My First Cards

From 1975 through 1985, Hall of Famer Rich “Goose” Gossage was arguably the best fireman in the major leagues.

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In ’82, Goose led his team in WAR, which is very rare for a reliever to do. He mighted even posted a sub-2.00 ERA if not for 1 bad outing in Chicago. Nonetheless, he rebounded and finished the year hot.

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The 32 year old Milt Wilcox, though not the ace of the Tigers staff in ’82, was good for a 3.62 ERA and 1.5 WAR. He had a very consistent and largely average year, but at the same time, he was bettering some of the best lineups in the American League.

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Len Barker was a young promising pitcher when ’82 began, having thrown a perfect game and led the AL in strikeouts the previous 2 seasons. He had a bone spur on his elbow though, that would bug his arm sometimes, and affect his pitching, and could be why he wasn’t so good later in the year.

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Mike Krukow won just 9 games in 1981. The Phillies knew he could be better, so they traded for him and Mike won 13 games and lowered his ERA by a full run, also earning over 3 WAR for the 1st time in his career.

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Knuckleballer Phil Niekro was a white haired 43 year old on the 21-day disabled list, when the Braves started their season in ’82. Surprisingly though, Phil wasn’t washed up yet. He almost won 20 games while earning the NL gold glove. All he wanted though, was to get his team to win the NL West.

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Danny Darwin played for 8 teams in a 21 year career, and in 1982 he was possibly the single reason the Texas Rangers didn’t lose 100 games.

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Reliever Ron Davis was on fire when he took the mound in Anaheim on May 4, 1981. Nobody could hit him, and from the photo on this card, you can understand why. He looks like he’s going to beat up anyone who dares step up to the plate next. That’s rather intimidating.

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John Verhoeven was 28, when he became the last Twins pitcher for another 28 years to throw pitches outdoors in a home game. He didn’t have much of a career, but he had some fun while he was a major leaguer.

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At the beginning of ’82, nobody viewed the Yankees as a team in need of talent. They either had it, or could buy it when they needed it. Of course, history tells us that ’82 was the start of the Yankees playoff drought and time for some rebuilding of the franchise during some dark years.

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Card #5 in the set celebrates September 26, 1981, when Nolan Ryan tossed his 5th career no-hitter against the Dodgers. Most anyone had ever thrown. This game actually came in the middle of a 24 inning scoreless streak for the Ryan Express. He’d go on to toss 7 no-no’s for his career.

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Steve McCatty looks more like a nerdy kid who should be home playing baseball on a video game than actually in the major leagues. The plain and dull sense of the card is offset a little by the bright yellow and green theme, but it’s still just as boring as his career was in ’82

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The epitome of streaky. About every 30 days or so in 1982, Dave Goltz managed to be a different pitcher. It was such predictable inconsistency that you have to wonder why the Angels put him on the post-season roster.

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Vern Ruhle was a great Astros pitcher for a few years when they were contending to ruhle the NL West, but he suddenly broke down into a below average pitcher in 1982. He had his moment in the sun, even if it was in a dome.

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Is it just me or does Claudell Washington look kinda goofy here? Rick Mahler looks like a perfect fit for a southern team with that shave. I’ve always imagined he’s in the middle of telling about a fish he caught earlier.

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