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.

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.

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.

1976 Topps Rookie Infielders: Craig Reynolds, Lamar Johnson, Johnnie LeMaster, Jerry Manuel

The random number generator picked the first 1976 rookie card for this blog. This one included an interesting cast of characters.

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First we have Craig Reynolds in a Pirates uniform. He would appear again on a 1977 Topps rookie card as a Pirate even though he was traded to the expansion Seattle Mariners in December of 1976. He was selected to represent the Mariners in the 1978 All Star game. After the 1978 All Star game. After the 1978 season the Mariners would trade him to the Astros for pitcher Floyd Bannister. Reynolds would once again be selected to the All Star team and would spend the next 11 seasons in Houston. 

Although he already had a card in the 1977 Topps set, he was on a rookie card again and in the wrong uniform. So for his Card That Never Was, I gave him a do-over. This time he has his own card on the Mariners.

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Lamar Johnson was drafted by the White Sox right out of high school in 1968. He wouldn't make his MLB debut until 1974. He played for the Sox most of his career splitting time between 1st base and DH. After the his production dipped in the 1981 season he was signed the Rangers. He was cut during 1983 spring training.

Johnson is best know for singing the National Anthem before game one of a double-header on June 19, 1977. He then went on to have 2 solo home runs and a double. These were the only hits the Sox had all game. It gave Wilbur Wood his first win since having his knee shattered by a Ron LeFlore line drive over a year earlier. The Sox beat the A's 2-1 in game 1 and beat them again 5-1 in game 2.

For his Card That Never Was, I went for a pre-rookie variation. He had actually played in parts of the 1974 and 1975 season for the White Sox, so I decided to put him on a 1975 Topps card.

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Johnnie LeMaster was the Giants #1 pick in the 1973 draft. In 1975 he got his first big league at bat. After missing first 2 offerings by Hall of Famer Don Sutton, LeMaster lined the 3rd pitch up the middle. It took a wild bounce over the center fielder's head and LeMaster had a stand-up inside the park homer in his first MLB at bat.

He is best known for going into a game with the word "Boo" on his nameplate. He was getting boo'd a lot so his wife suggested he change his name to "Boo".  It only lasted half an inning before the general manager made him change into his official uniform and fined him $500. But it cemented his place in baseball lore.

For his Card That Never Was, I created this 1971 Topps Greatest Moments style card commemorating Boo's only at bat.

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Jerry Manuel had only 2 cards during his playing days. This rookie card and a 1982 Fleer card of him on the Expos. Manuel played in 96 MLB games over 5 seasons with the Tigers, Expos and Padres. He is better known as the Manager of the White Sox from 1999-2003 and the Mets from 2008-2010. He was voted Manager of the Year in 2000 as he led the Sox to a 1st place finish in the Central division.

For his Card That Never Was, I made him a card commemorating his most productive MLB season. He had a career high 63 plate appearances and rode that "Mendoza Line" batting .200 exactly, also a career high. Here is a 1981 Topps card of Jerry Manuel.

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I'm feeling a bit generous giving this a 4. Only Reynolds was ever in an All Star game, but Manuel became Manager of the Year. Johnson and LeMaster both had memorable games that make for good bar-stories. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good story.

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.