And before I go to bed, some more...
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:45 pm
Yep, more...
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/ ... ay-238.jpg[/pic]
-1965 Topps Chuck Hiller, signed. Chuck Hiller was a good-hitting second baseman who holds the interesting distinction of being the first National League baseball player to hit a grand slam during a World Series. He did that with the San Francisco Giants. But Chuck wasn't much of a fielder (according to Dad, he was the worst-fielding second baseman he ever saw) and found himself dumped on the 1965 New York Mets. There, they tried him all over the infield but still couldn't adequately "hide" him (at least until 1967, when even they gave up on him). Today of course, he'd be a designated hitter with millions in the bank and a lengthy career. Dad also recalls that he had an odd (though good) plate approach. Although he had power, he would only very rarely fully extend his swing. Most of the time, he'd just try and punch the ball over the infielders' heads. He COULD hit for power, it's just that he didn;t seem to want to.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Jim Hearn, signed. Jim Hearn was a solid pitcher (number three starter type) for the 1950's New York Giants. He started the second ever game my Dad went to for the Giants. He threw a good sinker, and it was a fast sinker, too, so he'd get swings and misses with it as well as ground balls. He also used a slider as a his breaking pitch. He was eventually dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he did okay as a swingman (starter/reliever) until he tore a ligament in his back and had to retire.
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/ ... ay-239.jpg[/pic]
-1966 Topps Juan Pizarro, signed. Juan was a flame-throwing lefty who also had a good changeup and curve. He was well-known for pitching year-round, since he also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League with his hometown Santurce Crabbers. He was a two-time All-Star (1963 and 1964) and in 1961 and 1962, he had the highest strikeouts per nine innings ratio (K/9) in the American League. After he hurt his arm in 1966, he salavged his career as a good reliever who relied on a bunch of breaking pitches.
-1965 Topps Claude Osteen, signed. Claude was the somewhat distant number three starter on the 1960's Los Angeles Dodgers teams after Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, taking Stan Williams' place after he'd been traded away. He was a left-hander who was noted for his endurance. He threw a tailing, deceptively-fast fastball, a slider, a curve, and a changeup that broke a lot like a screwball. He won 20 games twice; in 1969 and 1972.
-1965 Topps Ron Perranoski, signed. Ron was the ace reliever of those LA Dodgers teams in the 1960's that were so noted for their pitching. Good left-hander with a very deceptive delivery, good fastball, sinker, curve, and changeup. And he also pitched with the late 1960's Twins and was their bullpen ace. He was in a way the first man to lead the American League in saves, too...31 in 1969, when the statistic was first formally recognized.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Virgil Trucks, signed. Virgil Trucks was an excellent pitcher, both as a starter and as a reliever. He threw a high 90's fastball, a hard slider, a good curve, a good changeup, and a pretty solid knuckleball that was about 20 mph slower than his fastball. A two-time All-Star, Virgil was the victim of somewhat rotten luck during the prime of his career and got very little run support. In 1952, he went 5-19. Three of those five wins were shutouts and one was a no-hitter. He may have had an outside shot at 200 wins (he won 177) pitching with a better team.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell, signed. A pretty good reliever with a great fastball and a curve that broke 10-to-4 (from every description I've read of it, it could have even been a softly-thrown slider from the way it broke). He also threw a changeup to right-handed hitters to keep them on their toes. From 1952-1960, he was pretty dominant. But he hurt his arm in 1961, eventually winding up with the awful 1962 New York Mets as their long reliever. After he retired from baseball, he became a Republican congressman from NC. He was also in the Reagan and Bush administrations in a post I can't recall.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Al Rosen, signed. Al Rosen was the slugging third baseman for the Cleveland Indians in the 1950's, batting .285/.384/.495 for his career. He hit 192 homeruns in seven full seasons and really seemed to be on his way to stardrom when he suffered an injury (the exact nature of which I cannot recall) and just really declined to the point where he retired after 1956. He was a 4-time All-Star and was the AL MVP in 1953 (when he hit 43 homeruns and batted .336).
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Jim Rivera, signed. Many wonder why Jim Rivera never got an earlier start. There are rumors that he did time in prison, was acquitted of rape, was dishonorably discharged, or something like that. Regardless, he was 29 years old as a rookie and the decade preceeding that one is quite murky. However, he hit the ground running, batting leadoff with the Chicago White Sox teams of the 1950's that always seemed to fall just short of catching the Yankees. Although he was starting to break down by then, he played in the 1959 World Series with Bill Veeck's "Go-Go Sox." He did very poorly, going 0-for-11, though he did walk once and scored. In regular season play, he was in the top three in stolen bases in the American League from 1952-1958 continuously, and led the AL in steals in 1955, with 25. In 1953, his 16 triples led the AL. He was also a very good fielder, capable of playing all three outfield positions.
-1965 Topps Pete Richert, signed. Hyped as the next coming of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale rolled into one, Pete Richert actually became a very good reliever during the latter half of his career. He was the closer on those 1960's-1970's Baltimore Orioles teams that dominated the American League. Although he didn't pitch much in the postseason (four games, two innings), he did record a save and had an ERA of 0.00. He went 80-73 over a 13-year career and was pretty good as a starter, too (though he was put into a position where he couldn't possibily live up to his billing). He threw a fastball, a sinker, a slider, and once in a while, he'd fire off a slow curve.
-1965 Topps Wally Bunker, signed. Wally Bunker was a righty sinkerballer who went 19-5 his rookie year (1964) and then never had anything even close to it. Even before he injured his arm in 1967, he just could not repeat his success for whatever reason. He reinvented himself with the 1969 Kansas City Royals throwing mainly changeups and palmballs, but struggled in 1970 after putting up a heavy workload. He likely had recurring arm problems both before and after his career-altering injury. Dad recalls him as a "sure future star" when he first came up.
There's a lot more, but I have to hit the hay...
-1965 Topps Chuck Hiller, signed. Chuck Hiller was a good-hitting second baseman who holds the interesting distinction of being the first National League baseball player to hit a grand slam during a World Series. He did that with the San Francisco Giants. But Chuck wasn't much of a fielder (according to Dad, he was the worst-fielding second baseman he ever saw) and found himself dumped on the 1965 New York Mets. There, they tried him all over the infield but still couldn't adequately "hide" him (at least until 1967, when even they gave up on him). Today of course, he'd be a designated hitter with millions in the bank and a lengthy career. Dad also recalls that he had an odd (though good) plate approach. Although he had power, he would only very rarely fully extend his swing. Most of the time, he'd just try and punch the ball over the infielders' heads. He COULD hit for power, it's just that he didn;t seem to want to.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Jim Hearn, signed. Jim Hearn was a solid pitcher (number three starter type) for the 1950's New York Giants. He started the second ever game my Dad went to for the Giants. He threw a good sinker, and it was a fast sinker, too, so he'd get swings and misses with it as well as ground balls. He also used a slider as a his breaking pitch. He was eventually dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he did okay as a swingman (starter/reliever) until he tore a ligament in his back and had to retire.
-1966 Topps Juan Pizarro, signed. Juan was a flame-throwing lefty who also had a good changeup and curve. He was well-known for pitching year-round, since he also pitched in the Puerto Rican Winter League with his hometown Santurce Crabbers. He was a two-time All-Star (1963 and 1964) and in 1961 and 1962, he had the highest strikeouts per nine innings ratio (K/9) in the American League. After he hurt his arm in 1966, he salavged his career as a good reliever who relied on a bunch of breaking pitches.
-1965 Topps Claude Osteen, signed. Claude was the somewhat distant number three starter on the 1960's Los Angeles Dodgers teams after Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, taking Stan Williams' place after he'd been traded away. He was a left-hander who was noted for his endurance. He threw a tailing, deceptively-fast fastball, a slider, a curve, and a changeup that broke a lot like a screwball. He won 20 games twice; in 1969 and 1972.
-1965 Topps Ron Perranoski, signed. Ron was the ace reliever of those LA Dodgers teams in the 1960's that were so noted for their pitching. Good left-hander with a very deceptive delivery, good fastball, sinker, curve, and changeup. And he also pitched with the late 1960's Twins and was their bullpen ace. He was in a way the first man to lead the American League in saves, too...31 in 1969, when the statistic was first formally recognized.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Virgil Trucks, signed. Virgil Trucks was an excellent pitcher, both as a starter and as a reliever. He threw a high 90's fastball, a hard slider, a good curve, a good changeup, and a pretty solid knuckleball that was about 20 mph slower than his fastball. A two-time All-Star, Virgil was the victim of somewhat rotten luck during the prime of his career and got very little run support. In 1952, he went 5-19. Three of those five wins were shutouts and one was a no-hitter. He may have had an outside shot at 200 wins (he won 177) pitching with a better team.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell, signed. A pretty good reliever with a great fastball and a curve that broke 10-to-4 (from every description I've read of it, it could have even been a softly-thrown slider from the way it broke). He also threw a changeup to right-handed hitters to keep them on their toes. From 1952-1960, he was pretty dominant. But he hurt his arm in 1961, eventually winding up with the awful 1962 New York Mets as their long reliever. After he retired from baseball, he became a Republican congressman from NC. He was also in the Reagan and Bush administrations in a post I can't recall.
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Al Rosen, signed. Al Rosen was the slugging third baseman for the Cleveland Indians in the 1950's, batting .285/.384/.495 for his career. He hit 192 homeruns in seven full seasons and really seemed to be on his way to stardrom when he suffered an injury (the exact nature of which I cannot recall) and just really declined to the point where he retired after 1956. He was a 4-time All-Star and was the AL MVP in 1953 (when he hit 43 homeruns and batted .336).
-1993 Topps Archives 1953 Topps Reprint Jim Rivera, signed. Many wonder why Jim Rivera never got an earlier start. There are rumors that he did time in prison, was acquitted of rape, was dishonorably discharged, or something like that. Regardless, he was 29 years old as a rookie and the decade preceeding that one is quite murky. However, he hit the ground running, batting leadoff with the Chicago White Sox teams of the 1950's that always seemed to fall just short of catching the Yankees. Although he was starting to break down by then, he played in the 1959 World Series with Bill Veeck's "Go-Go Sox." He did very poorly, going 0-for-11, though he did walk once and scored. In regular season play, he was in the top three in stolen bases in the American League from 1952-1958 continuously, and led the AL in steals in 1955, with 25. In 1953, his 16 triples led the AL. He was also a very good fielder, capable of playing all three outfield positions.
-1965 Topps Pete Richert, signed. Hyped as the next coming of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale rolled into one, Pete Richert actually became a very good reliever during the latter half of his career. He was the closer on those 1960's-1970's Baltimore Orioles teams that dominated the American League. Although he didn't pitch much in the postseason (four games, two innings), he did record a save and had an ERA of 0.00. He went 80-73 over a 13-year career and was pretty good as a starter, too (though he was put into a position where he couldn't possibily live up to his billing). He threw a fastball, a sinker, a slider, and once in a while, he'd fire off a slow curve.
-1965 Topps Wally Bunker, signed. Wally Bunker was a righty sinkerballer who went 19-5 his rookie year (1964) and then never had anything even close to it. Even before he injured his arm in 1967, he just could not repeat his success for whatever reason. He reinvented himself with the 1969 Kansas City Royals throwing mainly changeups and palmballs, but struggled in 1970 after putting up a heavy workload. He likely had recurring arm problems both before and after his career-altering injury. Dad recalls him as a "sure future star" when he first came up.
There's a lot more, but I have to hit the hay...