Even More 1971 Alt-Topps

All Star,  World Series,  Leader and Rookie Cards

The All-Star cards are pretty similar to the base cards. The 1970 All-Star Game logo replaces the team logo. In 1970 Luis Aparicio started his last All Star Game in a White Sox uniform.  And what a uniform it was. I always loved the baby-blue flannels of that era.















Meanwhile on the Senior Circuit, the Say Hey Kid was playing in his 21st of 24 career All Star Games. Second only to Hank Aaron and tied with Stan Musial.

















It's still amazes me that color barriers that were still being broken in the 1970's.  Jackie Robinson's entry into the league in 1947 seemed like the distant past in 1970.  But 1971 saw the first and only time both starting All Star pitchers were African American. It also saw the first starting 9 lineup with every position filled by players of color. The Pirates accomplished that on September 1st of that year. And of course it wasn't until 1975 that Frank Robinson became the first black manager.

Also 1970 was the first World Series with an African American umpire. Emmett Ashford broke the color barrier for umpires in 1966. 19 seasons after Robinson and Doby.  The 1970 was not only his first, but last as he had reached mandatory retirement age.  He is seen here defending his call against Boog Powell in the 8th inning of game 5.

Powell had hit a scorcher down first. Lee May bobbled it and threw to the pitcher. Boog was called out. In the mean time, Paul Blair scored from second to put the Orioles up 8-3. The argument and the call had little consequence, but with today's replay, it probably would've been overturned.


Normally I make just one World Series card. The game 5 featuring an umpire just seemed a bit out of place.  So I created a series recap card with the typical team celebration.








The 1970 Batting Leader was Alex Johnson who had a career year. Going into the last game of the season he was trailing Yaz by .002. After grounding out in his first at bat, he slapped 2 singles in a row. He was then taken out of the game to preserve his .32899 average over Yastrzemski's .32862 average. Both appear in the stats as .329 but Johnson held a slight statistical edge.












The NL Strikeout leaders feature 3 great Hall of Famers at the top of their game. Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson and Fergie Jenkins. Enough said.

Once again, with 20/20 hindsight, the Rookie Stars cards feature the 1971 Rookies of the Year plus a couple other names you might know. The AL ROY was Chris Chambliss. The Indians chose him with the overall #1 pick of the 1970 draft.





Earl Williams was also taken in the first round of the draft. But that was 5 years earlier in 1965 and with the 6th overall pick. He was worth the wait. He clubbed 33 homers and 87 RBIs in his first full season.

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As usual, any request to fill in the blanks in this series are accepted. I will try my best to post them by the end of the month. 

1972 Topps Rookie of the Year Award - Chris Chambliss

In 1972 Topps released 6 "Awards" cards. These cards had pictures of the trophies on them.  I always thought that was kind of strange. Over the next few posts I will be putting pictures of the award winners on the cards.  I added facsimile autographs to identify the players while trying to keep the original look of the cards.

Chris Chambliss won the American Association Rookie of the Year award with the Indians AAA squad, the Wichita Aeros in 1970.  He began the 1971 campaign in Wichita nursing a hamstring injury he got in spring training. He made his MLB debut on May 28th in unspectacular fashion  grounding out as a pinch hitter. The next day he started at 1st base and remained there, replacing 29 year old Ken Harrelson. 

Harrelson was having a tough year off the field in 1971. His Boston night club was destroyed in a fire in January and he filed for divorce in June. The demotion to pinch hitter and utility outfielder was more than he could take. Harrelson announced his retirement to pursue a career as a professional golfer. He competed in the British Open in 1972 shooting 11 over and missing the cut.

1976 Kellogg's Chris Chambliss

Yankees ALCS History

This is the Yankees 15th appearance in the American League Championship Series. In the Yankees first appearance in the ALCS one player dominated. Chris Chambliss hit .524 with 2 homers including a pennant clinching walk-off homer in the 9th inning of Game 5. Since 1976, the Yankees have won 11 pennants and lost 3. 

1974 Topps Traded Chris Chambliss

In April of 1974 Chris Chambliss was part of an 8 player trade between the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees.  He became a key player in restoring the Yankees to their former glory. In his only All Star season, 1976, he hit .293 with 17 homers and 96 RBIs in the regular season. In the ALCS he hit a staggering .524 with 2 homers including a walk-off in game 5 to send the Yankees to their first World Series since 1964.

1975 Topps 1971 Rookies of the Year

The American League Rookie of the Year, Chris Chambliss, didn't have a Topps card in 1971. The National League winner, Earl Williams, shared a "Rookie Stars" card with Oscar Brown. Williams' position on that card was 1st Base even though he would spend most of his rookie season and his career as catcher. 

Both Chambliss and Williams were decisive winners but neither were unanimous. In the NL, Williams bested Willie Montanez. Montanez hit 30 Homers with 99 RBIs playing centerfield for the Phillies. In the American League, Chambliss beat out 2 rookie pitchers with losing records; Bill Parsons and Paul Splittorff. Also receiving R.O.Y. votes were Boston 2nd baseman Doug Griffin and A's centerfielder Angel Mangual. To Topps' credit, of all the Rookie of the Year candidates, only Bill Parsons and Chris Chambliss didn't have cards in the 1971 set.

1971 Chris Chambliss

Chris Chambliss was drafted  by Cincinnati in 1967 and 1968 but he declined and went to UCLA where he played one season in 1969. He was drafted again in the 1970 January draft. He was the first overall pick. He played one full season in the minors for the Indian's  AAA team in Wichita where he was named 1970 Rookie of the Year. In 1971 Chambliss joined the the big league club and was named Rookie of the Year again.