#320 - Dal Maxvill We've got a nice looking shot of the Cardinal's shortstop at Shea. The 1968 season was his best as a player. He won the Gold Glove and hit a career high .253. He slumped badly in 1969, hitting only .175 in 466 at bats.
#321 - Jim McAndrew He was on the Mets in 1969. Next card...
#322 - Jose Vidal You can see that hatless Jose is in an Indians uniform, a team he played for in 70 games over three seasons as he shuttled between AAA and the Tribe. His .158 average would be the reason he never stuck with the big club. After hitting only .192 in 18 games for the Pilots he was traded to the Yankees, but never appeared with them or any other MLB team.
#323 - Larry Miller Larry is another example of a player getting a shot because of expansion. He pitched in four games for the Mets in 1966, but spent the rest of '66 plus all of '67 and '68 in the minor leagues. Yet Topps deems him worthy of a card. Well, Topps blew it because Miller didn't pitch for the Orioles or any other team. Those games for the Mets in '66 were his last big league games.
#324 - Tigers Rookies Les Cain didn't pitch for the Tigers in 1969, but did go 12-7 in 1970. Later in career he hurt his arm and claimed he was forced to pitch, ruining his career. He sued the Tigers for workman's comp and won a settlement of $111 per month for life. Current ESPN announcer Dave "Soup" Campbell played in only 32 games for the Tigers in 1969 and hit a miniscule .103.
#325 - Jose Cardenal The halo on the top of Jose's hat means he's pictured in an Angel's uniform, though they traded him after the 1967 season. Jose hit .257 for the Indians in '68 and followed it up by hitting the exact same .257 in 1969. He would soon bounce around with the Cardinals and Brewers before ending up with the Cubs in 1972. The best years of his career were the seasons he spent with the Cubs.
#326 - Gary Sutherland Sutherland was the Expos' 8th draft pick, taken from the Phillies. He was the starting second baseman their first season, hitting .239. He scored the franchise's first run and recorded their first put-out.
#327 - Willie Crawford Crawford debuted with the Dodgers in 1964 nine days after his 18th birthday. He played bits of a season in LA the next four years before sticking in 1969. He played 129 games as an oufielder, playing in all three spots.
#328 - Joe Horlen This shot of Horlen at Yankee Stadium gives us a good look at the TV numbers the Sox wore in the late '60's, one of a few teams to wear them. After going 19-7 in 1967, his career was in decline, never having a winning season again. He went 13-16 for a really bad Sox team. The Sox were so bad that the expansion Royals finished ahead of them.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)Hall of Famers - 19Hatless - 72Airbrush - 73Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 48
Its going to be a busy weekend with school starting on Tuesday. I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to share my latest target.
I'm in the process of getting all of the Cubs from Donruss' Studio. I'm about 90% finished and the rest should be in my hands within a week. Look for several Studio posts in the weeks to come.
Have a happy and safe Labor Day!
I recently purchased of a Bowman 1953 reprint Cubs set, and I'll show it off next week. It got me thinking about Topps’ entry into the baseball card world in 1951.
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s Bowman was the king of cards. They were the main player in nationally distributed baseball cards.
This is what the 1951 cards look like.They features paintings of the players on the front and a written biography on the back. The size of the cards is on the small side, 2 1/16” x 2 ½”. 
Topps first cards in 1951 were nothing like the Bowman’s. They were really small and had only a design on the back. Bowman must have felt pretty comfortable in their role as card king, because they didn’t make any big design changes from 1951 to 1952. Here is the 1952 front and back
Bowman didn't change much, but Topps sure did! The 1952 Topps set, like Upper Deck’s first release in 1989, was revolutionary. The cards were on thicker cardboard. They were huge, measuring 2 5/8” x 3 ¾”. And the backs didn’t feature a boring written bio, they had stats! 
I wonder what the people at Bowman thought when they first saw the Topps cards? Probably the same thing that the Topps execs thought in 1989 with their first look at Upper Deck. Uh oh!!After getting over their initial shock, the Bowman people did what any company does when the competition puts out a better product—they copied. 
Here is the 1953 Bowman front. No more paintings; now its real color photographs. Of course, there are no names or team names on the front, but you can’t rush into the redesign process. Now take a look at the back 
How about that…stats! It gets even better when you compare the back of a Topps ’52 with a Bowman ’53. Look familiar?? In my mind, copying the competition is the sign of a desperate company. And a desperate company won’t stick around very long. For Bowman, it was only two more years. Their last release was in 1955. Topps bought them out before the 1956 season, and their 25 year stranglehold on the baseball cards business began.
After a decade of almost no change at all, the Topps wax packs saw major changes during the 1990’s. 
1990 was the last year of a 10 year run of the same basic design in the alternating blue green red color scheme. 
The 1991 wrapper featured this new design. It does use red as the main color (continuing the color pattern), but the baseball has been moved to the corner. This was also the end of an era, as 1991 was the last year Topps used an actual wax wrapper. 
There were several changes in 1992. First, Topps began using a cellophane wrapper. We still bust wax, but haven't really since 1991. Blue was used as the primary color, as the 3 year pattern would dictate, but it was a lighter shade of blue than on the wax packs of the ‘80’s. The design also lacks a baseball. Instead, for the first time since 1979, a player is featured. The cards are no longer "The Real One", or at least that slogan was removed. These were all big changes, but the biggest change is what was missing from the pack…gum. It was strictly a pack of cards. No more gum, no more gum stains.
Topps recycled the ’92 design on the 1993 pack, just changing the color scheme. Red was used as the main color, though the old pattern says it should have been green. This would also be the last year of the tight-wrapped packs.
In 1994, we have brand new packaging, the same type still used today. I guess I’m showing my age, but the modern package just doesn’t look right to me. It looks too long and narrow. It doesn't look like baseball cards. Oh, well, I guess that’s progress. The wrapper also features the picture of a generic pitcher who resembles Randy Johnson.
The 1995 packs features another first for Topps, pictures of real players. On the left we see card #1, Frank Thomas. On the other side is Royce Clayton, #67. The choice of Thomas I get, but why Clayton. Perhaps they were showing off the three pictures in one on the card.
The rest of the decade would continue to feature real players on the packs, The players selected were superstars, not Royce Clayton type players. The only other first with these packs was in 1998, when for the first time Topps listed its web address. The internet age had arrived.It was a lot of change in ten years, from wax packs with gum, to cellophane wrappers with URL’s.
By now its old news that after 29 years with competition, in 2010 Topps will regain its status as the only producer of baseball cards. Today’s post isn’t to debate the merits of MLB’s decision, but instead, to look back to when the monopoly ended in 1981.
Here are 1981 wax packs from Topps and the news kids, Donruss and Fleer.
Topps knew that their monopoly was over and they used their wrappers to let everyone know two things. First, these are Topps cards, as the large, resigned logo on top shows. And second, their cards are “The Real One.” By implication, they are saying that the other two are just pretenders.
The Fleer and Donruss wrappers both stress baseball, not the brand. Fleer has “Base Ball” in huge letters. Donruss’ letters aren’t as large, but they also include a player drawing (like Topps did in the ‘70’s) and an MLB logo. I wonder if they knew the other guy was using red as the wrapper color? You would think they would each like their own color so as not to confuse the buyers.
Each of the three charged the same price, 30¢ per pack. But the number of cards in the pack varied, Topps with 15, Fleer with 17, and Donruss with 18. And both Donruss and Fleer had that number prominently displayed on their wrappers, while the 15 on the Topps pack was in pretty small numbers. The new guys were pushing value.
1981 was the only year Fleer and Donruss included gum. The next year Fleer replaced the gum with stickers while Donruss included puzzle pieces. The changes were due to a court ruling that gave Topps the exclusive rights as the baseball cards and gum seller. The other two had to include something else. But honestly, who cared? Most kids I knew didn’t buy the cards for the gum, and stickers or puzzle pieces weren’t going to make any difference either.
Looking at the new guys' wrappers, which seem like a typical Topps wrappers, you would assume the cards inside would be like Topps too. But you would be wrong! When Upper Deck debuted in 1989, they hit a home run right out of the box. But in 1981, Fleer and Donruss had at best an infield single.
Many of the pictures on the Donruss cards had a blurry look to them, like this card of Keith Hernandez.
And the Fleer cards weren’t much better. Here is a nice shot of pitcher Mike Krukow in a catcher's crouch.
And errors, the cards from both companies were full of them. In fact, at the time I remember some people speculating that the errors were done on purpose to help drive demand for the cards, as collectors would try to snap them up. But no, it wasn’t that, it was just poor production. Most errors were corrected in later printings.
Topps didn’t do anything special with their card design for 1981. As far as the cards go, it seemed like it was business as usual.
The one concession to the loss of the monopoly was that Topps put their name on the front of the card for only the second time in their history (Topps has now included their name on every set since 1981; I wonder if it will be included in 2010?) And their cards weren't full of errors.
Topps put additonal pressure on Fleer and Donruss when, for the first time, they issued a Traded set later in the summer. After seeing what the new guys put out, the Topps executives must have figured they would smash the competition and have their monopoly back in a few years. If you consider 29 to be a few, then the Topps people were right!
No big names on this page, but there is one very infamous Cub and two players with the same last name.
#311 - Sparky Lyle The future member of the Bronx Zoo was just two years in to his career. He had a nice record in 1968, going 6-1 in 49 games, all out of the pen. In fact, he spent his entire career as a reliever, never once starting a game. He was just as good in 1969, making 71 appearances and going 8-3.
#312 - Lee Elia He obviously is more well-known for his tirade while manager of the Cubs. He played in only 15 games for the Cubs in 1968, but Topps considered him worthy of a card. In fact, he also had a Cubs card in the 1968 set without appearing in the major leagues at all in 1967. He must have had some connections with someone at Topps! He never played for the Cubs in 1969, which is why I didn't give him a separate post as I have with the other Cubs cards. He was traded to the Yankees in April, 1969, but never made it back to the majors as a player. The card shows him in a White Sox uniform, whom he played for briefly in 1966.
#313 - Bill Robinson After leading the Yankees in hitting in the second half of 1968, Robinson really slumped in 1969. His .171 average got him traded in the off season and he spent the next two season back in the minors before reviving his career with the Phillies and Pirates.
#314 - 4th Series Checklist Hall of Famer Don Drysdale is featured on this card, his final season in the majors.
#315 - Eddie Fisher The knuckle ball pitcher was with his fourth team in four season. He's shown in a White Sox uniform, though the Sox traded him to the Orioles in 1966. He spent 1968 in Cleveland, he pitched in 52 games for the Angels in 1969, going 3-2.
#316 - Hal Lanier One of many good glove, no stick shortstops of the era, Lanier hit .206 in '68 and hit .228 in 1969.
#317 - Bruce Look I had this card of Bruce Look as a kid and always liked the look of it (no pun intended). Many of the players in the set looked kind of scary, but Bruce has a really nice smile and looks like someone who would sign a ball for a kid. Unfortunately for him, his 59 games in 1968 were his only major league games.
#318 - Jack Fisher Here is our second Fisher, also a pitcher. He's pictured in a Mets uniform, the team he was with from 1964 - 1967. He was sent to the White Sox for the 1968 campaign. The Reds picked Jack up after the season. 1969 would be his final in the majors, due in part to a 5.50 ERA.
#319 - Ken McMullen This card gives us a good look at the Senator's road uniforom. The third baseman had a good 1968, finishing second on the team in homers and RBIs. He slipped a bit in 1969, dropping to third on the team in HRs and RBIs.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)Hall of Famers - 19Hatless - 68Airbrush - 72Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 47
This page features two of my all-time favorite nicknames
#302 - Jim Pagliaroni Hatless Jim came to the A's after the move to Oakland, so I'm not sure why Topps doesn't have a picture of him with a hat. His career was on its last legs, as he was sold by the A's to the Pilots after 14 games with Oakland. In Seattle, he hit .264 in 110 at bats. The Pilots released him after the season, and he never played in the majors again.
#303 - Cal Koonce As a 21-year-old rookie, Koonce was 10-10 for the Cubs in 1962. He would never win that many games again, and after going back and forth between the Cubs and the minors for several seasons, he was sold to the Mets in August, 1967.
#304 - Padres Rookies After brief appearances with the Indians in 1964 and 1965, Bill Davis made it back to the major leagues in 1969. Thank you expansion! He hit .157 in 33 games and was traded to the Cardinals, but never played for them or any other big league team again. Clarence Gaston was a star for the Padres for several seasons, but his biggest success came as the manager of the world champion Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. I'm not sure when he started going by Cito, but as a player I only remember him as Clarence
#305 - Dick McAuliffe The starting second baseman for the 1968 world champs finished 7th in the MVP vote. He only played in 74 games for the Tigers in 1969, so I would assume he was injured. He's holding the bat in a pretty strange looking stance.
#306 - Jim Grant He has one of the great nicknames of the page, Mudcat. Grant is shown in an Indians uniform, though he was traded away from Cleveland in 1964. He was with his third team in three seasons in 1969, and he didn't stay long in Montreal. The Cardinals picked him and his 1-6 record up in a June trade. He did much better for the Redbirds, going 7-5.
#307 - Gary Kolb Kolb came to the majors with the Cardinals as a 20 year old hot shot rookie. But he never lived up to his promise and was bouced around between the Cardinals, Braves, Mets (he's in a Met's uniform in the picture) and finally the Pirates. 1969 was his final big league season. A .081 batting average in 37 at bats will usually end a career.
#308 - Wade Blasingame Wade is shown in a Braves uniform, and was traded to the Astros during the 1967 season. He spent most of the '69 season working out of the pen and was 0-5 with a 5.37 ERA. Yet he stuck around with the Astros for a couple more seasons.
#309 - Walt Williams Great nickname number two, No-Neck. One look at the card and you know exactly where that name came from. He was a fan-favorite with the Sox, a guy who played hard and had some pop despite his 5'6" frame. As a Cubs fan, it was my duty to not like any of the Sox players, but I made an exception for No-Neck. In 1969 he played in a career-highs in games. 135 and batting average, .304.
#310 - Tom Haller Haller is obviously not in a Dodger uniform, but is wearing a Giants uni. Topps didn't have to do any airbrushing since they shot him in the catchers pose with the backwards hat. Today they would have photoshopped the hat and his sleeves blue and voila, instant Dodger. He was an All-Star for the Dodgers in 1968, his first season with LA and his third straight- All-Star game. But 1969 saw the beginning of a gradual decline for Haller and by 1970 he had lost his starting job.
Overall Set Totals (player cards only)Hall of Famers - 19Hatless - 66Airbrush - 71Cubs (includes past, present, or future) - 46
