Glenn Beckert

October 12, 1940 - April 12, 2020

I hate to keep doing this.  But Glenn Beckert was part of my childhood and I couldn't let his passing go without a small tribute.  We are living in difficult times now.  He was in hospice in Florida with dementia when he passed away. It was heartbreaking to read how his daughters were unable to visit him due to the Corona Virus. 

He was a Gold Glove, a four-time All-Star and an important part of the ill-fated 1969 Cubs. Most impressive was his low strikeout to at-bat ratio. He led the league 5 times and placed in the top ten every year from 1965-1972.  To put it into perspective as to how much the game has changed, the player with the most at-bats to strikeouts in 2019 was the Orioles utility infielder, Hanser Alberto.  He averaged 1 strikeout in every 10.5 at-bats.  Beckert's career average was 1 strikeout in every 21.4 at-bats.

Four years ago, when Milt Pappas passed away I found this photo of Pappas and Beckert at the 100 year celebration at Wrigley Field in 2014. 

I've created a few cards of Glenn Beckert over the years. Here they are once again.

A Remake of the 1974 Topps Fergie Jenkins

Texas Rangers CTNW Favorites #1

Let's face it, sometimes Topps just makes terrible looking cards. The 1974 Fergie Jenkins was one of them:

I mean, just look at it.  Poor Fergie obviously just took off his Cubs hat and never had a chance to comb out the hat-head (just barely a step above bed-head). He deserved better. Topps should have given him the full traded card experience. First a nice card for the Cubs like I posted above. Then a decent looking card of him on his new team, like I have below:

Granted, the real Topps Traded card most likely would have either been a terrible airbrush job or perhaps the hatless bed-head picture they used on his regular 1974 card. In 1976 when he was traded to the Red Sox, Topps did give him the full treatment with both a regular and an airbrushed traded card.

Fergie pitched in 197 games for the Rangers in 1975-75 and 1978-81. He had an overall record of 93-72. He is 4th on the all-time list in wins for the Rangers and his 25 win season in 1974 remains a Texas Rangers record.