Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Topps Cards That Never Were: 1974 Willie Mays

Matt R requested a 1974 Willie Mays. This was actually one of the first cards I made, but I just wasn't satisfied with one of the versions. Also, the font on the name is just not quite right. I wish someone had put together a list of all the Topps card font types and sizes over the years! A color wheel wouldn't hurt either...

Anyways, yet again Topps dropped the ball in 1974 when they failed to release a Willie Mays card for his final season. Say Hey was a sure fire HOFer, and despite his lackluster stats in 1973, he should have had a card. Heck, he even played in the World Series against the A's that year!

Willie hammered 6 dingers in 1973, giving him 660 lifetime, which I always remembered because those early 70s sets had 660 cards. Willie is also part of one of my favorite trivia questions that Balco Bonds ruined...

The top three home run leaders of all time all began and finished their careers in the same town, but on different teams. Who and what are they?

Hank Aaron (755) - Milwaukee Braves and Milwaukee Brewers
Babe Ruth (714) - Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves
Willie Mays (660) - New York Giants and New York Mets

This all time class act deserves three versions:

Version 1 - Old Mays

Version 2 - Straight out of the 74 set!

Version 3 - Close up shot!

Here are the Say Hey Kid's stats from 1973:

YEAR CLUB G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG
1973 Mets
66
209
24
44
10
0
6
25
.211

As always, I am taking requests!

8 comments:

Rod (Padrographs) said...

Like to see a 1977 Padres Dave Kingman card here is a link to the one I did which is a cut and paste job. http://padrographs.blogspot.com/2009/04/ttm-success_13.html

mmosley said...

Mays #2 is NICE!

Matt Runyon said...

I like 'em! :)

How about 1972 Banks?

Paul P said...

Those are some killer sideburns that Willie is sporting.

night owl said...

I'd love to see a 1978 card of Boog Powell as a Dodger. But finding a photo of him as a Dodger is not easy.

Anonymous said...

Dude, nice! I really like #2, it really does look like it's from that set.

Could you do a 1990 Topps Mike Schmidt please?

tastelikedirt said...

It would be nice to have a fourth card where Mays is stumbling and falling all over himself in the outfield during the World Series that year.

Jim from Downingtown said...

These are all great cards, but in more than one post, you mention that "Topps failed to release a card in the player's final season". Mays' final season was 1973, not 1974. Same with Koufax: his final season was 1966, not 1967. Topps typically didn't issue a card for a player after he retired.

An exception is Mickey Mantle, who retired during spring training in 1969 (after the cards were already designed, no doubt.)

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