THE WHOLE NINE: SERIES 2- CAREER-CAPPER: 1982 MIKE MARSHALL

On the blog today, from my custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set, my 1982 career-capper for reliever extraordinaire Mike Marshall, who famously refused to be in Topps baseball card sets through the 1970's into the 80's:

Marshall appeared in 20 games for the New York Mets in 1981, putting in 31 innings and pitching to a 3-2 record with a nice 2.61 earned run average.

Thus would close out quite a unique Big League career that began in 1967 with the Detroit Tigers.

Mike Marshall is about as interesting a character in Major league baseball during the 1970's as any other. And considering some of the characters we've looked at in the past, that is saying something.
How else can you describe a guy who seriously considered retiring from the sport so he could focus on his P.H.D. studies before his record setting 1974 season?
If you've ever read Jim Bouton's hilarious and landmark book "Ball Four" you read about Marshall's legendary battles with his then-manager Jim Schultz while both were members of the ill-fated single-season organization Seattle Pilots.
This guy was something else. And his arm was undoubtedly something else as well. In no less than three seasons, Marshall appeared in 90 or more games, including his record-setting mark of 106 in 1974 that still stands today.
And UNLIKE today with specialty pitchers who come in and face a batter or two, when Marshall came into a game, he pitched.
In 1974, purely a relief role, Marshall threw an astounding 208.1 innings, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A. and a league-leading 21 saves. Amazing by any standard, any era.
This easily got him a Cy Young award that year, beating out fellow teammate Andy Messersmith, while also finishing third in M.V.P. voting as well.
When it came to baseball cards, Marshall was equally as "unique". Rumor has it that he was a bit of a headache for Topps, refusing to "pose" for pictures. Because of this, his cards featured action shots between 1974 through 1977.
Then, after his '77 card, he disappeared altogether. Why I have no idea. But even though Marshall played through the rest of the decade, there were no cards for him in the 1978 and 1979 set.
I'll come back to his missing 1978 card at a later date since I have to do some extensive Photoshopping to have him in a Texas Ranger uniform (I can't find a good shot of him while pitching for Texas).
But for today, I'll go ahead with a "gimmie" and design a 1979 card for him.
1979 was another amazing year for Marshall. He appeared in an A.L. record 90 games, closing out 84 of them, good enough for a 10-15 record with a league-leading 32 saves. Those numbers got him a fifth-place finish in the Cy Young voting that year, which marked the fifth time he was in the running for the award in his career.
He even finished in 11th place for M.V.P. as well, which was the fourth time he garnered serious attention as "Most Valuable Player" during his playing days.
But because of what I understand as "problems" between Topps and Marshall, he was not included in the set that year, leaving a gaping hole for a guy who was as good as any coming into a game as a reliever.
It must have been frustrating for fans of the Twins, and more specifically Marshall, to rip open packs during the late '70's only to find that one of your best pitchers wasn't even depicted on a card.
Then again, from everything I've read online, he's about as tough an autograph to get as anyone else out there, long refusing to sign his name for fans, so perhaps they weren't really missing him too much after all.

MISSING IN ACTION: 1980 "FIREMEN LEAGUE LEADER" CARD

On the blog today, an interesting "missing" card to create, the "missing" 1980 Firemen League Leader card that was conspicuously missing as we ripped open packs that year:

Now, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm assuming the reason Topps didn't create this card was because one of the American League guys, Mike Marshall, would not allow them to use his image for cards at that time, with his last card in the 1977 set, so you could see how that would be an issue here.

Nevertheless, I went and whipped one up all these years later!

In the National League, we have all-world reliever in 1979 Bruce Sutter, who would take home the N.L. Cy Young Award for his monster 1979 campaign.

Ironically, though his 1977 year was better, his 1979 season was also great enough to bring him the hardware, as he'd post a record of 6-6 over 62 appearances, with a league-leading 37 saves, striking out 110 batters over 101.1 innings while pitching to a 2.22 earned run average.

Of course, we all know that he would also go on to lead the league in saves four of the next five years, including his record 45 saves in 1984 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the American League, it was a tie with Mike Marshall of the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers closer Jim Kern, both having excellent years.

For Marshall, he would appear in a league-leading 90 games, going 10-15 with a 2.65 ERA over 142.2 innings, with an A.L. high 32 saves.

It was the third time he reached the 90-game mark in his career, the first time since his Cy Young winning 1974 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers when he set the STILL standing record of 106 appearances.

As for Kern, I would say he had a serious case for the A.L. Cy Young in 1979, having an incredible year for the Texas Rangers, going 13-5 with a microscopic 1.57 ERA over 71 games and 143 innings, with 136 strikeouts.

Absolute beast!

Sadly for him it would easily be the high point of his career, though he would pitch until the 1986 season, getting in 13 seasons under the Big League sun.

Well, there you have it, filling in a blank in the 1980 set 43 years later!

Hope you enjoyed this one!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 A.L. FIREMEN

Ok!

After many months, we have come to the final “expanded league leader” card in my fun thread expanded on Topps popular sub-set through the 1970’s, with the American League’s top three relievers of the 1978 season:

 

We begin with the New York Yankees Rich “goose” Gossage, who led the A.L. with his 37 “points”, with 10 wins and a league-leading 27 saves for the World Champions.

Gossage had an excellent first season with his new team after coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates, posting and earned run average of 2.01 over 63 appearances and 134.1 innings of work, striking out 155 batters.

Of course we all know now that the man wasn’t nearly done, as he would continue to mow batters down through the 1994 season, appearing in 1002 games while saving 310, putting in 22 seasons in the Majors, getting elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008.

Just behind Gossage with 35 points, the California Angels Dave LaRoche, who posted his best season in the Majors, winning 10 games while saving 25, with a very nice 2.82 ERA over 95.2 innings, even getting some MVP consideration for his efforts.

Just three years later he’d join the Yankees himself, where he’d pith the last three years of his 14-year career, and entertain us NYC kids with his “La Lob” eephus pitch.

All told, LaRoche finished with a record of 65-58 over 647 games, with a 3.53 ERA and 126 saves between 1970 and 1983.

In third place with 31 points, no stranger to dominating relief seasons, former Cy Young winner Mike Marshall of the Minnesota Twins, who took his talents back to the American League, winning 10 games and saving 21 games.

The man was amazing, as he would follow this up with 42 points the following season, winning 10 games while saving a league-leading 32 while appearing in 90 games, the third time in his career reaching that mark, including a ridiculous 106 games in 1974, still the Big League record some 50 years later.

By the time he retired after the 1981 season, he appeared in 724 games, saving 188 and winning 97, taking home that 1974 Cy Young Award and making two All-Star teams.

Well, this was a FUN thread, and perhaps I’ll keep going into the 1980’s. We shall see!

REVISITING A POST FROM SEPT. 2013: "MISSING IN ACTION 1979 MIKE MARSHALL

Thought it'd be fun today to revisit another post from the first year of this blog, 2013, this time from September of that year and my "missing" 1979 card for former Cy Young winner and reliever extraordinaire Mike Marshall:

Here's the original write-up of that post, as it appeared way back when:

"Mike Marshall is about as interesting a character in Major league baseball during the 1970's as any other. And considering some of the characters we've looked at in the past, that is saying something.
How else can you describe a guy who seriously considered retiring from the sport so he could focus on his P.H.D. studies before his record setting 1974 season?
If you've ever read Jim Bouton's hilarious and landmark book "Ball Four" you read about Marshall's legendary battles with his then-manager Jim Schultz while both were members of the ill-fated single-season organization Seattle Pilots.
This guy was something else. And his arm was undoubtedly something else as well. In no less than three seasons, Marshall appeared in 90 or more games, including his record-setting mark of 106 in 1974 that still stands today.
And UNLIKE today with specialty pitchers who come in and face a batter or two, when Marshall came into a game, he pitched.
In 1974, purely a relief role, Marshall threw an astounding 208.1 innings, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A. and a league-leading 21 saves. Amazing by any standard, any era.
This easily got him a Cy Young award that year, beating out fellow teammate Andy Messersmith, while also finishing third in M.V.P. voting as well.
When it came to baseball cards, Marshall was equally as "unique". Rumor has it that he was a bit of a headache for Topps, refusing to "pose" for pictures. Because of this, his cards featured action shots between 1974 through 1977.
Then, after his '77 card, he disappeared altogether. Why I have no idea. But even though Marshall played through the rest of the decade, there were no cards for him in the 1978 and 1979 set.
I'll come back to his missing 1978 card at a later date since I have to do some extensive Photoshopping to have him in a Texas ranger uniform (I can't find a good shot of him while pitching for Texas).
But for today, I'll go ahead with a "gimmie" and design a 1979 card for him.
1979 was another amazing year for Marshall. He appeared in an A.L. record 90 games, closing out 84 of them, good enough for a 10-15 record with a league-leading 32 saves. Those numbers got him a fifth-place finish in the Cy Young voting that year, which marked the fifth time he was in the running for the award in his career.
He even finished in 11th place for M.V.P. as well, which was the fourth time he garnered serious attention as "Most Valuable Player" during his playing days.
But because of what I understand as "problems" between Topps and Marshall, he was not included in the set that year, leaving a gaping hole for a guy who was as good as any coming into a game as a reliever.
It must have been frustrating for fans of the Twins, and more specifically Marshall, to rip open packs during the late '70's only to find that one of your best pitchers wasn't even depicted on a card.
Then again, from everything I've read online, he's about as tough an autograph to get as anyone else out there, long refusing to sign his name for fans, so perhaps they weren't really missing him too much after all."

 

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1975 N.L. FIREMEN

On the blog today, we move on to the top National League firemen of the 1974 season, represented on a 1975 “expanded league leader” card in my on-going thread:

Of course, we begin with the top reliever on EARTH for 1974, Mike Marshall of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who not only took home the N.L. Cy Young Award for his record-breaking season for the ages, but arguably could have been the MVP as well. 

All the man did in 1974 was appear in a record 106 games, collecting 21 saves to go along with his 15 wins, good for 36 points, while posting a 2.42 earned run average for the N.L. champion Dodgers.

He pitched an astounding 208.1 innings all out in relief, finishing 83 games, just over HALF the team’s games!

Behind him with 24 points in second place was Cincinnati Reds reliever Pedro Borbon, who saved 14 games while winning ten, with 73 appearances for the burgeoning “Big Red Machine”, finishing with an ERA at 3.24 over 139 innings, also all out of the bullpen.

Borbon really was an unheralded steady arm for the Cincinnati Reds through the 1970’s, at one point reeling off six straight seasons of over 120 innings pitched between 1972 and 1977.

In third place with 20 points, San Francisco Giants reliever Randy Moffitt, who saved 15 games while winning five, pitching to an ERA of 4.50 over 61 games and 102 innings.

Moffitt, brother of tennis legend Billie Jean King, would pitch for the Giants through the 1981 season, another unheralded arm out of the bullpen that served his team well for years.

Well, there you go!

Next week, the American League’s top relievers of 1974.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1971 MIKE MARSHALL

Up on the blog today, thought it'd be fun to finally go ahead a re-do his 1971 Topps card, which originally showed him airbrushed into a Montreal Expos uni:

 

Of course by now we all know that Marshall was a player who gave Topps fits by not allowing them to photograph him. Yet apparently Topps did have rights to issue a card of him, so they would keep recycling images of him from his Detroit Tigers days.

1971 was really the beginning of his incredible run as a reliever over the next few years, culminating with a Cy Young Award in 1974 with the Dodgers when he appeared in a (still) Major League record 106 games, all in relief.

In those 106 games he went 15-12 with a 2.42 earned run average, 21 saves and 143 strikeouts in 208.1 innings of work!

Incredible…

Later in the decade he had a couple more great years with the Twins in 1978 and 1979, finding his groove again, putting in two seasons of Cy Young caliber relief work saving 53 games and appearing in 144 games between 1978 and 1979.

By the way, thanks to Marshall’s medical background, having multiple degrees in medicine, he’s also remembered for allegedly being the person suggesting to teammate Tommy John to undergo this radically new surgery when Tommy John’s career was seemingly over.
Of course, John did so and eventually the surgery would end up being so associated with him that it took on his name, “Tommy John Surgery”, and extending John's baseball career an astounding 14 years!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1974 N.L. FIREMEN

Up on the blog to close out another week, an expanded 1974 league leader card for the National League's top relief pitchers of 1973:

 

We begin of course with the Montreal Expos' reliever extraordinaire Mike Marshall who was the dominant "closer" of the era.

Marshall led the pack with his 45 "points", combining saves and wins at that time to determine the top arm to put out late-inning fires for his team.

Marshall was on his way to a dominant few seasons, with his 1974 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers the peak, as he would set the Major League record with 106 appearances, taking home the Cy Young Award and helping the Dodgers make the World Series for the first time since 1966 before losing to the three-peat Oakland A's.

Right behind him with 30 points is the New York Mets reliever Tug McGraw, who had a very nice 1973 campaign with 25 saves and five wins for the National League champs.

For McGraw, his 1973 season was actually a bit of a step DOWN from his previous two seasons where he posted ERA's of 1.70, with 19 wins and 35 saves combined.

Nevertheless, he was far from over as a Big League reliever, going on to the Philadelphia Phillies where he would close out games until 1984 and helping the team take home the championship in 1980.

One point behind McGraw with 29 points in 1973 was another long time Major League reliever, Dave Giusti of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who posted nine wins to go along with his 20 saves.

Giusti had a very nice 15 year career that saw him post 145 saves and a 100-93 record, leading the league in 1971 with 30 saves, helping the Pirates to their World Championship over the Baltimore Orioles.

The year prior, he finished fourth in the Cy Young race after he posted 26 saves while winning nine, even getting enough points in MVP voting to end up with a sixth-place showing.

Next week, we move on to the American League and their top relievers of 1973.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1973 MIKE MARSHALL

Thought it was time to finally "re-do" the 1973 Mike Marshall card, which originally had an airbrushed classic showing the Cy Young reliever in a Detroit Tigers uni before the fine folks at Topps airbrushed him into Montreal Expos garb:

 

For those that need a refresher on the original, here you go:

 

Found a nice action shot of Marshall that fits nicely into the action photographs Topps used for their 1973 set.

1971 was really the beginning of his incredible run as a reliever over the next few years, culminating with a Cy Young Award in 1974 with the Dodgers when he appeared in a (still) Major League record 106 games, all in relief.

In those 106 games he went 15-12 with a 2.42 earned run average, 21 saves and 143 strikeouts in 208.1 innings of work!

Incredible…

Later in the decade he had a couple more great years with the Twins in 1978 and 1979, before eventually retiring in 1981 after a 14-year career.

Thanks to Marshall’s medical background, having multiple degrees in medicine, he’s also remembered for allegedly being the person suggesting to teammate Tommy John to undergo this radically new surgery when Tommy John’s career was seemingly over.
Of course, John did so and eventually the surgery would end up being so associated with him that it took on his name, “Tommy John Surgery”.

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 N.L. FIREMEN

Rolling right along in my on-going "expanded league leader" series, we move on to the national League's finest relievers of 1972, aka "Firemen", determined by simply adding a pitcher's wins and saves for a "point" total:

 

The leader in this department for 1972 was Cincinnati Reds reliever Clay Carroll, who had an impressive season with six wins and 37 saves, good for 43 points.

Carroll finished fifth in the Cy Young race that year, finishing with a record of 6-4 with an ERA of 2.25 for the National League champs, appearing in 65 games while making his second straight All-Star team.

Right behind him with 35 points was New York Mets reliever Tug McGraw, who posted a record of 8-6 while saving 27 games, pitching to a brilliant 1.70 ERA over 54 appearances.

He made his first All-Star team that year and it was also the second straight season with a 1.70 ERA.

So over 105 games between 1971 and 1972, the man was incredibly "light's out" with that miniscule ERA.

In third place with 32 points, and giving us a small glimpse of what was about to happen, is iron-man pitcher Mike Marshall, who posted a record of 14-8 for the Montreal Expos with 18 saves.

Marshall was just getting started as the premier reliever in the National League for the next few seasons, the pinnacle of which was his 1974 Cy Young Award winning campaign when he appeared in a STILL MLB record 106 games while going 15-12 with 21 saves and a 2.42 ERA over 208.1 innings, ALL out of the bullpen!

By the way, I'm sure you've already noticed that as per the usual back then, I also recycled an airbrushed image of Marshall since there really are none of him during that period, as he avoided Topps photographers, leaving us with nothing to use on custom cards all these years later.

Nevertheless, a fun card to add to the "collection"! Hope you enjoy it!

FOR FUN, ANOTHER "MISSING" 1970 MIKE MARSHALL CARD ON THE BLOG

As I was about to write up this post for my 1970 “missing” Mike Marshall, I realized I already created one and posted it over six years ago, so please forgive me as I use this one anyway and post up a SECOND 1970 card for the reliever extraordinaire:

Here’s my original write-up back in December, 2013 for the first 1970 creation:
I already designed a "missing" 1979 card for him, which I posted here a while back, and I'm in the middle of designing a 1978 card for him in a Texas Rangers uniform ("Photoshopping" a Texas uniform is turning out to be quite a b*tch!).
But for today, allow me to present to you all a "missing" 1970 edition of the Mike Marshall hit-parade, showing the former all-star reliever in a Seattle Pilots uniform, for whom he played in 1969 totaling 20 games and 87.2 innings of work.
For the somewhat forgettable season he posted a 3-10 record along with a 5.13 earned run average.
But things would change rather quickly for Marshall, as he soon became arguably THE relief pitcher in the Majors by 1972, pitching for the Montreal Expos before moving on to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1972 would see him post his first truly great year, as he went 14-8 with 18 saves and a sparkling 1.78 earned run average over the course of 65 games of relief work.
It was a sign of things to come.
While over in L.A. he'd win a Cy Young Award in 1974 when he posted a season for the ages, appearing in a still-record 106 games, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A., saving a league-leading 21 games while totaling a mind-boggling 208.1 innings out of the 'pen!
Incredible!
As I stated in my previous post regarding Marshall, he was a constant headache for Topps, at first refusing to pose for a photo on a baseball card, and eventually refusing to appear on a card all-together.
Hence the missing Marshall cards in 1978/79/80.
His missing 1970 card seems to be more of a decision by Topps rather than Marshall himself, since his playing time in '69 was a bit sparse. But I can't be 100% sure.
Anyway, here's a design I whipped up for a 1970 Mike Marshall card showing him in that great Seattle Pilots foam-green uniform before they became the Milwaukee Brewers the following year.

1976 TRADED- MIKE MARSHALL

Time to whip up another of my favorite templates to use, a 1976 “traded” card, moving away from the style used by Topps in what is my all-time favorite set, this one for Cy Young winning relief pitcher and record-setter Mike Marshall:

Just two seasons from his historical season of 1974 when he took home baseball’s top pitching prize, setting the (still) MLB record of appearing in 106 games for the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Marshall was traded to the Atlanta Braves on June 23 for Lee Lacy and Elias Sosa.
Turns out it was a lopsided trade in favor of the Dodgers since Marshall never really got anything going during his two half-seasons there, before getting traded to the Texas Rangers for the rest of the 1977 season.
Once he moved on to the Minnesota Twins in 1978 however, he found his groove again, putting in two seasons of Cy Young caliber relief work again, saving 53 games and appearing in 144 games between 1978 and 1979.
In 1980 his career took a steep downturn, appearing in only 18 games while posting an ERA of 6.12 before he moved on to the New York Mets for a year in 1981, having a nice year where he went 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA at the age of 38.
Of course, we’ll all remember that 1974 season when he went 15-12, with an astounding 208.1 innings pitched and 21 saves and an ERA at 2.42, ALL out of the bullpen for the Dodgers, setting records for appearances and consecutive games pitched with 13.
Thanks to Marshall’s medical background, having multiple degrees in medicine, he’s also remembered for allegedly being the person suggesting to teammate Tommy John to undergo this radically new surgery when Tommy John’s career was seemingly over.
Of course, John did so and eventually the surgery would end up being so associated with him that it took on his name, “Tommy John Surgery”.

CY YOUNG AWARD- 1975 SUB-SET

Next up in the Awards thread is a 1975 card for the 1974 Cy Young winners, Mike Marshall and Jim “Catfish” Hunter, who put together a couple of monster seasons in 1974:

Starting off with Marshall, he put in a season for the ages coming out of the bullpen for the Los Angeles Dodgers on their way to the National League Pennant, appeared in a (still) Major League record 106 games, posting a record of 15-12 with a 2.42 earned run average along with a league-leading 21 saves.
The man pitched an incredible 208.1 innings out of the bullpen, striking out 143 batters while closing out 83 games for L.A.
His performance even got him a third place finish in the league Most Valuable Player race, finishing behind winner (and teammate) Steve Garvey and stolen base guru Lou Brock.
Over in the American League, Catfish Hunter edged out the Texas Rangers’ Fergie Jenkins, taking home the Award based on his league-leading 25 wins and 2.49 earned run average, along with six shutouts over his 41 starts and 23 complete games as he anchored an Oakland staff that led the team to their third straight World Series win.
It was his fourth straight 20-win season, to which he’d add the following season as a New York Yankee after becoming the first big-time Free Agent in baseball’s new age.
It’s still amazing to remember that Hunter’s career was over by the time he was 33, even though he already had 224 wins under his belt.
Wonder just how many wins he could have racked up had he been able to stick around to his late-30’s.

1975 IN ACTION- MIKE MARSHALL

Next up in line for my imagined 1975 “In Action” sub-set is the reigning Cy Young Award winner at the time this card would have come up, Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher extraordinaire Mike Marshall:

This is the first player in the series that is actually shown in action on his regular Topps card of the set, but since he made such a splash in the Major Leagues during the 1974 season, I figured he should be a part of this set.
All the man did in 1974 was appear in a STILL record 106 games, posting a record of 15-12 with a league-leading 21 saves sporting a 2.42 earned run average and 143 strikeouts over 208.1 innings pitched, ALL out of the bullpen!
This performance helped the Dodgers reach the World Series, where they would eventually lose to the three-peat Oakland A’s.
Nevertheless, one of the great pitching performances of the era, giving new meaning to the term “workhorse”.

1971 MIKE MARSHALL: COLOR-IN FUN FOR KIDS! OR SO IT SEEMS...

I just had to post up on Topps' 1971 Mike Marshall card (#713)!

What an airbrushing job huh?!

Take a look:

Man! That is something...

What puzzles me is that not only is this a late-series card (so you'd think Topps would have been able to get a photo of Marshall with the correct cap on), but he also PLAYED for Montreal the last half of the 1970 season.

Strange, as this was before Marshall became a headache for Topps, refusing to pose for photos and then refusing photos altogether later in the decade.

1971 was really the beginning of his incredible run as a reliever over the next few years, culminating with a Cy Young Award in 1974 with the Dodgers when he appeared in a (still) Major League record 106 games, all in relief.

In those 106 games he went 15-12 with a 2.42 earned run average, 21 saves and 143 strikeouts in 208.1 innings of work!

Incredible…

Later in the decade he had a couple more great years with the Twins in 1978 and 1979, before eventually retiring in 1981 after a 14-year career.

1975 "CY YOUNG AWARD" SUB-SET: WHAT IF? 1974: THE FINAL CHAPTER

Well, after almost six months of seeing a weekly post regarding my imagined sub-set, "1975 Topps Cy Young Award Winners: 1951-1974", we have finally come to the last post, the 1974 winners: Jim palmer and Mike Marshall.

Take a look at my card design:

As with my 1972 post, I had to first create a new card for Marshall (Like Steve Carlton in '72), since his regular 1974 card had him as a Montreal Expo.

So I designed a new card showing Marshall as a Dodger, for whom he went on to win the award with in 1974.

Take a close-up look at my redesigned 1974 Mike Marshall card:

And for those who forgot what the original looked like, here you go:

Marshall came to Los Angeles and just put in a season for the ages, as he appeared in a (still) Major League record 106 games, all out of the 'pen, leading the league with 21 saves and 83 games finished.

The man posted 208.1 innings pitched IN RELIEF! Just incredible!

For the season he posted a record of 15-12, with a 2.42 earned run average and 143 strikeouts, not only giving him a Cy Young Award, but a third place finish for Most Valuable Player as well.

Over in the American League, it was a tremendous season for Oakland A's starter Jim "Catfish" Hunter.

After finishing in the top-5 for the award the previous two years, he took it home in 1974 by posting a 25-12 record along with a 2.49 E.R.A.

The wins and earned run average led the Junior Circuit, and he also led the Oakland A's to their third consecutive World Championship, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers and cementing their place as one of the powerful dynasty's in baseball history.

It was the fourth of five consecutive 20-win seasons for "Catfish", his last coming the following year in his first campaign with the New York Yankees.

Well, this was one heck of a thread. Fun to design the cards and write up some of the original information I gathered from the SABR article dating back to 1993 regarding "What if" Cy Young winners between 1951 and 1966.

Since John Hogan and his blog "Cards That Never Were" already did such an amazing job with this same idea put to Rookies of the Year, I'll have to scrap that idea and perhaps apply it to something else.

We shall see what I can come up with…maybe World Champions?

Keep an eye out…

MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 MIKE MARSHALL

It's been a while since Mike Marshall has made an appearance on this blog when it comes to "missing cards". And lord knows he has a few of them throughout the 1970's.

I already designed a "missing" 1979 card for him, which I posted here a while back, and I'm in the middle of designing a 1978 card for him in a Texas Rangers uniform ("Photoshopping" a Texas uniform is turning out to be quite a b*tch!).

But for today, allow me to present to you all a "missing" 1970 edition of the Mike Marshall hit-parade, showing the former all-star reliever in a Seattle Pilots uniform, for whom he played in 1969 totaling 20 games and 87.2 innings of work.

For the somewhat forgettable season he posted a 3-10 record along with a 5.13 earned run average.

But things would change rather quickly for Marshall, as he soon became arguably THE relief pitcher in the Majors by 1972, pitching for the Montreal Expos before moving on to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1972 would see him post his first truly great year, as he went 14-8 with 18 saves and a sparkling 1.78 earned run average over the course of 65 games of relief work.

It was a sign of things to come.

While over in L.A. he'd win a Cy Young Award in 1974 when he posted a season for the ages, appearing in a still-record 106 games, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A., saving a league-leading 21 games while totaling a mind-boggling 208.1 innings out of the 'pen!

Incredible!

As I stated in my previous post regarding Marshall, he was a constant headache for Topps, at first refusing to pose for a photo on a baseball card, and eventually refusing to appear on a card all-together.

Hence the missing Marshall cards in 1978/79/80.

His missing 1970 card seems to be more of a decision by Topps rather than Marshall himself, since his playing time in '69 was a bit sparse. But I can't be 100% sure.

Anyway, here's a design I whipped up for a 1970 Mike Marshall card showing him in that great Seattle Pilots foam-green uniform before they became the Milwaukee Brewers the following year.

 

Marshall before his mid-70's reliever "super-run".

 

IS THIS A SIX YEAR OLD PHOTO? 1973 TOPPS MIKE MARSHALL #355

Now I know I have been focusing on the 1973 Topps set a ton lately, but bear with me...

So I was looking at the 1973 Mike Marshall card (#355) because of the airbrushing on the cap, then started to really look at the uniform he's wearing.

Even though you can barely see anything, I DID notice the dark striping and wondered what team's uniform that could be. At this point, Marshall was already an Expo player since 1970, so why the need for airbrushing in the first place?

I know Marshall was a colossal headache for Topps, as he refused to either pose or even refuse to have a card altogether (hence the "missing" cards in the 1970, 1978 and 1979 sets).

So is this why Topps had to use an outdated photo of him even for their 1973 card? Possibly.

But then as I was looking at that jersey again, I realized it looks like a Detroit Tigers home jersey with the dark brown striping, and Marshall DID come up with the Tigers in 1967 before moving on to the Seattle Pilots in 1969.

Is this a photograph of Mike Marshall from 1967 or so?

If you look at his 1972 card (#505) you can see what the Montreal Expo jersey looks like, and the '73 photo is not even close. 

I can't be 100% sure, but I really do think that's a Tiger uniform he has on, meaning the image on the 1973 baseball card can possibly be about six years old.

Anyone out there know?

 

Is that a Tiger jersey Marshall has on?

 

I'll be profiling more of Mike Marshall in the future, both with "missing" cards and airbrush jobs. 

This guy was truly a character both on the field and off, and even in the baseball card realm!

MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 MIKE MARSHALL

Mike Marshall is about as interesting a character in Major league baseball during the 1970's as any other. And considering some of the characters we've looked at in the past, that is saying something.
How else can you describe a guy who seriously considered retiring from the sport so he could focus on his P.H.D. studies before his record setting 1974 season?
If you've ever read Jim Bouton's hilarious and landmark book "Ball Four" you read about Marshall's legendary battles with his then-manager Jim Schultz while both were members of the ill-fated single-season organization Seattle Pilots.
This guy was something else. And his arm was undoubtedly something else as well. In no less than three seasons, Marshall appeared in 90 or more games, including his record-setting mark of 106 in 1974 that still stands today.
And UNLIKE today with specialty pitchers who come in and face a batter or two, when Marshall came into a game, he pitched.
In 1974, purely a relief role, Marshall threw an astounding 208.1 innings, going 15-12 with a 2.42 E.R.A. and a league-leading 21 saves. Amazing by any standard, any era.
This easily got him a Cy Young award that year, beating out fellow teammate Andy Messersmith, while also finishing third in M.V.P. voting as well.
When it came to baseball cards, Marshall was equally as "unique". Rumor has it that he was a bit of a headache for Topps, refusing to "pose" for pictures. Because of this, his cards featured action shots between 1974 through 1977.
Then, after his '77 card, he disappeared altogether. Why I have no idea. But even though Marshall played through the rest of the decade, there were no cards for him in the 1978 and 1979 set.
I'll come back to his missing 1978 card at a later date since I have to do some extensive Photoshopping to have him in a Texas ranger uniform (I can't find a good shot of him while pitching for Texas).
But for today, I'll go ahead with a "gimmie" and design a 1979 card for him.
1979 was another amazing year for Marshall. He appeared in an A.L. record 90 games, closing out 84 of them, good enough for a 10-15 record with a league-leading 32 saves. Those numbers got him a fifth-place finish in the Cy Young voting that year, which marked the fifth time he was in the running for the award in his career.
He even finished in 11th place for M.V.P. as well, which was the fourth time he garnered serious attention as "Most Valuable Player" during his playing days.
But because of what I understand as "problems" between Topps and Marshall, he was not included in the set that year, leaving a gaping hole for a guy who was as good as any coming into a game as a reliever.
It must have been frustrating for fans of the Twins, and more specifically Marshall, to rip open packs during the late '70's only to find that one of your best pitchers wasn't even depicted on a card.
Then again, from everything I've read online, he's about as tough an autograph to get as anyone else out there, long refusing to sign his name for fans, so perhaps they weren't really missing him too much after all.

PHD, rubber arm, and one mean set of sideburns.