Topps All-Star Misses: 1961 NL Battery

 Let me start by saying that Topps had no mystery players represented in the NL battery.  Their 1961 All Stars included RHP Bob Friend who was the starting pitcher of the first ASG of 1960. They had Del Crandall at catcher who started both ASGs in 1960. At LHP they had Warren Spahn who was selected to The Sporting News All-Star roster in both 1960 and 1961. That being said there are still five potential inclusions to this subset from the NL Battery alone.

LHP Mike McCormick:

• On the NL All Star roster for both games on 1960.
• Was the first lefty to come on in relief in ASG 1 in 1960.
• On the NL All Star roster for both games on 1961.
• Led NL with 2.70 ERA in 1960.

LHP Johnny Podres:

• On the NL All Star roster for both games on 1960.
• Was the first lefty to come on in relief in ASG 2 in 1960.
• Was 14th in NL MVP voting in 1961.
• Led NL in Win/Loss % in 1961.

RHP Vern Law:

• On the NL All Star roster for both games on 1960.
• Was the starting pitcher in ASG 2 in 1960.
• 1960 Cy Young award winner.
• Was 6th in NL MVP voting in 1960.
• Led NL with 18 complete games in 1960.

RHP Joey Jay:

• On the NL All Star roster for both games on 1961.
• Named to The Sporting News All Star roster in 1961.
• Led NL in Wins with 21 in 1961.
• Led NL in Shut Outs with 4 in 1961.

Catcher Smoky Burgess:

• On the NL All Star roster for both games on 1960.
• Was 20th in NL MVP voting in 1960.
• Starting catcher in both 1961 ASGs.
• Named to The Sporting News All Star roster in 1961.

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 My latest project is making All Star Cards That Never Year for the years 1958-62 and 1968-70.  During 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).

1967 Alt-Topps

Here is another Topps mock-up.  Although the name says Ben Solomon, it's obviously Eddie Mathews.  Ben Solomon was an art director for Topps.  His name on the card must be an inside joke.  The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. Mathews is sporting a Milwaukee Braves cap. That is because the photo was lifted from his 1964 Topps card.





Mathews last season for the Braves was their first season in Atlanta.  That made him the only Braves player to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Despite the Milwaukee cap and the fact that Mathews was traded to Houston before the season, I placed this set in 1967, AKA "the Summer of Love".  These cards give off that vibe. This is in contrast to the classic, clean, no-nonsense design Topps actually used in 1967.

Here is my version.  I used a more straight forward, less cartoony font for the team name. But I preserved the other design elements.






As usual, I made base cards of the respective MVPs and Cy Young Award winners.  I also followed Topps' color scheme from the actual 1967 set (as best I could).

The 1967 AL MVP was Triple Crown winner, Carl Yastrzemski. In the NL the MVP was Orlando Cepeda.  He had been the 1958 Rookie of the Year for the Giants. Primarily a first baseman, there was just no room on the Giants behind "Stretch".  He was traded to the Cards in May of 1966.

1967 was the first year the MLB awarded Cy Youngs to each league.  In the AL, Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox was having a career year.  He had 22 wins and 246 strikeouts, both league-leaders and career highs.  In the NL, Giants pitcher Mike McCormick also had a career high and league-leading 22 victories.

To be continued...

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Just as I've done in previous Alt-Topps posts, this post contains the base cards, I'll make a couple more posts with various subsets. And, of course, I'll make as many request as I can an hopefully post them in a few weeks. Just post your requests (or even ideas for other subsets, etc) in the comment section.  Thanks.