1960 Topps Deron Johnson

Another individual Rookie Star card from the random Number generator. I've come across quite a few players who have had multiple rookie cards but this is the first time I've had a player on three different single-player rookie cards.  Deron Johnson was part of Topps "Rookie Stars of 1959" set and also had a designated rookie card in the 1961 set. Topps even re-used the same photo. ALL. THREE. TIMES.

Although he was designated as a Yankees "Rookie Star" in 1959, 1960 and 1961, he never actually played for the Yankees until September of 1960.  Even then he played in just 19 games for New York in 1960 and 61 before being traded for veteran pitcher Bud Daley.

Johnson struggled in Kansas City spending most of 1962 in the minors. In 1963 he was purchased by the Reds and spent that year in the minors as well. In 1964 he returned to the big leagues and hit 21 homers for Cincinnati. In 1965 he led the league with 130 RBIs.  

He came into the league as a outfielder/third baseman but spent most of his years playing first base. In 1973 when the American League adopted the designated hitter, it seemed made for him. He played most of his final years from 1973-1976 playing DH for the A's, Brewers, White Sox and Red Sox.

Deron Johnson had Topps cards cards in nearly every year from 1959-1976. He didn't have a card in 1963 when he spent the entire season in the minors.  He was also missing a card in 1975. He spent most of the 1975 season with the White Sox as a DH and back up first baseman before being dealt to Boston in September. So I made this Card That Never Was to fill the void between his 1974 card with the A's and his 1976 card with the Red Sox.

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Personally, I think that the three rookie cards using the exact same picture would look great on a page in a binder. But that is just me. For most it might not be "Binder Worthy" but I gotta give this card at least a 6 for "Guilty Pleasure".

1962 Topps Lee Stange

In 1962 Topps had the multi-player "Rookie Parade" cards in the  7th and final series. But they still had several individual cards with the designated "1962 Rookie" star emblazoned on the front of the card. Most of these stars were yellow but there were a few that were white, like this one. Another inconsistency of the 1962 set that is shown on this card is the variations on the team name for the Twins. In some cases Minnesota Twins was spelled out in its entirety. in other cases it was abbreviated as Minn. Twins or as in this case Min. Twins. 

Originally signed by the Washington Senators, Lee Stange made his debut in 1961 with the relocated Minnesota Twins. He pitched for the Twins, Indians, and Sox both Red and White. He was used both as a starter and in relief over his 10 big league seasons. He was slightly better in the starting role than in relief. As a starter he was 47-44 with a 3.41 ERA, In relief he was 15-17 with 21 saves and an ERA of 3.87. After he retired he was employed as a pitching coach in the Red Sox, Twins and Athletics organizations.

In September of 1964 Stange became just the 10th Major League pitcher to strike out 4 batters in one inning.  He struck out Senators center fielder Don Lock, who advanced to first on a passed ball. He then struck out Willie Kirkland, Don Zimmer and John Kennedy. The 5th place Indians beat the 9th place Senators 9-0 in front of a crowd of 2,540.                                                                                                       Stange had Topps cards every year from 1962-1971 and even had a couple cards from his coaching career.  He appeared as a coach on the 1973 and 1974 Red Sox managers cards. For his Card That Never Was, I made a 1963 Fleer card for him. In 1963 Stange had a career high 12 victories.

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While never an All-Star, Lee Stange had an overall winning record for his 10 year MLB career. He had 62 wins and 61 losses and an ERA of 3.56. Normally, I would grade this a 4, "Set Filler", but his status as an original Minnesota Twin bumps him (barely) to a 5, "Trade Bait".

1969 Topps Athletics Rookie Stars: George Lauzerique, Roberto Rodriguez

The ebb and flow of the random number generator has once again gone from a rookie card of a Hall of Famer to a couple of pitchers that have a total of 91 Major League appearances between them. And just look at this card. Topps wasn't even trying with their crappy air brushing on this one. Why didn't they just use a crayon to scribble out the K.C. logo on their caps?

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George Lauzerique made his debut in 1967 for the Kansas City A's. He was the starting pitcher and gave up 3 runs in 7 innings. All 3 runs in the loss to the Angels came on a three run homer by Bobby Knoop. In all he played in 23 games for the A's from 1967-69 before being traded to the Pilots after the 1969 season. He was part of a 4 player trade the sent him and Ted Kubiak to Seattle for Ray Oyler and Diego Segui.

He never actually played for the Pilots. By the time the 1970 season started, the Pilots had become the Brewers.  But I found this nice shot of him in a Pilots uniform from the Topps Vault and absolutely needed to use it for his Card That Never Was. His only other Topps card was also a 1970 card. It had him still as a member of the Oakland A's.

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For Roberto Rodriguez this 1969 Rookie Stars card was not his first card. He also appeared on this 1968 A's Rookie Stars card with Darrell Osteen. Both players were hatless on this card so we were spared the awful airbrushing but Osteen is still in his Reds uniform. Don't worry Topps, I'm sure nobody noticed. Must have been nice having no competition.

After rookie cards in 1968 and 1969, the next Topps card of Roberto Rodriguez was in 1971 in a Cubs uniform. Rodriguez played for three teams in 1970. He began the season with the A's. He then went to San Diego for about a month before being dealt to the Cubs. After the 1970 season he was back playing minor league ball until 1974.

For his Card That Never Was, I filled in the vacant spot in his portfolio with this 1970 Topps card of him on the team he began the 1970 season with.

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I'm trying to find some redeeming quality to save this card from the spokes, but I'm coming up empty. The picture quality is poor. The airbrushing is atrocious. And ultimately, the players were not, by any definition, "Rookie Stars".  They were both solid minor league pitchers with winning records. Both players had brief major league careers. But the best I can say about this card is that it made your Schwinn Sting-Ray sound like a motorcycle. I give it a 1. Put it in your spokes.

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.