As I mentioned a while back with my post showing my design for a
1979 "Player of the Decade" card for Pete Rose, I'm really a fan of
celebrating a player who came to dominate an entire decade, and be voted
accordingly as the "top player" by the Sporting News.
With that being said, today I'd like to present my design for a
card I wish Topps would have considered for their 1970 set: a "1960's
Player of the Decade" specimen showing all-time great Willie Mays.
Take a look:
The man flat-out raked during the decade of the '60's!
All the man did was finish in the top-10 in M.V.P. voting seven
times, taking home the award in 1965 (with many remarking that HE should
have won in 1962 over Maury Wills), top 30-homers six times, 40 homers
four times, and 50 in 1965 (being the last to
reach that mark until George Foster hit 52 in 1977).
Throw in seven 100+ R.B.I. seasons, six 100+ runs seasons, five
.300+ years, nine Gold Gloves and all-star appearances every single
year, and you see why it was so easy to choose the "Say Hey Kid" as the
player of the decade.
Is it me, or is being voted "Player of the Decade" pretty freakin' big?!
I think such an honor speaks volumes historically, and it's a shame it goes so unnoticed through the years.
On a side note: technically my Pete Rose card designed for the 1979
set was not possible since he was voted player of the decade AFTER the
1979 season was over. But hey, you have to give yourself SOME liberties
when running a blog right?
