2016 World Series: Cubs vs. Indians

For the 2016 postseason I am making Cards That Never Were of Hall of Famers from each team but with a couple of twists. The first twist is that they will appear on cards that coincide with the year they were inducted into Cooperstown. The second twist is that these are not the teams they are best known for playing.

1973 Topps Monte Irvin

Monte Irvin was selected in to the Hall of Fame in 1973, not only for his performance in the Major Leagues but also for his play in the Negro Leagues. Irvin broke the color barrier for the Giants as a 30 year old rookie in 1949. By that time he had already played 9 seasons of professional ball for the Newark Eagles plus served 2 years active military duty in 1943 and 1944. In 1951 he led the league with 121 RBIs and placed 3rd in MVP voting behind Roy Campanella and Stan Musial. 

With his offensive numbers diminishing, the Giants sent him to the minor league Minor League Minneapolis Millers for the second half of the 1955 season. The Cubs shrewdly picked him up in the rule 5 draft. In 1956 he hit .271 with 15 homers in 111 games. A back injury forced him out of the game before the 1957 season at the age of 38. 

1985 Topps Hoyt Wilhelm

Hoyt Wilhelm was a well traveled Major Leaguer and a master of the knuckleball. In fact he played for both the Cubs and the Indians during his 21 year career. He was picked up via the waiver wire from the Cardinals in September of 1957 an played in Cleveland until August of 1958. He was again taken off waivers, this time by the Baltimore Orioles. 

Used primarily as a reliever, he put up a 3-7 record with 6 saves for the Indians over 32 games. In all he pitched for 9 Major League ball clubs over his Hall of Fame career. In 1985 he was the first relief pitcher to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. 

*****************************************************

Again I'm a bit behind. This time because of a technical difficulty.  But now I'm on a new computer and fortunately, I had already made these cards but never had a chance to create the post.  I'm still in the process of transferring old files from my old hard drive to this computer. This may slow my postings down from the usual snail's pace.

1985 All Star Game Honorary Captains: Sandy Koufax & Harmon Killebrew

The 1985 All Star Game was a reunion of sorts for Honorary Captains Sandy Koufax and Harmon Killebrew. The two faced each other 20 years earlier in the 1965 World Series. Both players also competed in the 1965 All Star Game but didn't face each other. Killebrew hit a 2 run homer but Koufax got the win.  The NL won 6-5 in the old Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis.

In the 1965 World Series, the home team won the first six games. The Twins got the first two in Minneapolis with Koufax losing Game 2 to Jim Kaat. The next three in L.A. would all go to the Dodgers. Koufax pitched a two-hit shutout in Game 5 again facing Twins lefty Kaat. One of the two hits given up by Koufax was a single by Killebrew. Game 6 returned to Metropolitan Stadium as the Twins evened the series at three. For Game 7 both teams went with their lefties despite only having two days rest. Koufax out-dueled Kaat again. After Kaat gave up the only two runs the Dodgers needed in the 4th he was pulled. Koufax went the distance again pitching a three hit shutout. Once again one of those hits belonged to Killebrew, but the World Series Championship and the MVP belonged to Koufax.

The 1985 All Star Game was in Minneapolis again after 20 years. In 1965 it was in Metropolitan Stadium but in 1985 it was in the Metrodome. Padres pitcher LaMarr Hoyt got the start, the win and the MVP on the strength of three scoreless innings. Despite being nicknamed the "Homerdome" the game went without the long-ball. All tolled there were 14 hits by 14 different players as the NL cruised to a 6-1 victory.

What's going on at my other blog?

Just a quick post of some of the Cards That Never Were that I created for my other blog: Rating the Rookies. Perhaps this would be a good time to point out something that almost every collector knows: for every rookie card that has a legit future star, there are dozens of players that don't make it big. This batch of cards certainly proves that point.

Most of Dave Bennett and Morrie Steevens (no, not a typo) short MLB careers were behind them by the time they appeared together on this 1965 Phillies Rookie Stars card.  Steevens ended up pitching just 2.2 innings in 1965 which was exactly 2.2 more than Bennett. 

Tommy Matchick and Daryl Patterson were on the same 1968 Tigers Rookie Stars card. At face value, it looks like any other mundane rookie card. But it seems like there is always a good story hidden somewhere. Just ask Pedro Borbon, AKA the "Dominican Dracula".

Chuck Coles was an early one and done. His one and only baseball card was a Topps Sporting News  Rookie Stars of 1959 card. 1959 was the birth of the designated rookie card. Unfortunately, most of the players in that series didn't live up to Topps' expectations.

Randy Bass, Jim Gaudet, and Randy McGilberry were captured in grainy black and white on a  Royals 1979 Prospects card. Only one of them actually played on the Royals in 1979.

In 1973 Tom Paciorek and Jorge Roque shared a 1973 Rookie Outfielders card with the 1973 NL Rookie of the Year, Gary Matthews Sr. I had to dig deep to create Cards That Never Were for Paciorek and Roque but had several already in the bank for Mathews right here.

A few more from Rating the Rookies

Over at my other blog, Rating the Rookies, I am still creating Cards That Never Were. Here a a few of my latest creations:

Dan Boitano, Willie Mueller, and Lenn Sakata shared a 1980 Topps Future Stars card while on the Brewers. You can see the whole story by clicking here.

In 1975 Marc Hill, Dan Meyer, and Leon Roberts shared a Topps rookie card with future Hall of Famer Gary Carter. The full post is available here.

1985 Topps Mickey Mantle

I never was a big fan of the 1985 set before.  But looking at it now, I can see the appeal. It is a simple design and includes a nice team logo. Truth is an nice vintage Mickey Mantle photo can make almost any card look good. I think I better find a real nice photo for the 1986 card. Those are terrible.

Sunday Shout Out

CSD's Custom Cards 

 

This site has hundreds of custom cards. If you are a White Sox Fan then this blog is for you. As of today there are 319 different custom White Sox Cards.

 

 Another feature is his Famous Lineage Cards which isremeniscent of the 1985 Topps Father-Son cards.

All in all some pretty cool custom cards and a great way to waste some time at work.