Not only are these "highlight" cards a blast to design, but the
1971 cards are especially fun to work with, as the bold black border
allows colors to fly off of them!
Today is one such card, celebrating Ernie Banks' 500th Major League
home run, which he blasted on May 12th of 1970 at Wrigley Field against
the Atlanta Braves.
Take a look at my card design:
Once again, it would have been nice to have such a card inserted in Topps' set that year.
The photo I used was tagged as a shot from 1970. However I don't think that's correct since he's not wearing a batting helmet.
But it does work with the card so I let it fly, but not before I added a yellow tone over it.
But it does work with the card so I let it fly, but not before I added a yellow tone over it.
Man, that 1970 baseball season was chock full of highlights! 500
homers by Banks, 3000 hits by BOTH Aaron and Mays, 1000 games by
Wilhelm: you think Topps could have really filled out that set nicely
with a substantial sub-set!
Then again, they DID issue that beautiful "Greatest Moments" set
(that was already too expensive for me to chase even back in the early
'80's as a kid!).
Anyway, Banks finally reached the inevitable on that May day,
becoming the ninth player in history at the time to reach the milestone.
He'd eventually end his career shortly thereafter with 512 homers,
complimenting his awesome Hall of Fame career which saw him retire as
the all-time Cubs leader in games, at-bats, extra-base hits, homers and
total bases.
Getting inducted into Cooperstown was merely a formality for one of the game's most popular player to this very day.
Hope you enjoy this design as much as I do.
"Let's play two"!!!
