In my previous post I pointed out some other types of cards that might have been included in the 1963 Fleer set had it not been cut short due to Topps' lawsuit. In my last post I added manager, rookie and team cards. But what set would be complete without leader cards?
Again I made one example from the American League and one from the National. Not a bad selection of players either. Five out of six are in the Hall of Fame now. I tried to remain true to the Fleer design, but when I was done it looks reminiscent of Topps 1964 Leader cards.
Also missing from the initial 66 cards were World Series cards. Not necessarily essential, but usually a source of action shots in the 1960's when most cards were posed. Again, one card example featuring the National League team, and one for the American League.
I decided to go with black and white photos out of necessity. While I could find a few color photos of the 1962 Series. Topps colorized their WS cards in the early 60's but revered to black and white in the later part of the decade.
One of my favorite subsets, the All Star cards, were notably missing from the 1963 Topps set. When Topps did include All Stars, they weren't often the starting All Stars from the previous season. Often they were labeled "Sporting News All Star" but often that wasn't the case either.
In my examples, both players were Sporting News All Stars in 1963. Luis Aparicio played starting shortstop in the 1962 All Star Games while a member of the White Sox. In 1963 he was the backup to Zoilo Versalles . Johnny Edwards was the Sporting News All Star in 1963 but was a backup to Ed Bailey of the Giants in the 1963 All Star game. Edwards took over for Bailey as the Reds catcher in 1961 when Bailey was traded to the Giants. Edwards, a three time All Star and two time Gold Glove catcher was succeeded by Johnny Bench in 1968.
In the Original 66 cards was the rookie card of Maury Wills. On that card, instead of the usual player drawing, Fleer put "N.L. Most Valuable Player '62". They replicated that for their 1998 Mickey Mantle insert card. I made a Rookie of the Year card for Ken Hubbs using the same design.
While most sets of this era didn't have "Award" cards, it seem like a logical extension. So here is the other R.O.Y. from 1962, Tom Tresh and the 1962 Cy Young Award winner, Don Drysdale.
Great looking cards. Love the McCovey. I hadn't seen that photo before.
ReplyDeleteExcellent cards. Really like the Tom Tresh card.
ReplyDeleteLove the Leaders design. Very '63 Fleerish. And the World Series cards are awesome, as are the rest.
ReplyDeleteI know this is not your usual trope, but I just discovered doing research that the expansion Senators turned down an offer from the Cardinals to trade them Bob Gibson for Bobby Shantz. Plus the Cardinals were "throwing in" a future American league saves leader, and former All-Star game winning pitcher. And instead traded Shantz to the Pirates for three prospects who were total busts.
ReplyDeleteWhat would Bob Gibson look like in a Senators "Traded" card? What would a 1965 Phillies or Reds versus Yankees world series card look like? It is the stuff of fantasy, to be sure. Here's the Sporting News article about the trade offer: http://mclff.blogspot.com/2017/04/if-this-trade-offer-cardinals-made-in.html