2013 trade package #20: free cards from the Diamond King!

Those of you not following the Diamond King's PWE project should hurry the hell up and start, because it's on and it's a thing of beauty.  I commented on one of his posts about wanting one of the cards, and yesterday I received a nice little PWE in my mailbox.  But it didn't include just the one card I asked for--hell, it wasn't even a pair of cards; he sent SIX my way!  The package:

Not a bad little calling card there, Kevin.

The Henson was the nickel card I asked for as I'm pretty sure I need it while I try to collect the former Michigan football/baseball star (even if he WAS a Yankee).  The rest were surprises:  a pair of Topps inserts of right-handed Tigers sluggers starts things off, followed by a sweet trio of Detroit vintage:  a '70 Earl Wilson, '74 Norm Cash and '72 Freehan (which might just be in better shape than the one I have).

The back of Wilson's card notes that at that point he had 33 career HR, four short of the career record for pitchers; he would hit two more before his career ended that year, and sadly he passed away in 2005.  Still, he had a nice career with Detroit (plus Boston and, briefly, the Padres), winning the World Series in '68 (although he was credited with the loss in game 3).

1974 would be the last season of Cash's 17-year career, and he spent 15 of those with the Tigers after being traded from the White Sox to the Indians to Detroit before the 1960 season.  Norm hit .385 with a homer and five RBIs to beat the Cardinals in '68, and all told was a .271 lifetime hitter with 377 HR and four All-Star appearances.  Unfortunately he died in a freak accident in 1986 at the age of 51.  Still, "Stormin'" Norman is remembered fondly by Tigers fans for his long tenure with the team, not to mention his above-average hitting skills.

And then there's the Freehan, of course.  Since I've said a good amount about him between this blog and TMM, I'll just discuss his 1972 season.  Bill was in his 10th full season (11th overall) with the Tigers, and would appear in his 9th of 10 straight All-Star games (out of his 11 career nods).  He only hit .262 with 10 HR and 56 RBI, but he was coming off a 1971 campaign in which he'd homered 21 times, plus had a reputation as one of the game's best overall catchers.

Thanks once again for an awesome PWE, Kevin!  I'm considering this a "trade" as I fully intend to get you back soon, and I need more trades on the books anyway as this is just my 20th here out of what I hope amounts to at least 100 by the end of the year!  Readers, please make sure to check out the DK's fantastic blog and hit up his wantlists, including his SCAM project, not to mention the PWE project for yourselves!