I grew up in the 70's and was a huge fan of the pitching greats that dominated that decade: Carlton, Hunter, Jenkins, Palmer, Perry, Ryan, and of course Mr. Seaver. During the decade, he had 178 wins (tied for 3rd in MLB), 2,304 K's (2nd in MLB), 40 shutouts (3rd in MLB), a 2.61 ERA (2nd in MLB), and was arguably the best pitcher from 1970 to 1979.
He wrapped up his 20 year career in 1986 and finished with 311 wins, 3,640 K's, and a 2.86 ERA. In 1992, he was enshrined at the Baseball Hall of Fame and to this day has the highest voting percentage in Cooperstown history. An astounding 425 of the 430 ballots submitted had Seaver's name on it and according to Sports Illustrated, 3 of the 5 ballots that left him off were left blank in protest of Pete Rose's exclusion.
He's the only player wearing a New York Mets hat in the Hall and is the only player (outside of Jackie Robinson) to have his jersey number retired by the organization.
So if you're in the market for a cheap, cool card of one of the greatest pitchers to take the mound... you might want to consider picking up a 1975 Topps #370. Beckett has it listed at $12, but you should be able to find one at a card show in the $2 to $3 range. I picked up my copy for $2.67 over at COMC two years ago.
Okay, it's time for you to chime in...
In terms of pitching... what's your favorite decade? Who were some of your favorite pitchers?
Happy Monday and sayonara!
14 comments:
I loved this card as a kid and still do now as a big kid!
I grew up following the same pitchers you mentioned, but I would add don sutton and Jr Richard to the list. And bobby welch.
I'm going to cheat and say the 'decade' is the ten year period from the mid 60s to the mid 70s. That's when my baseball interest was probably at it's peak. My favorite pitchers from those days.... the great Sandy Koufax, Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer, Bob Gibson (who I'd hand the ball to if my life were in the balance) and Dennis Martinez.
1980's
Dave Stewart
Dwight Gooden
Fernando Valenzuela
Mark Langston
Charlie Lea
Nice call on Sutton... he was right in the mix during the 70's. JR Richard was a beast! I have a small PC of him. And although I didn't follow Welch in the 70's, I definitely supported him during his years as an Athletic.
I wish I had been born a few years earlier. I never watched Koufax or Gibson pitch... but had the pleasure of watching and cheering for Palmer and Martinez.
Great list. Loved Stew when he pitched for the A's. And Gooden and Valenzuela were two of my favorites during the decade.
I saw Gibson in action in one of his final games, a relief inning in the Astrodome in August of 1975. He came in to pitch the bottom of the eleventh after the Cards had gotten a run in the top. My buddy and I were sitting behind the Cards dugout and saw the look on Gibson's face when he walked down from the bullpen mound. There was no way the Astros were going to score, I don't care how old Gibby was! He proceeded to strike out three guys looking. LOL He was one bad dude.
Wow. Now that's a great memory. I've heard some awesome stories about how tough/mean he was on the mound and how hitters truly feared him. Wish I could have witnessed it at least once.
I'm going to say 2005~2015
This might be disqualified considering that I started in '05 and the last 3 years haven't started yet, but as a guy who didn't start really getting into baseball (and baseball cards) until 2011 I'm amazed at the great pitching talent in the majors today. Around this time a lot of the old players from the 90's have basically vanished and a completely new generation had arrived. You've got a small handful from the previous decade with the likes of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia as well as wave after wave of new-comers who seem to be dominating batters year after year that includes names like Justin Verlander, Tim Lincecum, Phil Hughes, Felix Hernandez, David Price, James Shields, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Stephen Strasburg etc... and even more to come in the years to come with Danny Hultzen, Dylan Bundy, Trevor Bauer, Chris Archer, Aaron Sanchez, Matt Barnes and Noah Syndergaard.
Of course this might be what baseball fans who've been watching the game longer than I have consider the norm and think I'm being a total n00b right now, but regardless I think that this decade just might be called the decade of the pitcher rather than the years of the pitcher ;).
Nothing wrong with living in the now and everyone's opinion counts on this blog. Justin Verlander is a joy to watch... even if he's striking out twenty-two of my Athletics during the post season. The control, velocity, and the number of innings he pitches qualifies him as old school in my book.
I'd like to add Matt Cain to your list. He's a homer pick... but living in the Bay Area, I get to see him pitch on a regular basis. That guy notoriously gets poor run support, but still manages to throw with a sub 3.00 ERA. I'm not a Giants fan, but I was pretty stoked that he pitched that perfect game earlier in the year.
Oh yeah I specifically wrote 2005 for a '05 rookie but forgot who it was. Now I remember, it's Matt Cain.
I'm somewhat jealous that you get see the pitchers in the bay area so much. The Giants current rotation is already great with Cain, Lincecum & Bumgardner and (your) Athletics rotation has a bright future ahead considering how far the 2012 staff was able to lead the team to the playoffs when most of the rotation consisted of rookies and call-ups (Milone and Parker were beasts!).
I didn't grow up with baseball, but I do like New York Yankees, especially Phil Hughes, I think he is awesome.
Yeah... the Bay Area has some serious talent in terms of pitchers. Hopefully the A's won't dump their talent to the highest bidders during the off season.
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