1980 Topps Expos Future Stars: Bernazard, Miller, Tamargo

Not a lot of household names on this rookie card. One player hadn't played at the big league level since 1978, Another would play his last MLB game in 1980, the year this rookie card was issued.

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Tony Bernazard was the only player on this card to play past the 1980 season. Primarily a second baseman, he played back-up second and short for the 1980 Expos. He became an everyday second baseman in 1981 when he was dealt to the White Sox. In the middle of their "Winning Ugly" season the Sox traded him straight up to the Mariners for another switch-hitting second baseman, Julio Cruz. 

After the '83 season, Seattle send Bernazard to the Indians where he played until 1987 when he was traded to Oakland. When the A's released him after the '87 season, he went to Osaka, Japan. He played for Nankai Hawks in 1988. In 1989 they moved to Fukuoka and became the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. Bernazard played there for the 1989 and 1990 seasons. In 1991 he had a short-lived MLB comeback with the Detroit Tigers before retiring.

For his Card That Never Was, I made this 1990 Topps style card of him on he Hawks. In case you can't make out that bad-ass helmet he is wearing. I included a close up of that beast.

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Randy Miller had been designated to the Minors after two brief call ups in 1977 and 1978. In 1977, with the Orioles he played a total of two thirds of an inning and gave up four runs, three of them earned on four hits. That gave him a 40.50 ERA. In 1978 with the Expos he worked seven innings surrendering eight earned runs. That dropped his career ERA down to a better but still brutal 12.91.

Since he was already out of the Majors by the time the 1980 rookie card was printed, I gave him a card for his 1978 season. I took the opportunity to recreate the 1978 rookie cards. Some collectors don't like the multi-team rookie cards and prefer the team-based rookie cards. So I made this 1978 Expos Rookie Stars Card That Never Was.  I went with the stacked look that Topps used in 1964, 1970 and 1971. I added a little color to make it fit into the 1978 style.  I teamed Miller up with another 1978 rookie from Montreal. Scott Sanderson went onto play 19 seasons in the bigs. In addition to the Expos, he played with the Cubs. A's, Yankees, Angels and White Sox. He was on the 1991 All Star team but didn't see any action.

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By the time John Tamargo appeared on the 1980 rookie card he had seen action in four MLB seasons on three teams. He played for the Cardinals in parts of the 1976, 77 and 78 seasons. In 1978 he was traded to the Giants where he saw action in the 1978 and 79 seasons and was included on this 1979 Giants Rookie Prospects card.

In 1979 he was traded to one of the toughest places for a back-up catcher to see action, Montreal. He played a total of 16 games in 1979 and '80 behind Hall of Fame catcher, Gary Carter. He was released in the spring of 1981. For his Card That Never Was, I gave him a solo card from the 1978 season showing him in his Cardinals uniform.

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By the time this card was issued, two of the three players had most if not all of their short MLB careers in the rear view mirror. Only Tony Bernazard still had a career after 1980. While he had several season as a regular in the starting line up, it was an unremarkable career. No awards or accolades, just a steady career that ended in Japan. I give it a 2.

1978 Topps Rookie Outfielders: Dell Alston, Rick Bosetti, Mike Easler, Keith Smith

For the 34th installment of Rating the Rookies, the random number generator has given us the first card from the 1978 set. That means now I have graded at least one rookie card each year from 1959-1980.  And this one brought several challenges for me in the Cards That Never Were department. As a result there are some kinda unique cards.

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Dell Alston made his debut for the Yankees in May of 1977. He saw action in just 22 games that season but batted .325. In 1978 he was traded mid season to the A's and batted a meager .205.  Topps still included him in the 1979 set wearing the A's colors despite being dropped by the A's before the start of the 1979 season.

 He was signed weeks later by the Indians and spent the 1979 and 1980 seasons with Cleveland. He hit .290 and .222 respectively, splitting time in the minors. He was released by the Indians prior to the 1981 season. He played 1981 and 82 in the Mexican League. Topps made a card for Alston in 1980 showing him on the the Indians. In 1981 he was included in Donruss's debut set but was left out of the Topps and Fleer sets. For his Card That Never Was, I decided to make a 1981 Topps card.



This presented the first of my many challenges.  I could not find a good photo of him in an Indians uniform. So this is actually a heavily photo-shopped card of him in an A's uniform. Here is the original photo.

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Despite being depicted as a Cardinal on the 1978 rookie card, Rick Bosetti was dealt to the Blue Jays before the start of the 1978 season. He played for Toronto until June of 1981 when he was purchased by the A's. He was cut by Oakland after the 1982 season at which point he returned to his hometown of Redding, California and served as Mayor for three years.

He was well represented on cardboard by all the major card companies. He had Topps cards from 1978-82 including a 1981 Topps Traded card showing him on the A's. He also had Donruss and Fleer cards in 1981 and 82.  Although his rookie card shows him with St. Louis, his MLB career actually started for the Phillies in 1976. That is why for his Card That Never Was, I made this 1977 Rookie Stars card.

A few posts back, I got a comment from a team-collector who expressed his dislike of the position specific, multi-team rookie cards that Topps put out from 1973-1978 (and 1962-1963). With few exceptions, all other years had team specific "Rookie Stars" cards. It made me wonder what cards might have looked like during that time if  Topps had continued that practice. So look for me to create similar "Rookie Stars" Cards That Never Were in the future.

On this card I teamed Bosetti up with Warren Brusstar. Brusstar made his debut in May of 1977 with the Phillies. He went on to have a solid 9 year career as a reliever for the Phillies, White Sox, and Cubs. He had an overall record of  28-16 with 14 saves and a 3.51 ERA. His first card was a solo 1978 Topps card so he fit nicely into this 1977 rookie card.

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By the time Mike Easler made his cardboard debut as a Pirate in 1978, he had already played in parts of  5 MLB seasons. He played 26 games for the Astros spread over the 1973, 74 and 75 seasons. He played 21 games in an Angels uniform in 1976 and 10 in a Pirates uniform in 1977. In the year of this, his rookie card, he didn't play a single inning. He returned to the Pirates in 1979 and represented Pittsburgh in the 1981 All Star game.

In all, the "Hit Man" played parts of 14 MLB seasons from 1973-1987. In addition to missing his first 5 years Topps also passed on making a 1979 card for Easler. This is understandable as he spent all of 1978 playing minor league ball. So in creating a Card That Never Was, there were several options. Over at When Topps Had (Base) Balls, Gio created this nice 1977 pre-rookie Card That Never Was of him on the Angels.

Instead I opted for a post MLB card. After being release by the Yankees following the 1987 season, Easler played 2 years in Japan for the Nippon-Ham Fighters. He hit .302 with 19 homers for the Fighters in 1988. In 1989 his playing time was cut in half and he hit only 7 dingers but maintained a solid .296 average. 

After that season he headed back to the states to play in the senior circuit. Make that the Senior-Citizen Circuit. He played on the West Palm Beach Tropics in the ill-fated Senior Professional Baseball Association. The SPBA drew less than 1000 on average to their games which were all played in Florida during the winter. Here is his 1989 SPBA card from Topps.

Since there already were several Senior League cards of him, I went with this 1989 Fleer card depicting Easler on the Fighters. I chose 1989 because he had 1988 cards by Topps, Fleer and Score showing him with the Yankees. I chose Fleer because trying to duplicate the Topps Script design on the 1989 cards was too daunting. Upper deck was also an option because it had a nice layout which included a place to incorporate the team logo. But since they were known for their high quality photos and I was working with a picture less so, I went with Fleer.  I could still include the quirky little Fighters logo (I still don't know what the heck that thing is.)  **********************************************************

Keith Smith made his MLB debut for the Rangers on August 2nd 1977. He played a total of 23 games for Texas in 1977. Like his card-mate Easler, he spent the entire 1978 season in the minors. He was traded to the Cardinals before the start of the 1979 season. He played 30 games for St. Louis over 1979 and 80. He had a total of 7 hits for the Cards those years.

As far as Topps was concerned, Smith was one and done. Oddly both of the new card companies chose to include him in their 1981 sets. So just to sum this up. Keith Smith played in parts of 3 seasons, 1977, 1979 and 1980. He had 3 cards, all of which were issued in seasons he never played an inning in the majors. One in 1978 and two in 1981.

For his Card That Never Was, I went North of the border.  Once again, I was unable to find a suitable picture of him in the uniform I wanted. In this case a Cardinals uniform.  Instead, I opted for the typical 1979 O Pee Chee card in which the player appears in the former team's uniform but on his current team's card. OPC also had a habit of noting the trade info right onto the picture. I always thought these made for interesting cards. I never decided if it was interesting in a good way or not. I feel the same way about the typical Topps airbrush habit. Interesting.

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Two of the four players on this card didn't even play in 1978. Another was playing for a different team than what was depicted on the card. Easler and Bosetti achieved some success in the Majors but Smith and Alston were career minor leaguers. Overall the best grade I could give this one is a 2. That is enough to save it from the spokes but not good enough to save it from being flipped.

1979 Topps Royals Prospects: Randy Bass, Jim Gaudet, Randy McGilberry

The random number generator has given us our first rookie card from the 1979 set. This is a particularly ugly sub-set. I'm not sure why Topps opted for the greyscale photos but I am thankful it was for one season only. 1979 also marked the return to team-oriented multi-player rookie cards. From 1973-1978 rookies were generally grouped by position instead of team.

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Randy Bass hit 22 homers for the Royals' AAA team in Omaha during the 1978 season.  But he was purchased by the Expos before the start of the 1979 season. He spent most of the 1979 season in Denver hitting 36 dingers for Montreal's AAA team. His MLB career is mostly forgettable but his fortune would change when he moved to Japan in 1983. In his first year with the Hanshin Tigers he hit 35 homeruns and in 1985 he slugged an incredible 54 round-trippers just one shy of Sadaharu Oh's single season record.

Although Bass hit a meager  .212 in his 130 MLB games he batted .337 during his 6 seasons in Japan. For his Card That Never Was, I created this 1985 Topps-style card of Bass on the Hanshin Tigers. In 1985 Randy Bass was the Japanese Triple Crown winner and the Central League MVP.

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Jim Gaudet is the only one of the three players featured on this card to actually play for the Royals in 1979. Gaudet played a total of  6 MLB games, all for the Royals. He played 3 each in 1978 and 1979 both times as a September call-up. In 1979 he got his one and only MLB hit. It was a 9th inning single off of Rich Gossage in Yankee Stadium. Although he was stranded on base the Royals won 9-8.

For his Card That Never Was, I gave him a solo card from 1978, the year of his only other MLB appearance.

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Randy McGilberry's short MLB career began as a September call-up in 1977. In his final game of 1977, McGilberry was called upon in the 14th inning of a 2-2 game against the A's. Ths was the first game of a double-header. After escaping the 14th unscathed he gave up a walk-off homer with 2 outs in the 15th. His next MLB appearance would be in Game 2 of another double-header against the A's but this time it was in July of 1978.

 In all, he pitched 32.2 innings for the Royals in 1977 and 1978.  Although he pitched more in 1978 than 1977, I went with the 1977 Topps set for his Card That Never Was because I had just used the 1978 format for Gaudet.

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In 1979 the Royals were coming off their 3rd consecutive Western Division Championship and 3rd consecutive AL Pennant loss to the Yankees.  This was a veteran team with a veteran rotation. So it comes as no surprise that none of these "prospects" made an impact. Bass and McGilberry didn't even play on the Royals in 1979 and Gaudet played in just 3 games.

This card might only appeal to fans of Japanese Baseball as it features Randy Bass as a rookie. Other than that, it doesn't carry much value. My suggestion is to put it in a box. I give it a generous 3.

1975 Topps Rookie Catchers-Outfielders: Gary Carter, Marc Hill, Danny Meyer, Leon Roberts

For the 25th post on this blog, the random number generator has finally brought us a genuine Hall of Fame rookie card. It is also this blog's first rookie card from the 1975 set. It has a somewhat odd combination of 2 catchers and 2 outfielders. I think that adds to its uniqueness and makes for a nice long post. 

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Although Gary Carter is depicted on this card as a catcher, "The Kid" was used primarily as an outfielder by the Expos in 1975. Barry Foote was the Expos everyday catcher, but Carter's .270 batting average and 17 homers was too much to prevent Montreal from playing him on a daily basis. He was even selected to the All Star roster in 1975 and played 1 inning in defense. Not behind the plate but in left field. That is why when I made this 1975 Hostess Card That Never Was for my other blog, I chose to list him as an outfielder.

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Here Marc Hill is depicted in a typical Topps airbrushed Giants cap. He had actually made brief appearances in 1973 and 1974 for the St. Louis Cardinals before being traded to the Giants for Ken Rudolph and Elias Sosa. Over on one of my favorite blogs, Johngy's Beat, John created a nice individual 1975 Topps card of Marc Hill on the Cardinals. I've included that over to the right.

Hill had a long career mainly as a back-up catcher. He did have 2 years in which he played the majority of games behind the plate for the Giants in 1977 and 1978. But for the rest of his 14 big league seasons, he played a supporting role. And Topps has had a card for him every year from 1975-1986. Fleer and Donruss were spotty at best. For his Card That Never Was, I chose to make the missing Fleer card from the White Sox's "Winning Ugly" 1983 season.

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After spending the 1975 and 1976 seasons as a first baseman/outfielder for the Tigers, Dan Meyer was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft. In Seattle he became the everyday first baseman. 1977 was a career season for Meyer. He hit 22 homers with 90 RBIs. Overall Meyer spent parts of 12 seasons in the majors. In 1985 the A's took one last chance on Meyer, but he went hitless in 14 games and was released in May. For his Card That Never Was, I gave him a final 1985 Topps card.

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Leon Roberts played big league ball from 1974-1984. After being called up in September 1974, Roberts became Detroit's everyday right fielder. Following the 1975 season he was part of a 7 player trade with the Astros. After the 1977 season the Astros gave up on Roberts and traded him to the Mariners. Topps gave up on him as well. There was no 1978 card of him despite that being his career season, hitting .301 with 22 homers.

Leon Roberts went on to play until 1984 with the Rangers, Blue Jays and Royals. He even pitched one mop-up inning for the Royals in 1984. Kansas City was down to Bert Blyleven and the Cleveland Indians in the 9th inning. Roberts faced 8 batters in the 9th giving up 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. He did manage to strike out Mel Hall. 

For Roberts' Card That Never Was I made the 1978 card that Topps skipped over. 

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This card has earned my highest grade to date. Hall of Famer, Gary Carter, carries the load but all three of the other players on this card had MLB careers lasting over 10 years each. That is more than respectable. If you have this card, display it proudly. I give it a solid 8.