Even More 1975 Alt-Topps

Traded, Post-Season, Leaders and Rookie Stars

There were certainly bigger trades in the 1975 season.  In my last post I mentioned two, Hank Aaron and Bobby Murcer. But here are couple semi-stars that ended up on unexpected teams. (Sorry Buzz if I stole your thunder).  Padres star Nate Colbert found himself on the Tigers for the first part of the 1975 season. He was later purchased by the Expos and would end the season in Montreal. After the Cubs traded Randy Hundley to the Twins in 1974, he was released then signed by the Padres. In 1976 he would return to the Cubs, He finished his career there in a much diminished capacity.

For the Playoff/World Series cards, I tried to incorporate both team color schemes. Rather than mimic the actual 1975 two-tone color scheme, I faded the colors.

On the leader cards, I kept the gradient color background of the playoff cards for continuity.  I copied the mid-seventies style of having one leader from each league on the cards. I also incorporated the team logos onto the cards as I did on the traded cards.

I had to include a HR leaders card which featured one of my favorite players, Dick Allen. In the NL Mike Schmidt won the first of 8 home run titles.  Rod Carew led the AL in batting average 6 times in the 1970s.  Meanwhile in the NL, "the Roadrunner" Ralph Garr hit a career high .353 and led the league in triples with 17.

Just for good measure, I threw in a couple Alt-Topps All Star Rookies.  Frank Tanana would go on to lead the league in strikeouts in 1975. Bill Madlock would be Co-MVP of the 1975 All Star Game.

1975 Topps Bill Madlock All Star Co-MVP

Going Horizontal

When making the horizontal versions of the 1975 All Star MVPs, I really could have gone a number of different ways and still remain true to the original 1975 Topps design.  I settled on trying to make it look like the All Star cards of 1975. By going horizontal I shifted the 2-tone split 90 degrees as well. In part because of the way Topps printed the card sheets and in part because I thought it looked better. The real problem was that I knew from the start I could not make a better card than the original 1975 Topps Bill Madlock card.

In 1974 Madlock replaced the great Ron Santo at 3rd base for the Cubs and was 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting. In 1975 he was the Cubs sole representative at the All Star Game in Milwaukee. He entered the game at 3rd base in the bottom of the 6th replacing Ron Cey. In his first at bat he flied out to 1975 R.O.Y. and M.V.P. Fred Lynn in centerfield. In the top of the 9th he came to the plate with the game tied 3-3. The bases were loaded and no-one out. He drove a single to left to score Reggie Smith and Al Oliver. He advanced to second on the throw home. The National League won the game 6-3, the final run came when Larry Bowa scored from 3rd on a fly ball off Pete Rose's bat.