On the blog this fine day, we revisit my "missing" 1976 card for Orlando Ramirez, originally created some 10 years ago for my buddy Jim and his "1976 Master Set" project: In 1975 Ramirez played in 44 games, good for 113 plate appearances, yet he missed out on a card in that awesome set from 1976. Yet Topps decided that after he appeared in 30 games with 83 plate appearances in 1976, he'd get a card the following year. Actually, he also had more playing time during the 1974 season, so he's actually "missing" from the 1975 set as well! (future post!). Those three seasons would actually be ..read more

On the blog today, we have my "not really missing" 1981 card for Minnie Minoso, from my recent custom "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months ago: I'm so happy that Minoso is finally a Hall of Famer, and I always felt the stunts in 1976 and 1980 may have even hurt his chances of getting into Cooperstown. From 1951 to 1961 he had a wonderful Major League career, leading the league in stolen bases three times, triples three times, and hits and doubles once each, while also driving in over 100 runs four times and topping 20 homers four times. Eight times in that span he would to ..read more

Time to showcase my custom "19th Century Base Ball Champions" card for the "Little Steam Engine", Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin, from my custom set released in 2018: Over the course of his spectacular 15 year professional career, Galvin produced 365 wins, with 10 20-win campaigns, which included two straight 46-win campaigns in 1883 and 1884 with the Buffalo Bisons. In those two seasons, Galvin started 147 games and completed 143 of them. Read that again! 143 complete games in two years, with a total of 1292.2 innings of work! Just astounding. When he retired after the 1892 season, he ..read more

Branching out into the 1960s with my "Dedicated Rookies" theme, this time a 1962 card for flame-thrower Bob Veale of the Pittsburgh Pirates: Veale would make his MLB debut that season at the age of 26, appearing in elevel games for the Pirates, going 2-2 with a 3.74 earned run average over 45.2 innings. After a Sophomore season that saw him go 5-1 with a brilliant 1.04 ERA over 34 games in 1963, generally in relief, the lefty put in his first full year in 1964 and had a great year, going 18-12 over 39 games, all but two of them starts, posting an ERA of 2.74 in 279.2 innings with a league ..read more

Thought it'd be fun to revisit a post from just about ten years ago featuring my "missing" 1975 card for former reliever Jack Aker, who wrapped up a very nice MLB career in 1974: For the 1974 season, his last as a Major League player, Aker appeared in 41 games for both the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. He posted a record of 2-2 with a couple of saves and a 3.57 earned run average, all out of the pen. As a matter of fact, in his entire 11 year career he never started a single game, appearing in a total of 495 games in relief, posting a (then) very respectable 124 saves, including 32 in ..read more

Today we'll revisit my "missing" 1972 card for Gomer Hodge, whose only taste of the "Big Time" was in 1971 with the Cleveland Indians: Hodge only saw big league action during the 1971 season with the Tribe, playing in 80 games and collecting 90 plate appearances. Used generally as a pinch-hitter, he also played first, second and third base for a total of eight times. He batted .205 for the year, getting 17 hits in 83 official at-bats, with three doubles and a home run with nine runs batted in and three runs scored. Hodge played all of his 16-year professional ball in the Cleveland organiz ..read more

Found this great image of former catcher Pete Varney, and figured I'd create a "not so missing" 1977 card, even though he did finish the 1976 season as a member of the Atlanta Braves after starting the season on the South Side of Chicago: The Harvard educated young man appeared in 14 games for the White Sox, hitting .244 before getting traded to Atlanta for "Blue Moon" Odom on June 15th, 1976. He'd only appear in five games for the Braves the rest of the way, the last five games of his brief four-year career, hitting .100 for them with a single hit over ten at-bats. In 1975 he’d see the mo ..read more

On the blog today, a beautiful card I hope to have released as part of a multi-series custom set, "Beautiful Baseball", by the end of the year, featuring one of my favorite players, All-Star outfielder Vada Pinson: Just a beauty of a photo I found to celebrate both the sport I love and the man himself, who put in season after season as a top-notch player who got lost amid the Mays, Aarons and Clementes reigning the National League when he came up. Heck, he even got lost on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds, trying to share the spotlight with guys like Frank Robinson and Pete Rose! When you ..read more

Today on the blog, we have my "not so missing" 1980 card for Hall of Famer Tim Raines, from my "Whole Nine: Series 2" set released a few months back: The "four-decade" player made his Big League debut with six games for the Montreal Expos in 1979, all as a pinch-runner, giving him three runs scored and two stolen bases without an official at-bat at the age of only 19. From there the man was nothing short of elite, leading the league in steals four straight seasons from 1981 through 1984, winning a batting title in 1986 when he led the N.L. with a .334 mark, twice pacing the league in r ..read more

Today on the blog, we finally add the greatest of them all, Willie Mays, to my upcoming custom "Classic Baseball" set, celebrating the great game and its impact on my life all these decades: As for the man himself, what needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history? 660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well! He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965. Let ..read more