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When Topps Had Balls |
Thursday, May, 13, 2021
WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1890 "BASEBALL CHAMPIONS" AMOS RUSIE
The next 19th Century baseball star from my early custom WTHBALLS set to get the spotlight here on the blog is the "Hoosier Thunderbolt" Amos Rusie:
This
was a really fun set to create and release back in 2018, in special
cigarette pack packaging with loads of goodies, along with a
double-mounted cabinet postcard of the 1869 Cincinnati red Stockings.
Rusie was an anchor for the New York Giants at the end of the 19th
Century, reeling off eight 20-win seasons (four of them 30+ seasons),
while topping the National League in strikeouts five times and shutouts
four times, with two ERA titles thrown in.
His final numbers of 246-174, with a 3.07 ERA and 1707 may not seem overwhelming, but if you can imagine, his career was over by the time he turned 30!
As a matter of fact he really pitched his last full season at the age of 27, with a three game appearance in 1901 with the Cincinnati Reds that encompassed only 22 innings of work.
So really those final numbers represent nine years of Major League ball!
And for those of you that may not know this, the trade that got him to Cincinnati for those scant three games in 1901 goes down as one of the all-time worst trades, sadly for the Reds, as they shipped to New York a young collegiate pitcher who’d go on to an even greater career than Rusie, none other than all-time great Christy Mathewson!
Ouch!
His final numbers of 246-174, with a 3.07 ERA and 1707 may not seem overwhelming, but if you can imagine, his career was over by the time he turned 30!
As a matter of fact he really pitched his last full season at the age of 27, with a three game appearance in 1901 with the Cincinnati Reds that encompassed only 22 innings of work.
So really those final numbers represent nine years of Major League ball!
And for those of you that may not know this, the trade that got him to Cincinnati for those scant three games in 1901 goes down as one of the all-time worst trades, sadly for the Reds, as they shipped to New York a young collegiate pitcher who’d go on to an even greater career than Rusie, none other than all-time great Christy Mathewson!
