2001 UD Hall of Famers Cubs to Giants

I really miss sets like this 2001 UD Hall of Famers.  I picked this one up for $8.00 shipped.  Lets look at them all.

Ernie looks a little too posed in this picture, like a wax statue.

Fergie will always have a place in my heart as one of the core group of players I grew up cheering for

Fergie is always remembered for winning 20 games or more in six straight seasons.  Yes, he was consistently great.  But note that his average number of games started was a full five games higher than last year's leader, Adam Wainwright.

Great shot of a smiling Campy.

Talk about your Willie,  Mickey and the Duke.  From 1951 to 1955 Campy in Brooklyn  and Yogi  in the Bronx picked up six MVPs between them.

Is there a better name than Pee Wee Reese?

There's only one Jack Roosevelt Robinson.

This photo is from the first 1962 All-Star game.  Marichal was the winner.  Obviously that's Willie to Juan's right.  To his left is Dick Groat.  Cropped out to Dick's left was Stan Musial.

Check out the run of sub 3.00 ERA and the SO to BB ratio.

Simply one of the best.

His SO to BB ratio is very similar to Marichal's.

As good as anyone who ever played the game.

Look at those gaudy numbers from 1957 to 1966.

Classic Clippings -- Juan Marichal

Back before the internet and Google Images many of us used to clip pictures from newspapers and magazines.  

Here are a couple I found.  If you forgot Juan Marichal played for the Dodgers (I did) it's understandable.  He only started two games, quite unsuccessfully, before hanging them up for good.

I found this on the web.

1968 Pitching Leaders -- Rare Feats

Only 1(?) Hall of Famer in the top 45?

Denny McLain's 31 win season will probably not be matched again given 5 man rotations and the use of set-up men and closers.  Even so it was a rare feat for a pitcher in any era since the middle of the 1910's.  In the AL you have to go back to Lefty Grove in 1931 and Jim Bagby in 1920 to match it.  To beat it you need to go back to Walther Johnson's 36 wins in 1913.  In the NL you have to go back to Grover Alexander's 36 wins in 1916.

8 of the top 17 are in the Hall of Fame

Since McLain's 31 and Marichal's 26 in 1968, only two pitchers in the last 42 seasons have had more than 24 wins.  In the AL Bob Welch went 27-6 in 1990.  In the NL Steve Carlton went 27-10 in 1972.

Hall of Fame Teammates 5

MattR of A Giant Blog suggested four Giant teammates (go figure).  They were actually next on my list (although I forgot about Perry).

1971 Topps # 140

HOF Class of 1991

1971 Topps #325

HOF Class of 1983

1972 Topps #280

HOF Class of 1986

1972 Topps #49

HOF Class of 1979

Who are your favorite Hall of Fame teammates?

2005 UD Signature Decades -- 1960's Part 1

Today we head back to the 60's:

Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Favorites - M

Topps put out 150 card sets of retired players in 2003-2004-2005. Players are pictured on card designs from their playing days but with different photos than were in the originals. Here are my favorites, alphabetically.

2003 #68

1975 design. Not wild about the border colors on this one (red on orange for the team name?) but it's a nice shot of a young Bill Madlock and it's a Cubs card.

2005 #86

1964 design. Juan looks so sweet here. Not so sweet to face him in 1964. He struck out 206 and only walked 52, winning 21 and losing only 8.

2003 #1

1955 design. Great design , super great player. No complaints here. Next!

2003 #83

1957 design. Remember when the Pirates were good? Bill does. In 1957 he hit a career high .283 but it was not a good year for the Pirates in '57. They finished tied with my Cubbies at 62-92 and in last place, 33 games behind the eventual World Series Champion Milwaukee Braves.

2003 #90

1965 design. For some reason the Cardinals cards always look particularly good. That being said I like this card for the goofy looking Tim McCarver.

2003 #132

1968 design. Not my most favorite card but Willie's a Hall of Famer and I like the Giant's green on the 1968 design. This is one case where the original is actually better.

2004 #85

1968 design. Sam had an ERA of 1.81 in 1968. That was good for second in the AL behind teammate Luis Tiant but Sudden Sam went only 15-14. If I'm not mistaken he lost twelve games in which the Indians scored no more than one run.

2005 #56

1965 design. The last man to win 30 games in a season, McLain went 16-6 in 1965. Don't you love the glasses? I think Denny borrowed them from Floyd the barber.

2005 #80

1970 design. I believe it's right that the players are not the slaves of the baseball owners but I miss the days when the same guys were on your team together for a longer time.

2005 #110

1978 design. Rick was an All-Star in 1978 and the Dodgers made it to the World Series.

2005 #123

1960 design. This is the design of Topps Heritage in 2010. Personally, I like it. As for this card, you can't do any better than Stan the Man.

Blow Out the Candles

1962 Topps #200

Mickey Mantle was born on this date in 1931. Whether you're from New York or anytown USA, "The Mick" represents baseball in the 1950's.

1963 Topps #440

Juan Marichal celebrates his 72nd birthday today. The "Dominican Dandy" was one of the elite pitchers of the '60's. He had six 20 win seasons out of 7 from 1963-69, including two years with 26 wins and one with 25. All told from 1960-69 Juan was 191-88, a.685 winning percentage.

Also born on this date:

Bela Lugosi was born in 1882.



Margaret Dumont, was born in 1889.

Margaret Dumont was the straightwoman in many of the great Marx Brothers movies. Here's a prime example:



Also born on this date, in 1890, was jazz great Jelly Roll Morton. I love the early jazz records of the 20's and 30's. For me jazz doesn't get any better.






Finally, Tom Petty turns 59 today.