On the blog today, a card that really represents a BUNCH of cards that I'd love to redo in the future, "missing" All-Star cards for actual starters of the previous season's game instead of some random selections Topps began doing in 1981, this being a 1983 All-Star card for actual A.L. starter Dennis Eckersley in the 1982 game:
Getting
into card collecting around 1976/1977, I grew accustomed and EXPECTED
my All-Star cards to represent the game's starters from the previous
year.
In 1981 I was hit with a ton of bricks when I saw that
Topps was now straying from that path when the great J.R. Richard, for
some reason, did NOT have the All-Star banner across the top of his
card, as was the case for Willie Randolph, Ben Oglivie, Graig Nettles
and Ken Reitz.
What the hell man!?
When the 1982
cards came out, yep, we had more of the same, and by 1983 it was
expected that Topps truly abandoned the "starter" criteria in favor of
their own choices.
To this day it bothers me, and yes, I'll be fixing this in the future.
For
Eckersley, he was the starter for the American League in the 1982 game
held in Montreal, and pitched the first three innings, giving up three
runs and eventually taking the loss, the big blow being Dave
Concepcion's two-run homer in the second inning.
The National league went on to win the game 4-1, continuing their winning streak that began back in 1972.
The other player not given the All-Star treatment even though he was a starter in the 1982 game? Cecil Cooper.
