Kellogg's Card of Players from Wisconsin

The state of Wisconsin has had only two players get onto a Kellogg's baseball card.

Rick Reichardt got into the first set in 1970.  How, I don't know.  He did play for the Badgers in the Rose Bowl as their fullback.  He retired in 1974 after one at-bat, a hit.  So he hit 1.000 for the season.
Tom Poquette found his way into the 1977 set. How, I don't know.  1976 was his first full season.  In 104 games he did hit .302, so I guess Kellogg's thought that he might be a star.

Poquette's major face-first crash into the wall at Royals Stadium was the reason that the club decided to pad the walls.  He missed over a month after that accident which was caused by his spikes getting stuck in the Astroturf.

Kellogg's Cards of Players from Iowa

Well there is only one regular-issue Kellogg's card of a player born in Iowa.  Denis Menke appeared on a card in the 1971 Kellogg's baseball card set.  Bob Feller and Cap Anson didn't manage to get on a regular-issue card from 1970 - 1983.

Menke played 13 seasons.  I remember him as a light hitting infielder for Houston and Cincinnati.  It was a surprise to me that the two-time all-star had 90+ RBIs in 1969 and 1970.

Joe Hatten, who attended the same high school as Menke, played in the majors before Menke.  The town of Bancroft, Iowa had a population of 732 in 2010.  How's that for coming from a small town?

Where I grew up there were probably at least 200 people on any given block.  My paper route was four blocks long with about 130 houses and probably about 800 people.

He was traded to the Reds before the 1972 season along with Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Ed Armbrister.  The Astros received Tommy Helms, Lee May and Jimmy Stewart.  This trade certainly helped build the Big Red Machine.  I've mentioned before that I'm still not happy about the Ed Armbrister call in the 1975 World Series.

The Most Common First Names on Kellogg's Cards. The Most Common Name on HRs?

It appears as though Bill is the most common name in the MLB archives.  It is followed closely by John, Jim, Mike, Joe and Bob.

How does that work with Kellogg's cards?  Since I didn't spend the extra time removing players from the list who appeared on more than one card, the leader is Jim.  Next on the list are Dave, Willie, Steve, Mike and Bill.

I made no effort to combine similar names like Bill and Billy or Steve and Stephen so this isn't at all scientific.  But I figured I'd also check for some oddities with homers for each first name.

Here is a breakdown of homers by first name.  Again, I made no attempt to be perfect.  Mike and Micahel are different names for this research.

Mike had a lead of almost 700 homers over Jim.  The data that I am using from 2014 shows players named Mike had 6,227 homers.

In a future post I may look at other stats by first name and/or last name.

Kellogg's Cereal Box Dream #18 - What Was Your System for Getting Cards Out Without Eating Cereal?

The first year that I got most of the Kellogg's set by eating Frosted Flakes was 1974.  Thanks to my many siblings for helping devouring the cereal.  Family stories with so many siblings could fill another daily blog.

The 54 cards in the 1974 set are among my favorites.  After my mom brought home the groceries on Saturday it was time to dig for the Kellogg's prizes.  I developed a system for getting the cards even though I'd already eaten breakfast.  

It was important to not damage the card, but it wasn't important to worry about passing along germs to my siblings by digging into the box with both hands.  That method didn't work because it could damage the card.

Here's how I did it.  

1.  Rip open the top.  Opening the bottom was probably a better idea but that would get me in trouble at home.

2.  Grab the box by the narrow sides and shake it a bit.  This should allow the cereal to settle a bit.  

3.  Push the narrow sides together so that the wide sides separate.  

4.  Next I would tilt the box toward myself and check for the card against one of the wider sides.  

5.  If I can see the card, then dive in after it.  If not, it's time to shake the cereal and rotate the box until I have a view of the card.

In 1974 I was fortunate that there were three cards depicting Cubs.  Ron Santo was already gone across town and Billy Williams was in his last year with the team.  Rick Monday had just hit 26 homers in 1973 so his card was also sought after by me.  

1974 Kellogg's Rick Monday #2

1974 Cereal Box rating -- 9   comment --   A Cub was always a top goal for me.                                               

2015 Rating                    -- 7  comment --   You are either in the Hall of Fame or you are a                                                              common.  Local interest is the only thing in between it seems.

If I ever get another box unopened someday it will certainly be tempting to open it with this plan.

Monday had some good years with the Cubs.  His RBI totals are lower than his 241 career homers would suggest.  That's because he often batted lead-off.

Monday batting up and down the lineup in his long career.  Here is a list of the number of games and his starting position in the batting order.  After that are his homers in that spot.

Bat   Games
         Started    HR
1st - 314          63
2nd - 285        38
3rd - 157         09
4th - 116         21
5th - 155         20
6th - 381         51
7th - 184         31
8th - 24           04
9th - 0             04

I sure remember his as a lead-off man with the Cubs.

He hit 11 of those homers off Tom Seaver.  He had 104 plate appearances against Seaver, more than he had against any pitcher.   He batted .349 against Seaver.

What Did Ty Cobb Accomplish on This Day in 1909? What Was Unique About That?

Cobb joined a list which now includes Rogers Hornsby, Jimmy Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski and most recently Miguel Cabrera.

There are a few others on this list, but baseball historians will quickly see what the above players have in common.  All managed to win the triple crown by leading their league in homers, RBIs and batting average.

In 1909, Cobb managed to lead the league in all three categories.  He led the league in hitting 12 times including 9 times in a row.  His twelve titles came in a thirteen-year period.  The year he didn't win - 1916 when he hit .371 and lost to Tris Speaker who hit .386.

Cobb was the biggest reason that Speaker, a career .345 hitter, won only one batting title.

My favorite part of Cobb's triple crown statistics - I read that while leading the league with 9 homers all of them were inside-the-park homers.  It certainly pays to be fast on the bases.

What a Finish to the Batting Title in 1969

On this day in 1969 the final games of the season were played.  There was quite a close race for the NL batting title.

Roberto Clemente went 3-for-4 to finish the season with a .345 average.  He won four bating titles in his career.  Clemente's best mark for a season was .357.

Pete Rose went 1-for-4 to finish the season with a .348 average.  It was the highest average of his career for a full season.  He won three batting titles in his career.

It's great when the batting title comes down to two stars and the last day of the season.  The NL batting title race is still being contested.  It could easily come down to the final games of the season this week.

Who Played in the Most Playoff Games During the Kellogg's Era (1969-82)?

Here is the list of most games played in the post-season from 1969 through 1982.

Tied for 8th with 44 games - Lou Piniella, Graig Nettles, Sal Bando

Tied for 4th with 45 games - Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Davey Lopes, Johnny Bench.  Garvey had 63 hits in those 45 games.

Russell was mentioned before as someone who played a long time but didn't get a Kellogg's card.  He certainly played in lots of post-season games.


Third with 48 games - Paul Blair.


Second with 58 games - Pete Rose.  Rose was quite a player in the post-season.  He had 75 hits in those 58 games which included 5 home runs.  

First with 71 games - Reggie Jackson.  He hit 18 homers in those 71 games.