Topps All-Star Misses: 1962 NL Outfield

 The 1962 Topps All Star NL outfield is a bit of mixed bag.  They had Aaron, Mays and Frank Robinson.  The actual outfield in both 1961 games was Mays, Clemente and Cepeda.  Now, Topps did have an All Star card of Cepeda at 1st base.  In 1962 he did move back to 1st and was the starter at 1st in both '62 games.  He was also a 1962 Sporting News All Star selection at 1st base in 1962.  So that checks out.  Frank Robinson was also a Sporting News All Star in 1961 and 1962. Still good so far. But Where is Clemente? He started all 4 ASGs in 1961 and 1962.  He was also a 1961 Sporting News All Star.  The other missing Star was Tommy Davis.  He was a starter in both 1962 games and was a 1962 Sporting News All Star.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1962 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Hank Aaron:

This almost feels blasphemous, but the Hammer probably didn't belong.  He was a reserve for all 4 ASGs in 1961 and 1962, but not a starter.  He wasn't a Sporting News All Star selection either year. 

1973 Topps Tommy Davis

While doing a little research on 1973 designated hitters, I happened to notice that there wasn't a card for Tommy Davis in 1973.  My OCD would not allow me to let this go un-corrected. 

Like Orlando Cepeda, Davis played very little in 1971 and 1972 but his career was revived by the adoption of the designated hitter. In 1973 he played in 137 games, 128 as a DH. He batted .306 which was 3rd in the A.L. By contrast, Davis played a combined total of 120 games in 1971 and 1972.  

When you look at the top 5 DHs in 1973 you can see it was populated by stars who's careers may have been over had it not been adopted by the American League in 1973. With 142 games each at DH were Orlando Cepeda and Tony Oliva:

Tommy Davis was 3rd on the list with 128 games at DH followed by Fran Robinson at 127. As long as I was adding the "Designated Hitter" label to his 1973 Topps card, I figured I may as well take advantage of the opportunity to use a picture of him in the correct uniform:

Rounding out the top 5 was Gates Brown with 118 games at DH.  Brpwn was the relative youngster of the group at just 34 years old and in his 11th year in the Majors:

1963 Topps NL Stolen Base Leaders: Wills, Davis, Javier, Pinson, Taylor

This is a card that I'm sure Topps wished they could have made. In 1962 Maury Wills (who was famously not under contract with Topps) broke Ty Cobbs long-standing stolen base record and ushered in a new era of base running.

Stolen bases were more common in the dead ball era. But when Babe Ruth changed the way games were played stolen bases lost their popularity. In 1955 the Al and the NL leaders both had a paltry 25 SB each. In 1950 Dom DiMaggio led the AL with only 15 stolen bases.

 But you don't even need to go back that far. In the same season that Wills set the modern record for stolen bases at 104, the average stolen base total for an American League team was 56.

Rounding out the top 5 are Tommy Davis with 32, Julian Javier and Vada Pinson with 26, and Tony Taylor with 20.

1963 Topps NL RBI Leaders: Davis, Mays, Robinson, Aaron, Howard

Here is another league leader card that never was that is full of Hall of Famers. In 1964 Topps would add the RBI leader card to their set, but in 1963 it was still conspicuously missing.

The NL RBI leader was Tommy Davis of the Dodgers with 153. Davis also led the league in batting average and total hits. He made the All Star team for the 1st time in 1962. He was the starting left fielder in both games but was 0 for five overall.

Willie Mays had a career high of 141 RBIs but that was only good enough for second in the NL. Over his career, Mays had 1903 RBIs which puts him at #11 on the All-Time list.

Frank Robinson was 3rd with 136 which was also a personal best. Robinson led the league in extra-base hits in 1962.

The All-Time RBI leader, Hank Aaron drove in 128 runs in 1962 for the Braves.

Frank "Hondo" Howard was the only one of these five not selected to the 1962 All Star squad. This despite his 31 Homers, 119 RBIs and a .296 batting average.

1964 Topps All Stars - The National League Outfield

The start of the baseball season is upon us and so far both Chicago teams are undefeated. Did somebody say "Subway Series"? No? Anybody? Bueller?

Moving on. I was going to spread these out a bit but I liked making the 1963 All Stars so I'm jumping right into the '64s. If you want to see where I stole... er... "borrowed" this idea from go to The Baseball Card Blog.  He made All Star cards for 1965. Topps had All Star cards for 1958-62 then again for 1968-70. Then nothing again until 1974. I'm going to fill in the blanks. Here is my version of what the '64s might have looked like. 

1964 Topps Tommy Davis AS

In 1963 Tommy Davis once again started in left field. He played the first 8 innings, netting a hit and a walk in 4 plate appearances.  He also scored an unearned run in the 5th following an error by Bobby Richardson. He was replaced in the 9th inning by Duke Snider who was making the final All Star appearance of his Hall of Fame career. It was also his only All Star game as a Met. 

1964 Topps Willie Mays AS

Mays was the MVP of the 1963 All Star game. He went 1 for 3 with a walk, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases. In the 9th Roberto Clemente took over defensively in center.

Hank Aaron was the only difference in the starting outfield from the year before. He went 0 for 4 but reached base on a fielder's choice then scored on a single by MVP Willie Mays.

1963 Topps All Stars - The National League Outfield

This is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time. In fact longer than I have been doing this blog. I made a 1973 Topps All Star card for my previous blog, 6 Degrees of Ron Santo. Recently I came across 1965 Topps All Star Cards That Never Were on The Baseball Card Blog and it inspired me to take on this project.

A few bloggers out there dismiss these as "filler cards". (Along with League Leader, and Highlight cards to name a few.) That may be the case, but as a kid, I loved these cards. I still do. It gives some perspective on the times. Even though many of these all stars were never enshrined in Cooperstown, they were (for a season at least) the best at their position. They were right there, rubbing shoulders with future Hall of Famers. 

I won't make all of these cards at once but plan to put them out in groups. By year and league, I will group Outfielders, Infielders, Battery and finally Managers. Starting with the 1962 National League Outfield.

1963 Topps Tommy Davis AS

Tommy Davis was having a career year in 1962. He hit 27 homers and led the league in RBIs and batting average. This was his first All Star selection and he started both games. Unfortunately, he was 0 for 5 over the 2 games.

1963 Topps Willie Mays AS

Willie is an All Star perennial. He played in every All Star game going back to 1954 and started in every one since 1957. In 1962 he would be a starting All Star for his 9th and 10th consecutive time. He went 0 for 3 in with a walk and a stolen base Game 1. In Game 2 he was 2 for 2, both singles.

1963 Topps Roberto Clement AS

I debated whether to refer to Clemente as Roberto or Bob. I personally don't recall anybody calling him Bob Clemente. But his name was "Bob" on every Topps card from 1957-1969. Clemente went 3 for 3 in the first game but was 0 for 2 in the second game.

1969 Topps Deckle Tommy Davis

Seattle Pilots CTNW Fan Favorites #2

I'm putting together 5 "Cards That Never Were" fan favorites from each team. These are not necessarily the 5 best players from the franchise. So as David Letterman used to say before Stupid Pet Tricks, "This is only an exhibition. This is not a competition. Please, no wagering."

Another Pilot who played for both the Cubs and the White Sox, Tommy Davis led the 1969 Pilots in RBIs despite spending the last month of the season playing for the Houston Astros. Davis had a career high 20 stolen bases in 1969, 19 of them for the Pilots. Davis played on 10 different teams from 1966-1976, Dodgers, Mets, White Sox, Pilots, Astros, A's (twice), Cubs (twice),Orioles, Angels and Royals.