Topps All-Star Misses: 1961 AL Infield

  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).

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Norm Cash:

• Named to 1961 Sporting News All Star team.
• Started both 1961 MLB All Star games.
• Led AL with .361 batting average in 1961.
• 4th in 1961 MVP voting.

Pete Runnels:

• Started both 1960 MLB All Star games.
• Led AL with .320 batting average in 1960.
• 17th in 1960 MVP voting.

Bobby Richardson:

• Named to 1961 Sporting News All Star team.
• Won Gold Glove in 1961.
• 24th in 1961 MVP voting.

Tony Kubek:

• Named to 1961 Sporting News All Star team.
• Started in 1961 MLB All Star Game 1.
• Reserve in 1961 All Star Game 2.
• 11th in 1960 MVP voting.

Ron Hansen:

• 1960 AL Rookie of the Year.
• Started both 1960 MLB All Star games.
• 5th in 1960 MVP voting.

Frank Malzone:

• Started both 1960 MLB All Star games.
• Led AL in Double-Plays turned at 3B from 1957-1961.

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

Nellie Fox:

As much as it pains this White Sox fan, the 1959 MVP just doesn't belong.  He was an All Star reserve in both 1960 games and both 1961 games.  However, he wasn't a Sporting News All Star either year. Nor did he start any of the 4 All Star games in 1960 or 1961.

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?

1964 Topps All Stars - The American League Infield

1964 Topps Joe Pepitone AS

At the age of 22, Joe Pepitone made his only All Star start. He would be selected to the All Star team in 1964 and 1965 and win the Gold Glove at first in 1965, 1966 and 1969.  

1964 Topps Nellie Fox AS

In his 15th and final All Star game, Nellie Fox went 1 for 3 but was tagged out at home trying to score on a fly out by Al Kaline. A career .288 hitter, Nellie turned it up a notch on the big stage. He hit .375 in the 1959 World Series (his only post-season appearance) and hit .368 over 15 All Star games from 1951-1963.

1964 Topps Zoilo Versalles AS

Zoilo Versalles had only 2 official All Star at-bats in his career, but reached base 4 times. He had 1 hit, 2 walks and was hit by a pitch. He was the starting shortstop in 1963 and was an All Star reserve in his MVP season, 1965.

1964 Topps Frank Malzone AS

Frank Malzone was the runner up in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1957. He was a 3 time Gold Glove third baseman and an 8 time All Star from 1957-1964. In the 1963 All Star game he went 1 for 3 with an RBI ans a run scored.