1958 Topps Football Cards as Baseball Cards

 It's funny looking at the Topps football cards and seeing hints of what's in store for future Topps baseball cards.  These 1958 football cards hint at the 1959 baseball card design.  Here is the 1958 Topps rookie card of Eagles/Redskins Hall of Fame QB Sonny Jurgensen side by side with 1958 NL MVP "Mr. Cub", Ernie Banks.

Favorite Players A-Z (Part 1 of 3)

My mother (probably all mothers) used to say, "If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?".  Maybe.  I've seen a few bloggers make an A-Z list of favorite players. So I figured that I'd jump, too.  I'm more than a bit of a homer so look for an overabundance of Cubs and White Sox players.

For the most part, I'm including cards I had previously created for this blog.  I had to make one card specifically for this post (it's the letter "L") and there is one real card which might be my favorite card in my collection.

Right off the bat, I'm torn. Two of my all time favorite players have last names starting with A. So I'm cheating already.

Hank Aaron on a rejected Topps design.

1972 Topps Dick Allen In Action

1953 Topps Ernie Banks

1984 Topps Roberto Clemente Statue

1978 Topps Larry Doby

1972 Topps All Star Pitchers (Yeah, I know I spelled Dock wrong)

1964 Topps Nellie Fox All Star

1976 Topps Father/Son style Mark Grace Broadcaster

1968 Topps Frank Howard All Star

1957 Topps Monte Irvin

First ten cards and only 5 were Chicago teams, if you don't count Grace. Not bad. (For me).

To be continued....

Series 2 Packs - Sold Out!!!

Here is the second pack of physical cards from this blog.  I am selling these through this site for $10.00 per pack plus $4.50 shipping. Please use the link:

Sold Out

I was hoping to have these done by opening day.  I just barely made it. This group is split between my "Barrier-Breakers" series and some of the baseball legends we lost this past year.  You can also buy them individually on eBay. My seller's name there is ctnwblog_8.

So, what's in each pack?

12 Cards That Never Were plus a special insert.

The insert card is a 1969 Joe Morgan Deckle.

All cards are professionally printed.

Front and Back.

The backs are formatted in a style consistent with their year.

The front of the cards are glossy.

The backs are not.

These are similar in look and feel to the Topps Archives cards.

This pack is made up of cards from my "Barrier-Breaker" series, featuring the first Black player on each team.

It also includes some legendary players that we lost this past year.

For those that wish to buy the cards individually,

They are currently available on eBay. 

My user name on eBay is ctnwblog_8.

Don't forget to comment on my give-away post for a chance to win a 1968 Gibson, or Seaver or BOTH!

Barrier Breakers: Ernie Banks, Chicago Cubs

January 31, 1865 the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery passed in Congress. Coincidentally, January 31st is the birthday shared by Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson. Mr. Cub broke the color barrier for the Chicago Cubs more than 6 years after Jackie Robinson did the same for all of Major League Baseball.  The Cubs were the third NL team to integrate, and Banks was the third Negro League turned MLB player enshrined in Cooperstown behind Robinson and Monte Irvin. When he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama, he presented the first Black President with a bat used by Jackie Robinson. 

On and off the field, Banks was known for his friendly, joyous demeanor.  "Mr. Sunshine" was his nickname even before he became "Mr. Cub".  After his passing in 2015, Jesse Jackson described his cheerfulness as a thermostat that helped control the temperature of his times. He was beloved by fans and teammates alike. His enthusiasm was infectious. 

I also have to mention Gene Baker who was acquired by the Cubs prior to Ernie Banks but made his MLB debut 3 days later.  The two were the first black double play combo in the Majors.

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Part 8

Cubs v Mets
Giants v Brewers

The 3rd round began yesterday and I'm just finishing up the first round of match ups.  Again they pitted older franchises against sixties expansion teams. The Mets colors were originally colors were going to be pink and black.  They decided to change them to orange and blue in homage of the two New York teams that had recently departed for the west coast.  The Brewers were born as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. Weeks before the 1970 season they were "rescued" by Bud Selig and relocated to Milwaukee.

In the Cubs - Mets match up, I went for a 1969 reunion. On the Cubs 26 man roster there is exactly one pitcher (Jenkins) and 3 starting position players (Banks, Santo and Williams).  For the Mets there are 3 pitcher (Seaver, Koosman and McGraw), one starting position player (Jones) and one reserve (Agee) that played in 1969. So in a slight break from my norm of 1 pitcher and 3 position players, the Mets will have 2 pitchers and 2 position players. To see the results of this series click here.

In the Giants - Brewers match up I have Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey for the New York/San Francisco Giants.  The makers of this roster all but forgot about the Seattle Pilots.  Gorman Thomas was drafted #1 by Seattle but didn't make the bigs until 1973. So for the Brewers/(not)Pilots I have Pete Vuckovich (who liked to wear two different shoes), the aforementioned Gorman Thomas, Paul Molitor and Christian Yelich. To see the results of this series click here.

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These cards are base on the MLB Dream Bracket.  Not sure who picked the "all-time players". It is a product of Twitch, Out of the Park and Draft Kings.  I take no responsibility for their choices, good or bad.  The cards themselves are based on a rejected Topps design from the late sixties.

To check the status of the bracket click here.