MISSING IN ACTION: 1980 "FIREMEN LEAGUE LEADER" CARD

On the blog today, an interesting "missing" card to create, the "missing" 1980 Firemen League Leader card that was conspicuously missing as we ripped open packs that year:

Now, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm assuming the reason Topps didn't create this card was because one of the American League guys, Mike Marshall, would not allow them to use his image for cards at that time, with his last card in the 1977 set, so you could see how that would be an issue here.

Nevertheless, I went and whipped one up all these years later!

In the National League, we have all-world reliever in 1979 Bruce Sutter, who would take home the N.L. Cy Young Award for his monster 1979 campaign.

Ironically, though his 1977 year was better, his 1979 season was also great enough to bring him the hardware, as he'd post a record of 6-6 over 62 appearances, with a league-leading 37 saves, striking out 110 batters over 101.1 innings while pitching to a 2.22 earned run average.

Of course, we all know that he would also go on to lead the league in saves four of the next five years, including his record 45 saves in 1984 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the American League, it was a tie with Mike Marshall of the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers closer Jim Kern, both having excellent years.

For Marshall, he would appear in a league-leading 90 games, going 10-15 with a 2.65 ERA over 142.2 innings, with an A.L. high 32 saves.

It was the third time he reached the 90-game mark in his career, the first time since his Cy Young winning 1974 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers when he set the STILL standing record of 106 appearances.

As for Kern, I would say he had a serious case for the A.L. Cy Young in 1979, having an incredible year for the Texas Rangers, going 13-5 with a microscopic 1.57 ERA over 71 games and 143 innings, with 136 strikeouts.

Absolute beast!

Sadly for him it would easily be the high point of his career, though he would pitch until the 1986 season, getting in 13 seasons under the Big League sun.

Well, there you have it, filling in a blank in the 1980 set 43 years later!

Hope you enjoyed this one!

MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 JIM KERN: "1976 PROJECT"

Next up on my "1976 Project" for "Reader Jim" is former relief pitcher Jim Kern, who was left out of the set even though he appeared in a multi-player rookie card the previous year.

Take a look:

Kern should have had a card in the '76 set since he appeared in 13 games, good for 71.2 innings, pretty much evenly split between the bullpen and starts.

He posted a 1-2 record with a 3.77 earned run average and 55 strikeouts, setting off a decent 13-year career which actually saw him as one of the game's more reliable relief pitchers between 1976 and 1979.

His finest season was easily 1979, which saw him post a 13-5 win-loss record with 29 saves and 136 K's in 143 innings of work, ALL in relief for the Texas Rangers.

That stellar season got him a fourth place finish in Cy Young voting, as well as an 11th-place finish in M.V.P. consideration.

Sadly, arm trouble set in the following season, and even though he managed to stick around on Major League mounds until the 1986 season, he was never the same pitcher again.

Nevertheless Kern did finish with a 53-57 career record, with a fine 3.32 E.R.A., 88 saves and 651 strikeouts in 416 games and 793.1 innings.

Over those seasons he played for six teams: Indians, Rangers, Brewers, White Sox, Reds and Phillies.