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.

1966 Topps All Star Cards : American League Battery

1966 Topps Milt Pappas All Star

To put it as gently as I can: Pappas had a rough start. He gave up a walk and 4 hits including 2 homers in the first inning. Despite spotting the N.L. a 3-0 lead, the loss would go to Sam McDowell. The A.L. tied the game at 5 in the 5th on a Harmon Killebrew homer. The Nationals overtook the A.L. in the 7th on a Ron Santo RBI single off McDowell.

1966 Topps Earl Battey All Star

In his 4th and final All Star start, Earl Battey ground out twice including a double play. In the 6th inning Bill Freehan came in to replace Battey. Freehan then went on to start every All Star game behind the plate from 1966-1972.