“31 in 31″ – The 1970′s – Card #8

 ”31 in 31″ – The 1970′s – Card #8

Carlton Fisk – 1972 Topps – #79

Carlton Fisk’s debut in the major leagues is one of most impressive by a rookie.  In 1972, ‘Pudge’ debuted for the Boston Red Sox and immediately made an impact on both offense and defense.  Fisk batted .293 while blasting 22 home runs and collecting 61 RBI.  On defense he secured the only Gold Glove of his career.  With this well-rounded play, Fisk won the Rookie of the Year award, finished 4thfor the MVP, and was named an All-star.  This was the first of 7 top 18 finishes for ‘Pudge’ in the MVP race.  With a career batting averageof .269 along with 376 home runs and 1,330 RBI, ‘Pudge’ had a consistently strong 24-season big league career.  Being able to play 24 seasons for just 2 teams, The Red & White Sox, Fisk was always considered a fan favorite and was wildly popular both during and after his playing days.

Fisk’s lone appearance in the World Series came in 1975 when his Boston Red Sox lost in game 7 to the Cincinnati Reds.  Although he did not win the title, the image of Fisk waving a ball ‘fair’ as it headed for the outfield still remains a World Series classic that is replayed every fall.  In that 7-game series, Fisk hit .240 while collecting 6 hits, 4 RBI, smashing 2 home runs, and scoring 5 times.

Who Knew Randy Johnson Had It In Him??? Humor, That Is…

Randy Johnson has never come across as a funny guy.  And by seeing the little that we have seen of his personality he could surely be classified as ‘un-friendly’ by some.  I guess that’s why this commercial works so well…

Johnson’s ability to captivate us for 30 seconds is undeniable and it’s nice to see that even some of the ‘harder’ players have a side that can make us laugh out loud(LOL)!!!!

Busting Open A Pack Of 1990 Donruss – Pack 1

I received 4 packs of 1990 Donruss in the contest I won on the Autographed Cards blog.

Here are the results from Pack #1

Mark Gubicza, Ron Robinson, Kevin Mitchell, Tom Browning, Mauro Gozzo, Will Clark, Luis Aquino, Lenny Dykstra, Gary Pettis, Mark McGwire, Bill Doran, Lee Mazzilli, Lee Smith, Mike Devereauz, Ryne Sandberg, and Les Lancaster

Great Cards From Jason At ‘The Writer’s Journey’

A few weeks ago I sent Jason, the lead writer of ‘The Writer’s Journey’, some cards of his favorite team – The Cincinnati Reds.  Included with those cards was a signed Chris Sabo rookie card that I knew Jason would enjoy.  Sabo is one of his favorite Red’s players of all-time, and I know how good it feels to add a card like that to your collection so I was happy to offer it up to him. 

As a token of his appreciation, Jason sent me a nice handful of cards with a Chicago Cubs theme.  He did a great job and certainly chose wisely as he gave me some incredible additions to my Cubs collection.

Check them out…

A nice assortment of Andre Dawson and Ryne Sandberg cards.  Check out Ryno’s mustache on that mini card in the top right corner – CLASSIC!!!

 Some modern cards with a vintage twist of Cubbies that played during the 60′s and 70′s.  You can NEVER go wrong with Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and Bruce Sutter!!

 A smattering of 80′s and 90′s Cubs stars like Mark Grace, Bill Madlock, Leon Durham, and others…

 And saving the best for last, 5 awesome cards featuring my favorite old-school Cub - Mr. Billy Williams!!!  I never get tired of adding more cards of Billy to my collection.

So, a huge ‘THANK YOU’goes out to Jason.  I think we both did a great job of adding some incredible cards with a personal touch to each others collections!!

“31 in 31″ – The 1970′s – Card #9

 ”31 in 31″ – The 1970′s – Card #9

Andre Dawson – 1977 Topps – #473

No player better personified the title of ’5-tool Player’ in the 1970′s than Andre Dawson.  Hitting for average, hitting for power, base running skills, defensive ability and arm strength are all areas of the game of baseball that Andre Dawson has been linked to over the course of his 21 seasons in the big leagues.  Had it not been for his first 11 seasons being played in Montreal, we have no idea how much larger of a star Dawson could have become.  As a rookie in 1977, Dawson won the league’s ROY award in which he hit .282 with 19 home runs and 22 stolen bases.  For his career, Dawson accumulated 2,774 hits with a .279 batting average.  He also managed to blast 438 home runs, steal 314 bases, score 1,373 runs, and drive in 1,591 runs.  In Dawson’s best season as a pro in 1987, he won the league’s MVP award when he hit .287 with 49 home runs and tallied 137 RBI.  After winning this award, Dawson was the first player in the history of professional baseball to win the MVP while playing for a last place team.

By the end of his career, Dawson landed in the Top 20 for the MVP award 7 times while winning the award once and finishing in second place 2 more times.  He was an 8-time All-star, 8-time Gold Glove winner and 4-time Silver Slugger winner.

Mike Mussina Autograph TTM Success

 ’The Moose’ sent 2 beautiful autographs in just 13 days!!!

Mike Mussina finished his last season as a major league pitcher just a few short months ago.  I admire several things about Mussina.  His work ethic and competitiveness are Hall of Fame caliber.  But the more I think about it since his retirement has been made public, I also admire how he left the game – ON TOP!!!  Oftentimes we get to see our favorite player’s skills diminish as they stay in the game too long either waiting for a chance to win a championship or they have a desire to get one more paycheck.  Mussina did neither and left the game after the first and only 20-win season of his 18 year career.  And for that act alone he deserves quite a bit of respect.

Then there are the stats: 270 wins with 153 losses.  2,813 K’s.  Career ERA of 3.68.  17 straight seasons with at least 11 wins.  9 Top 6 finishes for the Cy Young Award.  5 All-star appearances. 

One hell of a pitcher and one hell of a guy.  Thanks ‘Moose’!!!! 

Duke Snider Autograph TTM Success

‘The Duke’ delivered a beautiful autograph in just 13 days!!!

Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, Duke Snider had an incredible 18-year career in major league baseball.  Beginning his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Snider had to share New York’s baseball fans with 2 other wildly popular players – Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays.  Snider did more than hold up his side of the state’s trio of center fielders…

With a career batting average of .295 alongside 2,116 hits, Snider was a solid contributor to the Dodgers line-up.  And with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI, and 1,259 runs scored, his presence on the field was felt daily.  ‘The Duke’ was a 8-time All-star and ranked in the Top 10 for the MVP award 6 times.  Snider won 2 World Series titles with the Dodgers in 1955 with the Brooklyn team and then again in 1959 with Los Angeles.

Thanks Duke!!!

1997 Headline: “Don Mattingly Retires From Baseball”

On this day in 1997 the above headline, or something very close to it, appeared on every sports page across America.  Don Mattingly, ‘Donnie Baseball, was retiring from the national past-time.

Don Mattingly gave us 14 years.  14 wonderful years.  14 years of memories that will last and be passed down  from generation to generation.  Never the most talented player on his team, Mattingly was without question the leader of his New York Yankees team.  His incredible vision and skill as a contact hitter were remarkable.  And for a few years in the mid-1980′s he thrilled us at the plate as his batting average hovered close to .350 season after season. 

But Mattingly was not a 1-dimensional player.  When needed, he was able to hit for power and do it well.  Mattingly blasted 222 home runs in his career and hit 30 or more homers 3 times.  And then there was the 8-game streak in 1987 in which Mattingly launched a homer in each game.  A truly amazing feat by this great competitor!!

And to round out his play, Mattingly was a dominant defender at 1st base.  A 9-time Gold Glove winner, ‘Donnie Baseball’ could do no wrong when taking the field.  In 1,634 career games at 1st base, Mattingly committed just 64 errors.  That’s just 1 error per 25 games played and just 6 per year.  INCREDIBLE!!!

The Hall of Fame debate about Mattingly always makes for interesting conversation.  He won the MVP award one time, and finished in the Top 10 for the award 3 more times.  He has been to 6 All-star games, won 3 Silver Slugger awards, and has 9 Gold Gloves to his credit.  Whether he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame is an argument that could go on forever, but he will certainly go down as one of the best, if not the best, 1st baseman to play baseball in the 1980′s.

“31 in 31″ – The 1970′s – Card #10

“31 in 31″ – The 1970′s – Card #10

Rich “Goose” Gossage – 1973 Topps – #174

Rich Gossage doesn’t have the numbers of some of the other pitchers on this list, but his performance during his 22-year career is extremely impressive.  With 124 career wins and 310 saves to his credit, ‘Goose’ managed to perform at All-star levels both as a starting pitcher and a reliever.  Gossage has 1,502 career strikeout and an ERA of 3.01.  His dominant pitching performances landed him in the top 6 for the Cy Young award 5 times and in the Top 17 for the MVP award 5 times. 

‘The Goose’ participated in 3 World Series match-ups.  In 1978 he played for the Yankees, 1981 for the Yankees as well, and in 1984 as a member of the San Diego Padres.  In 3 series’, Gossage won 1 title as a member of the 1978 Yankee team.  In 8 post season contests, ‘The Goose’ has a 2-1 record with 8 saves.  His dominance can be measured by his 2.87 ERA with 29 strikeouts and only 7 walks.

When I Think Of Greg Maddux I Think Of This…

I’ve got Greg Maddux on the brain today….  I don’t know why either.  Maybe it’s due to all of the action involving the Atlanta Braves pitching staff over the last few weeks.  Smoltz, Lowe, Kawakami, etc, etc, etc….  I guess I just realized that after 23 years Maddux won’t be suiting up for anyone in April.

So that leads me to this.  When I think of Greg Maddux I think of this:

The year was 1995 and Greg Maddux put on a year long display of the most dominant pitching I have ever seen in my lifetime.  Never known as the most dominant pitcher on his team(probably Smoltz) or in the game, 1995 was the year that Greg Maddux ruled the baseball world.

The numbers.

• 19 wins, 2 loses
• 10 complete games
• 209 2/3 innings pitched
• 39 runs allowed
• 1.63 ERA
• 181 Strikeouts
• 23 walks allowed
• 7.87 K:Walk ratio
• 1 wild pitch

Maddux won the Cy Young award in 1995 for the 4th season in a row.  This was a unanimous vote with Maddux earning all 28 1st place votes.  Maddux also finished 3rd for the league MVP award but actually had more 1st place votes than the player that finished in 2nd place – Dante Bichette.  Maddux rounded out the year with another Gold Glove award and All-star game selection too.

This was also the season that Greg Maddux won his lone World Series Championship.  In the 1995 postseason, Maddux started 5 games while going 3-1.  In 38 innings of work, he struck out 19 while walking just 7 batters.

A truly amazing season by one of the classiest baseball players of my generation.  I am just happy that I was able to witness this greatness for myself!!!