1965 Topps Indians Rookie Stars: George Culver, Tommie Agee

For the second post in a row we have rookie cards of players who would become Rookie Of the Year. Here is a 1965 Rookie Stars card that was ahead of its time. Although both went on to have solid MLB careers, neither played for the Indians in the 1965 season as projected on this card.

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George Culver didn't play in the big leagues at all in 1965. He finally got called up in September of 1966. At that point Topps gave him a do-over and included him on this 1967 Indians Rookie Stars card along with Jose Vidal. 

Culver played from 1966 until 1974 with the Indians, Reds, Cardinals, Astros, Dodgers and Phillies, After he was released by the Phillies he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japan Pacific League. He saw very little action there and made an unsuccessful attempted return to the MLB. Instead he spent over 30 years as a coach, manager and pitching coordinator in the Phillies and Dodgers organizations. 

His best year was 1968 with Cincinnati. He was used primarily as a starter and had career bests in most pitching categories, both good and not so good. He had highs in wins with 11 and strikeouts with 114. He also had career highs in losses with 16, walks with 84 and led the league in hit batsmen. On July 29th he no-hit the Phillies 6-1. He gave up the only unearned run when Dick Allen reached first and was granted second on a throwing error by future Hall of Famer, Tony Perez at third. Allen made third base on a ground out to first then scored on a sac fly by Cookie Rojas.

For his Card That Never Was, I could have gone in many different directions. First there was no card from 1966 but with two other rookie cards, I decided against a third. Other candidates for a remake were his 1968 card on the Reds and his 1970 card on the Cardinals. Both used the same hatless photo of him in an Indians uniform.

Instead I settled on remaking his 1973 Topps card to show him as a Dodger.  He began the 1973 season in L.A. and it is his only team not represented on cardboard. The Phillies picked him up off waivers in August of 1973 and he spent the rest of the season and began 1974 season there before being released in June. He had a 1973 card showing him in an Astros uniform and a 1974 card showing him as a Phillie.

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After playing in 31 MLB games for the Cleveland Indians from 1962-1964 Tommie Agee was given a spot on this 1965 Rookie Stars card. And in January of  1965 he was part of a three-team, eight-player deal that landed him on the White Sox. He played only 10 games for the Sox in 1965 and was given another Rookie Stars card in 1966 along with Marv Staehle.

 1966 would turn into a Rookie of the Year campaign for Agee. He hit .273 with 22 homers 86 RBIs and 44 stolen bases. He earned a Gold Glove and made his first All Star appearance in 1966. He got 80% of the Rookie of the Year votes and even received several MVP votes landing him eighth in the AL. 

I have made several Cards That Never Were of Agee for my other blog. He was included in my Rookie of the Year project so I made a solo 1966 Topps card of him which was then included on the 1975 cards I made that were in the same vein as the MVP cards Topps made.

He was also included on a couple of League Leader Cards That Never Were. Topps didn't begin including stolen base leader cards in their sets until 1973. But if they had he would have occupied the third spot in both 1967 and 1968. Oddly the stolen base top three leaders were identical in 1966 and 1967. Bert Campaneris, Don Buford and Tommie Agee took first, second and third respectively both years. 

Even though I've created several Tommie Agee Cards That Never Were already, There is one more that I thought needed to be made.  If you are a baseball card geek like me (and let's face it, if you read this far, you are) the you are familiar with this card:

It shows an Tommie Agee airbrushed into a Houston Astros uniform. It also shows Bud Harrelson and Rusty Staub similarly airbrushed.  Staub was famously not otherwise included in the 1973 Topps set (nor the 1972 set for that matter). That wrong was corrected by me on my other blog here. 

But this was not a bad looking card overall. However it might have been better as a 1972 Topps "In Action" card. So for a bonus Card that Never Was, I re-airbrushed them all back into Mets uniforms and created this 1972 Topps Tommie Agee In Action card.

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This was a first for me. I like this card because I like Tommy Agee. And even though 1966 was his Rookie of the Year season, this was his true rookie card. It falls a bit short of the "Binder Worthy" mark. Unfortunately, the next category I created was "Guilty Pleasure" and I don't feel guilty at all about liking this card. So I compromised and gave it a 6.5. 

1972 Topps Mets Rookie Stars: Buzz Capra, Leroy Stanton, Jon Matlack

 

The random number generator brings a card from one of my favorite sets. The 1972 set had an over-the-top 1970's vibe to it. It had great colors, great design and innovation  with the "In Action" and Traded cards. 1972 was the last time Topps would use team-based rookie stars until 1979. 

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A September call-up in 1971, Buzz Capra went 0-1 in 3 appearances and had an 8.44 ERA. That was enough to earn him a spot on this 1972 card. In 1972 and 1973 he split time between the Mets and their AAA team. In 1972 he was 3-2 with a 4.48 ERA with the big league club. In 1973 he was 2-7 with 4 saves and an ERA of 3.86. But Capra was with out a card in both the 1973 and 1974 sets.

In March of 1974 he was dealt to the Braves where he went on to have a career year.  He had a personal best 16-8 record and a League leading 2.28 ERA. He was selected to the All Star team but didn't see action. So for his Card That Never Was I gave him a 1974 Topps card of him on the Braves.  I toyed with making this a Traded card but since he technically was purchased not traded, I stuck with a regular issue card. 

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Although Leroy Stanton appears as a Met on this 1972 rookie card, he was actually included in the trade that sent Nolan Ryan to the Angels. Stanton, Ryan, Don Rose and Frank Estrada were dealt for six-time All Star shortstop Jim Fregosi. The Mets used him primarily as a third baseman because the shortstop position was already occupied by another All Star, Bud Harrelson. 

Fregosi never regained his All Star status and I forget whatever happened to Rose, Estrada and Nolan Ryan. But Stanton became the starting right fielder for the Angels from 1975-1975. He platooned in the outfield in 1976 when Bobby Bonds came to the Angels in a trade for Mickey Rivers.

In 1976 he was drafted by the expansion Seattle Mariners an in 1977 had a career season. He led the Marines in all three triple-crown categories with 27 homers, 90 RBIs and a .275 average. In 1978 he was used primarily as a DH and his numbers dropped significantly. He was released at the end of the season.

In 1979 he signed with the Hanshin Tigers and went back to playing the outfield. He hit a meager .225 for the Tigers and the following season found him in the Mexican League. He made one more attempt in 1981 to play for the Toronto Blue Jays but was cut before the start of the season.

For his Card That Never Was, I gave him a 1979 Topps style card of him on the Hanshin Tigers. There were no horizontal cards in that set, so I made the necessary modifications needed to fit the picture. I noticed a strange coincidence(?) when looking for a photo of Stanton, is that he is the 4th "gaijin" I noticed to wear #44 for the Tigers. I also came across photos of George Altman, Cecil Fielder and Randy Bass wearing that same number. 

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For Jon Matlack this card was his Rookie of the Year card but it was not his first Topps Rookie Stars card. He had previously appeared on this late series card from the 1971 set along with Rich Folkers and Ted Martinez. 

Matlack got his first big league start in the second game of a double header just before the All Star break. He pitched well, going seven innings and giving up two runs, both off the bat of Hall of Famer, Tony Perez. Perez got a solo homer in the 2nd to tie the game at 1-1. In the 7th he got an RBI single to put the Reds ahead 2-1. The Mets came back in the 8th with back to back RBI hits by Tommie Agee and Donn Clendenon. But Perez was not done. He hit a tree-run-homer off Tom Seaver, who made a rare relief appearance.

He ended up going 0-3 in six starts in the 1971 season. In 1972 he started out in the bullpen. After pitching six innings in relief, he was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA. Once earning a spot in the rotation he went 6-0 by the end of May with a 1.95 ERA. For the season he went 15-10 with a 2.32 ERA. He won the N.L. Rookie of the Year award getting 19 of the 24 votes. On my other blog I made cards of him as part of my Rookie of the Year series that paralleled Topps' 1975 MVP series.

Since he was also the 1975 Co-MVP of the All Star Game he was also a subject of my Horizontal Cards That Never Were. In this series I made horizontal action cards for Topps sets that didn't normally include horizontal cards. And the subject was always that year's All Star MVP.

 Up until I put these cards on the same page, I didn't realize that I had used the exact same photo for both cards. So for this blog, I took a  mulligan, and remade this Card That Never Was.

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This was an easy card to grade for me. I gave it a 7 for "Binder Worthy".  Because I collect Rookie of the Year cards, I literally have this card in a binder so this is the lowest grade I could possibly give it. All three players were solid major leagues and the fact that this technically not Jon Matlack's rookie card does not take anything away from it.

1960 Topps Carl Yastrzemski

In my last post, I mentioned the fickle nature of the random number generator. Two posts ago it was Hall of Famer Steve Carlton's rookie card. Last post was a pair of one-and-done Brewers. Now we are back with Yaz's rookie card.

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We all know Carl Yastrzemski's list of accomplishments are endless. 18 all star games, 7 gold gloves, AL MVP in 1967, All Star Game MVP in 1970, winner of the Triple Crown in 1967, first ballot Hall of Famer, etc. The only thing missing is a World Series ring.

And with that string of accomplishments, it's no wonder that I have several Cards That Never Were already from my other blog. The first is a 1970 Horizontal card in honor of his 1970 All Star Game MVP performance. The rest are 1971-1973 All Star Cards That Never Were. 

There is a reason why I created 2 versions of the 1973 All Star card. The solo card is the one I used for my running theme of All Star Cards That Never Were. I had used the coach-style 1973 earlier for starters and reserves once before and so by request, I added it to the fray.

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Dmitri Young sold a PSA 10 Yaz rookie card for $83,818 in 2012. A PSA 8 goes for around  a grand, and a PSA 2 was recently had for $30 plus shipping on eBay. This is one of the most sought after rookie cards from the '60s. Depending on its condition, it could be the elusive "college fund" card we all dream of finding in a box in our parents' attic. If a 1960 Carl Yastrzemski card doesn't merit a perfect 10 nothing will.

1973 Topps Rookie Outfielders: Gary Matthews, Tom Paciorek, Jorge Roque

The random number generator has graced us with another card featuring that season's Rookie of the Year. This time from 1973. That is the year when Topps returned to grouping the rookies by position instead of by team. They had done this on the earliest multiplayer rookie cards in 1962 and 1963. In 1979 Topps would once again return to grouping the players by team.

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The first player on this card is the 1973 NL Rookie of the Year, Gary Matthews. Over on my other blog, I had a running theme of making Rookie of the Year cards using the 1975 Topps MVP format. So Matthews already had a few Cards That Never Were. I created an individual 1973 Topps rookie card for him as well as one for Al Bumbry in order to fit the format below.

I also created a Card That Never Was from later in his career. This one is from strike shortened 1981 season. That year the Phillies won the divisional title in the first half of the season and the Expos won the second. The Phillies lost to the Expos 3 games to 2 in the first ever divisional series. Although Matthews had a Topps Traded card showing him on the Phillies in 1981, Donruss and Fleer still showed him in a Braves uniform.

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The second player on this card, Tom Paciorek, had appeared on a rookie card 2 years earlier. At the top of this post, I mentioned that 1973 is when Topps went back to grouping rookies by position . But here is a 1971 Topps rookie card grouped into a position. For most of the 1971 set Topps had grouped the rookies by team, but in the high number series there were a few that were either grouped by position or by league instead of by team. 

Paciorek, who would later play for the White Sox and eventually broadcast for the Southsiders, found himself on a rookie card with 2 players who would later manage the crosstown rivals. Both Dusty Baker and Don Baylor managed the Cubs. Baylor managed the Northsiders from 2000-2002, Baker was the Cubs skipper from 2003-2006.

Paciorek was a back up outfielder and firstbaseman most of his career. He bagan with the Dodgers in 1970, went to the Braves as part of a 6 player deal that included 1971 card-mate Dusty Baker. He was signed by Seattle in 1978 and in 1981 finally found a regular spot in the lineup for the Mariners.

In 1982 he was dealt to the White Sox and would be the regular first baseman, for a while anyway. He played a key part of the "Winning Ugly" team of 1983. He would later turn that into a broadcasting career with the Sox in 1988. Teamed up with Ken Harrelson in 1991, "Hawk and Wimpy" would be together until 1999. Afterward Paciorek announced games for the Tigers, Mariners, Braves and Nationals

In 1985 Paciorek was dealt to the Mets, In 1986 he was picked up by the Rangers where he finished his career in 1987. He has been well represented on cardboard throughout his career, even appearing on several traded/update cards. In fact in 1986 he had 2 Fleer cards and 2 Topps cards showing him on both the Mets and the Rangers. Donruss, however, left him out completely. So for his Card That Never Was, here is a 1986 Donruss card of him playing for the Mets.

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The third player on this card, Jorge Roque, also had an earlier rookie card.  In 1972 he appeared on a Cardinals Rookie Stars card along with Jim Bibby and Santiago Guzman. On the 1973 card you can see him with Montreal Expos colors airbrushed onto his St. Louis Cardinals cap. He began his MLB career in September of 1970 and he played parts of 1971 and 1972 with St, Louis.

Unable to hit his weight at the Major League level he was dealt to Montreal. In 1972 the Expos were fat with catching prospects and dealt veteran catcher Tim McCarver for the speedy centerfield prospect. Unfortunately, Roque's poor hitting continued north of the border and by May of 1973 the Expos were done with him. He continued to play in the Mexican League until 1979.

For his Card That Never Was, I decided to make a 1973 Topps Traded card featuring him along with Tim McCarver. Although McCarver played 77 games with the Expos in 1972, his 1972 Topps card shows him on the Phillies and by 1973 his card showed him on the Cardinals again. So this would have been the only Topps card to show McCarver representing the Expos.

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Given Matthews' Rookie of the Year performance and Paciorek's lengthy career both on the field and in the booth, I can forgive the airbrushed bust in the third slot and call this one "Binder Worthy".  I give it a slightly generous 7.

1968 Topps Tigers Rookie Stars: Tom Matchick, Daryl Patterson

For the second time in a row, the random number generator has presented us with a card that features a player who had another rookie card in the previous season.  And once again the earlier card was an error card.

In 1967 Tommy Matchick appeared this Topps Rookie Stars Card. Although his full name is John Thomas Matchick, he normally went by Tom or Tommy. Topps presented the rookie as John in 1967, but that is not the error. The error involves his card-mate George Korince. That is actually the photo of one James Murray Brown. James Brown was a career minor league pitcher in the Tigers system.

The error card was number 72 and in the first series. Topps actually caught their mistake and created a card featuring the real George Korince along with Pat Dobson on number 526 in the sixth series. They even copped to their previous mistake on the back of that card

Matchick himself was a utility infielder who spent portions of 6 seasons in the Majors playing for 5 different teams. In addition to the Tigers he played for the Red Sox, Royals, Brewers and Orioles. Matchick was a member of the 1968 World Series Champion Tigers team. During that season he had a walk-off homer and helped turn a triple play. Matchick was playing shortsop against the Orioles when Boog Powell smashed a line drive to Denny McLain who turned to Tommy who then threw to Norm Cash at first to double then triple off Curt Blefary and Frank Robinson. The Tigers went on to win that game 7-3

In addition to his rookie cards in 1967 and 1968, Matchick appeared on a 1969 Topps card with the Tigers, an 1970 card with the Red Sox, a 1971 card with the Royals, and a 1973  card with the Orioles. So for his Card That Never Was, here is the year and team that Topps skipped over, a 1972 card featuring him on the Brewers. 

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Daryl Patterson was a relief pitcher for the Tigers from 1967 to 1971. In '71 he was dealt to Oakland. The A's then sold him to the Cardinals who in turn returned him to the A's all in 1971. He made a return to the Big Leagues as a Pirate in 1974. He went 2-1 in 14 games for Pittsburgh. In a bench clearing brawl versus the Reds, Patterson was bitten in the neck by the "Dominican Dracula", Pedro Borbon.  The melee started in the 4th inning when Reds pitcher, Jack Billingham beaned Pirates pitcher Bruce Kison. Oddly, Borbon was not ejected and even came in to pitch the 9th inning for the Reds while Patterson went to get a tetanus shot.

For his Card That Never Was I made this 1974 Topps card for his comeback attempt with the Pirates. I like this picture of Patterson, and not just because it was taken in Wrigley Field. It's the billboard of that sweet 1974 AMC Matador in the background. 

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This card feature a utility infielder and relief pitcher who both played minor roles in a championship season for the Tigers. Both had mostly unremarkable MLB careers after gaining their World Series rings. But it remains a must have card for collectors of the 1968 Tigers so I am going to rate it a 4, "Set Filler".

1967 Topps Yankees Rookie Stars: Stan Bahnsen, Bobby Murcer

It had to happen sooner or later. Finally a rookie card with 2 actual stars on it. Oddly, neither of these "1967 Rookie Stars" played a single out in the Major Leagues in 1967, but for different reasons. Additionally, each player appeared separately on another Rookie Stars card.

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 For Stan Bahnsen, it was his first Topps Rookie Stars card.  In 1966 he had a 10-7 record with 151 strikeouts in 170 innings for the Toledo Mud Hens. That was good enough to earn him a September call-up. In his first outing he pitched 2 innings in relief and earned the save. In his next outing he got the start and the complete game win. Despite the fast start, he would spend the entire 1967 season back in the minors.

He would appear on another rookie stars card (using the exact same picture) again in 1968 along with catcher Frank Fernandez. In 1968 he went 17-10 and won the AL Rookie of the Year award. He would go in to pitch in 16 MLB seasons with the Yankees, White Sox, A's, Expos, Angels and Phillies.

I had already created 3 Cards That Never Were for Bahnsen on my other blog. You can see them here, here and here. One of my running themes was to create a Rookie if the Year card similar to the 1975 MVP cards. That usually required me to create an individual rookie card for the players. I would usually follow up with a Card That Never Was from later in their career. For Bahnsen, this was exactly the case. I created a solo card for him from 1968. 

I then paired it with a solo card I created for the NL Rookie of the Year, Johnny Bench in a 1975 ROY card.

I created this 1982 Topps card of him on his final MLB team, the Philadelphia Phillies. Bahnsen pitched in only 13.1 innings for the Phillies, all in relief and never factored in a decision.

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The other rookie on this card, Bobby Murcer also appeared on Topps Rookie Stars cards in 2 consecutive years. For Murcer the 1967 was his second. He originally appeared on this 1966 Topps card with Dooley Womack. Murcer was a teenage bonus baby signed by the same scout that recruited fellow Oklahoman, Mickey Mantle. He was called up in lat 1965 and appeared to be the Yankees future shortstop with Tony Kubek retiring at the end of the 1965 season. Instead he spent most of 1966 in the minors. 

In 1967 and 1968 Murcer reported for duty in the US Army. He miss both seasons in their entirety. When he returned in 1969, the Yankees made him an outfielder, drawing more comparisons to Mantle. Murcer thrived in the outfield, earning All Star appearances from 1971-1975 and winning a Gold Glove in 1972. After the 1974 season he was traded to San Francisco for Bobby Bonds. He spent 2 seasons with the Giants before being traded to the Cubs for the reigning batting champion Bill Madlock. In 1979 he returned to the Yankees where he retired in 1983. 

Like Bahnsen, Murcer was part of an ongoing them on my other blog and I already had Cards That Never Were made for him here and here. These were both All Star cards from the years when Topps didn't include them in the set. 

Here is one from the 1972 All Star Cards That Never Were. He shared centerfield (and this card) with the immortal Willie Mays in the 1971 All Star Game.

This one is from the 1973 Topps All Star Cards That Never Were.  In 1972 Murcer made his 2nd of 4 consecutive All Star starts.

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Despite the fact that neither of these "1967 Rookie Stars" played at all during the 1967 season and they both appeared on other rookie cards, I have to give this card a 7. It is certainly Binder Worthy.