TBT - Houston Astros Edition

This was a tricky one again. The Astros wore throwback uniforms reminiscent of their 1986 season. This was in honor of 1986 Cy Young award winner Mike Scott who threw out the first pitch. For this week's throwback Thursday card, I made a 1986 Topps card of Jose Altuve. The only problem is that the uniform they chose was rarely worn. It is very similar to the tequila-sunrise unis of the late '70s early '80s. But there are some differences.  As a result, I was unable to find a decent card for side-by-side comparisons.







The most obvious difference between this uni and the earlier versions is that it is paired with a black cap instead of the orange. Also the collar is entirely black instead of striped. And finally there is no number on the pants. As I said, it was a rare combination that the Astros used sparingly from 1983-1986. When looking for an old card to compare unis, the best I could come up with were some Mother's Cookies cards. So here is Nolan Ryan in a similar uniform on this 1985 Mothers Cookies Card.

1986 All Star Game Honorary Captains: Rusty Staub & Charlie Gehringer

Before we even start, I admit that I cheated. I like the 1986 Topps set but absolutely hate the All Star cards in that set. So for my Honorary Captains series I took some of the elements of the 1986 All Star cards and used them to make a more consistent looking subset of the 1986 Topps set.

Less than a year after hanging up his cleats, Rusty Staub was named Honorary Captain of the NL. The All Star game was held at the Astrodome in Houston where Staub got his start. He was signed by the expansion Colt .45s in 1961 and played in Houston until he was traded to another expansion team, the Expos, in 1969. Rusty is the only MLB player to have over 500 hits with four different teams; Colt .45s/Astros, Expos, Mets and Tigers.  The Expos retired his number 10 in 1993. Montreal's retired numbers did not travel with the franchise to Washington. The Montreal Canadiens righted this wrong by hanging his number along with the numbers of Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines in the rafters of the Bell Centre. 

 Charlie Gehringer was the honorary captain of the American League. Gehringer was the starting second baseman in the the very first All Star game in 1933 (30 years before Staub's MLB debut). In fact he was the starting second baseman in the first six All Star games. He was the 1937 AL MVP but his best year was in 1929.  A year in which there was no AL MVP (or equivalent) award and was before the inception of the All Star game.He led the league in hits, doubles, triples, runs and stolen bases. He played all of his 19 seasons with Detroit. His number 2 along with Hank Greenberg's number 5 were the first to be retired by the Tigers in 1983. 

After winning just one All Star Game out of the twenty played from 1963-1982, The American League won their second in the last four games 1983-86. The tides were turning.

Just as it was in the 1985 game, the starting pitcher won the MVP. In 1985 it was LaMarr Hoyt, in 1986 it was Roger Clemens who got the start, the win and the MVP.  He pitch not just three scoreless innings but three perfect innings. The NL's starting pitcher Dwight Gooden got the loss and Orioles close Don Aase got the save. Lou Whitaker hit a two run homer in the second inning to put the AL ahead 2-0. Frank White added a needed insurance run  with a solo shot in the 7th. The NL rallied scoring two runs off of Charlie Hough in the 8th but fell short losing 3-2.

TBT - Seattle Mariners Edition

On June 25th the Mariners suited up in the uniforms they wore from 1981-1986. They played the Cardinals who also wore unis from the same era. The Mariners won 5-4. Ketel Marte singled to lead off the second and scored on a throwing error by Jhonny Peralta. 

I made this 1986 card of Marte to compare it to a similar card of the late Dave Henderson. Henderson was a first round draft pick of the Mariners in 1977. A career .258 hitter, Hendu put up big numbers after the regular season ended. He was .298 overall in the post-season and hit .324 with 4 homers in 20 World Series games. Unfortunately, we lost him just after last Christmas. He was 57. 

Just a note about the cards. The Mariners wore basically the same uniform design for home and away at that time. The only difference is the home was white and the away was grey. On the Hendu card, it looks more grey than white but you can see how well it matches the one Marte is wearing. The other thing is that Henderson is wearing #42. His last game was in 1994 and the MLB retired #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson in 1997. The last thing I want to point out is all the empty seats behind Henderson.  I know that the average MLB attendance has gone up dramatically since the mid eighties, but this is ridiculous.

TBT - New York Mets Edition

Throwback Thursday

Ok this will be a quick and dirty post I will try to actually publish every Thursday. I will make a retro card of a current player from the era of the throwback uni he is wearing. I will also post an actual card from that era as a comparison point.

Earlier this month the Mets celebrated the 30th anniversary of their 1986 World Series championship by donning the uniforms they wore that season. Here is "Captain America" David Wright. And as a point of comparison, here is the 1986 card of World Series MVP Ray Knight

As you can see it is a fairly true representation.  As a side note, the person who actually designed these iconic uniforms has a terrific Mets blog. If you are reading that from a Cub fan then you know it must be good. Click here to check it out.

**********

I just want to update this post with a link to The Shlabotnik Report. He has been making his own brand of virtual cards on his blog for a few years now. And he has also been pairing up throwback uni's with their appropriate era cards. These have been "inserts" in his virtual packs. 

Let's face it, "Cards That Never Were"  was never an original idea. This blog grew out of a weekly feature of a now defunct blog I used to do. And that idea was taken from other bloggers and the card manufacturers themselves. But I have to give credit where credit is due. 

More from "Rating The Rookies"

Here are some "Cards That Never Were" from another four-player rookie card on Rating the Rookies. To see more about these players plus the Topps rookie card they shared click here.

Once again, life has gotten in the way of my regular blogging, but I will have more posts soon. Both here and on my other blog, Rating the Rookies.

1986 Topps Mickey Mantle

I found the 1986 set exceptionally bland so I may have overcompensated trying to find a colorful Mickey Mantle picture.

1986 Topps Pete Rose Special 1986-1989

In 1986 Topps put out a series of Pete Rose cards similar to the 1974 Hank Aaron Specials. On the back they were referred to as "The Pete Rose Years", but on the their checklist Topps referred to them as "Rose Specials".

Of course the cards put out in 1986 do not include his entire career which ended as a player in 1986 but continued as a Manager until 1989. Rose was the last Player/Manager in the MLB in 1986. Before giving the job to Robin Ventura, Kenny Williams had considered making Paul Konerko a Player/Manager of the White Sox.