Hall of Fame Spotlight - Hal Newhouser

Plaque photo borrowed from http://www.baseballhall.org/

Hal Newhouser (b. 1921 - d. 1998) pitched in the majors from 1939 to 1955 for the Tigers and Indians (yes, I chose a Hall of Fame teammate of Virgil Trucks for this post. On purpose haha). He was the ace pitcher on the Tigers for most of his career when the Tigers were an awful team. He had a career record of 207-150, 1,796 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.06. He also had 212 complete games and 33 shutouts.

What makes him a Hall of Famer?

• Member of the 1945 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers
• 2x AL MVP (1944 and 1945)
• 6x All Star (1942 - 1944, 1946 - 1948)
• Led the AL in wins 4 times (1944, 1945, 1946 and 1948)
• Led the league in ERA twice (1945 and 1946)
• Led the league in strikeouts twice (1944 and 1945)
• Finished second in MVP voting in 1946, almost becoming a back to back to back MVP (as a PITCHER!)
• Only pitcher to win back to back MVP awards
• Won pitching triple crown in 1945

Should he be a Hall of Famer?

• All of career numbers rank 'middle of the pack' (Strikeouts, Wins, ERA, Complete Games, Shutouts, etc.)
• Three seasons where he lost more than he won from 1941 to 1943
• Led the AL in losses with 17 in 1947 (he would also win 17 games that year)
• Highest Hall of Fame ballot percentage was 42.8%.
• Appeared on 12 Hall of Fame ballots, averaging 21.22% of the vote

The Verdict?

The season that Newhouser went 17-17, he had a 2.87 ERA. In 1942 when he went 8-14, his ERA was 2.45. It appears to me that he was a pretty dominant pitcher on several bad teams. Being the only pitcher to win back to back MVP awards carries a lot of weight. He was an ace of a formidable Tigers rotation dubbed TNT (Trout, Newhouser, Trucks) in the 1940s. In my humble opinion, it took too long to get Newhouser into the Hall in 1992. YES, Hal Newhouser deserves his spot in the Hall of Fame. It is somewhat of a shame that he was only able to enjoy being a member of the Hall for only 6 years, having died in 1998.

Did you know that while Newhouser was a scout for the Astros, he was credited with discovering Derek Jeter? The Astros eventually passed Jeter over for Phil Nevin. Cue the epic fail music.

1955 Topps #110 - Gus Zernial (Updated)

Power hitting leftfielder Guz Zernial (b. 1923 - d. 2011) played in the majors from 1949 to 1959 for the White Sox, A's and Tigers. He led the league in home runs in 1951 with 33. He had 1,093 hits, 237 home runs and a .265 batting average. He has the second most home runs by a player with a last name that starts with Z, behind Todd Zeile's 253.

(DECEASED 64)

Unfortunately, Gus Zernial passed away the other day, so I had to update this one.

Picked Up Some 1971 Topps at the Greenville Card Shop

I had to get some supplies yesterday, so I picked up two more of the 1971 Topps cards that the shop owner was holding on to.
Willie Stargell. I believe this is his first appearance on my blog. Maybe? I don't know. I know that I'm not supposed to like the 1971 or 1979 Pirates. They beat the Orioles in the World Series both of those years in 7 games. Ouch.

Carl Yastrzemski was an awesome player. Too bad he didn't win a World Series. Heck of a hitter, though.

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These are two guys whose autographs I still need to get. Both aren't as expensive as they could be. I'm hoping I get them soon.

1955 Topps #109 - Ed Lopat

Ed Lopat (b. 1918 - d. 1992) played in the majors from 1944 to 1955 for the White Sox, Yankees and Orioles. He had a career record of 166-112, 859 strikeouts and a 3.21 ERA. He was a member of 5 World Series Championship teams from 1949-1953, all with the New York Yankees. He also managed for a bit, from 1963 to 1964 for the Kansas City A's.

(MANAGER 10)

(DECEASED 58)

Card Show Pickup - Eddie Mathews Autographed Baseball

I picked up my 18th Hall of Famer autographed baseball at the card show. Braves great, Eddie Mathews. I've been wanted to get one of his baseballs for a long time now, and the vendor made me a sweet deal. It looks great, which is always good, haha. I'm wanting to get Warren Spahn really soon too, so he may be one of my next purchases. We'll see, though.

Eddie Mathews seems to be a kind of forgotten player. He hit 500+ home runs in his career, but may have been overshadowed by his teammate, Hank Aaron. Not bad company.

1955 Topps #108 - Rube Walker

Rube Walker (b. 1926 - d. 1992) played in the majors from 1948 to 1958 for the Cubs and Dodgers. He retired with 360 hits, 35 home runs and a .227 batting average. He was a member of the 1955 World Series Champion Brooklyn Dodgers.

(DECEASED 57)

1955 Topps #107 - Curt Roberts

Curt Roberts (b. 1929 - d. 1969) played in the majors from 1954 to 1956 for the Pirates. He retired with 128 hits, 1 home run and a .223 batting average. He was also a player in the Negro Leagues, playing for the Kansas City Monarchs, the same team that produced Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige. Sadly, Roberts' life was cut short when he was struck by a car on the highway as he was changing a tire on his own car.

(DECEASED 56)