TBT - Milwaukee Brewers Edition

Throwback Thursday

Ok this will be a quick and dirty post I will try to actually publish every Thursday. I will make a retro card of a current player from the era of the throwback uni he is wearing. I will also post an actual card from that era as a comparison point.

The Brewers have been wearing a version of their 1982 World Series uniform during Friday home games this season. I say a "version" because the general design is the same. But as you can see this is a modern button-down uniform. It lacks the polyester pullover and sans-a-belt slacks look they were sporting during that era. The new unis also have a name on the back which was missing on the original version.

I made this card of Chase Anderson. Anderson came to the Brewers in the off season in a trade that also brought second baseman, Aaron Hill. In exchange Milwaukee sent pitcher Tyler Wagner and shortstop Jean Segura. Although Segura and Hill have done well this season both pitchers have struggled. Anderson is currently 2-6 with a 5.33 ERA.

I chose 1982 Cy Young award winner Pete Vuckovich as a comparison card. Vuckovich was a colorful pitcher and a fan favorite for his antics on the mound.

That translated into a roll in "Major League", He played Yankees first baseman, Clu Haywood. One of my favorite lines of the movie is when announcer Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker) says "Heywood leads the league in most offensive categories, including nose hair. When this guy sneezes, he looks like a party favor".

Another interesting thing about Vuckovich is that he wore two different shoes. Not one for interviews means his motives are kinda sketchy. I read in one place that he claimed his feet were different sizes. But that wouldn't explain the different brands or why at first he wore different colors until the umpires put an end to it. You can see the 2 different shoes on this 1982 Milwaukee Police Department issued baseball card.

Cards That Never Were - 33rd Series Checklist - Milt Pappas

These things come around quickly with 2 separate blogs contributing to the Cards That Never Were. Twelve of these cards are from my sister site Rating The Rookies. Other notable subsets are league leader cards that never were and my latest theme, Throwback Thursday. As usual you can look at all the cards in this series without all those boring words by clicking here.

On this checklist, I used an inset photo of Milt Pappas. Pappas passed away this April at the age of 76. He pitched a no hitter for the Cubs in 1972 which was one questionable ball away from a perfect game. The three time All Star pitched for the Orioles, Reds, Braves and Cubs from 1957-1973.

Below is a terrific shot of Pappas and Cubs teammate Glenn Beckert at the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field in 2014. It's worth a thousand words.

TBT - Chicago White Sox Edition

Throwback Thursday

Ok this will be a quick and dirty post I will try to actually publish every Thursday. I will make a retro card of a current player from the era of the throwback uni he is wearing. I will also post an actual card from that era as a comparison point.

This should be labeled Part 1 because the White Sox  have so many throw back looks. Add that to the fact that they are my team, and you know there will be others.

Back in April, the Sox wore their home alternate uniforms. These are basically the same design as the 1983 "Wining Ugly" unis. Here is Adam Eaton in his throwback uni on a 1983 Topps Card That Never Was. On the inset, head-shot I used a photo of him wearing the spring training cap. The retro "Batter Up" logo is actually from this era as well. It was never on the cap but was on the warm-ups and the jackets.

As a point of comparison, I included this 1983 Topps Harold Baines card. As you can see the uniform is pretty close. The 50th anniversary (1933-1983) All Star Patch is on Eaton's left sleeve but the right sleeve has a black diamond "Eddie" patch in memory of Eddie Einhorn. Einhorn was a long time Sox Vice Chairman who passed away earlier this year.  Also in 1983 they were still sporting the Sans-a-belt look. This was a look the Sox chose to leave out of the current version.

More from Rating the Rookies

I've got several more Cards That Never Were from my other blog, Rating the Rookies. These have a way of piling up on me. 

**********

 In 1966 Paul Lindblad and Ron Stone were rookies on the Kansas City Athletics. Lindblad played for the A's, Senators, Rangers and Yankees and had cards for each team except Washington. That is why I created a 1971 Topps card for him on the Senators. 

If Reggie Jackson is "Mr. October" then Ron Stone is "Mr. March". Every spring he would hit like gangbusters only to fade once the regular season started.  His final MLB season was 1972, so this 1973 Card That Never Was could be considered a career capper

To see their "graded" rookie card click here.

**********

In 1970 Al Fitzmorris and Scott Northey shared a Rookie Stars card for the Royals. 1975 was a career year in many ways for Al Fitzmorris so I made this 1975 Hostess Card That Never Was. Scott Northey was one of the original 1969 Royals, so despite him having 1970 and 1971 rookie cards, I gave him his own 1969 Topps card.

To see their "graded" rookie card click here.

**********

The 1968 Orioles Rookie Stars card featured Dave Leonhard and Dave May. Although Dave Leonhard's final MLB season was in 1972 he made several comeback attempts. I made this 1974 Topps Card That Never Was of him trying to come back with the Angels.

To see their "graded" rookie card click here.

Dave May is the guy the Braves got in exchange for allowing Hank Aaron to finish out his career in Milwaukee. In 1975 both players had hastily airbrushed cards. So here is a 1975 Topps Traded Card That Never Was that is gloriously non-airbrushed.

**********

In the 1978 set there was a four-player rookie outfielders card with Dell Alston, Rick Bosetti, Mike Easler and Keith Smith.

To see their "graded" rookie card click here.

Alston's career was over in 1980, but new card company, Donruss made a 1981 card of him anyway.So I figured I'm Make a 1981 Topps Card That Never Was of him as well.

On "Rating the Rookies" I received comment expressing dislike of the multi-team position based rookie cards from 1962, 1963 and 1973-1978. So I've decide to try and re-imagine what those cards would look like it Topps had maintained team-based "Rookie Stars" cards during those years. Since Rick Bosetti had begun his MLB career for the Phillies in 1976, this gave me the opportunity to try this out. So I teamed him up with Warren Brusstar for this 1977 Topps Rookie Card That Never Was.

After 14 MLB seasons. Mike "The Hitman" Easler played 2 more seasons in Japan. So I made this 1989 Fleer Card That Never Was of him playing for the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

After his 1978 rookie card, Topps considered Keith Smith one-and-done. But he continued to play for the Cardinals in 1979 and 1980. I had trouble finding a good picture of him on St. Louis so I did the next best thing. I made this 1979 O Pee Chee Card That Never Was of him on the Cardinals with the typical OPC trade info noted on the photo.

**********

Fritz Ackley famously shared a 1965 rookie card with Hall of Famer Steve Carlton. Since he never actually played for the Cardinals, I took the opportunity to re-imagine the 1963 Topps rookie cards as team-based as opposed to multi-team rookie stars cards. I teamed him up with Dick Kenworthy who played parts of 6 season on the south-side. Despite this his only card is a 1968 Mets card. A team on which he never played a regular season game. 

To see their "graded" rookie card click here.

TBT - Arizona Diamondback Edition

Throwback Thursday

Ok this will be a quick and dirty post I will try to actually publish every Thursday. I will make a retro card of a current player from the era of the throwback uni he is wearing. I will also post an actual card from that era as a comparison point.

This one is a slightly shorter throw than usual but a throwback none the less.  This season the Diamondbacks are wearing throwback uniforms the team wore from 1998-2006 on select Thursday home games. 

Here is a shot of Arizona's current first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt and the 2002 Topps card of Jay Bell. Bell played second base for the 2001 World Series Champs. The uniforms look pretty accurate but that  sleeve patch looks a little smaller on the 2016 version.

1965 Philadelphia Gale Sayers

1965 NFL Rookie of the Year

For the first and only time, both the NFL and AFL Rookies of the Year were future Hall of Famers. In the AFL was a brash young QB out of Alabama named Joe Namath. We've all seen his iconic rookie 1965 Tall-Boy, below. In the NFL was a a quiet running back out of Kansas, Gale Sayers. He wouldn't be seen on cardboard until the 1966 Philadelphia set in which he had 2 cards. He had a regular issue and was featured on an action card in that set.

TBT - Minnesota Twins Edition

Throwback Thursday

Ok this will be a quick and dirty post I will try to actually publish every Thursday. I will make a retro card of a current player from the era of the throwback uni he is wearing. I will also post an actual card from that era as a comparison point.

This week I am making a card of Joe Mauer wearing the Twins home alternate uniform. This is basically the same threads they wore from 1961-1971.

 I realize that in this picture the colors are more bluish than on the 1971Topps Leo Cardenas card I am using for a comparison. I think that may have more to to with lighting conditions, or exposure.  Personally, I think they look much better than their everyday uniforms.

As a bonus TBT feature, I created these two 1962 cards at the request of a couple of anonymous comments.  Although, Rich Rollins and Bernie Allen both appeared on the same 1962 Rookie Parade card. This particular Twins fan wanted to see them on their own 1962 cards.

This seemed like the appropriate place to put them. As a side note, I also featured that 1962 Rookie Parade card about a year ago on my other blog, Rating The Rookies. They shared that card with Phil Linz and Joe Pepitone.

2016 Topps Mickey Mantle

It's time again to continue a tradition started (then abandoned) by Topps. For a few years (2006-2012) Topps included a Mickey Mantle card in every set. Although the number 7 card is still retired there are no more Topps cards of the Mick as they let their licensing agreement lapse.  Ever since I began making Mickey Mantle cards for the missing Topps years.  I squirrel away any interesting photos I find of him on the internet and earmark them for this series. 

I really like this shot of him which I believe is from the 1962 World Series. It looks like he is diving back into first base. Mantle had a stolen second base in game one and he was also picked off at first by Jack Sanford in the 6th inning of game seven. I don't know for sure, but I think this is a picture of that play.