Showing posts with label Roy Campanella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roy Campanella. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

1951 Topps Football Cards as Baseball Cards

 Before I start another round of All Star Cards That Never Were, I am going to throw in something a little different.  I was playing around with an idea of what Topps baseball cards would look like if they use Topps football format.  So for absolutely no good reason at all, the next few posts will be MVP baseball players from the '50s on Topps football card designs.

In 1951 Topps had a set called Football Magic.  The "Magic" referred to a scratch off quiz on the backs. The set also featured college players, not pros. This is Billy Wade who played quarterback for the Rams and Bears from 1954-1966.  He's shown here playing for Vanderbilt. 

I took the 1951 NL MVP Roy Campanella and put him in that card design.  The baseball version looks a little wider because the '51 football cards were 2 1/16" by 2 15/16".  I made the baseball version standard size, 2 1/ 2" by 3 1/2". Here they are side by side:



In case you're wondering, I skipped over the 1950 Topps Felt Back football cards.  They were quite ugly and would be hard to re-create.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

1980 All Star Game Honorary Captains: Roy Campanella & Al Kaline

Rounding out my 2014 All Star Break set are the Honorary Captains of the 1980 All Star game in Los Angeles.


Representing the National League was 1969 Hall of Fame inductee and Dodgers fan favorite, Roy Campanella. Campanella appeared on one of the earliest "Card That Never Were" I am aware of, when Topps put him on a 1951 card as part of the 1975 MVP subset. A three-time MVP, Topps would also have to create a 1955 card of him (as well as a 1962 Maury Wills card).


Representing the 1980 American League All Stars in was 1980 Hall of Fame inductee Al Kaline. Kaline was a first ballot Hall of Famer with over 88% of the vote. He was also the youngest player to win the batting title in 1955. Signed by the Tigers in 1953, Kaline spent all 22 MLB seasons in Detroit. He retired at the end of the 1974 season just 1 homer shy of the 400 mark.