Topps All-Star Misses: 1970 NL Infield

The 1969 starting NL All Star infield was faithfully represented in Topps 1970 All Star subset. Around the horn they had McCovey at 1st, Felix Millan at 2nd, Santo at 3rd and Kessinger at short. Honestly, not bad for Topps.  

But arguments could be made for the actual 1970 Sporting News All Star; McCovey and Kessinger were also 1970 TSN All Stars at their respective positions.  However, at second TSN picked Glenn Beckert and at third they had Tony Perez. 

So here are the 1970 All Star Cards That Never Were of Beckert and Perez:

 

Topps All-Star Misses: 1969 NL Infield

My latest project is making All Star Cards That Never Year for the years 1958-62 and 1968-70.  Diring those years Topps decision making on these cards was haphazard and a mystery to everybody but Topps. They were NOT based on the current season's "Sporting News All Stars" nor the previous season's ASG starters.  So I've made additional cards based on this criteria.   

What started as an idea for a small project, ballooned to over 150 cards so I'll be posting these in small doses.  I'll be breaking it down by year, league (NL or AL), and positions (battery, infield and outfield).

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It's only my second post in this series and I have to admit that Topps was pretty much on point in regards to the 1969 NL infield.  The 1969 Topps All Stars had McCovey, Helms, Kessinger and Santo who also just happened to be the actual 1968 ASG starting infield. McCovey, Kessinger and Santo were also named to the 1969 "Sporting News" All Star team.  

That only leaves Glenn Beckert who was named "The Sporting News" All Star 2nd baseman in 1969. So here is a 1969 All Star card that could have been.

• 
  1969 NL ASG Starter
• 1969 Sporting News All Star
• 1968 Gold Glove
• 9th in MVP voting 1968
• Led MLB with 22.6 At-Bats per Strikeout

 

Glenn Beckert

October 12, 1940 - April 12, 2020

I hate to keep doing this.  But Glenn Beckert was part of my childhood and I couldn't let his passing go without a small tribute.  We are living in difficult times now.  He was in hospice in Florida with dementia when he passed away. It was heartbreaking to read how his daughters were unable to visit him due to the Corona Virus. 

He was a Gold Glove, a four-time All-Star and an important part of the ill-fated 1969 Cubs. Most impressive was his low strikeout to at-bat ratio. He led the league 5 times and placed in the top ten every year from 1965-1972.  To put it into perspective as to how much the game has changed, the player with the most at-bats to strikeouts in 2019 was the Orioles utility infielder, Hanser Alberto.  He averaged 1 strikeout in every 10.5 at-bats.  Beckert's career average was 1 strikeout in every 21.4 at-bats.

Four years ago, when Milt Pappas passed away I found this photo of Pappas and Beckert at the 100 year celebration at Wrigley Field in 2014. 

I've created a few cards of Glenn Beckert over the years. Here they are once again.

Some 1965 Requests

Since I'm doing a bit of "tying up loose ends", I had a request for some non-multiplayer rookie cards from 1965.  It took a little digging to find the time appropriate uniforms, but it was worth it.

The request were for Jose Cardenal, Glenn Beckert, Ken Berry and Paul Schaal.

Cards That Never Were - 33rd Series Checklist - Milt Pappas

These things come around quickly with 2 separate blogs contributing to the Cards That Never Were. Twelve of these cards are from my sister site Rating The Rookies. Other notable subsets are league leader cards that never were and my latest theme, Throwback Thursday. As usual you can look at all the cards in this series without all those boring words by clicking here.

On this checklist, I used an inset photo of Milt Pappas. Pappas passed away this April at the age of 76. He pitched a no hitter for the Cubs in 1972 which was one questionable ball away from a perfect game. The three time All Star pitched for the Orioles, Reds, Braves and Cubs from 1957-1973.

Below is a terrific shot of Pappas and Cubs teammate Glenn Beckert at the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field in 2014. It's worth a thousand words.

1973 Topps All Star Cards : National League Outfield

Again in 1973 the Topps set was devoid of All Star cards. I actually had addressed this once before.

This was my first attempt at a Topps 1973 All Star card.  I made this for my previous blog, 6 degrees of Ron Santo. I really liked the concept but there is no way this would work for most of the All Star starters. On this post alone, it wouldn't work for Aaron or Mays.  Aaron was the sole representative of the Atlanta Braves and The Mets had only 2 other All Stars, Seaver and McGraw. 

That being said, it would have made a sweet card for Willie Stargell along with Roberto Clemente, Manny Sanguillen, Al Oliver and Steve Blass.

 Instead, I kept to a format similar to the World Series cards in that set. I also decided to use all "action" cards as they were becoming more prevalent in the 1973 set.

Willie Stargell was the starting left fielder and clean-up hitter for the 1972 NL All Stars. He walked in the bottom of the 2nd and was force out at 2nd when Johnny Bench grounded into a double play. He popped out to short right in his only other plate appearance.

The 1972 All Star Game was Willie Mays' final game as a starter and his first in a Mets uniform. At 41 years old, Mays was the oldest position player in Major League Baseball in 1972.

In 1971 Hank Aaron hit a career high 47 homers and in 1972 he was, once again the starting right fielder. In the 6th inning he smashed a 2 run homer to ut the NL ahead 2-1.

1972 Topps All Star Cards : The Infield

The 36 year old Norm Cash was having a resurgent year in 1971. His numbers were returning to the numbers he put up the last time he was selected to the All Star squad in 1966. Unfortunately those numbers didn't carry over into the All Star game. He struck out in both at bats.

Willie McCovey on the other hand was having an off season. Hampered by a knee injury sustained during spring training, he fell from 39 homers and 126 RBIs in 1970 to 18 homers and 70 RBIs in 1971. He struck out and grounded out in his only All Star at bats.

In his 3 plate appearances in the 1971 All Star game Rod Carew grounded out in the 1st, then drew 2 walks. He scored on Frank Robinson's 3rd inning homer. In 18 All Star games Carew had 48 plate appearances and an on base percentage of .354.

Playing in his 3rd straight All Star game, Glenn Beckert was batting a career high .342 in 1971. Beckert went 0 for 3 facing 3 different pitchers, Vida Blue, Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar.

In his 1st All Star at bat in a Red Sox uniform, Luis Aparicio singled to center then scored on Reggie Jackson's homerun. In his 12th All Star game this was only his second (and final) hit.

Appearing in his second All Star game and starting for the first time was Bud Harrelson. Harrelson also won his only Gold Glove award in 1971 and had a career high 28 stolen bases.

Solid as ever in 1971, Brooks Robinson played 3rd base in his 15th consecutive mid summer classic. He was also on his was to earning his 12th consecutive Gold Glove. He was 1 for 3 in the game with his only hit coming in the 6th. He singled to center then was out at second when Aparicio grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Joe Torre was having an MVP season in 1971, leading the league in batting and RBIs. In the All Star game he went 0 for 3 including a strikeout and a double play ball hit to Brooks Robinson.

I think this card, in particular, seems to really capture the spirit of the 1972 set. Brooks Robinson is sporting the new-for-1971 all-orange Orioles unis and Joe Torre looks like a recently defrosted caveman swinging his club and wearing the new-for-1971 double-knit pullovers.

1971 Topps All Star Cards : National League Infield

1971 Topps Dick Allen All-Star

In his only season in St. Louis, Dick Allen was selected to his 4th All Star game. Allen came to the Cardinals in a 6 player trade that famously included Curt Flood. Flood refused to report which in turn ushered in the Free Agent era.

1971 Topps Glenn Beckert All-Star

In his 2nd All Star appearance, and his 1st start, Glenn Beckert was 0 for 2. In his 4 career All Star games Beckert was hitless in 7 plate appearances.

1971 Topps Don Kessinger All-Star

Although known more for his glove than his bat, Kessinger went 2 for 2 in the 1970 Mid-Season Classic. He singled to center twice, once in the 2nd and again in the 5th.

1971 Topps Tony Perez All-Star

Although most of his career was spent on 1st, Perez was moved to 3rd to make room for Lee May's bat. When May was traded to the Astros, Perez resumed his role as 1st baseman.

1974 Topps Glenn Beckert Redone

 

This post started out as a comment on a post on Wrigley Wax. (A fun site with quite a few custom Cub cards.) His blog suggested that Glenn Beckert was slighted by Topps in 1974 because rather than doing a typically terrible airbrush job, they left him in his Cubs uniform but on a San Diego Padres card. 

Personally, I liked the action shot Topps used in 1974 and suggested he should have appeared on a Cubs card and airbrushed into a Padres uniform on a 1974 Traded card. 

I took the original picture from Beckert's 1974 card and made it a Cubs card and took the airbrushed card that was posted on Wrigley Wax and turned it into a Traded card. I took the liberty of making it a Washington  "Nat'l Lea." short print just because I though it would look cool.

Thanks Paul for letting me borrow your image and letting me take your original idea and beat it like a dead horse.