I was reading something that made me think about players whose last game happened when they were young. In writing this blog one goal is to be able to keep using my database analysis tools. I had to run some queries to come up with this question - I didn't just look it up online.
Why did I have to do this as a query? The question only applies to players who have appeared on a Kellogg's baseball card.
Here is the question. Can you name the seven players who appeared on a Kellogg's baseball card and didn't play another game in the majors past age 26? I would have only been correct on three of them.
I will skip a day and show the answers on Friday.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
SportsCollectorsDaily - 1978 Kellogg's Baseball Card Set
I'm trying to keep tabs on sites that provide information on Kellogg's cards. Sportscollectorsdaily.com has finally gotten around to the 1978 sets. Here is the link -
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/1978-kelloggs-set/
I didn't realize that this set was the first one to have the Kellogg's logo on the front of the card.
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/1978-kelloggs-set/
I didn't realize that this set was the first one to have the Kellogg's logo on the front of the card.
Monday, November 28, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #37 - #39
Here are three more Kellogg's baseball card backs.
#39 Bert Campaneris -
I new him as a base stealer, but he did some other amazing things. How about three triples in one game - tying a record. He hit a homer on the first pitch he saw in the majors. He also hit another homer in that game, something done by only five players in MLB history. He wasn't even a home run hitter - he only hit 79 in 19 years.
Not on the card - I was surprised to find out that he was the second player with a given first name of Dagoberto. Bert Cueto, also from Cuba, had the same birth name.
#38 -
Another mention of leading the league in wild pitches. Don't they know that this isn't a good thing? He just had two good seasons, why not write more about that?
#37 Billy Williams -
I guess the Cubs liked swimming. He is a frequent member of the NL all-star team.
Not on the card - I caught multiple balls that he hit into the bleachers at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, they all came when he as hitting fungos during outfield practice.
#39 Bert Campaneris -
I new him as a base stealer, but he did some other amazing things. How about three triples in one game - tying a record. He hit a homer on the first pitch he saw in the majors. He also hit another homer in that game, something done by only five players in MLB history. He wasn't even a home run hitter - he only hit 79 in 19 years.
Not on the card - I was surprised to find out that he was the second player with a given first name of Dagoberto. Bert Cueto, also from Cuba, had the same birth name.
#38 -
Another mention of leading the league in wild pitches. Don't they know that this isn't a good thing? He just had two good seasons, why not write more about that?
#37 Billy Williams -
I guess the Cubs liked swimming. He is a frequent member of the NL all-star team.
Not on the card - I caught multiple balls that he hit into the bleachers at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, they all came when he as hitting fungos during outfield practice.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #40 - #42
Here are the next few card backs. The two Cubs in this group were the most discussed during the playoffs both because they were with the team for most of their lives. Both worked for and promoted the team throughout their remaining days. Sadly, neither made it to see the 2016 victory - Santo passed away in 2010 and Banks in 2015.
#42 Ron Santo -
He led the league in lots of offensive and defensive category and he was a regular all-star.
Not on the card - not only did he miss the Cubs winning the World Series, he passed away two years before getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
#41 Chris Short -
Chris collected stamps. He's listed as 6-3 1/2. That's so specific. Baseball-reference.com lists him as 6-4. Either way those tall pitchers certainly must have been intimidating with the higher mound in the 1960s.
He led the NL in wild pitches one year. Wouldn't it have been better to mention that he won 20 games in a season?
#40 Ernie Banks -
Not much text since his career stats take up so much room. He listed his hobby as swimming.
Not on the card - he was an ambassador for the team for his entire life. His passing was featured on the news for numerous days and his funeral was televised in the Chicagoland area. He was quite revered around town just like Minnie Minoso, who passed away a few weeks later, and Ron Santo.
#42 Ron Santo -
He led the league in lots of offensive and defensive category and he was a regular all-star.
Not on the card - not only did he miss the Cubs winning the World Series, he passed away two years before getting inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
#41 Chris Short -
Chris collected stamps. He's listed as 6-3 1/2. That's so specific. Baseball-reference.com lists him as 6-4. Either way those tall pitchers certainly must have been intimidating with the higher mound in the 1960s.
He led the NL in wild pitches one year. Wouldn't it have been better to mention that he won 20 games in a season?
Not much text since his career stats take up so much room. He listed his hobby as swimming.
Not on the card - he was an ambassador for the team for his entire life. His passing was featured on the news for numerous days and his funeral was televised in the Chicagoland area. He was quite revered around town just like Minnie Minoso, who passed away a few weeks later, and Ron Santo.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #43 - #45
Looking at the nine-pocket sheet of 1970 Kellogg's baseball cards from #37 - #45 is great and depressing at the same time. It is amazing that this sheet contains Cubs Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Glenn Beckert.
In a what might have been for the late 1960s and early 1970s Cubs, this nine-card grouping also contains Lou Brock. These solid Cub teams were always had one or two weak spots in the outfield. Having Lou Brock, instead of trading him to St. Louis, might have changed the way current fans think of the 2016 Cubs and their World Series win.
Back to the card backs.
#45 Larry Hisle -
He attended Ohio State, a school that my daughter loves for no reason at all. He was on the disabled list for two months with hepatitis. Today, they'd never put that injury detail on the card.
It's a fact - Ted Williams was the last player to bat .400, doing so in 1941.
Not on the card - Ted is still the last guy to hit .400.
#44 Lou Brock -
Stolen bases aren't shown in the stats, but it mentions him leading the league multiple times and setting World Series records.
Not on the card - it pains me to see the 1964 stat line which shows him with both Chicago and St. Louis. I'm not old enough to remember him as a Cub.
Cub debuts -
Billy Williams - 6-06-59
Ron Santo - 6-26-60
Lou Brock - 9-10-61
#43 Glenn Beckert -
He got a college degree, something not very normal for baseball players at that time. He led the league in runs one year.
Not on the card - I didn't know he'd every led the league in any category. He received MVP votes in three different seasons.
In a what might have been for the late 1960s and early 1970s Cubs, this nine-card grouping also contains Lou Brock. These solid Cub teams were always had one or two weak spots in the outfield. Having Lou Brock, instead of trading him to St. Louis, might have changed the way current fans think of the 2016 Cubs and their World Series win.
Back to the card backs.
#45 Larry Hisle -
He attended Ohio State, a school that my daughter loves for no reason at all. He was on the disabled list for two months with hepatitis. Today, they'd never put that injury detail on the card.
It's a fact - Ted Williams was the last player to bat .400, doing so in 1941.
Not on the card - Ted is still the last guy to hit .400.
#44 Lou Brock -
Stolen bases aren't shown in the stats, but it mentions him leading the league multiple times and setting World Series records.
Not on the card - it pains me to see the 1964 stat line which shows him with both Chicago and St. Louis. I'm not old enough to remember him as a Cub.
Cub debuts -
Billy Williams - 6-06-59
Ron Santo - 6-26-60
Lou Brock - 9-10-61
#43 Glenn Beckert -
He got a college degree, something not very normal for baseball players at that time. He led the league in runs one year.
Not on the card - I didn't know he'd every led the league in any category. He received MVP votes in three different seasons.
Friday, November 25, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #46 - #48
Here are the next three cards in the 1970 Kellogg's baseball card set.
#48 - Curt Flood
It was mentioned that he was traded to the Phillies at the end of the 1969 season.
Not on the card - Flood refused to report to Philadelphia and he took MLB to court. He lost but this was a big step in getting free agency and the big contracts that followed.
#47 - Rod Carew
Position - 2nd Base. That's where I first remember him. 1975 was his last year as a regular at 2B. He retired in 1985.
It's a Fact - Break up the Yankees was an actual battle cry in MLB circles. The Yankees led the league in homers for 12 straight years (1936 - 1947).
Not on the card - he played more games at 1B (1,184) than at 2B (1,130).
Also not on the card - it wasn't just the homers that caused opponents to break up the Yankees. They won seven World Series titles and lost one in those 12 years.
#46 - Reggie Smith
His hobby is working with plastics. What does that mean? Maybe he can figure out how to get rid of the cracks on the plastic coating of many of his Kellogg's cards?
He was a 1969 all-star and he played in the 1967 World Series.
It's a Fact - Walter Johnson led the AL in strikeouts for eight consecutive seasons (1912-1919).
Not on the card - Smith was an all-star six more times in his long career.
Also not on the card - Johnson won four more strikeout titles. Nolan Ryan won seven times in an eight-year stretch while winning a total of 11 strikeout titles.
#48 - Curt Flood
It was mentioned that he was traded to the Phillies at the end of the 1969 season.
Not on the card - Flood refused to report to Philadelphia and he took MLB to court. He lost but this was a big step in getting free agency and the big contracts that followed.
#47 - Rod Carew
Position - 2nd Base. That's where I first remember him. 1975 was his last year as a regular at 2B. He retired in 1985.
It's a Fact - Break up the Yankees was an actual battle cry in MLB circles. The Yankees led the league in homers for 12 straight years (1936 - 1947).
Not on the card - he played more games at 1B (1,184) than at 2B (1,130).
Also not on the card - it wasn't just the homers that caused opponents to break up the Yankees. They won seven World Series titles and lost one in those 12 years.
#46 - Reggie Smith
His hobby is working with plastics. What does that mean? Maybe he can figure out how to get rid of the cracks on the plastic coating of many of his Kellogg's cards?
He was a 1969 all-star and he played in the 1967 World Series.
It's a Fact - Walter Johnson led the AL in strikeouts for eight consecutive seasons (1912-1919).
Not on the card - Smith was an all-star six more times in his long career.
Also not on the card - Johnson won four more strikeout titles. Nolan Ryan won seven times in an eight-year stretch while winning a total of 11 strikeout titles.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #49 - #51
Here are the next three cards in the 1970 Kellogg's baseball card set.
#51 - Sal Bando
Salvatore went to Arizona State. He played in the 1969 All-Star game.
Seven players named Salvatore played in the majors. Five went by Sal, one went by Joe (his middle name) and one went by Torey (Lovullo). I never would have guessed Torey Lovullo's first name but it makes sense now.
It's a Fact - Stan Musial won three consecutive batting titles (1950 - 1952). He was the last NL player to do that.
Not on the card - Tony Gwynn later won three in a row (1987 - 1989) and then four in a row (1994 - 1997).
#50 - Sam McDowell
His $75K signing bonus seems higher than most. 30 strikeouts in consecutive starts is impressive. His hobby is painting.
Having not seen him play a lot, I didn't realize that he was 6-foot-five.
#49 - Jim Lonborg
Jim Lonborg is even taller than McDowell. He has a Stanford degree in biology.
It's a Fact - Lou Gehrig hit 23 Grand Slams.
Not on the card - Gehrig is now second to Alex Rodriguez who hit 25 of them.
Other things not on the card -
1. Lonborg injured his knee while skiing. That limited his career which ended in 1979.
2. He then went to dental school and a long career in dentistry.
3. The photo of Sam Malone of Cheers is actually Lonborg.
4. Malone wore the same number as Lonborg - 16.
#51 - Sal Bando
Salvatore went to Arizona State. He played in the 1969 All-Star game.
Seven players named Salvatore played in the majors. Five went by Sal, one went by Joe (his middle name) and one went by Torey (Lovullo). I never would have guessed Torey Lovullo's first name but it makes sense now.
It's a Fact - Stan Musial won three consecutive batting titles (1950 - 1952). He was the last NL player to do that.
Not on the card - Tony Gwynn later won three in a row (1987 - 1989) and then four in a row (1994 - 1997).
#50 - Sam McDowell
His $75K signing bonus seems higher than most. 30 strikeouts in consecutive starts is impressive. His hobby is painting.
Having not seen him play a lot, I didn't realize that he was 6-foot-five.
#49 - Jim Lonborg
Jim Lonborg is even taller than McDowell. He has a Stanford degree in biology.
It's a Fact - Lou Gehrig hit 23 Grand Slams.
Not on the card - Gehrig is now second to Alex Rodriguez who hit 25 of them.
Other things not on the card -
1. Lonborg injured his knee while skiing. That limited his career which ended in 1979.
2. He then went to dental school and a long career in dentistry.
3. The photo of Sam Malone of Cheers is actually Lonborg.
4. Malone wore the same number as Lonborg - 16.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #52- #54
Here are the next three cards in the 1970 Kellogg's baseball card set.
#54 - Rico Petrocelli
His real name is Americo. Other than that the text just mentions the basics - World Series, All-Star, etc. He likes drag racing and playing the drums - great to tell the kids of America and their parents that.
Wait, Americo is his first name? I've got to check this out on baseball-reference.com. A search on the name found three other matches.
David Ortiz has Americo as his middle name. He was born in the Dominican Republic.
Buddy Biancalana also has a middle name of Americo. He was born in California.
Rico was born in Brooklyn, NY.
The last player listed is Louis Americo Polli who played from 1932 - 1944. He was born in Italy where maybe that name is more common.
It's a fact - Joe DiMaggio was the last AL player to surpass 400 total bases when he had 418 in 1937.
Not on the card - 29 times in MLB history has a player gotten at least 400 total bases. It has only happened eight times since DiMaggio did it with only one being in the AL. Can you name the AL player or the five NL players (two players did this twice) to do this?
Lou Gehrig accounted for five of these 29 occurrences.
#53 - Gary Nolan
#52 - Al Kaline
He was the youngest player in history to win a batting title. That still holds true today, right? He and Ty Cobb were both 20 when they won batting titles.
#54 - Rico Petrocelli
His real name is Americo. Other than that the text just mentions the basics - World Series, All-Star, etc. He likes drag racing and playing the drums - great to tell the kids of America and their parents that.
Wait, Americo is his first name? I've got to check this out on baseball-reference.com. A search on the name found three other matches.
David Ortiz has Americo as his middle name. He was born in the Dominican Republic.
Buddy Biancalana also has a middle name of Americo. He was born in California.
Rico was born in Brooklyn, NY.
The last player listed is Louis Americo Polli who played from 1932 - 1944. He was born in Italy where maybe that name is more common.
It's a fact - Joe DiMaggio was the last AL player to surpass 400 total bases when he had 418 in 1937.
Not on the card - 29 times in MLB history has a player gotten at least 400 total bases. It has only happened eight times since DiMaggio did it with only one being in the AL. Can you name the AL player or the five NL players (two players did this twice) to do this?
Lou Gehrig accounted for five of these 29 occurrences.
#53 - Gary Nolan
Five years after Petrocelli got a $40K signing bonus, Nolan got $65K. Nolan had a 1.82 ERA in one year of minor league ball. From there he jumped right up to the Reds.
It's a Fact - Stan Musial played in 24 All-Star games.
Not on the card - Willie Mays equalled that a few years later and Hank Aaron ended up being an all-star 25 times.
I just noticed that the NL next to the team doesn't line up properly for 1969. I will look into this. It looks like the "L" is different from those in previous years.
#52 - Al Kaline
He was the youngest player in history to win a batting title. That still holds true today, right? He and Ty Cobb were both 20 when they won batting titles.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
I Was Talking About Roberto Clemente in School Today
On this day in 1954 Roberto Clemente was purchased by the Pirates from the Dodgers' Triple-A team. I didn't know that he was signed by the Dodgers in early 1954. He didn't have any amazing stats during his minor league season in Montreal.
Imagine seeing these Kellogg's cards with Clemente wearing Dodger blue.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Someone Must Be Able to Trade Me These Three 1972 Kellogg's Cards
I'm really close to finishing the 1972 Kellogg's Baseball card set with variations. If you've noticed on my site, I'm down to the following three variations -
Isn't there someone there who would want to trade any of these cards to me? None are valuable so I should be able to send along something comparable.
When it comes to completing my 1972s in unopened packs I won't be worrying about variations. For now. I still don't know if some of the corrections were only in factory sets and therefore not available in one-card packs. I will do that homework when I get a copy of each card.
I've got 42 of the 54 unopened packs which sounds great. The problem - the 12 that I need include 11 Hall of Famers and Pete Rose. Those will be a much bigger challenge with my budget and for trading. I don't see these cards often.
Finding players like Willie Mays and Bob Gibson in their original packs has proven to be a problem. That seems to be the case with most of the Hall of Famers in the 1972 set.
- 1. #33 McDowell "less than 200 innings"
- 2. #34 Osteen 1971 ERA 3.25
- 3. #40 Drago "Poyals"
Isn't there someone there who would want to trade any of these cards to me? None are valuable so I should be able to send along something comparable.
When it comes to completing my 1972s in unopened packs I won't be worrying about variations. For now. I still don't know if some of the corrections were only in factory sets and therefore not available in one-card packs. I will do that homework when I get a copy of each card.
I've got 42 of the 54 unopened packs which sounds great. The problem - the 12 that I need include 11 Hall of Famers and Pete Rose. Those will be a much bigger challenge with my budget and for trading. I don't see these cards often.
Finding players like Willie Mays and Bob Gibson in their original packs has proven to be a problem. That seems to be the case with most of the Hall of Famers in the 1972 set.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Rosemont, IL Card Show Today
I didn't spend a lot of time at the show, but I did walk around the room for about an hour today. This show always is skewed toward autograph collectors, but there was plenty of vintage and a fair amount of wax for sale.
The biggest change compared to other Rosemont shows - Cubs merchandise. The show has always displayed lots of home town stuff, but this year was quite different since the World Series win was fresh and lots of Cub players were signing on the weekend. There were at least two guys making paintings of pictures taken when the Cubs celebrated and of the Wrigley marquee.
I bought zero cards. I did buy some supplies, such as a top loader big enough to hold the 1970 football sheet that I opened last night. It is even better than expected. More on that tomorrow.
I saw another sheet for sale by a dealer from Pennsylvania. This 1973 set had three uncut sheets of 18 cards. It looked quite nice but I passed on it because (a) of the price which was still quite fair and because (b) I already have a full two-set sheet as can be seen on the background of the blog.
Here is the picture. It is not perforated like a factory set would be. Instead, it is a normal sheet of 18 cards.
The biggest change compared to other Rosemont shows - Cubs merchandise. The show has always displayed lots of home town stuff, but this year was quite different since the World Series win was fresh and lots of Cub players were signing on the weekend. There were at least two guys making paintings of pictures taken when the Cubs celebrated and of the Wrigley marquee.
I bought zero cards. I did buy some supplies, such as a top loader big enough to hold the 1970 football sheet that I opened last night. It is even better than expected. More on that tomorrow.
I saw another sheet for sale by a dealer from Pennsylvania. This 1973 set had three uncut sheets of 18 cards. It looked quite nice but I passed on it because (a) of the price which was still quite fair and because (b) I already have a full two-set sheet as can be seen on the background of the blog.
Here is the picture. It is not perforated like a factory set would be. Instead, it is a normal sheet of 18 cards.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
1970 Football Sheet
I bought the sheet below on ebay this week.
I like to find items to display and I hope this looks good. Sure it doesn't have the main stars in the set - Unitas, Sayers, Butkus and others. There are a few Hall of Famers in there.
Does anyone know if these partial sheets are easy to attain? Are there any stories about them online?
Friday, November 18, 2016
1980 AL MVP Surprises
I was surprised to read what happened on this day in 1980 when George Brett was named AL MVP. That wasn't a surprise but the vote total was. I went to look up the voting to confirm what I read.
The surprise or me was that Brett only received 17 of 28 first-place votes. Reggie Jackson got five, Rich Gossage got four and Willie Wilson and Rick Cerone got one.
The surprise or me was that Brett only received 17 of 28 first-place votes. Reggie Jackson got five, Rich Gossage got four and Willie Wilson and Rick Cerone got one.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Whose 3-D Card Would You Like to Make?
I'm heading to Evansville again soon. It turns out that there were at least 26 players born in Evansville to play in the majors. An earlier post mentioned that only Paul Splittorff got a Kellogg's card from that group.
Not too many other familiar names are among those 26. Alan and Andy Benes were fairly well known. Last year my brother-in-law gave me two signed baseballs that he ended up getting randomly. After lots of research I found out that they were signed by these two brothers.
The most well known Evansville native to play in majors is Don Mattingly. When I find time to make my own 3-D cards, his will definitely be one I make. Unfortunately, that is probably at least five years away.
Given a chance to make your own vintage or new 3-D card, who would you choose? I'd start with all of my favorite Cubs and go from there.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
1970 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #55 - #57
Here is another post on the 1970 Kellogg's baseball card backs. I wish the text had something more interesting. This set is missing something that I like - the card backs that mention the hometowns of the players.
#57 Bill Freehan - I remember him being known as a good defensive catcher. The text lists stats to prove my memory correct.
Not on the card - I liked the Tigers because that was the Pee-Wee league team I was on for three years.
#56 Luis Tiant - more stats about how good he was. 19 strikeouts in 10 innings - that's something I didn't know.
Not on the card - we all tried to imitate his wind-up.
#55 Ollie Brown - I don't know much about his but he threw a no-hitter in the minors. He never pitched in 13 MLB seasons.
Not on the card - he played a long time without being a full-time player. In only six seasons did he surpass 300 at-bats.
I don't see many off-center Kellogg's cards. Did they do a better job at cutting than Topps did, or did they just discard the mis-cuts more frequently?
#57 Bill Freehan - I remember him being known as a good defensive catcher. The text lists stats to prove my memory correct.
Not on the card - I liked the Tigers because that was the Pee-Wee league team I was on for three years.
#56 Luis Tiant - more stats about how good he was. 19 strikeouts in 10 innings - that's something I didn't know.
Not on the card - we all tried to imitate his wind-up.
#55 Ollie Brown - I don't know much about his but he threw a no-hitter in the minors. He never pitched in 13 MLB seasons.
Not on the card - he played a long time without being a full-time player. In only six seasons did he surpass 300 at-bats.
I don't see many off-center Kellogg's cards. Did they do a better job at cutting than Topps did, or did they just discard the mis-cuts more frequently?
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