The next card from my custom "1969 Gimmie A Do-Over" set released last year, one for the great, if not the greatest, Willie Mays:
Originally
having his 1966 card image reused by Topps in 1969, I used a nice
close-up of that "Million-Dollar Smile" for my re-do, giving us another
unique card for the "Say Hey Kid".
As
we all know by now, Topps was in the middle of a licensing problem with
the MLBPA at the time, leading to some questionable image use in the
late-60's/early-70's.
Over half a century later, I'm more than happy to fix some of this!
As for Mays, what needs to be said about perhaps the greatest player in history?
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.
660 home runs, 3000+ hits, over 2000 runs scored and over 1900 runs batted in, with over 300 stolen bases and a .300+ batting average as well!
He took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1951, then proceeded to win two Most Valuable Player Awards, the first in 1954 and the second eleven years later in 1965.
Let’s also not forget the 20 all-star nods and 12 Gold Gloves, leaving him in that rarified company of Ruth, Cobb, Aaron and Gehrig as far as accomplishments and legend.
Of course, Hall of Fame voting being what it is, he wasn’t a UNANIMOUS selection because of this silly unspoken rule of “no one gets 100% voting”, something I will NEVER understand.
