I felt it was time to update the list of players in the iconic 1952 Topps set that are still with us. This was a project that was begun by the late Bob Lemke. Since my last update of this list, Eddie Robinson passed away at the ripe old age of 100. He was the oldest living MLB player at the time of his death. In August we lost Johnny Groth. He was 95. Cloyd Boyer, the older brother of Clete and Ken Boyer, left us in September at the age of 94.
That brings the survivors of the 1952 Topps set down to twelve. Here is the current list of the '52 survivors:
Bobby Shantz
Born 9/26/1925
Card #219
Bobby Morgan
Born 6/29/1926
Card #355
Carl Erskine
Born 12/13/1926
Card #250
Charlie Maxwell
Born 4/8/1927
Card #180
Bob Kelly
Born 10/4/1927
Card #348
Tommy Brown
Born 12/6/1927
Card #281
Bob Ross
Born 11/2/1928
Card #298
Curt Simmons
Born 5/19/1929
Card #203
Ike Delock
Born 11/11/1929
Card #329
Vern Law
Born 3/12/1930
Card #81
Dick Groat
Born 11/4/1930
Card #369
Willie Mays
Born 5/6/1931
Card #261
With the passing of Eddie Robinson earlier this month, the oldest living MLB player is George Elder. He played only part of one season with the St. Louis Browns in 1949. He played a total of 4 years of pro ball from 1947-1950. He played minor league ball with the Toledo Mud Hens, San Antonio Missions, Baltimore Orioles. Beaumont Exporters and the Wichita Indians. Since he never had a baseball card, I made him one in the style of the 1983 Topps Super Veteran cards.
Just doing a bit of house-keeping here at CTNW. The cards on these checklists date all the way back to July of 2016.
I made the checklists in the 1983 design and included 2 of the greats that we lost earlier this year, Oscar Gamble and Rusty Staub. Checklist 35 is populated with several cards from my other long neglected blog, Rating The Rookies. It also contains many NFL/AFL Rookies of the Year and "Throwback Thursday" cards.
Checklist 36 is dominated by the 2016 post season cards I made. I took Hall of Famers that played for the 2016 post season teams. The twist was they were better known for wearing other teams' uniforms and I put them on cards from the year they were inducted into the Hall. I have to say, it made for some unusual looking cards. Also in that series were more Football ROY's and the missing manager cards from 1974.
If you wish to check out all the cards on these checklists without all these boring words getting in the way, click here. Or, as always you can click on this (or any other) checklist in the right margin. It will direct you straight to the page that contains all of these cards.
For the 2016 postseason I am making Cards That Never Were of Hall of Famers from each team but with a couple of twists. The first twist is that they will appear on cards that coincide with the year they were inducted into Cooperstown. The second twist is that these are not the teams they are best known for playing.
1994 Topps Steve Carlton
Steve Carlton had been in a three way battle with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry for all-time strikeout leader until the injury plagued 1985 season. He pitched just 92 innings and went 1 and 8. After starting the 1986 season with a 4-8 record and a 6.11 ERA he was released by the Phillies. He spent the rest of his career trying to get his mojo back. He played with the Giants, White Sox, Indians and Twins from July of 1986 until April of 1988. With the Cardinals and Phillies Carlton won 318 games and had a 3.10 ERA. With his final four teams he had a combined record of 10-21 with a 5.58 ERA. Nonetheless he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1994 with 95.8% of the vote.
1983 Topps Juan Marichal
Juan Marichal pitched for the Giants from 1960-1973. In 1974 he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox. Although he missed nearly three months in the middle of the '74 season due to shoulder surgery, he ended up with a 5-1 record in just 9 starts. He retired after the season only to be approached by the Dodgers in the spring of 1975. In his first game he pitched three scoreless innings only to be lit up for 5 runs in the fourth. In his second outing he pitched two scoreless only to get crushed in the third. When Walter Alston came out to the mound, Marichal's mind was made up. He told Alston that he was retiring for good. In 1983 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Once again I decided to change up the look of my checklists. This time the design was lifted from the 1983 Topps set because I've always liked the checklists that included players. The player featured on this checklist is Jim Hickman who passed away last month. Hickman played from 1962-1974 for the Mets, Dodgers, Cubs and Cardinals. His only All Star appearance came in a Cubs uniform in 1970. That game is best remembered for Pete Rose bowling over Ray Fosse to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning. But it was Jim Hickman who hit the single to center field that drove in Rose from second.
This series is dominated by Throwback Thursday cards. Also included was a continuation of the Honorary Captain series that I have been doing over the past 4 All Star breaks. I also mad cards celebrating the life of "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe and the 3rd triple-play by the White Sox this season.
As usual if you want to see all of these cards in one place with no boring words to slow you down, you can click here or click on any of the checklists in the right border to see those cards.
A couple weeks ago the Cardinals played the Mariners in a game featuring throwback unis. The Cards wore the away uniforms similar to those worn in 1977-78 and 1981-1984. For this Throwback Thursday I couldn't help but compare a couple of cats. First is a 2016 shot of Cardinals reliever Tyler Lyons in his throwback uni.
The next is Jim Kaat in his 25th and final MLB season. Although by 1983 the 44 year old lefty was relegated to bullpen duty, most of his games were as a starter. He had 180 career complete games and was a 20 game winner three times. Kaat was also a perennial Gold Glove winner on the mound. He won 16 in a row from 1962-1977 for the Twins, White Sox and Phillies. He also was a four time All Star and was named the AL pitcher of the year by the Sporting News. In 1982 he finally got a World Series ring as a member of the Cardinals.
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.
Last night the American League won their 3rd straight All Star Game. In 1983 the AL had won their first ASG after losing 11 straight. The game was at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was the 50th anniversary of the original ASG which was part of the Chicago Worlds Fair.
The National League's honorary captain was Ernie Banks. Although the game was played on the south side, Ernie's name is synonymous with Chicago baseball. He played his entire 19 season career in a Cubs uniform. An All Star 14 times and a back to back NL MVP (1958 & 1959), "Mr. Cub" was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1977.
Joe Cronin was chosen as the AL's honorary captain. Cronin was the starting shortstop for the American League in the first ever All Star game. Back then he was a member of the Washington Senators. He went 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. The AL won 4-1. Cronin was runner up for the AL MVP in 1933 finishing behind fellow Hall of Famer, Jimmie Foxx.
In 1933 Cronin was in his first year acting as player/ manager of the Senators. The following year he would manage and play shortstop in the 1934 All Star Game. The Red Sox traded for Cronin after the 1934 season. They gave up their starting shortstop, Lyn Lary and $225,000 (roughly $4 million in today's dollars). Cronin would serve as player manager of the Sox for 11 years and just manager for 2 more. In 1956 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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About the game: A former Southern Illinois University "Saluki", Dave Stieb was the starting pitcher. He pitched 3 inning of no-hit ball. But he gave up an unearned run on 2 errors to the game's first 2 hitters. Both were grounders to the pitcher. The first was an error on Stieb's throw to first. The second was on first baseman Rod Carew's catch. After spotting the Nationals a one run lead, Stieb was lights-out. He retire 9 of the next ten hitters, striking out 4 and allowing only one baserunner on a walk to Al Oliver.
MVP honors went to Fred Lynn of the Angels. Lynn belted a Grand Slam as part of the AL's 7 run 3rd inning. Atlee Hammaker, in his only All Star appearance gave up 3 singles, a triple, an intentional walk and 2 homers including Lynn's slam. The final score was 13-3 with the decisions going to both starting pitchers. Steib got the win and Mario Soto got the loss.
About the cards: In 1982 Topps went back to having separate all star cards rather than incorporating an all star designation on their regular issue cards. I struggled with whether to use regular issue cards or use the All Star cards from that years set. I actually think the 1983 AS cards are decent looking but the regular issue cards are much nicer. And as we move further into the '80s the divide only gets worse. If anybody that reads this far down into the text has an opinion on this subject, please leave a comment. Hopefully, I will still be blogging by the next All Star break and I am really undecided on how to proceed, but we have plenty of time.
About the photos: Normally, I use photo's from the playing days, but Cronin retired from playing and managing in 1947 so I could not find a decent color photo. I did find this picture of him wearing a mid '70 era Red Sox uniform. I'm not sure what the occasion for this was.
At the '83 All Star Game he was looking good in a vintage Washington Senators uni. It doesn't look exactly authentic for the era (no pinstripes and the '60s era curly "W"), but it was a nice looking throwback uni anyway and I wish I could have found a decent photo of it to use on his card. But since I didn't here is a video I found on Youtube. It is the AL introductions for the All Star game. At the end Banks an Cronin come out.
Banks is also wearing an inaccurate uniform. He never had his name on the back of a home uniform during his playing days. In fact the Cubs didn't have names on the backs of their home jerseys until 1993. Ten years after Banks appeared in this video with his name on the back of his jersey.
The Kansas City Royals have rostered a total of 7 Hall of Famers. Three of them were picked up in the final year of their career. Gaylord Perry was a well-traveled pitcher. He played for 8 different teams during his 22 year career, winning the Cy Young award in both the A.L. and N.L. He won it for the Indians in 1972 and Padres in 1978. In his final season he was 4-4 in 14 starts for the Royals.
The Royals also picked up.Orlando Cepeda for a short stint at the end of his career in 1974. I had created this card for an earlier installment on this page back in 2011. Similarly, after 21 years in the Senators/Twins organization, Harmon Killebrew spent his final season wearing Royal blue. This beautiful card can be found on the Royal Heritage blog.
The Royals also had 3 Hall of Famers at the helm. In their inaugural season the Royals manager was Hall of Fame second baseman Joe "Flash" Gordon. In 1970 the Royals hired Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Lemon to run the show. In the middle of the 1975 season Whitey Herzog replaced a relatively young Jack McKeon. Unlike Gordon and Lemon, Herzog was inducted into the Hall as a manager not a player. Unfortunately, it was mostly due to his career with the Cardinals after he left the Royals. None of these managers were Hall of Famers during their tenure with the Royals. Bob Lemon was inducted in 1976, Tom Gordon in 2009 and Whitey Herzog was enshrined in 2010.
Spoiler alert: the Royals had one more Hall of Famer and he is the subject of my next post.
Big Papi made is debut on September 2, 1997 versus the Cubs. This was the 1st year of interleague play and the Cubs beat the Twins at Wrigley 9-3. Ortiz was a pinch hitter for the pitcher Travis Miller in the 7th. He flied out deep to left-center.
This is the 3rd time I've used this card, I first posted it here for the tie-breaker versus the Rangers. Next I re-posted it here for the Wildcard game versus the Indians. Jose has a .235 batting average overall in postseason play. He has not had a hit yet in the 2013 postseason.
Carlos Beltran made his debut on September 14, 1998. In 2 plate appearances he had an infield single and a walk. He scored both times as the Royals beat the A's 16-6.
This cards was previously posted here for the Wildcard game vs. the Reds. Burnett got the loss in Game 1 vs. the Cardinals. He held the Cards scoreless in the 1st 2 innings but in the 3rd inning, he gave up 7 runs on 4 hits (including a HR to Carlos Beltran), 3 walks and a hit-by-pitch. All before recording a single out. His overall postseason record is 2-3 with a 6.37 ERA.
Another inauspicious beginning. Reed Johnson made his MLB debut on April 17, 2003 as a pinch runner. In the bottom of the 9th, losing 4-0, the 26 year old Blue Jay rookie took over on the base-path for Josh Phelps. Reed was forced out at 2nd.
Down 11-3 in the bottom of the 9th, Juan Uribe got his first at bat versus the Padres on April 8, 2001. He grounded out to 2nd as the Rockies went down in order.
Bartolo Colon pitched 5 innings in his April 4, 1997 debut. Left the game tied at 4-4 versus the Angels. The Indians eventually lost the game in spectacular fashion. Tim Salmon hit a walk-off Grand Slam off Paul Shuey in the 12th inning.
On August 22, 1997 Torii Hunter made his MLB debut was as a pinch runner for the Twins' 35 year old catcher Terry Steinbach. The strategy did not pay off. Matt Lawton hit into a double play. Hunter would not play in the bigs again until the following year.
I cheated a little on this one. I went back to the 1992 Olympic baseball team. USA came in 4th when baseball was introduced to the Olympics for the 1st time. Giambi hit .296 and played 1st base for Team USA in Barcelona. He would make his MLB debut 3 years later for the Oakland A's.
This cards was already posted here for the tie-breaker versus the Rangers. Molina didn't have much impact on the 5-2 victory over the Rangers. He went 0-4.
A.J. Burnett made his debut August 17, 1999. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, surrendering a single run and earning his first win as the Marlins beat the Dodgers 6-1.
Bronson Arroyo's debut came not as a pitcher but as a pinch hitter. On June 12, 2000, Arroyo came in to bat for Scott Sauerbeck with the Pirates behind the Brave 6-8 in the bottom of the 6th. He grounded to the pitcher. He would get his pitching debut the next day. He gave up 5 runs in 5 innings but got a no-decision as the Pirates beat the Braves 7-6 in 10 innings.
Ever wonder why A.J. Pierzynski seems to have a chip on his shoulder? Maybe it is because in his first Major League game he was beaned by Angels pitcher, Trevor Wilson. A.J. made the most of it by scoring on an Alex Ochoa triple but the Twins came up short losing 10-8.
Jose Molina is the middle brother of the 3 baseball Molinas. Bengie is the oldest and retired in 2010. Yadier is the youngest and still playing for the Cardinals. Jose went 2 for 3 with a double and a run scored in his first game, September 6, 1999. The Cubs lost despite his efforts, 6-3 to the Reds. The Reds tested the rookie catcher, stealing 3 bases.
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.
This is a site after my own heart. First it is loaded with cool home-made cards. Second it features one of my childhood favorite players, Dick Allen.
I love that Allen wore a jersey with Wampum 60 during his final year on the A's (Wampum High School, Class of 1960). I love that he wore a helmet on the field. I love that he smoked in the dugout.
St. Patrick's Day cards in the 1969 Topps Style and the White Sox in their 1976 era softball uniforms colorized and presented on 1961 Topps format. (They look really cool so I won't bother asking why.)
This site has so many great custom cards as well as pictures you won't find anywhere else. I can't recommend it enough.
