1965 Topps Checklist - Cards That Never Were - 6th Series

This is the 6th Set of 25 cards produced for this blog. For the first time every card on this checklist is part of a recurring theme. The 1962, 1963 and 1964 Rookies of the Year; the 1982, 1983 and 1984 Mickey Mantles; and the top 5 from the Pilots, Indians, Tigers and my number one favorite player from the White Sox.

1976 Topps Rookie Pitchers - Mark Fidrych, Bruce Sutter, Joaquin Andujar, Pete Vuckovich

Detroit Tigers CTNW Fan Favorites #1

Mark Fidrych won the Rookie of the Year award in 1976 but didn't have a Topps card until 1977. This card includes 3 other pitchers that were rookies in 1976. They all had regular Topps cards in 1977 and none of them appeared on multi-player rookie cards. Andujar wan a Gold Glove in 1984 and was a 4 time All Star. Sutter went on to the Hall of Fame. Vuckovich was the Cy Young award winner for the Brewers in 1982. I best remember Vuckovich in the movie Major League. He played Clu Heywood and according to Bob Uecker led the league "in most offensive categories, including nose hairs."

Mark Fidrych was a classic case of what if... In 1976 he won 19 game and led the league in ERA and complete games, won the Rookie of the Year and came in second to Jim Palmer in Cy Young voting. The following spring he injured his knee, then tore his rotator cuff. He was selected to the All Star team but was unable to play because of injury. He attempted several come-backs but was never the same. He pitched 250 1/3 innings in 1976 and just 162 innings over the rest of his career.  His oddball personality as well as his antics on the mound endeared him to his fans. He died in a tragic accident while working on his truck in 2009.

1975 Topps Al Kaline

Detroit Tigers CTNW Fan Favorites #2

Known as "Mr. Tiger", Al Kaline played all 22 seasons in Detroit. During that time he was named to 18 All Star teams and received 10 Gold Gloves. In 1955 he was the youngest player to lead the American League in hitting at the age of 20. He retired after the 1974 season with 3007 career hits. He was a first-ballor Hall of Famer in 1980.

Kaline actually did have a 1975 Topps card but not a regular issue card. It was a highlight card commemorating his 3000th hit.

1933 Tattoo Orbit Hank Greenberg

Detroit Tigers CTNW Fan Favorites #3

Hank Greenberg hit .301 with 12 homers and 87 RBIs in 1933, his rookie season. He would go on to win 2 MVPs and 2 World Series titles with the Tigers. He led the league in homers and RBI's 4 times each. Although he hit 331 homers in his career, he also served 45 months in the Air Force between 1941-1945. Those years were book-ended by 40+ homer seasons in 1940 and 1946. Many speculated that had he not volunteered to serve he would be in the 500 Homerun Club.

His career after he retired from playing is just as impressive. He teamed up with Bill Veeck in the front office with the Cleveland Indians, then again with the White Sox in 1959. He and Veeck also partnered in an unsuccessful attempt to be the first owners of the expansion Los Angeles Angels. He was a minority owner when Bill Veeck repurchased the White Sox in 1975.

2011 Heritage Armando Galarraga In Action

Detroit Tigers CTNW Fan Favorites #4

The blown call on Armando Galarraga's near perfect game was arguably the biggest story of the 2010 season.  There was an Allen & Ginter Highlight sketch card commemorating the event but it edited out the umpire. There was no mention of the controversial call at all. That was the story. The call and the way Galarraga and Joyce conducted themselves afterward. 

They acted with dignity and sportsmanship that is more common in the sport than we are led to believe. It is simply more interesting to show players showboating or smashing Gatorade coolers in the dugout. I'm just as guilty as anybody. I love a good bench-clearing brawl or watching the manager lose it and get kicked out after the ump makes a questionable call. 

If this call hadn't been made with 2 outs in the 9th inning of a perfect game, Gallaraga and Joyce probably would have acted the same way, with dignity and sportsmanship. The difference is, we never would have known.

1980 Topps Kirk Gibson

Detroit Tigers CTNW Fan Favorites #5

It's hard to beleive that Kirk Gibson was never an All Star. He was voted MVP in 1988 while on the Dodgers and recieved MVP votes in 1981, 1984 and 1985 while on the Tigers. He also has 2 World Series rings. One from the 1984 Tigers and the other in 1988 when he hit that memorable homerun off Dennis Eckersley in Los Angeles.  Gibson was a September call-up in 1979 but wouldn't appear on cardboard until 1981.

1984 Topps Mickey Mantle

On May 23rd Topps will release the 2012 Archives set. It will include a 1967 Sticker and a 1968 3D card of Mickey Mantle. Both of these were test sets and neither featured Mantle originally. It will also include a Mickey Mantle card in the base set. The base set will feature players on 1954, 1971, 1980 and 1984 cards. I'm not sure which year card will feature Mantle but with this posting I've beaten Topps to the punch on 1971, 1980 and 1984. The 1954 Mantle, though not actually issued in 1954 has been done several times.

Originally it was done by Upper Deck in 1994. Upper Deck had the exclusive rights to Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle the same year Topps was producing the 1954 Archives set.

In 2006 eTopps issued a Mantle set that included the 1954 and 1955 Cards That Never Were.

In 2007 Topps inserted "Mickey Mantle Story" cards into packs. This was a 75 card set featuring the style of 1952-1957 Topps cards. 15 different Cards (MMS31-MMS45) were based on the 1954 design.

In 2008 Topps inserted Mantle cards into their factory sets including this card. They basically took the 2006 eTopps card and gave it either a blue or gold background.

In 2011 Topps issued a subset of "Lost Cards" including this card.

1975 Topps 1964 Rookies of the Year

Here is the 1964 edition of my running theme using the 1975 Topps MVP card format to showcase the Rookies of the Year.  And once again in 1964 neither Rookie had his own card, both were featured on multi-player rookie cards. Even so, the "Cards That Never Were" featured on this ROY Card were already made for me.

First the American League rookie, Tony Oliva. Leading the league in Hits, Runs Scored, Doubles, Batting Average and Overall Bases, Oliva was a near unanimous winner. Wally Bunker, a 19 game winner for the Orioles received one vote. In both 1963 and 1964 Topps featured Oliva on multi-player rookie cards, but in 1989, Topps created an individual 1964 rookie card of him as part of their "Turn Back the Clock" subset.

In the National League, Dick Allen was putting up similar numbers. He led the league in Triples, Runs Scored and Total Bases. Allen was also nearly unanimous in ROY voting with Rico Carty and Jim Ray Hart each getting one vote.  

Like Oliva, Allen was featured on a multi-player rookie card in 1964. Naturally for all things Dick Allen, I have to defer to the Dick Allen Hall of Fame. He has remade all of Allen's cards, and is in the process of placing him on every Topps issued card. In addition he posts photos and updates for all Phillies games and has numerous other home made cards. He was kind enough to let me use his 1964 card in this post. 

Another card I asked to repost was his 1977 Topps Dick Allen Card That Never Was.

Allen spent his last season as a first baseman for Charlie Finley's depleted Oakland A's. During his time in Oakland he wore the number 60 on his back and Wampum on his name-plate. He graduated from Wampum (Pennsylvania) High School in 1960. Very cool, and just another reason why I have always been a big fan of Dick Allen.

Once again I want to give a big thank you to the Dick Allen Hall of Fame blog for an assist on this posting.

1991 Topps Jim Thome

Cleveland Indians 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."

Jim Thome is the Indians all-time homerun leader. He hit 337 of his 604 homers in an Indians uniform. The rest were hit while plaing for the Phillies, White Sox, Dodgers and Twins. He is currently filling in for Phillies' Ryan Howard who is recoving from an injured achilles. 

There were several players that I wanted to add to this list. For some of them, I just could find an interesting card to make (Dennis Eckersley). Others played in Cleveland before they were called the Indians (Joe Jackson, Cy Young). 

1974 Topps Traded Frank Robinson

Cleveland Indians 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."

"The Judge" came to Cleveland on September 12, 1974. Although Robinson had publicly expressed his desire to be the first black manager, Cleveland GM Phil Seghi claimed that he needed a right handed power hitter. But on October 3, 1974 he announced that Robinson would manage the Indian in 1975. The same franchise that made Larry Doby the first black player in the American League had made Frank Robinson the first black manager in the majors. Robinson would also become the first black manager in the National League for the Giants in 1981.

1955 Bowman Larry Doby

Cleveland Indians 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."

Larry Doby represented the Indians on the All-Star team 7 years in a row from 1949-1955. He played for the Indians from 1947-1955, then again in 1958. In the early 50's many players were left off sets because Topps and Bowman were competing for contracts with the players. That doesn't explain why Doby appeared on both Topps and Bowman card in 1954 but on neither in 1955.

1951 Topps Orestes "Minnie" Minoso

Cleveland Indians 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."

Minnie Minoso was signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1948, played briefly on the big league team in 1949 and began the 1951 season on the Tribe. He would rejoin the Indians in 1958 and 1959. 

Minnie played a significant role in the integration of Major League Baseball. In his first season, Minoso was one of 3 former Negro-Leaguers playing for the Indians, a MLB first. The other two were Larry Doby and Satchel Paige. When he was traded to the White Sox he would become the first black player on any Chicago MLB team. Chicago would then become the first city with black players on both National and American League teams when Ernie Banks joined the Cubs in 1953.

1941 Play Ball Lou Boudreau

Cleveland Indians 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."

Lou Boudreau played for the Indians from 1938-1950. From 1942-1950 he was also the Manager. It is hard to imagine a 24 year old managing in the big leagues today. He managed the Indians to their last World Series title in 1948. The Indians only other title came in 1920. They would make 3 more World Series appearances in 1954, 1995, and 1997 losing all three.

My memory of Lou was as the radio voice of the Cubs along with Vince Lloyd when I was a kid. 

1983 Topps Mickey Mantle

I've always liked the 1983 Topps design. It's basically an updated version of the classic 1963 design. The difference is most 1963 cards had an action or posed action shot in the circle. The main picture was usually a face or a head and shoulders shot. In 1983 that was reversed. 

On my 1983 Mickey Mantle I used the 1963 main photo for the head shot and found color picture similar to the black and white photo in the 1963 circle for the main photo.

1986 Topps Pete Rose Special 1986-1989

In 1986 Topps put out a series of Pete Rose cards similar to the 1974 Hank Aaron Specials. On the back they were referred to as "The Pete Rose Years", but on the their checklist Topps referred to them as "Rose Specials".

Of course the cards put out in 1986 do not include his entire career which ended as a player in 1986 but continued as a Manager until 1989. Rose was the last Player/Manager in the MLB in 1986. Before giving the job to Robin Ventura, Kenny Williams had considered making Paul Konerko a Player/Manager of the White Sox.

1975 Topps 1963 Rookies of the Year

In the 60's and 70's many of the Rookies of the Year players appeared on multi-player cards. That is why I made regular cards for Gary Peters and Pete Rose even though they already had cards in the 1963 set.  I just thought those cards wouldn't really look right on a card like this.  

Or, I could have gone the way Topps went when making its 2001 Archives set. Here's that version on a 1963 Willie Stargell.

 

I think I made the right call.

1963 Topps Gary Peters

In 1963 Gary Peters led the AL with a 2.33 ERA. He also won 19 games and threw 189 strikeouts. The White Sox would finish in 2nd place but still 10.5 games behind the Yankees. Peters would win the Rookie of the year beating out teammate Pete Ward who hit .295 with 22 homers. 

Peters was a 26 year old rookie that had pitched for the White Sox in 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962 but still retained "rookie" status in 1963. He even appeared on Topps cards in 1960 and 1961. He appeared on a multi-player rookie card in 1963.