The 1980 Donruss Set That Never Was - The Requests

Sorry for the delay.  I'd like to be a better and more consistent blogger.  But as I've said before, life gets in the way. Truly not that many requests this time around, anyway.  So I'd like to begin with a request of my own:

Ed Farmer was the radio voice of the White Sox from 1991-2019.  He also pitched for the South-siders from 1979-1981. He made his only All Star appearance in 1980, so he fit this theme perfectly. Farmer passed away April 1st.  The White Sox organization made a nice video tribute to "Farmio".

You are missed, Farmio. pic.twitter.com/QonIokv1UN

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 24, 2020

Additionally, the Sox will be sporting a "Farmio" patch on their sleeve this season. This one is modeled by Palehose newcomer Edwin Encarnacion. 

 After Yoan Moncada's three run homer in the opener, Andy Masur (Farmer's successor in the booth) also paid tribute echoing Farmer's signature call:

"Hey Ed, this one's for you! Turn on the fireworks! It's a tie ballgame! Light it up!"

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Okay, now for the actual requests. "Night Owl" suggested a 1980 rookie and a couple pre-rookies. Rickey Henderson, who made his Topps debut in 1980, got a "Rated Rookie" card.

For the pre-rookies, Tim Raines and Fernando Valenzuela, I made a "Rated Prospects" card featuring them in Minor League uniforms.  I went with black and white photos similar to the 1979 Topps Prospects cards. (To be honest, if I could have found color photos, I would have used them.)

I liked the concept, but the final product seemed lacking, so I also made "Rated Rookie" cards for Rock and Fernando.They would both debut on Topps and Donruss in 1981.  Valenzuela also appeared in the 1981 Fleer set while Raines had a card in the Donruss set.

A couple more requests were Ron Cey and Mark Fidrych. Fidrych was in the final MLB season of his meteoric career.  After his brilliant rookie season in 1976, he injured his knee then tore his rotator cuff. He never regained his early dominance. In 1980 Ron Cey was coming off of his 6th straight All Star season. I had to include at least one night-game card for Night Owl.

The usual call for more post season cards came up as well. So I made Champion Series recap-cards and a Game 4 card. The Orioles were up three games to one, forcing the Pirates to win three straight.

Finally, Bryan wanted more Pirates and Indians. So here is a Dave Parker All-Star card and a Len Barker card. Barker led the AL in strikeouts in 1980 and 1981. He made his only All Star appearance in 1981 after throwing a perfect game that May.

More 1976 Alt-Topps

Managers / Team Cards, Rookie cards and Traded

 I was unimpressed with what turned out to be the base cards in this set.  However as I created the subsets based on the mock-up, the design became more appealing.

I included the manager in the team card similar to the Topps team cards from 1975-1981 (except for 1978). 

Of course I had to use the famous Cubs floaty-head style team card.

In 1976 the AL Rookie of the Year was Mark (The Bird) Fidrych. In the NL Pat Zachry and Butch Metzger tied for the honor. Since all three were pitchers, I put them on the same card. I threw in a future Cy Young award winner, Pete Vuckovich, to round out the rookie card.

I think it was mandatory that I include the card that famously wasn't included in the original 1976 Topps Traded set, Reggie Jackson.

 Vada Pinson never actually saw any action in the 1976 season. He was released by the Brewers at the end Spring Training.  This would be the last stop in a great career for him. 

1976 Topps Butch Wynegar

Butch Wynegar played a season of rookie league and a season of A level ball in the Minnesota farm system before he leap-frogged over AA and AAA to become the opening day starting catcher for the Twins in 1976. 

In 1976 only 5 players received votes for Rookie of the year. In the NL Butch Metzger and Pat Zachry were co-ROYs with 11 votes each. Hector Cruz received 2 votes. All 3 were included in the 1976 Topps set.

 In the AL, Mark "The Bird" Fidrych was the run-away ROY winner with 22 votes. Butch Wynegar received 2. Both AL candidates were selected to the 1976 All Star team. Fidrych was the starting pitcher. Wynegar made a brief appearance as a pinch hitter. Yet Neither were included in the 1976 Topps set. In one of my earlier posts I created a rookie card for Fidrych. Now all of the 1976 ROY candidates have cards.

1976 Topps Rookie Pitchers - Mark Fidrych, Bruce Sutter, Joaquin Andujar, Pete Vuckovich

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Mark Fidrych won the Rookie of the Year award in 1976 but didn't have a Topps card until 1977. This card includes 3 other pitchers that were rookies in 1976. They all had regular Topps cards in 1977 and none of them appeared on multi-player rookie cards. Andujar wan a Gold Glove in 1984 and was a 4 time All Star. Sutter went on to the Hall of Fame. Vuckovich was the Cy Young award winner for the Brewers in 1982. I best remember Vuckovich in the movie Major League. He played Clu Heywood and according to Bob Uecker led the league "in most offensive categories, including nose hairs."

Mark Fidrych was a classic case of what if... In 1976 he won 19 game and led the league in ERA and complete games, won the Rookie of the Year and came in second to Jim Palmer in Cy Young voting. The following spring he injured his knee, then tore his rotator cuff. He was selected to the All Star team but was unable to play because of injury. He attempted several come-backs but was never the same. He pitched 250 1/3 innings in 1976 and just 162 innings over the rest of his career.  His oddball personality as well as his antics on the mound endeared him to his fans. He died in a tragic accident while working on his truck in 2009.