Today on the blog I post the first of what is a "set that never was", a 1972 All-Star Ticket card for 1971 starting N.L. catcher Johnny Bench, which was going to be released some years back before I opted for the standard sized 1972 All-Star set that quickly sold-out:
This was a bookmark-sized set that would have had all nine starters for each league, as well as managers.
The
background design is based off the actual ticket design for the
historic All-Star game, along with a deckle-edge element that Topps was
using at that time.
After
designing everything, including the packaging for the set, I then
decided to go with the other set simply because I wanted to add those
cards into my 1972 set binder. Ha!
Still
only 24 years old when this card would have come out, Bench was a Rookie of the Year in 1968, a two-time
All-Star and Gold Glove winner by the end of 1969, and would go on to
take home the first of his two MVP Awards at the end of the 1970 season.
All-time best at his position? I'd be hard-pressed to argue this.
Of course as we all know, he would go on to put together a career rarely
seen by ANY player, let alone a catcher: TWO N.L. MVP Awards, 14
all-star games, 10 Gold Gloves, two home run titles and three RBI
titles, all while donning the “tools of ignorance” for 17 seasons, all
with the Reds.
As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, this man was a mythic figure, a “god”.
As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, this man was a mythic figure, a “god”.
