Topps Cards That Never Were: 1972 Ernie Banks

Matt R requested a 1972 Banks, and I happened to have that one already done, so he gets back to back requests (Night Owl, check your email for the Boog Powell card, and the Kingman card will take awhile).

These cards couldn't have turned out any better in my opinion. Either I'm getting better at this, or 72 Topps is just such a great template.

Anyways, 72 Topps was missing Mr. Cub from their product line, and with 787 cards in that set, I find it hard to believe Ernie couldn't make the cut. True, Mr. Banks had a very subpar year for his standards, barely scratching any respectable ABs in 1971. I don't know the history, but he must have been injured that season.

This set allows two versions, the standard card and my first In Action card. The In Action card was a sure fire pain because the name text has a wave to it. I cheated, and didn't give the name the true wave:

Version 1 - Mr. Cub

Version 2 - In Action!
(photo courtesy of Steve's Baseball Photography Pages)

Here are Ernie's stats from 1971 at the age of 40:

YEAR	CLUB	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG
1971	Cubs	39	83	4	16	2	0	3	6	.193

Backlogged cards ready to roll include: 90 Schmidt, 88 Jackson (almost), 80 Hunter, 77 F. Robinson, 76 F. Robinson and 75 Kaline.