Coaches Center Part 4: 2001 Topps Jose Cardenal

Jose Cardenal gets my fourth coaches card, this one from the 2001 Topps set. I figured I'd do one from one of my favorite teams, so Jose and the Rays were who I picked. The 2001 Topps set featured manager cards for the first time since 1993, and I chose to use the manager design for the coaches as well. I think it works well and the hardest part really was changing the "G" in manager to a "C" and "O" in coach.

Jose played in the Bigs from 1963-1980, and coached from 1993-2003. For those of you wondering, yes, he did play (and coach) for the Cardinals.  He was part of the Rays staff from 2000-2001, after winning 3 titles with the Bankee$ as a coach. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2012 at Rays fan fest, and I wish I would've had this custom made back then so I could show him and have it signed.

I'm counting down the days until the 2016 Topps release and I'm sure you are too. I'm hoping to run by Target on my lunch break at work on Wednesday and pick up a blaster if they have them. I hope to pull some cards of Jacob deGrom, Ben Zobrist, Cory Kluber, Sam Fuld, other players I collect that are in the checklist, Rays and Tigers, and hopefully maybe a jersey card or two (just as long as they aren't some manufactured crap that counts as a hit). I hope you pull all the players/teams/cards you are looking for on Wednesday and look forward to seeing posts about the '16 set. Thank for checking out my blog.
-Jeremy

1993 Topps Alvin Davis

Alvin Davis played in MLB from 1984-1992. He played all but 1 of his seasons with the Seattlr Mariners. He received Topps cards from 1984 to 1992, not receiving a sunset card in '93, but getting an extra card in the '84 Traded set.

He started off his career hot, homering in his first 2 games, and reaching base in his first 47 games. He won the '84 AL Rookie of the Year award, and was one of the first legitimate hitting stars on the Mariners, holding many of the clubs records until Griffey, ARod, and Edgar Martinez started swinging. After his MLB career, he played in Japan in 1993, and went on to become an instructor in for the M's.

I stole this photo from another card, I believe it was a Bowman one. Sometimes, that's the choice you have to make with guys who only played a few games for a team. I used a '93 Topps Tim Salmon card for the rest of it. This would've been Alvin's last Topps card, and the only one that he needed to have a complete career run of Topps cards.

Thanks for checking out the newest card in my set.
-Jeremy

World Series Winners Part 1: 1994 Topps Mark Eichhorn

This is the first post in a new segment I am calling 'World Series Winners'. It will feature cards of players who won a World Series the year before but never got a Topps card in the next years' set.

Mark Eichhorn pitched on both the '92 and '93 Toronto Blue Jays championship teams but didn't get in either the '93 or '94 Topps sets. If I am correct, his '92 Topps card was his final one even though he pitched until 1996. That means he missed getting a Topps card in his final 4 seasons (he didn't play in the Majors in 1995).

He had a 2.72 ERA for the Jays in '93 and had a scoreless appearance in the ALCS and World Series that year. That's no reason for Topps to not give him a card, but I guess they just don't make cards for relievers like they used to, even in the overproduction era.

It was nice seeing Denver win yesterday to give Peyton Manning a shot at a title in what might be his last year. I would've rooted for the Pats since I hate the Yankees and have to root for all things Boston, but they won last year and I just think Manning would be a better story for the big game. With all that being said though, I am going to root for the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton to win it all. I am a big Auburn Tiger fan and I would love to see Cam take home a NFL title to go with his NCAA one from 2010. Hopefully that will shut the Bama fans up a little bit 'cause somebody needs to take the wind out of their self-righteous sails before all of us innocent people who root for someone other than the Crimson Tide go crazy.

I'll have to find some way to make a baseball custom to go along with whichever team wins the game in 2 weeks. Maybe a Rockie if Denver wins and maybe an Auburn alum if Carolina wins, I don't know. Until then, I'll be making customs when I can. Thanks for checking out my latest one.
-Jeremy

The Dick Pole Project Part 10: 1999 Topps Dick Pole

Dick Pole went to Boston for the '98 season. Topps didn't make manager or coach cards in the 1999 set, so I had to use my imagination for this one. Since Topps had rookie cards with a gold bar that said 'rookie card' in them, I decided to do something similar for coach and manager cards. I wasn't able to find a photo of Pole as a Red Sox coach, so I photoshopped the Sox logo on another photo.

I had the idea the other day to possibly try to look for photos of players on YouTube. I found some older games that are on there, so that might be a possibility for if I can't find photos, just not sure of how broad a selection of games it has on there. I have 3-4 cards in my 1992 Topps project that I would love to find different photos for, and it would be great if I can find some videos of games from 1991 on YouTube.

Dick's next card will feature him on his 4th team as a coach, and usher us into the 2000's. That should be posted in a few weeks, as I have some other cards to post before it.Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

The Dick Pole Project Part 9: 1998 Topps Dick Pole

You may or may not have noticed, but I skipped card #111, which would've been the next card in the set. I had done a '95 Topps card of Bobby Thigpen featuring him in a Phillies uniform. Unfortunately, he played for the Seattle Mariners in '94, so I need to redo the card. Instead of not posting, I just decided to post the next card after the Thigpen, which is a '98 Topps Dick Pole card. 

Dick was spending his last season coaching the Giants in 1997. After the season, he would go to the Red Sox, then the Angels, then Indians, then Expos, back to the Cubs, then finally finish up with the Reds. 

For this card, I chose to make it pretty similar to a regular '98 Topps card, just substituting the team name in the bar at the bottom for the coach position. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The '98 Topps set is hard to work with because the gold foil at the bottom is tough to read with dark colors behind it. I took the easy way out on this card and just used the color on the border for the name and bar so you could see it. 

I haven't decided yet if I want to post all of the Dick Pole cards in one post or just spread them out and do them one by one because I have 12 more to go, and most of those will be in a row. It might just depend on how many cards I have 'on reserve' ready to post. I have been trying to keep ahead and have 20 or so cards waiting to post just so in case I can't work on any that I can still post some. With all the work on the '92  Topps set I have been doing, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep cards in reserves, but I've still managed to make a few now and then. 

I hope you've enjoyed the latest card in the Dick Pole Project. Thanks for checking out my blog. 

-Jeremy

1990 Topps Bob Forsch

I have always kind of been a Bob Forsch fan. It all started in '93 or '94. For Christmas one year, my Mom found one of those team books that Topps produced in the late '80's that show the fronts of every Topps card from that particular team. My book had the St. Louis Cardinals. I wasn't a Cardinals fan, but hey, the book had baseball cards on it, so I was happy. I would go through the pages of the book and look at the cards, and a few of the cards featured Bob Forsch at the end of his windup. It looked neat to me how he would have his left arm out in the air at the end of his windup, kind of like in his '87 Topps card. It was really different looking to me, so I've always kind of been excited when I would get a Bob Forsch card out of a pack.

I got his autograph ttm in 2009, and was sad to hear that he passed away in 2011. He was involved with baseball until his death, serving as a coach for the Billing Mustangs for many seasons.  He appeared on just about every Topps set from 1975 until 1989. The last 2 years of his career ('88 and '89), he spent with the Houson Astros, and it's kind of weird to see him on a card without a Cardinals uniform on. For whatever reason, Topps decided not to give him a sunset card in the 1990 set, so I gave him one, and I think it looks like what his last card could've looked like. 

Thanks for checking out the latest Topps card that never was.

-Jeremy

1994 Topps Atlanta's Fab Four

I was 8 in 1991 when the Atlanta Braves had their worst to first season and the first of many trips to the playoffs in the coming years. We lived in central Florida at the time, and we didn't quite have the Rays at that point, so I got my fill of baseball with the Cubs and White Sox on WGN, and mostly the Braves on TBS. The next few years, I became a huge Braves fan. I tried to get cards of all of their players, and even had my room painted in their blue and red colors. 

Topps wasn't really into making combo cards in the '90's, so this really isn't a card they skipped, but man, what if they did put this card in the set. Young Braves fans like myself would spent their whole allowance for weeks to try to get this card from a pack, and whoever pulled the Topps Gold version of this card would've been the envy of the whole neighborhood. 

I didn't really find too many good photos to work with for this card. I like everything about this card except for the green on the bottom and the location of the Topps logo. I used a photo of a '94 Topps Deion Sanders card, and for some reason, the green at the bottom looks neon. The way the photo doesn't have any space above the players heads gave me no choice but to put the Topps logo at the bottom of the card, something that wasn't done in that years set. With all that being said, I do think it's a cool card.

One last thing. Night Owl wrote a great post about the 2016 Topps design on his blog last night. I think it discuss a different aspect of the design that hasn't been talked about much and it really caught my interest so check it out if you already haven't. Thanks as always for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy

1998 Topps Mickey Tettleton

Mickey Tettleton played his last game in 1997 with the Texas Rangers. He recieved his last card in the '97 Topps set, missing out on a sunset card. The only brands to give him cards in '98 sets were Collector's Choice and Upper Deck.

Mickey was on of my favorite Detroit Tigers while he was with the club from '91-'94. I got his 1993 Topps Black Gold card out of a 500 count card box that year, and had always wanted to get it signed. I lived in Lakeland, Florida at the time (I was about 10), and I would usually got to a Spring Training game and see the Tigers (they train in Lakeland) every year. I never did get the card signed, but I think had I been old enough to drive and seen more games and really knew what I was doing, I could've got it signed.

He moved on to the Rangers in '95 and put up decent numbers until he retired in '97. I got his '98 Upper Deck card that year, and it always fascinates me when I look at the back that he had 3 Home Runs in '97, but only 4 RBIs. He very well could've got his only RBIs that year off of Home Runs and it's strange to think that he played till June and didn't get more RBIs even though he was still a decent power hitter at that point.

His missing '98 Topps card was pretty easy to make. The foil for the name is the biggest trouble spot in the '98 Topps set. For teams like that Rangers, it is easy to see because of the lighter color used underneath it. For other teams, you can barely make it out, as you will be able to see in some future cards.

Thanks for checking out my latest card.

-Jeremy

Missing Managers Part 3: 1995 Topps Felipe Alou

Felipe Alou led the Montreal Expos to the best record in MLB in 1994 at 74-40. Unfortunately for everyone, the strike stopped the season and we never got to see if the Expos could win it all. We also didn't get to see Felipe's '95 Topps card as Topps stopped making manager cards after 1993. 

I took a regular '95 Topps card and added the picture, name, and changed the position to get this card. Not too much different than the regular card, but with the '95 design, there isn't much you can do without changing the design completely. I think it looks good and with a vertical back I could definitely distinguish this card from a normal player card in the '95 set. 

I've been working on making backs of cards on my '92 Topps blog, but don't worry, I won't leave this blog behind as I have about 20 cards already made and I am still working on new ones. Thanks for checking out my latest work. 

-Jeremy

Coaches Center Part 3: 2004 Topps Jeff Cox

I never really knew or cared about Jeff Cox until I was watching something on WGN during a rain delay of a White Sox game a few years ago, and it was talking about White Sox coach Jeff Cox. Cox seemed like a colorful and fun guy and seemed like he got along well with his players. I picked up a few of his cards on COMC and decided to try to get his autograph ttm. If I recall correctly, he had some great stats as far as stolen bases. He signed the cards, and I have been a fan of his ever since, even though I really don't care for the Marlins or the White Sox. 

Jeff was a coach on the '03 Marlins World Championship team that beat the Bankee$ that year. Topps hadn't made coach cards in forever, and still doesn't (except for maybe a team set or two), so this card wouldn't have seen the light of day if not for me deciding to make it. I feel that everyone who puts on a uniform and plays a part in the decisions of a game should get a card (coaches, managers, and players), as well as maybe the stadium and a team photo. It's too bad that these kind of cards don't get made anymore. .

The card was a little troublesome to make. I had to take a regular '04 Topps Marlins card and blend the silver Marlins logo from their '04 team card to make it. The fonts matched up really well, and so did the coloring of it. I think it looks just like a card that you could've found in '04 Topps packs had Topps produced it.

Thanks for checking out my first post of 2016!

-Jeremy