Random Topps Card of the Day: 1972 Topps #94 1971 AL Pitching Leaders

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, March 30, 2014:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1972 Topps #94.
• Player Name, position, team: Mickey Lolich, pitcher, Detroit Tigers; Vida Blue, pitcher, Oakland A's; Wilbur Wood, pitcher, Chicago White Sox.
• Special: 1971 AL Pitching Leaders
• Commentary: Nothing too fancy about the card above other than it features three All-Stars from the 1971 season who led the American League in wins. This was before the Sabermetrics, the WAR, and all of those other new-era statistics. This was when your best pitchers were judged by their won-loss record. And in their defense, the three gentlemen featured here wouldn't need those kinds of numbers to tell how good they were in '71. Combined, Lolich, Blue, and Wood started 126 games, completed 75 of them, 19 were shutouts. They were a combined 71-35, had a combined ERA of 2.25, a combined WHIP of 1.036 (with Wood having an even 1.000 WHIP - 334 hits and walks in 334 innings of work), and struck out a combined 819 batters. The back of the card just lists the top 10 players in the AL in wins, even though it doesn't mention that specifically. Rounding out the top 10 in wins are Jim Hunter (21) of the A's, Dave McNally of the Orioles (21), Joe Coleman of the Tigers (20), Andy Messersmith of the Angels (20), and three more Orioles, Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, and Jim Palmer, each with 20 wins. You have to remember that in 1971, the Orioles featured four starters who would wind up with 20 or more wins, propelling the O's to the AL pennant and their third straight World Series appearance..
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $1.00-$2.50.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1984 Topps #332. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1972 Topps #151 Jim Brewer

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, January 23, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1972 Topps #151.
• Player Name, position, team: Jim Brewer, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: July 17, 1960.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1971 stats (Dodgers): 55 G, 81 IP, 6-5, .545 PCT, 66 SO, 24 BB, 1.88 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Cubs as a Free Agent 06/06/1956. Traded by the Cubs to the Dodgers 12/13/1963. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 16. This is his twelfth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: Comic: Who threw the 'Folly Floater'? Answer: Steve Hamilton of the Yankees.
• Commentary: The 1972 set must have surprised many who bought the set by its psychedelic design (compared to the all black design the year before). With the company leaning towards more action photos (the In Action subset featured many of baseball's stars of the day) than the traditional head shots and posed action shots. The bold colors and the font of the team names made this a favorite of the 70's. Sign of the times, I guess. Jim Brewer was the Dodgers' closer in the mid 70's. Coming over from the Cubs, Jim was in the middle of a six year string of double digit saves. He even was named to the All-Star team in 1973. What the card doesn't say is that Jim finished 41 of the 55 games he appeared in, earning 22 saves. He had incredible control during his prime, and in 1971, achieved an astonishingly low .971 WHIP (his career low came the following year at .843). Appeared in three World Series, winning the World Series against the Twins in 1965. During the 1975 season, he was traded across the city to the Angels, where he finished his career the following year.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.40-$1.00.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 2 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM. (You have to stop by and visit them now. They just announced that they are allowing more people to enter the museum at one time.)

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1980 Topps #686. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1972 Topps #713 Gene Michael

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, January 17, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1972 Topps #60.
• Player Name, position, team: Gene Michael, shortstop, New York Yankees.
• Major League Debut: July 15, 1966.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1971 stats (Yankees): 139 G, 458 AB, 36 R, 102 H, 15 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 35 RBI, .224 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed by Pirates as a Free Agent before 1971. Purchased by the Yankees from the Dodgers 11/30/1967. Bats: both, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Michael's sixth regular Topps card (total does not include all-star, highlights, or league leader cards). This is actually the first of two cards that Michael appears in the 1972 Topps set (card #714 is an "In Action" card or Gene Michael). Psychedelically, the 1972 Topps design was truly a sign of the times with its wild color scheme and lettering. The back of the card includes a cartoon asking "How are earned run averages computed?" The answer shows a cartoon statistician trying to figure out the answer (Earned Runs x 9 + innings pitched).
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $10.00-$20.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 3 cards.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1996 Topps #289. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Quote of the Week: Nolan Ryan

How did Amos Otis humiliate Nolan Ryan???

(The quote of the week came from The Baseball Almanac. The quote itself comes from an article from the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner dated July 13, 1977.)

Had to reach for this one. While with the California Angels, a writer may have asked Nolan Ryan what would be his most embarassing moment in baseball. Here was his response:

"I can't think of anything more humiliating than losing a ballgame to a guy who steals home on you. It happened to me one time against Kansas City. I had a 2-2 count on the hitter - and Amos Otis broke from third. The pitch was a ball and slid in safe. I felt like a nickel."

And thanks again to baseballreference.com for finding the infamous game in question.

On July 31, 1972, Nolan Ryan was pitching against the Kansas City Royals. In the fourth inning, former teammate Amos Otis drew a walk, and was picked off first base. However, Ryan's errant throw to first (his second of three errors that day, all on errant pick offs) sent Otis to third base. Two outs later, on that fateful 2-2 count to John Mayberry, Otis broke for home. As Ryan states, Otis was safe. It would be the only run of the ball game. The Royals beat Ryan and the Angels 1-0. All because of that steal home.

Amos Otis faced Nolan Ryan 103 times in his career (91 at bats, 11 walks, and 1 hit by pitch...in 1975) and hit only .209 off of the Ryan Express, with 19 hits (three of them home runs) and 27 strikeouts. Ryan would go on to pitch for another 16 seasons and strike out another 3288 guys after the interview was written. But nothing since, it seems, has humbled him more than that one game in 1972.

"I felt like a nickel."

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama