The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day... Tall and Slick Edition

Today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is a 1964 Topps Giants, card #7 of the Chairman of the Board Whitey Ford. This card came to me from legendary blogger and traded Wicked Ortega from the My Past Time, I Love It! Blog. The back of the card celebrates Ford winning his 10th World Series game. That event came in 1962 when Ford’s Yankees beat the Giants in 1962. He appeared in 2 more World Series with the Yankees in 1963 and ’64, but Ford was winless and the Yankees lost to the Dodgers and Cards those years. The ’64 loss to the Cards was Ford’s 11th World Series appearance. He was on the winning end 6 times out of 11. His career World Series record is 10-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 22 World Series starts. Thanks so much for this tall card Wicked! I love this hobby! I love this set! 46 years LATER!

Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is card #37 from the 1964 Topps Giants set featuring Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal. Oh, if only this giant sized card showed a full vertical photo of Marichal's awesome leg kick... If only. It does on the back, but man I wish it was on the front! I won't spoil this with a bunch of words. Enjoy!

Al Kaline is the Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is from the 1964 Topps Giants set, card #12 of Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline. I love a player with a great nickname and Kaline had a very appropriate one, he was known as Mr. Tiger. From the day he signed as a bonus baby in 1953 to the day he retired in 1974 he ONLY wore a Detroit Tigers uniform. He never spent a day in the minor leagues, he went right to the majors as an 18-year-old rookie and by the time he was 20-years-old he was a major league superstar. He won his first and only batting title at 20 years of age in 1955 when he batted .340 with 200 hits, 27 homers, 102 RBIs and 121 runs scored. He finished second in the AL MVP vote behind Yogi Berra (who batted 68 points lower, but did it behind the plate) and established himself as a superstar. He played in his first of 18 All Star Games and had 14 assists from right field. He didn’t win his first Gold Glove Award until 1957 and he would win 10 of those awards over his career. He never won another batting title, but he finished in batting average 3 times and posted a .297 career batting average with 3007 hits. The back of this card from 1964 states “One of Al’s biggest ambitions is to lead the Tigers to a pennant and play in a World Series”. He and his Tigers did just that 4 years later when they won the World Series in 1968 behind his .379 average, 2 homers and 8 RBI against the Cardinals. That was the final piece missing from the legend that is Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline. The true final piece came in 1980 when he was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. In 5 days there will be a contest on the Nitty Gritty’s brother blog, the Collective Troll which will feature an Al Kaline certified autograph as a prize. Thanks for checking out the biggest card I own of Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline. Statistics from Kaline’s remarkable 22 year career can be viewed HERE. 46 years, LATER!

The Nitty Gritty Giant Card of the Day!

Another giant sized gem from Mark’s Ephemera (there will still be 3 more) is today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day. It is card #35 (out of 60) in the 1964 Topps Giants set and shows Detroit Tigers pitcher Dave Wickersham. Wickersham went to Detroit in the Rocky Colavito trade between the Kansas City Athletics and the Tigers after the 1963 season. Topps was on the ball and included him in this set and he responded by having a career year setting personal bests in Ks (164), innings (254), complete games (11), starts (36) and wins with 19. His mark of 19-12 with a 3.44 ERA was by far the best of his 10 year career as he never won more than 12 games in any other season. During the ’64 season Wickersham was ejected from a game during the 7th inning, he left with the scored knotted at 1 and received a no-decision. The Tigers went on to win the ball game, which could have been his 20th win. After the ’67 season the Tigers traded him to the Pirates for Dennis Ribant. From there he went to the Kansas City Royals and after the ’69 season he was traded to the Atlanta Braves, but never pitched for them. 1969 would be his final big league season. His career line reads 68-57 with a 3.66 ERA, 29 complete games, 5 shutouts, 18 saves and 638 strikeouts. You can view his complete stats here. Wickersham is also one of only 4 players to have played for both the Kansas City Athletics and KC Royals. The back of this card credits Wickersham as being the Athletics most active pitcher prior to his trade to Detroit. Thanks again to Mark’s Ephemera for sending this giant chunk of cardboard my way! 46 years, LATER!

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is Back!

I figured this card was the ideal follow-up to the “What’s In a Name” post because I often get Chuck Hinton and Chuck Harmon confused. Both are great players with intriguing histories and I seem to have a number of each of their cards. Beyond that, it is easy to get Chuck Hinton the baseball player confused with Chuck Hinton the football player. This post is about Chuck Hinton the baseball player, in particular his 1964 Topps Giants card which is number 20 in the 60 card set. This is one of 5 awesome Giant cards that came courtesy of my brother with a similarly pronounced name, Mark from the awesome Mark’s Ephemera blog. I do plan on highlighting all of the cards he sent and I eventually plan to post each of the 60 cards in this set. I laughed to myself a little bit as I read the back of Chuck Hinton’s card. Of the cards I have posted recently, one highlighted Warren Spahn winning his 350th game, the one before that showed Mickey Mantle hitting his 18th postseason homerun. Chuck Hinton led the last place Washington Senators in batting. It is a little less impressive comparatively, but it is a feat nonetheless. Chuck Hinton played for the Senators of Washington from 1961 until 1964 and each year he paced the team in batting average, triples and steals. The Senators also lost a minimum of 100 games over those 4 seasons. Hinton finished 4th in the American League in batting in 1962 and had a career year. He hit .310 with 17 homers, 75 RBI and 28 steals. He was an All Star for Washington in 1964 and finished the season with a .274 mark. After the ’64 season he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Bob Chance and Woodie Held. Hinton spent 11 seasons in the Majors with the Senators, Indians and Angels. He was a career .264 hitter with 1048 hits, 47 triples and 130 steals. You can find his complete list of stats HERE. He has a true utility man and could play anywhere on the field. He spent the most of his time at second base and the outfield, but over his career he logged innings at EVERY position other than on the mound. He did pitch in a game while in the minors though. As a part of the Baltimore organization he was mainly a catcher, but appeared on the mound in 1959. Over 5 seasons in the minors he owned a .346 career mark and won 2 batting titles. Like many of his contemporaries, he lost two years of playing time while serving his country in the military. His 12 triples in 1963 are a Washington Senators (AL) Franchise record. He was the last Senator to bat over 300 and is the career franchise leader in both steals (92) and triples (30). Thanks again to Mark for the awesome cards. I hope everyone enjoyed the lesson in history on Chuck Hinton and the futility of the Washington Senators teams of the 1960s. Seriously, one more thanks to Mark's Ephemera for the Giants!!! On a personal note, I will no longer be trying to chase 1951 Bowman or 1965 Topps, but 1964 Giants remains on my radar. I still love vintage, but losing that many cards was just too much to deal with. Relating to that, I do have about 40 cards left (dupes) from the '65 set that are on the block. I am always looking for MLB cards of ANYONE who played in the Negro Leagues (like Chuck Harmon) and any random singles from the 40s, 50s or 60s. Later!

Warren Spahn is Larger Than Life

Wow, the class of players being shown as the Nitty Gritty Card of the Day has been pretty great of late. Roberto Clemente, Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle have been the last three. Talk about a PERFECT outfield… We are gonna keep going in that same direction, but instead of sluggers, we are going to switch gears to one of the greatest pitchers to ever throw a baseball. Regarded by many as the greatest left-handed pitcher of All Time. He is at least the winningest. I am speaking of the late, great Warren Spahn. He is shown here on card #31
In 1960 Spahn earned his 20th victory of the season in style, no-hitting the Philadelphia Phillies. He then no-hit the San Francisco Giants the following season. In 1963 he finished the year with a 23-7 mark, including his 350th win, which is celebrated on the back of this card. He would finish his career with 363 victories against 245 losses in his 21 year career. He topped 20 wins a season 13 times and led the NL in wins 8 times. He was an All Star 17 times and was the NL Cy Young in 1957-his Braves were World Champions that same year. The following year the Braves fell to the Yankees in the Series despite Spahn pitching 2 complete games, one of them a shutout. He also got it done at the plate that Series, batting .333 with 3 RBI. Over his career Spahn batted .194 with 35 homers and 189 RBIs. Infielders have had long careers with numbers worse than that. I could go on, but the short of it is, there will never be another Warren Spahn. 363 wins? Never again. He pitched 382 complete games and 63 shutouts. No one is gonna get close to those numbers ever again. The guy won 75 games AFTER turning 40. He was flat out amazing. I really love this set. 46 years, later!

The Nitty Gritty on The Mick!

Some call him Muscles, some know him as the Commerce Comet, others just call him the Mick, but I think everyone knows who Mickey Mantle, whether they are a baseball fan or not. Aside from his rookie year in 1951 he was named to the All Star team for each of the next 17 seasons, being named to 20 All Star Games, starting 13 of them, appearing in 16 and hitting 2 homers as an All Star. During the regular season he was named the American League MVP 3 times, led the AL in homeruns 4 times and in runs scored 6 times. In 1956 he won his first MVP award and also won the American League’s Triple Crown, batting .352 with 52 homers and 130 RBI. Since then only 2 other players have won the Triple Crown and no one has done it since Yaz won it in 1967. The Mick had some amazing regular season performances, but he became a Legend for his feats in October and that is what today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day focuses on. The CotD is from the 1964 Topps Giants set, card #25, titled Mickey ties Ruth Record-Mantle Smashes 15th Series Homer. The Mick played for 12 American League Pennant Winning teams in New York and his Yankee squads won 7 World’s Titles. Mantle played in 65 World Series games and went to the plate 273 times in October. His career batting average in the Series (.257) is considerably lower than his career batting average of .298 in regular season play, but Mantle got things done with the long ball in the Series. The back of this card touts Mantle tying Babe Ruth’s record with 15 homeruns in the Series, but less than a year after this card was printed Mantle had one of his best postseasons ever. At 32 years of age, the 1964 Series would be Mantles final time in the postseason. His Yankees team fell to Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games, but Mantle batted .355 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBI in a losing effort. That gave him 18 World Series homers and set the record for most homers in the Series. Mantle would play for several more seasons with the Yankees before retiring after the 1968 season at age 36. He hit 18 homers in his final season and ended his career with 536 homers, which at the time was 2nd most of All-Time. Presently he is 16th on the All Time list, but has more homers than any other switch hitter in MLB history. Among those ahead of him on the All Time list; only Mike Schmidt (548) hit all of his homers for one team. Mantle spent his entire career (1951-1968) with the New York Yankees. His number 7 has been retired by the Yanks and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1974. I love this set, I love this hobby, and I love this game and its rich history. 46 years, LATER!

Roberto Clemente, A Giant Among Men...

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day comes from current favorite set, 1964 Topps Giants. The set is getting closer and closer to completion, thanks to a lot of help from my friends. You can view my current wantlist HERE. Naturally this is my favorite card in the set. It is card #11 and celebrates Clemente winning the batting title in 1961 with a .351 average. I won't ruin it with my words, just bask in the beauty of an oversized card of one of the Greatest to ever play the game... If I can ever find time and a scanner I have about 15 new cards to post from this glorious set. I love this hobby! 46 years, LATER!

1964 Topps Giants-An Update

I have not been able to scan them yet, but I have recieved a number of brandy new 1964 Topps Giants for my collection. My list of Hall of Famers now includes Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline, Juan Marichal and ROBERTO CLEMENTE!!! I am very psyched about that last one. There will be posts of all of these giant cards, but there is now an official want list. You can check it out HERE. I am gonna get to work on getting some more list together right now. Thanks for reading. I love this hobby. 46 years later!

Frank Howard is GIANT Sized!

Welcome Nitty Gritty card collectors. It is time for another card of the day from the 1964 Topps Giants set. This one is card #24 of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ slugger Frank “Hondo” Howard. Here is the Nitty Gritty straight from Topps on the back of the card.
FRANK GETS A BIG HIT
HOWARD HOMERS OFF YANKS’ FORD
Frank Howard collected the only two hits off Yankees ace Whitey Ford in the finale of the 1963 World Series. Smacking a homerun and a single, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder provided the victory margin in the 2-1 ballgame. All told, Frank batted .300 vs. the Yanks in the October classic. One of the biggest men in baseball, 6’7” Howard has hit some of the longest home runs in the game. In his year of organized baseball, Frank batted .333 at Green Bay and led the I.I.I. circuit with 37 homeruns and 119 runs batted in. Frank hit .356 at Victoria and then .319 at Spokane in ’59. In 1960, the youngster was the National League Rookie of the Year.
Topps has been pretty creative with their card titles in this set, but they fell flat with this one, “Frank gets a big hit”. They scored big time with the card celebrating this event in the regular set. The title on card #139 in the 1964 (regular sized) Topps set. The title on that card is “Sealing Yanks Doom”. Now that has a MUCH better ring to it. That card and Frank Howard were profiled on my brother blog, the Collective Troll, you can read the whole story right HERE. Of course, not too long (only 2 months) after Howard sealed the Yanks doom in 1963, he went to Washington to play with the Senators beginning in 1964. It was there that he assumed his new identity as the Capital Punisher. He would flourish there, representing Washington in 4 All Star Games and leading the American League in homers twice. Howard hit 382 (56th all time) homers over his 15 year career. Not many of those homers were as important as his blast on October 3, 1963 off of Whitey Ford. Not many homers were big enough to earn a player 2 cards, one of them GIANT sized. Please continue to check out this blog and its brother blog the Collective Troll for more on this over-sized and super awesome set. From big to small, look for posts soon on the quest to finish 1951 Bowman as well. I love this hobby! 55 years, LATER!

The Nitty Gritty is Back and It's GIANT!!!

Greetings Nitty Gritty card collectors! Has anyone noticed that it has been a few months since I have posted here? I don’t think I have added a post here since early to mid-December. The reason is VERY simple. On this blog I am showing every card in the 1978 Topps set, one card at a time, starting at #1 and working up. Well… I took the next 9 cards I needed to scan out of the set’s binder to scan them AND I HAVEN’T SEEN THEM SINCE! Who knows where they are. Somewhere in my house I am sure. I have sorted through several thousand cards this month and they haven’t turned up yet. When they do, the 1978 Topps blog will return. Until then I want to write about other sets I am building. My newest obsession is the 1964 Topps Giants set. It is a small set (in quantity), it only has 60 cards in it (1-60). It was made by Topps in 1965 and the cards are oversized, hence the name Giants. They are the same size as 1969/70 Topps Basketball Cards. That was a set I used to obsess over. It took me over a decade to finish it in near mint condition and I started out with a gem copy of Lew Alcindor. Divorce sucks. Anyway, I am pretty obsessed with this set at the moment. I have lucked out in a major way that a lot of folks out there had one or two of these laying around. Out of 60 cards I need 26 more to finish the set, meaning I am at 57% completion. I have some of the big names in the set like Mantle, Clemente, Whitey Ford, Killebrew, Kaline, Bob Gibson, Brooks, Frank Robinson, Yaz, Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn, BUT I am still lacking Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax along with 23 other slightly less legendary players. Anyway, once I get a scanner I intend on posting ’64 Giants as I get them on this blog. I put Milt Pappas at the top of this post and the card’s back here to give you an idea of how amazing these cards are… For now, here are the cards I need to finish off the set. If you have any of these OR if you have sleeves or top-loaders that fit these cards, please get in touch.
1964 Topss Giants Needs List
Gary Peters Chicago White Sox #1
Sandy Koufax LA Dodgers #3
Ron Hunt NY Mets #6
Roy McMillon New York Mets #8
Nellie Fox Houston Colt 45s #13
Tony Gonzalez Philadelphia Phillies #14
Dean Chance California Angels #16
Dick Ellsworth Chicago Cubs #17
Chuck Hinton Washington Senators #20
Elston Howard New York Yankees #21
Joe Torre Atlanta Braves #26
Eddie Brinkman Washington Senators #27
Bob Friend Pittsburgh Pirates #28
Bill Freehan Detroit Tigers #30
Camilo Pasquel Minnesota Twins #32
Jim Maloney Cincinnati Reds #34
Dave Wickersham Detroit Tigers #35
Luis Aparacio Baltimore Orioles #39
Dick Stuart Boston Red Sox #42
Wayne Causey Kansas City A’s #45
Galen Cisco New York Mets #47
Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves #49
Willie Mays San Francisco Giants #51
Juan Pizzarro Chicago White Sox #53
Leon Wagner Cleveland Indians #54
Orlando Cepeda San Francisco Giants #55
Bill Skowron Washington Senators #60
Thanks for checking out my list! 45 years, LATER!