Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 NL Infield

I've been a bit behind on my postings, due to trying to put together another pack of physical cards.  Also just work, family, holidays, etc.  Also, for the time being, I'm going to monitor ALL of the comments, as this blog has been getting spam comments lately.  I will try to allow comments quickly so they will show, unedited, while trying to weed out the spam.

The National League All Star infield had a lot of potential cards to add to the 1960 set.  Much of this is due to having 2 ASGs in 1959. That being said, the only position Topps seemed to be in sync with was shortstop.  Ernie Banks was the starter in both 1959 ASGs and was a 1960 Sporting News All Star.

However, at first Topps had Willie McCovey, the 1959 Rookie of the Year, but the future Hall of Famer wouldn't make an All Star appearance until 1963. In the first game of 1959, his teammate, Orlando Cepeda was the starter at first.  

In the second game Stan Musial was the starter at first base.  In 1960 The Sporting News selected one All Star team rather than one from each league and in 1960 the selection was Moose Skowron of the Yankees.

Topps had Dodgers Gold Glove second baseman as their All Star selection.  He was a reserve in the second ASG of 1959 and both 1960 ASGs.  The starter in both 1959 games was the Reds' Johnny Temple. 

The 1960 Sporting News selection was Bill Mazeroski.  He was also the starter at second in both 1960 All Star games.

At third Topps had Eddie Mathews. Mathews was the 1960 Sporting News All Star and started the first All Star game in 1959. The player who started the second game was Ken Boyer.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1960 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Willie McCovey

 Stretch was the Rookie of the Year in 1959, but didn't have a Topps card.  (Here is my version of that missing card).  Perhaps Topps was making up for that by giving him two cards in the 1960 set.  But he wouldn't make an All Star appearance until 1963.  It wasn't until 1965 that he would be a Sporting News All Star selection.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 AL Outfield

 In 1960 Topps had Mantle, Maris and Kaline as its AL All Star outfielders.  All three of them started one of the 1959 ASGs.  Kaline started game one,  Maris and Mantle started the second game.  That left three other 1959 ASG starters that did not have All Star cards in the 1960 set.  Minnie Minoso was the most egregious offense. He not only started all four ASGS in 1959 and 1960, but he was also a Sporting News All Star in both 1959 and 1960.

Rocky Colavito started the first All Star game in 1959 and was a reserve in the second game.  He led the AL with 42 homers in 1959 and was 4th in MVP voting.

Ted Williams would get his last All Star start in the second ASG of 1959.  By 1960 he was already under contract with Fleer and wouldn't have another Topps card until his manager cards in 1969.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 NL Battery

The 1960 Topps All Star set were supposedly "Sport Magazine" selections.  Unfortunately, I can't find any list to verify that.  The Sporting News also selects an All Star team.  Their National League battery included Ernie Broglio, Vern Law, Warren Spahn and Del Crandall.  That's one lefty handed pitcher, two right handed and one catcher.  At first I thought that maybe one of those pitchers was a reliever, but all three are starters.  I'm not sure why TSN included 3 pitchers.  Del Crandall was already included in the Topps set, but the three pitchers who were "Sporting News" selections were not.  Therefor this may be a bit of a stretch for this project.  Nonetheless, Here they are:

Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 AL Infield

 Again, no mystery players from the AL infield included in Topps' 1960 All Star subset.  Fox and Aparicio were MLB All Star starters in both 1959 games and chosen to the Sporting News All Star roster in 1960.  Moose Skowron was the starter at first base during the first 1959 ASG and was on the 1960 Sporting News All Star team.  Frank Malzone was the starter at third in the second ASG in 1959.  Nonetheless, there are still a couple of players who could have made the cut.  Harmon Killebrew was a starter at third in game one and Pete Runnels started at first in game two.

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 My latest project is making All Star Cards That Never Year for the years 1958-62 and 1968-70.  During those years Topps decision making on these cards was haphazard and a mystery to everybody but Topps. They were NOT based on the current season's "Sporting News All Stars" nor the previous season's ASG starters.  So I've made additional cards based on this criteria.   

What started as an idea for a small project, ballooned to over 150 cards so I'll be posting these in small doses.  I'll be breaking it down by year, league (NL or AL), and positions (battery, infield and outfield).

Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 NL Outfield

   My latest project is making All Star Cards That Never Year for the years 1958-62 and 1968-70.  During those years Topps decision making on these cards was haphazard and a mystery to everybody but Topps. They were NOT based on the current season's "Sporting News All Stars" nor the previous season's ASG starters.  So I've made additional cards based on this criteria.   

What started as an idea for a small project, ballooned to over 150 cards so I'll be posting these in small doses.  I'll be breaking it down by year, league (NL or AL), and positions (battery, infield and outfield).

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In 1961 The Sporting News All Star team expanded to include a full roster from both AL & NL.  However, pre-1961 it was a combined roster.  The only NL outfielder was Willie Mays. The starting outfield in both 1959 games consisted of Mays, Aaron and Wally Moon.  But the 1960 Topps All Star Set was Aaron, Mays and Joe Cunningham.  

So only one Card That Never Was this time:

But seriously, why Joe Cunningham?  I know this time the cards say Sport Magazine All Star selection but I could not find that particular list, or an online copy of that magazine.  Joe was a reserve in both 1959 ASGs.  In the first game, he never left the bench.  In the second he pinch hit for Johnny Temple, grounded into a fielder's choice, and was pulled for pinch runner Vada Pinson. 

He had a decent season in 1959 finishing 13th in NL MVP voting and leading the league in On Base Percentage.  But in 1960 his batting average dropped by 65 points and his OBP dropped by 90.

Checking in with "Rating the Rookies"

This has been a busy time for me and I haven't really had the time to commit to this blog. Although I haven't been very busy on this blog, I have still been occasionally creating Cards That Never Were for my other blog, Rating The Rookies.

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Here is a 1975 Topps card for Lloyd Allen and a 1973 Topps card for Winston Llenas. They shared a 1970 Rookie Stars card while on the Angels. You can see that post here.

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Craig Reynolds, Lamar Johnson, Johnnie LeMaster and Jerry Manuel all share a Rookie Infielders card in the 1976 Topps set. 

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Jim Miles and Jan Dukes were both on a Senators Rookie Stars card in 1971. Here they are representing the same team in 1968 and 1971 repectively.

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In the 1963 set Rogelio Alvarez, Dave Roberts, Bob Saverine and Tommy Harper share a Rookie Stars card.

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Sammy Ellis and Mel Queen were both on the 1964 Reds Rookie Stars card.

Rating the Rookies: 1960 Topps Ted Wieand

This time the random number generator came up with an early solo rookie card: this Ted Wieand card from the 1960 Topps set. Ted came up for a cup of coffee at the end of the 1958 season with the Reds (who were at the time called the Redlegs). The first batter he faced was Frank Torre (Joe Torre's older brother). Torre went yard on the rookie but Wieand regained his composure and retired 6 of the next hitters he faced in the 4th and 5th innings. In the bottom of the 6th he took the mound again only to give up a double to Hawk Taylor then a single to Frank Torre before getting sent to the showers.

When he was called back up at the beginning of the 1960 season he didn't fare much better. He appeared in 5 games, pitched 4 and 1/3 inning and gave up 5 runs. His final MLB game was just 10 games into the 1960 season. He came in with the Reds clinging to a 5-4 lead over the Phillies with runners on 2nd and 3rd, no outs. He intentionally walked the first batter to load the bases. He then walked the next batter, presumably unintentionally, to tie the game at 5. The next batter hit a grand slam. The Reds lost 9-5. Wieand returned to the minors and was dealt to the Yankees. He never made it back up to the Big Leagues.

I chose to make a 1958 card to commemorate his only other MLB appearance even though it was brief. As for  his 1960 Rookie card I can understand why Topps chose to give him a card. He was the Reds winningest AAA pitcher in 1959 and was on the roster at the beginning of the Reds' 1960 season. However, Ted Wieand didn't even make it through April.

I've adopted a new grading system. Just like those pricey grading companies, I'll hermetically seal the card and permanently attach my (somewhat) unbiased opinion along with a grade from 1 to 10. Unlike the grading companies, my score has nothing to do with the condition of the card but the card itself.

1959 & 1960 Topps Chris Short

If you have been following this blog you know that I stumbled upon a player who like Maury Wills, started in 1959 but (possibly) because of contractual problems with Topps had no cards until 1967. There have been several takes on the missing Will cards. A couple of those coming from Topps themselves. If you want to see all of them in one place follow this link to the Garvey-Cey-Russell-Lopes blog. He has created some very nice versions of Wills' missing cards.

For my part I plan to double up on my Chris Short cards. Frankly there is not as much to say about Short as there is Wills. But I am not good enough to crank out 8 cards at once and still keep my day job.

I went with the "Rookie Stars" format for his 1959 card. Short was hardly a "star" in 1959. He appeared in only 3 games getting no decisions but surrendering 3 homers and 13 earned runs in just over 14 innings. But that puts him right in league with the other riff-raff that made up the "Rookie Stars of 1959". This was a very cool looking subset with mostly mediocre rookies. To my count 9 of the 31 players featured in this subset didn't even play in 1959. Several others saw very limited play.

In 1960 Short made the squad on a more permanent basis. He played 3 games in AAA Indianapolis then  appeared in 42 games for the big league club. Most of his appearances were in relief but he did manage 6 wins, 3 saves and a respectable 3.94 ERA.

1966 Topps Style 2013 World Series Champs

My goal during the Series was to mimic the style of the Topps World Series cards. Topps began making World Series cards in 1960 but stopped after 1965. Generally Topps included a card for each game and another celebration card. That meant if the series went past 5 games, I'd either have to skip ahead from 1965 to 1967 or take a few liberties and create World Series cards in the style of 1966. I chose the latter.

Going into the 2013 World Series, there were no real surprises. It was the 3rd time in last 10 years that the Red Sox won the pennant. It was the 4th time in the past 10 for the Cardinals. None the less it promised to be an exciting match-up. With perfect 20/20 hindsight, I'd say it delivered.

In Game 1 Jon Lester put on a pitching clinic. He went 7 2/3 innings, surrendering 5 hits, 1 walk and no runs while striking out 8. Meanwhile the Cardinals' questionable fielding allowed the Red Sox to take Game 1 by a score of 8-1.

In Game 2 it was the Red Sox's fielding errors that allowed the Cardinals to even up the series.

Game 3 ended on an errant throw to 3rd that led to an obstruction call which gave the Cardinals the winning run to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

In Game 4 the Cardinals left 8 men stranded on base and had their 9th inning rally cut short by a pick off at 1st. This was the first time in history that any post-season game ended on a pick off. The Red Sox tied the Series up at 2 games a piece.

Jon Lester pitched another gem in Game 5, but the big question was why Adam Wainwright didn't pitch around David Ortiz. Ortiz was hitting .733 in the Series while the rest of the team was hitting just over .150 collectively. The Sox took the lead 3 games to 2.

In Game 6 the Cardinals pitching staff finally got the message "Do not to pitch to Big Papi". Ortiz walked 4 times, 3 times intentionally. Shane Victorino, who hit a grand slam to win the Pennant for the Red Sox over the Tigers in Game 6 of the ALCS, rocketed a ball off the Green Monster with the bases loaded to clinch it for the Sox.

1960 Topps Style 2013 World Series Game 1

World Series cards began appearing in Topps sets in 1960. They continued to run into the '80s skipping over only a few years, 1966-67 and 1979-80. This card was made in the style of the 1960 Topps World Series cards.

There were a few options on who could have appeared on the Game 1 card. Beltran robbing Ortiz's grand slam, the reversed call at second or the many fielding miscues of the Cardinals to start the game. But I had to give the nod to Jon Lester. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out 8 to get the win in Game 1.

1960 Topps Art Donovan

Art "Fatso" Donovan - June 5, 1925-August 4 ,2013

Once again sad news has caused me to interrupt my Ron Santo football card theme and make a card of a legendary player who has passed away.  Although Donovan had cards from 1956-59 and in 1961 for some reason he was omitted from the 1960 set. 

 Art Donovan was a Hall of Fame tackle both offensive and defensive.  More importantly he was a larger than life personality.  He was a favorite on late night television.  He would tell stories of old school football that would have the likes of Letterman and even Johnny Carson in stitches.  He will be missed.

Here is just a sample of some of his entertaining interviews you can find on You Tube:

1975 Topps M.V.P. and R.O.Y. Cards: 1960-1969

In 1960, both Hanson and Howard had "Rookie Star" cards. Following the same train of thought I used on the 1959 ROY card, I wanted a regular issue card. I created a standard 1960 card for Frank Howard. Looking at it now in comparison to the Maris and Groat cards, both photos I used should have been zoomed in quite a bit to match the original set.

For the 1961 ROY card I needed to create only the Don Schwall card.

Here is a switch. The only "Card That Never Was" is the one created by Topps. Maury Wills was famously missing from the Topps sets until 1967, but they made one for their 1975 MVP subset.

For the 1963 card things got a little different for me. Both Rose and Peters appeared on multi-player "Rookie Stars" cards. For consistency, I created standard cards for them. But I wonder if Topps might have gone in a different direction:

or:

?

Once again, both ROY winners appeared on multi-player rookie cards in 1964. This time, I didn't create either of these "Cards That Never Were". For the "Richie" Allen card, I had to bow to the master of all things Dick Allen, the Dick Allen Hall of Fame blog. For the Oliva card, I lifted it from the Topps 1989 "Turn Back the Clock" subset:

Once again, in 1965 both players were on multi-player rookie cards and I made regular issue cards for them.

Ditto for 1966.

And 1967...

And 1968.

In 1969 Lou Piniella appeared on his 3rd multi-player rookie card on his 3rd different team (Senators, Indians & Pilots). However none of them would be the team he played for when he won Rookie of the Year honors. For the 1969 card I had to make Piniella's first Royals card as well as a rookie card for Sizemore.