1967 Alt-Topps

Here is another Topps mock-up.  Although the name says Ben Solomon, it's obviously Eddie Mathews.  Ben Solomon was an art director for Topps.  His name on the card must be an inside joke.  The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. Mathews is sporting a Milwaukee Braves cap. That is because the photo was lifted from his 1964 Topps card.





Mathews last season for the Braves was their first season in Atlanta.  That made him the only Braves player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Despite the Milwaukee cap and the fact that Mathews was traded to Houston before the season, I placed this set in 1967, AKA "the Summer of Love".  These cards give off that vibe. This is in contrast to the classic, clean, no-nonsense design Topps actually used in 1967.

Here is my version.  I used a more straight forward, less cartoony font for the team name. But I preserved the other design elements.






As usual, I made base cards of the respective MVPs and Cy Young Award winners.  I also followed Topps' color scheme from the actual 1967 set (as best I could).

The 1967 AL MVP was Triple Crown winner, Carl Yastrzemski. In the NL the MVP was Orlando Cepeda.  He had been the 1958 Rookie of the Year for the Giants. Primarily a first baseman, there was just no room on the Giants behind "Stretch".  He was traded to the Cards in May of 1966.

1967 was the first year the MLB awarded Cy Youngs to each league.  In the AL, Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox was having a career year.  He had 22 wins and 246 strikeouts, both league-leaders and career highs.  In the NL, Giants pitcher Mike McCormick also had a career high and league-leading 22 victories.

To be continued...

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Just as I've done in previous Alt-Topps posts, this post contains the base cards, I'll make a couple more posts with various subsets. And, of course, I'll make as many request as I can an hopefully post them in a few weeks. Just post your requests (or even ideas for other subsets, etc) in the comment section.  Thanks.

Cards That Never Were - 47th & 48th Series Checklists

Just these last two, then we're all caught up on the checklists (for now).

The 47th series consisted of six NFL Rookie of the Year cards, eight post season 1984 Topps Statue cards and eleven cards from the 1975 Alt-Topps set.  The checklist is also based on the 1975 Alt-Topps design. I used a photo of Don Newcombe in an LA Dodgers cap. After Cy Young pased away in 1955, Major League Baseball named an award after him.  Newcombe was first ever winner of the Cy Young Award in 1956.  He also won the NL MVP that year.  In 1958, (the year the Dodgers moved out of Brooklyn) Newcombe was 0-6 in 8 starts for LA when he was dealt to the Reds.  He pitched in Cincinnati and Cleveland until 1960. In 1961 he was back in the minors. In 1962 he went to Japan and played for the Chunichi Dragons.  He was primarily an outfielder and first baseman.  He passed away in February of 2019.

Series 48 is nothing but 1975 Alt-Topps cards.  I included a photo of Ed Sprague Sr. on the checklist. He passed away earlier this year.  He is, of course, the father of  Ed Sprague who played 3rd base for the Blue Jays during their World Series years of 1992 & 1993. Ed Sr, was mostly a relief pitcher. He played 8 seasons in the Majors for the A's, Reds, Cardinals and Brewers. In 1975 he was the number 5 starter in the Brewers rotation.

As usual, you can click here to see all the cards included in these series.  You can also click on any of the checklists in the margin.  This is great for looking at all my cards without all those annoying words slowing you down.

Cards That Never Were - 45th & 46th Series Checklists

More Checklists!!!  How exciting!!

The 45th Series began with some 1968 Alt Topps Football cards just to mix things up. The bulk of the series was from the 1965 Alt-Topps set.  This was one of my favorites because it focused more on the photos with a small(ish) design.  I tried to stay true to the design with the checklists.  I used full-sized photos.  I tried to fade them out into the background and put the actual checklist right on top.

This design didn't work as well as I had hoped.  Although it is hard to make out the players' identities, they are both pitchers that passed away in 2019.  Bob Friend was a work-horse for the Pirates in the '50s and '60s.  By 1965 he was running out of gas. After the season he was dealt to the Yankees. In June of 1966 he was sold to the Mets.  That made him the first player to play for both the Yankees and Mets in the same season. (Granted the Mets were only 4 years old in 1966).

The 46th series had several more  1965 Alt-Topps cards.  I also had the All-Star Honorary Captains from 1987-89 and tribute cards to Jim Bouton and Tyler Skaggs.  

The card itself is a tribute to Ernie Broglio who passed away in July of 2019.  In 1965 he was pitching for the Cubs.  He will always be remembered as the wrong side of one of the most lopsided trades in MLB history.

As usual, you can click here to see all the cards included in these series.  You can also click on any of the checklists in the margin.  This is great for looking at all my cards without all those annoying words slowing you down.

Cards That Never Were - 43rd & 44th Series Checklists

Still playing catch-up with the checklists.  The 43rd series contained mostly 1979 Alt-Topps cards. I included a shot of Rusty Staub AKA "le Grande Orange". He actually passed away in 2018, but a card commemorating his passing was requested in the comments.  In 1979 he began the season with Detroit.  In July of 1979 he was sent North of the border for cash considerations and a player to be named later (Randall Schafer). He played until 1985 with the Expos, Rangers and Mets.

The baseball community lost Mel Stottlemyre in January 2019. He is included on this 1971 Alt-Topps checklist. He played 11 years in the Majors, all with the Yankees. He was a five-time all-star.  The 44th series consisted of 24 cards from the 1971 Alt-Topps set and one Alt-Topps football card. It was a 1968 Alt-Topps design of Bart Starr.

 As usual, you can click here to see all the cards included in these series.  You can also click on any of the checklists in the margin.  This is great for looking at all my cards without all those annoying words slowing you down.

Cards That Never Were - 41st & 42nd Series Checklists

It's been almost exactly one year since I last posted checklists.  Even though I haven't had many posts, they are usually packed full of cards. These really add up. So for the next few days, I'll be trying to catch up.

I've adapted my Alt-Topps designs to create the checklists.  I tried to match them up with the bulk of the cards included in the respective series. For the 41st series I used the 1968 Alt-Topps design.

For the 42nd Series, I used the 1979 Alt-Topps design.  On this one, I incorporated a photo into the checklist like Topps did in the late '60s. In the past, I used photos of players we lost recently.  Ron Fairly passed away last October. His final year in baseball was 1978 but Topps did include him in the real 1979 set. In his final year he was the backup first baseman for the Angels.

 As usual, you can click here to see all the cards included in these series.  You can also click on any of the checklists in the margin.  This is great for looking at all my cards without all those annoying words slowing you down.