Even More 1979 Alt-Topps

World Series, All-Stars and Leaders

Oddly, Topps did not have post season cards in the real 1979 set. Fortunately, I make the rules for the Alt-Topps version. After winning games 1 & 2, the Dodgers lost 4 straight to the Yankees.

For the 1979 All-Stars I changed up the base cards just a little.  Here is Sweet Lou giving Pudge a closer look at his spikes. I'm sure they laughed it off and had a few drinks together after the game, right?

Vida Blue crossed the bay in 1978 and Earned his 3rd All-Star start. He was the first pitcher to start in both leagues. Since then he's been joined by Clemens, Randy Johnson, Halliday and Scherzer.

In 1978 Ron LeFlore led the leagues in runs and stolen bases. In 1980 he would lead the NL in stolen bases with 97 for the Expos. Rounding out the top 3 are Julio Cruz and Bump Wills. Cruz had a career high 59 and would later play 2B for the 1983 "Winning Ugly" Sox. Bump was, of course, the son of stolen base artist Maury.

J.R. Richard won his first strikeout title in 1978. He repeated that feat in 1979. By 1980 he was out of the game. Tragic story. The other two are future Hall of Famers, Niekro and Seaver. 

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As usual, if you want to help me fill out this set, leave your suggestions in the comment section.  I'll create a few more cards for this set and post them later this month.

1977 Topps Rookies: Page, Henderson, Rozema, Bannister

After switching to a single series in 1974, Topps did a poor job of  getting star rookies onto cards their rookie season. in 1977, eight players received Rookie of the Year consideration, only 3 made it into the Topps set for that year

In my last post I created a 1977 card that never was for the AL ROY, Eddie Murray who was conspicuously missing from the set. For this post I am creating a single rookie card for 4 others who received Rookie of the Year votes but were left out by Topps. The sad truth is, other than the Hall of Famers at the top of the ballot the rest were pretty forgettable. 

I don't want to give the wrong impression, all of these players had respectable baseball careers ranging from 6-15 years. They were just, well, forgettable. Bump Wills had the notoriety of being Maury Wills' son. Floyd Bannister was the only one to play in an All Star game. Just once and it was the same year he led the league in strike outs, then followed it up in 1983 as part of the "Winning Ugly" White Sox. 

Speed apparently played a big part in ROY voting. Four ROY candidates had double-digit steals. Dawson had 21, Wills had 28, Mitchell Page had 42 and Gene Richards had 56.

The 3 players who were included in the 1977 set appeared on 2 cards. Gene Richards shared a card with the NL Rookie of the Year Andre Dawson.

Bump Wills was also included on a multiplayer rookie card.

1979 Topps Ted Sizemore

Ten years after winning the N.L. Rookie of the Year honors, Ted Sizemore took his turn as a Cubs second baseman. From 1965-1973 The Cubs second baseman was 4-time All Star Glenn Beckert. In 1983 10-time All Star Ryne Sandberg moved from 3rd base to 2nd and stayed there until his first retirement in 1994. From 1974-1982 the Cubs had a seemingly endless parade at second base. Manny Trillo would represent the Cubs in the 1977 All Star game.

These second basemen include:

  

Dave Rosello, Vic Harris,  Billy Grabarkewitz, 

  

Manny Trillo, Mick Kelleher, Steve Dillard, 

  

Steve Macko, Mike Tyson, 

  

Joe Strain, Pat Tabler, Scott Fletcher, 

 

Bump Wills, and Junior Kennedy.

1984 Topps Rangers Stolen Base Leaders

This time I took the 1984 Topps Active Career Leader card format to compare the historical franchise stolen base leaders to the World Series teams. The Rangers card features some sweet fros as well as one of the heroes of game 2. 

Bump Wills is the son of speedster Maury Wills. His father led the league in stolen bases 6 years in a row from 1960-1965. Bump put up consistent if not spectacular numbers during his 6 years in the majors. After a stint in Japan he returned to the Rangers organization as a coach.

Elvis Andrus scored the winning run in game 2 and has led the Rangers in stolen bases all 3 years of his major league career.