1975 Topps Set Card 278/660 – #576 – Phil Roof, Twins

1975 Topps Set Card 278/660 – #576 – Phil Roof, Twins

Progress: 278/660

Card Number: 576

Player Name: Phil Roof

Team: Minnesota Twins

Position: Catcher

Image Style: Posed Hitting

Years In The Major Leagues: 15 seasons, 1961, 1964-77

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Phil Roof played in 63 games for the Twins in 1975.  He had 126 at-bats during the season, connecting for 38 hits en route to a .308 batting average.  Roof tallied 7 home runs and 21 RBI in those 63 games.

Notes From Career:  Phil Roof suited up for 8 different major league clubs during his 15-year big league career.  A career .215 hitter, Roof collected 463 hits in 857 games played.  He drove in 210 runs while in the majors and also scored 190 times.

1990 HEADLINE: George Brett Becomes First Player To Win Batting Titles In Three Straight Decades

1990 HEADLINE: George Brett Becomes First Player To Win Batting Titles In Three Straight Decades

On this day in 1990, George Brett became the first player in major league baseball history to collect batting titles in three different decades.

A true testament to his dedication to the game and excellence as a hitter, George Brett separated himself from some of the game’s greatest hitters with this accomplishment.  To be able to remain at such a high standard for more than 20 seasons and in between three decades shows just how truly great Brett was at the plate.  Let’s not forget that the game changed, and the pitchers Brett faced during that time also changed.

A quick glance at the numbers shows this:

Year	Batting Average
1976	0.333
1980	0.390
1990	0.329

Now how awesome is that?

Congratulations on this magnificent achievement Mr. Brett!!!

1976 HEADLINE: Hank Aaron’s Legendary Career Comes To An End

1976 HEADLINE:  Hank Aaron’s Legendary Career Comes To An End

On this day in 1976, Hank Aaron played in his final game as a major league baseball player.

On the last day of the 1976 baseball season, Aaron and his Brewers teammates were at home in Milwaukee taking on the Detroit Tigers.  Sadly, there were less than 7,000 fans in the stands to see Aaron make his final appearance in the big leagues.

Aaron was hitless in the game until the 6th inning when he hit a single off of Tigers’ pitcher Dave Roberts.

That at-bat would be the final one of his career.  It was hit 3,771 of Hank’s amazing career!!

“The Shot Heard ‘Round The World”

“The Shot Heard ‘Round The World”

On this day in 1951, a baseball moment transpired that would be considered one of the greatest game-changing home runs of all-time.  And now, more than 50 years later, the replays and stories told about this historic moment in baseball’s history resonate even more with the recent passing of Bobby Thomson.

From Wikipedia:

In baseball, the “Shot Heard ’round the World” is the term given to the game-ending home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m. EST on October 3, 1951. As a result of the “shot” (baseball slang for “home run” or any hard-hit ball), the Giants won the game 5–4, defeating the Dodgers in their pennant playoff series, two games to one. It is one of the most famous moments in Major League Baseball history.

A huge ‘Thank You’ goes out to Bobby Thomson, and Ralph Branca for that matter, for building a historic scene in this wonderful sport that will live beyond all of us!!

Happy Birthday Dennis Eckersley!!!

Happy Birthday Dennis Eckersley!!!

Dennis Eckersley turns 60 years old today.

The man simply known as ‘The Eck’ was one of baseball’s brightest stars in the 1970’s and carried his success through 24 seasons as a big league player.  Dennis Eckersley began his career as a starting pitcher.  In fact, one of the game’s greatest relief pitchers in the history of baseball was a starter during his first 12 seasons.  As a starter, ‘Eck’ did well as he had (9) 10+ win seasons in 12 years.  That all changed in 1987 when Eckersley was traded to the Oakland A’s and was converted into a closer for the Athletics.  ‘Eck’ began to dominate.  And in 12 seasons after that trade, he piled up 387 saves.  Eckersley’s best season came in 1992 when he won the league’s MVP and Cy Young awards.  In ’92 he pitched 80 innings and saved 51 games.  With an ERA of just 1.91 and the control to strikeout 93 batters while walking just 11 and it is easy to see why ‘Eck’ was tagged as one of the best closers in baseball history.  Dennis Eckersley finished in the top 7 for the Cy Young award 6 times in his career – 4 of which came as a closer.

Eckersley has played in 11 post season match-up and 3 World Series championships.  He won the title with the Oakland A’s in 1989 and finished his career with 1 championship ring and 15 saves in post season play.

Happy Birthday ‘Eck’!!!

Happy Birthday Dave Winfield!!!

Happy Birthday Dave Winfield!!!

Dave Winfield turns 62 years old today!

Dave Winfield is one of baseball’s great superstars from the 1980’s.  He was a super athlete that could have gone on to play professional basketball and football, but thankfully he chose baseball for his profession.

But, Winfield used all of his athletic skills on the baseball field.  He was extremely fast for a ‘big guy’.  And he had a canon of an arm.  Combine that with his sharp reflexes, quick hands, and super strength and you had a very, very solid 5-tool player.

In total, Winfield connected for 3,110 career hits with 540 doubles and 465 home runs.  He stole 223 bases during his career while scoring 1,669 runs.  Winfield was chosen as an All-Star 12 times and he captured a lot of individual accolades – 7 Gold Gloves and 6 Silver Slugger Awards.

He’s definitely one of my favorites.  And he also starred in the first MLB action I ever saw in person – a Yankees Spring Training game in Ft. Lauderdale during the mid-1980’s.

Happy Birthday Mr. Winfield!!

Cal Ripken Jr. 2012 Topps ‘A Cut Above’ Die-Cut

Cal Ripken Jr. 2012 Topps ‘A Cut Above’ Die-Cut

The ‘A Cut Above’ subset that Topps issued in 2012 is a pretty impressive set of cards to look at.  The design is sharp and the coloring of the cards is superb.  And when you factor in the die-cut edges, you have a very nice issue by Topps.

The set is limited to just 25 players, featuring both legends and modern players.  It is nice to see that Cal made the cut (or, die-cut) for this limited checklist.

Here is his card from the set:

 

I told you it was nice.

The extra Orange details in the border of the card really add a nice team-themed pop to the card.  And even with a smaller surface area for the card due to the cut and shape of the cardboard, you are not missing any action.

I LIKE IT!!!