The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day comes from 1950 Bowman. It is card #190 of St. Louis Browns outfielder Ken Wood. Not to be confused with the stereo company, Ken Wood was an outfielder who played in the Major Leagues for 6 seasons from 1948 till 1953. His best years came with some really bad Browns teams. In 1951 he led the last place Browns in homeruns with 15. He was actually the only player on the team with double digit homers. Ned Garver somehow won 20 games that year, account for more than 30% of the Browns wins. Wood showed serious power in the minors, as mentioned on the card back. He belted 32 homers for the AAA Baltimore Orioles in 1949. Did I mention his name is Ken Wood?
I love this hobby! 60 years LATER. Nitty Gritty out.

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is card #108 from 1955 Topps Baseball featuring Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Albert "Rube" Walker. Walker spent 11 seasons in the Major Leagues, breaking in with the Chicago Cubs before being signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951. He spent the bulk of his career with Brooklyn and he moved to Los Angeles with them in 1958. Soon after the move West, Walker would retire as an active player. With Brooklyn Walker's job was backing up 3-time MVP Roy Campanella.

This meant he didn't see a ton of playing time, but also meant he was on some pretty amazing teams. With the Dodgers in 1955, the year this card came out, Walker's Dodgers won it all. "Rube" Walker didn't see any action in the World Series, but won a ring just the same.
After retiring as a player, Walker spent the next couple decades as a coach in the Majors. Most of his time was spent with the New York Mets where he spent 15 years as their pitching coach. He coached the staff featuring Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver on the Miracle 1969 Mets where he won his second World Series ring.

At one time I set the goal to collect a 1955 Topps card of ALL of the '55 Dodgers. This is my first and I don't think I am gonna get any further... I love this game, I love this hobby! 55 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!

Todays Nitty Gritty Card of the Day come from 1950 Bowman Baseball, it is card #224 of Brooklyn Dodgers relief pitcher Jack Banta. Banta began his professional career in the Dodgers organization in 1944 as a 19 year old starting pitching. He rose through the ranks and by 1948 he was 19-9 with 20 complete games and 194 strikeouts for the AAA Montreal Royals. This earned him a spot on the Opening Day roster for Brooklyn in 1949. Banta was a busy pitcher. He was a spot starter and a frequent reliever. He appeared in 48 games for the Dodgers, pitching 152 innings. He was 10-6 that year for Brooklyn and the young group won the National League Pennant. This was the Dodgers 3rd Flag in the 1940s, they lost in the World Series each time. Banta was on the mound on the last day of the season and won the game that clinched the NL and sent Brooklyn to the World Series. Banta appeared in 3 games in the Series in relief. The Dodgers fell to the Yankees in 5 games. A sore arm limited Banta to just 16 innings of work in 1950. That would be his final year in the Major Leagues. He attempted a minor league comeback, but retired from playing all together in 1952. He would become a coach and manager for the Dodgers farm system, but retired from baseball all together after the 1957 season. Banta looked to figure in the Dodgers plans for the future after 1949. The team would succeed and the group led by Robinson, Reese, Snider and Campanella would win 5 NL Pennants in the 1950s, capped off with World Series victories in 1955 and '59, but Banta would be a part of those teams. 1949 would be his lone full big league season, but it was a good one, he was 10-6 with a 3.37 ERA, 3 saves and 97 strikeouts. He passed away in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas in 2006. I love this game, I love learning about all those who played it and I LOVE collecting little cardboard reminders of past greatness. This card has been handled ALOT, and hopefully enjoyed and appreciated. It is well worn. I made the scan extra large to show all the details of this cards long life. I love 1950 Bowman. I love the images and the backgrounds. I love Banta's expression. So young, eager and unsure of what is to come. 60 years LATER.

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day!

Today’s Nitty Gritty Card of the Day comes from 1965 Topps Baseball, card #318 of San Francisco Giants outfielder Matty Alou.

In 1965 Alou was in his 6th and final year with the San Francisco Giants. He broke in with them in 1960 as a 21 year old playing in 4 games. As a rookie in 1961 Alou batted .310 in 81 games for the Giants as a part time outfielder. The next year he continued to platoon and batted .292 in 78 games for the National League Champions. As the back of the card reminds us, Alou batted .333 (4 for 12) in the World Series against the Yankees.

In 1963 Matty Alou made history along with his brothers Felipe and Jesus when the 3 Alou brothers filled the Giants outfield with all 3 starting the same game. 1965 would be Matty Alou’s most active year with the Giants playing in 117 games, but his batting average dipped down to .231 and he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates after that season for Joe Gibbon and Ozzie Virgil.

In his final year in San Francisco Alou made his pitching debut throwing the final 2 innings of a game – he faced 10 batters, gave up 3 hits, allowed zero runs and struck out 3.

His trade to Pittsburgh sparked huge career resurgence. In his first season with the Bucs his batting average skyrocketed .111 points! From .231 up to .342. He set career highs in games (141), runs (86), doubles (18), triples (9), RBIs (27), steals (23) and batting average with his .342 mark.

He won the 1966 National League batting crown by a 15 point (.015) margin. Second in the batting race was his brother and former teammate Felipe Alou who batted .327 for the Braves.
Matty Alou would never win another batting crown, but he had a breakout year with the Bucs in 1969 when he batted .331 with a career high and league leading 231 hits and 41 doubles. He also scored 105 runs and stole 22 bases and was the NLs starting center fielder in the All Star Game.

He would leave Pittsburgh after the 1970 season, traded to the Cardinals for Vic Davilillo and Nellie Briles. After 5 seasons in Pittsburgh Alou owned a .327 batting average. He did nearly as well in St. Louis, batting .314 over 3 seasons as a Cardinal. Matty Alou would be traded 5 times over his last 3 years in the big leagues before retiring after the 1974 season with the Padres. Along the way he stopped in Oakland and won a World Series ring with the A’s in 1972.

He retired a 15 year veteran with a .307 career batting average (134th All Time!), 1777 hits and 780 runs scored.

I believe at some point this card was used to patch a hole in someone’s roof and the tar remains on the front as a reminder. That fits in well with Matty Alou – a hardnosed, hard tar sticky and Nitty Gritty guy.

I love this game and I love this hobby! I really love this set, too. If you are so inclined, you can find my shrinking want list for 1965 Topps right here. I have dupes to trade and have a number of vintage singles that I would gladly trade for any card on this list.

The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day is card # 999 from 1968 Topps featuring Giants All Star slugger Willie McCovey.

1968 was a pretty good year for Big Mac - he was the NL's homerun (36) and RBI (105) leader and was the NL All Star starting 1st baseman for the 2nd year in a row. He stepped things up even more in 1969 when he once again led the league in homers (45) and RBI (126) with much higher totals. He also raised his batting average up to .320, lowered his strikeouts and nearly doubled his walk total. He would also lead the League in OBP (.453), SLG (.656), OPS (1.108), OPS+ (209) and also intentional walks with 45. Mac came within .028 points of winning the Triple Crown and won the National League MVP Award. Earlier that year he hit 2 homers to help the NL All Star Game and took home MVP honors there as well.

Willie McCovey's career started in 1959 with the Giants where he played in just 52 games but still managed to be the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year after posting marks of (.354/13/38) in his short time on the field. Starting with a bang Big Mac never fizzled. He played for 22 seasons in the Major Leagues, 19 with the Giants, from 1959-1980.

He is one of only 3 players to hit homers in 4 different decades. He was the NL's homerun king 3 times and hit 521 for his career. He also hit 18 grand slams, the most by any player in the National League. McCovey made it to the World Series 1 time over 22 seasons, in 1962 when he was platooning with Orlando Cepeda. McCovey batted only .200, but did homer in the Giants effort. San Francisco would fall to the Yankees in 7 games and Big Mac would never return to the Series.

Stretch McCovey retired after the 1980 season and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1986, his first year on the ballot. Last night over 50 years after Willie McCovey stormed into the big leagues, the Giants won a World Series, and after half a century in MLB Stretch got his first ring. Congratulations the Giants winning their first World Series since 1954 - finally proving they could win without Willie Mays and Monte Irvin.

Oh, by the way - they don't name a Cove after you if you ain't Nitty Gritty. I love this game, I love this hobby! 42 years LATER.

Nitty Gritty Card of the Day

Today's Nitty Gritty Card of the Day once again comes from my favorite Topps set of all time, 1965 Topps Baseball. It is card #260 of Hall of Fame hurler Don Drysdale. My want list for this set stops at 252, so I didn't get to scratch this card off, but considering I how 83 cards from #1 up to 100, I think I might add another 36 cards (4 pages) to my list.

Most of my '65s have come from my local card shop - he has a knack for finding big lots in decent condition at good prices and ALWAYS calls me when these blue backed beauties walk in. This particular card was a gift to myself courtesy of an auction site. I had a gift card with $2.77 left on it so I started searching the 'Bay and I set the parameters to look for cards with free shipping ranging in cost from .01 up to $2.77. I searched key word 1965 Topps and within the first page I found this card. I really couldn't believe it. This 45 year old piece of cardboard was mailed to me for LESS than the cost of a single pack of 2010 Topps baseball. That blew me away.

The value makes the card better, but what makes it great is that it is in fact a card of Don Drysdale. Truly one of the best ever. 1965 was one of his best seasons, too. The back of the card mentions that DD hit 7 homers in 1958. The cartoon proclaims the hurler as Ruthian. Well, in 1965 he equaled that total and did it with an amazing stat line, batting .300 with 7 homers, 19 RBI, 18 runs scored and a .508 slugging percentage.

On the mound in '65 he was 23-12 with a 2.77 ERA in 42 starts. He threw 20 complete games, 7 shutouts and struck on 210 batters in over 300 innings pitched. His Dodgers finished 1st in the National League - a fact that is documented in pencil in the top corner of the card. That is probably the reason I was able to snag this card for under 2 bucks. DD and the Dodgers followed their hot season into the World Series and beat the Twins to win Drysdale his 3rd ring with the Dodgers. He was Los Angeles' game 1 starter, but got knocked out quickly. He returned to start Game 4 and pitched a complete game 5 hitter, striking out 11 Twins as the Dodgers won 7-2. Don Drysdale would retire a couple of years after this card came out.

He spent his entire 14 year career with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and LA. Over that time he was a 9 time All Star and started the game 5 times. He won 12 or more games 12 years in a row and struck out more than 200 batters 6 times, leading the league in that category 3 times. He retired in 1969 at the young age of 32, a time when many pitchers are just finding their stride. He left behind a career tally of 209-166 with a career ERA of just 2.95.

Despite his early exit from the game, he ranks in the top 30 of All Time in several categories. His 2486 strikeouts are 30th best, while his 49 shutouts is 21st best. His scariest stat is the unfortunate 154 who were hit by Drysdale. He led the league in hit batsmen 5 times and ranks 18th All Time in that category and I bet each of the 154 victims will never forget that experience.

Don Drysdale was finally voted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, his 10th year on the ballot. I have only seen him pitch in videos of classic games, and it isn't possible to capture his brilliance on the field in a short blog post, but he epitomizes Nitty Gritty.

I love this game, I love this hobby! 45 years LATER.