Kellogg's Cereal Box Dream #17 - My Thoughts Have Changed a Lot Since 1973

Getting this card in 1973 would have been okay.  I would have preferred many other stars at that point.  

1973 Kellogg's Nolan Ryan #16

1973 Cereal Box rating -- 7    comment --   I was never a fan of his.  I always thought that he                                                                               was a bit overrated.                                                         

2015 Rating                    -- 10  comment --  The most popular card in the set now.  

I still think he's a bit overrated.   Number of Cy Young Awards - 0.  Number of times as runner-up - 1.   I am impressed that he is the career leader in Hits per 9 innings as well as Hits+ Walks per 9 innings.

I realize that his record is deceiving since he didn't play on lots of winning teams.  He lost 292 games.  He had 16 winning seasons and 11 in which he didn't have a winning record.  

I will need to do more research, but not about his amazing 7 no-hitters.   

My Favorite Kellogg's Set in 1983

After the 1983 Kellogg's cards were issued I think I had only completed one set, the 1974 one.  At that time my favorite set was the 1976 set which incorporated the red, white and blue in honor of the bicentennial.   Hostess did the same thing with their 1976 set, which is my favorite one from that company.

I just liked everything about the 1976 set.  The red and blue was great as was the large white border.

I really enjoyed the change from the blue borders used in 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975.   My view on the borders has changed a lot since then.  I've seen lots of 1976 Kellogg's cards with faded and ugly borders.  In the future I will rank the sets in 1983 and in 2015.  I'm not sure if the 1976 set in still on top today.  Stay tuned.

Garry Templeton - How Did He Do That?

On this day in 1979 Garry Templeton became the first player to record 100 hits from each side of the plate during a season.

Templeton did this by batting only right-handed during the last nine games.

He finished the season with 211 hits to lead the league.  He only had one other season of 200 hits.

A day later he went 0-for-2 in the last game of the season.  He hit a career high .314 during 1979.  He hit .319 the next season but he never reached .300 in this remaining 11 seasons.

In 1979 he led the league with 19 triples.  He added 26 steals.  He also managed to lead the league in errors for the third consecutive year.

My Favorite Kellogg's Card Sets - Why I Love the 1973 Set

There is a lot to like about this set.  Sure, lots of Kellogg's purists find this set to be different since it isn't a 3D card set.  Xograph produced the cards for Kellogg's and some for Topps.  In 1973 that didn't happen so Kellogg's had Visual Panographics produce the cards.

I like that the set didn't try to make the cards look like the other Kellogg's set.  The red coloring looks great on these cards, especially those in top condition.  Some of the colorful uniforms, like the A's, really jump off the cardboard.  

Like the 1972s, I really like the close-up images used.  Also like the 1972s, the set has lots of Hall of Famers and other stars.  

I've been able to get a sealed factory set, all of the 3-card panels and most of the cards in individual wrappers that were inserted into cereal boxes.  

I don't believe that there are variations in this set.  That makes it easier for me since I'm always trying to get every variation.  

One of my favorite Lou Brock cards.

Al Hrabosky would not approve Cuellar's nice guy look.

Is there a better card of Reggie?  

I've yet to meet a Joe Morgan card that I like.

Perfect uniform for the 1973 set.  Great card.  

  

My Favorite Kellogg's Card Sets - Why I Love the 1972 Set

When Kellogg's issued the 1972 set they made it smaller than the earlier sets.  My favorite size sets are those from 1972 - 1978.  Sure 1973 is a bit different but I like it anyway.

I like the design of the 1972 set.  I will rank them after I discuss them all.  

No, I don't own these sheets.  They were sold recently in an auction.  I picked up a few sheets.

I like the close-up view of the players on these cards.  The stripes also work for me.  The color of the cards in this set seems to have lasted better than some of the other years.

Of course I also like this set since these were the players of my youth.  I'd mimic these guys when playing ball at Scottsdale Park.  

The player selection is also one of Kellogg's best.  Hall of Famers in the set include - Seaver, McCovey, Jenkins, Palmer, Jackson, Hunter, Gibson, B. Williams, Marichal, Brock, Clemente, Stargell and Mays.  The set also includes Pete Rose.  

In many later sets, Kellogg's took chances by including players that had one good year only.  The 1972 set doesn't seem to have many like that.

Beckert jumps right out at you.  I love that Cub uniform.  

A classic card pose, but it's zoomed better than a Topps card.

That's how close he felt to batters on the higher mound in the late 1960s.

Not my favorite pose.  

Dr. Frank Jobe Did a Good Job Today 41 Years Ago - What Does That Have to Do With Two of My Brothers?

A well-known baseball player was operated on today by Dr. Frank Jobe.  This pitcher had two first names.  Is that enough information to figure out who I am talking about?

Jobe took a tendon from the right wrist of this pitcher and used it to repair hit left arm.  This procedure has become commonplace for athletes.

My two youngest brothers, Thomas and John, just happen to be named after this pitcher.  Even though he won 288 games, including 164 of them after having his elbow surgically repaired, Tommy John is better known for the surgical procedure that bears his name than he is for pitching.

There is even an ESPN 30 for 30 about this surgery and John's rehab.

John missed all of the 1975 season after this surgery.

He won 20 games three times after the surgery and never before it.  He was a five-time all-star with four of them being post surgery.  He garnered Cy Young votes in four seasons with all of them being after the rehab.

I read something that said nearly one-third of current MLB pitchers have had Tommy John surgery.  I'm mot sure that I believe that and I don't have the time to confirm those numbers. 

Others who have had successful Tommy John surgery include - Mariano Rivera, Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, Jose Rijo and Steven Strasburg.  

On this day in 1974 Al Kaline of the Tigers recorded his 3000th hit.  Kaline finished the season and then retired with 3,007 career hits.  Too bad the hit wasn't a homer since Kaline ended up with 399 career home runs.

Kaline had a double off Dave McNally.  He was 2-for-4 in the game with an RBI.  

In Kaline's last game that season he was 0-for-2 before Ben Oglivie pinch-hit for him.

His last career hit, a single, was served up by Jim Palmer on the previous day.  That was Palmer's last pitch in a game in which he earned no decision.

My first pee-wee baseball team was the Tigers.  I naturally began following the star of the Tigers at the time - Al Kaline.  Those were good times.

On this day in 1979 Lou Brock stole his final base, his 938th.  That didn't stop everyone from talking about the trade that sent Brock from the Cubs to the Cardinals.  

In a 13-year stretch from 1964 to 1976 Brock received MVP votes in 10 seasons.

He didn't do anything amazing with the Cubs, but another Hall-of-Famer on the team certainly might have helped the Cubs to finally win something.

Brock played another seven days after his last stolen base.   Here is a recap.

9/24 - he didn't play
9/25 - no hits; sac. fly & RBI
9/26 - he didn't play
9/27 - he didn't play
9/28 - he made an out as a pinch-hitter in game 1; In game 2 he got a pinch single and was caught stealing by pitcher Neil Allen and catcher John Stearns.
9/29 - he pinch-hit again and made an out
9/30 - he goes 0-for-4 with two strikeouts

Stearns and Allen were the last ones to get Brock out in a stolen base attempt.  Maybe that's why they both managed to get a Kellogg's card.

Another Step Toward the All-Time Greats Set or Not? - Kellogg's Unopened Cards

In my quest to pick up all of the Kellogg's cards that can be found in unopened packs, I picked up the following cards this week.  I was surprised that the cards came in clear plastic as compared to the normally cloudy type packs used in the other years.

So, I checked the back of these packs.  As the Gehrigs below show, the last line on the bottom of the card helps to determine whether it is a 1970 Rold Gold card or a 1972 Kellogg's card. 

It turns out that these unopened packs are from the 1970 Rold Gold card set.  I'll need to dig out some of my 1972 ATG unopened cards to see if the seal is different.

1970 Kellogg's Proof Card - This is the Only One I've Seen So Far That Isn't in the Set at All

I bought this proof a while back in an auction even though there were some bigger name players available at a similar price.  I just couldn't resist because the card doesn't exist at all in the 1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Set.

Does anyone know the story behind this card?  Is it on one of the boxes from that year?

Staub never got onto a Kellogg's card.  He did get a great nickname - Le Grand Orange.  If you are old enough or speak French you can probably figure that one out.

I didn't realize that he played from 1963 to 1985.  He had six seasons of 90+ RBIs.  He ended up with 1,466 RBIs, 292 home runs and a .279 batting average.  His only playoff appearance was in 1973.  He did well, hitting four homers. 

He hit five homers off Kenny Holtzman and Phil Niekro.  How did he manage to do so well against knuckleballer Niekro yet go 1-for-25 against Wilbur Wood who threw the same pitch?

In 112 at-bats against Fergie Jenkins he had no homers.  

He was 13-for-19 against Doug Rau.  

All of the above pitchers were good enough to get a Kellogg's card.

I Don't Know How to Bid on These Hard-to-Find Kellogg's Baseball Card Items

This week I was bidding on the box pictured below.

I have no idea what it's value is, but I do know that they don't show up frequently.  I bought a few other things earlier in the week, so I was hesitant to put a big bid on this box.

Of course I didn't win the item.  I tried to put another bid in at the last second, but I was too late.

I hope that I remember to check out this post when I am bidding on hard-to-find Kellogg's items.  This is about the third time I've been uncertain as to what to bid.

More Kellogg's Proof Cards Arrived This Week

I rarely have had chances to buy Kellogg's proof cards.  A few days ago I got this one in the mail from an auction purchase.

Merlin Olsen was a Hall of Fame player who finished playing when I was young so I didn't get to appreciate his 14 Pro Bowl appearances.  Of course I remember his from Little House on the Prairie, Father Murphy, FTD commercials and his years as an NFL announcer.

All three of Olsen's brothers played in the NFL.

I Can't Resist Unopened Kellogg's Baseball Cards, Especially Cubs

Pitchers have never been my favorite players on the Cubs.  That's probably because in my ten years playing baseball I only pitched twice.  Did I mention that if I knew my ERA it was probably similar to my 5k time.  

Some of my favorite cards featuring Cubs are of Bruce Sutter.  My favorites are his 1981 Topps card and this 1978 Kellogg's card.  

Sutter was the first pitcher to be successful using the split-finger fastball.  He turned to the pitch due to an injury which caused him to no longer be effective with his other pitches.  That sounds like how many pitchers turned to the knuckleball.

Still Chasing Unopened Kellogg's Baseball and Football Cards

I usually only purchase unopened Kellogg's cards in groups on ebay.  Yesterday I received a nice box of over 30 unopened cards.  I was quite happy with the condition and the list of players.

Getting Nolan Ryan means it shouldn't be so difficult to make the set.

The 1978 set has a few other cards that are not cheap in unopened packages.  Eddie Murray's rookie card, Pete Rose and Thurman Munson are usually a challenge.  The lot from yesterday didn't have a Rose card but it had many other stars.

I'm still working on figuring out which of the cards I need to complete my sets.  I think I've got all of the 1978s and most newer than that.  That's a good project for Christmas break.

Only a Guy from the 1969 Cubs Could Manage to Do This

On this day in 1972 The Cubs won 18-5 against the Mets.  I'm surprised that I don't remember this game, especially since the kid sitting to my right in school listened to ever game on a small transistor radio with one headphone.  He'd proceed to score the game and any chance I got I'd check out the box score.  

In the game Glenn Beckert went 0-6.  No big deal, that has happened plenty of times.  What he did that hadn't been done before was leaving 12 men on base in those six at-bats.

Burt Hooton was the winning pitcher and Bill Bonham got the save.  Tom Seaver got the loss giving up eight runs in 2 1/3 innings.   Billy Williams homered off Seaver and then Hooton hit a homer as well.  Seaver was sent to the showers after Hooton hit the first of his four career homers.

Jose Cardenal added two homers as the Cubs routed the Mets.

Robin Yount was Larry's Little Brother in 1971

I love to read about this day in baseball on http://www.nationalpastime.com/.  It certainly gives me things to talk about on this blog.  

Back in 1971 Robin Yount was better known as Larry's little brother.  Then why does Larry not have a Kellogg's card?

Larry Yount made his MLB debut in 1971 on this day.  He was called in to pitch in the ninth inning.  After throwing one warm-up pitch Yount injured his shoulder.  That was it for his MLB career.  

Though Yount never played in the game he was listed in the box score since he was inserted into the lineup.  One of my other favorite things to do is check out the box score on http://www.baseball-reference.com/.   Yount was supposed to face Felix Millan, Ralph Garr and Hank Aaron.  

I wonder what Yount thought about his debut and possibly facing Hank Aaron.  

Yount was only 21 and didn't actually play in the game.   He played in the minors until 1975.   That's worse than the career of Moonlight Graham who at least played one inning in the outfield.  

.  

  

Dan Quisenberry - Kellogg's Error Card

I never noticed that Quisenberry's name is misspelled on the front of the card.  It is correct on the back.  His 1990s card has the name spelled correctly on the front.

Q, who only lived to age 45, was a star reliever for a few teams.  He finished his career with 244 saves while leading the league five times.

While never winning a Cy Young Award, Q was a top-five finisher five times.  He also received MVP votes in those five seasons.  

From 1988-1990 Q played in the NL.  In that time he batted seven times.  He had a walk, a single, an RBI and a strikeout.  

The hit was against Tim Belcher of the Dodgers on 07/06/89.  Not surprisingly, Belcher was replaced after that hit.  In the game Q recorded the save as well.   

1,000 Home Runs - Take That David Ortiz!

Ortiz has now reached the exclusive 500 home run club.  Congratulations to him for that.  Pretty good, but he's played about 90 percent of his games as a DH.

On September 13th 1965 Willie Mays hit his 500th career home run.

On September 13th 1971 Frank Robinson hit is 500th career home run.

Ortiz has played 277 games at first base and over 1,800 games as a DH.

Mays played 2,929 games including 84 games at 1B, 2 at SS, and 1 at 3B.  I need to look into those games at 3B and SS to figure out how that happened.

Robinson played 2,808 games including 321 as a DH.   I didn't remember him as an outfielder since he played 1B when I saw him at the end of his career.  He played the outfield for most of his career.  

McLain Airplane! and Rose - More Kellogg's Cards

Denny McLain ended his career on this day in 1972.  He gave up three runs (two earned) in the ninth inning before being replaced.  Cesar Geronimo homered to lead off the inning.  Pete Rose singled to end McLain's career on the mound.

If you do a bit of research on McLain you'll find rumors about some illegal activity.  You'll also find that he spent time in prison.  The all-time hit king, who was the last batter to face McLain, has a similar checkered past.

McLain won two Cy Young Awards and an A.L. MVP.  He finished his career with a record of 131-91.

Pedro Borbon was the winning pitcher in the game.  He was supposed to bat against McLain in the ninth inning but he was replaced with a pinch-hitter.  If you are my age you'll understand the reference "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon......".

Manny Mota was not around this game since he was a Dodger that year.

Tovar Becomes the Second Player to Play All Nine Positions - Here are Some Odd Details

Three years after Bert Campaneris became the first player to play all nine positions in a game, Cesar Tovar became the second player to do that.  It went differently for Tovar.

Tovar played an inning at each position as well, but he started as pitcher, then went to C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, RF.

As a pitcher he got out of the inning with just a walk and a balk.  In a great twist to the story, the lead-off batter against Tovar in the first inning was........Bert Campaneris.  After getting him out, Tovar struck out Reggie Jackson.  It's easy to see how Reggie set the all-time record for striking out.

After a walk, he retired Sal Bando.  All three of the outs were recorded by players who managed to get on a Kellogg's card.

As a hitter, Tovar had a hit, a walk, scored a run and stole his 33rd base in the game.  Tovar's Twins won 2-1.

In the field, Tovar had 5 put-outs and 1 assist.

Rod Carew played shortstop four times in his career including this game since positions were being swapped every inning.

Graig Nettles played centerfield for one of the two times in his career.

Not a Debut That Made Me Think He'd Get a Lot of Kellogg's Cards - Sorry Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan made his debut on this day in 1966.  His first strikeout victim was pitcher Pat Jarvis.  Jarvis got the win anyway and Ryan got 5,713 more strikeouts after that one.

In two relief innings, Ryan gave up one hit, one run, one walk.  He also recorded three strikeouts - Jarvis who was the first batter Ryan faced, Eddie Mathews and Dennis Menke.  

Joe Torre recorded the only hit off Ryan, a homer.   Torre faced Ryan another 27 times in his career without hitting another homer.  

Will Clark hit 6 homers in 39 plate appearances against Ryan.  No one hit more than that off someone.

Another 3-D Card from 1968 Topps - not Kelloggs; Why Am I Trying to Collect This Set

I couldn't resist showing off another one of the cards I bought in a recent auction.  I now have three cards in the 1968 Topps 3-D card set.

"Hey you're Boog Powell" shouts an umpire in an old Lite Beer commercial that mocks the eye site of the umpire.  

Powell is well known in Baltimore for his restaurants which I've mentioned before.  

Why am I trying to collect this set?  There is no way I'll be getting the Clemente card without a winning lottery ticket.  If I got that one, would I then try to get the more rare promo cards?

I Couldn't Resist Another 50 Years Ago Today Post With My Favorites - Banks, Santo, Williams, etc

Oh, but none of them did anything useful in the game.........

On this day in 1965 the Cubs didn't have Jake Arrieta.  Neither did the Dodgers, but they did have Sandy Koufax.  Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Cubs in L.A.  

Lots of times no-hitters happen in September when the teams are letting veterans take some days off.  That wasn't the case in this game.  Koufax struck out 14 in his fourth no-hitter.

The infield was Santo, Kessinger, Beckert and Banks.  Williams was in the outfield.  

Harvey Kuenn made the last out as a pinch-hitter.  Joey Amalfitano also made an out as a pinch-hitter.  Along with Kessinger and Banks (1 game) that's four managers in this game.  Other future managers in the game included Maury Wills, Jim Lefebvre and Jeff Torborg.  

  

Here's the part that I didn't know.  The Cub pitcher, Bob Hendley, threw a one-hitter giving up one run. 

The game had no base runners until the fifth inning.  In the Dodger fifth, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, a stolen base with an error by the catcher allowed the run to score without a hit.  The Cub catcher was Chris Krug, who only played in 79 career games.  Randy Hundley was still a Giant in 1965.  

The only other base runner for the Dodgers was on a double in the seventh inning.  That's two base runners for the entire game.  

Hendley had a career record of 48-52.  He finished his career with 6 shut-outs.  This was close to another one.    

This Happened for the First Time in Baseball History 50 Years Ago - There is More to the Story

Here is the box score from 50 years ago today.

Do you notice anything odd about the A's using so many players?  Bert Campaneris played all nine positions in this game.  That's not the full story.

Sure, the team did this as a publicity stunt.

Things that I didn't know about the game since it was before my time:

1.  The game went 13 innings and the A's won.

2.  Many of the A's players were rotated around the field to make this stunt work.  The box score tracks that.  The A's used 24 players.

3.  Campaneris only played into the ninth inning.  After pitching in the 8th inning he caught the top of the ninth inning tagging out a runner at home.  He was then injured on a play at the plate in the ninth inning.  I can't figure out this injury since the baseball-reference.com box score doesn't show him batting in the 9th.  He was in the on-deck circle, so he must have been directing the runner who was tagged out to end the inning.  He didn't play again for six days.

4.  He stole a base during the game, his 49th of the season.  He also scored the first run of the game.

5.  He recorded 5 putouts (LF, CF) and 1 assist (in a run-down).  He made an error on a fly ball in RF.  

6.  He gave up two walks, a single and one run in the 8th inning.  He also gave up a stolen base to Ed Kirkpatrick who averaged just over two SBs per season.

7.  Campaneris batted first for the A's.  His cousin, Jose Cardenal, was also the lead-off hitter for the Angels in this game.