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.

Even More 1979 Alt-Topps

World Series, All-Stars and Leaders

Oddly, Topps did not have post season cards in the real 1979 set. Fortunately, I make the rules for the Alt-Topps version. After winning games 1 & 2, the Dodgers lost 4 straight to the Yankees.

For the 1979 All-Stars I changed up the base cards just a little.  Here is Sweet Lou giving Pudge a closer look at his spikes. I'm sure they laughed it off and had a few drinks together after the game, right?

Vida Blue crossed the bay in 1978 and Earned his 3rd All-Star start. He was the first pitcher to start in both leagues. Since then he's been joined by Clemens, Randy Johnson, Halliday and Scherzer.

In 1978 Ron LeFlore led the leagues in runs and stolen bases. In 1980 he would lead the NL in stolen bases with 97 for the Expos. Rounding out the top 3 are Julio Cruz and Bump Wills. Cruz had a career high 59 and would later play 2B for the 1983 "Winning Ugly" Sox. Bump was, of course, the son of stolen base artist Maury.

J.R. Richard won his first strikeout title in 1978. He repeated that feat in 1979. By 1980 he was out of the game. Tragic story. The other two are future Hall of Famers, Niekro and Seaver. 

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As usual, if you want to help me fill out this set, leave your suggestions in the comment section.  I'll create a few more cards for this set and post them later this month.

1976 Alt-Topps

Still creating whole sets based on rejected Topps designs. This time all I had to work with is a rough black and white copy. It seems to have some elements of the 1971 Topps Football, 1975 and 1981 Topps Baseball.

And here is my cleaned up version with an action shot of Wayne Garrett striking pose similar to the mock-up.  After cleaning it up and creating more base cards, the final product looked less like a mainstream Topps product and more like a giveaway found in a loaf of Wonder Bread.

As usual, I also made base cards of the MVPs and Cy Young award winners from both leagues.  I went with a horizontal version for Randy Jones. 

For Munson I include a cameo of one of the most famous 'fros in baseball.

Speaking of hair, I used this cap-less shot of Palmer to show off his disco era locks.

I also tried to stay true to the team colors Topps used in 1976.  These colors worked for the Padres and the Mets.  They were passable for the Yankees. But the Reds and Orioles? Ugh.  

TBT - Chicago White Sox Edition Part Deux

Throwback Thursday

Ok this will be a quick and dirty post I will try to actually publish every Thursday. I will make a retro card of a current player from the era of the throwback uni he is wearing. I will also post an actual card from that era as a comparison point.

This is labeled "Part Deux" because the White Sox have had several throwback looks in the past few years (plus they are my favorite team). This one is from last season when they broke out the 1976 look (minus the shorts).  I had to do a little revisionist history to make this work. As a result we get two Cards That Never Were for the price of one.

First is Tyler Saladino, the Sox's back-up shortstop. I chose him because this is a nice action shot that shows of the 1976 throwback uniforms nicely. It also shows off a typical White Sox home crowd.

 Sad.




In the 1976 Topps set the Sox were understandably depicted in their 1971-1975 red uniforms. Also the cards color schemes reflected the team colors. Therefore I had to alter the 1976 Topps White Sox cards color scheme to go along with their new (for 1976) look.

For a comparison I needed to cheat a little. I found this great shot of Jorge Orta (with a cameo by Thurman Munson), so I used it to remake his 1976 Topps card with the modified color scheme.

30 Tribute Card Project - Part 4

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 16,19,21,22 and 23)with cards created by other people on the web.

 Another repeat offender, Uncle Doc's Card Closet gives us #24 on the list. Frank Robinson is represented in the 1977 Topps set, but only as a manager on the team card. Just as in 1976, he didn't have a card that represented him as a player also. The minor issue I have with the 1977 cards on this list is that both the Robinson and the Hank Aaron card on my previous post are missing the facsimile signature.

This bright orange Brooks Robinson card come from When Topps Had (Base) Balls. This site actually has several final tribute cards and all are done beautifully but in the interest of giving other card creators their due, I limited it to #25 on the list. I encourage you to browse his site.

I can't help coming back to Keith Conforti. This Thurman Munson tribute card has appeared on several sites including The Virtual Card Collection. This is not only a brilliant tribute card, but a great concept, borrowed from the 1964 Ken Hubbs card. #28 just might be my favorite card that never was.

The Writer's Journey is one of my daily stops. Among other things The Writers Journey features several "Fun Cards". That is where I found #29 on the list. In 1984 Fleer was the only card company to include a Johnny Bench card.

Like Johnny Bench, Yaz was only include in the 1984 Fleer base set. #30 on the list is the 3rd card from Keith Conforti. Here is another link to his Picasa Web Album.

 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 X

25.   1978 Brooks Robinson X 

26.   1978 Jim Wynn

27.   1980 Lou Brock

28.   1980 Thuman Munson X

29.   1984 Johnny Bench X

30. 1984 Carl Yastrzemski X

Now it's my turn.

To be Continued......

Shout Out

The Virtual Card Collection

Here is a card I wish I made. I found this card on a site called The Virtual Card Collection. It has hundreds of scanned images of vintage baseball cards. It also has a small collection of "Cards That Never Were" 

In 1964 Topps created an "In Memoriam" card for Ken Hubbs  the 1962 Rookie of the Year who died in an accident while learning to fly.

In 1979 Munson, the 1970 Rookie of the Year, met a tragically similar fate. He was practicing landings on his Cessna Citation when he clipped a tree and crashed short of the runway.  Given the popularity and recent success of Munson and the New York Yankees, it would seem like a no-brainer for Topps to dedicate a card in its 1980 set to Munson. 

1975 Topps 1970 Rookies of the Year

In 1970 Thurman Munson was the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year. He received 23 of 24 votes, with the only other vote going to Roy Foster. Foster hit an impressive 23 homers while batting .268. His numbers and playing time dropped drasticly after the 1970 season and he was back in the minors by 1973. Munson went on to have what might have been a Hall of Fame career if it hadn't been tragically cut short.

The National League Rookie of the Year voting was much more diverse. Carl Morton got 11 of the 24 votes on the strength of an 18 win season for the last place Expos. Origianlly signed as an outfielder by the Braves, Morton helped his own cause by hitting a couple homers.  Others getting R.O.Y. votes were Bernie Carbo, Larry Bowa, Wayne Simpson and Cesar Cedeno. Although no Hall of Famers, the list reads like a who's who of '70s semi-stars. 

1970 Topps Thurman Munson

Thurman Munson is the only player to win both the Rookie of the Year (1970) and MVP (1976) in a Yankees uniform. Munson was the first player given the title of Team Captain for the Yankees since Lou Gehrig in 1939. He was the Yankees' first round draft pick in 1967 and spent his entire MLB career in the Bronx. A career .292 hitter, Munson averaged .357 in the post-season. He was selected to 7 All Star teams and earned 3 Gold Gloves. 

1953 Topps Ted Williams

Going Horizontal

I have always liked it when Topps turned the cards sideways especially when they added an action shot. In the 1952 set Topps had a handful of horizontal cards but it wouldn't be until the '70s that we would see them try it again. Even then they only did it in 1971, 1973 and 1974. After that we had to wait until 1991. In recent years, Topps frequently has been using a horizontal variations within their sets. But I'd like to see some of the more vintage sets with horizontal variations.

I know certain layouts don't adapt very well to a horizontal version. But take a look at these real  Topps cards. You have to admit they stand out.

There are quite a few vintage sets I think would look cool turned sideways. I might have to add horizontal cards to my seemingly never ending list of running themes. Any thoughts?