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.

The Elusive Topps Blue Back '51 Billy Pierce

I've known very little about the 1951 Topps set. But one thing I DO know is that the Billy Pierce card has been very hard for me to find. Especially at a decent price.

I really have never looked into the '51 set. Collecting Orioles meant that I sought out cards as far back as the '54 Topps and Bowman sets. Anything earlier than that was just 'cool old stuff' that I liked to look at but never knew much about.

The '51 set, put out in two groups of 52 players with blue and red backs, was intended to be used as part of a game. This page has a bit of the back-story on the cards. Interesting stuff. I enjoy reading these sites that give some history of Topps' business decisions back in the day. I seem to remember the stir that came about when a huge cache of the red backs were discovered in the '80s but I hadn't thought about that in a long time.

Anyway the Billy Pierce Blue Back is listed as a 'rookie card' but I suppose it must be considered one in tandem with his (much sweeter) 1951 Bowman card. I let quite a few of these go buy through the years on eBay and such because the price was never right. I finally was able to find a decent one with a 'Best Offer' that I went after and won.

It is better looking 'in hand' than in the scans because I scanned it while still in the case. This is the last of the 'mainstream' vintage issue Pierce cards that I had been lacking. The rest of my want-list consists of things like the 1957 Swifts Franks card, the '59 Bazooka and Venezuelan versions of a couple of his Topps cards, etc. I don't expect to dig up many (if any) of those 'white whales' any time soon but I'll continue to grab (and post) things like photos, pins, oddball items as I come across them. I have several here already and one or two on the way. (EDIT...I just found a '64 Venezuelan Pierce I may grab)

And, btw, I'll set Billy P. free the next time I crank up my Dremel tool.