The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day comes from 1967 Topps, card #390 of Jim Wynn. In ’67 the Toy Cannon was in his 5th year with the Houston organization. He was called up to the Colt 45s in their second year of existence in 1963 but became an everyday big leaguer after their name was changed to the Astros in 1965. The back of the card mentions that Wynn was sidelined with an injury in July of ’66 which ended his season early. He still led the Astros with 18 homers that year. The back of the card also mentions that Wynn was Houston’s career leader in homeruns. At that point he led the young organization with 49 homers. Now, nearly 50 years into their history as a franchise the Toy Cannon still ranks 4th All Time in homers for Houston behind 3 Killer B’s, Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman and Craig Biggio. Biggio is third All Time with 291 bombs, just 68 ahead of Wynn. Over his tenure with the Astros Craig Biggio had more than twice the at-bats that Wynn had to reach that number. Even though he only spent 11 seasons in Houston he still sits in their Top-10 All Time in homeruns, on base percentage, games, at bats, total bases, hits, singles, doubles, extra base hits, runs batted in, walks, steals, intentional walks and runs. His finest season with Houston came the year that this card was printed, in 1967 when he batted .249 with 37 homers, 16 steals and 107 runs batted in. He made his first of 3 All Star appearances that year, too. Over his 15 year career he also made stops with the Dodgers, Brewers, Braves and Yankees. He was among the top 10 in the National League in homers 5 times and his 291 career blasts ranks 132nd of All Time. He also ranked in the top-10 in walks 10 times and his 1224 career free passes stands as 51st in history. Most remarkably was that he was one of the league’s most feared power hitters while standing 5’10” and weighing only 160 pounds, hence the nickname, the Toy Cannon. These things all make Jimmy Wynn receive 100% Nitty Gritty approval. 43 years LATER.