Topps All-Star Misses: 1960 AL Outfield

 In 1960 Topps had Mantle, Maris and Kaline as its AL All Star outfielders.  All three of them started one of the 1959 ASGs.  Kaline started game one,  Maris and Mantle started the second game.  That left three other 1959 ASG starters that did not have All Star cards in the 1960 set.  Minnie Minoso was the most egregious offense. He not only started all four ASGS in 1959 and 1960, but he was also a Sporting News All Star in both 1959 and 1960.

Rocky Colavito started the first All Star game in 1959 and was a reserve in the second game.  He led the AL with 42 homers in 1959 and was 4th in MVP voting.

Ted Williams would get his last All Star start in the second ASG of 1959.  By 1960 he was already under contract with Fleer and wouldn't have another Topps card until his manager cards in 1969.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1961 AL Outfield

Topps 1961 All-Star AL outfield contained  Mantle, Maris and Kaline.  Mantle an Maris both started in the two 1960 All Star games and were also 1961 Sporting News All Stars.  Joining them in the outfield for the 1960 games was the "Cuban Comet" Minnie Minoso.  The 3rd 1961 Sporting News All Star outfielder was Rocky Colavito.  Therefore both Minnie and Rocky were worthy of cards in this subset.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1961 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Al Kaline:

 Al Kaline, a future Hall of Famer played in both 1960 and both 1961 ASGs.  He even started the second 1961 ASG.  Plus he was an impressive 5 for 9 in the 4 games.  Nobody doubts "Mr. Tiger's"  bona fides. Since he was a starter in neither of the 1960 contests and he was not selected to The Sporting News All Star team in 1961 (or for that matter, not in 1960 either), his inclusion in this set is questionable.

1968 Alt-Topps Requests

Sorry for the late posting. Believe it or not, January has been a very busy month for me. The weather in Chicago didn't help. And I get the feeling February won't be any better...

Let's start the requests with the All-Stars for Bill.  He wanted to see one of his favorites. The Killer. The man who may (or may not) have been the inspiration for the MLB logo created in 1969. 

The other was for the 1967 Triple Crown winner, Yaz. Although he saw significant drops in all three categories, he still was the AL batting leader in 1968. He also led the league in walks and on-base percentage.

Now for what I call "The Buzz Challenge".  Buzz must've been quite the pitcher in his youth considering the curve-balls he likes to throw.  Even a gimme like Mickey Mantle, Buzz wanted him with a first baseman's mitt. Now I had already made a card of the Mick at first base here.  I have seen a handful of action shots at 1st but very few posed. Since this set is supposed to be circa 1968 an action shot would have been unusual to say the least.

Many of Buzz's other challenges were the usual odd player-team combos. Here is Jim Bunning who was known for pitching in Detroit and Philly. In 1968 and the beginning of 1969 he was a Pirate. He also spent part of 1969 as a Dodger. I made a card of him on LA a few years back.

You can also see his west coast favorites come out. Here is a long-time Dodgers catcher on his new team. Johnny Roseboro went to the Twins in a deal that brought 1965 MVP Zoilo Versalles to LA.

Another short-time Dodger was Rocky Colavito. Known mostly for playing in Detroit and Cleveland, Rocky did short stints for the A's, White Sox and Yankees.

He was looking for a card depicting 1964 MVP Ken Boyer in a Dodgers uniform. Boyer actually began the 1968 campaign playing 3rd base for the White Sox. This was actually a tougher photo to find. This is the only color shot I found of him in a Sox uniform. I have absolutely no idea where he got that lightning-bolt windbreaker.

Ken Harrelson is perhaps best known for playing in Boston.  Topps, however, could never seem to make a card of him in a Red Sox uniform. It was always an airbrushed A's or Senators uni. Hawk also played in Cleveland where Topps caught up to his uniforms again.

Lastly, was utility infielder, John Kennedy. After playing for the Yankees in 1967, Kennedy spent the entire 1968 season in the minors before being picked up by the expansion Pilots for the 1969 season.

1964 Alt-Topps Requests

Just a few more for the 1964 Alt-Topps set by request. A couple were Anonymous. Including a reminder to make a Mickey Mantle card similar to those that were somewhat of a starter for this blog.  Most request were again from Buzz (the other anonymous poster). Jeremy requested a checklist which I used in my last post.

Here are the ones for The first anonymous poster:

A young Lou Brock before the infamous trade.

Buzz really likes to throw out a challenge.  First was Joe Adcock, who was traded to the L.A. Angels in late 1963. In 1965 the Angels became the California Angels with new logos on their caps. So it was a small window in which to find a suitable photo.

Next, he wanted Rocky Colavito who was spent just a single season with the A's in 1964. Once again a photo in the proper uniform (that preferably didn't appear on any other cards) was a tough find.

Next was the first Frank Thomas. Thomas was dealt to Philadelphia in late 1964 so this would have to have been a late series card in the Alt-Universe.  He was on the down-slide of his career and was on the Phillies just long enough to make an enemy of 1964 Rookie of the Year, Dick Allen.

The final request from buzz is more historical than baseball related.  He wanted to see a tribute to the recently (in the 1964 Alt-Universe) deceased President. 

30 Tribute Card Project - Part 3

I am continuing on with the 30 tribute card project I started based on  this article on the Sports Collectors Daily website. In my last post, I was able to check 5 more off the list ( numbers 5,6,11,13 and 14) with cards created by other people on the web.

     The #16 card on the list give us the first repeat offender. White Sox Cards made this tribute card of Rocky Colavito. Colavito's last Topps card was a 1968 hat-less White Sox card that looks suspiciously like his 1964 hat-less K.C. Athletics card. Although he barely hit his weight on the Yankees, this seems a more fitting last card for a 9 time All Star.

  #19 comes from Punk Rock Paint which is just chock full of custom card goodness. Beyond just baseball cards, this site has produced cards from Star Wars, Lost, The Big Lebowski, etc. This Drysdale tribute comes from his "Shoulda Been" series.

   This Maury Wills tribute card was created for the Garvey-Cey-Russell-Lopes blog and is #21 on the list. What is even cooler is that the blogger sent his tribute card off the Maury Wills and got it back signed.

 

    Another repeat offender Dick Allen Hall of Fame gives us #22 on the list. This is another one of those cards that I has several versions to choose from. Mays actually had a card in the 1974 Topps set, but it was a World Series card, not regular issue.

    Just as there were several Willie Mays tribute cards, there were also several for #23 on the list, 1977 Topps Hank Aaron. This particular one comes from Punk Rock Paint again. Among other reasons, I had to give this one the nod for the choice of photography. It was "borrowed" from Steve's Baseball Photography Pages, an absolute favorite of mine.

  Here is the list so far. The Black X represents cards produced by Topps, The red X represents those made by other baseball card geeks:

1.       1952 Joe DiMaggio X

2.       1956 Ralph Kiner

3.       1957 Bob Feller X

4.       1957 Phil Rizzuto

5.       1957 Jackie Robinson X

6.       1961 Ted Williams X

7.       1962 Jackie Jensen

8.       1964 Stan Musial X

9.       1964 Early Wynn

10.   1965 Duke Snider

11.   1966 Yogi Berra X

12.   1966 Warren Spahn 

13.   1967 Sandy Koufax X

14.   1967 Robin Roberts X

15.   1968 Whitey Ford

16.   1969 Rocky Colavito X

17.   1969 Roger Maris 

18.   1969 Eddie Mathews

19.   1970 Don Drysdale X

20.   1972 Ernie Banks X

21.   1973 Maury Wills X

22.   1974 Willie Mays X 

23.   1977 Hank Aaron X

24.   1977 Frank Robinson 

25.   1978 Brooks Robinson 

26.   1978 Jim Wynn

27.   1980 Lou Brock

28.   1980 Thuman Munson 

29.   1984 Johnny Bench 

30. 1984 Carl Yastrzemski 

To be Continued......

1963 Topps AL RBI Leaders: Killebrew, Siebern, Colavito, Robinson, Wagner

Once again in 1963 Topps did not include RBI leaders in their League Leaders sub-set. Of all the "Cards That Never Were", this is one that I can't figure out why? It seems like a no-brainer to include a major stat like RBIs. It is, after all, one third of the triple crown.

Harmon Killebrew led the A.L. in both HRs and RBIs with 48 and 126 respectively.  He was 3rd in MVP voting and a big part of the reason the Twins were 2nd in the AL in their 2nd year in Minnesota.

Norm Siebern had a career year in 1962. He played in every game that season and had career highs in nearly every stat across the board including 118 RBIs. He also earned his first All Star appearance.

Rocky Colavito drove in 112 runs for the 4th place Tigers. He was the starting  right fielder for the AL All Stars in the 2nd  game in 1962.  Mickey Mantle was the starting right fielder in the 1st game.

Floyd Robinson had 109 RBIs for the White Sox in 1962 and led the AL in doubles with 45.

Leon Wagner had 104 RBIs in 1962 and was the MVP of the 2nd All Star Game.

1962 Topps AL RBI Leaders: Gentile, Maris, Colavito, Cash

Even if this card had been made by Topps in 1962, it would not have looked this way. In 1962 Roger Maris "Officially" had 142 RBIs and was considered the RBI Champ. It wasn't until 2004 that some "statistical  discrepancies" were discovered and in 2010 it became "official" that both Gentile and Maris had 141 RBIs and were AL RBI Co-Champions.

In stark contrast to the NL RBI Leaders card, this card doesn't contain a single Hall of Famer. It does, however, captures 4 great players at the top of their game. All 4 had career seasons in 1961. Most notable is Maris and his brilliant 1961 season when he broke the single season homerun record and won his second consecutive MVP award.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : American League Outfield

While the 1963 N.L. All Star outfield was all Hall of Famers, there wasn't a single Hall member in the A.L. outfield.That is what I find so cool about All Star cards and for that matter, League Leader cards. Although these guys might not be household names, they were certainly regional favorites.

1966 Topps Willie Horton All Star

 

 Willie Horton was a promising player as a September call-up in 1963. He sputtered a bit in 1964 and spent most of the season proving himself again in the Minors. In 1965 he made his mark in the Majors, hitting 28 homers with 104 RBIs in his first full MLB season.

1966 Topps Vic Davalillo All Star

Vic Davalillo began playing pro ball for the Reds "D" League team in 1958. He was 21 years old. He played his last Major League game in 1980 at the age of 44 for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a Gold Glove center fielder in 1964.  In 1965 he made his only All Star appearance. He got a single in his first All Star at bat. He was the only player to reach first base on Juan Marichal.

1966 Topps Rocky Colavito All Star

After Marichal's near-perfect first 3 innings, The A.L.'s bats woke up. Rocky Colavito got the first RBI in the bottom of the 4th with a single off Jim Maloney. This was Rocky's 8th All Star game but his first as an Indian. He had previously represented Kansas City and Detroit in All Star games.

1963 Topps All Stars - The American League Outfield

1963 Topps Leon Wagner AS

Leon Wagner went 0 for 4 in game 1 but made up for it in game 2. He went 3 for 4 including a 2 run homer in the 4th to put the American League up 3-1. That gave the A.L. their first win since 1959 and what would be their last until 1972.

1963 Topps Roger Maris AS

Coming off his record breaking season in 1961, Maris was an easy choice to anchor the outfield. In game 1 he went 0 for 2 but hit a sacrifice fly in the 6th inning to drive in the A.L.'s only run. In game 2 he was 1 for 4 with an RBI double. He also scored both times he reached base. In the 7th when he reached on a fielder's choice, then again in the 9th.

1963 Topps Mickey Mantle AS

Although Mantle usually played centerfield with Roger Maris in right, for game 1 they switched positions. In game 1 Mantle struck out in the 1st then walked in the 4th inning. Rocky Colavito pinch ran for him. Colavito would then play left field with Leon Wagner moving over to right.

1963 Topps Rocky Colavito

Coming off the bench in game 1, Colavito was 0 for 1 with a walk. In game 2 he got the start in right field. He rewarded manager Ralph Houk with a 3 run homer in the 7th and an RBI sac-fly in the 9th.

October Shout Out

Bob Lemke's Blog

This is one of my favorite websites. If you are a baseball card geek like I am you will recognize the name. Bob is the Editor of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards.  His blog is full of information and quit a few custom cards.

His creations are head and shoulders above any I have seen on the web. He is obviously a perfectionist and it shows.

His cards all have a front and a back that is both true to the original set issue format and informative.

I could (and I have) spend hours going through his blog. Also if you are so inclined, he sells a limited number of hard copies of his creations. 

I really had a hard time narrowing down the cards to include on this page. I had to include Wheaton, IL native John Belushi and Brian Piccolo (note Lemke spelled his name correctly but Topps did not).  I love to see cards of famous players on unfamiliar teams (Robinson, Doby, Namath) or people who never had cards (Madden, Pride). I don't want to give away too much but go visit his blog. If you are like me, it's like being a kid in a candy store.