A Giant Project: Update #3

I worked hard on my 1964 Topps Giants set during the past two weeks.  I am posting five new cards tonight, which includes three Hall of Famers and a great of the era.  Really happy with how well this project is going.  

Here are the new cards, saving the better cards for later in the post.  

I did not know much about Max Alvis outside of seeing the occasional card of him in common boxes at card shows.  First, he went to the University of Texas and was a two sport star at the school with the football and baseball teams.  More impressive was the fact that he played both fullback and linebacker on the football team.  A two-way player and he started at both positions.  Alvis choose to play baseball.  He was a good young player with the Indians, but ended up getting spinal meningitis during the 1964 season.  

He stuck around for a few more seasons, but was never the same player.  Alvis made the 1967 American League All-Star team.  He was not having a particularly good season, but the Indians traded Rocky Colavito and Alvis was the most popular player remaining on the team.  

Next.  

Boyer is not a Hall of Famer, but is definitely a great from the 1960s.  Boyer probably has a much better case than most people would think.  Boyer's uniform number, 14, is the retired by the Cardinals.  The only non-Hall of Famer with a retired number with the Cardinals.  Boyer was the National League MVP in 1964 and helped the Cardinals get to the World Series against the Yankees.  Boyer hit a Game 4 Grand Slam, which was the turning point in the Series, and added another in Game 7 that put the game out of reach.  

I am not sure where Topps got the 10 number from on the back of the card.  Boyer appeared in seven All-Star games at this point in his career.  I guess they could be including Minor League All-Star games too, although Boyer was not in the Minors very long.  He rose quickly and also spent time with the Army during the Korean War.  

This is the part of the post that I am most excited about.  There are a lot of Hall Famers on the 1964 Topps Giants checklist and I have quite a few of them left to find.  Some are going to be harder than others.   Bunning was an easy Hall of Famer to find and not very expensive.  The right corner, near his forearm, has a slight scratch, but it's only on the surface.  

I like the back of Bunning's card.  Some of the newspaper headlines on the back of the cards feel like a bit of a stretch.  Max Alvis has a fancy headline about leading a last place team in home runs and then meanders into him playing in the Pacific Coast League.  Bunning has a perfect game on the back of his card.  If I recall the details correctly, the perfect game was thrown on Father's Day and Jim Bunning had a Philip Rivers amount of children.  

They also mention the fact that Bunning threw a no-hitter for the Tigers.  Solid work here pairing an accomplishment with another good accomplishment.  Nice that Topps stayed on topic here.  Sometimes they drift.....

Another Hall of Famer, a little bit better than Jim Bunning.  Just my opinion.  This is a nice portrait style photo on the front of the card, but I really like the back of Marichal's card.  

The super-high leg kick was Marichal's claim to fame while he was playing.   The Topps Giants cards do not have action photographs on the fronts of the cards.  They really missed out here.  If I ran a card company in the 1960s, every Juan Marichal card would have a picture of his leg kick.  I also like that Topps gives him a headline for his no-hitter against the Astros in 1963, but it goes downhill after the picture and headline.  

Remember at the bottom of Jim Bunning when I mentioned drifting card backs?  

I am a little puzzled why they spent half of the back talking about where he played in the Minor Leagues. It's Juan Marichal.  Won a lot of games, struck out a lot of batters, crazy leg kick?   Do we need to know about how he pitched in Tacoma or the Eastern League?  Could we have squeezed another sentence out of 25 wins or 248 strikeouts? Talk about the leg kick.    

Last card of the post.  

This is a big one off the checklist.

I will let the card do the talking.  

A little wear along the left edge on the front of the card, but otherwise this is in really good shape.  Not nearly as painful as I had imagined it was going to be.  

Updated checklist.  19 out of the 60 cards.  

1 Gary Peters
2 Ken Johnson
3 Sandy Koufax SP
4 Bob Bailey
5 Milt Pappas
6 Ron Hunt
7 Whitey Ford
8 Roy McMillan
9 Rocky Colavito
10 Jim Bunning
11 Roberto Clemente
12 Al Kaline
13 Nellie Fox
14 Tony Gonzalez
15 Jim Gentile
16 Dean Chance
17 Dick Ellsworth
18 Jim Fregosi
19 Dick Groat
20 Chuck Hinton
21 Elston Howard
22 Dick Farrell
23 Albie Pearson
24 Frank Howard
25 Mickey Mantle
26 Joe Torre
27 Ed Brinkman
28 Bob Friend SP
29 Frank Robinson
30 Bill Freehan
31 Warren Spahn
32 Camilo Pascual
33 Pete Ward
34 Jim Maloney
35 Dave Wickersham
36 Johnny Callison
37 Juan Marichal
38 Harmon Killebrew
39 Luis Aparicio
40 Dick Radatz
41 Bob Gibson
42 Dick Stuart SP
43 Tommy Davis
44 Tony Oliva
45 Wayne Causey SP
46 Max Alvis
47 Galen Cisco SP
48 Carl Yastrzemski
49 Hank Aaron
50 Brooks Robinson
51 Willie Mays SP
52 Billy Williams
53 Juan Pizarro
54 Leon Wagner
55 Orlando Cepeda
56 Vada Pinson
57 Ken Boyer
58 Ron Santo
59 Johnny Romano
60 Bill Skowron SP

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 51- 1992 Pacific Cardinals 100th Anniversary Set Part 2

I posted cards from the first half of this set last week.  The set is generally sequential, so the majority of players in last week's post were from the Cardinals 1920s through the 1950s.  For this week's post, I am moving forward to the modern portion of the set starting with the 1960s players.  Similar to the first half of the set, there are plenty of Hall of Fame players in here along with a few others who were solid long term contributors.

Also a few odd choices.  One I sort of get, the other is puzzling.   Let's go weird first.

The Cardinals won nothing during the 1970s.  One of their biggest problems was trading away young talented players.  Steve Carlton for Rick Wise.  Pretty terrible trade, but the Cardinals turned around and traded Rick Wise to the Red Sox for their young All-Star power hitting outfielder Reggie Smith. He played two and a half years in St. Louis, made the National League All-Star team twice, but he got off to a slow start in 1976 and was traded to the Dodgers for a few Dodger Dogs.

Short term player, no playoffs, and no World Series rings.  I would have gone Jack Clark here.  He helped the Cardinals win the National League twice and had one of the franchise's all-time great Postseason home runs against the Dodgers in the 1985 NLCS.  I guess we weren't far enough removed from the Jack Clark exit when this set was made.....

Dick Allen would have been another good short term player for the modern part of the set.  He was involved in the Curt Flood trade, that ultimately lead to players getting free agency rights, as the big piece coming in return for the Cardinals outfielder and McCarver.

The other short term Cardinal in the second half of the set was Lee Smith.  He makes a little more sense than Reggie Smith.

Lee Smith was traded to the Cardinals in early May of 1990.  By the time this set rolled around he had only been on the team for a year and half.  Not very long for an all-time greats type of product.   Smith had set the National League single season save record the previous season.  While I harp on the end of Lee Smith's time with the Cardinals, he was still one of the game's most dominating relief pitchers when he first joined the team.

Smith was also nearing the all-time saves record at this point in his career.  Given how he had pitched during the first year plus of his time in St. Louis, there was little reason to think he was not going to reach the mark in a Cardinals uniform.  A little more understandable than Reggie Smith, but claiming him as an all-time great Cardinal is a stretch.

A few Hall of Famers, a few players who should be in the Hall of Fame.

Gibby.  Hall of Famer.  I love the picture on this card.  You could just look at the pose and tell its Bob Gibson.  That fall of towards first base, I would recognize it anywhere.  

There are a lot of staged photographs in the set, but very few portrait style cards.  In the modern section of the set this Brock card, along with Bake McBride, are the only two cards done in this style.  Very nice looking card.  A young Lou Brock picture too.  The majority of the cards have pictures that seem like they were taken during the prime of the players career.  

Quality action shot on the Ozzie Smith card.  He looks like he is barely jumping on this card.

I do love that the Expos player is a pitcher wearing a jacket to run the bases, you don't see many pitchers do this anymore.  Felt like it was commonplace while I was growing up watching baseball.  Ozzie is also an important card in this due to the fact that he was still playing at this point.  An actual Cardinal though, not just a good player who happened to be on the team like Lee Smith.  He lost a little bit of his shine defensively, his last Gold Glove was in 1992, but he actually was a pretty good hitter later in his career.

Two almost Hall of Famers.

Most of the Cardinals players who have their numbers retired by the team are in the baseball Hall of Fame.  Boyer is the one exception.  Although, he is probably a lot closer to that honor than most people realize.  The best years of Boyer look really similar to that of players like Scott Rolen and Adrian Beltre.  He often hit somewhere between 25 and 30 home runs, drove in 90 to 100 runs, and hit in the .290s/low .300s.  Boyer was the 1964 National League MVP and hit a grand slam in the sixth game of the World Series to help the Cardinals defeat the Yankees.  

The problem with Boyer's career is the end.  He had a rather meteoric decline and bounced around between the Mets, White Sox, and Dodgers.  

Great looking card too.  Love the posed shot of him fielding a ground ball.  

Last card.  

While I can say that Boyer has an argument to be in the Hall, I also understand there is an argument against him.  Simmons has an even better argument and there is not much to refute the fact that he should be in the Hall of Fame.  Arguments like, "He was not on a good team until the end of his career" are weak sauce.  Think of the best offensive catchers, look at Simmons counting numbers, and he's right there with the group of Piaza, Bench, Fisk, and Berra.  By the way, Piazza has less World Series at bats as Simmons with the same number of rings.  

I like this card with the powder blue road uniform and Simmons hitting.  Definitely an offensive player, he had some great numbers at the dish for some 1970s Cardinals teams that were very forgettable.  

Friday Five: Top 5 Cardinals Third Baseman

Honorable Mention-  Albert Pujols 

Third base is a hard position.  Albert Pujols makes my honorable mention list based on his one season as a Cardinals third baseman.  It also happens to be one of the better rookie seasons ever, so there's that.  Again, third base is a hard position.  Without giving away the rest of the list, in one season as the Cardinals third baseman Albert Pujols posted a WAR of 6.0.  Terry Pendleton, who is also on this list, posted a WAR of 4.9 for the Cardinals in 7 seasons.  Pujols also had 47 doubles, 37 home runs, drove in 130 runs, and posted a slash line of .329/.403/.610.  The rookie third baseman also won the National League Rookie of the Year, made the All-Star team, and finished fourth in MVP voting.

5. (tie) Joe Torre 

Joe Torre spent one season as the Cardinals full time third baseman in 1971.  Turned out pretty well.  If I can put Pujols on here for one Rookie of the Year season I can also put Joe Torre on here for one really good MVP winning season.  In 1971 Torre posted a slash line of .363/.421/.555 with 24 home runs, 137 RBIS, and 230 hits.  The RBIs, hits, and batting average all lead the National League that year.  He posted an OPS+ of 171 and an oWAR of 8.6.  Torre spent a fair number of games at third again in 1972 before the Cardinals used him almost exclusively as a first baseman his last few seasons in St. Louis.  While his 1972 season was a far cry from his 1971 season, Torre still posted a .289/.357/.419 line with 11 home runs, 81 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 122.

4.  Terry Pendleton 

Pendleton was an important cog on the 1980s Cardinals.  Some times the Whiteyball era players can be a little tough to judge.  While Pendleton went on to win a batting title and an MVP award with the Braves, he was not that player while he was on the Cardinals.   In 7 seasons as a Cardinal Pendleton hit .259/.308/.356 with only 44 home runs.  He also only stole 99 bases as a Cardinal and almost all of those happened during his first four seasons on the team.  Pendleton is here for defense.  During those 7 seasons as a Cardinal Pendleton posted a dWAR of 10.7 which included a 1985 season of 2.9 and two seasons of 2.3 in 1986 and 1989.  It's not Ozzie Smith, but it's closer than you think.  For example, in 1985 Ozzie Smith led the National League in dWAR.  Pendleton was second.  In 1986 Pendleton finished fourth.  In 1985 Pendleton led the National League in Total Zone Runs with 24 and finished second in Range Factor.  In 1986 he finished second in Total Zone Runs and led in Range Factor.  In other words, if you hit the ball on the ground to the right side of the Cardinals infield, with Smith and Pendleton playing, you were likely out.  

3.  Scott Rolen 

I could have lived with Rolen at two or three on this list.  I think that the peak of Rolen was actually higher than my player at my two spot, but Rolen's lows as a Cardinal were really low.  Plus there is always the whole World Series ring.  Rolen has one ring from 2006.  He won it while pouting on the bench.  My player at two has three rings.  Now, on with Scott Rolen.  Rolen was probably already the best third baseman in the National League when the Cardinals picked him up from the Phillies in 2002.  He had a shot at an MVP award in 2004 when he hit .314/.409/.598 with 34 home runs, 124 RBIs, and Gold Glove defense.  He just decided to have his career year the same year that Jim Edmonds had a career year and Pujols was Pujols.  He finished fourth in the voting, but could have easily won many other years.  For his Cardinal career Rolen posted an OPS+ of 127, but only spent six years in St. Louis.  At his peak he could have been first on this list, but his Cardinals career was too short to move him past this spot on my list.  He was traded to the Blue Jays after the 2007 season was spent feuding with Tony LaRussa over playing time and health concerns with Rolen's shoulder which was injured in a weird play at first base in 2005.  The play involved Hee Seop Choi who seemed to run over a lot of people in the mid 2000s.  Ask Mark Prior.  Rolen ended up being a good player the rest of his career, but probably could have been the best Cardinals third baseman and a Hall of Famer in a perfect world.

2.  Whitey Kurowski 

Kurowski had a short career, but played on several important Cardinals teams that won three World Series titles.  Whitey was not just along for the ride either, but was an important part of the team.  The four time National League All-Star won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1942, 1944, and 1946.  He also helped the 1943 Cardinals to a National League pennant.  During his 9 year career, all spent with the Cardinals, he averaged 19 home runs and 94 RBIs with a career slash line of .286/.366/.455. He is one of those rare players who actually walked more in his career (369) than struck out (332).  His best season was probably in 1945 when he hit 21 home runs, drove in 102, and hit .323.  While JAWS ranks him as the 85th best third baseman to ever play the game, his OPS+ of 125 puts him in the top 30 of all-time even with Hall of Famer Ron Santo.  

1. Ken Boyer 

Boyer is the only Cardinals player, with their number retired, who is not in the Hall of Fame.  Basically, the most common argument is that he and Ron Santo are really the same player.  If Santo got in then Boyer should be in too.  Boyer was a really good and consistent player for the Cardinals for a decade starting in 1955 running through 1965.  During that time Boyer was always good for 25 to 30 home runs, 90 to 100 RBIs, a .290 to .300 batting average, an OBP over .350 and a SLG near .500.  He won the National League MVP in 1964 and hit a grand slam in the World Series to help the Cardinals defeat the Yankees, but in my opinion his best year was actually 1960.  During that season Boyer hit .304/.370./562 with 32 home runs, 10 triples, 32 doubles, 97 RBIs, and won a Gold Glove.  The problem with Boyer's Hall of Fame candidacy in my opinion is his post Cardinals years.  He bounced around with the Mets, White Sox, and Dodgers before calling it quits.  There were some rough years in there.  Still, as a Cardinal he played at a high level and is a pretty easy choice for the first spot on this list. JAWS ranks him as the 14th best third baseman of all-time.

A Trip To Big D's Cards-Part 1

For years I have been wandering around North Carolina without a card shop to call my own.  Over the past month I have found my way into a new card store in Raleigh.  There have been a few other card shops around the area, but Big D's card shop is head and shoulders above the rest.  Besides having a nearby card store to shop at, there are other benefits to having a local card shop in your corner.  One of the best benefits of frequenting a local card shop is having another set of eyes for your collection.

Just like other card collectors, I spend some time every week checking cards on the internet. I watch Ebay, COMC, Facebook trade groups, Twitter...I get some good cards from those places, but there are still cards out there that I miss or they get away.  Happens to the best of us.  Two weeks ago I took a trip up to see my in-laws in northern Michigan and was happy to get a message from Jimmy at Big D's Card Shop with a few pictures for me to check out after he ran across a few cool Cardinals and Ryas cards.

There were two cards that I needed for my collection.  I sent over some fundage over Paypal and I landed two sweet additions to the collection.  First up:

2012 National Treasures Evan Longoria Booklet 

This is my second Longoria booklet card.  Always love looking at these cards, but I do not have many in my collection.  I will work on it.  In the meantime, this is a sweet card and I am always happy to have more cards of the former Durham Bull hanging out with me.  I also picked up a cool Cardinals card:

2002 Topps Tribute Ken Boyer Bat 

This is my second Boyer bat card from the 2002 Topps Tribute set.  There are two variations on every player's bat card.  This card has the bat cut into the shape of Boyer's number 14.  The other variation is a shadow-box type of card where the number 12 is carved out of a square pieces of bat.  Pretty sure if you put the two cards together you have one square piece of bat.  Cool card of the former Cardinals third baseman.

A little bit more from Big D's tomorrow.

2001 Topps Tribute Ken Boyer Bat Card

I picked up this card a few days ago and was excited to add it to my Cardinals collection.  Ken Boyer is one of the fourteen different Cardinals players to have his uniform number retired by the team and has the unique distinction of being the only non-Hall of Famer among the group.  His career highlight probably came during the 1964 World Series when he hit a decisive grand slam against the Yankees.  Boyer died in 1981, so he doesn't have a tremendous amount of relics or autographs available to collectors.  This card is from the first Topps Tribute set issued in 2001.  There are two different versions of the bat card, so I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for the other version.

2001 Topps Tribute Ken Boyer Bat Card

In addition to the Boyer card, I also received three other cards in this trade.  The first is a 2011 Topps Pro Debut Dee Gordon Jumbo Jersey.  I have a few other cards from this set and have a few posted on this blog.  Great set to grab a premium relic of some up and comers.  

2011 Topps Pro Debut Dee Gordon Jumbo Jersey

I also received two nice throw-ins: a 2003 Leaf Certified Materials Mike Hessman autograph.  Hessman has been in AAA since 2002 and has almost 250 homers in AAA, which would make him one of the best AAAA players ever.  He's at almost 350 for his entire minor league career.  Last, but not least, I also received a 2004 Upper Deck Play Ball Hideo Nomo jersey.  

2003 Leaf Certified Materials Mike Hessman Autograph

 2004 Upper Deck Play Ball Hideo Nomo Jersey Card