A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: BUD HARRELSON

Next up in my "set that never was" WTHBALLS custom archive is my 1972 All-Star ticket card for the starting shortstop in the 1971 Midsummer Classic, New York Met Bud Harrelson:

Harrelson made his second straight All-Star team in 1971, arguably his two best seasons in the Big Leagues, in which he got MVP consideration at the end of the year, as well as winning his only Gold Glove.

The typical "light-hitting/good fielding" middle infielder of the time, he gave the Mets a solid glove man up the middle between 1965 and 1977 before taking his leather to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978.

By the time he retired after the 1980 season after one year with the Texas Rangers, he finished with a career .236 average, with 1120 hits in 4744 at-bats, with 539 runs scored, 127 stolen bases and 267 RBIs over 1533 games.

1972 ALL-STAR SUB-SET: BUDDY HARRELSON

Next up in my on-going 1972 All-Star sub-set is the starting shortstop for the National League in the classic 1971 Midsummer classic, New York Met Bud Harrelson:

 

Harrelson made his second straight All-Star team in 1971, arguably his two best seasons in the Big Leagues, in which he got MVP consideration at the end of the year, as well as winning his only Gold Glove.

The typical "light-hitting/good fielding" middle infielder of the time, he gave the Mets a solid glove man up the middle between 1965 and 1977 before taking his leather to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1978.

By the time he retired after the 1980 season after one year with the Texas Rangers, he finished with a career .236 average, with 1120 hits in 4744 at-bats, with 539 runs scored, 127 stolen bases and 267 RBIs over 1533 games.

THE MISSING ALL STAR CARDS: 1972 TOPPS: NATIONAL LEAGUE

Today we have the National League all stars for the 1972 Topps set, as voted by the fans for the '71 game in Detroit. That is, if Topps would have gone ahead and designated all stars as they did later in the decade.
For the N.L. players, I gave a green bar across the bottom, as opposed to the red bar I gave the A.L. players (posted yesterday).
While the bulk of the N.L. was represented  by all star stalwarts like Aaron, Mays and Bench, we do have a couple of players who were starters for only a single all star game: Dock Ellis and Buddy Harrelson.
Of course we all know Ellis was the pitcher who gave up Reggie Jackson's mammoth blast in the bottom of the Third Inning, taking the loss as the American League won their first Mis-Summer Classic since 1962, 6-4.

ACCIDENTAL PHOTO BOMBING: PART II

Today I offer up two of the best players from the decade caught in the action of someone else's baseball card: Nolan Ryan and Mike Schmidt.
First up is Buddy Harrelson's 1971 Topps card, which shows a (terrible) action shot of him applying a tag on a player trying to steal second base. (Kind of looks like Joe Morgan actually).
In the forefront you can see Nolan Ryan looking on, pumping his fist in approval.  Nice.

#30 Nolan Ryan looking on

Next we have a nice card of Steve Ontiveros from Topps' 1976 set showing him rounding third base while Mike Schmidt seems to be watching the throw about to head home.
I love this card, and as I've stated before, this set. Look at the colors jumping out at you, yet it all works together, even the player's bright yellow name.

Schmidt watching the action unfold

I've been finding a ton of cards like this through the '70's, where stars were caught in the background, or even foreground as in the case of the Buddy Harrelson card.
Definitely a fun thread to work on.