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.

1979 Alt-Topps Requests

The big request this month was the entire run of World Series cards. Topps had omitted them from the 1979 set. I imagine it was to make an earlier deadline. But we here at "Alt-Topps" have a much more fluid deadline. 

Game 1 had been published already, so here is Game 2.  Ron Cey drove in all four Dodger runs. In the 4th he singled to score Garvey from second. In the 6th he hit a three-run homer.

In Game 3 Graig Nettles put on a clinic at third base. He is credited with saving at least 4 runs. Guidry pitched a complete game despite claiming to not have his stuff.

The play everybody talks about in this Series was a soft infield liner to Russell. Russell (intentionally?) let it drop and tried to turn a double play. But a "confused" Reggie Jackson was frozen in the base path. The throw to first ricocheted into the outfield. Instead of 3 outs with LA up 3-1. there were 2 outs and the Yankees were within 1.  The game went to extras and in the bottom of the tenth Roy White scored on a walk-off singe by Lou Piniella.

After the Dodgers gained an early 2-run lead, Munson drove in the Yankees second and third run to put NY ahead. The Yanks never looked back, piling it on to win 12-2. Munson went 3 for 5 with 2 singles, a double and 5 RBIs.

Brian Doyle led the Yankees with a .438 series batting average. Bucky Dent hit .417 in the World Series and was named the series MVP. The two accounted for 12 hits in the final  two games of the series. 

Brett left a comment to include WAR leader cards in this Alt-set.  Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is an appeal to the Sabermetric baseball community. It is supposed to calculate the team wins with a particular player in the lineup as opposed to a "replacement level player". Presumably a minor leaguer or a bench player. 

It's an imperfect science and different sources use slightly different data and formulas. There are also several different WAR's; there is overall, offensive, defensive and one of position players or pitchers. Of course, Topps would not have included these leader cards, but what a unique idea. Wish I thought of it.

I had a few last minute requests. Buzz wanted the 42 year old outfielder Vic Davalillo in Dodger blue. I was tempted to label him P.H. as most of his 1979 appearances were pinch hitting. 

He also wanted to see Bobby Murcer. Murcer began the 1979 season on the north side. He was dealt mid-season back where he started in the Bronx.

He also was looking for the prickly reliever Mike Marshall. If you look back at the Topps cards of Mike Marshall you can see nice action cards in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. His earlier cards were loaded with airbrushed photos. He simply didn't like posing for pictures. And although Topps gave up on him after 1977, he continued to play through 1981. Even Fleer and Donruss ignored him in 1981. He did get a Fleer card in 1982 (his first card since 1977).

I also got a request from the "Chief" for a Bobby Bonds card playing for the Tribe. But I was already on that track.  If you read the comment section of the first posting in the Alt 1979 series, you'd see that there was some question over whether the card of Don Baylor was actually Don Baylor. 

It was suggested that it could be Ron Jackson. He wore the numbers 2, 32, 16 and 15, but never 25. Also in every photo I've seen of Jackson, he has worn a helmet with an earflap. The helmet flying off "Baylor's" head obviously was the old school helmet. The earflap helmets were not required until 1983 and players who entered the league prior were grandfathered. Rock Raines was the last to wear the flapless helmet in 2002.

"Joe" suggested it might be George Hendrick. There are a couple of flaws in this theory. First, Hendrick was listed as 6'5" 195 lb. Baylor was 6'1" and a generous 190 lb (the same weight as on his 1970 Rookie card). Second, going back to helmets, every picture I've seen of Hendrick he has a cap under his helmet. Again not the case in the "Baylor" card. Lastly, the stirrups. Hendrick favored the George Brett style of long pants covering most of the stirrups.

The most obvious tell is the number 25. Baylor initially wore #12 for the Angels until Bobby Bonds was traded to the White Sox after the 1977 season. Here Bobby is depicted on a Traded card. The Rangers traded Bonds to Cleveland in October of 1978. He was still shown as a Ranger on his 1979 Topps card.

The next #25 on the Angels was Tommy John. He wore #35 until his familiar 25 was vacated when Baylor was dealt to the Yankees in 1983. He wore #25 until mid 1985 when he was released.  John was signed by the Yankees in November of 1978. His Topps card still showed him on the Dodgers, There was a Burger King variation that had him on the Yankees.  I think we can agree that neither Bonds nor Tommy John are the person on that card.

My last bit of evidence to support my case is this 1979 ALCS program featuring Don Baylor on the cover. He's wearing the same style helmet, the same high stirrups, the same Adidas cleats, the same batting gloves and the same number.

1981 Topps World Series Co-MVPs

1981 was an eventful year. The players went on strike from June 12th until August 10th. The MLB set up a playoff structure in which the 1st half division leader (Dodgers) would play the 2nd half leader (Astros) before facing the other division for the pennant.  The Dodgers overcame an 0-2 deficit to beat the Astros in 5 games then overcame a 1-2 deficit to beat the Expos in 5 games. 

The Yankees took the first two games in the Series only to see the Dodgers come from behind again to win it in 6 games. Cey, Guerrero and Yeager combined for 5 of the team's 6 homers and 17 of 26 RBIs. They also led the team in cheesy mustaches.