 1976 season with the California Angels.

In the bicentennial year, Easler played in 21 games with 59 plate appearances, with 13 hits in 53 at-bats, good for a .241 batting average.

He also collected a double, triple and four runs batted in along with six runs scored, all as a designated hitter.

It wasn't until 1980 that he saw full-time work, and he came in with a bang, hitting a robust .338 with 21 homers and 74 RBI's in only 393 at-bats for the reigning champion Pirates.

Six years later I remember him joining the Yankees and he performed well, hitting .302 with 14 homers and 78 RBI's, before playing out his final year in the Majors in 1987, split between the Yanks and Phillies.

By the time he closed out his 14-year career, he finished with a very nice .293 average with 118 homers, 522 runs batted in and 465 runs scored.

 

FANTASY CARD: 1972 "TRADED" NOLAN RYAN

Hot on the heels of my re-done base 1972 card for the "Ryan Express", I now post up a "Traded" late-series 1972 card I had printed up for one of my recent printed sets, which would have made that 1972 set even more of a beast:

Would have been a great card to add to that cool 1972 sub-set!

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!

FANTASY CARD: 1980 TIM RAINES ROOKIE CARD

Finally getting around to a fantasy card I've wanted to create for a while now, a 1980 multi-player Montreal Expos rookie card for Hall of Famer Tim Raines:

The "four-decade" player made his Big League debut with six games for the Montreal Expos in 1979, all as a pinch-runner, giving him three runs scored and two stolen bases without an official at-bat at the age of only 19.

From there the man was nothing short of elite, leading the league in steals four straight seasons from 1981 through 1984, winning a batting title in 1986 when he led the N.L. with a .334 mark, twice pacing the league in runs scored, and making seven straight All-Star teams from 1981 to 1987.

The National League's counterpart to Rickey Henderson, Raines went on to play 23 seasons in the Majors, including a very nice three year run with the New York Yankees during their Dynasty from 1996 to 1998, giving him two Championships, the only two he'd have.

I loved watching him play, and was especially happy to see him play "live" when he suited up for the Yanks those three seasons, when I was pretty much at almost all Yankee home games.

By the time he retired after the 2002 season, Raines finished with 2605 hits over 8872 at-bats, hitting .294 with 1571 runs scored and 808 stolen bases, collecting 113 triples while striking out only 966 times!

That is an average of only 42 strikeouts a season!

In 2017 he was elected to the Hall of Fame, his place in baseball history cemented for all to appreciate in years to come.

Cheers "Rock" Raines!

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1981 UPDATE DAVE RIGHETTI

By special request for my cousin, today on the blog I post up what should have been a 1981 "Update/Traded" card for the eventual 1981 American Rookie of the Year Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees:

It is strange that Righetti didn't get a card in the very first update/traded set later that year considering he was helping the New York Yankees march towards a World Series berth as did his Los Angeles Dodger contemporary Fernado Valenzuela.

And like the phenom Fernando, Righetti took home the Freshman hardware by the time Awards season came along at the end of the year.

Righetti posted a record of 8-4 over 15 starts, just missing the ERA crown by falling short of innings required by 1.2 innings! Yep, someone on the Yankees dropped the ball on this and didn't get Righetti some mop-up role at the end of the year to bring home the ERA crown, as his 2.05 mark was far better than the guy who did win the ERA title, Oakland A's pitcher Steve McCatty, who finished with a 2.33 ERA over 185.2 innings.

Nevertheless, Righetti became a mainstay of the Yankees through the 1980's, posting a few solid seasons as a starter between 1981 and 1983 including the classic July 4th no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in '83, before converting to a relief role the rest of his very nice 16 year career, including his 1986 campaign that saw him establish the (then) MLB record 46 saves, earning him a fourth-place finish in the Cy Young race.

By the time he retired after the 1995 season, he finished with a record of 82-79 over 718 games, with a 3.46 ERA in 1403 innings, with 252 saves.

 

FOR FUN: 1977 "NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION" PETE VARNEY

Found this great image of former catcher Pete Varney, and figured I'd create a "not so missing" 1977 card, even though he did finish the 1976 season as a member of the Atlanta Braves after starting the season on the South Side of Chicago:

The Harvard educated young man appeared in 14 games for the White Sox, hitting .244 before getting traded to Atlanta for "Blue Moon" Odom on June 15th, 1976.

He'd only appear in five games for the Braves the rest of the way, the last five games of his brief four-year career, hitting .100 for them with a single hit over ten at-bats.

In 1975 he’d see the most action in any one season, playing in 36 games for the White Sox, batting .271 with 29 hits in 107 official at-bats, including 12 runs scored and eight runs batted in.

He’d play all of 1977 in the Minors for Atlanta before retiring as a player, finishing up with a career .247 average, with 47 hits over 190 at-bats, with 18 runs scored and 15 RBIs.

JAPAN SPECIAL: 1973 FANTASY SADAHARU OH

Really fun card to post up today, a 1973 fantasy card for All-Time gJapanese great Sadaharu Oh of the Yomiuri Giants, a card which will be part of my upcoming "Series 18" set due for a release at the end of the month:

I just love creating cards for Japanese Hall of Famers onto Topps templates!

The man is a GOD in Japan, and rightfully so, topping 100 runs batted in 14 times, 100 runs scored 10 times and 30+ homers 19 times, which he did consecutively including his last year in 1980.

He topped 40 homers 13 times, including 55 in 1964, a Japanese record, then 51 in 1973 and 50 in 1977 when he broke the record to much fanfare.

When you look at his career stats it's like a thing out of a softball league, or some latter Barry Bonds numbers, with on-base-percentages above .500, slugging percentages above .700, and 100+ base on balls year after year, 16 consecutive to be precise, on his way to 2390 by the time he hung them up.

Just a fun angle for the blog to start designing some cards for legends of other leagues around the world, which I hope to continue in the new year.

Oh's final numbers: a .301 average with 2786 hits, 1967 runs scored, 2170 RBIs, 868 homers in 2831 games and 9250 official at-bats.

Just incredible!

FANTASY CARD: 1973 DAVE WINFIELD

Good day everyone.

Up on the blog, my 1973 "Fantasy" card for Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield, one of my favorite players growing up in New York City during his tenure with the New York Yankees:

Of course, Winfield would never have gotten a card in that 1973 set, being drafted that June and skipping the Minors.

But I just could not resist using this wonderful image of him in that glorious mustard and brown San Diego Padres uniform!

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 and Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos), 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!

REVISITING A 10-YEAR-OLD POST: 1974 FANTASY ROOKIE CARD

On the blog today, we revisit a 10-year-old blog post featuring a fantasy multi-player 1974 rookie card that would have been quite the doozy had it really been out there:

Not a bad group of young ballplayers right here!

Here's the original write-up for it:

"Now here's a card that would have been nice to pull out of a pack! (Even though I am admittedly NOT a fan of the "multi-player" rookie cards).

Like I previously did with the 1978 dream rookie card with Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, I couldn't resist designing a 1974 "Rookie Infielders" card with Robin Yount and George Brett.

Now it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility to have the two future Hall of Famers appear on one of those multi-player rookie cards in the '74 set.

But I DO understand why Topps didn't give them a look at the time.

I took an already existing card (#604) and replaced Terry Hughes and John Knox (sorry guys!) with Brett and Yount.

Teamed up with two other future solid major leaguers in Andre Thornton and Frank White, and this card would have been a killer at the card shows of the late 1980's when the rookie-card explosion happened.

Thankfully, because of the wonderful world of Photoshop, we can all go ahead and "fix" these so many years later."

 

JAPANESE SPECIAL: 1971 SHIGEO NAGASHIMA

Hello all!

On the blog today, a 1971 Japanese special card of all-time great Shigeo Nagashima to keep things super interesting:

Nagashima put in 17 seasons with Yomiuri alongside the great Sadaharu Oh, with Oh batting third and Nagashima clean-up.

Over that time he was a part of eleven champion teams, while taking home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1958, as well as five Central League MVP Awards, eventually having his #3 retired.

By the time he retired after the 1974 season, he finished with 2471 hits, 444 home runs and 1522 runs batted in, hitting .305 over 2186 games, five times topping 100 RBI while hitting 20+ homers thirteen times.

Incredibly, he won the "Best Nine Award" every single year he played, seventeen times (equivalent to the All-Star team here).

Right after his playing days were over, Nagashima went on to manage the Tokyo Giants for 15 seasons, 1975-1980, 1993-2001, guiding the team to five first-place finishes and three titles, winning 1034 games against 889 losses for a .538 winning percentage.

I love inserting some legends of the Japanese League from time to time here on the blog, something that would have been so cool for Topps to do throughout their card sets so we could learn more than just Sadaharu Oh.

 

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM DECEMBER 2013: 1977 FANTASY ROOKIE EDDIE MURRAY

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a blog post from just under 10 years ago, my "fantasy" 1977 card for all-timer Eddie Murray, one of the game's greatest switch-hitters in it's long history:

Here's the original write-up I did way back when:

"Now, even though Eddie Murray's 1978 rookie card is one of my favorite cards to this day, I always felt that since the guy was the 1977 American League rookie of the year, it would have been nice to have a card for him for that season.

This doesn't really fit into either a "dedicated rookie card" or a "missing" card, but I still wanted to design one for the future Hall of Famer since he was one of my favorite players growing up.

Odds are Murray probably would have been included on one of those awful multi-player rookie cards like Andre Dawson or Dale Murphy, but since we know how much I am NOT a fan of those cards, I went with a dedicated card for him here.

I won't get into Murray too much here, since I covered that when I profiled his rookie card, but wow, what an understated superstar he was.

While the Schmidts, Ripkens, Murphy's, etc were racking up awards and acknowledgment, all Murray did was quietly rack up 3000+ hits, 500+ home runs, 1900+ runs batted in and more.

The man was awesome, simply put."

BY SPECIAL REQUEST: 1979 A'S ROOKIE PROSPECTS REDONE

On the blog this fine day, a special request that to be honest, I'm very surprised I didn't think of myself, a 1979 "A's Prospects" card with a small revision, that being the inclusion of some young up and coming outfielder named Rickey Henderson:

When you think about it, the fine folks at Topps easily could have had Henderson on that card instead of any of the three originally appearing on it, being that he was tearing through the Minors while posting high stolen base totals in his three full years before his call up.

In 1978 for example, Henderson hit .310 for the Jersey City A's in Double-A while stealing 81 bases, while in 1977 playing for the Modesto A's he hit .345 with 95 steals, scoring an incredible 120 runs in only 134 games.

Granted, I'm glad Topps DIDN'T do this since his 1980 rookie card is the stuff of legend, and I absolutely abhor the black and white prospect cards of the 1979 set.

But it indeed would have been something if this was what was issued instead.

JAPAN SPECIAL: 1979 KATSUYA NOMURA

On the blog today, something special, a fantasy 1979 card for all-time Japanese great catcher Katsuya Nomura:

Perhaps the greatest catcher in Japan League history, Nomura put in an astounding 26 seasons of ball between 1954 and 1980, collecting 2901 hits while slugging 657 homers while driving in 1988 runs.

At the height of his game, between 1962 and 1965, he'd top 40 homers each season, with a high of 52 in 1963, while drivi9ng in 135 runs in 150 games.

He would top 30 homers ten times over his career, while reaching 100-RBIs seven times and hit .300 six times, with a high mark of .320 in 1965.

He would lead the league in homers eight times, and in 1965 he was the first Triple Crown winner in league history.

On top of his on-field play, the man was also a manager for 24 years, with three stints: 1970-1977 with Nankai, 1990-2001 with Yakult and Hanshin, and 2006-2009 with Rakuten.

In 3204 games as skipper, he'd finish an even .500 with a record of 1565 and 1963.

Really fun creating this Japanese Special cards, and I hope to create more of them throughout 2023!

JUST FOR FUN-1977 WILLIE McCOVEY OAKLAND A'S VARIATION

Just for fun today on the blog, I finally went and created a 1977 variation card for Hall of Famer Willie McCovey celebrating his brief time as an Oakland A's player:

McCovey spent only 11 games with Oakland at the tail end of 1976, hitting .208 after starting the year with the San Diego Padres, for whom he played since 1974.

In 1977 he'd be back where it all started, San Francisco, where he would finish his brilliant Big League tenure, playing through to 1980.

McCovey was beginning to enter the twilight of his Hall of Fame career which spanned 22 seasons between 1959 and 1980.
Over that time he took home a Rookie of the Year when he burst onto the Major League scene with a .354 average and 13 homers in 52 games in 1959, an MVP in 1969 when he led the league with 45 homers, 126 runs batted in, a .453 OBP and a .612 slugging percentage, while getting six All-Star nods.
By the time he hung them up for good, he finished with 521 homers, 1555 RBIs, 1229 runs scored and 2211 hits playing for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and a brief 11-game stretch with the Oakland A’s at the end of the 1976 season.
In 1986, in his 1st year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall with 81.4% of the vote, an easy first-try inductee for the man from Mobile, Alabama.

FANTASY SPECIAL: 1977 SADAHARU OH

Up on the blog today, a special "fantasy" card creation I slipped into my "Series 11" set last month, celebrating the great Japanese baseball legend Sadaharu Oh of the Yomiuri Giants:

 

I used the 1977 template since it was the year he broke Hank Aaron's professional home run record, on his way to 868 over his majestic 22 year playing career.

The man is a GOD in Japan, and rightfully so, topping 100 runs batted in 14 times, 100 runs scored 10 times and 30+ homers 19 times, which he did consecutively including his last year in 1980.

He topped 40 homers 13 times, including 55 in 1964, a Japanese record, then 51 in 1973 and 50 in 1977 when he broke the record to much fanfare.

When you look at his career stats it's like a thing out of a softball league, or some latter Barry Bonds numbers, with on-base-percentages above .500, slugging percentages above .700, and 100+ base on balls year after year, 16 consecutive to be precise, on his way to 2390 by the time he hung them up.

Just a fun angle for the blog to start designing some cards for legends of other leagues around the world, which I hope to continue in the new year.

Oh's final numbers: a .301 average with 2786 hits, 1967 runs scored, 2170 RBIs, 868 homers in 2831 games and 9250 official at-bats.

Just incredible!

SPECIAL REQUEST: 1970 "RETIREMENT" CARD FOR MICKEY MANTLE

By special request today on the blog, here's a 1970 "retirement" card for the great Mickey mantle, who hung them up just before the 1969 season, breaking the hearts of many a baseball fan across the country:

 

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

But alas, 500+ homers, a bushel of World Championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, a Triple Crown season in 1956 and the hearts of more fans than we can even imagine to this day.

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

Not too bad a Hollywood script...

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM 2014: 1976 "FANTASY" MARK FIDRYCH

Thought it would be fun for many of you who found the blog later on to revisit a post from the "early years", September of 2014 more specifically, and my "fantasy" 1976 card for Mark Fidrych, who took the world by storm that season:

 

Fidrych had the world in the palm of his hand that year, my first year following baseball as a wide-eyed seven year old.

The man was everywhere, not only with his stellar play on the mound but with his antics and bright smile that lit up the room.

Here's the original write-up I posted way back when:

"Now, I'll be the first to admit that there was no way Topps could have foreseen Fidrych and the phenomena that was about to ensue.

He wasn't exactly the hot prospect when the '76 season opened, but by the time the all-star game was about to be played, Fidrych was everywhere, and everyone was talking about him.

We all know the story: how he ended up starting the all-star game, how he won 19 games and led the league in earned run average, how he was given the nickname "Bird" and the antics he displayed on the mound.

Sadly we also know how his career was derailed because of injuries, how he was never able to make it back successfully, and how years later he was tragically killed in an accident at the young age of 54.

But the "Bird" legend will always be around, and for those of us lucky enough to have witnessed it, it was incredible.

His 1977 Topps card is STILL one of my all-time favorites solely because I feel it captured that "thing", that personality he had, as a character that comes along all too rarely.

Here's to you Mark!"

REVISITING A BLOG POST FROM MARCH, 2014: A 1978 DREAM ROOKIE CARD

Thought it'd be fun to go way back and revisit my blog post from March 14th of 2014, featuring a "fantasy" rookie card featuring four pretty good infielders making their Big League debuts about that time:

 

Now, would THAT have been a rookie card to collect or what!?

Of course three of the four would indeed have their rookie appearances in that wonderful 1978 set: Paul Molitor, Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker.

However that fourth player, legend Ozzie Smith, would have to wait until the following year to get his baseball card debut.

Here's the original post I wrote up back then:

"Yeah I know, I'm pushing it imagining a once in a lifetime rookie card like this.

Topps didn't even have a rookie card for "infielders" in their 1978 set.

But man, what a card THIS could have been! Two Hall of Famers and two others who arguably should find their way in at some point.

Of course we all know that Molitor and Trammel were on the same card in the 1978 set, making for an already fantastic rookie card for collectors.

But with Whitaker on another card, and Ozzie Smith ignored altogether that year, I took all four of them and created a "dream-card" for people that care about these things!

It reminds me of the dream-card they gave out at a card convention years ago that featured Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan on a 1967 rookie card.

Can you imagine how incredible that would have been?! To have a rookie card featuring THOSE two?! 

Could have been THE rookie card for the decade…

Oh well, hope you all can at least enjoy THIS creation here…"

REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST- NOVEMBER 6th, 2016: A "DREAM CARD" THAT NEVER WAS

Thought it'd be fun to revisit one of my favorite customs over the years, this one created back in 2016: a "fantasy" 1973 rookie card featuring three top-notch outfielders:

One player went on to the Hall of Fame, and the other two can be argued to be part of that posse.

I for one STILL say Dave Parker is a Hall of Famer!
Nevertheless, we know Winfield and Parker would actually have their rookie cards the following year in the 1974 set.
Evans was the only player of the three to appear on a multi-player rookie card in ‘73, and I left his part “as-is” and added the other two on either side of him.
It’s been stated that Parker and Winfield changed the ballplayer prototype when they entered the league. Huge, slugging athletes who could also run and play stellar defense.
Evans of course took a little longer to come into his own, but when he did he became of the game’s best in the early to mid 80’s.
All three had awesome Major League careers, with Winfield leading the way and ending up in the Hall of Fame.
But again, look at what those other two did on the ball field and tell me without question that they don’t deserve to be there.
It’s a tough argument for sure...
Would have been an awesome card to be chasing as a kid, as well as these days as a collector.

READER REQUEST! FOR THE FUN OF IT A 1978 TED TURNER MANAGER CARD

OK, so I normally don't do this, but my friend Mike really begged for me to create a 1978 manager card for Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, the eccentric businessman who also too a turn leading the Braves before the league stepped in and told him to "stick to his day job":

 

From the Wikipedia page for the man:

"On May 11, 1977, with the team mired in a 16-game losing streak, Turner sent manager Dave Bristol on a 10-day "scouting trip" and Turner himself took over as interim manager—the first owner/manager in the majors since Connie Mack. He ran the team for one game (a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates)^[53] before National League president Chub Feeney ordered him to stop running the team. Feeney cited major league rules which bar managers and players from owning stock in their clubs. Turner appealed to Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn, and showed up to manage the Braves when they returned home. However, Kuhn turned down the appeal, citing Turner's "lack of familiarity with game operations."^[54]"

^{To be honest, and this may be an unpopular opinion, the game seemed much more fun when we had guys like Turner, George Stenbrenner, Charlie Finley et. al. running their clubs almost with reckless abandon.}

^{Anyway, thought it was a fun idea and whipped this up to add to the WTHBALLS stable!}

^{Thanks Mike for the suggestion!}