Topps All-Star Misses: 1969 NL Battery

The 1969 Topps NL All Star battery consisted of RHP Bob Gibson, LHP Jerry Koosman and catcher Johnny Bench.  The actual 1968 All Star Game had Drysdale as the NL Starter and Jerry Grote behind the plate.  The first lefty relief pitcher was Steve Carlton. Carlton was also The Sporting News choice for All Star left-handed pitcher in 1969. Both Drysdale and Carlton could have been in this set. 

Tom Seaver was the Sporting News selection for All Star right-handed pitcher in 1969 and his battery-mate Jerry Grote was the 1968 ASG starting catcher.  So these Mets merit inclusion, too.

 

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1969 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Although Gibson never left the bullpen in the '68 ASG, I cannot fault Topps for giving him an All Star card based on his 1968 Cy Young & MVP season. I also (kind of) can't fault Topps for Koosman.  He only face one batter in the 1968 ASG but it was the final batter.  He struck out Yaz and got the save as the NL won 1-0 in the Astrodome. Despite Grote starting the 1968 ASG, Bench was the Sporting News choice for 1969 All Star catcher. Bench was also the 1968 Rookie of the Year and the runner up was Koosman. So despite having 4 other cards that could have been included in the 1969 All Star sub-set, I have to give Topps a pass.

Topps All-Star Misses: 1970 NL Battery

 In a strange turn of events, Topps had the 1959 American League All Star infield and the 1958 National League outfield correct (by my narrow definition). The 1959 AL infield cards reflected the 1958 ASG starting lineup; Moose Skowron at first, Nellie Fox at second, Luis Aparicio at short and Frank Malzone at third.  The Sporting News All Stars in 1959 were combine AL and NL with only Nellie Fox of the White Sox representing the AL.

Similarly, the Topps 1958 NL Outfield All Stars were a reflection of the 1957 MLB All Star Game starters. Frank Robinson, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron were the 1957 ASG starters and Mays and Aaron were named to The Sporting News All Star team in 1958.  So we skip ahead to the 1970 NL Battery.

In 1970, Topps had Jerry Koosman (LHP), Juan Marichal (RHP) and Johnny Bench (C) on their "Sporting News" All Star Cards. Only Bench was actually named to the 1970 Sporting News All Star team.  He was also the only of the 3 to start in the 1969 ASG.  

The actual 1969 All Star Game starter was Steve Carlton of the St. Louis Cardinals. Carlton followed up his 1969 All Star season, with a league leading 19 losses in 1970.

The first right hand pitcher to make an appearance for the NL in the 1969 ASG was Bob Gibson.  Gibson was also The Sporting News All Star selection for 1970.

Jim Merritt (LHP) was The Sporting News All Star selection in 1970.  He was also the first lefty to pitch in the 1970 ASG following starter Tom Seaver.  He was 4th in Cy Young voting in 1970 and 21st in MVP voting.

Who probably didn't merit inclusion in the 1970 Topps All-Star set, but was in it anyway?

Koosman and Marichal:

Both were reserves in the 1969 MLB All Star Game but only Koosman left the bullpen. Neither were named to The Sporting News All Star team in 1970 and neither were selected for the 1970 MLB All Star team.

Even More 1973 Alt-Topps

All Stars, Leaders, World Series and Team Cards

It's unfortunate that I had to break from this series of posts.  I paused to pay tribute (in my own unusual way) to two superstar players who coincidentally, were in their prime in 1973, Tom Seaver and Lou Brock. 

Getting back to my Alt-Topps 1973 set, once again, I decided to take another unused Topps prototype for a subset. I chose the Hammer and Rod Carew to represent the 1973 Alt-Topps All Star set.

I saw this oddball mash-up among the group of Topps rejects. It's Pete Ward in the same pose as his 1964 Topps Stand-Up card.  But the team is the Orioles and the name on the card is Vida Blue.  There would be no way I could possibly make this card design into an entire set.  But it was simply way too cool not to use, so instead I used it as my 1973 All Star insert card design.

For my leader cards I went traditional(ish) in the design, but I took some liberties by including leaders in slugging percentage. I like the idea of non-traditional stats being used for leader cards.  That might be an upcoming post....

For the World Series I used traditional Red-White-Blue color scheme. This shot of the Series MVP Gene Tenace scoring the winning run in front of a dejected Johnny Bench is a classic.

The team cards are about a 50/50 ratio design to team photo.  Other than that they are fairly traditional team cards.

I chose the Royals and Expos just because I hadn't made any cards of them yet.  I don't want anyone to feel left out.

********************************************

Just as I've done in previous Alt-Topps posts, I'll make as many request as I can. Hopefully, I'll post them in a few weeks. Just post your requests (or even ideas for other subsets, etc) in the comment section.  Thanks.

The 1980 Donruss Set That Never Was

We all know that Topps monopoly on baseball cards was broken up by a court ruling in 1980. In 1981 we had Fleer and Donruss cards as well as Topps.  In anticipation of the ruling Donruss created these 1980 prototypes.  These can still be found. A quick look at COMC.com shows this panel currently selling for $855.28. (not sure what the 28 cents is for, postage?)

The panel included Reggie Jackson, George Brett and a blank template.  I wasn't the first and I probably won't be the last to use this template for card creations. I made a card of Dan Quisenberry back in 2014 using this design. I've also seen a few other custom cards using this format on the interwebs.

Elements of this design made it into the 1981 Donruss set. Here is a Cy Young Card of Steve Carlton.  You can see the similarities in the banner design.

You can also see the similarities in the banner design of the 1980 Topps cards. If this had been released in 1980, I could see Topps taking issue with the design.

The photos they used also made it into the 1981 set. A cropped version of the Reggie photo made it onto one of his three base cards. 

Donruss even had a bit of revisionist history in regards to the 1980 set. In 2002 they came out with a 1980 "What if?" set including this Reggie Jackson card. It didn't resemble the 1980 prototype at all. 

The Brett photo found its way onto two cards in 1981, his base card and his MVP card.

A cropped version of the same photo can be seen here on an advertisement for the new 1981 Donruss cards.

Okay, that's enough for the baseball card history segment of this post.  The reason I am posting this in the first place is to make these prototypes into a complete set.  

I'm going to follow my normal template of making base cards of the eventual season MVPs and Cy Young award winner.  Then in subsequent posts, I'll fill in the various other elements that make a complete baseball card set.

In the AL, George Brett won the MVP in 1980. That card has already been made for us.  In the NL it was another big hitting third baseman and future Hall of Famer, Mike Schmidt.  You can see my adaptation of the prototype's design.

The Cy Young Award winners were Steve Stone and Steve Carlton. For Carlton this was his 3rd of 4 Cy Youngs. His 24 wins helped the Phillies to their first ever World Series Championship. He was also 3-0 in four post season starts.  Steve Stone was having a career year in Baltimore. He had a 25 wins. That was a full ten wins more than his previous high of 15 with the 1977 Southside Hitmen. He also had a career high of 149 strikeouts. Tendinitis in his shoulder dropped his numbers to 4-7 in just 15 games in 1981. He retired at 34. 

For Donruss, the first few years the set was, well, basic. They didn't have designated rookie cards, or team cards, or leader cards, or all-stars, or post season cards. You get the idea.  My 1980 set that never was will have all that and more.  Those of you that actually read this far into the post can of course request cards as usual or even submit ideas for subsets that I didn't include.

To be continued....

1972 Alt-Topps

After being away for so long, I was undecided when (or if) I would start posting again.  But I do have quite a backlog of cards that I've already made. I also have quite a few ideas that still need to be fleshed out. What I do know is that I just don't have the time to post very often. So I'm going to try posting once a month.

Like I said before, "Cards That Never Were" was not a unique idea when I started this blog.  And lately there are even more blogs out there with similar content. Additionally there are Twitter, Facebook and other accounts devoted to the very same concept. Rather than just add more to the pile, I wanted to try something a bit different.

I came across some of Topps rejected concept cards on The Topps Archives and Keith Olbermann's Baseball Nerd and various other message boards and blogs.  Similar to what I did with the 1963 Fleer set, I decided to create an outline of what these mock-ups could be as a complete set. I will try to incorporate what we've all come to expect in a complete set: Rookie cards, All-Star cards, Leaders, World Series, etc.

For my first "Set", I think this was a prototype for the 1972 set. The designer used John Mayberry's 1971 card and put it inside his design. I decided to clean it up a bit and see what the cards might have looked like if Topps went with this design in 1972.

Here are few base cards, using the MVPs and Cy Young winners from 1972. Oddly, Three of the four were on new teams in 1972. Carlton had a card in a St. Louis uniform plus a late series "traded" card. For Dick Allen and Gaylord Perry, Topps just recycled old photos and tried to pass them off as their new team.

I tried to keep close to the color schemes that Topps used in 1972. If that Mayberry card was made using the color scheme the Astros used in 1972, it would look more like this:

In my next post I'll delve into this concept a little deeper.

2016 ALDS: Indians vs. Red Sox

For the 2016 postseason I am making Cards That Never Were of Hall of Famers from each team but with a couple of twists. The first twist is that they will appear on cards that coincide with the year they were inducted into Cooperstown. The second twist is that these are not the teams they are best known for playing.

1994 Topps Steve Carlton

Steve Carlton had been in a three way battle with Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry for all-time strikeout leader until the injury plagued 1985 season. He pitched just 92 innings and went 1 and 8. After starting the 1986 season with a 4-8 record and a 6.11 ERA he was released by the Phillies. He spent the rest of his career trying to get his mojo back. He played with the Giants, White Sox, Indians and Twins from July of 1986 until April of 1988. With the Cardinals and Phillies Carlton won 318 games and had a 3.10 ERA. With his final four teams he had a combined record of 10-21 with a 5.58 ERA. Nonetheless he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1994 with 95.8% of the vote.

1983 Topps Juan Marichal

Juan Marichal pitched for the Giants from 1960-1973. In 1974 he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox. Although he missed nearly three months in the middle of the '74 season due to shoulder surgery, he ended up with a 5-1 record in just 9 starts. He retired after the season only to be approached by the Dodgers in the spring of 1975. In his first game he pitched three scoreless innings only to be lit up for 5 runs in the fourth. In his second outing he pitched two scoreless only to get crushed in the third. When Walter Alston came out to the mound, Marichal's mind was made up. He told Alston that he was retiring for good. In 1983 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

TBT - San Diego Padres Edition

Yesterday, Ichiro passed Pete Rose on the all time hits list. That is a total of both his hits in the Major League and the Japan Pacific League. When Rose broke Ty Cobb's record in 1985 he was playing against the Padres. Ichiro and the Marlins were also playing against the San Diego Padres.

The Padres were wearing throwback uniforms last night. It would have been just too perfect if these had been 1985 era unis but they were wearing their 90's era unis. The Padres wore this style from 1991-2001. Here is a 1993 Topps throwback card of Melvin Upton Jr. from yesterday's game. As a point of contrast here is the late, great Tony Gwynn on his actual 1993 Topps card.  Mr. Padre passed away two years ago today.  As usual, the exposed stirrups are missing. The other difference is the matte finish of the modern batting helmet.

**************************************************

Bonus Thowback Thursday Contest

Last week I borrowed this card from The Phillies Room showing David Hernandez wearing the 1976 pillbox cap. 

I stated that I could not find a single baseball card from any year/manufacturer to feature that hat. The closest I could find was this cover of The Sporting News from 1976 featuring Larry Bowa.

So I put out this challenge: If anybody can find a card featuring this cap on a 1976 Phillies player or coach, I will send them ten '70s era cards from the team of their choice. 

It can be a local team issue card, a card from another team with a Phillie in the background, or even a recent "retro" card (IE Archives, UD Vintage, Allen & Ginter, etc.).  It just has to be an actual card that shows the Phillies pillbox cap.

 Just to be clear, I don't need the physical card just a link to a picture of it. On COMC.com, eBay or whatever.

TBT - Kansas City Royals Edition

This past week there were two games featuring uniforms from 1976. On Saturday the Indians hosted the Royals and both wore 1976 era unis.  Friday the Phillies donned their rarely used and even more rarely photographed pillbox hats along with their 1976 home uniforms. They played the Brewers in their 1976 era uniforms.

Here is a card from the Indians/Royals game of starting pitcher Ian Kennedy. Kennedy led the league in 2011 with 21 wins for the Diamondbacks. After the loss to Cleveland this past week his record for Kansas City is 4-4.

As a point of comparison, I chose this 1976 Topps card of Steve Mingori. Mingori was a bullpen pitcher for the Indians and the Royals from 1970-1979. Although his overall record was 18-33 he had a respectable ERA of 3.03. The uniforms look pretty similar but the way they are worn is fairly typical for the different eras. Kennedy wears his uniform much looser and Mingori is sporting the visible stirrups.

I chose to do the Royals TBT by default. I was beaten to the punch on the other three teams by two other bloggers. Both of whom have been doing these throwback style cards longer than I have. And both of these blogs are regular reads for me.

Over at The Phillies Room, Jim has created several 1976 Topps style "Chachi" cards to commemorate this game. I took his card of David Hernandez and put it next to a 1976 Topps card of Steve Carlton for comparison. The uniforms look almost right. It looks like the Phillies logo and number were a bit lower on the jersey and Carlton appears to be wearing a black belt instead of the color coordinated belt the Phillies normally wore.

As far as that pillbox hat, I could not find a single baseball card from any year/manufacturer to feature that hat. The closest I could find was this cover of The Sporting News from 1976 featuring Larry Bowa.

At The Shlabotnik Report, "Joe" posted cards of Jimmy Nelson of the Brewers and Tyler Naquin of the Indians in their full retro unis. I paired Naquin up with a 1976 Topps card of Charlie Spikes, one of the great names in baseball. Other than the helmet which is sporting the current logo, The uniforms look very good.

I had a tougher time finding a 1976 card that showed this version of the Brewers away uniform.  The best I could do was this head and shoulders shot of Rick Austin looking very 1976 in his Brewers trucker cap and "Boogie Nights" mustache.