Remembering a Great Career

On this day in 1998 Dan Quisenberry passed away.  As the post-season nears, it is easy to remember him in the post-season as a Royal in the early 1980s.

He was a force in the AL from his second through seventh seasons in the majors.  In those six years he finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting five times.  He led the league in saves in each of those five years.

Even though he led the league in saves in 1980 and finished 8th in the MVP voting, he didn't get into the 1981 set.  

In a previous post I already mentioned the uncorrected error with the spelling of his name.

Card Show Results From the Weekend

I went to a card show on Sunday.  I found a large group of 1979 Kellogg's cards but not much else.  I spent a lot of time searching since there are lots of older cards at this show.

There were about 100 1979s, but none were the variations that I am still chasing.  My guess is that the ones I am missing are the ones from the first print run that was included in cereal boxes.

At least there were lots of stars that I picked up for twenty cents each.  They were the ones with the white borders, not the yellow-orange ones.

This Didn't Happen in the Kellogg's Era

In 1964 two players managed to get at least 200 hits as rookies.   Here is some information on each player and a comparison to Seitzer.  Both players appeared in at least one Kellogg's card.

First player (NL) - batted .318 with 201 hits in 1964.  He never got 200 hits again.  He ended up with 1,848 hits, 351 homers and a .292 average.  He played for six different teams.

Second player (AL) - led the league with 217 hits in 1964 as he won the batting title.  He had another 200+ season and two more batting titles.  He finished with 1,917 career hits, 220 homers and a .304 average while playing for the same team his entire career.


No rookie managed to get 200+ hits from 1965 to 1986.  In 1987 Kevin Seitzer managed to lead the league in hitting.  187 was his second highest season total.  He finished with 1,557 hits and a .295 batting average.

Here are the two players.  I will need to check to find other players who had a Kellogg's card as well as 200+ hits as a rookie.

More Information About Japanese Kellogg's Cards - A Checklist for Four Years of Cards

I found more checklist information on Japanese Kellogg's cards.  I like that the blog has a picture of a Dottie Hinson card.  Check out this link.


http://thiscardiscool.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-look-at-and-checklists-for-kelloggs.html

What About 1983 Kellogg's Cards - Were They Available in One-Card Packs?

the 1981 and 1982 Kellogg's baseball card sets were only available by purchasing using the mail-in offer from Kellogg's.  In 1983 Kellogg's returned to putting the cards into cereal boxes.

One of the guides mentions that the 1983 cards were in packs.  I do remember that, but why do I never see a 1983 card for sale in an unopened pack?

I just noticed that this didn't post yesterday since it had a future schedule date somehow.  

Not Bad For A 20-Year Old

At age 20 Bert Blyleven managed to get 224 strikeouts.  Not bad for a guy born in The Netherlands.

He seemed underrated during his career but he's a Hall of Famer so he's probably okay with that.  He never led the league in wins but he did lead in losses once with 17.  He won 10+ games in 17 of his 22 seasons.

I Didn't Know This About Gary Nolan

In 1967 Gary Nolan recorded over 200 strikeouts.  He became only the second pitcher to do so while still a teenager.  Bob Feller managed to do this first.

Reading this made me want to find out if other players have done that since Gary Nolan did.  I also wondered who got close to 200 K's while still a teen.  That means more fun using the Sean Lahman database.

I found out that this stat is only from 1900 on.  There were some occurrences before that.  One player has managed that since Nolan.  Can you name this player?  Hint - his MLB career began after Kellogg's got out of the annual set business.

Another player managed to do this at the age of 20.  Can you name this guy who did get into some Kellogg's sets?

Larry Dierker managed 109 strikeouts at the age of 19.  Catfish Hunter and Don Gullett surpassed 100 Ks at the age of 20.

Now For the Pitchers With The Most Post-Season Appearances - Only Those With Kellogg's Cards

Here are the top five pitchers in post-season appearances who also had a Kellogg's card.

1.  Rollie Fingers - 30 games.  Not even a third of the way to Mariano Rivera's 96 games.

2.  Dennis Eckersley - 28 games.

3.  Tug McGraw - 26 games.

4.  (Tie)  Clay Carroll - 22  games.  I was surprised that someone guessed him on yesterday's post.



4.  (Tie)  Catfish Hunter - 22 games.  The only starting pitcher on the list.  He only started 19 times in the post-season.

 

Career Playoff Games - Non-Pitchers - Only Those With Kellogg's Cards

The changes in playoff formats over the years have made comparisons of playoff game participation useless.  Before 1969 the only regular playoffs were the World Series.  Starting in 1969 NLCS and ALCS games were added when divisions were created.  In 1995 playoffs were expanded by another round.

With all of that in mind, the list of players in the most playoff games consists mostly of guys who played after 1995.  Sorry old-time Yankees but there are many players ahead of you on the list.

Here are the top Kellogg's players and the number of playoff games that they've been in.  Keep in mind that Derek Jeter has been in 154 playoff games.

1.  Reggie Jackson - 77 games.  He's only 10th on the all-time list.  He played in the post-season during 11 years.  A player today could get in 77 playoff games in about four or five years.

2.  Pete Rose - 67 games.

3.  Lonnie Smith - 63 games.  I would have never guessed Lonnie Smith if you gave me 100 names to guess.  I didn't realize that he played 17 years.  I also forgot that he won a World Series ring with three different teams - Phillies in 1980, Cardinals in 1982 and Royals in 1985.  The Phillies beat the Royals and the Royals beat the Cardinals.


4.  Rickey Henderson - 60 games.

5.  Steve Garvey - 55 games.

Can You Name These Players Featured on Kellogg's Baseball Cards?

The MLB playoffs are starting soon.  Some teams are already in and others are fighting for spots.  I'm looking for a list of the five position players who've played in the most MLB playoff games and appeared on a Kellogg's card (1970 - 1983 only).  I'm counting career playoff games, not just games from 1970 - 1983.  

How about the five pitchers with the most playoff games too?

I'd be impressed if you got three position players and two pitchers.

Sadly, not Ernie.  Guess again.

How Do You Play Baseball With Five Players?

We always tried to play nine-on-nine as kids but it was more common to have 10-12 kids show up at the park to play.  How did we do it?  The normal rule was right-field-out.  Any ball hit to that side of second base was an automatic out.

Really?  Could that work?  We always played slow-pitch to keep the action going, so it wasn't a problem pulling the ball.  Two rare occurrence in our game were (1) someone hitting to right field and (2) someone striking out.  There were no walks either.

We only needed five per side to play this way.  If we had five per team, another common rule came into play.  It was called pitcher's-hand-out.  Some of the biggest arguments involved this rule since it was difficult to watch both the runner heading to first and the pitcher's mound.  

The five would play pitcher, shortstop, third base, left field and center field (really left-center).  The pitcher was responsible for covering home plate.  In emergencies (four players, bathroom break, a mom yelling at one of her kids, etc.) the team batting could supply the pitcher.  

Why I am rambling about the good old days?  I've only got five players with Kellogg's cards whose last names start with the letter "E".

Dwight Evans will play third base.

Mike Epstein will play third base.

Mike Easler will play left field.

Dennis Eckersley will pitch.  

Dock Ellis will play center field.  That might not be the best move, but this team is certainly not going to be getting gold gloves at these positions.  This team probably only has a chance playing a different version of baseball that we played with 2-3 on a team.  It was similar to home run derby, so only a few fielders were necessary.

Which Players With Last Names Beginning with "I", "U" or "X' Could Have Gotten a Kellogg's Baseball Card?

There are no players with last names beginning with "I", "U" or "X" on a Kellogg's baseball card.  Were there any possible choices?

Tadahito Iguchi appeared in a Japanese set, but I'm not including those yet since I don't have all of the checklists.

Garth Iorg would have gotten another Blue Jay into a Kellogg's set.  His brother Dane never really played as a regular so that would rule him out.  Dane did best his brother by winning two World Series rings and having a memorable hit in the Series after a famous missed called in the 1985 Series.

I would love to have a Bob Uecker Kellogg's card.  Once I get into making my own he will have one.

Chase Utley might be in some of the Kellogg's Japanese sets.

There haven't been any players with a last name beginning with "X".

I will try a combined team with "Y" and "V" last names next time.  There are not a lot of players, but it will work out.

Letters "Q" and "Z" Can't Really Field a Team of Kellogg's Cards, or Can They?

There are only three players  with Kellogg's baseball cards whose last names begin with "Z".  Adding Dan Quisenberry still only gives a team of four players.

That doesn't seem to be enough to field a team, but there is/was a barnstorming team that began in 1946 that only used four players.  Do you know who that is?

I only saw The King and His Court on television, but they provided an outstanding show during fast-pitch softball exhibitions.  They used a pitcher, catcher, shortstop and first basemen to beat all sorts teams for years.  Check out some of the King (Eddie Feigner) and His Court information and videos that can be found online.

They started out in Walla Walla, Washington, a town I heard of early on from the song before Cub games ("It's a beautiful day for a ball game...from Walla Walla, Washington to Kalamazoo").

This group will need to play out of positions since there are three pitchers, one who is lefty, and a player who only played the outfield or DH in his career.

Pitcher - Dan Quisenberry

First Base - Geoff Zahn

Shortstop - Pat Zachry

Catcher - Richie Zisk

They'd better be like the King and His Court who relied on lots of strikeouts.


FYI

There have been four major league players from Walla Walla and 10 from Kalamazoo.

Yesterday Was Fun So How About a Team With The Letter "B"

There are probably more players with Kellogg's Baseball cards whose last names begin with "B" than those I found with "A".  I found 38 names to choose from so here goes.

Lou Brock will lead off and play center field.

George Brett will play third base.

Ernie Banks will play shortstop.

Johnny Bench will be the catcher.

Bobby Bonds will play right field.

Dusty Baker and Don Baylor will share first base since neither played there much and I used to always get them confused when I was a kid.

A young Bill Buckner will play left field.

Glenn Beckert will be at second base.  I am definitely taking this Cub.

Bert Blyleven will be the pitcher.

I could have probably created a team with first and last names beginning with "B'.  Maybe next time.

Heading to Chillicothe IL Tomorrow - Don't Pity Me

Tomorrow morning I will be driving through, and possible stopping, in Chillicothe, Illinois.

The town has had two MLB players - Bill Krieg (1884-1887) and Zach McAllister (2011-20116).  How's that for a time between having major leaguers?

Someone from Chillicothe is more known that both of those two guys.  Lance Legault was best known for his role as Colonel Decker who kept trying to capture the A-team.  I liked him more as Colonel Greene on one of my favorite shows - Magnum P.I.

Back to the A-team.  Let's see who are the best players on a Kellogg's card with a last name beginning with the letter 'A'.

Hank Aaron
Tommie Agee
Dick Allen
Neil Allen
Bill Almon
Matty Alou
Felipe Alou
Joaquin Andujar
Luis Aparicio
Tony Armas

We've got ten players, so fielding a team might be a challenge.

Let Aparicio lead off and play shortstop.

Tommie Agee needs to be in the outfield since he never played a game in the infield.  I will put him in center field.

Hank Aaron will bat third and play second base.  What?  He did play 43 games there, which is better than putting Agee or a lefty like Matty Alou there.

Dick Allen will be at third base.  Hopefully Aaron could keep Allen in control.

Tony Armas will play first base.

Matty Alou will play left field.

Felipe Alou will play right field.

Billy Almon played one game at catcher.  I'm sure he is qualified because he's played all infield and outfield positions and he was a number one draft pick.

Joaquin Andujar will start at pitcher.  Neil Allen will be in the bullpen.

I didn't think that would work but it did.

Happy Birthday to Someone Whose Career Began Before I Was Born and Ended When I Was in College

Gaylord Perry turned 78 today.  He began his career before I was born.  By the time he'd played his last game I was more than halfway done with college.

Baseball-reference.com compares him most to Don Sutton, Bert Blyleven and Phi Niekro.  That seems about right to me.

Perry and his brother Jim both appeared in both the 1970 and 1971 sets.  Gaylord showed up in four more sets but Jim didn't get into another Kellogg's set.

Did any other brothers get into the same Kellogg's set even once?

Kellogg's Cards of Cubs Who Played in the Playoffs

The Cubs are on the verge of making the playoffs again.  They made the playoffs in 1984, 1989, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2015.  Before that, their most previous post-season appearance was in 1945.

Here is the list of Cubs with a Kellogg's card who played for the Cubs in the post-season from 1970 - 1983.

That's zero for 36.  There are 36 Kellogg's cards featuring Cubs and none of those guys played in the post-season for the Cubs during that time.  The Cubs did make the playoffs in 1984.  Only one player from that roster got a Kellogg's card with the Cubs - Leon Durham.  Bill Buckner was traded during the season for Dennis Eckersley.  Rich Reuschel wasn't involved in the playoffs and was then released after the season.  Others from that team were on a Kellogg's card when they played for a different team.

Sports Collectors Daily - 1971 Kellogg's Set Story

I found this story on sportscollectorsdaily.com.

Sports Collectors Daily - 1971 Kellogg's Baseball Cards


This set is frequently mentioned for a few reasons.  First, the cards were never issued as a factory set so the set had to be assembled one card at a time.  Second, these cards tend to crack easily so finding nice ones is difficult.

PSA has graded over 11,000 cards and 1,000 of them are 10s.  Another 4,400 are 9s.  Oddly, ever card has been graded more than 100 times when variations are included.

This is a lot less than the 1970 totals where nearly 29,000 cards have been graded.

Some of the lesser-known stars seem to be graded at a higher rate than other players.  I may look into where they appeared on the sheet to see if that impacts the grades.

Odd Baseball Happening on This Day in 1972 - Don't Bet On it Happening Again Soon

On this day in 1972 Denny McLain made his last appearance in the majors.  He took the loss in a game against the Reds by facing three batters in the ninth inning without retiring any of them.

McLain, who name was mentioned as being associated with gambling, had an ironic final batter in his final game - Pete Rose.  Before that he gave up a homer and a single.

Were these guys friends?  Rose was 2-for-5 in his career against McLain.