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

1992 Topps Mike Scott

Mike Scott had a great 5-year run with the Astros from 1986-1990. He led the NL in Wins, Strikeouts, ERA, won NLCS MVP, and threw a no-hitter during those 5 years. Injuries plagued him after that, and he retired in 1991 after playing in only 2 games. He didn't appear on any cards that year. Here is what his 1992 Topps card may have looked like. I plan on doing a post of this card on my other blog as well, since it is from the 1992 Topps set. I originally started my other blog, planning to give every player a 1992 Topps card that played a MLB game in 1991. I have done around 25 cards on it, before focusing more on this blog just because of the variety of sets I can choose from, but I think I'll try to do a few more posts on the '92 Topps blog, because it's going to be a heck of a lot of work to finish that set, and as somebody told me "The best time to plant an apple tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is now. So I will try not to let that blog slip by the wayside, and I'll try to make cards for this one too. Thanks for reading.
-Jeremy

1988 Topps Traded Craig Biggio

I still can't believe Craig Biggio isn't in the Hall of Fame. He had 3,000 hits. In his prime, he almost always led the league in Doubles. He made the All-Star team as a Catcher, and Second Baseman. He even played in the outfield towards the end of his career. If the Hall let Barry Larkin, Phil Rizzuto, Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Alomar in, players who played in larger-market cities, and who had similar stats (more so Larkin and Alomar than Rizzuto and Mazeroski), why couldn't Biggio get in on the first or second ballot? And while we're at it, why isn't Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Buck O'Neill, Jeff Bagwell, and Mike Piazza in?

Back to Biggio, in 1988, Topps left him off of their Traded set. Fleer and Score got him in, and those 2 cards are considered his rookie card. Here is a 1988 Topps Traded card of I hope to be a 2015 Hall of Fame member, Craig Biggio.

1997 Topps 1st Base Prospects

Topps made a card of Daryle Ward in 1996, but not in 1997. Topps made a card of Sean Casey in 1996 AND 1997. Topps didn't make a card of Big Papi in 1996, or 1997, but they did in 1998 (alongside Ward). I decided to put them all together on one card in 1997. Who knows, if this card was around, maybe it would be the key David Ortiz rookie.