Democratic Roadkill Delivers The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day!!!

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day came to me courtesy of Duane of the Democratic Roadkill blog. It made its way from Ohio, down to Florida with many vintage companions, but the first card to make the cut and become tonight's card of the day is card #12 from 1963 Topps baseball featuring Baltimore Orioles All Star lefty Steve Barber. In 1963 Barber was 25 years old and pitching in his 4th Major League season. This was the best season of his career. He made his first All Star squad, the AL All Star team took the loss and Barber didn't see any action, BUT he proved he was among one of the top hurlers on the circuit. He went on to win 20 games that year, along with 180 strikeouts. His final line was 20-13, a 2.75 ERA, 11 complete games, 2 shutouts and he led the league facing 1096 batters that year.

His stats were overshadowed by another lefty, Sandy Koufax who put up a 25-5 record with a 1.88 ERA and 306 Ks. Koufax was the unanimous choice as the Major League Cy Young Award winner. Still, Barber became the first modern Orioles pitcher to have a 20-win season. Barber developed tendinitis soon after this season and it plagued him for the rest of his career. He got off to a great start in the 1966 season and made his second All Star team with a 10-3 record and a 1.96 ERA at the break. His tendinitis was hampering him again and he didn't appear in the game and pitched very little the rest of the season. His Orioles went on to win the American League Championship and faced the LA Dodgers. The Orioles swept the Series and won the teams first ever Title, but his injury kept Barber off of the postseason roster.

In 1967 Barber pitched 8-2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the Tigers, he was lifted for All Star reliever Stu Miller who completed the no-hitter, but the O's lost the game 2-1 on Miller's wild pitch. Later that season Barber was traded to the Yankees and became a journeyman reliever playing for 5 different teams over the last 7 years of his career.

He never recovered from the tendinitis and elbow issues and never showed the dominance he had in 1963 again. He retired in 1974 as a member of the San Francisco Giants - he appeared in 13 innings and notched his 13th career save. Despite the health issues, he had very respectable career numbers. He pitched 1999 innings over 15 seasons. He had a 121-106 record with a 3.36 ERA. He had 59 complete games, 21 shutouts and 13 saves to go along with 1309 strikeouts for 7 different teams.

Thanks again to Democratic Duane for the awesome vintage! If you are an Allen and Ginter fan, Democratic Roadkill is the ultimate spot for mini madness! I am having a blast working on the 1963 set. As an end note, Steve Barber passed away 5 years ago from pneumonia. Fortunately for me, I had the chance to get to know Mr. Barber in the late 90's when I worked for the Orioles. Class act all the way. Thanks for reading, 49 years LATER!

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is card #21 from 1959 Topps Baseball of Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Connie Johnson. A tall and lanky right-handed pitcher, Clifton “Connie” Johnson broke into the Major Leagues with the Chicago White Sox in 1953 at the age of 30.

Johnson began his professional pitching career in 1940 when he was just 17 years old. That same year he pitched in his first All Star game, pitching one shutout inning in the 1940 East West All Star Game. At age 19 he was part of one of the greatest pitching staffs in baseball history. Along with Hall of Famers Satchel Paige (36) and Hilton Smith (35), Johnson (19) helped the 1942 Kansas City Monarchs sweep the Homestead Grays in the ’42 Negro League World Series. His fastball was legendary and he and Smith and Paige were among the greatest fireballing strikeout pitchers of their time.

After the ’42 Series his pro baseball career was interrupted by World War II where he served for 3 years. He returned and rejoined the Monarchs in 1946 soon after Jackie Robinson had been signed by the Dodgers. Johnson was able to return to form after missing so many prime years to the War. In 1950 he pitched the middle 3 innings in the last ever East West All Star Game. He struck out 3 as the West won 5-3. Johnson took the win and hit a triple to help his own cause.

The next year he was signed by the White Sox organization. He made his MLB debut at age 30, but his arm was tired and sore and his velocity was nowhere close to where it was before he went to war. He put together a record of 11-9 in 2-1/2 seasons in Chicago before being traded to Baltimore in 1956.

In 1957, with the Orioles, Johnson relied on savvy and experience and had his best season in the Major Leagues for Baltimore. At the age of 34 he ranked in the top-10 in nearly every pitching category. His record was 14-11 and his 14 wins ranked 7th. His 3.20 ERA was 9th. His 177 strikeouts were 3rd best, just 7 K’s behind Early Wynn (184) for the League Lead. Johnson did pace the AL in Strikeouts to walks ratio with 2.682. He was 3rd in complete games with 14 and 4th in shutouts with 3. His 242 innings pitched were 4th in the AL.

Eating all of those innings irritated his already sore arm and 1957 would not only be his best big league season, it would be close to his last. He pitched in just 118 innings in 1958. That would be his final year in the major leagues. He did pitch several more years in AAA and still had success as he approached 40 with a damaged right arm. He retired after the 1961 season, 22 years after his pro debut. His career line in the Major Leagues was 40-39 with a 3.44 ERA and 497 strikeouts.
A tiny bit of intrigue before I sign off… When I Googled Connie Johnson to do this post I found out that there are 2213 Connie Johnsons living in the United States. Johnson is the 2nd most popular last name in the country while Connie ranks 150th in popularity. Johnson was born Clifton Johnson and pitched under that name during his interrupted 10 year career with the Kansas City Monarchs. I don’t know when, where or how he picked up the name Connie. Anybody know?
Okay, that is all for now… For those of you who don’t know, I obsessively collect ANY and ALL alumni of the Negro Leagues and love uncovering the stories left behind from these Legends. From a teenage phenom to a crafty veteran hurler, Clifton “Connie” Johnson epitomizes all that is Nitty Gritty. I love this game, I love this hobby! I love ’59 Topps! 51 years LATER!

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is card #1 from 1972 Topps showing the World Champions of 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates. 38 years later the Series starts today. In 1971 Game 1 was a match of Aces, too. For the Pirates it was Dock Ellis (19-9) versus Dave McNally for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles bats knocked out Ellis quickly as he was pulled after just 2-1/3 innings giving up 4 earned runs on 2 homers. McNally was superb and went 9 innings allowing 3 unearned runs and striking out 9 for the win. Dock Ellis did not return for the Bucs while McNally took the loss in Game 5 and returned the next game to pitch the final frame in Baltimore's 3-2 extra inning victory to earn the win. The Pirates would go on to beat the favored Orioles in 7 games behind Series MVP Roberto Clemente who batted .414 with a pair of timely homers and 4 RBI. 4 runs batted in doesn't jump out at you as amazing, but consider that the Pirates scored only 23 runs over 7 games and it becomes a bit more impressive as he drove in nearly 20% of their runs. It would be Clemente's final World Series. I love this game, I love this hobby, I love it's stories. I can't wait for the first pitch of the 2010 World Series! If you like the Pirates and their cards - I recently received a package with literally 100s of Pirates cards from the 60s, 70s and beyond from Cam at the Reds and More blog. Stick around as I will eventually get these up. The Pirates will ALWAYS be my team in the National League no matter what. Even if they are OLD memories, at least us Pirates fans have the memories of greatness. 38 years LATER.

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day comes from 1965 Topps Baseball and features Baltimore Orioles reliever Harvey Haddix. At 39 years old, 1965 was Haddix’ final season in baseball and he spent it in the bullpen in Baltimore with Don Larsen, Dick Hall, Stu Miller and a 19 year old named Jim Palmer. Haddix had been a successful starter for a decade before moving to the pen and in ’65 he was coming off a remarkable season. He was 5-5 with a 2.31 ERA and 10 saves. He appeared in 49 games for 89 innings striking out 90 against 23 walks.

The Orioles were Harvey Haddix’ 6th and final team. His career spanned 14 seasons and started off with the Cardinals in 1952 pitching in 7 games. He returned to St. Louis in 1953 as a 27 year old starter and still held onto to his rookie status. He had one of his best seasons on the mound of his storied career that year. He appeared in his 1st of 3 straight All Star Games and finished second to Dodgers second baseman Junior Gilliam in the Rookie of the Year voting. Had the Cy Young Award existed in ’53, he would have received many votes for that a

ward as well. As a rookie Haddix posted a 20-9 record with a 3.06 ERA. He completed 19 games, including a league leading 6 shutouts.

After his success in St. Louis Haddix was traded twice before ending up on the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1959. It was with the Bucs that Haddix pitched one of the most famous games in MLB history. On May 26, 1959 Haddix pitched 12 PERFECT innings against the Braves before yielding a hit and losing the game in the 13th inning. He holds the MLB record for retiring 36 consecutive batters in a single. A record that likely will never be approached.

He took the loss in that famous game, but the next year he was on the mound for the win (in relief) for another famous game. The Pirates walk-off World Series win against the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. The Pirates won the Series and Haddix’ owned a 2-0 mark against the Yankees in the Series. That would be his only ring as a player, but Haddix would earn another with the Pirates in 1979 as their pitching coach.

Over his 14 year playing career Harvey Haddix was a 3-time All Star, a World Series Champ, a 3 time Gold Glove award winner and drove in 64 runs as a hitter. A great hitting pitcher and all around athlete. Haddix was known as one of the top fielding pitchers of his era. His career mark is 136-113 with a 3.63 ERA. He pitched 99 complete games and 20 shutouts and struck out 1575 against only 601 walks.

He was nicknamed Kitten early in his career as he resembled a young Harry “the Cat” Breechen.

Pitching in 2 of the most memorable games of all time and a 14 year career as a starter and then reliever, a World Champ and an unbreakable record all combine to make Harvey Haddix as Nitty Gritty as they come. This blog is proud to sponsor his Baseball Reference page.
I love this hobby! 45 years later.

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day!

In keeping with the theme of showing nothing but catchers for the next seven days, today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is of 1983 World Series MVP Rick Dempsey. The card I chose is from the 1974 Topps set, card #569, showing Dempsey as a young back-up backstop with the New York Yankees. I am a casual Baltimore Orioles fan and I have met Dempsey a few times before, I have even had the privilege of interviewing him when he was a coach with Baltimore. Like most people I loved his rain delay theatre and I remember his heroics in the ’83 World Series when he homered off of Charles Hudson in the 5th and final game of the Series which Baltimore won 5-0. I was aware of all of those things, but it turns out there was a lot I didn’t know about Rick Dempsey and most of it I learned from this very card. First off I had no idea that he played for the Yankees. He did, this card proves it. He was drafted by the Twins in 1967 and then traded to New York for Danny Walton in 1972. Of course the Yankees had an All Star catcher already in Thurman Munson which made getting at-bats difficult for a guy like Dempsey who was behind the plate than at it. He only started 25 games in 1974 and in ’75 only started 12 games behind the plate. In June of ’76 the Yankees sent him to Baltimore in big trade that also brought the Orioles Tippy Martinez, Scott McGregor and Rudy May. I think that Orioles fans owe the Yankees a thank you for that deal! Another thing I learned was that Rick is not his real name. I had assumed that, but thought his name might be Richard. It is actually John. His full name is John Rikard Dempsey. I had learned (not from this card) recently that Dempsey was the uncle of former Orioles (and Rays!) catcher Greg Zaunn. I thought that was really interesting, but more interesting was that the back of the card told me that Rick Dempsey is a relative of former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey. Baseball cards rule! There are more nuggets of info here, but you can read them yourselves. Another thing I learned (not from this card) was that Dempsey was a member of the 1988 World Champion Dodgers team and he also pitched in 2 games for the Brewers, making his MLB pitching debut at age 41. He owns a 4.50 ERA, he faced 10 batters over 2 innings and allowed 3 hits and no walks. Not too shabby. I am really going to try and find cards of catchers in catching gear to fill the rest of the week out. It hasn’t been an easy task. At least this one has a cartoon. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to cast your vote for the best catcher ever! Oh, there will be at least one, if not two more CardS of the Day today so stay tuned! 36 years LATER!

The Nitty Gritty on Card #12 of Don Aase!

Time for card #12 of pitcher Don Aase, the man at the forefront of the alphabetical order. I LOVED this card as a kid; it made me want to see Aase pitch. I figured if he looked this good on the card, he must have been one heck of a pitcher. I didn’t like the Red Sox at all as a child, I still don’t, but I sat through plenty of Red Sox games hoping to see this guy pitch as a 5-year-old. I think I watched a week’s worth of games and ended up learning a lot about the Sox. That was the first time I had really watched their epic outfield of Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, but I became fascinated with their infield of Rick Burleson and Jerry Remy more. I gave up the Sox watching experience after a week went by with no Don Aase. I think I forgot about his awesome card, too. It all came back to me when I got a copy of his ’82 Topps card, though, and I realized he had been traded to the Angels before that card had ever come out. Turns out he was traded for Jerry Remy. Remy would be an All Star for the Sox, but Aase led the Angels to their first Western Division Title in 1979. This card came out after Aase’s rookie season where he posted a 6-2 record in 13 games, all starts, for the Red Sox. It was his 3rd Topps card and probably the coolest. Aase had been exclusively a starting pitched from ’77 till 1981 when he switched to the bullpen. He served as the Angels closer for 3 years and saved 23 games over that period and then left California to sign a free agent contract with the Baltimore Orioles where he joined their pen in ’85. He enjoyed one of the best years of his career; he had a 10-6 record with 14 saves in 88 innings of work. The following year he would become the Orioles full-time closer and would go to the All Star game. He finished the season with 34 saves (2nd in AL) in 66 games. After the 1988 season he moved to the NL and made stops with the Mets and the Dodgers before retiring at age 35 after the 1990 season. Over his 13 year career Aase had a 66-60 record with a 3.80 ERA and 82 saves (161st All Time) in over 1,100 innings of work. Now it’s time for…
The Nitty Gritty
Name/Number: Don Aase, number 45.
Position: Starting pitcher
Age-Now and Then: Was 22, Is 55.
Team’s 1977 Record: 97-64, 2nd in AL East
Topps Rookie Card: 1976 Topps, Card #597
Number of Topps Base Cards:14
Playball! Double
1977 Stats Line: 6-2/3.13 ERA.
Awards in 1977: A really cool card in ’78.
Distinguishing Feature: The double A in his name.
Similar Modern Player: Mark Hendricksen.
What I said about this card then: Wow! This guy looks like he must be a great pitcher!
What I think about this card now: It’s perfect. Not much funny to say, this is just good photography…
Back of the card memorable moment: His Major League debut was against the Brewers on 7-26-77 and he fanned 11 batters to win the game 4-3
Back of the card “fun fact”: Don won his first 3 decisions for the Sox in 1977.
The condition: MINT
Grooviness factor: The moustache, high stirrups, and crazy looking delivery.
Wow! Factor: That the Sox would trade a promising young starter for an infielder.
What’s weird about this card: He has the number 13 written on his stirrups. Career Accolades: All Star in ’86, earned save in the game. 161st All Time career in Saves. Was Orioles single season saves leader till Greg Olson saved 36 in 1990. Best Season: 1978- Was 11-8 with 6 complete games.
Nitty Gritty Fun Facts: Traded for Jerry Remy after 1977 season. Is 4th among baseball players when listed All Time in alphabetical order.
Where are they now?: His son Kelby Aase plays college ball at Fullerton College. Where’s Don? I really don’t know…
I have to say that I blame Don Aase for making me waste time watching the Red Sox as a kid, but it’s probably not really his fault. It is the power of baseball cards. This card is awesome and I stared at it and it made me want to watch this guy play, that is the point, right? On deck is card #lucky 13, of Astros infielder Art Howe. Two things, real quick... I DO plan on posting 5 times a week from now on, but it would be nice to think people were reading, PLEASE consider adding this to your blog rolls! When it hits 25 followers, there will be a (simple) contest, along the lines of pick a number between 1 and 25 and there will be 1978 related prizes...Stay tuned. 31 years, LATER!

Doug DeCinces, The Nitty Gritty on Card Number 9...

Now this is a great example of why I love this set! The odd pose, the abundant lip fuzz and the odd shadows all come together on a card of the great young stars of this time. This is card #9 of Baltimore Orioles third baseman Doug DeCinces. The phrase “between a rock and a hard place” sums up DeCinces’ early years with Baltimore pretty well. Coming up through the minors he was a middle infielder, primarily a shortstop, but he wasn’t going to displace Gold Glover Mark Belanger any time soon, so the transformation was made. He had a great arm-as a 19-year old, in his first season in the O’s organization, he made 1 start for Bluefield in 1970 and during spring training in 1974 Bill Hunter and Jim Frey approached him and said they thought he was the one to replace Brooks after his retirement. DeCinces didn’t play third base until his 4th season in the minors, but he took to the position quick and discovered some power that he hadn’t exhibited before. 1974 would be his final season in the minors, he would spend most of 1975 on the bench, but in late May of 1976, he took over as the Orioles starting third baseman, the heir to the throne. Come opening day in 1977 the Orioles infield would consist of Lee May at first, Billy Smith at second, Belanger at short and DeCinces manning the hot corner. As the full time starter he set new career highs in every offensive stat and batted .259, his career average. He also chipped in 19 homers and played an above average third base and the Orioles would remain in contention all year, finally finishing 2.5 games out of first place in the AL EAST. DD would remain the Orioles constant at the corner for the next 4 seasons and in 1978 he would lead the team in homers with 28 homers. In 1979 he hit one of the most memorable homers in team history. It was June 22, 1979 and the Orioles were down 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. The Orioles had been riding a 6 game winning streak, but Detroit Tigers pitcher Dave Tobik had two outs in the ninth inning and one batter left to face. That batter was Doug DeCinces and he creamed a two-run homer to make the Orioles walk-off winners. From that special homerun, the term “Orioles Magic” was born, a term still used today, stemming from a game that O’s fans still reminisce about. The Orioles went on to win the AL Flag that year, but fell to the Pirates in a hard fought 7 game Series. In a bit of irony, the man who replaced Brooks Robinson would be replaced himself by a legend in the making. After a 13 homer year in 1981, the 31 year old DeCinces was sent to the Angels for Dan Ford to make room in the infield for Cal Ripken Jr. DeCinces went on to have a career year in California winning his lone Silver Slugger Award and making the playoffs, but he missed out on the World Series in 1983 with the Orioles. Now onto…

The Nitty Gritty

Name/Number: Doug DeCinces #11
Position: 3rd Baseman
Team’s 1977 Record: 97-64 / .602 / 2.5 Games back.
Topps Rookie Card: 1975 Topps, Card #617 Number of Topps Base Cards: 15
Playball! Base on balls
1977 Stats Line: .259 / 19 homers / 69 RBI
Awards in 1977: The starting 3rd base job.
Distinguishing Feature: Giant ‘Stache in Orioles orange.
Similar Modern Player: Hank Blalock
What I said about this card then: What is he doing?
What I think about this card now: What an amazing ‘stache!
Back of the card memorable moment: Doug belted a 3-run homer against the Red Sox on September 18, 1977.
Back of the card “fun fact”: He became the Orioles starting 3rd baseman on May 17, 1976.
Best Season: 1982, Won Silver Slugger and AL West. Hit .301/30/97
The condition: Definitely near mint!
Grooviness factor: The giant stache matches his uniform and he seems to be scooping up his team’s name.
Wow! Factor: This guy replaced the most beloved Orioles player ever, then was replaced himself by another beloved Oriole, Cal Ripken Jr…
What’s weird about this card: The shadow monster….
Career Accolades: Is a member of the California Angels and Baltimore Orioles All-Time Teams. Inducted into Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2006.
Where are they now?: Mr. DeCinces owns DeCinces Properties, a real estate development firm in Irvine, CA. Manages Strawberry Farms Golf Club, runs 8 restaurants and still builds and develops homes in Southern California.
Career Stats: .259 batting average, 237 Home Runs and 879 RBI.
Nitty Gritty Fun Facts: Was on the cover of Sports Illustrated on October 20, 1986. Had two 3-homer games within a week during August 1982. He hit double digit homers for 13 straight years. His teams made the playoffs in ’79, ’82 and 1986.
On deck is the first Hall of Famer to appear in the set, card #10… 31 years, LATER!