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 - Earl Williams

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.

Earl Williams was a pitcher in high school when he was drafted by the Braves in the first round of the 1965 draft. As a minor leaguer in the Braves' system he would pitch only 8 games before becoming a position player. He played first, third, and the outfield. He even played a game at shortstop but he didn't play catcher until the 1971. His began his MLB career in 1970 platooning at 1st and 3rd. By June of 1971 he had found a home behind the plate. He hit .260 with 33 homeruns making the Braves opening day catcher, Hal King, expendable. 

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 Topps Earl Williams

Earl Williams was a pitcher in high school when he was drafted by the Braves in the first round of the 1965 draft. As a minor leaguer in the Braves' system he would pitch only 8 games before becoming a position player. He played first, third, and the outfield. He even played a game at shortstop but he didn't play catcher until his rookie season in the majors. His began the 1971 season platooning at 1st and 3rd. By June he had found a home behind the plate. His bat made up for his defensive shortcomings. He hit 33 homers his rookie year.

After 2 solid seasons in Atlanta, Baltimore's Earl Weaver said "Give me Earl Williams and I'll win the pennant." He got Williams but he had to give up 2 starting pitchers, his everyday first baseman and everyday catcher. The Orioles won their division in both 1973 and 1974 but could not get past the Oakland A's. In 1975 Williams was dealt back to the Brave along with cash for a minor league pitcher. 

By 1978, Williams was on the outside looking in. He even went so far as to place an ad in the New York Times: