1965 Topps Cardinals Rookie Stars: Fritz Ackley, Steve Carlton

It's been nearly 5 months since the random number generator has given us a genuine Hall of Famer. But here we are again with "Lefty" himself and some other guy.

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That other guy was Fritz Ackley who rocked a uni-brow that rivaled Wally Moon's forehead bush. Although this is without a doubt Ackley's most famous card, it is not his first rookie card. The man with one eyebrow also appeared on a 1964 White Sox Rookie Stars card with Don Buford.  Fritz pitched less than 20 innings over the 1963 and 1964 season with the White Sox before being picked up by the Cardinals. In 1965 he played the entire season for the Jacksonville Suns, never actually logging any time for St. Louis. In all, Ackley played 13 seasons of pro-ball, compiling a 95-94 record in the minors and a 1-0 MLB record.

He already had rookie cards in the 1964 and 1965 sets but never played past the 1964 season. So I decided to give him a Card That Never Was for the season in which he made his MLB debut, 1963. A few posts back I said that I would try to make team rookie cards for the years in which the rookie cards were by position (1962,1963 and 1973-1978). 

So here is my version of a 1963 Rookie Stars card. I paired him up with Dick Kenworthy. Kenworthy was a  September call up for the Sox in 1962. He played a total of 125 MLB games all for the White Sox over parts of 6 seasons. Yet his only card is a 1968 Topps card of him on the Mets. He had been conditionally sold to the Mets in October of 1967, then returned prior to the start of the 1968 season.

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Steve Carlton's first major league appearance was against the Cubs on opening day 1965. He came in in the bottom of the 11th inning. The game was tied 10-10 with one out, He faced left fielder George Altman and walked him. He was replaced by Bob Purkey, who retired the side and the game ended in a tie.  That's right, the game was called due to darkness. Remember this was Wrigley Field a full 23 years before lights were installed. But still a full 17 years after the latest hold-out for night games, the Detroit Tigers installed lights. 

It's not surprising that on my other blog, I already have a couple Steve Carlton Cards That Never Were. The first is from a group of cards I made using the Fleers football card format. I had decided to use Cy Young Award winners as my subjects. So this is a 1977 Fleer card of Carlton. Carlton won his second of four Cy Youngs in 1977. The others were in 1972, 1980 and 1982.

The other card is from the 1973 All Star Cards That Never Were. Carlton was a ten time All Star, starting in 1969 and 1979. In 1972 he pitched a scoreless and hitless 6th inning. He gave up a leadoff walk to Rod Carew. After that Carew was doubled up on a grounder by Bobby Murcer. Reggie Jackson grounded out to second to end the inning. While Carlton was not the starting pitcher, he was the Phillies sole All Star representative in 1972.

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While I don't think this will contribute much to the college fund, It is a valuable card. A PSA graded 10 from Dimitri Young's collection fetched $12,756.00 in auction.  On the other hand a Beckett graded 4.5 is selling right now on COMC.com for $85. Most graded cards are in the $150-$250 range.

But the only grade that counts here is mine. I give it a solid 9. Go ahead and spring for the grading service. Wrap this baby in a hermetically sealed, UV protected slab for future generations to look at. But not touch.

1961 Topps Ron Perranoski

Ron Perranoski was one of the top relievers of his era. Most of it was before the save was recognized as an official stat. The only start of his career came in his rookie season. He pitched the first four innings of a 10 inning 12-11 win over the Pirates. He gave up three runs before being pinch hit for by Frank Howard.  Over the next five innings, Roger Craig, Turk Farrell and Jim Golden combined to give up 8 runs.  In the 10th Johnny Podres pitched a scoreless frame and got the win on a John Roseboro walk-off RBI triple. So in the famous closer's only start, the final inning was pitched by an All Star starter.

If you follow my other blog, you have seen that I have a few Cards That Never Were featuring Ron Perranoski already. He has been a repeat subject on my Leaders series. Perranoski made an appearance on the 1963 and 1964 cards and was awarded the Sporting News Fireman of the Year in 1969 and 1970 giving him top billing on the 1970 and 1971 AL Leading Firemen cards.

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This is the rookie card of one of the top relievers of his era. He was never selected to the All Star game but received MVP votes in 1962, 1969 and 1970. In 1970 he also received Cy Young votes. I would consider this card "Binder Worthy". I give it a solid 7.

1965 Topps Phillies Rookie Stars: Dave Bennett, Morrie Steevens

The first rookie card of the new year is from 1965 thanks to the random number generator. This card features two rookie pitcher for the Phillies. For Dave Bennett, this isn't his first rookie card. Topps recycled the same photo from his 1964 rookie card with Rick Wise, shown to the right. The 1964 card features one of my all-time favorite errors on the back. In Bennett's bio, Topps writes "The nineteen-year-old righthanded curveballer is just 18 years old!"  Classic.

Although Bennett would have a long minor league career, he was literally one and done in the majors. Just to clarify, at the time of his 1964 rookie card and his one-and-only MLB appearance, he was actually 18 years old. He came into the ninth inning of a game started by his older brother Dennis Bennett. The game was a 11-3 rout at the hands of the New York Mets. In all, the Phillies put 7 different pitchers on the mound including Bennett's 1964 rookie card-mate, Rick Wise. Bennett gave up one run on a wild pitch to Roy McMillan.

Normally two rookie cards are more than enough for a player who has only one MLB inning. But that's just not how I roll. So here is a 1964 Topps Giant Card That Never Was for Dennis Bennett's kid brother.

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Morrie Steevens (not a typo) made his MLB debut in 1962 with the Cubs. The year of  this rookie card (his only baseball card), 1965, was also the year he made his final MLB appearance. Like his card-mate Bennett, Steevens had a long minor-league career but saw limited MLB action. He was 0-2 in just over 20 innings of play. He was, however, 86-80 as a minor leaguer from 1958-1967.  For his Card That Never Was, I made this 1962 Topps individual rookie card from his first MLB season.

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Not much redeeming value to this card. The 2 pitchers on this card pitched a total of 3.2 innings in 1964. Dave Bennett didn't pitch at all in 1965 and Morrie Steevens pitch 2.2 innings. Really the only thing keeping it out of my bicycle spokes is Bennett's comical bio. And that isn't even on this card. It's on his 1964 rookie card. Topps couldn't even find a new picture of him for the 1965 card. I give it a 2, good for flipping.

1964 Topps Reds Rookie Stars: Sammy Ellis, Mel Queen

This 1964 Rookie Stars card was not Sammy Ellis's first card. He was signed as a free agent in 1961 by the Reds and made his first MLB start in early 1962.  After a shaky start he was sent down to the minors only to be called up again that September. With a 2-2 record, Topps included him in the 1963 set. He shared a card with Reds catcher Jesse Gonder and Phillies Pitchers Ray Culp and John Boozer. As luck would have it, he then spent the entire 1963 season in the minors.

When he returned to the Reds in 1964 he went 10-3 with 14 saves and even got a few MVP votes. In 1965 he was selected to the All Star team and went 22-10 for the season. In the 1966 and 1967 seasons he led the NL in earned runs. In 1968 he was dealt to the Angels, then in 1969 to the White Sox where his big league journey ended.

Despite only 7 Major League seasons, Ellis was well represented on cardboard. In addition to his 2 rookie cards, he had cards on the Reds in 1965-67 then on the Angels in 1968 and '69. For his Card That Never Was I made a 1970 Topps card with him on his final team, the Chicago White Sox.

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Mel Queen began his Major League career in 1964 as an outfielder for the Reds. His Father was a pitcher for the Yankees and Pirates from 1942-1952. After struggling to get playing time on the big league roster and spending most of the 1965 season in the minors, he converted to pitching. In 1966 he played 32 games in the outfield and pitched 7 innings, all in relief. His 1967 Topps card had his position listed as Pitcher/Outfielder.

By 1967 he was a full time pitcher. He went 14-8 with a 2.76 ERA.  In 1968 his shoulder injury limited his playing time and in 1969 he spent most of the season in the minors. After the 1969 season he was bought by the California Angels and operated mainly out of the bullpen. He would still get the opportunity to pinch hit every now and then, even after being dealt to the Angels.In all Queen spent parts of 9 seasons in the Majors, compiling a 3.14 ERA and a .179 batting average. 

After his playing days were over, Queen worked as a pitching coach in several different organization, both major and minor. He even served as interim manager of the Blue Jay for the final 5 games of the 1997 season after Cito Gaston was fired . 

I noticed a couple of gaps when looking at Mel Queen's baseball cards. He had Topps cards from 1964-1972 but was missing in the 1965 and 1970 sets. For his Card That Never Was, I made this 1970 Topps card showing him in his first season in California.

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I rate this card a solid 4. Set filler. Even though it was his second rookie card, Ellis had a good year on the mound in 1964. And while Queen's year was not as good, it was interesting to see him listed as an outfielder even though he spent most of his career pitching and even went on to be a pitching coach.

1963 Topps Rookie Stars: Rogelio Alvarez, Dave Roberts, Bob Saverine, Tommy Harper

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In 1963, Rogelio Alvarez was a recent acquisition of the Washington Senators and was expected to be the everyday first baseman. Unfortunately, Alvarez had returned to his home in Cuba during the off season. With tensions between the US and Cuba at their peak, Alvarez was unable to obtain an exit visa from Cuba, A process that had begun in February, took until May when a plea was made directly to Fidel Castro. During that time the Senators sent Alvarez transportation funds 3 different times which somehow "disappeared" in Cuba. The Senators, having traded away their 1962 first baseman Harry Bright for the rookie prospect, traded for Tigers back up first bagger, Bobo Osborne. 

Rogelio Alvarez finally made it to the US in mid-May. Although he was expected to be the everyday first baseman for the Senators, he was returned to the Reds organization. He played until 1973 in the minors never making it back up to the big leagues.

Alvarez is often cited as the fist Cuban defector in baseball but his only trips to the big leagues came before his "defection". In honor of his first call up in 1960, I created this 1960 Topps Card That Never Was.

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When this card was made, Dave Roberts was already a 10 year minor league veteran. In 1962 he hit .322 with 15 homers for the AAA Oklahoma City 89ers. He also hit .245 for the Colts in 16 games as a September call-up. He played his entire 1963 season back down in the minors before getting another chance with the Colts in 1964 then again with the Pirates in 1966. He finally achieved success in Japan. He averaged .275 from 1967-1973. He hit 40 homers in 1968 and over 20 homers 5 of his 7 seasons there. He retired at the age of 40.

His only Topps cards were this rookie card and a 1966 card of him on the Pirates. For his Card That Never Was, I created this 1964 card for him. It was the only season that he spent the majority in the Majors.

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Bob Saverine made his MLB debut as a pinch runner in 1959. He scored the only run for the Orioles in a 6-1 loss to the White Sox. He was the youngest player in the AL that season at 18 years old and he wouldn't be called up again until 1962. After playing for the O's from 1962-1964 he was dealt to Houston for Don Larsen. He spent the entire 1965 season in the minors and was picked up by the Senators in 1966 rule 5 draft. He saw most of his action in Washington in 1966 and 1967 as a utility man. 

In 1966 he went 0-12 in a double header against his former teammates as the Senators lost 2 close ones to the Orioles. Losing 5-6 in 14 innings in game 1 then losing 7-8 in game 2. For his Card That Never Was, I made a 1965 traded card of Bob and Don Larsen. This is actually a design that I've been playing around with for a while and I wanted an excuse to use it.

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Tommy Harper was a well traveled MLB player. He came up with Cincinnati in 1962. Then trough trades, expansion drafts, franchise relocations, purchases and free agency move, landed in Cleveland, Seattle, Milwaukee, Boston, California, Oakland and Baltimore. He was the first batter ever for both the Pilots and the Brewers. He was the Brewers first representative in an All Star game.  He led the AL in stolen bases for the Pilots in 1969 and the Red Sox in 1973.

I had already created 2 Cards That Never Were for my other blog here and here, The first is an All Star card commemorating his appearance in the 1970 All Star game as a pinch runner.

The second is also a Card That Never Was from 1970. This one is a stolen base leaders card. Topps didn't make leader cards for stolen bases until 1973.

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Since my friend Warren said I'm a tough grader, I'm gonna go a little easier on this one. Tommy Harper alone makes this card worth it for me. But he is the only legit All Star on the card. The card does include Rogelio Alvaraz, the first MLB player to defect from Cuba and who's career was derailed due to political unrest. It also includes Dave L. Roberts who never made it in the US but was a star in Japan. This might be a swing too far in the other direction, but I'd put it in my binder. I give it a 7 - Binder Worthy.

1962 Topps Rookie Parade Infielders: Bernie Allen, Rich Rollins, Phil Linz, Joe Pepitone

The random number generator was kind to us this time. This card is from Topps' first series that included multi-player rookie cards. Not only that but it included some genuine All Stars. It also featured 2 players each from just 2 teams, the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees. 

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Bernie Allen finished 3rd in the Rookie of the year voting in 1962 behind Tom Tresh and Buck Rodgers. He was also voted to the 1962 Topps Rookie All-Star Team, which meant that his sophomore card would get that cool trophy thing on it. After the end of the 1966 season the Twins would trade Allen to the Senators for closer Ron Kline. This would open up second base for a young rookie named Rod Carew.

After 5 seasons in Washington, Allen was traded to the Yankees. He was a utility infielder in New York in 1972 and most of 1973. In August 1973 he was purchased by the Expos. His final Topps card was in 1973. For his Card That Never Was, I created a 1974 Topps career-capper depicting him on his final team.

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As I said earlier, this card included some genuine All Stars. Rich Rollins was the starting third baseman in the 1962 All Star game. He would play for the Twins until 1969 when the Pilots chose him in the expansion draft. In Seattle he was relegated to back up third baseman. Although he would follow the team to Milwaukee, he was cut early in the 1970 season. He was signed by the Indians and would finish the season and his career in Cleveland.

Rollins is another player for whom I had already made a Card That Never Was on my other blog. This one is from the 1963 Topps All Star series that never was:

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Phil Linz is probably best known not for his baseball playing but his harmonica playing. For those of you that haven't read about "The Harmonica Incident" by reading "Ball Four" or many other accounts, I'll give a brief recap. 

While in Chicago a few players bought harmonicas. Linz while on the bus to O'Hare airport, opened his and started practicing. Using the pamphlet that came with the harmonica, he began playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Manager Yogi Berra yelled "Shove that harmonica up your ass!"  Linz, unable to hear above his own playing asked Mickey Mantle what Yogi said. Mantle replied "Play it louder."  Berra came at him, swatted the harmonica away, and hit Joe Pepitone in the knee.

Several sports journalists saw it as a sign that Yogi had lost control of the team. This despite all evidence to the contrary. Leading up to "the incident", the Yanks had just been swept in a 4 game series by the White Sox and were 4.5 games back in the A.L. They would go on a 40-13 run for the remainder of the season and win the pennant. Nonetheless, Yogi was fired after losing the World Series in 7 games.

Linz was traded traded to the Phillies after the 1965 season. He would finish his career in a Mets uniform at the end of the 1968 season. He only appeared as a Met on the 1968 Topps card that showed him in Yankee pinstripes and no cap. So here he is in all his Mets glory on a 1969 Topps Card That Never Was:

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Joe Pepitone played in 3 All Star Games from 1963-1965. He was the AL's starting first baseman in 1963. He was also a 3 time Gold Glove winner. He spent 8 years on the Yankees before being traded to the Astros after the 1969 season for former Rookie of the Year, Curt Blefary.  Midway through the 1970 season he was purchased by the Cubs. He would play on the North Side until early in the 1973 season, when he was traded to the Braves for Andre Thornton. Atlanta released him just one month later. Pepitone went to Japan to finish the 1973 season. He played for the Yakult Atoms but in 49 plate appearances failed to hit his weight.

Once again, I had already created a Card That Never Was for Joe Pepitone on my other blog. This one was part of another All Star series that never was. Here is a 1964 Topps All Star Card That Never Was to commemorate Pepitone's only ASG start in 1963:

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This card has the regional appeal of having 2 each player from both the Twins and the Yankees. In addition, there are genuine All Stars on this card, and all of the players had solid Major League careers. Even if it wasn't a high-number card from the 1962 set, I would still deem it "Binder Worthy", I give it a 7.

1964 Topps Colts Rookie Stars: Steve Hertz, Joe Hoerner

Steve Hertz was signed as an 18 year old by the Houston Colt .45s in 1963. He labored in the farm system from 1964-1969 but did come up for cup of coffee with the Colts in early 1964. Hertz remain involved with the sport well after his playing days were over. He managed at the high school level then junior college level in Miami amassing 778 JUCO victories. He even coached the Tel Aviv Lightning in the Israel Baseball League.

Impressive as all that is, the thing that fascinated me while researching Steve Hertz is that he had only 4 plate appearances in 5 games. He had 3 strikeouts, no hits, no walks, was not hit by a pitch, never stole a base, yet he scored twice. His first run came against the Cubs. He popped up to Lou Brock in left field. When Brock dropped the ball Hertz ended up on 2nd base. He scored on another error. Ernie Banks mishandled a Rusty Staub grounder to first base. His second run came as a pinch-runner against the Phillies. He filled in after Al Spangler drew a base on balls. A passed ball, 2 walks and a single later, Hertz was crossing the plate for the second and last time in his short career.

Year   Age  Tm Lg G PA AB R H RBI SB BB SO   BA HBP IBB
1964    19 HOU NL 5  4  4 2 0   0  0  0  3 .000   0   0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/8/2015

Although his MLB career was anything but giant, I created this 1964 Topps Giant Card That Never Was to honor a player with some of the strangest MLB stats I have come across.

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Joe Hoerner was originally signed by the White Sox in 1957 before being taken by the Colts in the 1961 minor league draft. He remained primarily a minor league pitcher with the exception of 1 game in 1963 and 7 in 1964 for Houston. The Cardinals picked him up via the Rule 5 Draft in 1966. He immediately assumed the role of closer, finishing 39 games and  earning 13 saves. He would help the Cardinals to the World Championship in 1967. In 1968 he would have his best year going 8-2 with a 1.47 ERA. He would also have 17 save, the 2nd most in the NL.

He was traded to the Phillies after the 1969 season as part of the infamous Curt Flood for Dick Allen trade in which Flood refused to report which ultimately led to free agency. He was the Phillies sole representative at the 1970 All Star game but never left the bull-pen. He continued pitching through the 1977 season with the Phillies, Braves, Royals, Rangers and Reds. He would finish his career with a record of 39-34 with 98 saves and an ERA of 2.99.

For his Card That Never Was I am going to re-use a 1969 Topps League Leader card I made for Cards That Never Were in recognition of his statistically best MLB season.

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As usual, I found the stories behind these players more interesting than the card itself. But for that same reason I have to give it a 4 "Set Filler".