1963 Topps Pete Rose

The 2012 Heritage set coming out in March will feature the classic 1963 design. With Rose still on Major League Baseball's double-secret-probation, he won't be included in this set.  (As a White Sox Fan, I think that Rose shouldn't be reinstated unless Shoeless Joe Jackson is also reinstated. That said, his accomplishments on the field merit a plaque in Cooperstown.) 

Pete Rose beat out Mets second baseman Ron Hunt 17 votes to 2 in Rookie of the Year voting. The two had very similar stats.  Rose hit .273 with 6 HR and 41 RBIs, Hunt hit .272 with 10 HR and 42 RBIs. The big difference in the runs scored. "Charlie Hustle" scored 101 times compared to Hunt's 64.

1969 Topps Mike Hegan All Star

Seattle Pilots CTNW Fan Favorites #1

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."

Mike Hegan was the only Pilot selected to the All Star team. However he couyld not play due to an injury and was replaced by first baseman Don Mincher. Hegan also has the distinction of hitting the first homerun for  the Pilots. In his 1969 season with the Pilots he hit .292 a full 50 points higher than his career average. 

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.

1969 Topps Stamp Bob Locker

Seattle Pilots CTNW Fan Favorites #3

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."

Bob Locker was traded to the Pilots from the White Sox in June of 1969. He was 3-3 with 6 saves and a 2.18 ERA.  Decent numbers but nothing great. So why am I including him as a CTNW Fan Favorite? Because I'm a homer. Bob Locker spent most of his career in Chicago. He started his career on the South Side in 1965 and ended his career on the North Side in 1975. He came to the Cubs along with Manny Trillo as part of the trade that sent Billy Williams to the Oakland A's.

1969 Topps Decal Jim Bouton

Seattle Pilots CTNW Fan Favorites #4

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."

My last post featured a rising star, this one is in the other direction. After 7 years on the Yankees, Jim Bouton played for Seattle in 1969 before being traded to Houston in August of 1969. He was cut by the Astros in 1970 and became a sportscaster for WABC-TV in New York. Bouton last appeared on a Topps card in 1968 as a Yankee. After his 1969 book "Ball Four" he was unoficially blackballed by the Yankees for several years.

I started this as Top-5 series of the short-lived Seattle Pilots. It is turning into a tribute to the different Topps products of 1969.  The Pilots only played one season and I didn't want to use the same format over and over. So here is what Bouton would have looked like had he been featured on a 1969 Topps Decal. 

1969 Topps Lou Piniella

Seattle Pilots CTNW Fan Favorites #5

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."

The Pilots played exactly one season on the MLB.  An inadequate stadium, lack of cash flow and poor management decisions resulted in the Pilots being sold to a Milwaukee car dealer named Bud Selig.  An example of poor management decisions was the decision to trade Lou Piniella to the Royals after spring training in 1969. The decision was based on his salary more than his performance. Piniella was a 26 year old rookie who was set to earn $175,000. Piniella went on to win the Rookie of the Year award for the other AL expansion team, the Kansas City Royals in 1969.

Piniella had a few false starts, coming up for a "cup of coffee" for the Orioles in 1964 and the Indians in 1968. Topps considered him enough of a prospect to appear on 3 different rookie cards.

1982 Topps Mickey Mantle

Here is the 1982 version of Mickey Mantle. Part of my running theme of trying to beat Topps to the punch by placing Mantle on the cards Topps hasn't yet, 1971-1995. In the past few months Topps has already beaten me to 1975 and 1987.

1975 Topps 1962 Rookies of the Year

In 1962 both Rookie of the Year players made their way onto a regular issue Topps card. Both players also had short careers, but for different reasons.

Tresh's 1962 season was spent as a replacement at shortstop for 1957 Rookie of the Year Tony Kubek who was on military leave. He batted a career high .286 which was 41 points higher than his career average. He also hit .321 in the 1962 World Series including a 3 run blast in game 5 that proved to be the winning shot. When Kubek returned Tresh moved to the outfield where he would earn a Gold Glove in 1965. When his batting average diminished the Yankees traded him to the Tigers in 1969 who then released him in 1970.

Ken Hubbs was another great fielder but poor hitter. He was the first player to earn a Gold Glove in his rookie year. He also led the league in strikeouts and grounding into double plays in 1962. In 1963 his batting average dropped from a somewhat respectable .260 to .235. Hubbs crashed his private aircraft in February 1964 in Utah. Topps release a "In Memoriam" card featuring Hubbs in 1964. 

Ken Hubbs would appear on one more card in 1966 when Topps inadvertently used his photo on a Dick Ellsworth card.

1972 Topps Dick Allen In Action

Chicago White Sox CTNW Fan Favorites #1

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."

This card combines my favorite picture of one of my favorite players from my favorite team on my favorite set of baseball cards. Dick Allen had just an awful card in 1972 (his MVP season). It was an old picture of him in a Phillies uniform which Topps tried to pass off as a Cardinals uniform in 1970 then again as a White Sox uniform in 1972.

Because the Sox are my favorite team, this list could have gone on forever. I'm sure I missed several of your favorites because I missed several of mine. Wilbur Wood, Minnie Minoso, Nellie Fox, Carlton Fisk, Bill Melton, Al Smith just to name a few. I could probably make a whole blog just on them. 

Video Checklist -Series 5

Attention all planet of the Solar Federation...

Here is my 5th series of Cards That Never Were. This series had some different cards. There were two cards that already existed but I made new cards anyway, 1974 Glenn Beckert and 1960 Frank Howard. 3 Rush cards to commemorate "National Rush Day", 2.1.12. A whole series of Fleer Cards That Never Were, and I started a new theme of CTNW Fan Favorites.

1964 Topps Checklist - Cards That Never Were - 5th Series

Taking a brief break from the 5 White Sox CTNW Favorites to post a checklist of my 5th series of "Cards That Never Were". I put my 101st through 125th cards on a Topps 1964 checklist card. Looking over the list, I just have to wonder: is there any other blog that would feature Geddy Lee, Mickey Mantle and Richie Zisk in a row? I wonder if those 3 names have ever appeared in the same sentence.

1970 Topps Luis Aparicio All Star

Chicago White Sox 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."

 

Luis Aparicio started on the White Sox in 1956 leading the AL in stolen bases and winning Rookie of the Year. He continued leading the league in stolen bases every year until 1965.  A 10 time All Star and 8 time Gold Glove, Luis played for the Sox from '56-'62 and '68-'70. The White Sox retired his number in 1984.

In the 1970 All Star game Luis Played all 12 innings at shortstop for the AL team. He went 0 for 6 in a 5-4 loss. I was tempted to make a 1968 or 1969 card to replace the terrible hatless pictures of him wearing an Orioles jersey. But technically those wouldn't be "Cards That Never Were". They would just be replacements for cards I hate.

1981 Donruss Harold Baines

Chicago White Sox CTNW Fan Favorites #3

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."

Harold Baines had rookie cards on both Topps and Fleer in 1981 but once again Donruss missed the boat. Baines was part of the White Sox 1980 rookie class that included pitchers Richard Dotson and Britt Burns. Joined by veterans Tom Paciorek, Greg Luzinski and Carlton Fisk, Baines made a huge contribution to the "Winning Ugly" Sox of 1983.

He was traded to the Rangers in 1989 for Wilson Alvarez, Scott Fletcher and Sammy Sosa. He returned to the Sox in 1996-1997 and 2000-2001. He joined the White Sox coaching staff in 2004 and will remain this season under new manager Robin Ventura. 

1990 Donruss Frank Thomas

Chicago White Sox CTNW Fan Favorites #4

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."

Frank Thomas played his career in the junk box era so it's hard to find a "Card That Never Was". In his rookie year alone he had cards by Topps, Bowman, Fleer, Score and Leaf.  Somehow Donruss missed the boat. I'm here to right that wrong by featuring a young Frank Thomas on one of the ugliest cards ever produced.

Thomas was called up in August of 1990 and hit .330 with 7 homers. In his first full season he would hit .318 with 32 homers finishing 3rd in MVP voting. Unfortunately he had too many at-bats in 1990 to qualify for Rookie of the Year in 1991. He would go on to be a 2 time MVP, a 5 time All Star and a 4 time Silver Slugger.

1977 Topps Richie Zisk

Chicago White Sox CTNW Fan Favorites #5 

I am starting a new theme. 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."

Richie Zisk spent exactly one year on the White Sox. He was part of the 1977 Southside Hitmen that included Oscar Gamble and Eric Soderholm. The team hit a franchise record 192 home runs and went on a tear in July winning 22 games only to lose 18 games in August. Although they finished the season in 3rd place they had improved on a record of 64-97 in 1976 to 90-72 in 1977.

Traded to the Sox in December of 1976, Zisk appeared as a Pittsburgh Pirate on the 1977 Topps card. Topps would airbrush him into a White Sox uniform for the 1977 Cloth Sticker set. He was signed as a free agent by Texas in November of 1977. This gave Topps enough time to airbrush him into a Rangers uniform for the 1978 set.

1981 Topps Mickey Mantle

In May Topps will produce another Archives set. The base cards will use the 1954, 1971, 1980 and 1984 format. I would not be surprised to see The Mick on any or all of these formats although the 1954 "Missing Mantle" has been done several times.

Upper Deck made one to coincide with the 1954 Archives set in 1994. Topps made one in 2011as part of the "Lost Cards" subset.  They also released an eTopps version in 2006 and made a 72 card set in 2007 called The Mickey Mantle Story base on the 1954 card. If you want to see my version of the 1971 Topps Mantle Click Here.  If you want to see my version of the 1980 Topps Mantle Click Here.  If you want to see my version of the 1984 Topps Mantle you will have to wait, but I still should have time to get to it before the Archives set is released.

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2*1*12 International Rush Day

 

In honor of today's date 2-1-12, I've made some custom Rush cards. I figure this is the closest any of us will get to the actual 2112. Still one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite bands.

In case you're wondering, that's Neil Peart behind his Hockey Night in Canada Drum kit on a 1981 O Pee Chee hockey card. Alex is on a 1975 Topps All Star baseball card and Geddy is wearing what appears to be a Warren Cromartie Montreal Expos jersey on a 1973 Topps baseball card. I assume it is Cromartie's jersey because Cromartie wore #49 for the Expos from 1974-1983 and on the Signals album the "Warren Cromartie Secondary School" bordered the subdivision on the back cover.