More 1973 Alt-Topps

Traded, Rookies and Managers

Filling out the set, here are some rookie cards, traded cards and manager/coaches cards.

On November 27, 1972 the Mets dealt Tommie Agee to the Astros for two minor leaguers.  The Mets GM didn't sugar-coat it, telling the press, "We were dissatisfied with Agee's playing."  Agee looks a little dissatisfied himself.  One day later, Frank Robinson was involved in a seven-player deal that sent him 30 miles Southeast from Chavez Ravine to the big "A" in Aneheim. 

The 1973 NL Rookie of the Year was Gary Matthews Sr. He batted an even .300 and had 58 RBIs.  A couple other notable debuts in 1973 were made by Dave Winfield and Dave Parker.  With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I included them on this card.

In the AL it was Al Bumbry or as Topps called him on his rookie card, "Alonza".  I also included Jerry Hairston whose father, brother and two sons also played in the MLB. Rounding out the trio is Gorman Thomas who was a first round pick of the Seattle Pilots but didn't make the majors until 1973.

In the early years (through 1956) Topps included both managers and coaches in the regular set.  There have been a few exceptions since, notably Yogi Berra listed as catcher/coach in 1965 and the Cubs failed experiment with the "College of Coaches" in the early 1960s. Bob Kennedy was listed as "Head Coach" of the Cubs in 1964 & 1965. With a wealth of MLB retired stars coaching, I wouldn't mind seeing cards of them included.

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Just as I've done in previous Alt-Topps posts, I'll make as many request as I can. Hopefully, I'll post them in a few weeks. Just post your requests (or even ideas for other subsets, etc) in the comment section.  Thanks.

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Part 8

Cubs v Mets
Giants v Brewers

The 3rd round began yesterday and I'm just finishing up the first round of match ups.  Again they pitted older franchises against sixties expansion teams. The Mets colors were originally colors were going to be pink and black.  They decided to change them to orange and blue in homage of the two New York teams that had recently departed for the west coast.  The Brewers were born as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. Weeks before the 1970 season they were "rescued" by Bud Selig and relocated to Milwaukee.

In the Cubs - Mets match up, I went for a 1969 reunion. On the Cubs 26 man roster there is exactly one pitcher (Jenkins) and 3 starting position players (Banks, Santo and Williams).  For the Mets there are 3 pitcher (Seaver, Koosman and McGraw), one starting position player (Jones) and one reserve (Agee) that played in 1969. So in a slight break from my norm of 1 pitcher and 3 position players, the Mets will have 2 pitchers and 2 position players. To see the results of this series click here.

In the Giants - Brewers match up I have Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey for the New York/San Francisco Giants.  The makers of this roster all but forgot about the Seattle Pilots.  Gorman Thomas was drafted #1 by Seattle but didn't make the bigs until 1973. So for the Brewers/(not)Pilots I have Pete Vuckovich (who liked to wear two different shoes), the aforementioned Gorman Thomas, Paul Molitor and Christian Yelich. To see the results of this series click here.

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These cards are base on the MLB Dream Bracket.  Not sure who picked the "all-time players". It is a product of Twitch, Out of the Park and Draft Kings.  I take no responsibility for their choices, good or bad.  The cards themselves are based on a rejected Topps design from the late sixties.

To check the status of the bracket click here.

More 1965 Alt -Topps

Rookies, Team Cards and Managers

Love them or hate them, here they come.  First is the multi-player Rookie Stars card.  For the rookie card I let the photos take a backseat to the design and went with a 1963 rookie card feel.  I know people dislike the multi-player design because for every card with a "Steve Carlton" you get a "Fritz Ackley".  But with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, these are loaded.

The AL card has the top two Rookie of the Year nominees, Blefary and Lopez. It also has 1966 ROY Tommie Agee and Skip Lockwood. Lockwood came up as a 3rd baseman. He batted .121 in 33 at bats in 1965. He went back to the drawing board and was reborn as a pitcher. He pitched for 12 years in the majors from 1969-1980.

Once again in the NL, I have the players with the most ROY votes. Lefebvre, Morgan and Linzy. The fourth was future Hall of Famer, Fergie Jenkins. In 1965, Houston was transitioning from .45s to Astros. During spring training they had several cap logos.  This shot of Morgan has the plain embroidered star. There also were a couple variations with just an 'H' and a few sewn-on-patch variations before the final version.

The team cards are about as basic as they get. I used the same script and a simple white border.

The Manager cards are the same as the regular issue cards.  I went with a pair of teams that will surely upset Yankee fans.

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I got a lot of good requests for this set so far.  Some of them are a bit challenging, but keep them coming.

1968 Topps AL Stolen Base Leaders: Bert Campaneris, Don Buford, Tommie Agee

This is nearly a reprint of the 1966 A.L. Stolen Base Leader card I made a while back:

Exact same players, for the exact same teams in the exact same order. And once again The A's and White Sox teams led the AL in steals. 132 for the A's and 124 for the Sox. The next closest were the Bosox with 68.

Campy led the league for the 3rd straight year with 55. Buford was 2nd with 34 but led the league in  getting caught with 21. Tommie Agee was in 3rd with 28 but was the only one to play in the 1967 All Star game. In the bottom of the 8th he came to pinch run for Don Mincher.  He advanced to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt. Unfortunately he was stranded there and never took the field. The AL lost 2-1 in 15 innings.

1967 Topps AL Stolen Base Leaders: Bert Campaneris, Don Buford, Tommie Agee

The two teams featured on this card, The Kansas City A's and the Chicago White Sox were the top two teams in stolen bases and also the bottom 2 teams in home runs in the A.L. The White Sox were also dead last in batting average while the A's were last in on base percentage. 

The A's had the leagues top base-runner in Bert Campaneris and the top closer in Jack Aker but were sub par in nearly every other category. They finished 7th in the AL.

The White Sox made up for this power shortage with pitching and speed. They had the lowest ERA in the league with 2.68 compared to the league average of 3.44. The next closest was Minnesota with a 3.13 ERA. The Sox also led the league in sacrifice bunts and stolen bases. Don Buford had a career high 51 stolen bases and led the league in sacrifice bunts. Tommie Agee was th AL Rookie of the Year. He had 41 stolen bases and earned a gold glove in center field.This managed to keep above .500 finishing 4th in the AL.

1973 Topps Rusty Staub

Last week in my post about Tommie Agee I pointed out that Rusty Staub made a guest appearance on his 1973 Topps card (airbrushed into an Astros uniform). Staub, however, didn't have his own Topps card in 1972 or 1973.  The 1973 set is one of my favorites. I especially like the horizontal action shots like Agee's. So I jumped at the chance to fill in Staub's missing 1973 card. If you'd like to see a 1972 Topps card of Rusty Staub follow this link to Mets Guy in Michigan.

 

Rusty Staub had an incredible post season in 1973. Although he had only 3 hits in 15 at-bats during the NLCS, all 3 of those hits cleared the fences. In the World Series he would bat over .400 and have a monster Game 4 going 4 for 4 with 5 RBIs and a homer to tie the series at 2 games each. That game was immortalized on cardboard in the 1974 set. Again using the horizontal action shot format.

1975 Topps 1966 Rookies of the Year

Getting into a pattern here. Both Tommy Helms and Tommie Agee appeared in the 1966 Topps set on  multiplayer "Rookie Stars" cards. Not only that but they both also appeared in the 1965 set. Also on multiplayer "Rookie Stars" cards. Both players played in 2 All Star games and each were awarded 2 Gold Gloves. Their paths would cross in 1973 when both played for the Houston Astros.

1966 Topps Tommie Agee

 

  Tommie Agee made his major league debut in 1962. He also saw limited big league action in 1963, 1964 and 1965 all before earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1966. Agee was well represented on Topps cards. He appeared on a 1965 "Rookie Stars" card the year before his R.O.Y. season and appeared on 2 cards in 1974 despite playing his final game in 1973.  After the 1973 season he was dealt from the Cardinals to the Dodgers. Topps made a 1974 card of him in a Cardinals uniform as well as a Traded card depicting him as a Dodger. Agee was cut by the Dodgers during spring training that year.

Perhaps the most interesting card of Tommie Agee is his 1973 Topps card. In it he is airbrushed into an Astros uniform along with two of his New York Mets teammates. One of whom is Rusty Staub.  Staub was conspicuously missing from Topps cards in 1972 and 1973 despite coming off an All Star season in 1971.