1972 Alt-Topps Requests

To the people who read all the way to the bottom of my last post, here are your requests.  To be fair, I added that last paragraph about the requests 8 or 9 hours after I had first published my last post. This is just my way of saying thank you to all the other baseball card nerds.  Thank you for sharing my interests and even participating in them. 

I ended up making 11 cards in all.  Bill requested more All Stars so I included Bud Harrelson in what would be his only All Star start. Norm Cash actually started in place of  Boog Powell. Although Powell wasn't listed as injured, he only started in 8 regular season games in July of 1971. Despite going 0 for 2, Cash was good choice to fill in for Boog. First, he was playing in his home stadium. Second, he was hitting .293  with 20 homers in the first half of 1971.

I had a request for Ken Boswell from "Rumple" while "Buzz" gave me a laundry list. Above are the base cards. Staub could've been another traded, but since he wasn't dealt to the Mets until April, I kept him on the Expos.

I did give traded cards to Sudden Sam and McLain.  The shot of Denny wearing #52 must've been from spring training.  His familiar #17 belonged to pitcher Ron Klimkowski in 1971. Klimkowski didn't make Oakland's big league roster after spring training in 1972 and was released outright in May. McLain himself was dealt to the Braves for Orlando Cepeda in June after only 5 starts for the A's.

Both Baseball-Reference and The Baseball Almanac have him listed as wearing #17 during his short time with the A's.  I've seen pictures of him wearing 30, 31 and 52 but never 17.  Can anyone find a picture of him wearing #17 for the A's?

Another Buzz request was Frank Robinson.  I found this great shot and made it a Game 6 card.  So much going on in this photo.  First of course, you have Robbie scoring on a pop fly to shallow center off the bat of Brooks.  You also have Manny Sanguillen at the plate and in the foreground, batboy Jay Mazzone.  Mazzone had lost both hands as a 2 year old.  He joined the Orioles at 12 in 1966. 1972 was his final season.  

1972 Topps All Star Cards : The Infield

The 36 year old Norm Cash was having a resurgent year in 1971. His numbers were returning to the numbers he put up the last time he was selected to the All Star squad in 1966. Unfortunately those numbers didn't carry over into the All Star game. He struck out in both at bats.

Willie McCovey on the other hand was having an off season. Hampered by a knee injury sustained during spring training, he fell from 39 homers and 126 RBIs in 1970 to 18 homers and 70 RBIs in 1971. He struck out and grounded out in his only All Star at bats.

In his 3 plate appearances in the 1971 All Star game Rod Carew grounded out in the 1st, then drew 2 walks. He scored on Frank Robinson's 3rd inning homer. In 18 All Star games Carew had 48 plate appearances and an on base percentage of .354.

Playing in his 3rd straight All Star game, Glenn Beckert was batting a career high .342 in 1971. Beckert went 0 for 3 facing 3 different pitchers, Vida Blue, Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar.

In his 1st All Star at bat in a Red Sox uniform, Luis Aparicio singled to center then scored on Reggie Jackson's homerun. In his 12th All Star game this was only his second (and final) hit.

Appearing in his second All Star game and starting for the first time was Bud Harrelson. Harrelson also won his only Gold Glove award in 1971 and had a career high 28 stolen bases.

Solid as ever in 1971, Brooks Robinson played 3rd base in his 15th consecutive mid summer classic. He was also on his was to earning his 12th consecutive Gold Glove. He was 1 for 3 in the game with his only hit coming in the 6th. He singled to center then was out at second when Aparicio grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Joe Torre was having an MVP season in 1971, leading the league in batting and RBIs. In the All Star game he went 0 for 3 including a strikeout and a double play ball hit to Brooks Robinson.

I think this card, in particular, seems to really capture the spirit of the 1972 set. Brooks Robinson is sporting the new-for-1971 all-orange Orioles unis and Joe Torre looks like a recently defrosted caveman swinging his club and wearing the new-for-1971 double-knit pullovers.