Cards That Never Were #24

1967 Topps - Robin Roberts

As news of the death of Robin Roberts started to reach everyone yesterday, I looked over his career stats, like most people did, and discovered that he never had a Cubs card. I made it a top priority to make one.

The task turned into a monumental one, when the only picture I could find of Robin in a Cubs uniform was about the size of a postage stamp. I tried to make it work, but it just did not look good.

I figured that some entrepreneur would use eBay to cash in on his death and I would eventually run across a usable Cubs picture. Sure enough, when I checked late into the evening, there was an autographed picture of Robin in a Cubs uniform, with an autograph in blue straight across the chest.

I try to refrain using eBay for pictures, but sometimes I have absolutely no choice. I had made the 1967 Topps Cubs card template earlier in the day, so all I had to do was drop the picture in and I'd have a completed card.

Easier said than done. First I had to get rid of the autograph, only to put another one on instead. There were three problems with the original autograph. It was in a spot where it might be obscured by the Cubs name. The autograph was a bit too small in relation to the picture size for the card. Most troublesome... the autograph was originally blue.

So I painstakingly removed the autograph, only to put another one on in its place. It sounds like a lot of work for nothing, but it really does make the finished product look much more authentic.

Rest in peace, Robin. I only wish that I was able to do this one before you passed. At least we now have a Cubs card to commemorate every stop in your Major League journey.

The Baseball Card Bandit Has Struck Again!

At least that's what everyone in my household said today, as someone else found a plastic case full of cards somewhere on the porch this afternoon.

When mysterious packages of cards show up after the mail already arrived, there can only be one person responsible... Johngy! Unless I have a team of Keebler elves dropping of assorted vintage cards and other neat card surprises on my doorstep, I think I have the mystery solved. Then again, if the Keebler elves can convince Judd Hirsch to build a weapon to use against Snap, Crackle and Pop, they are capable of anything.

In one fell swoop, another good chunk of 1970 Topps disappeared from my want list. So did a good portion of 1972 Topps. The 1978 Topps and 1982 Topps sets came to completion. Plus, some more 1992 and 1993 Topps Gold cards vanished from the list.

Thank you so much, John! This was a great unexpected surprise!

Cards That Never Were #23

1993 Topps Traded - Dale Murphy

The last few years of Dale Murphy's career weren't exactly the stuff of Hall of Fame candidates. Marred by injuries, he latched onto the newly formed Colorado Rockies in 1993. Unfortunately, the change to Colorado didn't revive his career and he retired in May 1993.

This far removed from his playing days, most people don't even realize that Dale played with the Rockies to finish out his career. Once a sure fire Hall of Fame candidate, Murphy's skills and playing time decreased after his first full year in Philadelphia.

Due to these factors, Dale likely didn't merit a final card in the traded set. It just goes to show that sometimes, no matter how beloved a player is and how much of a star he was, if they aren't doing much, they won't get the cardboard love.

A career worst .143 average an no home runs did not make his case a good one for card inclusion. Couple that with a retirement in May and it spelled doom even for a player with Dale's career caliber, which included over 2,000 hits and 398 home runs. It should be noted that Dale did get a few cards of him on the Rockies with a few mid-season releases which were already in production and/or shipped by the time he retired.

Trading With Flywheels

I could have gone with a scan of any one of the standouts or names in the 2009 Charlotte Knights team set. I could have used Cole Armstrong or Donny Lucy. Ehren Wassermann was a good possibility. So were Randy Williams and Jack Egbert. I could have even pulled out a Brent Lillibridge or a Carlos Torres.

In this set rests the only card that I'm aware of of John Van Benschoten in a White Sox uniform, albeit a minor league affiliate uniform. I admit that I don't keep up with the minor league teams as much as I should, but when did former Cub, Daryle Ward get into the White Sox organization? Maybe it has something to do with his father, Gary Ward, being the hitting coach.

I could have even chosen manager Chris Chambliss or pitching coach Richard Dotson, the former for Yankee involved MLB headlines and the latter for the White Sox ties.

No, I chose Bacon, because, well, you know, he brings the bacon. Plus, he has the biggest vocal supporters of any of the players or coaches in the 2009 Charlotte Knights team set. There may be riots in the streets if I don't show Gordon. I wouldn't want to be held responsible for the widespread panic and devastating destruction that might result.

Thanks to Flywheels, who runs Cardboard Collections! Also thrown in were a smattering (I find myself using that word a lot lately) of random White Sox cards. Most I already had, but are nonetheless cool. Among the cards that are new to me is an Upper Deck Ticket To Stardom (who's stealing from who, Topps?) of John Danks.

I'm compiling a return package for you that should be mailed out shortly. Thanks again!

Cards That Never Were #22

1964 Fleer - Maury Wills

Wait. There wasn't a Fleer set in 1964. If that's what you said to yourself, you are absolutely right. Until 1966, Fleer held the contract rights to many players, which meant that unless Fleer put out a set or a regional set came out, you weren't going to see that player on a Topps card. In fact, with the exception of an obvious cameo in a World Series card, Maury didn't have a Topps card issued until 1967, with the Pirates. Until then, Maury Wills fans would have to settle with a 1963 Fleer card and a smattering of food and team releases.

How do you create a design for a baseball card set that never existed? You draw inspiration from other designs that came out from the company. There is only room for speculation when it comes to a design for a possible 1964 Fleer set. Unlike 1956 Bowman, I haven't heard of any prototypes that came out for 1964 Fleer.

This particular design came from Fleer's 1963 football set. The same basic layout is used for the Maury Wills card, only the colors have changed. I went with a muted yellow color because yellow is a color that Fleer seems to always come back to. I would theorize that Fleer would have used this color to differentiate this set from the football set. The lettering color was chosen as an homage to the original football set's main color.

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Leave a comment on this post only about your favorite player statistic in Major League baseball. How would you use this to your advantage if you were a manager?

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Contest sponsored by Strat-O-Matic.

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Who are the first two Major League players to hit at least 400 home runs and steal home at least ten times?

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Cards That Never Were #21

1986 Fleer Update - Jack Perconte

Jack came to the Sox in the great lost season of 1986. The team was going in a downward spiral and one season GM wonder, Hawk Harrelson, was trying anything to right the ship, without leaving the golf course.

In April 1986, the Mariners released Perconte. By May, the Sox had signed him. Jack didn't get into a game until August 25th. At that point the Sox were on their third manager of the season.

With a svelte .219 batting average and a .990 fielding percentage, the White Sox ended up releasing Perconte at the end of the season. Jack was picked up by the Dodgers in 1987, but he never played for the parent club.

Jack has since opened a Sport Academy in Naperville, Illinois, written books on hitting instruction and writes at Seamheads.com.

2010 National Chicle White Sox In Pictures

2010 National Chicle

I've been waiting to review this set for awhile now. Bearing in mind that the previews for this card set have been some of the most polarizing in recent memory, I wanted a good majority of the White Sox set in my hand before I gave my final judgment.

I'm happy to say that the White Sox set, sans short prints and variations, are in my hand. Thanks to a mighty nice eBay seller and pure luck, 14 of the 15 cards.

The trend of the last few years is retro. This set is no exception. The difference maker is that Topps commissioned actual living and breathing artists to paint and design works of art for this set. The extra care is immediately apparent when holding one in your hand.

Some interpretations of players are sketchy. Some are unadulterated pure bliss. With artwork, the result is truly in the eye of the beholder. While the famed "Chipper Ruth" may look like a failed lab experiment, is was based on an actual photograph of Babe Ruth. It's just puzzling to see that image in an Atlanta jersey, since the only team in Atlanta during Ruth's playing days were the Crackers. The Braves were still in Boston.

Let's run down the fifteen White Sox cards in the set.

61 - Gordon Beckham
A smiling, sunglasses wearing Bacon, lit up like an angelic figure, washed in an ocean of blue. This was the first positive White Sox image I saw during the previews. It loses none of its luster in person.

67 - Mark Buehrle
Flailing among various shades of green stripes, Buehrle looks a little drunk. It's still a nice artist's rendition of his easygoing delivery style. Kudos for the glove tuck.

80 - Jermaine Dye
The background looks to be made of turmeric, which is a pleasant memory of Indian food. Dye looks generic enough to be included in an Upper Deck release. It's still recognizable as Jermaine though.

99 - Alexei Ramirez
Run Alexei! A gigantic atomic cloud is rushing towards you or you stole Ozzie Guillen's beans from lunch. Either way, it's bad news. That's a shame, since the painting of Alexei is really good, except for the spore colony mutating behind him.

111 - Paul Konerko
A classic Goudey-like background with Paul trotting around the bases. Simple, elegant.

161 - Juan Pierre
Another Goudey-like stadium background. Juan has a goofy smile, is running like an extra in Chariots of Fire, and looks too small for the uniform. These would all be negatives, until you realize that Pierre does have a goofy smile while running like an extra from a movie about running and wears a uniform that could fit two of him. Kudos!

168 - Jake Peavy
The artist manages to capture the intensity of a Peavy pitch. The eggplant and mauve color scheme strangely works.

172 - Gavin Floyd
The artist manages to make Gavin look like a younger brother of Roger Clemens. The stoplight background color scheme is interesting, to say the least.

179 - Carlos Quentin
I'll admit that green is my favorite color and the background is almost a light saber glowing shade of green, which to my eye is awesome. Why muck up that awesomeness with Carlos Quentin looking like a Lee Marvin doppelganger from "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance"?

195 - Alex Rios
I love the effect of colored pencil on portraits. Just not here. It may be watercolor, but my money is on colored pencil. A wash of turpentine would have done wonders for the look of this. Alex looks like he's fading into the background.

205 - John Danks
The night and day aspect of the artwork works extremely well here. It's like Danks is emerging from the darkness and is about to shine in the limelight.

208 - Luis Aparicio
A really fantastic portrait of Aparicio. There's nothing going on in the background so the focus is brought to the subject. The harshness of the red background draws Luis out more and makes him pop. It works very well with the mid-tones used in the face.

256 - Tyler Flowers
The same effect is used on Tyler with the red background. Only the red is only used on the upper portion. A grass green is used on the majority of the body background. It doesn't make the uniform pop as much, but the softer color makes a warm feeling come over the viewer.

258 - Gordon Beckham
The second Bacon in the set is both a win and a fail. The win comes from the artist's use of softness and variations on sepia in the artwork. The fail comes from an oversimplification of the subject. The face reminds me of the worst strip panels from the late teens and early twenties. The uniform style screams tobacco cards from a decade prior to the strip panels. The technique is amazing, but not for a recognizable player.

312 - Tyler Flowers
This is the most polarizing card in the White Sox set. Tyler's second card of the set resembles the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas error with no name on the front. Tyler is put into Frank's body and it does not work on many levels. The original card is so iconic. This feels like a forced cube in a round hole. It might have worked better is the original card was actually a catcher.

Overall, the cards look fantastic. Even the bad paintings are better than most of what's out now.

Ladies And Gentlemen... The Beatles!

August 20, 1965

Shows at 3 and 8.

Four men.

An estimated 52,000 of their close personal friends.

Surprisingly, no accurate set list has been found.

This is the best estimation.

* Twist And Shout
* She's A Woman
* I Feel Fine
* Dizzy Miss Lizzie
* Ticket To Ride
* Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
* Can't Buy Me Love
* Baby's In Black
* Act Naturally**
* A Hard Day's Night
* Help!
* I'm Down

(**- NOTE: For some shows, the Beatles would drop Act Naturally, and play I Wanna Be Your Man instead)

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WSC Birth Years: Donny Lucy In Action

Card #56 - Donny Lucy - In Action

Born: August 8, 1982

A bonus card based on the 1982 Topps card set.

WSC Birth Years: Donny Lucy

Card #55 - Donny Lucy

Born: August 8, 1982

After making his debut in 2007, Donny has been stuck in the minors, behind parent club veteran catchers, until a heel injury to Ramon Castro forced the Sox to call upon Lucy's services again in 2010.

Donny has been making the most of his backup catcher role. Since rejoining the big club, he has seen an increase in his playing time and slugged his first Major League home run, which also turned out to be his first RBI.

Despite being a backup to workaholic A.J. Pierzynski, Lucy has found ample time to get in games. Donny has been waiting in the wings for a few seasons now. 2010 will be the time to make an argument to stay with the parent club.

Cards That Never Were #20

1968 Topps - Reggie Jackson

Reggie started his career with the Kansas City Athletics on June 9, 1967, the year before the team moved to Oakland. Despite being the second pick in the first round of the 1966 draft, the future Mr. October did not get his first card until the 1969 set.

Before I delve any further in making of this card, I want to give thanks to jimfromdowningtown and Johngy for their suggestions and overall help in this endeavor. From photos to lists of players, they have ensured that this project will be around for a long time.

This Reggie Jackson card was a source of frustration. There are two different cards that I created. The final 1968 version is the one at the top of this post. It's a nice photo of Reggie posing during what appears to be Spring Training. It appears that the photo might be from 1968, since the MLB 100th anniversary patch is not present on the uniform. Reggie also looks like a spring chicken in the photo.
The first attempt was the perfect storm, until I realized this was the exact same photo used on Reggie's 1969 card. I toyed with leaving the card as is, since Topps was either too broke or lazy to spring for new pictures in some of their 1969 cards. Many of the photos in that set are the same photos from the 1968 set.

After I expunged that silly notion, I went to work on finding a new photograph to use. Using the same photo that appeared on Reggie's rookie card was taking the easy way out. I do not want this project to fail like that. I will only use the same photograph used for an era card on a custom card when all other options are exhausted.

It took many hours, but I finally tracked down the posing photo. The main trouble is that the available photos are either from 1969 or later. I did not run across a color photograph of Reggie in a Kansas City uniform.

I did run across a great photo of Reggie leaning across the top of a dugout chatting it up with fans. There was only one problem... that 100th anniversary patch was clearly visible. Lucky for me and you, I was able to run across a great picture that I didn't see on any vintage era card.

Here is what Reggie Jackson's rookie card should have looked like... and a bonus alternate.