Topps All-Star Misses: 1961 NL Infield

 There were two All Star Games in 1960 and in 1961 Topps had Panch Herrera as their All Star first baseman, Mazeroski at second, Ken Boyer at 3rd and Ernie Banks at short.  Only Maz and Banks started in the 1960 games.  Although Boyer didn't start in the 1960 ASGs he was the 1961 Sporting News All Star selection at 3rd base.  Here are a few cards that could have been included in that All Star subset.

At first Topps could have included Joe Adcock who actually started both 1960 ASGs.  They also could have had Orlando Cepeda who was The Sporting News actual 1962 All Star selection at 1st base.

At second, they could have included Frank Bolling.  He was the 1962 Sporting News All Star selection at second base.  And at third, his teammate, Eddie Mathews, started both 1960 ASGs.

At short, The Sporting News All Star was Maury Wills.  Of course, he was famously not under contract with Topps at the time.  So here is what could've been:

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1961 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Frank (Pancho) Herrera:

Herrera was 2nd place in Rookie of the Year voting in 1960, far behind Frank Howard. He also led the league in errors at first base and had a then MLB record of 136 strikeouts.  He wasn't a 1960 All Star, nor was he a Sporting News All Star.  He is an interesting side note though.  He played from 1955-1974 in pro ball. Only parts of three seasons were at the Major League level.  In that time he amassed 305 homers at all levels.  He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 2008.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1962 NL Infield

 While the Topps 1962 "Sporting News National League All-Star" infield didn't quite match the 1961 MLB All Stars, it was very similar to the actual "Sporting News" All Star selections with one glaring omission.  TSN had Cepeda at 1st, Mazeroski at 2nd, Ken Boyer at 3rd and Maury Wills at short.  Topps had Cepeda, Maz, Boyer and Roy McMillan?? McMillan was last selected to the All Star team in 1957 when Reds fans stuffed the ballot boxes.  The four below represent the actual NL infield in both 1961 ASGs.  Around the horn we have Bill White at 1st, Frank Bolling at 2nd, Wills at short and Eddie Mathews at 3rd.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1962 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Roy McMillan:

McMillan was undoubtably included due to Topps not having Wills under contract. And I suspect it was a big reason for the gap from 1963-1967 when Topps had no All Star cards at all.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1958 NL Infield

Topps choices for the 1958 All Star cards are a bit murky. This is for two reasons, the first being Topps attributing the player selection to the editors of "Sport" magazine, not the actual starters of the 1957 or 1958 All Star games.  Instead they attribute them as "Sport" magazine All Star selections.  

The other issue was ballot box stuffing involving Cincinnati in 1957.  Seven of their position players made the starting roster.  The only non-Redlegs position player chosen by the fans was Stan Musial.  The commissioner stepped in and replaced Cincinnati outfielders Gus Bell and Wally Post with Aaron and Mays. Infielders Don Hoak and Roy McMillan started but were replaced by the NL manager after just one at bat. Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks replaced them respectively.

So who actually deserves a 1958 Topps All Star card and who doesn't?  Hoak and McMillan, were technically the 1957 starters, so arguments can be made for them.  

The 1958 Sporting News selection for 3rd base was Frank Thomas.  An argument can be made for him as well. This despite Topps clearly labeling these as "Sport" magazine All Star selections.

Eddie Mathews has a card but maybe shouldn't.  I only say this (hesitantly) because he technically wasn't the 1957 starter, nor was he a 1958 "Sporting News" All Star selection.  But since he replaced Hoak after just one at bat in '57, he has a solid claim.  Therefore I am posting his card with some reservation.

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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 1973 Alt-Topps

Traded, Rookies and Managers

Filling out the set, here are some rookie cards, traded cards and manager/coaches cards.

On November 27, 1972 the Mets dealt Tommie Agee to the Astros for two minor leaguers.  The Mets GM didn't sugar-coat it, telling the press, "We were dissatisfied with Agee's playing."  Agee looks a little dissatisfied himself.  One day later, Frank Robinson was involved in a seven-player deal that sent him 30 miles Southeast from Chavez Ravine to the big "A" in Aneheim. 

The 1973 NL Rookie of the Year was Gary Matthews Sr. He batted an even .300 and had 58 RBIs.  A couple other notable debuts in 1973 were made by Dave Winfield and Dave Parker.  With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I included them on this card.

In the AL it was Al Bumbry or as Topps called him on his rookie card, "Alonza".  I also included Jerry Hairston whose father, brother and two sons also played in the MLB. Rounding out the trio is Gorman Thomas who was a first round pick of the Seattle Pilots but didn't make the majors until 1973.

In the early years (through 1956) Topps included both managers and coaches in the regular set.  There have been a few exceptions since, notably Yogi Berra listed as catcher/coach in 1965 and the Cubs failed experiment with the "College of Coaches" in the early 1960s. Bob Kennedy was listed as "Head Coach" of the Cubs in 1964 & 1965. With a wealth of MLB retired stars coaching, I wouldn't mind seeing cards of them included.

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Just as I've done in previous Alt-Topps posts, I'll make as many request as I can. Hopefully, I'll post them in a few weeks. Just post your requests (or even ideas for other subsets, etc) in the comment section.  Thanks.

Even More 1967 Alt-Topps

Traded, All-Stars, Leaders and World Series Cards

This set started with an Eddie Mathews prototype card.  It only seems right to include a card with him traded to the Astros.  Jim O'Toole was an elite pitcher in the early '60s. He was the NL starting pitcher in the 1963 All-Star game. By 1967, arm trouble left him a shadow of his former self.  He finished his MLB career playing for his hometown White Sox.  He made an attempted come back in 1969 with the expansion Seattle Pilots, but was cut before the start of the season.

For the All-Star cards, I decided to take another rejected Topps card.  This one may have been meant for a booklet cover or something similar.  Although it says Willie McCovey, he is obviously absent from either photo.

The black and white action shot could be either Bernie Allen or Graig Nettles.  Any other guesses?

 The inset photo is definitely Ollie Brown.  That photo originally appeared on his 1967 card with the Giants. An airbrushed version similar to the one used on this mock-up appeared on his 1969 Padres card. 

Here is the actual Willy McCovey.  Coinsidentaly, he was the starting first baseman for the NL in the 1966 All-Star Game.  For his AL counterpart, I made a card of the Halos 2nd bagger Bobby Knoop.

I went back to following Topps script with the design of the leaders card.  I also followed their lead by using "Bob" and "Richie" instead of their preferred names: Roberto Clemente and Dick Allen. Leading the NL in RBIs in 1966 was the "Hammer", Hank Aaron.

For the AL, I simply had to include the "Judge".  1966 was his Triple Crown year.  Here we have all 3 batting average leaders, Robinson, Oliva and Kaline.  Not a bad leaders selection. It contains both 1964 Rookies of the Year and 4 Hall of Famers.

Finally, for the World Series card, I used another Topps reject. The mock-up says Tom Siever (another inside joke?). I can't make out any of the black and white players on this card but that sure looks like Drysdale on the inset.  On my version, I kept the rounded corners with the little flourish and added a border for continuity.  I also added the 1966 World Series logo to the card. 

 Instead of a black and white inset with a blue background, I used a color head-shot. It seems as though the Dodgers offense took the Series off. They managed only 2 runs in the first game then went scoreless in the next three.  The O's outscored them 13-2 in a four game sweep.

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As usual, I will make a "requests" post before Spring Training ends.  Please post your requests in the comment section and I will try to accommodate as many as I can. Thanks.

1967 Alt-Topps

Here is another Topps mock-up.  Although the name says Ben Solomon, it's obviously Eddie Mathews.  Ben Solomon was an art director for Topps.  His name on the card must be an inside joke.  The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. Mathews is sporting a Milwaukee Braves cap. That is because the photo was lifted from his 1964 Topps card.





Mathews last season for the Braves was their first season in Atlanta.  That made him the only Braves player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Despite the Milwaukee cap and the fact that Mathews was traded to Houston before the season, I placed this set in 1967, AKA "the Summer of Love".  These cards give off that vibe. This is in contrast to the classic, clean, no-nonsense design Topps actually used in 1967.

Here is my version.  I used a more straight forward, less cartoony font for the team name. But I preserved the other design elements.






As usual, I made base cards of the respective MVPs and Cy Young Award winners.  I also followed Topps' color scheme from the actual 1967 set (as best I could).

The 1967 AL MVP was Triple Crown winner, Carl Yastrzemski. In the NL the MVP was Orlando Cepeda.  He had been the 1958 Rookie of the Year for the Giants. Primarily a first baseman, there was just no room on the Giants behind "Stretch".  He was traded to the Cards in May of 1966.

1967 was the first year the MLB awarded Cy Youngs to each league.  In the AL, Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox was having a career year.  He had 22 wins and 246 strikeouts, both league-leaders and career highs.  In the NL, Giants pitcher Mike McCormick also had a career high and league-leading 22 victories.

To be continued...

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Just as I've done in previous Alt-Topps posts, this post contains the base cards, I'll make a couple more posts with various subsets. And, of course, I'll make as many request as I can an hopefully post them in a few weeks. Just post your requests (or even ideas for other subsets, etc) in the comment section.  Thanks.

1963 Fleer

The 1963 Fleer set was cut short at just 66 cards. Topps won a court battle allowing it to have a near monopoly on baseball cards until 1981. Fleer had to cease printing cards after just one series. 

The '63 Fleer set has had loads of Cards That Never Were posted by multiple sources on the interwebs. I made nine different cards myself, which I posted on this blog and on my other blog, Rating The Rookies.  

Here are my 1963 Fleer cards of Ernie Banks, Ken Hubbs, Fritz Ackley, Curt Flood, Joe Shipley, Al Moran, Lee Stange, Don Zimmer and even Kris Kringle. 

Fleer themselves have made versions of these cards, too. They included this Mickey Mantle MVP card as an insert in its 1998 Tradition set.

Then again for its 40th anniversary in 2003 it included several very nice looking cards. Like these of Luis Aparicio, Lou Brock and Duke Snider::

Although the 2003 set included several players from 1963 it was annoyingly flawed. First, they changed the design slightly by shrinking the player sketch and coloring it white. Second was the inevitable Fleer Tradition logo on the top. But the biggest flaws were the players either in the wrong era uniforms, like Red Schoendienst and Willie Stargell,

 Or simply in black and white like Eddie Mathews and Frank Malzone:

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Ok, all that was a long-winded prelude to tease my next few posts. I am not going to try to complete the 1963 set. That would be insane (although possibly fun).  

 We've seen plenty of base/player cards that never were based on the 1963 Fleer set. But if it had expanded beyond the first 66 base cards into an entire set, what would the other elements of a complete set look like?