#570 Claude Osteen

You don't see many Claudes in baseball. The last was Claude Jayhawk Owens, a catcher for the Rockies in the mid-1990s. However, he went by Jayhawk, or simply "J". It's the same story for Blue Jays pitcher Claude Lee "Butch" Edge (1979), and Mets and Brewers pitcher Claude Edward "Skip" Lockwood (1969-1980). In fact, Claude Osteen was the most recent major leaguer to go by that name. This has been "Know Your Claudes".

Fun facts about Claude Osteen:

-Claude was born in Caney Springs, TN. He signed with Cincinnati in 1957 before his 18th birthday.

-The Redlegs gave him a couple cups of coffee in his first pro season, and he allowed one run in three relief appearances.

-Osteen never did crack the Cincinnati rotation, and was traded to the Senators in late 1961. Still in his early twenties, he became a dependable starter for the bottom-dwelling Washington club. In three-plus seasons in D.C., he went 33-41 with a 3.46 ERA; that included a team-leading 15-13 record with a 3.33 ERA and 13 complete games in 1964.

-He was dealt to the Dodgers prior to the 1965 season, with Frank Howard heading to the Senators. The lefty wasted no time entrenching himself in the L.A. rotation, putting up sub-3.00 ERAs (2.79, 2.85) and a total of 34 wins in his first two years with the club. He would ultimately post double-digit wins in each of his nine seasons as a Dodger.

-Claude one-hit the Giants on June 17, 1965, permitting only a Jack Hiatt single in the second inning. He did walk 5 batters, but retired 11 in a row to end the game.

-Was a hard-luck pitcher in World Series play. In Game Three of the 1965 Series, he blanked the Twins on five hits to help Los Angeles begin its climb from a 2-0 Fall Classic deficit. Three days later, he had a chance to clinch the title, but exited after five innings trailing 2-0, with one run unearned as a result of a Dick Tracewski error. He was tagged with a loss, as the final was 5-1 Twins. A year later, he again got the ball in Game Three with the Dodgers in a 2-0 hole. This time he allowed only three Orioles hits in seven innings, but one of those was a solo home run by Paul Blair. It was the only run of the game, with the O's winning 1-0 en route to a sweep. So Osteen has a 1-2 Series record with a 0.86 ERA!

-Claude was a three-time All-Star: 1967 (17-17, 3.22 ERA), 1970 (16-14, 3.83), and 1973 (16-11, 3.31).

-His finest season was 1969, when he went 20-15 with a 2.66 ERA and career highs of 16 complete games and 7 shutouts.

-The Dodgers traded him to the Astros prior to the 1974 season in exchange for Jimmy Wynn, who powered L.A. to the World Series in '74. Osteen split the year between Houston and St. Louis, and concluded his career with the White Sox in 1975. In parts of 18 seasons, he was 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA.

-After retiring, he served as a pitching coach for several major and minor league teams, including the Cardinals, Phillies, Rangers, and Dodgers.

#553 Astros Rookie Stars: Dan Coombs, Jack McClure, and Gene Ratliff

Yipes, it's a three-for-one! That's what I get for waiting around while Blogger righted itself over the weekend. Worth noting: I believe this is the first appearance of the Astros' cap logo in this set.

Fun facts about Dan Coombs:

-Dan was born in Lincoln, ME and starred in baseball and basketball at Seton Hall University. He signed with the Colt .45s in 1963.

-Houston called the 6'5" lefty up to the big leagues in September 1963 after he won 10 games in Single-A. He appeared in one game, giving up a run in one-third of an inning.

-After six appearances as a long reliever with the Colts in 1964, Coombs started a game during the team's final series of the season in Los Angeles. On October 2, he scattered 6 hits and 2 walks in 5 scoreless innings to earn his first career win.

-Had a so-so season out of the Houston bullpen in 1965, putting up a 4.79 ERA in 26 games. Appeared in only eight games total over the following two seasons.

-Dan appeared in a career-high 40 games for the Astros in 1968, going 4-3 with 2 saves and a deceptive 3.28 ERA. It was the famous "Year of the Pitcher", so he actually came in higher than the leaguewide mark of 2.99. While he didn't give up many runs, he allowed 10 hits per 9 nine innings and had an underwhelming 1.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

-After getting hit hard in an eight-game cameo in 1969, the southpaw was dealt to the Padres. San Diego utilized him chiefly as a starter, giving him 27 turns in the rotation in 1970. He had a career year, going 10-14 with a team-low 3.30 ERA (121 ERA+) and completing 5 games. He allowed 12 home runs in 188.1 innings.

-Twirled his only career shutout on May 9, 1970, two-hitting the host Expos in a 6-0 Friars win. In that game, he did not allow a hit over the final five innings.

-He was not much of a hitter, averaging .140 at the plate in the majors. He struck out six times in seven at-bats against Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, but made the last one count. On April 16, 1971, he doubled in his team's only run against Gibson. Unfortunately, St. Louis touched up Coombs for 6 runs in less than 3 innings and he took the loss.

-The Padres shipped Coombs back to the minors in 1971 after a rocky start, and it ultimately marked the end of his big league career. In parts of 9 MLB seasons, he was 19-27 with a 4.08 ERA.

-After his playing days, Dan coached baseball at G.C. Scarborough High School in Houston, TX.

Fun facts about Jack McClure:

-This one's a quickie; Jack played three minor league seasons and never made the majors.

-He was born in Asher, OK, and as near as I can tell, he signed with Houston in 1964 at age 18.

-His nickname was "Kid".

-McClure split his first pro season between Single-A Modesto and AA San Antonio, hitting .258 in 66 games with a .342 slugging mark.

-At Single-A Durham and AA Amarillo in 1965, he hit a cumulative .267, again with little power (2 HR, 2 3B, 12 2B). However, he was boosted to .284 with a .401 OBP in 58 games at Amarillo.

-The last record of Jack as a pro is a 10-game stint at Class A Cocoa in 1966; he went 2-for-32 (.063).

-In parts of 3 seasons, he hit .252 and slugged .322 in 176 games.

Fun facts about Gene Ratliff:

-A native of Macon, GA, Gene signed with the Colt .45s in 1964 out of high school.

-Believe it or not, Gene played even fewer pro games than Jack McClure, totaling 106 in the minors and 4 in the majors.

-In 3 seasons of Rookie and Class A ball, Ratliff batted .199 and slugged an anemic .268.

-Improbably, he did have two cups of coffee with the Astros in 1965. In two pinch-hit appearances in May and another two in August, he was 0-for-4 with a golden sombrero: four strikeouts. He can take heart in knowing that he's not even close to the career hitless record for a non-pitcher: that goes to ex-Indian Larry Littleton (1981) and former Cardinal Mike Potter (1976-1977), each of whom went 0-for-23 in the big show.

-However, Gene is believed to hold the record for most at-bats by a non-pitcher, all resulting in a strikeout.

#527 Jeff Torborg

I scheduled this card to post on Thursday, but it got lost in the ether during the Terrible Blogger Outage. Please excuse its lateness...I'm sure it's just an optical illusion, but the left side of Jeff Torborg's chest protector looks much wider than the right.

Fun facts about Jeff Torborg:

-Jeff was born in Plainfield, NJ and attended Rutgers University, then signed with the Dodgers in 1963. It's been reported that his signing bonus was a lofty $100,000.

-His .537 batting average and 1.032 slugging percentage in 1963 set Rutgers school records. They retired his #10 in 1992.

-He played only 64 minor league games before debuting with Los Angeles in May 1964. He saw action in only 28 games as a rookie third-string catcher behind Doug Camilli and starter Johnny Roseboro, and hit .233 with 4 RBI.

-He was best-known as a player for catching three no-hitters: Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, Bill Singer's 10-strikeout gem in 1970, and Nolan Ryan's first career no-no in 1973. Only current Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek (with four) has caught more in major league history.

-Jeff drove in a career-high four runs on July 30, 1970, fueling a 7-3 win over the Expos. His three-run homer off of Dan McGinn was the only round-tripper the catcher hit that year, and he added a run-scoring single later in the game.

-He probably didn't mind riding the bench when Jim Kaat was pitching, having gone 0-for-12 against the 283-game winner.

-Torborg spent seven seasons as a part-timer in L.A., and another three years with the Angels. He batted only .214 for his ten-year career (1964-1973), never topping .240 in a season. He totaled 8 home runs and 101 RBI.

-He got into coaching, serving on the big league staffs of the Indians and Yankees. More recently, he was a TV analyst for MLB games on FOX and the Braves' regional broadcasts.

-Jeff got his first crack at managing when he was tapped to replace Frank Robinson as Indians skipper in 1977. He went 157-201 in parts of three seasons before being supplanted by Dave Garcia in July 1979. After spending a decade as a Yankee coach, he took the helm of the White Sox in 1989. A year later, he oversaw a huge turnaround from 69-92 to 94-68, finishing in second place behind the juggernaut Athletics. Jeff was named 1990's American League Manager of the Year. Chicago slipped to 87 wins in 1991, after which the Mets lured the manager to the N.L. He lasted little more than a year, as "The Worst Team Money Could Buy" lost 90 games in 1992 and dropped 25 of their first 38 the next season before the ax fell. He also posted losing records as the Expos' interim manager in 2001 (47-62) and in a brief tenure with the Marlins in 2002-2003 (79-83, 16-22). Overall his managerial record was 634-718, a .469 winning percentage.

-His son Dale has the most interesting resume in the family. He played first base at Northwestern University and for parts of two seasons (1994-1995) in the low minors with the Mets. He spent the rest of the decade as a professional wrestler with the encouragment of Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage, and was best known for a stint in the now-defunct WCW as the Kiss Demon. After suffering a knee injury, he returned to baseball as a trainer for his father's teams in Montreal and Florida, and has been the minor league conditioning coordinator for the White Sox since 2004.



#497 Giants Rookie Stars: Ken Henderson and Jack Hiatt

As I rifle through my baseball card collection, I find a very different-looking Ken Henderson another decade or so down the line from his rookie card. 1970s cards really are the gift that keeps on giving.

Fun facts about Ken Henderson:

-Ken was born in Carroll, IA, but attended high school in San Diego before signing with the Giants in 1964.

-Despite struggling greatly in his first pro season (.191 AVG/.268 SLG), he was jumped from Rookie ball to A to AAA in short order that year.

-San Francisco was sufficiently enamored with Henderson to keep him on the big league roster for the whole 1965 campaign, but used the 19-year-old sparingly. He batted .191 with a .277 on-base percentage in 83 trips to the plate. In a rare start on August 17, he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a two-run double to account for all of the Giants' runs in a 3-2 victory over the Mets.

-In 1970, he became a regular in the San Fran outfield and hit .294 with 17 home runs and 88 RBI. He achieved career highs of 104 runs scored, 35 doubles, 20 steals, 87 walks, and a .394 on-base percentage.

-Joined the White Sox (along with Steve Stone) in a deal for pitcher Tom Bradley. Injuries cost him half of the 1973 season, but he rebounded to play all 162 games a year later. Ken hit .292 that year with 20 homers and a team-high 95 RBI while leading the American League in putouts by a center fielder.

-A switch-hitter, Henderson homered from both sides of the plate in a 4-2 victory over the Orioles on August 29, 1975. He got to lefty Ross Grimsley in the first inning, and victimized righty Wayne Garland in the eighth.

-He became a journeyman in the later period of his career, suiting up for the Braves, Rangers, Mets, Reds, and Cubs from 1976-1980. He retired as a .257 hitter in parts of 16 seasons, with a .343 on-base percentage, 122 home runs, and 576 RBI.

-On September 2, 1978, he hit a three-run pinch home run in the top of the 12th inning to lead the Reds to a 6-3 win over the Cardinals. It was one of five pinch homers in Ken's career.

-His cousin Kerry Dineen was an outfielder who played 16 games with the Yankees and Phillies, 1975-1978.

-Ken has worked in sales and marketing since hanging up his spikes, rejoining the Giants last year to sell luxury box suites at AT&T Park. He is married with four children and five grandchildren.

Fun facts about Jack Hiatt:

-Jack was a Bakersfield, CA native who signed with the Angels as a teenager in 1961.

-He was a very strong minor league hitter, compiling a career average of .299 and routinely reaching base above a 40% clip.

-The Angels called him up for the first time in September 1964, on the heels of a 23-homer season at AAA Hawaii. He notched 6 hits and 2 walks in 18 trips to the plate, including a walkoff pinch single off of Boston's Bob Heffner in his debut on September 7.

-Was traded prior to the 1965 season, going to the Giants in exchange for Jose Cardenal. Got very little playing time in San Francisco, totaling 290 plate appearances in 131 games from 1965-1967. Performed well in those limited opportunities, with a .280 average and .390 on-base percentage.

-Assumed the starting catcher's role in 1969 when Dick Dietz suffered a hand injury from a foul tip. In a four-game stretch from April 24-27, he hit .313/.421/1.063 (5-for-16) with 4 home runs and 12 RBI. He had the game of his life in a wild extra-inning affair April 25 vs. the Astros: a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Giants the lead, an RBI single in the eighth to tie it, and a walk-off grand slam in the 13th! That's 3-for-7 with 3 runs scored and 7 RBI if you're counting. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep it up and finished the year at .196 with 7 homers and 34 RBI.

-Jack spent the last three years of his big league career (1970-1972) as a part-timer with the Expos, Cubs, Astros, and Angels, finishing with a .251 average and .374 on-base percentage in parts of 9 seasons. He totaled 22 home runs and 154 RBI.

-Had a good track record against Claude Osteen (.371/.463/.486 in 41 PA) and Steve Carlton (.333 AVG, .394 OBP in 34 PA). Struggled against Gary Nolan (.111/.190/.167 in 21 PA).

-Hiatt was a talented pinch hitter, batting .296/.402/.426 in 127 tries over his career.

-Continued playing in the minors through the 1974 season.

-Worked in baseball for several decades after he quit playing. Was a minor-league manager for the Cubs (1975-1980), Angels (1982), Astros (1983), and Giants (1988). Also served as a big-league coach for the Cubs in 1981 and spent a number of years in the Giants front office, retiring as Director of Player Development in 2007.

#481 Cleveland Indians Team

We have a team card! Man, as aesthetically pleasing as the rest of this set is, these team cards with their loud single-color backgrounds and grainy photos are the pits. This one looks like the Indians are being engulfed by a giant marshmallow Peep, like the Stay-Puft Man coated in yellow granulated sugar. Mmmm...

So yes. The 1964 Cleveland Indians. They were a perfectly ho-hum 79-83, good for a sixth place tie with the Twins in the 10-team American League, 20 games in the rear view of the pennant-winning Yankees. It extended a remarkable run of mediocrity for the Tribe, whose won-lost records since 1957 went as follows: 76-77, 77-76, 89-65 (the one outlier), 76-78, 78-83, 80-82, 79-83, 79-83. In '64, the Indians won and lost at about the expected pace: their Pythagorean record (based on runs scored and allowed) was 81-81 for the second straight year. This sort of win-one, lose-one pace did not electrify the local fans, as Cleveland Stadium housed only 653,293 spectators all year for an eighth-place rank in the A.L. Manager Birdie Tebbetts suffered a heart attack in April, and George Strickland posted a 33-39 record in his stead. Tebbetts returned in midseason, faring slightly better at 46-44.

The Tribe bats were thoroughly middle-of-the-pack: fourth in runs scored (689), sixth in batting average (.247), seventh in on-base percentage (.312), sixth in slugging (.380), fourth in home runs (164). Seven players reached double digits in home runs, with left fielder Leon Wagner leading the way with 31 homers and 100 RBI. He batted just .253, however, and reached base at a .316 clip. First baseman Bob Chance led the regulars with a .279 average and drove in 75 runs in 120 games. Catcher Johnny Romano topped the team with an .806 OPS, partially due to his 19 home runs. Utility man Chico Salmon chipped in with a .307 average in 286 at-bats. The Indians did lead the league in stolen bases with a total of 79, as Dick Howser (20 SB) and Vic Davalillo (22 SB) did most of the work.

The Cleveland pitchers were uninspiring on the whole, totaling 693 runs allowed to place seventh in the league. Their 3.75 ERA was sixth-best, and the only category they topped was strikeouts, with 1,162. The bright spots were 21-year-old flamethrower "Sudden Sam" McDowell, who went 11-6 with a 2.70 ERA and a team-best 177 punchouts, and 29-year-old Jack Kralick, who was the team's only All-Star with his 12-7 mark and 3.21 ERA. Luis Tiant made his debut in midseason and went 10-4 with a 2.83 ERA. More impressively, he completed 9 of 16 starts and fanned 105 batters in 127 innings. The bullpen was anchored by veteran Don McMahon: 6-4, 2.41 ERA, 16 saves. He struck out 92 batters in 101 innings across his 70 appearances.

Sadly, the Indians are still looking for their first World Series championship since 1948, having lost in the Fall Classic in 1954, 1995, and 1997.They endured a frustrating stretch from 1995 through 2001 that saw them win 6 out of 7 A.L. Central titles without a single Commissioner's Trophy to show for it all. Of course they've come out of nowhere to win 22 of their first 33 games in 2011, taking command of a lackluster division. Is it finally "next year" in Cleveland? Time will tell.

#453 Dodgers Rookie Stars: Willie Crawford and John Werhas

The two-for-one rookie cards that feature one guy who made it in the big leagues and another who never gained a foothold are a bit cosmically cruel. I guess it serves as a reminder that prospecting is a crap shoot.

Fun facts about Willie Crawford:

-Willie was a Los Angeles native who signed with the Dodgers out of high school in 1964. The scout who signed him was none other than Tommy Lasorda, and Crawford signed for a $100,000 bonus.

-Due to bonus baby rules, he debuted with L.A. in 1964, a week after his 18th birthday. In limited action, he hit .313 (5-for-16).

-After four years of very little playing time, Crawford saw action in 61 games in 1968. He batted .251 with a .335 on-base percentage, 12 doubles, 4 home runs, and 14 RBI.

-On May 16, 1969, he batted in the bottom of the ninth inning against Pittsburgh's Ron Kline. With one out, a runner on first, and the Dodgers trailing 3-2, Willie hit a game-winning home run.

-In 1973, he set a career high by playing in 145 games. It also proved to be his most productive year, as he achieved personal bests with 75 runs scored, 26 doubles, 14 home runs, 66 RBI, a .295 average, .396 OBP, and .453 SLG.

-Willie repeated his .295 batting average in 1974, and produced similar power numbers: 23 doubles, 11 homers, 61 RBI.

-He went 2-for-6 in the 1974 World Series, including a ninth-inning home run off of Rollie Fingers in Game 3. His blast narrowed Oakland's lead to 3-2, but the Dodgers could get no closer.

-After spending parts of a dozen seasons in Los Angeles, Crawford was dealt to the Cardinals for the 1976 season. He responded with a .304 average, 9 home runs, and 50 RBI in 120 games.

-He retired after splitting the 1977 campaign between Houston and Oakland. In parts of 14 seasons, he hit .268 with 86 home runs and 419 RBI.

-Willie was only 57 years old when he died of kidney disease in 2004.

Fun facts about John Werhas:

-John was born in Highland Park, MI but attended high school in San Pedro, CA. He went on to the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American third baseman, and signed with the Dodgers in 1960.

-Had a breakout season with AAA Spokane in 1963, hitting .295 with 17 home runs and 96 RBI.

-John earned the Dodgers' starting third base job in the spring of 1964, and singled off of Ernie Broglio in his first career at-bat on April 14.

-Unfortunately, the hits proved to be few and far between. He was demoted to Spokane in early June with a .193 average, no home runs, and 8 RBI in 29 games.

-Werhas had only a September cup of coffee with L.A. in 1965, going hitless with one walk in four plate appearances.

-Spent a fifth consecutive year at AAA in 1966, batting .306 with a .403 on-base percentage, 15 home runs, and 80 RBI at Spokane.

-Began the 1967 season in the big leagues, and was traded from the Dodgers to the Angels in early May for former college teammate Len Gabrielson.

-John batted a miserable .159 in 56 games that year, with a pair of home runs and 6 RBI. He was through as a major leaguer, with a cumulative .173 average and .276 on-base percentage in parts of three seasons.

-He continued playing in the minors through the 1973 season, spending most of his time at AAA Hawaii - not bad work if you can get it! He also spent the 1971 season in Japan with the Taiyo Whales, and was traded back to Hawaii for Clete Boyer. It was said to have been the first trade between an American team and a Japanese team.

-After retiring, John became a pastor, spending several years at Yorba Linda (CA) Friends Church.

#377 Willie Stargell

Okay, one last Hall of Famer in this great batch from Max! Being a younger collector, it's always a neat contrast to see much older cards of players whose primary image comes from their veteran years, like Willie Stargell or Gaylord Perry. After all, Willie was popularly known as "Pops".

Fun facts about Willie Stargell:

-A native of Earlsboro, OK, Willie attended high school in California before signing with the Pirates in 1958.

-He debuted with Pittsburgh in September 1962, and made the National League All-Star team for the first of seven times in 1964, his first season as a regular starter. He hit .273 that year and led all Pirates with 21 home runs. His 78 RBI trailed only Roberto Clemente (87) for the team lead.

-Stargell hit a career-high .315 in 1966 with 30 doubles, 33 home runs, and 102 RBI. Overall, he drove in 100 or more runs in five different seasons.

-Finished second to Joe Torre in 1971 MVP balloting despite a batting line of .295/.398/.628 with personal bests of 48 homers (most in the N.L.) and 125 RBI for the World Champion Pirates.

-Willie's career year was 1973, when he paced the Senior Circuit with 43 doubles and 44 home runs (the first player to lead his league in both categories since Hank Greenberg in 1940), as well as 119 RBI, a .646 slugging percentage, a 1.038 OPS and a 186 OPS+. All that, and he still got edged out for the MVP by Pete Rose. Rose outhit him .338 to .299, but had only an .838 OPS.

-Late in his career, the outgoing Stargell became "Pops", the key on-field leader of the strong Pittsburgh clubs of the late 1970s. He gave out small yellow star patches to reward teammates for good play, and the stars were affixed to the team's black pillbox caps. He was also responsible for the adoption of Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" as the team's rallying song in the 1979 championship season. (As an Orioles fan, I'm glad I wasn't around for that.)

-He finally won his MVP award in 1979, sharing the honor with Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez. Willie hit .281 that year with 32 homers and 82 RBI. Ironically, it was one of his least impressive seasons statistically. Of course, he was undoubtedly rewarded for his role as a team captain, and for producing those numbers at age 39. He capped the year off with a .455 average (5-for-11) with two homers, two doubles and six RBI in an NLCS sweep of the Reds, followed by a .400 mark (12-for-30) with four doubles, three homers, and seven RBI in the seven-game World Series victory over the Orioles. He was named NLCS MVP and Series MVP, with his Game Seven performance (4-for-5, 2 2B, the eventual game-winning 2-run HR) cinching his Fall Classic honors.

-He retired after the 1982 season, his 21st in a Pirates uniform. The team immediately retired his #8 jersey. His career totals included a .282 average, .360 on-base percentage, .529 slugging percentage, 475 home runs, and 1,540 RBI. He is Pittsburgh's all-time leader in career home runs and RBI.

-He was famous for not just the frequency of his home runs, but also the sheer magnitude. He hit 7 of the 16 balls to ever leave Forbes Field, and often reached the upper deck in Three Rivers Stadium. He holds the distance records at Dodger Stadium (507 feet), Veterans Stadium (unknown), and Olympic Stadium (535 feet). As Don Sutton once said, "He doesn't just hit pitchers, he takes away their dignity."

-Stargell spent several years as a Braves coach, and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1988.  Later in life, he suffered from kidney trouble, and died at age 61 on April 9, 2001. That same day, the Pirates opened their new stadium, PNC Park, and dedicated a statue in his likeness on the premises.

#361 Checklist 5th Series

Ooh, the ever-elusive unmarked checklist! At first glance, a checklist would seem to be as far removed from our recent run of Hall of Famers as you could get. However, you'll notice that there are actually SIX Hall of Famers featured on this card: Orlando Cepeda, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski, Harmon Killebrew, Luis Aparicio, and Al Lopez. What do you mean it's not the same?

This is the sixth checklist I've featured (out of seven total), and it encompasses the fifth series of 1965 Topps: cards #353-429. Of course "Killer" gets the hero number of 400. In addition to the Cooperstown enshrinees listed above, other notables in this series include Vada Pinson, Tommy Davis, Rocky Colavito, and Curt Flood. How many Series Five cards do I have? Holy cow...76 of 77! That's 98.7%! Flood is the only card missing. He can run, but he can't hide...

#260 Don Drysdale

Do you believe it? Another Hall of Famer! I hope you don't mind going back to the Gary Geigers and Ron Brands next week.

Fun facts about Don Drysdale:

-Don was born in Van Nuys, CA. A high school teammate of actor Robert Redford, Drysdale signed with the Dodgers as a 17-year-old in 1954.

-He held his own as a rookie with the 1956 Brooklyners, going 5-5 with a 2.64 ERA. He earned a complete game victory in his first start, a 6-1 win over the Phillies on April 23.

-The first of his eight All-Star seasons was 1959, when he went 17-13 with a 3.46 ERA and topped the National League with 4 shutouts and 242 strikeouts.

-Drysdale won the 1962 Cy Young Award with a 2.83 ERA and league-best numbers in wins (25-9) and strikeouts (232).

-He pitched in five total World Series in his career, going 3-3 with a 2.95 ERA in 7 games, striking out 36 and walking 12 in 39.2 innings. The standout performance of his postseason career came in 1962, as he held the Yankees to three hits and struck out nine in a 1-0 win in Game Three of the World Series.

-He was one of the better-hitting pitchers of his era, batting .186 with 29 home runs. In 1965, he hit .300 (39-for-130) and slugged .508 with 4 doubles, a triple, 7 home runs, and 19 RBI. His homer output that season tied Don Newcombe for the National League's single-season record for pitchers. Amazingly, none of his position player teammates batted above .286 that year!

-In 1968, Don set a record with six straight shutouts from May 14-June 4. His run of 58.2 straight scoreless innings was also a record until fellow Dodger Orel Hershiser blanked the opposition for the last 59 innings of the 1988 season. Despite the streak and an overall ERA of 2.15, "Big D" was only 14-12 in 1968.

-A shoulder injury caused Drysdale to retire in August 1969 just weeks after his 33rd birthday. In parts of 14 seasons he was 209-166 with a 2.95 ERA and 2,486 strikeouts.

-Don was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984, enduring a ten-year wait on the ballot most likely due to his relatively short career. That season, the Dodgers retired his #53. It's been said that the title character/car from Disney's "Herbie the Love Bug" was given #53 in honor of the great pitcher.

-He had a lengthy career in broadcasting, doing team broadcasts for the Expos, Rangers, Angels, White Sox, and Dodgers. He also spent nearly a decade doing national work for ABC and dabbled in Rams football games in the mid-1970s. Drysdale's love of the camera also led him to guest roles on a number of TV shows, including The Brady Bunch, The Greatest American Hero, The Donna Reed Show, Leave It To Beaver, The Rifleman, The Millionaire, and You Bet Your Life.

-In July 1993, he was found dead of a heart attack in his hotel room in Montreal, where the Dodgers were playing a road series. He was 56 when he died.

#220 Billy Williams

Just like that, we're back to the Hall of Famers. As a younger(ish) baseball fan, Billy Williams seems to be a great player who's become overshadowed. Even on his own team, he was dwarfed by larger-than-life personalities like Ernie Banks and Ron Santo. Thoughts?

Fun facts about Billy Williams:

-A native of Whistler, AL, Billy was a teenager when he signed with the Cubs in 1956.

-He had brief trials in Chicago in 1959 and 1960 before earning the regular left field job in 1961. That year he became Rookie of the Year thanks to a .278 average, 25 home runs, and 86 RBI. More impressively, his 115 OPS+ would turn out to be the second-lowest of his long career.

-Williams earned his first All-Star nod in 1962, when he batted .298 and was second on the Cubs with 22 home runs and 91 RBI. He also led the team with 94 runs scored and 70 walks.

-He set a National League record by playing in 1,117 consecutive games between 1962 and 1971. Steve Garvey eventually surpassed his mark in 1983.

-Claimed another Senior Circuit record by hitting five home runs over the span of two games, Sept 8 and Sept 10, 1968. Remarkably, Leo Durocher replaced him in left field with Jose Arcia in the eighth inning of the latter game; it became moot, as Williams' spot in the batting order did not come up again before the end of the contest.

-In 1970, Billy led the National League with 137 runs scored and 205 hits. He batted .322 and set personal bests with 42 home runs and 139 RBI, but was a distant second to Johnny Bench in MVP voting.

-April 6, 1971 saw the Cubs and Cardinals put on an Opening Day classic. Fergie Jenkins and Bob Gibson dueled into the tenth inning with the score tied 1-1. In the bottom of the tenth, Williams won the game with a solo home run off of Gibson, one of ten career homers he hit off of the St. Louis ace.

-His greatest all-around year was 1972, when he topped the N.L. with a .333 average, .606 slugging percentage, and 348 total bases. He also clubbed 37 homers and drove in 122. Once again, Bench bested him in the MVP race, but by a closer margin (263 points to 211).

-Williams spent the final two years of his career as a designated hitter in Oakland, participating in the 1975 ALCS for his only postseason experience. He retired in 1976 with a .290 average, .361 on-base percentage, and .492 slugging. He totaled 426 home runs and 1,475 RBI.

-Billy coached for the Cubs (1980-1982, 1986-1987, 1992-2001) and Athletics (1983-1985). He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987, having to wait until his sixth year on the ballot to gain entry. The Cubs retired his #26 that same year.