UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #626 "BABE RUTH AWARD"

Today we check in on the last card of this thread where I redesigned the 1972 "Awards" sub-set, showing the actual player(s) rather than the award itself.

The final card in the sub-set was for the "Babe Ruth Award" (card #626), which was actually won by legend Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now tell me you wouldn't have rather had another Clemente card in the awesome 1972 set rather than some image of a lame plaque set on a blue background?!

Take a look at what was issued by Topps, and what I imagined for the card:

As issued by Topps...

My design for the card.

It's a shame, it really would have been nice to have this Clemente card to collect.

The sub-set was actually a pretty good idea in my eyes, but I do wonder what made Topps think it made more sense to go with the plaques and trophies over the recipients.

Anyone out there ever hear a reason as to why? If so I'd love to hear it!

I chose an image of Clemente that seemed perfect for what the card was depicting.

Hope you all agree.

UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #625 "ROOKIE OF THE YEAR"

Let's come back to my thread regarding that 1972 awards sub-set, and check in on the "Rookie of the Year" award card (#625), which originally featured an image of the actual award rather than the two winners in 1971: Chris Chambliss in the A.L. and Earl Williams in the N.L.

First off, a look at the original card issued by Topps:

Yeah, you already know how I feel about these cards, so I'll spare the rant. 

But take a look at my redesign, showing what would have been a much nicer card to collect back then:

Among the two winners of the award, Williams had more of an impact during the season, bashing 33 homers and driving in 87 runs for the Atlanta Braves splitting time between catcher, first base and third at the age of 22.

Sadly, 1971 was easily his best year in the Majors, as his numbers rapidly declined over the rest of his eight year career, ending up with Oakland in 1977.

He always kept that powerful "punch" in his swing, totaling 138 lifetime homers in only 3058 at-bats. Not bad especially in the modern "dead ball" era he played in.

But by the time he hung up the cleats at the age of 28, his final numbers were mediocre at best, totaling only 889 games played spread among the Braves, Orioles, Expos and A's.

As for Chambliss, we all know he ended up putting together a very nice 17-year career playing for the Indians, Yankees and Braves from 1971 through 1988.

His 1971 numbers didn't exactly jump off the page, but in a year where there really wasn't much R.O.Y. competition, Chambliss easily won the award over Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Bill Parsons.

Playing strictly first base for Cleveland over 111 games, Chambliss put together solid numbers: a .275 batting average, 20 doubles, four triples and nine homers with 48 ribbies in 415 at-bats.

But it was after he moved on to the New York yankees that he made his mark in baseball, becoming an important cog in the "Bronx Zoo" teams along with Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, etc.

Between 1976-1978, Chambliss drove in 90+ runs each year, along with averages between .274-.293 and homers between 12-17.

Lastly, one cannot talk about Chris Chambliss without talking about the single most memorable moment of his career, his pennant winning home run off Kansas City reliever Mark Little in game five of the American League Championship in the Bronx in 1976.

Easily the highlight of a solid career for the veteran first baseman (and one of THE first baseball highlights witnessed first hand by me actually!).

Next up regarding this thread: the last card in the sub-set, and biggest reason why it would have been nicer to have players shown on these cards instead of awards, the "Babe Ruth" award (#626), featuring none other than Pittsburgh Pirate great Roberto Clemente.

Well, it WOULD have featured him if I had something to do with it.

But at least I can present my redesign for the ugly card that actually got issued back in 1972.

Keep an eye out for it….

UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #624 "MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR"

The next card up for "review" on my 1972 "Awards" sub-set thread is card #624, "Minor League Player of the Year", which originally featured a landscape orientation and images of two different trophies. Take a look:

Again, not that attractive a card, and something that NEVER would have happened later on when "rookie-mania" took hold in the late 80's! But nevertheless, it WAS cool that Topps had such a card for minor league awards. Would have been nice if they kept such a practice in place.

Now, not that you would have any idea who actually won the award(s) unless you scanned the back of the card, but the 1971 Minor League stud was none other than future all-star second baseman Bobby Grich, then of the Baltimore Orioles.

So with that, I went and redesigned the card with Grich as the subject, not the awards themselves.

Take a look-see:

I had to totally recreate the whole card, and make it a portrait orientation to accommodate the photo used, but I think it still came out ok, no?

As for Grich himself, before carving out an excellent Major League career, he had a monster 1971 season playing for the Orioles' Triple-A farm club in Rochester.

In 130 games as a shortstop, Grich POUNDED the International League, hitting .336 while smashing 32 homers with 83 runs batted in and 124 runs scored with 299 total bases.

These were NOT middle infielder numbers you often saw during the 1960's and 1970's!

And it was for those numbers that Grich was a solid pick for Minor League Player of the Year.

Once he jumped to the Majors for good in 1972, he became one of the best second baseman in the game for the rest of the decade, considered one of the best fielders at his position, winning four Gold Gloves as well as leading the league in putouts, double-plays and assists multiple times.

But he was no slouch at the plate, as he retired with almost 2000 hits, 224 homers, 1000+ runs scored and 864 runs batted in after seven years in Baltimore and ten years in California as a member of the Angels before hanging them up after the 1986 season.

It's funny how initial perception stays with you. My first over-the-top maniacal card-collecting year was 1977, and the guys that were designated as "All-Stars" on their cards remained somewhat legendary to me, and Grich was one of them.

Even though later on I learned the game and understood where guys like Toby Harrah, Ron LeFlore and even Grich stood as far as "star players" were concerned, those 1977 "All-Star" cards stayed with me to this very day, giving those players and extra bit of status that never faded after almost four decades.

Next up on this "awards" sub-set thread: card #625, "Rookie of the Year". 

Keep an eye out for it in the near future…

UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #623 "CY YOUNG AWARD"

Continuing on this thread regarding the 1972 "awards" sub-set, today we take a look at card #623, the "Cy Young Award" card featuring the Cy Young plaque.

 

 

Beautiful huh? (yawn…)

So today I offer up my redesign of the card, this time featuring the two recipients from 1971: Vida Blue in the American League and Fergie Jenkins in the National League.

Take a look:

Again, just a nicer card with the actual players featured instead of the "hardware". Hope you all agree…

As I mentioned in my post of the "M.V.P." card earlier on this blog, Vida Blue burst on to the Major League scene in 1971 with an amazing 24-8 record along with a 1.87 earned run average and 301 strikeouts.

For that he took home both the M.V.P. And Cy Young awards at the ripe old age of 21.

On the National League side, Fergie Jenkins got his award after finishing third the previous year (and would finish third the FOLLOWING year).

To win the award he fashioned a 24-13 record with a 2.77 E.R.A. along with 263 strikeouts. On top of that Jenkins was absolutely in control on the mound, issuing only 37 walks in 325 innings of work!

Easily the most overlooked "big winner" among Hall of Fame pitchers from the era, Jenkins would end up with 284 career wins to go along with 3192 strikeouts and a 3.34 E.R.A.

He would also be the first pitcher to amass over 3000 strikeouts while issuing under 1000 walks, finishing just under the wire with 997 career base on balls. He'd be joined later on by Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling.

Next up on this thread: card #624: "Minor League Player of the Year"- Bobby Grich.

Keep an eye out for it…

UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #622 "M.V.P. AWARD"

Following my introduction to this topic from last week focusing on the awful 1972 sub-set of "awards" cards, we take a look at the "Most Valuable Player" card (#622), which originally depicted the actual award plaque instead of the players who took it home in 1971: Vida Blue and Joe Torre.

 

 

Again, as I have stated before, why Topps went with the idea of having cards of hardware instead of the players themselves is beyond me.

So allow me to show you all my redesign of the card, this time featuring Blue and Torre after their awesome 1971 campaigns.

A bit better than the original, no?!

Vida Blue just exploded in 1971, winning both the Cy Young and the M.V.P. by posting awesome numbers like a 24-8 record with a 1.82 earned run average, as well as eight shutouts and 301 strikeouts.

Just fantastic numbers for someone in his first full season of Major League ball.

It was a sign of what was to come, as the Oakland A's became a three-time world champion dynasty between 1972 and 1974, with Blue anchoring the pitching staff, bolstered by guys like Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, Blue Moon Odom and Rollie Fingers.

As for the National League Most Valuable Player, Joe Torre was already a star in the big leagues for some time, and actually had an excellent 1970 season splitting time between catching and third base for the Cardinals, hitting a robust .325 with 21 home runs and 100 runs batted in. For that effort he finished with M.V.P. Consideration when votes came in.

The following year, he WAS the player taking home the award, having by far his best season in a solid 18-year career.

In 1971, now solely entrenched at third base, Torre was on fire as he hit a league-leading .363 with 24 homers and a league-leading 137 runs batted in.

He also lead the N.L. with 230 hits and 352 total bases, getting him 21 of 24 first place votes when M.V.P. balloting came around at the end of the year.

So again I have to ask: why not have the players themselves on this card, celebrating some awesome performances, than some static image of a plaque?

Oh well, at least it gives me the opportunity to "fix" it all right here, some 40+ years later!

Next time, we look at my redesign for the Cy Young Award card (#623), featuring Blue again and Fergie Jenkins.

UGH...THOSE 1972 TOPPS "AWARDS" CARDS...(#621 THROUGH #626): TODAY, CARD #621 "COMMISSIONERS AWARD"

I don't know what many of you feel out there about that 1972 Topps "Awards" sub-set (#'s 621-626), but I have always hated those cards!

The concept was great! But why on earth Topps felt kids (or adults for that matter) would be interested in cards that featured plaques and trophies OVER the very players that "won" the awards is beyond me, especially since a few of those players were super stars and future Hall of Famers!

I mean, jeez! What kid was happy to pull out a card of the "Commissioner's Award", instead of having another Brooks Robinson card in their collection!?

I know I've seen a couple of redesigns featuring the actual players who won the awards depicted on the cards somewhere on the web, but I've also gone ahead and redesigned all six of the cards, with the player (or players) who actually won the hardware depicted on the actual card.

To kick off this "sub-set" thread of a sub-set, we'll start in numerical order and profile the aforementioned "Commissioner's Award" card (#621), which was actually won by Baltimore Orioles legend, Brooks Robinson.

Take a look at the card issued by Topps:

 

Seriously? What kid was happy with THIS card?!

 

Give me a break!

Allow me to "jazz it up" a bit with a redesign showing Brooks during the year he won the award.

I'd like to think kid's would have preferred this...

Better, no? I sure do think so!

Rather have a player depicted than some trophy.

Anyway, this was definitely a fun sub-set to work on, and I'll be profiling the other five cards in the near future.

Keep an eye out for them.