Topps All-Star Misses: 1968 AL Infield

 The 1968 Topps All Star cards for the AL infield nearly reflected the 1967 AL starting infield.  1st base was Killebrew, 2nd was Carew, 3rd was Brooks Robinson.  Shortstop was where they ran into trouble.  Topps had Jim Fregosi at shortstop.  The actual starting shortstop was Rico Petrocelli.

And then there is the issue that the cards were supposed to represent "The Sporting News 1968 All Star Selections".  In that case, they missed the mark at shortstop again.  Luis Aparicio was the Sporting News pick.

They missed at 1st base, too.  In 1968 Boog Powell was The Sporting News All Star section.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1969 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Jim Fregosi:

 Fregosi technically doesn't belong using my narrow definition of either starting the previous season's ASG (1967) or being the current season's Sporting News All Star (1968).  However in 1967 he actually played more innings at short than the starter, Petrocelli. He was also the starter in the 1968 ASG.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1969 AL Infield

 Topps 1969 American League All Star Infield was another head scratcher.  At second Topps had Rod Carew who was the 1968 All Star starter and a 1969 Sporting News All Star selection.  Similarly, third base was Brooks Robinson.  He was the 1968 ASG starter and a 1969 Sporting News All Star. There if falls apart.  

Topps had Bert Campaneris at shortstop. The actual 1969 Sporting News All Star was Luis Aparicio. The 1968 MLB All Star Game Starter was Jim Fregosi.

At first it gets really strange.  Topps had Ken Harrelson who had been used primarily as an outfielder since being dealt to the Red Sox in 1967.  In fact, he was named to The Sporting News All Star team in 1969 as an outfielder, not a first baseman. He also appears to be in his A's uniform despite being traded in 1967.  The actual 1969 Sporting News All Star in 1969 was Boog Powell and the starting first baseman in the 1968 All Star Game was Harmon Killebrew.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1969 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Bert Campaneris:

We'll give Topps a pass for Hawk Harrelson because he was a Sporting News Selection in 1969, although in the OF not 1B.  But Campy made his first ASG appearance in 1968 as a reserve and wouldn't be named to The Sporting News team until 1973. Additionally, the pinstriped uniform in the picture hasn't been worn by the A's in the regular season since 1961. How old is this picture? 

Topps All-Star Misses: 1970 AL Infield

After a bit of a diversion, I'm ready for another round of All Star misses by Topps.  As we've established, Topps basis for the players that appeared on "All Star" cards, often didn't reflect the actual starting MLB All Stars.  Many of these cards were labeled as "Sporting News All Star Selections".  Unfortunately, that often wasn't accurate either. So I've made cards that could've been included in these Topps All Star sub-sets from 1958-62 and 1968-70.

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The 1970 Topps "Sporting News" All Stars featured three AL infielders that started the 1969 All Star game; Boog Powell, Rod Carew and Rico Petrocelli.  It also had three from the 1969 Sporting News All Star team; Powell, Carew and Brooks Robinson.  Here are some players that could've been included based on either starting the 1969 ASG or being selected to the 1970 Sporting News All Star team:

 Davey Johnson:

• 1970 Sporting News All Star selection.
• 1969 MLB All Star reserve.
• 1970 MLB All Star starter.
• Gold Glove second baseman 1969 and 1970.

Sal Bando:

• 1969 MLB All Star starter.
• 16th in AL MVP voting 1969.
• 27th in AL MVP voting 1970.

Harmon Killebrew:

• 1970 Sporting News All Star selection.
• 1969 MLB All Star reserve.
• 1970 MLB All Star starter.
• 1969 AL MVP.
• 3rd in AL MVP voting 1970.

Luis Aparicio:

• 1969 and 1970 Sporting News All Star selection.
• 1970 MLB All Star starter.
• Gold Glove shortstop in 1970.
• 12th in AL MVP voting 1970.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1970 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Brooks Robinson:

A strong case could be made for the "Human Vacuum" based on his 1969 Sporting News All Star selection, and based on his appearance as a reserve in both 1969 and 1970 ASGs.  That being said, he didn't start either year, nor was he the 1970 selection by The Sporting News.

 

1967 Alt-Topps Requests

I promised to have these done "before spring training ends".  But it ended rather abruptly.  I did at least manage to get these out before the regular season starts, if there is a season at all.  

This time around, there weren't as many requests as I usually get.  It's as though you might have had more important things to tend to.  In all seriousness, I hope that everyone is staying healthy and following the CDC guidelines.  Here's something to kill a few minutes of your self quarantine. 

I got a couple requests for more All Star cards, particularly Harmon Killebrew.  The Killer wasn't actually a starting All Star in 1966.  He was on the All Star roster, though.  Topps played pretty fast and loose with their All Star cards in the '60s. Often they referred to them as "Sporting News All Stars". Despite the title, sometimes the players on their cards weren't named to the Sporting News All Star team, either. So I have no qualms about including Killebrew in this Alt-Topps subset.  The Ron Santo card is one that I had made earlier, then decided to make a McCovey card instead.  After all McCovey's name was on the original mock-up, even though his image wasn't.  

I also got a request for a Phillies and an Orioles card.  The reason: both had yellow as their base colors in the real 1967 Topps set.  "Bob" thought yellow wouldn't work well in this design. He may have a point.  I found a decent head shot of Uecker wearing a Phillies uniform.  His real 1967 card was of the hatless variety.  For the Orioles, I dragged out one of my favorite players, Luis Aparicio.

As I said before, the request were few, so I had a couple that I wanted for myself.  I always like to add a card of "the Mick" whenever I can.  In 1967 he moved from the outfield and played first base exclusively.  His real 1967 card still listed him as an outfielder.  I also needed to add possibly the biggest trade of 1967, Maury Wills.  He not only moved from LA to Pittsburgh but also from shortstop to third base.  The Pirates already had a Gold Glove shortstop in Gene Alley

A request came in for the multi player cards that were a Topps staple in the '60s.  In this instance, the request was for the White Sox pitching rotation that included Tommy John, Joel Horlen and Gary Peters.  Although the Sporting News had all three on their cover in July of 1967, I could not find a similar color photo. But heck, two out of three ain't bad. I also made a card of the Alou brothers.  I used the term Family Affair. That TV show debuted in September of 1966. The Sly and Family Stone hit single of the same name wouldn't come out until 1971.

 

The same person wanted a rookie card that featured Fred Lasher and Cisco Carlos.  Both were late call ups that pitched for 2 of the 4 late-season AL contenders. (As late as September 6th, the Twins, Tigers, Red Sox and White Sox were all tied for 1st place). Lasher was a closer with 9 saves in 17 appearances in '67.  He also had 28 strikeouts in just 30 innings pitched.  Cisco Carlos was 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA and a strikeout to walk ratio of 3 to 1. He was good enough to be included with Johnny Bench on the cover of the 1968 MLB rookie edition of Sports Illustrated.  However in 1968 he went 4-14 for the Sox.

"Deogolf" wanted more World Series cards and I wanted to provide some equal time for the Dodgers.  But the reality is LA was pretty much absent from the 1966 Fall Classic.  Even the real 1967 Topps set had only Orioles on their World Series cards.  One of the better performances by the Dodgers was Claude Osteen's pitching in game 3.  He only gave up 3 hits in 7 innings. But one of those hits was a solo homer by Paul Blair.  The Dodgers gave him zero runs in support.  

Even More 1965 Alt-Topps

All Star, World Series, Leader Cards and More

The All Star cards are a bit of a throwback to the 1958 design. Second base belonged to New York in the 1964 ASG.

1964 World Series MVP Bob Gibson pitched 27 innings over 3 games. This included 10 innings in Game 5. His battery mate, Tim McCarver broke the tie in the 10th with a 3-run homer.

For the Leader cards, I tried to let the photos dominate the card. 

I also used a couple of stat categories that Topps wouldn't use on their own leader cards until 1973.

One thing that has been missing in my previous Alt-Topps efforts has been the multi-player card. Topps used them throughout the 50s and 60s.  The Aaron Brothers seemed like low-hanging-fruit. 

While I'm surprised Topps didn't use Hank & Tommy, this tribute to the KC Monarchs might have been a departure for Topps. Both Altman and Banks played for the Monarchs under Buck O'Neil in the early 50s. In 1965 O'Neil was the Cubs hitting coach.

1965 marked the opening of the Astrodome and the name change from Colt .45s to Astros. There were plenty of gimmicks, including a ground crew dressed as spacemen.  

Even More 1971 Alt-Topps

All Star,  World Series,  Leader and Rookie Cards

The All-Star cards are pretty similar to the base cards. The 1970 All-Star Game logo replaces the team logo. In 1970 Luis Aparicio started his last All Star Game in a White Sox uniform.  And what a uniform it was. I always loved the baby-blue flannels of that era.















Meanwhile on the Senior Circuit, the Say Hey Kid was playing in his 21st of 24 career All Star Games. Second only to Hank Aaron and tied with Stan Musial.

















It's still amazes me that color barriers that were still being broken in the 1970's.  Jackie Robinson's entry into the league in 1947 seemed like the distant past in 1970.  But 1971 saw the first and only time both starting All Star pitchers were African American. It also saw the first starting 9 lineup with every position filled by players of color. The Pirates accomplished that on September 1st of that year. And of course it wasn't until 1975 that Frank Robinson became the first black manager.

Also 1970 was the first World Series with an African American umpire. Emmett Ashford broke the color barrier for umpires in 1966. 19 seasons after Robinson and Doby.  The 1970 was not only his first, but last as he had reached mandatory retirement age.  He is seen here defending his call against Boog Powell in the 8th inning of game 5.

Powell had hit a scorcher down first. Lee May bobbled it and threw to the pitcher. Boog was called out. In the mean time, Paul Blair scored from second to put the Orioles up 8-3. The argument and the call had little consequence, but with today's replay, it probably would've been overturned.


Normally I make just one World Series card. The game 5 featuring an umpire just seemed a bit out of place.  So I created a series recap card with the typical team celebration.








The 1970 Batting Leader was Alex Johnson who had a career year. Going into the last game of the season he was trailing Yaz by .002. After grounding out in his first at bat, he slapped 2 singles in a row. He was then taken out of the game to preserve his .32899 average over Yastrzemski's .32862 average. Both appear in the stats as .329 but Johnson held a slight statistical edge.












The NL Strikeout leaders feature 3 great Hall of Famers at the top of their game. Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Fergie Jenkins. Enough said.

Once again, with 20/20 hindsight, the Rookie Stars cards feature the 1971 Rookies of the Year plus a couple other names you might know. The AL ROY was Chris Chambliss. The Indians chose him with the overall #1 pick of the 1970 draft.





Earl Williams was also taken in the first round of the draft. But that was 5 years earlier in 1965 and with the 6th overall pick. He was worth the wait. He clubbed 33 homers and 87 RBIs in his first full season.

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As usual, any request to fill in the blanks in this series are accepted. I will try my best to post them by the end of the month. 

Even More For 1963 Fleer

In my previous post I pointed out some other types of cards that might have been included in the 1963 Fleer set had it not been cut short due to Topps' lawsuit. In my last post I added manager, rookie and team cards. But what set would be complete without leader cards?

Again I made one example from the American League and one from the National. Not a bad selection of players either. Five out of six are in the Hall of Fame now.  I tried to remain true to the Fleer design, but when I was done it looks reminiscent of Topps 1964 Leader cards.

Also missing from the initial 66 cards were World Series cards. Not necessarily essential, but usually a source of action shots in the 1960's when most cards were posed. Again, one card example featuring the National League team, and one for the American League.

 I decided to go with black and white photos out of necessity. While I could find a few color photos of the 1962 Series. Topps colorized their WS cards in the early 60's but revered to black and white in the later part of the decade.

One of my favorite subsets, the All Star cards, were notably missing from the 1963 Topps set. When Topps did  include All Stars, they weren't often the starting All Stars from the previous season. Often they were labeled "Sporting News All Star" but often that wasn't the case either.

In my examples, both players were Sporting News All Stars in 1963.  Luis Aparicio played starting shortstop in the 1962 All Star Games while a member of the White Sox. In 1963 he was the backup to Zoilo Versalles . Johnny Edwards was the Sporting News All Star in 1963 but was a backup to Ed Bailey of the Giants in the 1963 All Star game. Edwards took over for Bailey as the Reds catcher in 1961 when Bailey was traded to the Giants. Edwards, a three time All Star and two time Gold Glove catcher was succeeded by Johnny Bench in 1968.

In the Original 66 cards was the rookie card of Maury Wills. On that card, instead of the usual player drawing, Fleer put "N.L. Most Valuable Player '62". They replicated that for their 1998 Mickey Mantle insert card. I made a Rookie of the Year card for Ken Hubbs using the same design.

While most sets of this era didn't have "Award" cards, it seem like a logical extension. So here is the other R.O.Y. from 1962, Tom Tresh and the 1962 Cy Young Award winner, Don Drysdale.