Barrier Breakers: 1947 Larry Doby - Cleveland Indians

We all know Larry's story. Second to Jackie Robinson in the MLB and the second MLB manager behind Frank Robinson.  He also played in Japan in the early sixties. He has been one of my favorite subjects in this blog. I've made a few cards of him already. Here is a '55 Bowman, a 1963 Menko, an Alt-Topps MLB Dream Bracket card and a 1978 Topps manager card.  These all made appearances on my blog going back as many as 9 years.

I had floated the idea of the 1947 Bond Bread card on Twitter. Most liked it and thought it captured the era accurately.  The only complaint was the photo I had originally used.  Someone pointed out that it was already used on a  1979 TCMA card.  It actually was used by TCMA  again in 1984 and 1986.  In all, I found over a dozen cards that used that same photo, including several from Fleer and Topps. This version uses a magazine phot from that era.  I can't tell if it was colorized or just the print quality of the magazine.  At least I haven't found it on any other cards. Yet.

1980 Topps Sadaharu Oh

 

On this day in 40 years ago, Sadaharu Oh announced his retirement.  This was after 22 years and 868 homeruns. He played his entire career for the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo.  His home stadium during that time was Korakuen Stadium which has the dimensions of 288 feet down the line, 396 in center and 361 in the gaps.  I give these numbers not to dispute his HR numbers but to give a comparison with Hank Aaron, his MLB counterpart.

The dimensions at Fulton County Stadium were 325-330 down the lines, 400-402 in center and 375-385 in the gaps. These dimensions changed a couple times during Aaron's career.  Most of that time it was 330-375-400. Milwaukee County Stadium was 315 down the lines, 362 in the gaps and 402 in center.

So there may be an argument that the fences were a little closer.  But another argument is that the seasons were much shorter in Japan.  The length of the regular seasons varied from 114-140 games, most were in the 130 neighborhood. Although comparisons are difficult, you cannot discount his accomplishments. 

Another Batch of Cards from Rating the Rookies

It's crazy how these things add up. Here is a baker's dozen.  Thirteen Cards That Never Were from my other blog, Rating the Rookies. The first are a couple of one-and-done players. The only card either Bernie Smith or George Kopacz appeared on was a 1971 Brewers Rookie Stars card. So I made 1970 Topps cards of them.

The second batch also landed on 1970 Topps Cards That Never Were. George Lauzerique and Roberto Rodriguez originally shared a 1969 Topps Athletics Rookie Stars card.

The next two actually had solo rookie cards. Lee Stange had a solo rookie card in 1962. That was the first year Topps had multi-player rookie cards. But they also had quite a few solo rookie cards.  I gave Stange a 1963 Fleer Card That Never Was. 

Deron Johnson had three, count 'em three solo rookie cards. He appeared on solo rookie stars cards in 1959, 1960 and 1961 as a Yankee. And for all three cards Topps used the exact same photo. For his Card That Never Was, I put him on a 1975 Topps card showcasing his brief time with the White Sox. 

The next two appeared together on a 1965 Topps Red Sox Rookie Stars card. I gave Rico Petrocelli a 1968 All Star Card That Never Was in honor of his start in the 1967 All Star game.

 Jerry Stephenson got a 1969 Topps Card showing him as a member of the Seattle Pilots. 

Jim Woods went to High School just blocks from Wrigley. In the same year he graduated high school, he was a September call-up for the Cubs. They only used him a couple times, both times as a pinch runner. So for his Card That Never Was, I gave him the Herb Washington treatment, and put him on a 1957 Topps card with his position listed as pinch runner. He eventually appeared as a rookie on a 1961 Topps card but that was not his first card. He also had a card in the 1960 Leaf set.

Mike Cubbage, Doug DeCinces, Reggie Sanders and Manny Trillo shared a 1975 Rookie Infielders card. Cubbage was part of a multi-player trade that sent Bert Blyleven to the Texas Rangers. For his part, I gave him a 1976 Topps Traded Card That Never Was. 

After a solid career for the Orioles, Angels and (very briefly) Cardinals, DeCinces played in Japan for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. For his Card That Never Was, I made a 1988 Topps style card of him on the Swallows.

This Reggie Sanders was drafted by the A's in the same year the other Reggie Sanders was born. His entire MLB playing career consisted of  26 games played in 1974. Despite that he had 2 rookie cards, one in 1974 and another in 1975. For his third rookie Card That Never Was, I teamed him up with another young Reggie on this 1968 card.

Manny Trillo also had rookie cards in '74 and '75. For his Card That Never Was, I gave him a Kellogg's cereal card for his first All Star season 1977.

What's going on at my other blog?

Just a quick post of some of the Cards That Never Were that I created for my other blog: Rating the Rookies. Perhaps this would be a good time to point out something that almost every collector knows: for every rookie card that has a legit future star, there are dozens of players that don't make it big. This batch of cards certainly proves that point.

Most of Dave Bennett and Morrie Steevens (no, not a typo) short MLB careers were behind them by the time they appeared together on this 1965 Phillies Rookie Stars card.  Steevens ended up pitching just 2.2 innings in 1965 which was exactly 2.2 more than Bennett. 

Tommy Matchick and Daryl Patterson were on the same 1968 Tigers Rookie Stars card. At face value, it looks like any other mundane rookie card. But it seems like there is always a good story hidden somewhere. Just ask Pedro Borbon, AKA the "Dominican Dracula".

Chuck Coles was an early one and done. His one and only baseball card was a Topps Sporting News  Rookie Stars of 1959 card. 1959 was the birth of the designated rookie card. Unfortunately, most of the players in that series didn't live up to Topps' expectations.

Randy Bass, Jim Gaudet, and Randy McGilberry were captured in grainy black and white on a  Royals 1979 Prospects card. Only one of them actually played on the Royals in 1979.

In 1973 Tom Paciorek and Jorge Roque shared a 1973 Rookie Outfielders card with the 1973 NL Rookie of the Year, Gary Matthews Sr. I had to dig deep to create Cards That Never Were for Paciorek and Roque but had several already in the bank for Mathews right here.

1975 Calbee Frank Howard

After being released by the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 1973 season, Frank Howard was signed by the Taiheiyo Lions. He had exactly one at bat in 1974. He struck out and injured his back. After retiring from playing Howard continued as a coach for several teams including the Brewers, Yankees, Devil Rays and Mariners and he managed the Padres and the Mets.

The 1975 Calbee cards came in  packages of chips and looked suspiciously similar to the 1975 Topps baseball cards. With a little help from Google Translator, I was able to figure out where to put his name, position and team on the card.