1989 Topps Kirk Gibson World Series Highlights

In 1989, Fleer, Score, and Upper Deck made cards highlighting Kirk Gibson's Home Run in the 1988 World Series. Donruss wasn't really into making highlight cards, but he was a Diamond King. Topps missed the boat altogether, just giving him a base card, and an All-Star card (which ironically has him listed as a Pinch-Hitter). You have to go all the way to 1997 before Topps made any form of highlight cards, and then a year later before they made World Series highlight cards. I used a little bit of the design from a 1989 Topps Gary Carter All-Star card, and a 1989 Topps Orel Hershiser Record Breaker card to make this one. So now, about 25 years overdue, we have a 1989 Topps Kirk Gibson World Series Highlight card.

Asking for help

I don't really have a clue of how many people really read my blog or what types of people read my blog. I don't have any followers now, and that's ok. Sometimes I don't think my cards are that great compared to others. I just wanted to make this post in case any other custom card makers happen to read my blog or see it in the future. I have compiled a list of 75 cards that never were (3 series of 25) that I definitely want to make. So far, I have finished 19 of them. I have more cards that I can make as well, probably 3-5 from every Topps set from 1951 on to 1996. I plan on making Topps cards that never were until I run out of good ideas, and at that point, I honestly think that my Topps cards that never were set will be around 400 cards, maybe closer to 500. I think that would be a great number and at that point, I would love to try and print them and have an actual set to put in binders (God knows Topps will probably never make one). The main reason for writing this post is that there are many bloggers out there who have also done cards that never were, including a good number of cards that are on my list of ones to make. I would love to include other bloggers who have made Topps cards that never were on this blog. If you have done cards with just fronts, I would be happy to try to add backs to them, and I would totally give you credit for your part of the card. Or, if you made a whole card and want to include it in my set, I would be honored to add it. Or maybe you have ideas or requests for a Topps card that never was, I would be up for the challenge. I would love to finish a 500 or so card set of Topps cards that never were and finally have cards in my hand that I have always dreamed of but never able to have. If you feel you can help or any of this interests you, feel free to leave me a comment. Thanks as always for checking out this little blog and your comments and input and suggestions are always welcome. Lastly, here are the checklists for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th series so you can see what's up next. The Series 1 Checklist is on my first post.

REMAINING CARDS IN SERIES 1

1989 Kirk Gibson World Series Highlights
1992 Mike Piazza/Carlos Delgado/Javy Lopez/Dan Wilson Prospects
1991 Jeff Bagwell Red Sox Future Stars
1982 Ryne Sandberg Phillies
1981 Minnie Minoso
1997 Alejandro Pena


SERIES 2

1980 Disco Demolition Night highlight
1990 Bo Jackson All-Star Game highlight
1993 Stadium Club Derek Jeter 1st Day Issue
1978 Ted Turner MGR
1990 Mo Vaught Draft Pick
1993 Rick Dempsey
1986 Traded Greg Maddux
1987 Buckner/Wilson World Series highlight
1984 Traded Kirby Puckett
2000 Bowman Albert Pujols
1990 Topps Pete Rose MGR
1993 Charles Johnson Coming Attractions
1991 Todd Van Poppel Draft Pick
1996 Dave Winfield
1994 Sparky Anderson MGR
1989 Charles Nagy Draft Pick
1987 Traded Edgar Martinez
1984 Johnny Bench
1995 Kenny Rogers highlight
1994 Joe Carter World Series highlight
1994 Ryan/Ventura fight highlight
1991 Traded Pedro Martinez
1992 Mike Scott
1995 Jack Morris
1997 Alan Trammell


SERIES 3

1999 Dennis Martinez
1996 Dave Stewart
1990 Dave Dravecky highlight
1991 Mike Mussina Draft Pick
1988 Traded John Smoltz
1994 Dale Murphy
1987 Bob Horner highlight
1988 Traded Sammy Sosa
1991 Ken Griffey Jr/Sr highlight
1991 Traded Ryan Klesko
1989 Don Sutton
1987 Traded Tom Glavine
1990 Traded Juan Guzman
1989 Steve Carlton
1988 Traded Curt Schilling
1990 Nolan Ryan highlight
1989 Tino Martinez Draft Pick
1994 Mark Whiten highlight
1991 Traded Javy Lopez
1988 Traded Sandy Alomar Jr
1994 Torii Hunter Draft Pick
1989 Mario Soto
1999 Mark McGwire highlight
1996 Kirk Gibson
1988 Traded Rob Dibble


SERIES 4

1991 Bill Buckner
1993 Phil Nevin Draft Pick
1952 Ted Williams
1983 Willie Stargell
1983 Willie Stargell Super Veteran
1991 Tony Clark Draft Pick
1994 Derrek Lee Draft Pick
1996 Sparky Anderson MGR
1983 Traded Don Mattingly
1999 Dennis Eckersley
1985 Danny Jackson
1991 Jeromy Burnitz Draft Pick
1988 Reggie Jackson
1989 Ray Knight
1988 Greg Jefferies Future Stars
1989 Traded Juan Gonzalez
1980 Thurmon Munson
1993 Traded Alex Rodriguez Team USA
1987 Traded Jay Buhner
1984 Carl Yastrzemski
1982 Traded Ron Kittle
1991 Jerry Reuss
2002 Luis Gonzalez World Series Highlight
1996 Lou Whitaker
1977 Hank Aaron

1988 Topps Traded Ken Griffey, Jr.

The second card I'm doing from the 1988 Topps Traded set is Ken Griffy, Jr. I think that if this card would've been released, that it still wouldn't have been as popular as the 1989 Upper Deck rookie, but you never know. Topps wasn't doing Draft Pick cards in 1988, and the 1989 Bowman set with more rookie focus wasn't out yet, but Topps did feature Delino DeShields (the Montreal Expos #1 1988 Draft choice) in their O-Pee-Chee set in 1988, so if Topps really wanted to, they could've made this card. Or better yet, a 1987 Draft Pick card. Maybe I'll try that in the future.

1992 Topps Gene Larkin World Series Highlights

This card was recently featured in my Completing the 1992 Topps Set blog. For some reason, Topps and all the other card makers in 1992 didn't feature any highlight cards from the 1991 Playoffs and World Series. Topps did make some in their 1992 Topps Stadium Club Dome set, but it wasn't widely distributed.
Gene Larkin did what most kids dream about, and had a game-winning hit in Game 7 of the World Series. Not only that, but his hit was in the bottom of the 10th. It's weird when you compare it to other walkoff World Series hits. Most people remember that Luis Gonzalez had the Series-winning hit in 2001, but not that Jay Bell scored the winning run. Most people remember that Craig Counsell scored the Series-winning run in 1997, but also remember that Edgar Renteria had the winning hit. On Larkin's hit, however, I think most people remember that Dan Gladden scored the winning run and picture him and Jack Morris at the plate, but few people outside of Minnesota seem to remember that Larkin had the hit. Here is what his 1992 Topps World Series Highlight card may have looked like.

1991 Topps Cecil Fielder Highlights

Cecil Fielder is one of my all-time favorite Detroit Tigers. When I really started following baseball in 1992 or so, Cecil was one of the most popular players in a game, coming off his 3rd straight season of leading the American League in RBIs. I saw him play a few times in Spring Training over the years, and in 2010 at Rob Ducey's

Pro Free Agent Showcase , I finally got to meet Mr. Fielder in person (he was a coach at the showcase). The whole concept of a free agent showcase was innovative, and as an autograph collector back then, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some signatures, and possibly meet one of my favorite Tigers. I contacted Mr. Ducey (himself a former Big-Leaguer) through the e-mail provided on the website, and asked him if it would be ok to attend and watch the tryouts. He replied promptly and said it was fine. I went to the tryout camp, and got many autographs, but still hadn't met Cecil. They had a break for lunch, and after the players got their fill, Mr. Ducey went up to me and asked if I would like some lunch. I said 'sure', and got some BBQ, and watched the rest of the tryout. At the end, Cecil came into the stands and was talking with a few scouts. I waited for him to get done talking, but he motioned for me to come over, and he happily signed a few cards and shook my hand. It was a great day for me as a baseball fan. I wish I would've made this card back then. I would've loved to show it to Big Daddy.

In 1991, Topps had a few subsets (All-Stars, Draft Picks, Future Stars, and Record Breakers), but no Season Highlight cards. Donruss produced a highlight card of Cecil in their Highlights insert set, and Score had a highlight card as well, but no highlight card for Topps. I used Topps' Future Stars template for this one, and think it turned out ok, and looks pretty close to what Topps may have done if they had made a highlights subset in 1991.

1967 Topps Mets Rookie Stars

This isn't the first 1967 Topps Nolan Ryan/Tom Seaver card, but I still thought I would add it, since I haven't seen anyone do one with a back to it. Mets 360 did a nice one that used Ryan's photo from his 1968 Topps card. The 1967 Seaver card that Topps made would probably be worth at least double what it is if Ryan had been on it. This card and the 1952 Topps Eddie Gaedel are probably the oldest cards I will do in my custom set for now. I was born in 1983, so mainly cards from the 1990's, 2000's, and 1980's respectively are cards that I know like the back of my hand. I have working checklists of the next 2 series of 25 cards, and they mostly consist of '80's, '90's and a few '00's cards of stars, but I do have a few cards of players who weren't superstars, and a few cards before 1980. For the 4th series, I plan to do a few lesser-known players, and maybe venture into more cards before 1980. I have a huge list of cards that never were from 1951 to the present that I made, and maybe someday I'll get around to posting them. If you are reading this and have any ideas for cards, feel free to let me know, and thanks for checking out my boring blog.

1978 Topps Rookie Infielders

If things play out like I think they will in the Hall of Fame voting in the next year, this card would've been the rookie card of 4 Hall of Famers. Topps made a seperate card for Eddie Murray in the 1978 set, and didn't include Ozzie Smith (his rookie would appear in 1979. I found an awesome blog called KOD14 in my search for photos, and though there's not much information about it, I believe I got the basic idea of the blog. The blog's writer and a few other people participated in a computer-based simulation using real MLB teams from various years. For every team, they took the rosters, and made Topps cards for the players who Topps left off (kind of like I am trying to do with my 1992 Topps set on my other blog). Being an Out of the Park Baseball fan, I really like the concept of the blog, and it almost looks like they are using OOTP. Well, one of the teams was the 1978 San Diego Padres, so the writer made a regular 1978 Topps card of Ozzie Smith. I looked at the writer's other blogs on his profile, and it looks like the group did a few more seasons and made more cards as well. I might have to contact them and see if I can get in on it. Back to this card, I wish Topps would've had the forsight to put Murray and Smith on this card. It would've been one of the most popular cards of that decade.