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: 1968 NL Infield

 After a relatively small group of potential All Star Cards That Never Were in my last post, this group is loaded. Here are the candidates:

Willie McCovey:

• 1968 Sporting News All Star selection
• Starter in 1968 All Star Game
• 1968 NL leader in HRs, RBIs, and slugging.
• 3rd in 1968 MVP voting

Bill Mazeroski:

• Starter in 1967 All Star Game
• Gold Glove second baseman 1967
• 1967 Sporting News All Star Selection

Tommy Helms:

• 1968 Sporting News All Star Selection
• Reserve in 1967 & 68 All Star Games
• 25th in 1968 MVP voting

Dick Allen:

• Starter in 1967 All Star Game
• 19th in 1967 MVP voting
• 2nd in NL Home Runs 1968

Don Kessinger:

• 1968 Sporting News All Star selection
• Starter in 1968 All Star Game
• Led NL shortstops in Fielding %, Assists and Double Plays in 1968.

Topps' 1968 NL All Star infield included mostly legit players.  At first was Orlando Cepeda, the 1967 ASG starting first baseman. Similarly, Gene Alley was the starting shortstop in the 1967 ASG.  Ron Santo was The Sporting News All-Star selection for third base in 1968.  But, as usual, there are some that just don't add up.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1968 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Joe Morgan:

Morgan was not on the MLB All Star Roster nor the Sporting News All Star Roster in 1967 or 1968.  Although he had (at then) a career high of 29 stolen bases in 1967, he was injured most of the 1968 season. playing only 10 games.

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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).

More of the 1980 Donruss Set that Never Was

Rookies, Team Cards, Managers, and Award Winners

"Super" Joe Charboneau was the beer-drinking, softball-playing Rookie of the Year for the Cleveland Indians in 1980. His career was cut short by an injury sustained the following strike-shortened season. In 1980 he played 131 games and hit .289 with 23 homers and 87 RBIs. He only played 70 more games in his career (1981 & 82). He batted .211 with 6 homers and 27 RBIs. 

Steve Howe was the 1980 Rookie of the Year and an All Star Reliever in 1982. But he was plagued by substance abuse. He was suspended 7 times for drug policy violations, including the entire 1984 season. He was given a "Lifetime Ban" in 1992 which was overturned on appeal. He died in 2006 when he crashed his car. There was methamphetamine in hes system. 

As for the design, I used just base cards with the Rated Rookies logo that we came to recognize on Donruss cards.  Donruss didn't begin making "Rated Rookie" cards until the 1984 set.  Even then it wasn't the iconic logo that I am using on this imaginary set.  In 1984 it was a banner that was similar to the team name design that year.

For the team cards, I didn't stray far from the base. Simply went horizontal and dropped one of the pennants.

In 1980 the Angels were coming off a year in which the won the AL West division. It was their first post season appearance in team history. Although the loss of Nolan Ryan had to hurt, falling to 6th place 30 games under .500? 

The 1980 Braves were in their 3rd season under Booby Cox. After two last place finishes, the 1980 Braves would end the season one game over .500 and finish 4th. It wouldn't be enough to save him. By the end of 1981 Cox would be gone. He would, of course, return in 1990 for 21 more years managing the Braves.

Speaking of managers.  Donruss tended to just put managers on base cards.  I went a different way because I think the coaches can be interesting, too.

Particularly on this Mariners card.  Darrell Johnson was the manager of the 1975 Pennant winning Red Sox. He was named first manager of the expansion Mariners. But his coaching staff! Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski.  All-Star shortstop, 1962 MVP, perennial stolen base leader and future  Mariners skipper, Maury Wills. The speedy All-Star outfielder Vada Pinson and veteran pitching coach of the Swingin' A's, Wes Stock.

The 1980 Expos also had ties to the Swingin' A's with Dick Williams at the helm. Their coaching staff included future Expos manager Felipe Alou. Norm Sherry was a coach under Williams for the Angels in 1976 and took over as manager after Williams was fired. Galen Cisco was a veteran pitcher and pitching coach. Ozzie Virgil Sr. broke the color barrier as a player for the 1958 Detroit Tigers. He went 5 for 5 in his first home game for the Tigers.

One of the things that Donruss did right from the start was make Award Winner cards. In my last post you can see the 1981 Brett MVP card and the 1981 Carlton Cy Young card.  So in this imaginary set from 1980, I included a card of the NL Co-MVPs from 1979, Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell.

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As usual, I am taking request for cards based on this design. So if there are any players or even subsets you'd like to see in a future post, leave a comment.

Even More 1964 Alt-Topps

World Series, Leaders, All- Stars and Topps All-Star Rookie Cards

Just a few more of my favorite subsets, World Series cards, Leaders cards, All Star cards and Topps Rookie All Star cards.

For the World Series card I kept the basic format but reversed the layout.  In the real 1964 set, Topps also highlighted Koufax's 15 strikeouts in Game 1. But I gotta say I like this photo better. 

On the leaders cards, I went a little off script for Topps. Instead of one large horizontal photo with two (or more) smaller photos below, I used one large vertical shot for the leader and smaller photos to the right.

Another un-Topps thing is having a card for Runs Scored Leaders.  Not one of the top stats but I like the top three players, so...

Again for the All Star cards, I reversed the Field.

Instead of a team logo, I used the All Star Game logo from 1963. I also tried to incorporate the logo's colors into the card format.

Since this format reminds me so much of the 1960 Topps All Star Rookies subset, I had to recreate it here.

Oddly in 1964 all but one of the Topps All Star Rookie team had the official trophy on his card. That was Jesse Gonder.  But in the Bizarro Universe, my Alt-Topps has got him covered.

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Just as I did in the last batch, I am willing to take a few requests.  I know most people just look at the pictures in these blogs.  But if you actually read this all the way to the bottom of the last post, it's the least I could do.  Just leave your requests in the comment section.

1963 Topps All Stars - The National League Infield

1963 Topps Orlando Cepeda AS

The "Baby Bull" was having another great year for the N.L. Champs in 1962. He hit .304 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs. Unfortunately, he was 0 for 4 in the 2 All Star games that season.

1963 Topps Bill Mazeroski AS

Mazeroski was a Gold Glove second baseman. And although he hit a historical walk-off homer to win the 1960 World Series, he is not known for his hitting. In his 10 All Star games, he had only 2 hits. Neither hit came in 1962.

1963 Topps Dick Groat AS

The Bucs had the middle infield covered in the 1962 games.  Dick Groat went 3 for 6 over the 2 games with 3 RBIs. He was also hit by a pitch to lead off the 1st inning of the 2nd game.

1963 Topps Ken Boyer AS

Ken Boyer has a .348 batting average over his 11 All Star game appearances but over the 2 games in 1962 he collected only 1 hit in 5 at bats.