Earl Wilson, Boston Red Sox
Career: Wilson had double digit wins in eight straight seasons from 1962 through 1969. He pitched for the Sox and Tigers for the bulk of his career but finished up with a half season in San Diego in 1970. He won 121 games with 21 being his best season total. He led the AL with that in 1967.
Notable Achievements:
AL Wins Leader (1967)
15 Wins Seasons: 2 (1966 & 1967)
20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1967)
200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 7 (1963-1969)
200 Strikeouts Seasons: 1 (1966)
Won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1968
In 1960: Called up in July he had three shaky relief appearances before given a shot as a starter. He responded with back-to-back complete game wins. He got seven more starts before the season ended with mixed results, a 3-2 record and 4.71 ERA. He spent the following season in the minors before returning to the bigs for good in 1962.
WikiFacts: "Occasionally used as a pinch-hitter, he was a definite home-run threat any time he stepped into the batter's box. Wilson hit home runs for teams in each league in 1970 - it would be 38 years until another hurler, C.C. Sabathia, duplicated the feat. His 33 homers by a pitcher in the post-1960 expansion era stands as a record; as of 2014, Bob Gibson and Carlos Zambrano were tied for second at 24."
The Card: From time to time you come across cards from this set on which the letters in the player's name are uneven. This is one of them.The color scheme isn't repulsive and the condition is about f/g.
Heh, I never noticed uneven numbers in 1960 Topps. Am now picturing a full set of 1960 Topps with uneven numbers. I like it.
ReplyDeleteMakes the card kind of 'festive', right?
DeleteIt's amazing that Earl Wilson was traded DURING the 1966 season, and finished that year 3rd in the AL in wins and strikeouts.
ReplyDeleteJust the kind of juice the Red Sox could have used to get past the Cardinals in the '67 World Series!
yeah, looking back he ended up with a really solid season. WHIP, ERA among his best. 13 wins after June 14 deal.
Delete