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.

1968 Topps Orioles Rookie Stars: Dave Leonhard, Dave May

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In 1967 Dave Leonhard led the International league with 15 wins. In 1969 the Orioles gave him the start in 18 of his 28 games and were rewarded with 5 complete games including 2 shutouts. But with a rotation that included Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, and Dave McNally, Leonhard was converted to a relief pitcher then eventually back to the minors. From 1973-1976 he played on minor lkeague affiliates with the Orioles, Angels, Cubs and Expos.

For his card that never was I incorporated a spring training shot of him with the California Angels onto a 1974 Topps card.

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Dave May was a solid hitting outfielder in the Orioles system but was unable to find a home at the major league level until he was traded to the Brewers in 1970. He made his sole All Star Game appearance as a Brewer in 1973. In 1975 he was traded to the Braves fo the reigning Home Run King, Hank Aaron. His production remained inconsistent and he was subsequently dealt to the Rangers in 1977. He played with the Brewers again and briefly for the Pirates in 1978.

He is the father of Derrick May who played for the Cubs, Brewers, Astros, Phillies, Expos and Orioled in the Nineties.

For his Card That Never Was, I tried to make up for the 2 airbrushed Topps cards of Aaron and May with this version of a 1975 Topps Traded card.

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May and Leonhard were legitimately strong minor league players ready for the Majors in 1968. However, the Orioles were a very good team at the time and it was tough to find room on the roster. This card might deserve a better grade than the "3" I am giving it. But realistically, I'll just put it in a box.

1977 Topps Rookie Outfielders: Brian Asselstine, Wayne Gross, Sam Mejias, Alvis Woods

Seems like the random number generator has me going back and forth between 4-player rookie cards and single player rookie cards. This time it is this 1977 rookie outfielder card so it will be another nice long post.

First up is Brian Asselstine.  A first round draft pick by the Braves in 1973, Brian spent his entire 6 year MLB career with the team. Although he never rose above the level of utility outfielder/pinch hitter, he was included in every Topps set from 1977-1982, with the exception of the 1980 series. He was also included in the 1981 and 1982 sets by both Fleer and Donruss. A career .254 hitter, he averaged less than 50 games a season and a little over 100 plate appearances a season.

For his Card That Never Was, here is the missing 1980 Topps card of Brian Asselstine:

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Although listed as an outfielder on the 1977 Rookie card, Wayne Gross was the A's everyday 3rd baseman in 1977. Gross belted 22 homers his rookie season. This earned him good a good seat to the 1977 All Star Game. He was chosen as a replacement for the injured Vida Blue. But he was behind George Brett and Graig Nettles at 3rd base and never saw action. Topps named him to their All Star Rookie Team, which card geeks everywhere know means he gets that cool little trophy on his sophomore card.

In 1983 Gross was brought in to pitch mop-up-duty. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th inning and the Twins ahead 16-3, the A's manager, Steve Boros, called the third baseman to the mound. In all, he pitched the final 2.1 innings giving up 2 singles, 1 walk and 1 hit-batter. But he didn't give up a single run. 

After the 1983 season he was traded to Baltimore. He was eventually released by the Orioles early in 1986. The A's picked him up and he played his final 3 games in an A's uniform. For his Card That Never Was I went with a 1986 Topps Traded. I considered a 1987 card but with only 3 games and zero hits in the 1986 season, a 1987 card would be a stretch, even for me.

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Like Gross, Sam Mejias was called in for mop-up duty as a pitcher. In a meaningless September game, the 4th place Expos were losing to the 6th place Mets 9-4 in the 9th inning. The Expos Hall of Fame manager, Dick Williams called upon Mejias. He got the first batter to ground out, then he hit catcher, John Stearns. Two wild pitches later, Stearns was standing on 3rd base with 1 out. Stearns was thrown out trying to score on a grounder to short then Mejias got the final batter to fly out to left. Although far from perfect, Mejias gave up no runs, and no hits in his only appearance as a pitcher.

Oddly, Topps mentions that he pitched an inning in Minor Leagues in 1974 on the backs of both his 1979 and 1981 cards but makes no mention of his MLB pitching.

And like Asselstine, Mejias never rose above back-up outfielder during his entire 6 year MLB career. He also appeared on Topps cards from 1977-1982 with the same exception of the 1980 set. So again here is a 1980 Topps Card That Never Was:

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 Alvis Woods was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the expansion draft. He had a pinch hit homer in his 1st MBL at-bat in the 5th inning of the Blue Jays first game ever. However he was not the first Blue Jay to homer. His teammate Doug Ault had homered twice already in that game. Woods remained in that game playing left field. In both his remaining 2 at-bats, he struck out looking.


For most of the expansion Blue Jays in 1977, O Pee Chee made cards with different photos than the ones used in the Topps set. These were usually pictures of the players in their actual Blue Jays uniforms rather than the airbrushed Topps photos. They also included individual cards for many of the rookies. So Al Woods had an individual 1977 card as well as sharing this card.



Woods' MLB career was well documented on cardboard. He played at the major league level for Toronto from 1977-1982. He was traded to the A's after the 1982 season but was cut before the 1983 season. He had cards in all of those years including a 1983 O Pee Chee card paranthetically announcing that he was "Now with Athletics".



From '83-'85 he played minor league ball  with the Blue Jays and Twins organizations. In 1986 he made a brief comeback for the Twins. So for his Card That Never Was, here is one missing from the 1986 Topps set.

Now the grade. Despite the pitching prowess of Mejias and Gross, and the fact that Gross was named to the Topps Rookie All Star Team, overall I'm unimpressed. I have to give it a 2 - "Good for Flipping".