1983 Pro Baseball Season
Individual cards for over 700 real-life big-league baseball players based on the 1983 pro season. Also includes 32 umpire cards, tradd player guide and suggested batting orders.
A well-contested race in the American East saw five of the division's seven teams chasing after the title, each of whom finished at least eight games over .500! Baltimore ended up as king of this rather daunting hill: The O's top pitching ace tossed five shut-outs and their "iron man" shortstop was unstoppable, playing all 162 games, leading the league in plate appearances (726), hits (211) doubles (47) and runs scored (121), easily winning the MVP award. Even fans of second-division Boston had reason to cheer: the BoSox hard-hitting LF led the league with 39 home runs, and their effervescent 3B won the batting title with a .361 average, safely reaching base over 300 times!
The American West was a one-horse race, with Chicago "winnin' ugly" and ringing up nearly 100 victories! Two Pale Hose pitchers each had 20+ wins and the club won the division by 20 games. Leading the charge was their rookie LF sensation, who was league second runner-up with 35 home runs. The rest of the west was a mess, but there were some gems scattered among the dust; Oakland's fleet LF stole 108 bases and California's beloved 37 year-old batting ace finished the year hitting at a .339 clip.
Over in the National, the competition was remarkably balanced, with only one team winning more than 90 games, only two teams losing more than 90. No team had a 20-game winner on its pitching staff, and Pittsburgh's affable 3B won the batting title with a modest .323 average. Philadelphia—with its home run-belting 3B and fireballing ace pitcher—pulled away from Pittsburgh and Montreal to take the east with a 90-72 record with a veteran club affectionally dubbed "The Wheeze Kids," while Los Angeles fended off stiff challenges from Houston and Atlanta to take the west.
St. Louis and San Francisco were home to the league's pitching ERA leaders, both posting figures in the low twos. Houston's "Ryan Express" led the strikeout parade, and his 3,509th strikeout on April 27th broke Walter Johnson's long-standing record. Expect these top pitchers to echo their real-life greatness on your HMB tabletop!
In the post-season, the Phils and O's earned their respective league pennants with four-game decisions, and led by their series MVP-winning catcher, Baltimore took home baseball's world championship with a 4-1 series win in the annual Fall Classic.
1983 was also the year of the infamous "Pine Tar Incident," where Kansas City's famed slugger's go-ahead regular-season two-run homer was challenged by New York's notoriously caustic manager. The home plate umpire agreed that the bat in question had too much pine tar, disallowing the home run and sending the entire KC team into a fury! The league office later over-ruled the call, restoring the home run and forcing the remainder of the game to be replayed later. You'll get the umpire's card with the set—it's possible he'll make the same call for you, generated from one of HMB's Rare Results charts!
The 1983 Pro Season card set for HISTORY MAKER BASEBALL includes 30 individual player cards for each of big league baseball's 26 teams, over 700 cards in all. Plus you get a set of 32 umpire cards, based on 1983's real-life umpire calls, and a suggested roster sheet, a nostalgic baseball-lover's bargain for just $39! Order YOUR copy TODAY!