All Star Game...'68 Topps Insert Style

Once I finished the '68 Topps Game set I knew I had to at least try to play it once. I haven't played any dice/table top/computer baseball in a few years but once upon a time I was a Strat-O-Matic fiend. But that's a post for another day.

So here we have the 33 card Game set from 1968. I have been curious as to how the game would play if you actually put the cards to their intended use. I kicked around a few ideas and decided to try to play a nine inning 'game'. I first just sort of shuffled and turned over the cards one by one, keeping track of the results in my head. A trial run I suppose. I wasn't sure if 'playing' the cards would result in anything even remotely resembling a baseball game.

Turns out that game-play was not bad. In my trial run I was getting a run or so every half inning so I figured I could get more detailed. I thought it might be fun to use the players on the cards as 'line-ups' and play out a nine inning game. Fortunately the set contains enough players from each league to built legit All Star line-ups. I sorted the cards by league and assigned positions and made out a batting order. Since pitchers in an imaginary line-up would be just as likely as a slugger to hit a homer I decided to use a DH.

I decided my '68 All Stars would face off in my favorite ballpark, Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and so the AL would be the home team. Here is how it went:

The Line-ups:

First the NL....

Rose-2B
Mays-CF
Clemente-RF
Aaron-LF
Cepeda-IB
Allen-DH
Torre-C
Santo-3B
Alley-SS

McCormick-SP

And the AL...

Carew-2B
Yaz-LF
F. Robinson-RF
Mantle-CF
Killebrew-1B
Kaline-DH
Freehan-C
B. Robinson-3B
Fregosi-SS

Lonborg-SP

I could have made a case for using Frank Howard at first base for the AL and having Killer play third but, hey, my league, my choice and no way was Brooks sitting on the bench! I wrote the lineups down, drew a simple diamond and used some coins to track runners. And then I got to playing. I took the whole deck and shuffled it about ten times. I had decided that I would shuffle the cards numerous times between each half inning. Truthfully they should be shuffled between every batter if you wanted to replicate the odds of the outcomes Topps built into the set. After all, if they are only shuffled after each team's turn at bat then once a home run is hit that result can't come up again in that half inning. But I wasn't about to do that so I went with the 'every half inning' shuffle.

The game took me about 25 or thirty minutes. That was comprised of maybe ten minutes total 'action' while making a few notes and about twenty minutes total of just shuffling the cards. When I was done I filled in the results on the linescore, printed it out, and put the runs and hits on it by hand because I couldn't figure out how to split the cells with Excel.

I had expected lots of scoring, more than the 14 that occurred. There were plenty of hits though. I only had one 1-2-3 inning. I had one inning that all three outs were K's. Willie May's 'Home Run' card showed up five times including the first time he came up in the order which I thought was cool. I had to make one executive decision as far as card results went. I ignored the 'double play' if there was no force play. The card (Claude Osteen) says that the batter and lead runner are out. I decided that the play would be a 'no-advance' ground out if there was no runner on first.

All in all it was a fun little experiment. I wonder if kids actually 'played' the game back in 1968. I remember the cards but I am sure I never thought about playing. In '68 I was deep into Strat-O-Matic baseball and I would never of bothered with something as elementary as this.

But I do love the set though.

I hope everyone enjoys tonight's All Star Game. I got invited to the Roger Clemens Charity softball game at Minute Maid Park so I'll only get to watch what I can see on the Jumbotron at the ballpark.

The Final Four

Arriving in one package over the holiday weekend were the flast four '68 Game cards I needed to complete the set. 

Blue-eyed Baltimore native Al Kaline leads off. One of the quietest superstars ever. Mr. Tiger. If I had to choose my father's favorite non-Yankee player, Kaline would probably be the guy. 

Notable Achievements from Baseball Reference for Al Kaline:

• 15-time AL All-Star (1955-1967, 1971 & 1974)
• 10-time Gold Glove Winner (1957/ML-RF, 1958/AL-RF, 1959/AL-CF & 1961-1967/AL-OF)
• AL Batting Average Leader (1955)
• AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1959)
• AL OPS Leader (1959)
• AL Hits Leader (1955)
• AL Total Bases Leader (1955)
• AL Doubles Leader (1961)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 9 (1955-1957, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967 & 1969)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1955, 1956 & 1963)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1955 & 1961)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1955)
• Won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1968
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1980

The Hammer, Hank Aaron. Some folks still consider him the home run champ. I'll stay far away from that argument. 

Notable Achievements from Baseball Reference for Hank Aaron:

• 1953 MVP South Atlantic League Jacksonville Tars
• 24-time All-Star (1955-1975)
• NL MVP (1957)
• 3-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1958-1960/RF)
• 2-time NL Batting Average Leader (1956 & 1959)
• 4-time NL Slugging Percentage Leader (1959, 1963, 1967 & 1971)
• 3-time NL OPS Leader (1959, 1963 & 1971)
• 3-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1957, 1963 & 1967)
• 2-time NL Hits Leader (1956 & 1959)
• 8-time NL Total Bases Leader (1956, 1957, 1959-1961, 1963, 1967 & 1969)
• 4-time NL Doubles Leader (1955, 1956, 1961 & 1965)
• 4-time NL Home Runs Leader (1957, 1963, 1966 & 1967)
• 4-time NL RBI Leader (1957, 1960, 1963 & 1966)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 20 (1955-1974)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 15 (1957-1963, 1965-1967 & 1969-1973)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1957, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1969, 1971 & 1973)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 11 (1955, 1957, 1959-1963, 1966, 1967, 1970 & 1971)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 15 (1955-1967, 1969 & 1970)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1956, 1959 & 1963)
• Won a World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1982

Next is Hall of Fame-worthy and possible future Hall of Famer, Pete Rose. I'm not a fan, and not just because of what he did to earn his baseball ban. He always struck me as a bad guy. But who knows. The H-O-F is full of less-than-perfect people so if he gets in, so be it. He has that stats, for sure.

Notable Achievements from Baseball Reference for Pete Rose:

• 1963 NL Rookie of the Year Award
• 1963 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• 17-time NL All-Star (1965, 1967-1971, 1973-1982 & 1985)
• NL MVP: 1973
• 1975 World Series MVP
• 2-time NL Gold Glove Winner (1969/OF & 1970/OF)
• NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1981/1B)
• 3-time NL Batting Average Leader (1968, 1969 & 1973)
• 2-time NL On-Base Percentage Leader (1968 & 1979)
• 4-time NL At-Bats Leader (1965, 1972, 1973 & 1977)
• 4-time NL Runs Scored Leader (1969, 1974, 1975 & 1976)
• 7-time NL Hits Leader (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976 & 1981)
• 3-time NL Singles Leader (1973, 1979 & 1981)
• 5-time NL Doubles Leader (1974, 1975, 1976, 1978 & 1980)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 10 (1963, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972-1976 & 1978)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 10 (1965, 1966, 1968-1970, 1973, 1975-1977 & 1979)
• Won three World Series with the Cincinnati Reds (1975 & 1976) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1980)

And finally, Harmon Killebrew. Of the players in this post I probably saw more of Killebrew than any other. I seemed to be at a lot of Twins games at Yankee Stadium back then. I was a Bob Allison fan as a result and enjoyed watching the big hitting lineups the Twins had. Don Mincher, Jimmie Hall, Tony Oliva and company were fun t watch. I also saw the Twins in Baltimore more than a few times including the 1969 Playoffs.

Notable Achievements from Baseball Reference for Harmon Killebrew:

• 11-time AL All-Star (1959, 1961 & 1963-1971)
• AL MVP (1969)
• AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1969)
• AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1963)
• 6-time AL Home Runs Leader (1959, 1962-1964, 1967 & 1969)
• 3-time AL RBI Leader (1962, 1969 & 1971)
• 4-time AL Bases on Balls Leader (1966, 1967, 1969 & 1971)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 13 (1959-1967 & 1969-1972)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 10 (1959-1964, 1966, 1967, 1969 & 1970)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1959, 1961-1964, 1967, 1969 & 1970)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 9 (1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967 & 1969-1971)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1967 & 1969)
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1984

This was a fun set to put together. Didn't cost much and it's chock full of hitting stars. Thanks again to Jim from Downington whose gift of the Robinson Boys kicked this off. He has several posts on the set himself. And he has some nice dupes to trade.

Closing in on the '68 Game Inserts

I think I mentioned that I have picked up the rest of the '68 Topps Game card set. But I'm still waiting for the last batch for arrive. Meanwhile...... 

That Mantle! I don't know of many vintage Mantle items that can be picked up for just a few dollars. The prices on eBay are all over the map but there are a couple up as I type this on Tuesday night that are well below $10. They pop up on COMC in that range from time to time as well. 

This set was issued begining with the 3rd Series of the Topps '68 set, the same series that contains Mantle's regular card. The '69 Mantle came out in in first year of retirement so the Game card is among the last Mantle items Topps produced during his playing days.

This next group contains a couple more of the cap-less  player cards (including Tommy Davis' Eddie Munster look) and two more good but not-great pitchers, Steve Hargan and Jim Lonborg. 

And then there is Roberto Clemente. Like the Mantle card Clemente can be had for very little. Not quite like owning the regular card but the Game card is a nice alternative.

The back of the 3rd Series checklist in the regular Topps set had a promo across the bottom. "Loading up your deck" seems like a good idea in Vegas, too!

('68 Topps) Game (Inserts) On!

I got a couple of '68 Topps Game inserts from Jim in Downington a few weeks back (look here for the Robinson boys, Brooks and Frank) and then I got to poking around eBay and COMC just to see what the other cards in the set were going for.

What I found was that of the 33 cards in the set about three quarters of them could be had ungraded but in nice condition for between .69 cents and a buck. Well, hell that's all I needed to see.

I went on a little spree and snatched up 24 or so from COMC including most of the 'common' players and some of the stars. If you exclude the Mays which cost $3.50 the average cost was about .75 cents apiece. That's pretty neat for a set with plenty of late '60s star power.

Granted these cards are inserts, and probably are not for everybody but they are a cool and cheap way to pick up some big names at bargain prices. If they were popular they would not be that cheap. There is a lot of 21 including 14 different and some dupes up on eBay for $10 and change.

I like the Mays card as it appears that whoever did the cut'n'paste-ing for the sets' proofs was more careful with Willie than they were for some of the others.

As I mentioned in that earlier post the pitchers included in the set are a notch (or two or three) below the hitters included. There are 14 Hall of Famers included, none of which are pitchers.

I have bids in on the rest of the set and once I have them in hand I'll post them and the others I have scanned.

One thing I never realized was that the set was available as a boxed set! I saw these cards when they were included as Third Series pack inserts in '68 but never saw the box. I recently found a scan of the box through Google.

I may have a new "white whale"!

1968 Topps Game Inserts

I was holding off on typing up a post until I watched Saturday night's Stanley Cup Game Five. But the Rangers and Kings want to keep playing and keep playing (headed into overtime #2 at the moment) so I'll get to work.

These two 1968 Topps Game inserts are the rest of Jim from Downington's envelope. They sort of got overlooked as I endeavored to find out more about those Orioles stand-ups but they are pretty cool themselves.  They are certainly designed to mimic the 1951 Topps Red and Blue Backs although the front lacks the 'diamond' element of the originals. The backs are very much the same. The '68 set has a pretty good representation of the game's stars. They six pitchers included are not nearly up to the level of the 27 hitters. Take a look at that checklist. Many Hall of Fame types are here including 8 of the first 10 in the numerical checklist.
Here is Brooks wearing an Orioles cap that they had put in their rear-view about three or four years prior to the set's release.

Frank Robinson's card has a more up-to-date photo and he represents a 'triple' as opposed to Brooks designation as a HBP. Ouch.

(Damn, Rangers just lost. I will focus on the fun season just past and try not to bitch about the HORRENDOUS tripping call that was went down in the third and allowed the Kings to tie up the game. I won't bitch, I won't bitch.....)

Back to the post, here is the back of the '68, compare it to the '51 at the bottom. 

1968 Topps Game Inserts checklist with Hall of Famers bolded (Richie Allen's Hall credentials are a topic for another day):

• 1  Matty Alou
• 2  Mickey Mantle
• 3  Carl Yastrzemski
• 4  Henry Aaron
• 5  Harmon Killebrew
• 6  Roberto Clemente
• 7  Frank Robinson
• 8  Willie Mays
• 9  Brooks Robinson
• 10  Tommy Davis
• 11  Bill Freehan
• 12  Claude Osteen
• 13  Gary Peters
• 14  Jim Lonborg
• 15  Steve Hargan
• 16  Dean Chance
• 17  Mike McCormick
• 18  Tim McCarver
• 19  Ron Santo
• 20  Tony Gonzalez
• 21  Frank Howard
• 22  George Scott
• 23  Rich Allen
• 24  Jim Wynn
• 25  Gene Alley
• 26  Rick Monday
• 27  Al Kaline
• 28  Rusty Staub
• 29  Rod Carew
• 30  Pete Rose
• 31  Joe Torre
• 32  Orlando Cepeda
• 33  Jim Fregosi

Every one of those cards can be had for less that $10, most far below that. The only exception might be the Mantle card. Below I've posted the images of my Billy Pierce Blue Back for comparison's sake.

Again, Jim, I thank you for the great group of cards you sent. I'm going to snag the rest of those Orioles Stand Ups and I may just have to put this '68 game set together as well.