Sunday Shout-Out

Dick Allen Hall of Fame

This is a site after my own heart. First it is loaded with cool home-made cards. Second it features one of my childhood favorite players, Dick Allen. 

I love that Allen wore a jersey with Wampum 60 during his final year on the A's (Wampum High School, Class of 1960). I love that he wore a helmet on the field. I love that he smoked in the dugout. 

His other themes are Familiar Faces/Strange Places. Done in the 1974 Topps style.

Tributes to 1976 and 1980 Phillies Teams.

College All Americans in the 1971 Topps Style, Minor Stars in the 1983 Topps Style,

St. Patrick's Day cards in the 1969 Topps Style and the White Sox in their 1976 era softball uniforms colorized and presented on 1961 Topps format. (They look really cool so I won't bother asking why.)

This site has so many great custom cards as well as pictures you won't find anywhere else. I can't recommend it enough.

1954 Bowman Ernie Banks

Ernie Banks debuted on the Cubs in September of 1953. He was the first African American ball player on the Cubs. Appearing in a game 3 days earlier than second baseman Gene Baker. In 1954 he was second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Cardinal outfielder Wally Moon.

1972 Topps Mickey Mantle

I've been asked why I decided to create a 1971 Mantle even though he played his last game in 1968.  Well the answer is simple: Because Topps hasn't yet. They have made a Mantle card for every year since 2006. and in 2006 they made Mantle cards for 1996-2005. They also made a special Walmart insert in the style of 1970.  That leaves 25 years of Mantles that I'm sure they will put out sooner or later. I'm just taking a shot at it first. So here is my version of the 1972 Mantle card that Topps will eventually issue.

Sunday Shout-Out

This will be a regular feature of this blog. I have a number of sites that I like checking out. There are so many people making Cards That Never Were. I will try to link people who happened across my blog to these other sites. For my first "Shout-Out":

White Sox Cards:

This is one of my favorite blogs and one of the main reasons is because of his version of "Cards That Never Were". He includes many pre-rookie cards and star players on unfamiliar teams with a slant toward Chicago players and teams. 

  

He also created "WSC Birth Year Cards". These feature recent White Sox players on cards issued in their birth year.

Please click on the links above to check out all of his creations and be sure to check his blog for other cool cards plus White Sox game summaries.

1981 Topps World Series Co-MVPs

1981 was an eventful year. The players went on strike from June 12th until August 10th. The MLB set up a playoff structure in which the 1st half division leader (Dodgers) would play the 2nd half leader (Astros) before facing the other division for the pennant.  The Dodgers overcame an 0-2 deficit to beat the Astros in 5 games then overcame a 1-2 deficit to beat the Expos in 5 games. 

The Yankees took the first two games in the Series only to see the Dodgers come from behind again to win it in 6 games. Cey, Guerrero and Yeager combined for 5 of the team's 6 homers and 17 of 26 RBIs. They also led the team in cheesy mustaches.

Back From The Beach

Sorry for the absence but upon returning from vacation, my computer decided it needed a vacation too and stopped working. But I'm back and my computer is back to work too.

1959 Topps Larry Sherry

Larry Sherry was the 1959 World Series MVP. Coming in on relief, he earned 2 wins and 2 saves. He gave up only 1 earned run in 12 2/3 innings. Despite making the majors in 1958 his first card came in 1960.

On Vacation

My posts will be infrequent this week because I'm on the beach. I have my laptop with me but I seriously doubt I will be using it much. Just like all the scrubs in baseball, I don't work All Star Week.

I do want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Bob Lemke for the nice things he said in his blog. If you have a chance, take a look at all the great cards he made.

1962 Topps Buck O"Neil

Buck O'Neil was the first black coach in the majors as a member of the infamous Chicago Cubs "College of Coaches".  He is credited with bringing Lou Brock to the Cubs as a scout. He also managed the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues from 1948-1955.

Upon Further Review....

Ok, maybe some of these cards were done before.

I was on ebay looking for cards and came accross this:

This is an original sketch with an asking price of $299. Much better than my version. 

It made me think. Which other cards were done before?

So I googled the cards I made and this is what I found:

This was on a message board called "The Bench" under a thread called "Topps Cards That Never Were". This guy not only made the card but he graded it too. (Why only a 7?) Here's mine:

Next I found this:

This was on Amazon and it says that it was issued in 1995. Again the artwork is really nice. Not to nit-pick but, Aaron wasn't on the Braves in 1952 and the Braves were not in Milwaukee in 1952. Here is my version:

Next I found one that I really don't know how I missed. It is on Bob Lemke's Blog. I actually follow his blog and enjoy his cards. He does an artistic and professional job. Mine are for my own amusement. I really like his version. Not only is it a nice looking picture but the background is similar to Chuck Klein's 1941 Play Ball card and kind of reminiscent of the 1933 Tattoo Orbits. Here is his card:

I am almost ashamed to put mine up next to his but here it goes:

I found this for sale also on eBay:

It's a 2010 card from Monarch Corona. I never heard of them before. Here is my version:

At least nobody else made a 1979 Bobby Douglass.

1955 Bowman Herb Score

In 1955 Herb Score won the Rookie of the Year award. Unfortunately he didn't have a card until 1956. In 1957 Herb was hit in the face with a batted ball from Yankee's Gil McDougald breaking several bones in his face and missing the rest of the season. When he returned in 1958 he was nagged by injuries, changed his delivery and was never the dominating pitcher he was in his early career.

1941 Play Ball Dizzy Dean

Dizzy Dean played for the Chicago Cubs from 1938-1941. He pitched game 2 of the 1938 World Series giving up 2 homer in a losing effort. The Yankees Swept the Cubs in 4 games. There were no Cubs at all in the 1941 Play Ball series. I'm not sure why but it leaves me an opportunity to fill the gap.

1979 Topps Bobby Douglass

Bobby Douglass was the Chicago Bears quarterback from 1969-1975. He later played for the Saints, Chargers and Packer mostly as back-up. Bears coach Abe Gibron once said of Douglass "He could throw a ball right through a barn door, if only he could hit a barn door."

In 1979 Bill Veeck gave Douglass a try out for the White Sox. He spent a short time pitching for their AAA farm club, the Iowa Oaks. He pitched a total of 7 innings giving up 7 earned runs on 6 hits, 13 walks and a balk. He struck out none.

The only picture I could find of him in a Sox uniform was a grainy black and white. So I apologize for the poor quality of this card. I'm still learning how to colorize.

1952 Topps Henry Aaron

There are virtually no Negro League cards so that leaves plenty of opportunities to create my own. This is my first attempt at colorizing black and white photos and it is more than a bit rough. 

Hank Aaron spent about 3 months playing for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952 before being offered contracts from both the New York Giants and the Boston Braves. He chose the Braves because they offered $50 more per month.

1960 Topps Ron Santo

This is a card from my other blog Six Degrees of Ron Santo. It was my first attempt at creating a card. I've got a few Santo cards that I made for that blog. Expect them to be liberally sprinkled in here as well. Most of them have no reason to exist except that the blog is based on Ron Santo so I plan on putting him on lots of card formats.

1971 Topps Mickey Mantle

Topps has been pretty good about filling in the blanks as far as Mantle goes. They have created cards for 1951, 1954, and 1955 that weren't included in their original sets. They have included Mantle as a special #7 card in all sets since 2006. Also in 2006 Topps created cards for Mantle going back to 1996. There even was a special 1970 Topps Mantle that was a WalMart exclusive. That leaves a 25 year gap from 1971-1995. I'm sure that it will eventually be filled by Topps because of Mickey Mantle's marketability, but in the mean time I will have to make my own.