1975 Topps Set Card 312/660 – #324 – Ed Kranepool, Mets

1975 Topps Set Card 312/660 – #324 – Ed Kranepool, Mets

Progress: 312/660

Card Number:  324

Player Name:  Ed Kranepool

Team:  New York Mets

Position:  First Base, Outfield

Image Style:  Posed Hitting

Years In The Major Leagues: 18 seasons, 1962-79

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Ed Kranepool played in 105 games for the New York Mets in 1975.  He hit .323 on the season with 105 hits in 325 st-bats.  Of his 105 hits, Kranepool connected for 16 doubles and 4 home runs with 42 runs scored and 43 RBI.

Notes From Career:  Ed Kranepool played his entire big league career with the Mets.  He was selected to the 1965 NL All-Star team and is a member of the 1969 World Series winning team.  Kranepool is a lifetime .261 hitter with 1,418 hits.  He has 235 career doubles and hit 118 home runs.

1975 Topps Set Card 310/660 – #395 – Bud Harrelson, Mets

1975 Topps Set Card 310/660 – #395 – Bud Harrelson, Mets

Progress: 310/660

Card Number:  395

Player Name:  Bud Harrelson

Team:  New York Mets

Position:  Shortstop

Image Style:  Posed Hitting

Years In The Major Leagues: 16 seasons, 1965-80

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Bud Harrelson played in just 34 games for the Mets in 1975.  With 73 at-bats, Harrelson collected 16 hits en route to a .219 batting average.  He had 2 doubles on the year, with 3 RBI and 5 runs scored.

Notes From Career:  Bud Harrelson played for three major league clubs during his 16-season big league career.  He is a lifetime .236 hitter with 1,120 hits in 1,533 games played.  Harrelson is a 2-time All-Star and winner of a Gold Glove Award.  He is a member of the 1969 World Series Champion New York Mets.

1975 Topps Set Card 305/660 – #111 – Wayne Garrett, Mets

1975 Topps Set Card 305/660 – #111 – Wayne Garrett, Mets

Progress: 305/660

Card Number:  111

Player Name:  Wayne Garrett

Team:  New York Mets

Position:  3rd Base

Image Style:  Posed Portrait

Years In The Major Leagues: 16 seasons, 1971-86

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Garrett played in 107 games for the Mets in 1975.  Garrett hit .266 during those contests as he connected for 73 hits in 274 at-bats.  Of his 73 hits, Garrett amassed 8 doubles, 3 triples, and 6 home runs.  He drove in 34 runs on the year while also scoring 49 times.

Notes From Career:  Wayne Garrett played for the New York Mets and the Montreal Expos during his 10-year major league career.  He is a lifetime .239 hitter with 786 career hits in 1,092 games played.  Garrett is a member of the 1969 World Series champion Mets.

1975 HEADLINE: Tom Seaver Becomes 1st Pitcher To 200 Strikeouts In 8 Straight Seasons

1975 HEADLINE: Tom Seaver Becomes 1st Pitcher To 200 Strikeouts In 8 Straight Seasons

On this day in 1975, Tom Seaver became the first pitcher in major league history to collect 200 or more strikeouts in eight consecutive seasons.

Showing off the remarkable ability to be a consistent and healthy performer, Seaver’s ability to dominate batters was unmatched during this time.

Here is a closer look at the numbers from those eight seasons:
1968 – 205
1969 – 208
1970 – 283
1971 – 289
1972 – 249
1973 – 251
1974 – 201
1975 – 243

And just for good measure, Seaver collected 235 hitters in 1976 extending the record to nine straight seasons!

How did he do in 1977?  196!!!

Happy Anniversary to ‘Tom Terrific’!!!

1975 Topps Set Card 215/660 – #479 – Ken Boswell, Astros

1975 Topps Set Card 215/660 – #479 – Ken Boswell, Astros

Progress: 215/660

Player Name:  Ken Boswell

Team:  Houston Astros

Position:   2nd Base, 3rd Base

Image Style:  Posed Portrait

Years In The Major Leagues:  11 seasons, 1967-77

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Ken Boswell played in 86 games for the Houston Astros in 1975.  He hit .242 with 43 hits in 178 at-bats.  Among his 43 hits were 8 doubles, 2 triples, and 33 home runs.  Boswell drove in 21 runs for the Astros in 1975 while also scoring 16 times.

Notes From Career:  Ken Boswell is a career .248 hitter with 625 lifetime hits.  During his 11-season big league career, Boswell split time between the New York Mets and the Houston Astros.  He was a good defender and found himself playing both second and third base at times for both clubs.  Boswell won a World Series championship with the Mets in 1969.

1985 HEADLINE: Tom Seaver Joins The ‘300 Wins Club’

1985 HEADLINE: Tom Seaver Joins The ‘300 Wins Club’

On this day back in 1985 Tom Seaver recorded the 300th win of his career!!

Battling against the most popular team in the sport, Seaver’s White Sox team was at Yankee Stadium to take on ‘The Bronx Bombers’.

The Sox won the ball game with a 4-1 win and Seaver won the 300th game of his career at the age of 40.  Here is a quick look at his numbers from this historic event:

Innings pitched	9
Hits allowed	6
Strikeouts	7
Walks	1
K’s : Walks	7:1
Runs allowed	1

Not a bad effort for the 40-year old baseball history making machine huh?  For Seaver, it was an incredible effort and another amazing accomplishment during his brilliant baseball career.

Happy Anniversary to ‘Tom Terrific’!!!!

1987 HEADLINE – Tom Seaver Retires After Magical Career

1987 HEADLINE – Tom Seaver Retires After Magical Career

On this day in 1987 Tom Seaver hung up his spikes.

On of the most decorated pitchers of his era, Seaver was a dominant force in the game of baseball for 20 seasons. A Rookie of the Year award winner. A 3-time Cy Young Award winner and 2-time runner-up. A 12-time all-star. A World Series Champion. A member of baseball’s elite 300 wins club. A member of the 3,000 strikeout club. The list goes on and on.

When a pitcher like Tom Seaver calls an end to their career, one has to wonder how someone will fill the very big shoes left by such an absence in the game. It’s simple really, very few players could ever replace Tom Seaver in their pitching rotations. Many have tried, and few have succeeded!!

Happy Anniversary Mr. Seaver!!!

2014 Topps Series 1 “Topps All Rookie Cup Team” – Tom Seaver

2014 Topps Series 1 “Topps All Rookie Cup Team” – Tom Seaver

Topps’ All-Rookie Team means a lot of different things to a lot of different collectors.  But, one thing is for certain – If your card is tagged with the All-Rookie Team logo, you did something during your first season in the big leagues to make yourself stand out from the rest.

And for that reason alone, I can totally support a set of cards that picks ‘The Best Of The Best’ from these teams.

In 2014, Topps issued a subset in their Series 1 release that took one player at each position, naming them to the ‘Topps All Rookie Cup Team’.

Representing the right-handed starting pitcher is Tom Seaver:

 

Tom Seaver had a superb rookie season in 1967.  At 22 years of age, Seaver started 34 games for the Mets and posted a 16-13 record.  He threw 251 innings during his rookie campaign while striking out 170 batters and walking just 78.  Seaver posted an ERA of 2.76 as he allowed 77 runs during his 251 innings of work.

Seaver was an All-Star in 1967 and he also won the Rookie Of The Year Award.

1975 Topps Set Card 103/660 – #43 – Cleon Jones, Mets

1975 Topps Set Card 103/660 – #43 – Cleon Jones, Mets

Progress: 103/660

Player Name:  Cleon Jones

Card Number:  43

Team:  New York Mets

Position:  Outfield

Image Style:  Posed Batting

Years In The Major Leagues:  13 seasons, 1963, 1965-76

Notes From His 1975 Season:  Cleon Jones played in just 21 games for the Mets in 1975.  He made 53 plate appearances for the team, connecting for just 12 hits en route to a .240 batting average.  Of his 12 hits, 11 were singles and 1 was a double.

Notes From Career:  Cleon Jones was an All-Star and World Series champion during his career.  He played 13 seasons in the majors, 12 with the Mets and 1 with the White Sox.  Jones was a .281 career hitter with 11,96 hits.  He offered up solid run production as he scored 545 runs during his playing days while also driving in 524.

1975 Topps Set Card 58/660 – #370 – Tom Seaver, Mets

1975 Topps Set Card 58/660 – #370 – Tom Seaver, Mets

Progress: 58/660

Player Name:  Tom Seaver

Card Number:  370

Team:  New York Mets

Position:  Pitcher

Image Style:  Posed Portrait

Years In The Major Leagues:  20 seasons, 1967-86

Notes From His 1975 Season:   Seaver was awarded this 3rd Cy Young Award in 1975 as he was recognized as the NL’s best pitcher.  Seaver started 36 games for the Mets and finished the season with a 22-9 record alongside 15 complete games and 5 shutouts.  He had a 2.38 ERA with a league-leading 243 strikeouts in 280 innings of work.

Notes From Career:  Seaver is often regarded to as the greatest pitcher from his era.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 and has the highest vote percentage of all-time at 98.8%.  He is a 3-time Cy Young Award winner, a ROY winner, a 12-time All-Star, and a World Series champion.  Seaver has a record of 311-205 with 231 complete games and 61 shutouts.