1971 Topps Brewers Rookie Stars: Bernie Smith, George Kopacz

The random number generator can be fickle. Last post featured Hall of Famer, Steve Carlton's rookie card. This time it's two players that were one-and-done in Topps opinion.

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Bernie Smith played in the Mets minor league system from 1962-1969. He was traded to the Pilots in December of 1969, but the Pilots broke spring training and went to Milwaukee instead. In 1970 he hit .330 with 13 homers in 98 games for the Brewers AAA team, the Portland Beavers. In July he was brought up to the show and hit a respectable .276 in 44 games. But in 1971 he was unable to hit his weight in 15 games. By the end of April he was back on the farm.

For his Card That Never Was, I put him on a 1970 Topps card in his Pilot's uniform. Although he never played a regular season game for the Pilots, the Brewers played the spring training exhibition games as the Pilots. 

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George Kopacz never actually played for the Brewers. He was sent to the Brewers from Pittsburgh in a conditional deal in October of 1970. Milwaukee marked him "Return to Sender" in March of 1971. Kopacz was a 30 year old with 11 years of minor league experience by 1971. He had also played 6 games at the end of 1966 for the Braves and another 10 games in September of 1970 for the Pirates.

 In 1970 Kopacz was co-MVP of the International League along with Roger Freed. He was you classic solid minor leaguer. He hit .281 and 154 homers over his 14 year career but just never successfully made the jump to the big leagues. For his Card That Never Was, I made a 1970 Topps card of him on the Pirates. He played 10 of his 16 big league games for Pittsburgh in 1970.

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Not much to say about this one. For both players this was their one and only MLB baseball card. Kopacz didn't play in the Majors in 1971 at all and Smith hit .139 through April 28th. After which he was sent back down never to return. Put it in your spokes because I give it a 1.

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.

1970 Topps Royals Rookie Stars: Al Fitzmorris, Scott Northey

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While researching Al Fitzmorris, I have found a few interesting facts. First he was originally signed by the White Sox in 1965 as an outfielder. Batting only .227 as a minor leaguer, he decided to covert to pitcher.

Second, although he led the Carolina League with 214 strikeouts in 1968, he was not a strikeout pitcher in the majors. He averaged just 3.2 strikeouts per 9 innings over his career. In 1974 he pitched a complete game shutout without a single strikeout or walk. He gave up just 3 hits, all singles, one each in the 1st, the 5th and the 8th.

Third he was selected twice in an expansion draft. In 1968 he was left unprotected by the White Sox and picked by the Royals. In 1976 he was drafted again. This time by the Toronto Blue Jays only to be traded to the Indians for catcher, Alan Ashby and first baseman, Doug Howard.

For his Card That Never Was, I chose a 1975 Hostess design. In 1975 Fitzmorris had a number of career highs including 16 wins and 11 complete games.

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For Scott Northey this was his first of 2 rookie cards. The second was this 1971 American League Rookie Stars card with A's outfielder Bobby Brooks and Brewers Outfielder Pete Koegel.

Northey was the son of MLB journeyman Ron Northey. Ron played on the Phillies, Cardinals, Cubs, Reds and White Sox from 1942-1957 and later a coach for the Pirates from 1960-1963.

Like his 1970 Topps card-mate Fitzmorris, Scott Northey was originally signed by the White Sox as an outfielder in 1965 and also picked by the Royals in the 1968 expansion draft. Also like Fitzmorris, he was called up from the Royals' AAA Omaha team in September.  That is where the similarity ends. After Northey's "cup of coffee" in September of 1969, he never made the show again. He played minor league ball until 1972 despite being depicted on rookie stars cards in bot 1970 and 1971.

For his Card That Never Was, I chose to give him his own 1969 Topps card to commemorate this original Royals only MLB season.

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This card contains two September Call-ups from the Royals inaugural season. Fitzmorris was a solid pitcher for parts of 10 seasons. Northey on the other hand just struck out too much. He had 19 strikeouts in just 20 games including one 4 strikeout game. I may have graded a bit on the generous side but I gave this card a 4 because it contains 2 original Royals so for someone somewhere, this would qualify as a "set filler".

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".

1980 Topps Brewers Future Stars: Danny Boitano, Willie Mueller, Lenn Sakata

I haven't posted in quite some time, but I still have a backlog of cards that I have created. So I haven't given up yet. I plan to continue this blog along with my other blog, Cards That Never Were. Probably less frequently as demands of everyday life dictate.

This time the random number generator has given me the most recent year to date. And given that I am only going after 1959-1980 rookie cards, there will be nothing newer.

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Dan Boitano was a middle reliever that pitched 71.1 Major League innings over 5 years with the Phillies, Brewers, Mets and Rangers from 1978-1982. This 1980 rookie card represents his entire big league catalog. With so many options to choose from, I went with 1982 Donruss for his Card That Never Was. Not only was 1982 his final year but it was also the year in which he had his most big-league exposure. He pitched 30.1 innings in 19 appearances.

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Once again we have a middle reliever for whom this is his only MLB card. Willie Mueller pitched 12.2 innings for the Brewers in 1978 then 2 more in 1981. But he was best known as the Yankees closer "Duke" in the 1989 movie "Major League". In 2014, Topps created a subset of cards from the movie with the 1989 design. For Willie Mueller's Card That Never Was, I included him in the subset.

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Lenn Sakata was a light hitting utility infielder for the Brewers, Orioles, A's and Yankees. He hit .230 and scattered 25 homers over 11 seasons. Primarily a middle infielder, Sakata was given the opportunity(?) to fill in at catcher for an inning in 1983. Sakata was brought into the game as a defensive replacement in the 8th inning, playing 2nd base. In the 10th inning he was moved behind the plate after a few pinch hitters moves left Baltimore without a catcher. Seeing Sakata behind the plate proved too tempting for the Blue Jays baserunners. Pitcher Tippy Martinez picked off 3 consecutive runners at first to end the rally. Sakata put the finishing touch on that game by hitting one of his 25 career homers in walk-off style.

Sakata was featured on Topps cards from 1980-1988 with the exception of 1987. For his Card That Never Was, I filled in that gap.

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I'm getting rusty, I almost forgot to "Rate" this rookie card. (After all that is only the name of this blog.)  This card's only saving grace is Mueller's cameo in "Major League" and Sakata's contribution to Tippy Martinez's incredible feat.  I will give this card a 2 "Good for Flipping".

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.

1969 Topps Royals Rookie Stars: Steve Jones, Ellie Rodriguez

The 1969 Royals Rookie Stars card came with Ellie Rodriguez's name spelled 2 different ways. If you believe the price guides, the misspelled "Rodriquez" is worth 20 times the corrected version. The truth is the both cards seem to be priced similarly on eBay and COMC.

Steve Jones was a minor league veteran when the Royals selected him with the 10th pick in the 1968 expansion draft. He played minor league ball in the Twins, White Sox ans Senators organizations. He was called up by the Sox in late 1967. He played 11 games in 1967 for a record of 2-2. In February of 1968 he was dealt to the Senators in a 6 player trade. He pitched for the big league club in only 7 games but was 12-8 with their AAA team in Bufalo. He saw slightly more action for the expansion Royals but still split time with the farm team. 1969 would be his final MLB season and the only year in which Topps made a card for him. For his Card That Never Was, I put him on his own 1968 card. 

Ellie Rodriguez was the Yankees 3rd string catcher when he was taken with the Royals 13th pick in the expansion draft. He became the Royals opening day catcher and their sole representative at the 1969 All Star Game. He never got into the game. In 1970 he became back-up to Ed Kirkpatrick and after the season the Royals would trade him to the Brewers for another back-up catcher, Carl Taylor. Rodriguez would work his way back into the starting line up. He would again be the team's sole representative at the All Star Game. This time it would be for the Brewers in 1972, but once again he would never leave the bench. I had already made a Card That Never Was of Ellie Rodriguez for my other blog, click here. It seems appropriate to include it here as well.

And now for my grade. Steve Jones was a bust, while Ellie was a two-time All Star (well, sort of). Despite who was a bust or who was kinda good for a while, the card itself is unique because it is a rookie card from an expansion team and it has 2 versions. The error card with Rodriguez's name misspelled and the corrected card. Some sucker is gonna want it. I give it a 5 for "trade bait". 

1967 Topps Indians Rookie Stars: Bill Davis, Gus Gil

On my very first "Rating the Rookies" post, back when it was a running theme on my other blog, Cards That Never Were, I received a comment from Greg F. - "Check out a player named Bill Davis. He appeared on no less than FIVE rookie cards in consecutive years from 1965 to 1969.  If there is one vintage player who could use his own Card That Never Was - it's him." 

 I think it should be obvious by the mere fact that I have not generated a rookie card of a single superstar, much less a Hall of Famer, that these selections are almost cruelly random.  I knew the random number generator would eventually ring up one of his many rookie cards, but I didn't think it would be so soon after receiving the comment. In case you were wondering, here are Bill Davis's other 4 rookie cards:

You might have noticed that Topps re-used his 1967 photo in 1968 and re-used his 1966 photo in 1969.  Nicknamed the "Jolly Green Giant", Bill Davis is listed at 6' 7" on Baseball-Reference.com. Topps made note of his size on both his 1967 and 1969 card, although he seemed to have shrunk an inch in 1969. Topps also noted the 33 homers he hit in Portland in 1965 on the back every card from 1966-1969. Needless to say, he never came close to repeating those numbers.

As for Bill's 1967 season, there wasn't one. He spent the entire season on the DL. After his 1968 season in the minors, he was traded to the Padres for former MVP Zoilo Versalles, who the Padres had picked up in the expansion draft. Unfortunately, Davis' career in San Diego was short-lived. His final MLB game was on May 21, 1969.  Even though he never played an out in 1970, I have to agree with Greg F. - after 5 rookie cards he deserves a card of his own. So here is his Card That Never Was from 1970:

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Gus Gil was also a member of an expansion team in 1969. He was purchased by the Pilots and played on their unofficial minor league team in 1968, the Seattle Angels. He was a utility infielder who saw most of his work at 2nd base other than his one year on the Pilots. A career .186 hitter, Gus hit above .200 in only one season, 1969. His final MLB game was for the Brewers in June of 1971.

Aside from this 1967 rookie card, his only other card was a high number card in 1969 and one of the few non-airbrushed Pilots cards in the set. For his Card That Never Was, I used the 1971 format so that I could show him in a Brewers uniform.

All in all, this card is a bust. 2 players who hit in the .180's and between the 2 only had one solo card. Both were fortunate enough to get a second look by expansion teams in 1969 but neither went anywhere with it. In the year the card was issued, Gil hit .115 for the Tribe and Davis spend the year on the disabled list. Go ahead and put this one in your spokes, I grade it a 1.

1974 Topps Rookie Pitchers: Wayne Garland, Fred Holdsworth, Mark Littell, Dick Pole

For the first time the random number generator has picked a 4 player card for me. Specifically this 1974 Topps Rookie Pitchers card, so this will be a lengthy post.

Wayne Garland went 5-5 in 20 starts in 1974 but that was still not enough for Topps to give him a card in 1975. In 1976 he was back in good graces with Topps. He got his own card and 20 wins and even a Cy Young award vote (just one). After the 1976 season, he got 3 things: a nice big free agent contract with the Indians, a Sporting News cover story, and a sweet fro:

He promptly lost 19 games in 1977 to lead the league in futility. Despite his fat contract, he never had another winning season and retired in 1981. For his Card That Never Was, here is his missing 1975 Topps card:

Fred Holdsworth pitched in only 8 games for the Tigers in 1974. He lost all 3 of his decisions. This was enough for Topps to grant him a card in the 1975 set. He spent the entire 1975 season in the minors and was traded mid-season to the Orioles. In 1976 Topps gave up on him but the Orioles didn't. He was 4-1 with 2 saves in relief and was back on cardboard in 1977. He continued to bounce between the majors and minors until 1981. Overall he was 7-10 in parts of 7 Major League seasons with a 4.40 ERA. Here is his missing card from the 1976 Topps set:

Despite going 1-3 in 8 games (or perhaps because of it) in 1973, Mark Littell didn't pitch a single inning at the big league level in 1974. He would come up again for the Royals in 1975 and have a similar 1-2 record in 7 games and Topps would again feature him on a rookie card in 1976:

1976 would be his career year, coming out of the bullpen with 8 wins and 16 saves. He also garnered a few MVP votes. He would go on to have a respectable career as a solid relief pitcher for the Royals and Cardinals. He went 32-31 with 56 saves over 9 seasons. But it was his post-career that I found interesting while researching him. First I found this card of questionable judgement from 1990:

Apparently Swell has a fairly liberal definition of "Great".

Mark Littell is also a renown inventor.  He invented and sells the Nutty Buddy. No, not the cookies, but rather a high-tech personal protective device for your "boys".  It comes in 5 sizes (and I am not joking): the hammer, the boss, the hog, the trophy, and mongo!

Rather than fill in a missing 1975 card between his 2 rookie cards, I made a 1978 Hostess card depicting him on the Cardinals. His 1978 Topps card still had him on the Royals. He was traded in December of 1977 for the "Mad Hungarian", Al Hrabosky.

On the heels of  Littell's Nutty Buddy, I am doing my best to stifle my inner 9-year-old's snickers at the name of the next guy.  In 1974 Dick Pole was 1-1 with a save in 12 games. From 1973-76 he pitched for the Red Sox compiling a record of 14-14. He was picked up by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft and was 11-23 over the 1977 and 1978 seasons. He was released by the Mariners in the spring of 1979.  

But it was his career as a coach that was more impressive. In 1983 he began as a minor league coach for the Cubs. Greg Maddux credits Dick Pole with helping him develop his style. He spent time as a pitching coach with the Cubs, Reds, Giants, Expos, Indians, Red Sox and Angels. Here is a Card That Never Was of him on his second tour of duty with the Cubs in 2003:

And now for the important part. The 4 pitchers on this card were a combined 6-9 with 1 save in 1974. Not a single one of them ever made an All Star team, but they all had serviceable careers. A couple had even better careers after their playing days were over. Overall not a great card but still it gets my highest grade yet.