EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1979 A.L. RBI's

Welcome again folks!

Today on the blog we celebrate the top three RBI men of the American League in 1978 with a 1979 "expanded league leader" card in my long-running thread that's about to wrap up in a few weeks:

 

Of course, if we're talking 1978 in the American League then it is ALL about the great Jim Rice, who would take home an MVP Award for his tremendous season that year.

Rice led the league with his 139 RBIs, while virtually leading the league in everything else, including hits, triples, homers, slugging and total bases.

An absolute beast at the plate that year, while also putting together arguably the best three-year run between 1977 and 1979 of the era.

In second place with 121 RBIs, Detroit Tigers DH/OF Rusty Staub, who can easily be argued to be a Hall of Famer himself.

Staub had one of the best seasons of his illustrious career that year, hitting .273 with 24 homers, 175 hits and those 121 RBI's, finishing fifth in the MVP race at season's end.

In his three full season's in Detroit he definitely earned his stripes, driving in no less that 96 runs while collecting 176, 173 and 175 hits successively. Not too shabby!

In third place with 115 RBIs, the player who actually led the A.L. in RBIs the previous season, Larry Hisle, who had a great first year with his new team, the Milwaukee Brewers, after coming over from the Minnesota Twins.

Hisle made an immediate impact with Milwaukee in 1978, hitting .290 with 34 homers, 96 runs scored and his 115 RBIs, giving the Brewers an explosive bat to go along with young players such as Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, while finishing third in the MVP voting that year.

Sadly however, in 1979 he'd seriously hurt his shoulder, curtailing a fine career, resulting in his retirement just four seasons later, never playing in more than 27 games in any of those campaigns, done at 35.

1970 IN-GAME ACTION: RUSTY STAUB

The next player in my on-going 1970 “In-Game Action” set to get a card is “Le Grand Orange”, Rusty Staub, an overlooked player who in my opinion deserves a bit more Hall of Fame love than he normally gets:

 

Staub was in the middle of his three-year run North of the border playing for the Montreal Expos, for whom he put in three successive All-Star seasons over the organization’s first three years as a Major League ball club.

He started out as a 19 year old kid in Houston in 1963 and went on to play for Montreal, Detroit, Texas and the New York Mets for two stints, with whom he retired with after the 1985 season.
And for those last five seasons with the Mets, he became one of the top pinch-hitters in the game and endeared himself to the Met faithful, even opening up a couple of well-liked restaurants in NYC along the way.
A few little "extras" about his career: Staub is one of three players (along with Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield) to hit home runs as a teenager and as a 40-year old, and he is also the only player to amass 500 hits with four different teams (Astros, Mets, Expos and Tigers).
He was also the first player to play all 162 games in a season strictly as a Designated Hitter, which was for Detroit in 1978.

Lost in the crowd that was Rose, Bench, Jackson, Carew, etc. was this player who built a 23 year career, finishing up with over 2700 hits, 292 homers, 1466 R.B.I.'s, and six all-star appearances.To me, he is a Hall of Famer who deserves a spot in Cooperstown.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- RUSTY STAUB

Adding to my long-running 1971 "Minor League Days" sub-set, today the blog offers up a card for Rusty Staub, who was a 20-year-old who already had some full-time Big League action when this photo was taken in 1964:

Staub actually already played a season and a half of Major League ball before being sent down to the Minors in 1964, spending time with the Oklahoma City 89ers, where he hit .314 over 71 games before making it back to the "Big Time" for good in 1965.

He started out as a 19 year old kid in Houston in 1963 and went on to play for Montreal, Detroit, Texas  and the New York Mets for two stints, with whom he retired with after the 1985 season.
And for those last five seasons with the Mets, he became one of the top pinch-hitters in the game and endeared himself to the Met faithful, even opening up a couple of well-liked restaurants in NYC along the way.
A few little "extras" about his career: Staub is one of three players (along with Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield) to hit home runs as a teenager and as a 40-year old, and he is also the only player to amass 500 hits with four different teams (Astros, Mets, Expos and Tigers).
He was also the first player to play all 162 games in a season strictly as a Designated Hitter, which was for Detroit in 1978.

Lost in the crowd that was Rose, Bench, Jackson, Carew, etc. was this player who built a 23 year career, finishing up with over 2700 hits, 292 homers, 1466 R.B.I.'s, and six all-star appearances.

To me, he is a Hall of Famer who deserves a spot in Cooperstown.

 

FANTASY 1972 TRADED CARD- RUSTY STAUB

Been a long time coming to create this, but I finally got around to adding a 1972 “Traded” card for Rusty Staub to the two “missing” base cards I created seven years ago on the blog:

As we all know, Rusty Staub had contractual problems with Topps in the early '70's, and was excluded from the 1972 and 1973 baseball card sets.
He was traded by Montreal to New York on April 5th of 1972, and it's worth mentioning that this was a pretty decent trade for both teams, as Staub was sent to Flushing in exchange for Ken Singleton, Tim Foli and Mike Jorgensen. All players contributed admirably for their new teams in the next few years after the swap.
Lost in the crowd that was Rose, Bench, Jackson, Carew, etc. was this player who built a 23 year career, finishing up with over 2700 hits, 292 homers, 1466 R.B.I.'s, and six all-star appearances.
He started out as a 19 year old kid in Houston in 1963 and went on to play for Montreal, Detroit, Texas  and the New York Mets for two stints, with whom he retired with after the 1985 season.
And for those last five seasons with the Mets, he became one of the top pinch-hitters in the game and endeared himself to the Met faithful, even opening up a couple of well-liked restaurants in NYC along the way.
A few little "extras" about his career: Staub is one of three players (along with Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield) to hit home runs as a teenager and as a 40-year old, and he is also the only player to amass 500 hits with four different teams (Astros, Mets, Expos and Tigers).
He was also the first player to play all 162 games in a season strictly as a Designated Hitter, which was for Detroit in 1978.
Seeing that the most support he ever received for the Hall was 7.9% in 1994 is a bit disappointing, to say the least.

1975 IN-ACTION: RUSTY STAUB

Today I post up a card for a guy who is in our thoughts, “Le Grande Orange” Rusty Staub, who put together a magnificent 23-year Major League career:

Staub was putting in some solid years for the New York Mets when this card would have come out, though he’d find himself soon traded to the Detroit Tigers in part of the Mickey Lolich trade, a terrible move for the Mets.
A six-time All-Star, he would finish his great career as the premier pinch-hitter in the game, the last five of which were back at Shea Stadium with the Mets, beloved by so many, even Yankee fans like me.
By the time he retired he finished with 2716 hits, 292 homers, 1466 runs batted in and 1189 runs scored, becoming one of the few players to homer as both a teenager and a 40-year old. At the time he achieved the feat Ty Cobb was the only other player to do it as well.
“Le Grand Orange” Rusty Staub, fan-favorite.

FAVORITE CARDS OF THE DECADE

The topic of “favorite cards” has been coming up a lot lately, and it’s amazing how many of us all have the same favorites considering the choices of that great decade of the 1970’s.

I never did post one solid “favorites” entry here in the three-plus years of “wthballs”, so here are my top-10 favorites in order:

#1 1976 Johnny Bench

My lord this is the perfect card in my eyes! It has NEVER lost any of it’s luster as far as baseball card perfection. The colors, the “all-star”, the photograph, the legend! 

I’m still in awe of it.

#2 1978 Reggie Jackson

“Mr. October” at his best! That swing immortalized on cardboard, with (of course) the all-star designation, in the hey-day of the “Bronx Zoo”. If it was’t for that ’76 Bench, this would be it!

#3 1977 Rusty Staub

Beautiful action shot of “Le Grand Orange” with the Tigers. Again, the colors, the action, and that “all-star” banner across the bottom. Awesome!

#4 1977 Dave Kingman

The colors along, and how the card design goes with the action shot of “Kong” makes it a classic. But you throw in that color-perfect N.L. All-Star banner at the bottom and it’s a keeper. Great card for the ages!

#5 1979 Rod Carew

I have always loved this card because it was Carew doing what he did best: HIT! Just a great, colorful in-game shot along with that always-present “all-star” banner!

#6 1979 George Brett

Same as with the Carew, this Brett card was a perfect compliment to the Carew in my eyes. I remember pulling this out of a pack for the first time back then and just stopping dead in my tracks. Beautiful card.

#7 1976 Lou Brock

Really, what needs to be said about THIS beauty!? Brock about to do what he did so well during his Hall of Fame career! Another steal coming right up for “The Franchise”!

#8 1971 Thurman Munson

It took me YEARS to finally get this card! I remember plunking $5 for this at a show way back when, and for a kid my age with limited cash, at a SHOW, I gulped a bit, but needed to finally own it. One of the all-time great action-cards, featuring a young Yankee captain. Classic!

#9 1976 Carl Yastrzemski

Just a majestic card of the Red Sox legend, presumedly watching one of his 400+ home runs leave the yard. The colors, the photo, only the second card besides the Munson to NOT be an all-star card.

#10 1977 Mark Fidrych

The only non-action card on this list. It is PURELY because of the time and place, and meaning in my life. I guess you can say my sentimental pick. 1977 was my first year of hard-core collecting, but 1976 was my first year following the game somewhat seriously. And to a seven-year old like me, “The Bird” was bigger than life. He was just awesome!

So when I pulled my first ’77 Fidrych from a cello pack (always remember) and saw that smile, that hair, and the AMAZING rookie trophy AND all-star banner, I was just freaking psyched beyond words!

I STILL get a smile on my face looking at this card!

Honorable mention:

1976 Al Oliver

1979 Larry Bowa

1971 Vada Pinson

1976 Fred Lynn

So what do I gather from all this?

Well, I love action photos on cards, I LOVE the 1976 set, and boy do I love the “all-star” designation on a player’s regular card (instead of a separate all-star sub-set.

I HATED when Topps went back to an all-star sub-set in 1982! Is it just me? Or do any of you out there prefer the 1975-1981 all-star ON the “regular” card?

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #36: 1972 RUSTY STAUB

Here's a nice looking "missing" In Action card for the 1972 thread I've been running: a Rusty Staub example:

What makes this card interesting, as many of you already know, is that Staub didn't actually have ANY cards in the 1972 (or 1973) sets.

So a while back I designed a "missing" 1972 stock card for him, and here we have the "In Action" compliment.

Also, the irony that the in-game action is against the Mets doesn't escape me, since Staub would actually become a New York Met because of a trade in April of '72.

When I designed the "missing" 1972 Staub a while back, I created two, one as an Expos player, and the other as a Mets player.

For the in-game action, I went with him as an Expo, mainly because of the nice shot I found.

As for Staub himself, the man is generally underrated and forgotten outside of New York (and maybe Louisiana), considering he totaled over 2700 hits, 290 homers, 1450 runs batted in, 1100 runs scored, and just under 500 doubles.

A six-time all-star, he put together a borderline Hall-worthy 23-year career, and excelled for every team he played for: Astros, Expos, Mets, Tigers and Rangers.

Seeing that the most support he ever received for the Hall was 7.9% in 1994 is a bit disappointing, to say the least.

NICKNAMES OF THE '70'S #16: "LE GRAND ORANGE" RUSTY STAUB: AND REST IN PEACE SY BERGER!

Before we go and take a look at my Rusty Staub "Nickname" card, I wanted to pay my respects to Sy Berger, the "Father of the Modern Baseball Card", who passed away at the age of 91.

 

 

If you don't know much about him, do yourself a favor and at the very least read whatever you can online about the guy who helped design the 1952 Topps set, and pretty much formed the "basics" of what sports cards became.

I got to meet Sy a few times over the years and he was a riot anytime we chatted. Such a nice guy and he will be terribly missed.

Rest in Peace Sy!

***************************************

 

Here's one of my favorite nicknames from 1970's baseball: "Le Grand Orange", for former (underrated) all-star Rusty Staub.

Check out my card design:

Now, I know the knee-jerk reaction would be to design a card for Staub as a New York Mets player, but the nickname WAS given to him while he starred for Montreal between 1969 and 1971, so I thought it would be cool to have him as an Expos player.

Besides, I'll always try finding an excuse to design 1971 cards! Love that set…

Staub came up as a 19-year old for the (Then) Houston Colt .45's in 1963, and stuck around the Majors as an active player up until 1985 with the Mets as a pinch-hitter extraordinaire.

In between, the man put together a fantastic 23-year career playing for the Astros, Expos, Mets, Tigers and Rangers, getting named to six all-star teams and garnering some M.V.P. support for every team he played a full season for.

By the time he retired, Staub had over 2700 hits, 499 doubles, 292 home runs, and 1466 runs batted in.

On top of that, he was well-liked wherever he went, and for good reason.

Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub, "Le Grand Orange"!

A fan favorite to this day…

MISSING IN ACTION- 1972 RUSTY STAUB(s)

As we all know, Rusty Staub had contractual problems with Topps in the early '70's, and was excluded from the 1972 and 1973 baseball card sets.
The other day I posted my design for the "missing" 1973 Staub card, and today I present to you my designs for both a N.Y. Mets AND a Montreal Expos 1972 card.
The reason I post both is because depending on what series Staub would have been included in, he could have been a "Met" or an "Expo".
He was traded by Montreal to New York on April 5th of 1972, pretty late in the game for Topps as far as determining what team to put him on.
It's worth mentioning that this was a pretty decent trade for both teams, as Staub was sent to Flushing in exchange for Ken Singleton, Tim Foli and Mike Jorgensen. All players contributed admirably for their new teams in the next few years after the swap.
Anyway, here are the "missing" 1972 Staubs:

As an Expo. If Staub was in one of the early series.

As a Met. Just in case he was in a late series.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1973 RUSTY STAUB

By now we all know that in 1972 and 1973 Rusty Staub had contract issues with Topps and wasn't included in either of those sets.
I always wondered what exactly happened between Topps and Staub. Was it money? What else could it be, and how much money could we be talking about?
Anyway, today I post my design for the 1973 "missing" card, and will follow up later this week with my two versions of his 1972 card (I designed a NY Mets version as well as a Montreal Expos version. More on that when I post it).
I went with a decent action shot of him sprinting to first instead of a portrait. Not bad. 
As for Staub the player, he's one of those really good players that falls by the wayside when you think of that generation of baseball.
Lost in the crowd that was Rose, Bench, Jackson, Carew, etc. was this player who built a 23 year career, finishing up with over 2700 hits, 292 homers, 1466 R.B.I.'s, and six all-star appearances.
He started out as a 19 year old kid in Houston in 1963 and went on to play for Montreal, Detroit, Texas and the New York Mets for two stints, with whom he retired with after the 1985 season.
And for those last five seasons with the Mets, he became one of the top pinch-hitters in the game and endeared himself to the Met faithful, even opening up a couple of well-liked restaurants in NYC along the way.
A few little "extras" about his career: Staub is one of three players (along with Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield) to hit home runs as a teenager and as a 40-year old, and he is also the only player to amass 500 hits with four different teams (Astros, Mets, Expos and Tigers).
He was also the first player to play all 162 games in a season strictly as a Designated Hitter, which was for Detroit in 1978.
"Le Grand Orange" in 1973:

The "missing" 1973 Topps card.

"LE GRANDE ORANGE" ALL DECKED OUT IN BROWN

Topps' 1977 set was a great example of clean design. White borders with an italicized color-coded team name at the top along with the players name and position, which was set inside a flag at the upper right.

Coming off of the previous two years that exploded with color, the 1977 set was a nice change of pace and had some instant card classics for me that still hold up to this day.

One of these was card #420, Rusty Staub.

What an awesome looking card. The brown "Tigers" up top sat well with the action shot of Staub coming out of the batter's box. To top it all off, the "A.L. All-Star" banner that ran across the bottom evened the card design out, giving it the perfect platform.

Always one of my favorites!

The Tigers were well represented that year with All-Stars, having Ron LeFlore and Mark Fidrych joining Staub, and I'll be writing about the Fidrych card soon enough, so keep an eye out for it. Talk about a classic card!

"Le Grande Orange" in action