1983-84 O-Pee-Chee Highlights, Rush Kiss The Cup In Chicago

Back in September, I posted a blog about the Rush concert in Chicago when several Blackhawks made a guest appearance on stage.  Since then, Rush has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup.

At last night's Rush Concert just outside Chicago, Daniel Carcillo brought the Cup onstage. Check out the video below.

For my part, I chose to commemorate the occasion with a 1983-84 O-Pee-Chee style Highlight card. Strangely, this is not my first Rush card. I created cards for the band over a year ago in honor of "International Rush Day", February 1st 2012 or 2-1-12.

1968 Topps Willie Mays All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

1968 was truly the "Year of the Pitcher" . Denny McLain and Bob Gibson both won Cy Young and MVP awards for their respective leagues and Mickey Lolich won the World Series MVP. 

In the "Year of the Pitcher" we had one of the most unique All Star Games. The game was won by the NL despite the fact that there were no RBIs and no Earned Runs. The 12 pitchers combined for ZERO earned runs and 20 strike outs over 17 innings. (9 for the NL, 8 for the AL). The pitchers surrendered only 8 hits and 6 walks.

One of those hits came off the bat of Willie Mays who made the most of it. On a pick off play at first, Mays advanced to second on an errant throw by Luis Tiant. Mays then took 3rd on a wild pitch. Curt Flood walked then Willie McCovey grounded into a double play. Mays scored the only run of the day. Unearned because of the error. No RBI because of the double play.

2013 Stanley Cup Champs Chicago Blackhawks

A 1972-73 Topps Style card in honor of one of the greatest hockey teams in NHL history.

1982-83 O-Pee-Chee Joel Quenneville

I posted a Joel Quenneville "Card That Never Was" on Saturday to bring my Blackhawks luck. The Hawks came through.  Now to keep that luck going for what could be tonight's Cup winner, here is another card of Coach Q. Quenneville was a defense-man for the Colorado Rockies since 1979. When the Rockies moved to Jersey and became the Devils, Quenneville went with them. He played only one season in a Devils uniform before being traded to the Hartford Whalers.

Although Quenneville was rockin' a 'stache on his rookie card for the Maple Leafs, it was noticeably missing on his Rockies cards.This would have been the first card of Coach Q with his current mustache. He apparently grew it towards the end of his time on the Rockies. That makes Coach Q's mustache older than 72% of the current Blackhawks players.

1987-88 O-Pee-Chee Joel Quenneville

I'm posting a Coach Q card that was missing from his playing days in hopes that it brings my Blackhawks luck in tonight's game.  If it does expect to see another before game 6 on Monday as well. Not that I'm superstitious, but why risk it?

Joel Quenneville sustained a shoulder injury in December of 1986 and missed the remainder of the season. Subsequently, O-Pee-Chee left him out of the 1987-88 set.

1969 Topps Jack Kemp

Jack Kemp was a 6 time AFL All Star for the Chargers and the Bills. In a preseason scrimmage in 1968 Kemp injured his knee and was out for the entire season. Despite his return in 1969 along with the addition of Heisman Trophy winner, OJ Simpson, the Bills managed only 4 wins. Kemp was named to the AFL All Star team for the 7th time.

In 1970 Kemp ran for Congress and began his long career in politics. Although Topps did not see fit to make a regular 1969 card of Kemp he was included in their 4 in 1 mini stamps which were inserted into 1969 packs.

Video Checklist - Series 14

Here are cards 326-350 from Series 14. The music is Guns n Roses "14 Years" with a rare lead vocals by Izzy Stradlin and Axl singing the chorus.

1973 Topps Checklist - Cards That Never Were - 14th Series

Once again a large chunk of the 25 cards in this series are of the All Star variety. 12 of the 25 included Hall of Famers, Willie Mays was featured on 4 different cards in this series, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Maury Wills each appeared twice.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : The Managers

For the 1st time since the original All Star Game in 1933, neither manager went to the World Series the previous year. In 1964 the Yankees were managed by Yogi Berra who lost to the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards were managed by Johnny Keane. The Yankees fired Berra who became a player-coach for the cross-town Mets. The Yankees then hired Keane. 

1966 Topps Gene Mauch All-Star

Gene Mauch managed the Phillies in 1964. On September 21st the Phillies were in 1st place with a 6.5 game lead. They then went on to lose 10 straight games dropping to 3rd place. They ended the season in a 2nd place tie with the Reds. The Reds were managed by Fred Hutchinson who was battling lung cancer. He continued to manage until July 27th when 1st base coach Dick Sisler took over. Hutchinson died November 12, 1964.

1966 Topps Al Lopez All-Star

From 1949-1964 only 2 A.L. teams other than New York Yankees went to the World Series. Both were managed by Al Lopez. The 1954 Indians and the 1959 White Sox. When the pennant winning Yankees fired Berra, the manager of the 2nd place White Sox was the logical choice.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : American League Battery

1966 Topps Milt Pappas All Star

To put it as gently as I can: Pappas had a rough start. He gave up a walk and 4 hits including 2 homers in the first inning. Despite spotting the N.L. a 3-0 lead, the loss would go to Sam McDowell. The A.L. tied the game at 5 in the 5th on a Harmon Killebrew homer. The Nationals overtook the A.L. in the 7th on a Ron Santo RBI single off McDowell.

1966 Topps Earl Battey All Star

In his 4th and final All Star start, Earl Battey ground out twice including a double play. In the 6th inning Bill Freehan came in to replace Battey. Freehan then went on to start every All Star game behind the plate from 1966-1972.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : National League Battery

1966 Topps Juan Marichal All-Star

Marichal pitched 3 innings, faced 9 batters and recorded 9 outs. He surrendered only one hit to Vic Davilillo then got the next batter, Earl Battey, to ground into a double play. In a game that yielded 11 runs on 19 hits (5 of them homers), Marichal was nearly perfect. Marichal also singled and scored in his only at bat. He was named the 1965 All Star Game MVP for his performance.

1966 Topps Joe Torre All-Star

Joe Torre hit a 2 run homer off Milt Pappas in the top of the 1st. The 1965 All Star game was Torre's 3rd and his 2nd as a starter. 1965 was also the year that Torre earned his only Gold Glove.

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On a side note to anybody who actually reads these posts all the way to the bottom: I've been playing around with Pinterest. I've started posting all of my previous cards onto different boards. I've been organizing them by theme, year, and plan on sorting by team. I have also added a Pinterest button that allows for the images posted to be "pinned" to other's pages. I am new to Pinterest and have found some pretty cool pictures there. And surprisingly found some of my own cards already pinned there by other people. If you have some spare time, (and let's face it, if you read all the way to the bottom of one of my posts, you have some spare time) check it out.

Here is a link to my Pinterest page:

http://pinterest.com/ctnw/

1966 Topps All Star Cards : American League Infield

1966 Topps Harmon Killebrew All Star

Appearing in his 7th All Star game, Killebrew's 2 run Homer in the 5th inning tied the game at 5. Ultimately the N.L. would win 6-5 on an RBI, infield single off Ron Santo's bat.

1966 Topps Felix Mantilla All Star

1965 saw career highs in Hits, Walks and RBIs for Felix Mantilla. He also made his only All Star appearance. In the 2nd inning he turned a double play assisted by 2 Hall of Famers (Brooks Robinson and Harmon Killebrew), taking out 2 other Hall of Famers (Willie Mays and Hank Aaron).

1966 Topps Dick McAuliffe All Star

In his 1st All Star game, McAuliffe went 2 for 3 including a 2 run blast in the 5th inning.

1966 Topps Brooks Robinson All Star

At the age of 28, Brooks Robinson was playing in his 9th All Star game. By the end of the season would have his 5th Gold Glove.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : National League Infield

The 1965 N.L. All Star infield was cornered by 2 of my all-time favorite players. Ernie Banks and Dick Allen. The 2 guys in the middle aren't to shabby either.

1966 Topps Ernie Banks All Star

 After 8 straight All Star seasons, Mr. Cub was left off the All Star squad in 1963 and 64. In 1965 he returned to the starting line up and went 2 for 4 at the plate.

1966 Topps Pete Rose All Star

Pete Rose went hitless in his first of 17 career All Star games.

1966 Topps Maury Wills All Star

In 1965 Will led the N.L. in stolen bases for the 6th consecutive season with 94 thefts. 

1966 Topps Richie Allen All Star

After winning the 1964 Rookie of the Year award, Dick Allen was chosen to start the 1965 All Star game at 3rd base. He went 1 for 3 at the plate and was relieved in the bottom of the 5th by Ron Santo.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : American League Outfield

While the 1963 N.L. All Star outfield was all Hall of Famers, there wasn't a single Hall member in the A.L. outfield.That is what I find so cool about All Star cards and for that matter, League Leader cards. Although these guys might not be household names, they were certainly regional favorites.

1966 Topps Willie Horton All Star

 

 Willie Horton was a promising player as a September call-up in 1963. He sputtered a bit in 1964 and spent most of the season proving himself again in the Minors. In 1965 he made his mark in the Majors, hitting 28 homers with 104 RBIs in his first full MLB season.

1966 Topps Vic Davalillo All Star

Vic Davalillo began playing pro ball for the Reds "D" League team in 1958. He was 21 years old. He played his last Major League game in 1980 at the age of 44 for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a Gold Glove center fielder in 1964.  In 1965 he made his only All Star appearance. He got a single in his first All Star at bat. He was the only player to reach first base on Juan Marichal.

1966 Topps Rocky Colavito All Star

After Marichal's near-perfect first 3 innings, The A.L.'s bats woke up. Rocky Colavito got the first RBI in the bottom of the 4th with a single off Jim Maloney. This was Rocky's 8th All Star game but his first as an Indian. He had previously represented Kansas City and Detroit in All Star games.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : National League Outfield

For the 1966 Topps All Star Cards That Never Were, I borrowed a bit from the 1969 Topps All Star cards. I used the diagonal banner across the field of stars. It looked similar to the diagonal team banner on the top corner of the regular 1966 Topps cards. The bottom half is basically identical to regular 1966 cards.  Although I tried to make them look like they would belong in the 1966 Topps set, if they were not labeled as 1966 Topps I doubt most people would see the connection.

1966 Topps Willie Stargell All Star

The 1965 All Star outfield had 3 future Hall of Famers. In his first All Star start, Willie Stargell went 2 for 3 with a homer 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. He was relieved in the 7th inning by another Hall of Famer and teammate, Roberto Clemente.

1966 Topps Willie Mays All Star

Perenial All Star, Willie Mays also homered for the Nationals in a game that saw a total of 5 home runs.

 

1966 Topps Hank Aaron All Star

Another perenial All Star, Hank Aaron appeared in his 15th All Star game. Aaron went 1 for 5.