Dick Allen

 1942-2020

It is with great sadness that I learned earlier today of Dick Allen's passing.

This one really stings.  I grew up a Sox fan in the '70s.  Dick Allen was a hero to me.  I had a homemade baseball bat that was just ridiculously way too big.  We called it the "Dick Allen" bat.  I could only use it playing sandlot ball because it was obviously not legal for little league play.  If you follow this blog, you know that I have used Allen as the subject of many posts. The 72 "In Action" was one of my first fake cards. Here are as many others that I can remember making:

1968 Topps Joe Morgan Game Insert

  

I decided to pay tribute (although belatedly) to Joe Morgan by adding him to the 1968 Topps Game Inserts.  He was on the Astros at that time and Topps was in a dispute with Monsanto over the Astros trademark.  So many Houston players appeared hatless or with the logo airbrushed. 

This was actually called out in the comment section when I had made a 1969 Topps Deckle card for Joe Morgan.  I had to agree with the accuracy of the comment and made a second version:

Of course Morgan's superstar status in the '70s made him a frequent subject on this blog. Here are some of the other Joe Morgan Cards That Never Were from past blog posts. 

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Just a side note:  I fought with this posting for hours.  The new google blogger is just awful.  I couldn't get the cards to line up properly.  So after a long battle, I gave up and stacked them.  Then my post wasn't showing up on other feeds.  I deleted it the re-made it, thinking all the reshuffling of images might've messed it up.  Still nada.  Finally it's showing up on others' blog rolls but it randomly used the 4th image instead of the 1st. I am so close to switching to a new platform.  Any recommendations?

One More for Gibby

 1935-2020

It's like deja vu all over again. The last thing I want is for this blog to evolve into some sort of obituary page with baseball cards.  But I simply cannot let the passing of yet another legend go without any some recognition for what he meant to the sport and to the hobby. So here is one more card for the 1973 Alt-Topps set.

Oddly, with Tom Seaver's recent passing, I had mentioned Bob Gibson and his 1968 "Card That Never Was".  Both he and Seaver pulled the exact same stunt of posing as lefties.  Both even had their cards make it as far as the same proof sheet before being noticed by a sharp-eyed proofreader.

Here are those actual Cards That Never Were again, along with the proof sheet:

You can see Seaver 2nd over in the 2nd row.  Gibson is 7th from the left in the 4th row.

Of course this latest card of Gibson isn't the first time he'd been featured in this blog.  Here are some more cards that I had made in the past:

Tom Terrific

1944-2020

Ok, it's official. 2020 sucks.  Yesterday the baseball world lost a legend.  Tom Seaver was the ultimate opening day starter. He started in 16 opening days on the Mets, Reds and White Sox.

Since this is Cards That Never Were, I figured I'd post the greatest Tom Seaver Card That Never Was on the top of this post.  This wasn't made by me, it was a card that actually made it onto the 1968 Topps proof sheet before someone at Topps caught the sophomore pitcher's prank.  He was posing as a lefty, and he wasn't the only one.  Bob Gibson pulled the same prank on the same proof sheet.  If you look closely at the proof sheet, Seaver is second from the left in second row.  Gibson is fourth row, five from right.

Of course, I've made my share of Tom Seaver cards, too.  I even attempted to replicate his 1968 prank in my 1968 Alt-Topps series. I used a little photo manipulation to make the righty a lefty.

Here are the rest of my Tom Seaver Cards That Never Were in no particular order:

Glenn Beckert

October 12, 1940 - April 12, 2020

I hate to keep doing this.  But Glenn Beckert was part of my childhood and I couldn't let his passing go without a small tribute.  We are living in difficult times now.  He was in hospice in Florida with dementia when he passed away. It was heartbreaking to read how his daughters were unable to visit him due to the Corona Virus. 

He was a Gold Glove, a four-time All-Star and an important part of the ill-fated 1969 Cubs. Most impressive was his low strikeout to at-bat ratio. He led the league 5 times and placed in the top ten every year from 1965-1972.  To put it into perspective as to how much the game has changed, the player with the most at-bats to strikeouts in 2019 was the Orioles utility infielder, Hanser Alberto.  He averaged 1 strikeout in every 10.5 at-bats.  Beckert's career average was 1 strikeout in every 21.4 at-bats.

Four years ago, when Milt Pappas passed away I found this photo of Pappas and Beckert at the 100 year celebration at Wrigley Field in 2014. 

I've created a few cards of Glenn Beckert over the years. Here they are once again.