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.

1979 Topps Dave Parker All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

The 1979 All Star Game MVP was chosen not for his offensive contribution. Even though Dave Parker went 1 for 3 with an RBI sacrifice fly and an intentional walk. It was his arm that earned him the MVP. He threw out Jim Rice trying to stretch a double with the AL leading 6-5 in the bottom of the 7th. An inning later he preserved the 6-6 tie by throwing out Brian Downing at the plate. Downing was trying to score from 2nd on a Graig Nettles single with 2 outs in the 8th.

This is my second horizontal version for the 1979 set. as you can see, I took a few more liberties this time deviating a bit from the original design. The main reason is that I thought adding a second bar similar to this 1979 Rod Carew All Star would take up too much space for the picture if used horizontally. 

Below is a horizontal card I had previously posted for John Castino's Rookie of the Year season. For this one I used a more traditional 1979 Topps look.

1978 Topps Steve Garvey All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

The 1978 All Star Game was played in San Diego, but it may as well been a home game for the Dodgers. The home team manager, Tommy Lasorda had 2 Dodgers in the starting lineup (Steve Garvey and Rick Monday), 3 more on the bench (Reggie Smith, Ron Cey and Davey Lopes), and another in the bullpen (Tommy John). 

After ceding a 3 run lead to the American League, the N.L. tied it up in the bottom of the 3rd on a 2 run single by Garvey. The game remained tied at 3 until the bottom of the 8th when Garvey tripled then scored the winning run on a wild pitch to Dave Concepcion. (Coincidentally, that is Concepcion racing back to first in the card above). The Nationals would score 3 more runs for a final score of 7-3. Garvey was named the All Star Game M.V.P. This was Garvey's second All Star MVP. He also won the award in 1974. It was also the second year in a row the award was won by a Dodger. The 1977 winner was Don Sutton.

1977 Topps Don Sutton All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

Getting back to one of my older themes, making horizontal cards of the All Star Game MVPs. Due to the dark background, I decided to deviate from the original design by using a white facsimile signature instead of the regular black used in the 1977 set. I borrowed this idea from Mets Cards Like They Ought To Be! 

The 1977 All Star Game started out as another NL rout.  Don Sutton, the starting pitcher, went 3 innings giving up only 1 walk and 1 hit. The NL was leading 5-0 when he left the game. The AL would rally to bring the game within 2 runs twice but the Nationals offense proved too much to overcome as they cruised to their 6th straight All Star victory.

1976 Topps George Foster All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

The Big Red Machine had a ridiculous 7 out of 8 position players on the All Star roster in 1976. Five of them were in the starting line up. And at the helm was their manager, Sparky Anderson. The only position player left off the All Star team was center fielder, Cesar Geronimo. Geronimo had career highs in batting with .307 and stolen bases with 22. He also earned his 3rd consecutive Gold Glove in 1976. 

George Foster was also having a great year in 1976. He led the league in RBIs and finished 2nd in N.L. MVP voting to his teammate, Joe Morgan. He was also selected to his first All Star Game. Normally a left fielder, Foster was the starting center fielder and batting clean-up. In his first at bat he got an RBI on a ground out to 2nd. In the 3rd inning he went deep off Catfish Hunter scoring Joe Morgan. Those 3 RBIs were enough to earn him the All Star MVP as the N.L. coasted to its 5th straight victory 7-1.

1975 Topps Bill Madlock All Star Co-MVP

Going Horizontal

When making the horizontal versions of the 1975 All Star MVPs, I really could have gone a number of different ways and still remain true to the original 1975 Topps design.  I settled on trying to make it look like the All Star cards of 1975. By going horizontal I shifted the 2-tone split 90 degrees as well. In part because of the way Topps printed the card sheets and in part because I thought it looked better. The real problem was that I knew from the start I could not make a better card than the original 1975 Topps Bill Madlock card.

In 1974 Madlock replaced the great Ron Santo at 3rd base for the Cubs and was 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. In 1975 he was the Cubs sole representative at the All Star Game in Milwaukee. He entered the game at 3rd base in the bottom of the 6th replacing Ron Cey. In his first at bat he flied out to 1975 R.O.Y. and M.V.P. Fred Lynn in centerfield. In the top of the 9th he came to the plate with the game tied 3-3. The bases were loaded and no-one out. He drove a single to left to score Reggie Smith and Al Oliver. He advanced to second on the throw home. The National League won the game 6-3, the final run came when Larry Bowa scored from 3rd on a fly ball off Pete Rose's bat.

1972 Topps Joe Morgan All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

After going 0 for 3 with a walk during regulation, Joe Morgan had a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th to give the NL a 4-3 victory in the 1972 All Star Game.

I started making horizontal variations of Topps cards a while back. At that time I decided that I would use the All Star Game MVP as the subject of the cards.  The strange thing is that when Topps started incorporating the horizontal variation into its set they just happened to put that season's All Star Game MVPs onto horizontal cards.

In 1973 Bobby Bonds was the All Star Game MVP. He came in to the game as Billy William's relief in left field. He had a 2-run homer and a double in his only at bats. This is his actual 1973 card. Hall of Famer,Willie Stargell makes a cameo on this card. He also made a brief appearance in the 1973 All Star Game. He pinch-hit for Chris Speier and struck out.

In 1974 Steve Garvey was the All Star Game MVP going 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI double. The NL would continue their dominance with a 7-2 victory. Garvey would also be named the National League MVP for the 1974 season.

1979 Topps John Castino

In 1979 John Castino was co-ROY with Alfredo Griffin of the Toronto Blue Jays. Castino did not have a card in the 1979 Topps set. Also the 1979 Topps set did not include horizontal cards. When I came across this picture, I knew I had to make a horizontal card to accommodate it. 

Castino put up solid numbers during his career and was named as one of the "50 Greatest Twin Players" by the Minnesota Twins as part of their 50th anniversary celebration in 2010. His career was cut short by chronic back pain. In 1984 at the age of 29 his playing days were over.

1971 Topps Frank Robinson All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

In 1971 Topps finally began dabbling in horizontal cards again. They had 8 horizontal base cards all together, 4 on the Yankees, 2 on the Mets and 2 on the Angels. Overall Topps was incorporating more action shots into this set and the cards seemed easily adaptable to a horizontal version. I'm not sure why they limited it to these 3 teams, though. 

The 1971 All Star game was all about the long-ball. Roberto Clemente hit a homer in his final All Star at bat. Reggie Jackson hit a 520 foot bomb off the lights a' la Roy Hobbs. But the MVP went to Frank Robinson who hit his first All Star homer for the AL. His last All Star homer came in 1959 when he was representing the Reds, making him the 1st player to homer for both the AL & NL in All Star play.

1970 Topps Carl Yastrzemski All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

The A.L. clung to a 4 run tie into the 12th inning of the 1970 All Star Game. Then Pete Rose barreled over Ray Fosse to break the tie in front of the home crowd to give the Nationals the win.

Yaz went 4 for 6 in the game. He scored a run and drove in another. He was the 2nd All Star game MVP to play for the losing team. Brooks Robinson was the first in 1966 and no player has accomplished that feat since.

1969 Topps Willie McCovey All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

1969 was a whole new era in baseball and the All Star game reflected that change. 1968 was known as the year of the pitcher. Both Cy Young award winners also won their respective league MVP awards. The All Star game was a 1-0 affair with no earned runs and no RBIs. (link) In 1969 the NL won 9-3 in a game with 5 homers including 2 from the MVP Willie McCovey.

McCovey would also win the NL MVP in 1969. For the second straight year "Stretch" led the league in Homers and RBI's. For the Horizontal version of the 1969 set, I went with a vertical team name. I had the name on the bottom on my first attempt but I think this one flows better.

1968 Topps Willie Mays All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

1968 was truly the "Year of the Pitcher" . Denny McLain and Bob Gibson both won Cy Young and MVP awards for their respective leagues and Mickey Lolich won the World Series MVP. 

In the "Year of the Pitcher" we had one of the most unique All Star Games. The game was won by the NL despite the fact that there were no RBIs and no Earned Runs. The 12 pitchers combined for ZERO earned runs and 20 strike outs over 17 innings. (9 for the NL, 8 for the AL). The pitchers surrendered only 8 hits and 6 walks.

One of those hits came off the bat of Willie Mays who made the most of it. On a pick off play at first, Mays advanced to second on an errant throw by Luis Tiant. Mays then took 3rd on a wild pitch. Curt Flood walked then Willie McCovey grounded into a double play. Mays scored the only run of the day. Unearned because of the error. No RBI because of the double play.

1971 Topps Adrian Young - Error Card Corrected

In case you were wondering, Yes! I will do requests. 

Jim from Downingtown suggested that I create a card for Adrian Young that featured his actual photo. The original card featured a photo of Rick Duncan who was a punter on the 1968 team. 

Adrian Young was the captain of the 1967 national champion USC Trojans. He lived in Ireland until he was 10 and ironically had his defining game against the Fighting Irish in 1967 when he tied a conference record with 4 interceptions.

A quick search of the internet resulted in no color pictures of Adrian Young in an Eagles uniform, but Jim provided this great action shot. So I went horizontal on it. Jim also provided the research on who all the other players are pictured in this shot.

"Adrian Young is in the center of the photo, wearing a very un-linebacker-ish #35. He is fighting off a block from Giants' backup TE #87 Rich Kotite (who would later coach the Eagles after the Buddy Ryan years). The Giants' tackle is #77 Dick Hanson (his only season in the league). The running back appears to be wearing #34, which would be Junior Coffey. The other Eagles are #24 safety-turned-cornerback, Nate Ramsey and #83 defensive tackle Don Hultz."

Here is the original 1971 Topps card of featuring Rick Duncan: 

And here is a BONUS CTNW of Rick Duncan on a 1968 Topps card. 1968 was the only season Duncan actually saw action in an Eagles uniform.

Once again I want to thank Jim for his suggestion. I had fun and learned a little by making these cards. Keep 'em coming.

Jim from Downingtown has several card related blogs. His blogs specialize on a single set/year providing insight into the individual cards from that set. Those blogs include football cards from 1967, 1968, 1971 and 1972. and baseball cards from 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970. He also has a 1960s Baseball blog. Click on any of the hyperlinks to go to his corresponding blog page. Let's face it, if you've read this far down on this page, you are as big a card-geek as I am and you will enjoy his work.

1966 Topps Brooks Robinson All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

In 1966 for the first time the All Star Game MVP was awarded to a player from the losing team. Brooks Robinson went 3 for 4 and scored the A.L.'s only run (unearned) in the second inning. He tripled then scored on a wild pitch from Sandy Koufax to give the Americans an early 1-0 lead. Ron Santo drove in the tying run in the bottom of the 4th and Maury Wills singled in Tim McCarver in the bottom of the 10th inning. The N.L. won their 4th consecutive All Star game.

The MVP is selected by a committee of executives and sports writers in attendance. Given the 105 degree heat and humidity of the day, the committee may have chosen the MVP and adjourned prior to the N.L.'s comeback.

1965 Topps Juan Marichal All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

Juan Marichal faced only 9 batter in 3 innings to start the 1965 All Star game. He gave up a single to Vic Davalillo of the Cleveland Indians to start the 3rd. He then got Twins catcher, Earl Battey, to ground into a double play. Next he retired future Hall member, Al Kaline for the 9th out of his near-perfect outing. He helped his own cause by hitting a single off Mudcat Grant then scoring on a Willie Stargell homerun.  

Although he left the game after 3 innings with the NL leading 5-0, the AL made a game of it. They tied it up in the 5th on 2 homers by Harmon Killebrew and Tiger's shortstop Dick McAuliffe. In the 7th Ron Santo drove in Willie Mays to take back the lead for good and the National League won 6-5.

1993 Topps Mickey Mantle

This is the 21st Mickey Mantle card in a series consisting of the 23 Topps sets without a Mantle. When this began there were 25 from 1971-1995, since then Topps released mini versions of 1975 and 1987 Mantles. 

Overall the 1993 set is a pretty good looking set. Fairly simple, team colors, horizontal variations. Still there is no official team logo or player position. I think the addition of either of these would make the design too busy. 

1968 Topps Nolan Ryan

Going Horizontal

Sometimes life gets busy and we all need to take a break. I haven't abandoned the blog but it has been put on the back shelf. I do have several cards made that I want to share, and a few continuing themes that I don't want to leave unfinished.  

This is one of those cards I had sitting around. I made it in response to a comment by Vonnoosh back in June. I was also starting to play with the idea of making horizontal "action" cards in sets where none existed. This was before I decide to use All Star Game MVPs as the subject for the Horizontal cards.

I have every intention of continuing this blog for my own entertainment if nothing else. I may post a little less frequently, but I have a few new ideas I want to explore.  

1964 Topps Johnny Callison All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

Johnny Callison was an unlikely hero of the 1964 All Star Game. He came in to pinch hit for Jim Bunning in the 5th inning. He popped out to short, In the 7th he popped out again to Center. But in the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at 4, Callison blasted a 3 run, walk-off homer to right field and the NL won 7-4.

1992 Topps Mickey Mantle

I think Topps took a step backwards with the 1992 set. Again the team logos were gone as were the player positions. But the team colors were still present as were the horizontal variations. I've been waiting to find a chance to use this shot of Mantle playing first base. Although his 1968 and 1969 cards list him as a first baseman both cards have him posed with a bat. In fact the only Topps card to feature a defensive Mantle is the 1956. Because he was so impressive with his bat, people forget that he was a Gold Glove winner.

1963 Topps Willie Mays All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

Willie Mays is no stranger to the All Star game. He played in every one from the time he returned from military service in 1954 to his final season in 1973. In 1963 he won his first All Star Game MVP. Mays went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk. He had 2 stolen bases, 2 RBI's and scored twice  accounting for 4 of the N.L.'s 5 runs in their 5-3 victory.