1972 Alt-Topps Requests

To the people who read all the way to the bottom of my last post, here are your requests.  To be fair, I added that last paragraph about the requests 8 or 9 hours after I had first published my last post. This is just my way of saying thank you to all the other baseball card nerds.  Thank you for sharing my interests and even participating in them. 

I ended up making 11 cards in all.  Bill requested more All Stars so I included Bud Harrelson in what would be his only All Star start. Norm Cash actually started in place of  Boog Powell. Although Powell wasn't listed as injured, he only started in 8 regular season games in July of 1971. Despite going 0 for 2, Cash was good choice to fill in for Boog. First, he was playing in his home stadium. Second, he was hitting .293  with 20 homers in the first half of 1971.

I had a request for Ken Boswell from "Rumple" while "Buzz" gave me a laundry list. Above are the base cards. Staub could've been another traded, but since he wasn't dealt to the Mets until April, I kept him on the Expos.

I did give traded cards to Sudden Sam and McLain.  The shot of Denny wearing #52 must've been from spring training.  His familiar #17 belonged to pitcher Ron Klimkowski in 1971. Klimkowski didn't make Oakland's big league roster after spring training in 1972 and was released outright in May. McLain himself was dealt to the Braves for Orlando Cepeda in June after only 5 starts for the A's.

Both Baseball-Reference and The Baseball Almanac have him listed as wearing #17 during his short time with the A's.  I've seen pictures of him wearing 30, 31 and 52 but never 17.  Can anyone find a picture of him wearing #17 for the A's?

Another Buzz request was Frank Robinson.  I found this great shot and made it a Game 6 card.  So much going on in this photo.  First of course, you have Robbie scoring on a pop fly to shallow center off the bat of Brooks.  You also have Manny Sanguillen at the plate and in the foreground, batboy Jay Mazzone.  Mazzone had lost both hands as a 2 year old.  He joined the Orioles at 12 in 1966. 1972 was his final season.  

1964 Topps All Stars - The American League Infield

1964 Topps Joe Pepitone AS

At the age of 22, Joe Pepitone made his only All Star start. He would be selected to the All Star team in 1964 and 1965 and win the Gold Glove at first in 1965, 1966 and 1969.  

1964 Topps Nellie Fox AS

In his 15th and final All Star game, Nellie Fox went 1 for 3 but was tagged out at home trying to score on a fly out by Al Kaline. A career .288 hitter, Nellie turned it up a notch on the big stage. He hit .375 in the 1959 World Series (his only post-season appearance) and hit .368 over 15 All Star games from 1951-1963.

1964 Topps Zoilo Versalles AS

Zoilo Versalles had only 2 official All Star at-bats in his career, but reached base 4 times. He had 1 hit, 2 walks and was hit by a pitch. He was the starting shortstop in 1963 and was an All Star reserve in his MVP season, 1965.

1964 Topps Frank Malzone AS

Frank Malzone was the runner up in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1957. He was a 3 time Gold Glove third baseman and an 8 time All Star from 1957-1964. In the 1963 All Star game he went 1 for 3 with an RBI ans a run scored.