Topps All-Star Misses: 1970 NL Infield

The 1969 starting NL All Star infield was faithfully represented in Topps 1970 All Star subset. Around the horn they had McCovey at 1st, Felix Millan at 2nd, Santo at 3rd and Kessinger at short. Honestly, not bad for Topps.  

But arguments could be made for the actual 1970 Sporting News All Star; McCovey and Kessinger were also 1970 TSN All Stars at their respective positions.  However, at second TSN picked Glenn Beckert and at third they had Tony Perez. 

So here are the 1970 All Star Cards That Never Were of Beckert and Perez:

 

It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Pt. 12

Yankees v Reds

In a surprise to absolutely nobody, the All-Time Yankees were the Dream Bracket winners. They beet the Reds in seven games.  After falling behind three games to two, the Bombers won game 6 on a Joltin' Joe homer in the 8th inning. The complete story and video is here.

Overall, I felt the Bracket would have been more interesting if they had also teamed up with MLB: The Show.  This is what the Players'Association did.  The graphics would have made this more interesting to watch. But I kept myself amused making 149 different cards to go along with this.

Now we need to get back to real baseball.

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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 1964 Alt-Topps

Managers, Team Cards and Rookies

What set would be complete without the basic staples? Managers, team cards and rookie cards.

The manager cards in the actual 1964 Topps set were pretty much the same as the base cards.  In my "Bizzaro Universe" set, too. 

For the team cards I kept the basic card design continuity along with the full color team logo.

 In the real 1964 Topps set, the picture for the A's showed a team still in the 1961 uniforms. In the early 60's the A's changes uniforms more than most teams changed underwear. The uniforms shown on this card were introduced in 1964. 

The other strange difference in these cards is the sheer volume of players. The Braves must've taken the picture at the beginning of spring training. The A's looked like they waited until they were down to a 25 man roster.

For the rookie cards I went 3 across and broke it down to position and league. This is something that I don't think Topps ever did. I've seen them break it down by league, team, or position. To my best recollection, I don't remember Topps going in this direction. They only had multiplayer rookie cards since 1962. In 62 they were broken down by position. In 1963 they were simply labeled "Rookie Stars", not broken down by league, team nor position. So it's not too far fetched that this would be the format they could've opted for,

Of course with 20/20 hindsight, I stacked the deck with the Rookies of the Year for 1964, Dick Allen and Tony Oliva.  I also doubled up on rookie Hortons in the AL. In the NL included Don Kessinger and HOFer Tony Perez.

2016 NLDS: Dodgers vs. Nationals

For the 2016 postseason I am making Cards That Never Were of Hall of Famers from each team but with a couple of twists. The first twist is that they will appear on cards that coincide with the year they were inducted into Cooperstown. The second twist is that these are not the teams they are best known for playing.

1996 Topps Jim Bunning

Primarily known for pitching in the Tigers and Phillies uniforms, Jim Bunning also played for the Pirates in 1968 and the first part of 1969. He was dealt to the Dodgers in August of 1969 and pitched 9 games for them and was released at the end of the season. The Phillies thought there still might be something left in the tank and picked him up. He spent the 1970 and 1971 seasons in Philadelphia before retiring at the age of 39. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1996. 

2000 Topps Tony Perez

After 13 years and 7 All Star seasons with the Reds, Tony Perez was sent North of the border to the Montreal Expos. He would spend 1977-1979 with the Expos. In all, Perez played 23 seasons 16 with Cincinnati, 3 in Montreal, 3 in Boston and one in Philadelphia. Perez was inducted with just over 77% of the vote in 2000, his 9th year on the ballot. The Nationals seem to ignore their franchise's history by not recognizing the numbers retired by the Expos,  Even so, I created this 2000 Topps card with Perez in an Expos uniform but I went with the Nationals' logo.   

1971 Topps All Star Cards : National League Infield

1971 Topps Dick Allen All-Star

In his only season in St. Louis, Dick Allen was selected to his 4th All Star game. Allen came to the Cardinals in a 6 player trade that famously included Curt Flood. Flood refused to report which in turn ushered in the Free Agent era.

1971 Topps Glenn Beckert All-Star

In his 2nd All Star appearance, and his 1st start, Glenn Beckert was 0 for 2. In his 4 career All Star games Beckert was hitless in 7 plate appearances.

1971 Topps Don Kessinger All-Star

Although known more for his glove than his bat, Kessinger went 2 for 2 in the 1970 Mid-Season Classic. He singled to center twice, once in the 2nd and again in the 5th.

1971 Topps Tony Perez All-Star

Although most of his career was spent on 1st, Perez was moved to 3rd to make room for Lee May's bat. When May was traded to the Astros, Perez resumed his role as 1st baseman.

1967 Topps Tony Perez All Star MVP

Going Horizontal

In a marathon All Star game, all 3 runs came off solo homeruns in 1967. Dick Allen drew first blood leading off the 2nd. He took AL starter Dean Chance to deep center. In the 6th Brooks Robinson blasted a Fergie Jenkins pitch over the left field fence to tie the game at 1. After 8 more scoreless frames Tony Perez broke the stalemate. Catfish Hunter was pitching his 5th inning when Perez cleared the left field fence to put the Nationals ahead for good in the top of the 15th inning.