REVISITING AN OLD BLOG POST- NOVEMBER 6th, 2016: A "DREAM CARD" THAT NEVER WAS

Thought it'd be fun to revisit one of my favorite customs over the years, this one created back in 2016: a "fantasy" 1973 rookie card featuring three top-notch outfielders:

One player went on to the Hall of Fame, and the other two can be argued to be part of that posse.

I for one STILL say Dave Parker is a Hall of Famer!
Nevertheless, we know Winfield and Parker would actually have their rookie cards the following year in the 1974 set.
Evans was the only player of the three to appear on a multi-player rookie card in ‘73, and I left his part “as-is” and added the other two on either side of him.
It’s been stated that Parker and Winfield changed the ballplayer prototype when they entered the league. Huge, slugging athletes who could also run and play stellar defense.
Evans of course took a little longer to come into his own, but when he did he became of the game’s best in the early to mid 80’s.
All three had awesome Major League careers, with Winfield leading the way and ending up in the Hall of Fame.
But again, look at what those other two did on the ball field and tell me without question that they don’t deserve to be there.
It’s a tough argument for sure...
Would have been an awesome card to be chasing as a kid, as well as these days as a collector.

1977 SPECIAL- RAY FOSSE DENIES THE RED SOX DWIGHT EVANS

Just a fun card to create and post up today on the blog, an “action” card of Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse against the Boston Red Sox:

I can’t really determine what game this is, though the Indians played the Red Sox in their second game of the 1976 season after opening up the year against the Detroit Tigers for one game.
Anyone have an idea?
Fosse was enjoying a return to the Indians, the team he made his mark with earlier in the decade when he made two All-Star teams and two Gold Gloves in 1970 and 1971.
Of course, everyone remembers that play at the plate with Pete Rose in the 1970 All-Star game which left him in agony after Rose plowed into him trying to score.
Fosse would end up putting in 12 years as a Big League catcher, playing through the 1979 season and finishing up with a career .256 batting average, with those two Gold Gloves and two All-Star nods between 1967 and 1979.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S- 1977 DWIGHT "DEWEY" EVANS

It’s about time I get around to creating a “Nicknames of the ‘70’s” card for Red Sox all-star outfielder Dwight “Dewey” Evans, who formed a third of what was an extraordinary young outfield for the Boston franchise in the late-70’s/Early-80s:

Evans was part of the amazing outfield comprised of himself, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn who all came up in the mid-70’s and went on to excellent Major League careers.
For Evans, it was a career that lasted 20-years, all but one, his last in 1991 with the Baltimore Orioles, with Boston.
This was a career that included eight Gold Gloves and three All-Star nods, while finishing in the top-10 in American League MVP voting four times, while finishing up with 2446 hits, 385 home runs and 1384 runs batted in, all with a .272 average in over 2600 games and just under 9000 at-bats.
Let’s not forget that the man had an absolute gun for an arm out in right-field while being one of the top outfielders in the Junior Circuit over the course of his career.
Often overshadowed by teammates throughout his career, Evans would end up as a borderline Hall of Famer, outplaying many of the very guys that got the spotlight.

THE RED SOX YOUTH BRIGADE!- A SPECIAL CARD FOR THE 1976 SET

I was always in awe of the fact that the Boston Red Sox had THREE future star outfielders in Dwight Evans, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn come up around the same time and put in All-Star careers, and wanted to create a special card for the 1976 set celebrating them:

What can you say about these three?
Fred Lynn came to the Major League scene like a bomb and went on to win BOTH the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Awards in 1975, Jim Rice goes on to put in a Hall of Fame career along with an MVP Award in 1978, and Dwight Evans can easily be argued as a Hall-worthy player putting in his best seasons in the 1980’s, though he was always a solid player.
Any team should be so lucky to have this!

A DREAM ROOKIE CARD THAT NEVER WAS-WINFIELD, PARKER AND EVANS IN 1973

Every once in a while I have to create a hum-dinger of a stretch “Fantasy” card that never was, and this one fits the bill, a fantasy 1973 rookie card of Dave Winfield, Dave Parker and Dwight Evans:

One player went on to the Hall of Fame, and the other two can be argued to be part of that posse.
I for one STILL say Dave Parker is a Hall of Famer!
Nevertheless, we know Winfield and Parker would actually have their rookie cards the following year in the 1974 set.
Evans was the only player of the three to appear on a multi-player rookie card in ‘73, and I left his part “as-is” and added the other two on either side of him.
It’s been stated that Parker and Winfield changed the ballplayer prototype when they entered the league. Huge, slugging athletes who could also run and play stellar defense.
Evans of course took a little longer to come into his own, but when he did he became of the game’s best in the early to mid 80’s.
All three had awesome Major League careers, with Winfield leading the way and ending up in the Hall of Fame.
But again, look at what those other two did on the ball field and tell me without question that they don’t deserve to be there.
It’s a tough argument for sure...
Would have been an awesome card to be chasing as a kid, as well as these days as a “collector” (what it has come to mean in this day and age).

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1973 DWIGHT EVANS

Time to go ahead and give long time Red Sox star outfielder Dwight Evans, aka "Dewey" a "dedicated rookie card" in the 1973 set:

His rookie card in that 1973 set was a shared slab alongside two other promising players: Al Bumbry (eventual 1973 A.L. Rookie of the Year) and Charlie Spikes.

But it was Evans who was about to start a wonderful 20-year Major League career, 19 of which were with the Boston Red Sox patrolling their outfield alongside guys like Yastrzemski, Lynn and Rice, and enter some arguable Hall of Fame talk by the time he was done..

He appeared in 18 games during the 1972 season to get his first taste of the big leagues, but was here to stay once 1973 got going.

By the time he retired after the 1991 season, he collected over 2400 hits, 480 doubles, 380 homers, 1300 runs batted in and 1400 runs scored, all while posting a .272 batting average.

Oh yeah, he also went and took home eight Gold Gloves for his defensive work and had four years of top-10 MVP finishes when voting came around.

Funny enough it wasn't until he reached 30 years of age that he really started raking!

Beginning in 1981 (at 29 years old), he started putting up big time numbers, including four 100+ RBI seasons, five 25+ home run seasons and four 100+ runs scored seasons, the ONLY times he'd do ANY of that in his career!

Amazing.