CUSTOM SPECIAL INSERT: 1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS THURMAN MUNSON REDO

Hello everyone!

On the blog today, my special insert card for my "Series 16" set, a redo of the never-released Topps 1971 Rookie All-Stars card of Thurman Munson:

Profiled here on the blog a while back, Topps had a prototype set made of the 1970 Rookie All-Stars, with Munson as the key player.

It was just a paste-up 5x7 set on card-stock that never ended up getting released, but that set did make it out there into the collecting world, thus creating the "unicorn" status for uber-collectors.

I wanted to create something special as far as an insert for my Series 16 set, so I just recreated the Munson card with the original template, with a new image of the future Yankees captain.

I guess you can say the future Yankee dynasty of the late 1970's started right here with this guy when he came up and won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970.

Soon after he was joined by the likes of Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph, on their way to back-to-back titles as well as an American League pennant in 1976.

Not only did he take home the Rookie of the Year in 1970, but he'd go on to win the Most Valuable Player award six years later, to go along with seven all-star berths as well as three Gold Gloves.

For three consecutive seasons he drove in 100+ runs with LESS than 20 homers, topping out at 18 in 1977, while hitting over .300 each and every time.

I particularly love his M.V.P. year, where he had 665 plate appearances yet only struck out 38 times while collecting 186 hits over 616 at-bats. Pretty amazing stuff. He even stole 14 bases as well!

What an age for catchers huh? You had Munson, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons all putting in all-star seasons after all-star seasons.

Sadly we all know how Munson's story played out. I remember that day like it was yesterday and will never forget it.

 

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: THURMAN MUNSON

On the blog today, THE "never-released" 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card everyone would be gunning for these days, Thurman Munson, which would have been a SWEET card to have in any collection:

I guess you can say the future Yankee dynasty of the late 1970's started right here with this guy when he came up and won the American League Rookie of the Year in 1970.

Soon after he was joined by the likes of Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph, on their way to back-to-back titles as well as an American League pennant in 1976.

Not only did he take home the Rookie of the Year in 1970, but he'd go on to win the Most Valuable Player award six years later, to go along with seven all-star berths as well as three Gold Gloves.

For three consecutive seasons he drove in 100+ runs with LESS than 20 homers, topping out at 18 in 1977, while hitting over .300 each and every time.

I particularly love his M.V.P. year, where he had 665 plate appearances yet only struck out 38 times while collecting 186 hits over 616 at-bats. Pretty amazing stuff. He even stole 14 bases as well!

What an age for catchers huh? You had Munson, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons all putting in all-star seasons after all-star seasons.

Sadly we all know how Munson's story played out. I remember that day like it was yesterday and will never forget it.

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: CARL MORTON

The next unreleased 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card we spotlight here on the blog will be the N.L.'s top rookie of the 1970 season, former Montreal Expos pitcher Carl Morton, who took home top honors:

After a brief cup-of-coffee in 1969 on the inaugural Expos team, Morton came back in 1970 and put together an excellent rookie year, posting a record of 18-11 with a 3.60 earned run average and four shutouts over 43 appearances, 37 of which were starts, with a whopping 284.2 innings pitched.

Those numbers also got him a ninth-place finish in the Cy Young race as well, while getting him some points in MVP voting by baseball writers too.

He would go on to put in eight years in the big leagues, never really matching the numbers he put up that first year, but a solid starter nevertheless, finishing up with a career 87-92 record with a 3.73 E.R.A., 13 shutouts and 650 strikeouts over 1648.2 innings of work, pitching for the Expos and Atlanta Braves.

Typical of pitchers of the era, Morton put in some innings-heavy years over his career, with four of his eight seasons topping 250+, three times over 270.

Certainly a far cry for today's handling of moundsmen!

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: ALAN GALLAGHER

Up on the blog today, the next un-released 1971 "Topps Rookie All-Star" that was supposed to be part of their 1971 set, former infielder Alan Gallagher:

Gallagher had a decent rookie year in 1970, hitting .266 over 109 games for the San Francisco Giants while manning third base.

Those numbers were good enough to tab him the rookie All-Star at third base, leading to the beauty of a prototype card you see here.

Though he did have another decent year in 1971, hitting .277 over 136 games, setting career bests across the board in what turned out to be a brief four year career, he'd never play at that level again, splitting time in 1973 with the Giants and California Angels before playing ball in various Minor Leagues, as well as Mexico.

His final MLB numbers: four years and 442 games, hitting .263 with 114 runs scored, 333 hits and 130 RBIs, seeing most of his time at third base.

Look for his "missing" 1974 card here on the blog in the near future!

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: ROY FOSTER

On the blog today, the next 1970 Topps Rookie All-Star who was going to have a special card created in 1971 before Topps scrapped the idea, leaving us with the following prototype, Cleveland Indians Outfielder Roy Foster:

Foster was the runner-up to Thurman Munson for the American League rookie of the year in 1970 for Cleveland.
He put in a nice season in 1970, posting a .268 average with 23 homers and 63 ribbies in his rookie year, seemingly ready to give the Indians a solid young outfielder for years to come.

Sadly for him however, he ended up having a disappointing year in 1971 which saw him bat .245 with 18 homers and 45 runs batted, leading Cleveland to ship him off to the Texas Ranger for 1972.

Oddly, in what seemed like a common thing in that era, it turns out that he would end up getting traded BACK to Cleveland right before the new season started, ending up playing what would turn out to be the final 73 games of his brief career, batting .224 with only four homers and 13 runs batted in, before spending the 1973 season in the Minors and the following couple of years in the Mexican League before retiring for good.

A quick career that began with promise before flaming out just like that, but NOT before getting some nice attention for that rookie campaign in 1970.

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: JOHN ELLIS

Up on the blog today, we look at the next unreleased 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card from a very desirable rare prototype set, John Ellis of the New York Yankees:

Ellis had a decent 1970 season for the Yanks, appearing in 78 games while hitting .248, easily signifying a "down" year for rookie first baseman if you ask me.

He'd go on to play thirteen years in the Majors, generally at first or behind the plate as a catcher, never truly a full-timer except for the 1973 and 1974 seasons while with the Cleveland Indians.

By the time he hung them up after the 1981 season, Ellis finished with a .262 career average, with 699 hits in 2672 at-bats, with 69 homers and 391 runs batted in, playing for the Yankees, Indians and Texas Rangers.

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: BILLY CONIGLIARO

Today on the blog, we take a look at the unreleased 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card for Billy Conigliaro, younger brother of Tony:

As stated earlier, Topps proposed a sub-set designed as you see here featuring the 1970 Rookie All-Star team, but never went on to produce the cards.

Originally larger poster board mock ups, some got out and made it to the open market years ago.

As for younger brother Billy, after a promising rookie year in 1970 that saw him slam 18 home runs while batting .271 in only 114 games, he could never quite match that production again, finding himself with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1972 and the Oakland A’s in 1973, playing a total of 100 games combined those two seasons before finding himself out of baseball for good.

He put in parts of five seasons in the Majors, hitting .256 over 347 games, with 40 homers and 128 runs batted in, scoring 142 runs between 1969 and 1973.

 

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: DAVE CASH

Up on the blog today, we take a closer look at the unreleased 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card of Dave Cash, part of a fun sub-set that I wish Topps went ahead with way back when:

These were never released to the public, and were paste-up oversized designs on poster board, with some "leaking out" and making their way out for us to see.

Nice time-specific design and coloring!

Cash appeared in 18 games as a 21-year-old in 1969, hitting .279 with 17 hits over 61 official at-bats, with eight runs scored and four RBIs.

But in 1970 he'd show the Pirates what he'd end up doing throughout his career, HIT, as he'd put up a .314 batting average over 64 games.

He'd head over to the “City of Brotherly Love” in October of 1973 in a trade for pitcher Ken Brett, and did not disappoint the Phillie faithful, having his three best years as a Major Leaguer between 1974-1976.
In those three seasons Cash averaged over 200 hits a season, along with a .300 average while playing pretty much every single game, even setting the MLB record (since broken) of 699 at-bats during the 1975 season.
He’d sign with the Montreal Expos in the Winter of 1976 as a Free Agent, and would have one more very good year in 1977 before quickly having his career turn South.
After an injury-plagued 1979 season he found himself with the San Diego padres in 1980, where he hit .227 over 130 games, before retiring at only 32 years of age.
All told, Cash finished with a very nice .283 career average, with 1571 hits over 5554 at-bats and 1422 games between 1969 and 1980, stealing 120 bases and scoring 732 runs.

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: BERNIE CARBO

On the blog today, we take a closer look at the unreleased Bernie Carbo 1971 Topps Rookie All-Star card, as part of my recent thread looking at the super rare card set that Topps decided NOT to move forward with, though they DID in fact create a paste-board set before scrapping the project:

It was a fun design that really fit more in-line with the 1972 set than the 1971 set, and I wish Topps would have moved forward with it!

As for Carbo, the young Cincinnati Reds outfielder made the squad after an excellent rookie year in 1970, one that could have easily won him Rookie of the Year to be honest.

Carbo hit .310 for the National League champs, with 21 homers and 63 runs batted in over just 125 games, also drawing 94 walks for an awesome .454 on-base-percentage.

Those are some impressive numbers for only 125 games!

Sadly for him however, though he would go on to put in twelve years in the Big Leagues, that season would the best of his career, never reaching any of those numbers again before retiring after the 1980 season.

All told, Carbo finished with a .264 batting average, with 96 homers and 358 RBIs over 1010 games, playing for six organizations, appearing in two World Series, though on the losing side with the Reds in 1970 and the Boston Red Sox in 1975, when he was one of the Boston hitting stars against the "Big Red Machine", hitting .429 with two homers and four RBIs in four games.

 

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: LES CAIN

The next rookie All-Star featured in my 1971 unreleased Topps Rookie All-Star set is Detroit Tigers pitcher Les Cain, who had a very nice rookie year in 1970:

As I mentioned last week with the initial Larry Bowa card in this set, these were never made into cards, but prototypes that were pasted onto poster board.

Well, as is usually the case with this stuff, somehow one full set made it out and began floating on the auction circuit some years ago, giving many their first look at perhaps the rarest Topps odd-ball set.

Anyway, I certainly do not fault Topps for picking the young lefty for their rookie team, as Cain would post a 12-7 record in his first full season, pitching to a 3.84 earned run average, with five complete games over his 29 starts, striking out 156 batters in 180.2 innings.

Sadly, in his final season in the Big Leagues, 1972, Cain appeared in five games for the Tigers that season, going 0-3 with a 3.80 earned run average over 23.2 innings of work, all five of those appearances starts.
The previous two seasons were good for Cain, as he posted records of 12-7 and 10-9 respectively, filling a spot as one of Detroit’s main starters.
However, in what turned out to be a landmark case against Major League baseball, after Cain developed arm trouble in that 1972 season at the age of only 24, he insisted that manager Billy Martin still made him pitch, resulting in career-ending arm troubles (sound familiar?), which led him to sue the organization.
In a stunning move, the Michigan Bureau of Workman’s Compensation ruled in favor of Cain and judged that the Detroit Tigers would have to pay Cain $111 a week for the rest of his life!
Incredible!
Cain is still alive, and I’m assuming still collecting his checks from the Tigers to this day, some 47 years later.
As for his Big League career, he finished with a record of 23-19 over 68 appearances, starting 64 of those games and pitching to a 3.98 ERA over 373 innings in parts of four seasons between 1968 and 1972.

 

1971 TOPPS ROOKIE ALL-STARS: LARRY BOWA

Good day everyone.

Up on the blog today, we begin a card by card spotlight of the never-issued 1971 Topps All-Star Rookies set, beginning with Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa:

This is a fun looking set that would have been cool to pull from packs way back when!

Now, as my buddy Tim Jenking ("Pilot Sighting!") mentioned in a write-up he had on the SABR blog some five years ago, these were never made into cards, but prototypes that were pasted onto poster board.

Well, as is usually the case with this stuff, somehow one full set made it out and began floating on the auction circuit some years ago, giving many their first look at perhaps the rarest Topps odd-ball set.

Basically if you remember the players that got a Rookie Trophy on their 1971 card, that's who represents the full checklist here, with the biggie being New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson.

I love the way this set looks, and look forward to posting each one for you all to see them, if you haven't already.

As for Bowa, the future five-time all-star and two-time Gold Glove winner would make a great addition to guys like Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt, helping the organization become a powerhouse in their division later in the decade.
Bowa would make an immediate impact, finishing third in National League Rookie of the Year voting, and if it wasn’t for a guy named Dave Concepcion of the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati Reds, would have been the perennial N.L. Short Stop in the all-star game between 1974 and 1980.
Nevertheless, Bowa wrapped up his solid career with a half season playing for the New York Mets in 1985 after three and a half years with the Chicago Cubs, playing his entire career in the National League East, and finishing with 2191 hits, a .260 average, 318 stolen bases and just under 1000 runs scored with 987.

Keep an eye out for future posts covering this uber-rare Topps sub-set!

For those that want a little more info, here's the Tim Jenkins piece I mentioned earlier:

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2018/11/26/proofs-of-the-mythical-rookies/