UPDATE: 1952 Topps Survivors

 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.

1951 Topps Football Cards as Baseball Cards

 Before I start another round of All Star Cards That Never Were, I am going to throw in something a little different.  I was playing around with an idea of what Topps baseball cards would look like if they use Topps football format.  So for absolutely no good reason at all, the next few posts will be MVP baseball players from the '50s on Topps football card designs.

In 1951 Topps had a set called Football Magic.  The "Magic" referred to a scratch off quiz on the backs. The set also featured college players, not pros. This is Billy Wade who played quarterback for the Rams and Bears from 1954-1966.  He's shown here playing for Vanderbilt. 

I took the 1951 NL MVP Roy Campanella and put him in that card design.  The baseball version looks a little wider because the '51 football cards were 2 1/16" by 2 15/16".  I made the baseball version standard size, 2 1/ 2" by 3 1/2". Here they are side by side:

In case you're wondering, I skipped over the 1950 Topps Felt Back football cards.  They were quite ugly and would be hard to re-create.

1952 Topps Survivors

I was just reading the "Night Owl" post from June 3rd, about how the players of our youth seem to be passing away at an alarming rate.  Specifically, players from the 1975 Topps set.  It reminded me of another blogger who passed away a little over 4 years ago, Bob Lemke.  Bob kept tabs of who was still alive from the 1952 Topps set. 

Obviously, the list hasn't been updated in quite a while, so here is Bob's last update from November 2016  (Link Here).  This was his list of surviving players from the 1952 Topps set: 

PLAYER                     1952 TOPPS   BIRTH          TEAM
                        `           CARD NO.      DATE
Wally Westlake           38                    11/08/1920   SLC
Eddie Robinson           32                    12/15/1920   CWS
Sam Mele                    94                    01/21/1922   WSH
Gil Coan                      91                    05/18/1922   WSH
Red Schoendienst       91                    02/02/1923    SLC
Solly Hemus                196                  04/17/1923   SLC
Bob Kuzava                 85                    05/28/1923   NYY
Ed Fitz Gerald             236                  05/21/1924   PIT
Charlie Silvera             168                  10/13/1924   NYY
Irv Noren                     40                    11/29/1924   WSH
Wayne Terwilliger         7                      06/27/1925   BRO
Bobby Shantz              219                  09/26/1925   PHA
Ned Garver                 212                  12/25/1925   SLB
Bob Borkowski            328                  01/27/1926   CIN
Randy Jackson           322                  02/10/1926   CHC
Howie Judson             169                  02/16/1926   CWS
Bob Miller                    187                  06/16/1926   PHI
Bobby Morgan             355                  06/29/1926   BRO  
Johnny Groth              25                    07/23/1926   DET
Roy Sievers                 64                    11/18/1926   WSH
Carl Erskine                250                  12/13/1926   BRO
Carl Scheib                 116                  01/01/1927   PHA
Charlie Maxwell           180                  04/08/1927   BRS
Cloyd Boyer                280                  09/01/1927   SLC
Bob Kelly                     348                  10/04/1927   CHC
Tommy Brown             281                  12/06/1927   PHI
Dick Gernert                343                  09/28/1928   BRS
Joe Presko                  220                  10/07/1928   SLC
Bob Ross                    298                  11/02/1928   WSH
Curt Simmons             203                  05/19/1929   PHI
Ted Lepcio                  335                  07/28/1929   BRS
Ike Delock                   329                  11/11/1929   BRS
Del Crandall                162                  03/05/1930   BOS
Vern Law                     81                    03/12/1930   PIT
Johnny Antonelli          140                  04/12/1930   BOS
Dick Groat                   369                  11/04/1930   PIT
Bob Friend                  233                  11/24/1930   PIT
Willie Mays                  261                  05/06/1931   NYG
Tony Bartirome           332                  05/09/1932   PIT
Dick Brodowski           404                  07/26/1932  BRS
Bobby Del Greco         353                  04/07/1933   PIT

His list of 41 has now dropped to just 15.  The oldest being Eddie Robinson at 100 years and the youngest being the "Say Hey Kid" at a youthful 90.

Here is the current list of the '52 survivors: 

• Eddie Robinson           32                    12/15/1920   CWS
• 
  
  
  
  
• Bobby Shantz              219                  09/26/1925   PHA
• 
  
  
  
  
• Bobby Morgan             355                  06/29/1926   BRO  
• 
  
  
  
  
• Johnny Groth              25                    07/23/1926   DET
• 
  
• 
   
• Carl Erskine                250                  12/13/1926   BRO
• 
  
  
  
  
• Charlie Maxwell           180                  04/08/1927   BRS
• 
  
  
  
  
• Cloyd Boyer                280                  09/01/1927   SLC
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Bob Kelly                     348                  10/04/1927   CHC
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Tommy Brown             281                  12/06/1927   PHI
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Bob Ross                    298                  11/02/1928   WSH
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Curt Simmons             203                  05/19/1929   PHI
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Ike Delock                   329                  11/11/1929   BRS
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Vern Law                     81                    03/12/1930   PIT
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Dick Groat                   369                  11/04/1930   PIT
• 
  
  
  
  
•  Willie Mays                  261                  05/06/1931   NYG
• 
  
• 

It really strikes me how beautiful these cards truly were.  As much as Topps (or anyone else) tries to replicate these, I don't think they quite capture the artistry of the original set.

Lastly, since this is a Cards That Never Were blog, I feel obliged to include at least one custom card.  So here is my custom card of Bob Lemke himself.  I'm not sure if he coined the phrase "Cards That Never Were" but it's the first place I'd heard it.  He was a huge influence on this blog and the card community as a whole: 

Barrier Breakers: Jackie Robinson - Brooklyn Dodgers

 

This is the ultimate "Barrier Breaker".  Jackie Robinson's integration into the league is well documented.  Instead of going into all of that, I want to address the hobby aspect.  I chose to make my own design of the Bond Bread card because Jackie Robinson did have several card in 1947. Those were issued by Bond Bread.

He had his own 13 card set.  The cards were distributed as a promotion with a couple slices of bread and a coupon.  There is some dispute whether this set was actually from 1947.  Some point out that the photos used were not from 1947.  It is possible that they were distributed over a few years, starting in 1947.  The cards were nearly the size of standard cards today. Instead of 2.5" X 3.5" it was 2.25" X 3.5". They were plain black and white photos and there were 3 different backs. 

I took some of the design elements found in other Bond Bread promotional art.  I wanted to capture the style of the era but wanted to incorporate color/colorized photos and a standard 2.5" x 3.5" format.  This is what I came up with.  I have already posted a Hank Thompson card in this 1947 format, and (spoiler alert) plan to use this format for the 1947 card of Larry Doby.

For more information on the REAL 1947 Bond Bread set click here.  It is very interesting with some good photos too.

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Pt. 11

Results of  MLB Dream Bracket 

Quarter Finals and Semi Finals

The semi finals contained teams that had long, rich histories.  The Yankees were born as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901. The moved to the Big Apple in 1903 and became the Highlanders. In 1913 they were renamed the Yankees.

The Red Sox were also founded in 1901. The Boston American League team had no official nickname until 1908 when they adapted Red Sox from the Boston NL team the Boston Red Stockings. The NL Boston Red Stockings were actually the original Cincinnati Red Stockings and would eventually become the Boston Braves. The Boston AL team had many unofficial nicknames prior to 1908, Pilgrim, Puritans, Somersets and Americans.

The Reds claim to be the oldest team in baseball. This is not entirely true. The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first professional ball club, born in 1869.  As mentioned earlier that club moved to Boston and lives on now as the Atlanta Braves. This franchise was actually born in 1882 also named Red Stockings. It was often shortened to Reds. In 1911 it became official with the appearance of "Reds" on their uniform.  During the McCarthyism era in the fifties, they briefly changed their name to Redlegs in a shameful effort to distance themselves.

The Dodgers were originally the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1883. Then for many years, had no official nickname. They were called the Superbas, the Infants, the Bridegrooms, the Robins, the Trolley Dodgers or just the Dodgers for many years. It wasn't until 1932 that "Dodgers" became official and  appeared on their jerseys.

For these brackets, I re-used the cards I had created for each team right up until the semifinals. At that point I needed to create new cards for Jeter, Gehrig, Tiant, Larkin, Bench and Koufax.

******************************************

These cards are base on the MLB Dream Bracket.  Not sure who picked the "all-time players". It is a product of Twitch, Out of the Park and Draft Kings.  I take no responsibility for their choices, good or bad.  The cards themselves are based on a rejected Topps design from the late sixties.

To check the status of the bracket click here.

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Pt. 10

Recap of  NL Dream Bracket 

Round 1 & 2

Fairly predictable results with the exception of the Florida/Miami Marlins over the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and the Pilot-less Brewers advancing against the NY/SF Giants then (to a lesser degree) passing the Cubs.

******************************************

These cards are base on the MLB Dream Bracket.  Not sure who picked the "all-time players". It is a product of Twitch, Out of the Park and Draft Kings.  I take no responsibility for their choices, good or bad.  The cards themselves are based on a rejected Topps design from the late sixties.

To check the status of the bracket click here.

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Part 7

Reds v Nationals

Braves v Marlins

Dodgers v Padres

Seems to be a theme in the first round to pit teams with long histories with newer teams. This is no exception. The Nationals were born as the Montreal Expos in the 1969 expansion. That same expansion brought the Padres (who almost moved to Washington in 1974).  The Marlins were part of the 1993 expansion along with the Rockies.

In the Reds - Nationals game we have Jim Maloney, Ted Kluszewski, Pete Rose and Joey Votto going for the Reds. The Expos/Nationals have Stephen Strasburg, Gary Carter, Tim Raines and Bryce Harper. If you want to see the results of this series click here for the story and video.

In the Braves - Marlins match up, Warren Spahn is pitching with Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy in the field. The Marlins have Dontrelle Willis, Gary Sheffield, Derek Lee and Giancarlo Stanton.  If you want to see the results of this series click here for the story.

The Dodgers -Padres series has Don Newcombe, Cody Bellinger, Jackie Robinson and Steve Garvey for the Dodgers, all of them are former NL MVPs. The Padres have reliever Trevor Hoffman, Nate Colbert, Dave Winfield and Tony Gwynn.  If you want to see the results of this series click here for the story.

******************************************

These cards are base on the MLB Dream Bracket.  Not sure who picked the "all-time players". It is a product of Twitch, Out of the Park and Draft Kings.  I take no responsibility for their choices, good or bad.  The cards themselves are based on a rejected Topps design from the late sixties.

To check the status of the bracket click here.