Topps All-Star Misses: 1961 NL Outfield

 The 1961 Topps "Sporting News" All Star cards were pretty close to accurate as far as reflecting what the cards purported to represent.  Topps had Aaron, Mays and Frank Robinson.  Three solid choices and future first-ballot Hall of Famers, all. Two of the three were actually The Sporting News All Star selections for 1961 (Mays and Robinson).  Topps was also two for three when it came to starters in the the 1960 All Star Games.  Mays and Aaron started both games in 1960. That being said these two Pirates could have been in that set just as easily.  Bob Skinner started in left field in both 1960 ASGs.  Roberto Clemente was selected to The Sporting News All Star team in 1961.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 NL Infield

I've been a bit behind on my postings, due to trying to put together another pack of physical cards.  Also just work, family, holidays, etc.  Also, for the time being, I'm going to monitor ALL of the comments, as this blog has been getting spam comments lately.  I will try to allow comments quickly so they will show, unedited, while trying to weed out the spam.

The National League All Star infield had a lot of potential cards to add to the 1960 set.  Much of this is due to having 2 ASGs in 1959. That being said, the only position Topps seemed to be in sync with was shortstop.  Ernie Banks was the starter in both 1959 ASGs and was a 1960 Sporting News All Star.

However, at first Topps had Willie McCovey, the 1959 Rookie of the Year, but the future Hall of Famer wouldn't make an All Star appearance until 1963. In the first game of 1959, his teammate, Orlando Cepeda was the starter at first.  

In the second game Stan Musial was the starter at first base.  In 1960 The Sporting News selected one All Star team rather than one from each league and in 1960 the selection was Moose Skowron of the Yankees.

Topps had Dodgers Gold Glove second baseman as their All Star selection.  He was a reserve in the second ASG of 1959 and both 1960 ASGs.  The starter in both 1959 games was the Reds' Johnny Temple. 

The 1960 Sporting News selection was Bill Mazeroski.  He was also the starter at second in both 1960 All Star games.

At third Topps had Eddie Mathews. Mathews was the 1960 Sporting News All Star and started the first All Star game in 1959. The player who started the second game was Ken Boyer.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1960 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Willie McCovey

 Stretch was the Rookie of the Year in 1959, but didn't have a Topps card.  (Here is my version of that missing card).  Perhaps Topps was making up for that by giving him two cards in the 1960 set.  But he wouldn't make an All Star appearance until 1963.  It wasn't until 1965 that he would be a Sporting News All Star selection.

Roberto or Bob?

 In my last post I made a 1962 All Star card for Roberto Clemente.  I went back and forth on whether to use the name that Topps used for Clemente back in that era or his chosen name of Roberto.  I opted for the one that was more historically accurate. This caused some discussion in the comments.  Was this a micro-aggression? Was Topps trying to anglicize his name to appeal to a broader audience? Or was this "Just Topps being Topps"?  Perhaps a little of each? 

When he came into the league his first two Topps cards had his name as Roberto Clemente (1955, 1956).  In 1957 they changed it to Bob.  A name that he did not like.  The kept this practice through 1969, and a few insert cards of 1970.

Occasionally Topps would accidentally refer to him as Roberto in the bio on the back of the card (Topps being Topps).  This was understandable as most people in the media and otherwise, called him by his given name of Roberto. Here are the backs of a 1959 Topps card featuring Clemente, Bob Skinner, and Bill Virdon:

Here is the back of his 1962 Topps card:

Also whenever his facsimile autograph appeared on a card it was a beautifully written "Roberto Clemente". 

In an odd twist the 1967 Topps card abbreviated his facsimile signature to "Rob" Clemente.  Possibly to justify referring to him as Bob all along?

The other card makers during that time almost exclusively referred to him as Roberto.  These were mostly food issues or local team issues. The only exceptions I found was the 1961 Post cereal card.  He was referred to as Bob in 1961 but Roberto in subsequent issues. And the 1966 East Hills Shopping Center card.  Here are some food issue cards from that era; 1962 Post, 1963 Jello, 1966 Kahn's and 1969 Nabisco:

Here's a couple more oddballs from that era:  1962 Salada Tea coins and a 1968 Atlantic Oil card:

Even the 1963 Fleer set had a "Roberto" Clemente card:

Here is an interesting article on the subject. Click Here. In it the author states that he searched newspapers.com for the year 1956 looking for uses of the name "Bob Clemente".  He then searched the same for "Roberto Clemente".  "Bob" had 706 hits, "Roberto" had 5,156 hits. While it was not unheard of, Bob was used approximately 12% of the time when referring to Clemente in 1956, the year Topps changed his name to "Bob".  I have no data to back this up, but would wager that as Clemente became more famous (ie: the sixties) that 12% usage of "Bob" in the media diminished. By 1970 Topps (with the exception of a couple 1970 insert cards) finally used his given name on the front of their card.

I recently saw a 1966 Clemente card on twitter drawn by Gummy Arts (@gummyarts).  In his own inimitable style he recreated the card accurately but instead used Clemente's given name.  I loved it, and told him so.  There is no real need for card creators to be historically accurate at the cost of simple dignity.   He was fiercely proud of his heritage and preferred to be called Roberto. 

Even Topps in their Project 70 series of cards reimagined the 1969 card with Clemente's given name:

Does that make me part of the "woke" politically correct crowd?  I honestly don't care.  Those type of labels mean nothing to me personally.  I think we should treat all people with dignity and respect.  If they are offended by something you say, do your best not to offend them.  Especially something small like a name.  Whether we're talking about "Bob" Clemente, "Richie" Allen, the Washington Redskins or the Cleveland Indians.  Most times it costs you nothing.  Other times it could be a marketing bonanza.  Just think how many new jerseys, t-shirts, hats, etc. the Guardians will sell this year. 

I have been collecting cards since 1974.  By then Clemente was gone, but I had never heard him referred to as "Bob".  It was odd when I found older cards that had that name.  By 1970 even Topps was calling him Roberto.  For me to refer to him as "Bob" in an effort to be historically accurate to what Topps would have done, is counter to what I put at the very top of this blog.  "What cards would look like if I had my way".  So with my apologies to Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker, here is the card I should have made:

I think it looks just as good as my previous "Bob" Clemente card. And it cost me nothing to show simple respect.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1962 NL Outfield

 The 1962 Topps All Star NL outfield is a bit of mixed bag.  They had Aaron, Mays and Frank Robinson.  The actual outfield in both 1961 games was Mays, Clemente and Cepeda.  Now, Topps did have an All Star card of Cepeda at 1st base.  In 1962 he did move back to 1st and was the starter at 1st in both '62 games.  He was also a 1962 Sporting News All Star selection at 1st base in 1962.  So that checks out.  Frank Robinson was also a Sporting News All Star in 1961 and 1962. Still good so far. But Where is Clemente? He started all 4 ASGs in 1961 and 1962.  He was also a 1961 Sporting News All Star.  The other missing Star was Tommy Davis.  He was a starter in both 1962 games and was a 1962 Sporting News All Star.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1962 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Hank Aaron:

This almost feels blasphemous, but the Hammer probably didn't belong.  He was a reserve for all 4 ASGs in 1961 and 1962, but not a starter.  He wasn't a Sporting News All Star selection either year. 

UPDATE: 1952 Topps Survivors

 I felt it was time to update the list of players in the iconic 1952 Topps set that are still with us. This was a project that was begun by the late Bob Lemke. Since my last update of this list, Eddie Robinson  passed away at the ripe old age of 100. He was the oldest living MLB player at the time of his death. In August we lost Johnny Groth. He was 95. Cloyd Boyer, the older brother of Clete and Ken Boyer, left us in September at the age of 94.

That brings the survivors of the 1952 Topps set down to twelve. Here is the current list of the '52 survivors: 

Bobby Shantz

Born 9/26/1925

Card #219

Bobby Morgan

Born 6/29/1926

Card #355

Carl Erskine

Born 12/13/1926

Card #250

Charlie Maxwell

Born 4/8/1927

Card #180

Bob Kelly

Born 10/4/1927

Card #348

Tommy Brown

Born 12/6/1927

Card #281

Bob Ross 

Born 11/2/1928

Card #298

Curt Simmons

Born 5/19/1929

Card #203

Ike Delock

Born 11/11/1929

Card #329

Vern Law

Born 3/12/1930

Card #81

Dick Groat

Born 11/4/1930

Card #369

Willie Mays

Born 5/6/1931

Card #261

With the passing of Eddie Robinson earlier this month, the oldest living MLB player is George Elder.  He played only part of one season with the St. Louis Browns in 1949.  He played a total of 4 years of pro ball from 1947-1950.  He played minor league ball with the Toledo Mud Hens, San Antonio Missions, Baltimore Orioles. Beaumont Exporters and the Wichita Indians.  Since he never had a baseball card, I made him one in the style of the 1983 Topps Super Veteran cards.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 NL Battery

The 1960 Topps All Star set were supposedly "Sport Magazine" selections.  Unfortunately, I can't find any list to verify that.  The Sporting News also selects an All Star team.  Their National League battery included Ernie Broglio, Vern Law, Warren Spahn and Del Crandall.  That's one lefty handed pitcher, two right handed and one catcher.  At first I thought that maybe one of those pitchers was a reliever, but all three are starters.  I'm not sure why TSN included 3 pitchers.  Del Crandall was already included in the Topps set, but the three pitchers who were "Sporting News" selections were not.  Therefor this may be a bit of a stretch for this project.  Nonetheless, Here they are:

Topps All-Star Misses: 1969 NL Outfield

 The 1969 Topps All Star outfield for the National League has some glaring omissions.  Notably Hank Aaron, whose card I had already used on this blog after his passing earlier this year.  I had also included that card in my second "pack" of physical cards.  Based on the simple criteria that the players either be starting All Star from the previous year (1968) or the current year (1969) Sporting News All Star selections, here are four players that could've been included in this subset.

Hank Aaron:

• 1968 MLB All Star game starter.
• 1969 MLB All Star game starter.
• 1969 Sporting News All Star selection.
• 12th in NL MVP voting 1968.
• 3rd in NL MVP voting 1969.
• Led NL in slugging and on-base percentage in 1969.
  

Willie Mays:

• 1968 MLB All Star game starter.
• Gold Glove Outfielder in 1968
• 13th in NL MVP voting 1968.

Cleon Jones:

• 1969 MLB All Star game starter.
• 1969 Sporting News All Star selection.
• 7th in NL MVP voting 1969.

Matty Alou:

• 1968 MLB All Star game reserve.
• 1969 MLB All Star game starter.
• 1969 Sporting News All Star selection.
• 11th in NL MVP voting 1968.
• 23rd in NL MVP voting 1969.

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

Lou Brock:

Brock was not even an All Star reserve in 1968 or 1969.  He wasn't on the Sporting News All Star team either year. He was 6th in NL MVP voting in 1968, leading the NL in doubles, triples and of course stolen bases. In '69 he was the stolen base king again.  Without a doubt, he was a popular player and a future Hall of Famer.  But I still wonder why he got a cards while others didn't.

Honorable Mention, Pete Rose:

Another player who wasn't a 1968 Starter nor on the 1969 Sporting News All Star team. At least Rose was a reserve in the 1968 and '69 ASGs.  He was also on the Sporting News AS team in 1968.  His inclusion doesn't quite meet the criteria, but makes a bit more sense.  Nonetheless I have other issues with his card. First is that even him in the background? His head is obscured by the brim of his cap.  There are no discernable markings on his uniform. And is that guy in the stands behind him wearing a half black/half white suit?