1969 Topps Rusty Staub All Star

Montreal Expos CTNW Favorites #3

Rusty Staub was selected to his 3rd All Star team in 1969. He was the Montreal Expos' sole representative. He was also the only Expo selected in 1970 and 1971. In those 3 games as the sole Expo All Star, Staub would only see action once. In the 1970 All Star game he pinch hit for Tom Seaver. He popped out to short center and never took the field.

Staub spent only 4 seasons of his 23 year MLB career in an Expos uniform, but was well loved by the fans.  He was the first Expo to have his number retired. He would later be joined by Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Gary Carter. Oddly both he and Dawson had the same number retired, 10. When the Expos became the Washington Nationals, the Expos retired numbers went back into circulation. The Montreal Canadiens honored the Expos by hoisting a banner of the retired Expos numbers at the Bell Centre.

1988 Donruss Randy Johnson

Montreal Expos CTNW Favorites #4

In single-A ball in 1986 Randy Johnson averaged 10 strikeouts every 9 innings. The next year in Double-A he averaged 10.5. At AAA Indianapolis he had 111 K's in 113.1 innings when the Expos called him up in September of 1988. He had an immediate impact going 3-0 in 4 starts and hurling 25 K's in 26 innings. Although his time in Montreal was brief he showed signs of the pitcher he would become. 

1981 Fleer Tim Raines

Montreal Expos CTNW Favorites #5

Rock Raines was an outstanding leadoff hitter, clutch hitter and a terror on the basepath. Unfortunately he spent his entire career overshadowed by the ultimate leadoff hitter and all-time stolen base leader, Rickey Henderson. Several arguments could be made for Raines' entrance into the Hall of Fame.

In 1981 he finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting. He received MVP votes in 7 seasons. He was selected to 7 All Star Teams. Despite battling injuries, drug addiction and Lupus disease, his maintained a .294 batting average. He had 2605 career hits. He is #5 on the all time stolen base list. Numbers 1-4 are already in the Hall. He has more stolen bases than any other switch hitter. He has 1571 runs scored. Of the 70 players with over 1500 runs scored only 19 are NOT in the Hall. That 19 includes 6 active players, 5 retired players that are not yet eligible and 4 dead-ball-era players. That leaves 4 modern players: Pete Rose, Rafael Palmiero, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines. 

Video Checklist - Series 8

Here is the 8th series of Cards That Never Were all in one place. You can see them all at once with no boring words to slow you down. As an added bonus I've added a totally unauthorized music track.

1969 Topps Luis Aparicio

Horizontal Variations

There is really no legit reason for making this card. I just really hated the no-hat 1969 Topps Luis Aparicio card that was the exact same crappy no-hat picture from his 1968 card. The 1969 set had such a clean, classic look. It is one of my favorite designs. I think if Topps incorporated some horizontal action cards it would have been even better. 

Even if you are the most old-school traditionalist card collector, I have to ask: Which card would you rather find in that stack of 1969's at a dealers table

This:or this?