Tuesday, March 20, 2018

1959 Topps All-Star #553 Orlando Cepeda - and a BIG cartoon

Last month Orlando Cepeda had to be rushed to the hospital to be treated for a "cardiac incident". Thankfully, according to a SF Gate article the Hall of Fame first baseman has made significant progress towards recovery. 

The scary news got me to check and I realized that I had not yet dedicated a column to Cepeda. Tonight we rectify this issue. 

1959 Topps All-Star #553 Orlando Cepeda

In 1959 Orlando Cepeda made the first of eleven All-Star teams that he would be part of during his 17 year career. 1959 began a four year run that featured two all-star games. Cepeda made all 8 of those teams. Cepeda only appeared in the first of the two 1959 games, with the NL winning the contest 5-4 despite the fact that Cepeda went 0-4.

In addition to the 11 ASG Orlando Cepeda's accolades include a World Champion, four postseason appearances,  an MVP (1967) award and a Rookie of the Year (1958).

And oh yeah that Hall of Fame plaque awarded by the Veterans Committee in 1999.  

The 1959 Topps All-Star cards close the set and were the last to be released for the year. The nice thing about this is that it allows Topps to put out an All-Star set representing the current years game, unfortunately they made some dubious choices in selection.

Orlando Cepeda would appear on two other All-Star cards, 1962 and 1968. In addition to being included in the 1968 ASG set Cepeda was also the subject of that years NL All-Star puzzle.

Flip
1959 Topps All-Star #553 Orlando Cepeda (b-side)

I like the backs of the 1959 Topps All-Stars, The full-size cartoon and fun-fact are nicely done. I also like the Bazooka ad at the bottom.

BIG Cartoon
1959 Topps #535 Orlando Cepeda also happens to be a landmark card. I believe 1959 Topps All-Stars are the first subset to include the full-size cartoon. There are actually 2 cards that precede Cepeda in the 1959 ASG Subset, but those are both managers, The first of which is Fred Haney who is the first oversized cartoon back. However since he is not a player, and neither is #534 Casey Stengel that makes today's featured guest Orlando Cepeda the first player to have an oversized cartoon back - PIONEER! Thanks to Fuji for getting my wheels rolling in this direction.

Other Voices
CommishBob covers this over at his 1959 Topps Blog

Orlando Cepeda Index
1975 Topps  #205 1967 MVP  (with Carl Yastrzemski)


Sources and Links
1959 Topps All-Stars Index 
1968 Topps Blog
1959 Topps 1 f/g card at a time
SF Gate
baseball-ref

Updates
2018 0321 - Added Big Cartoon Paragraph, Thanks Fuji

Sunday, March 4, 2018

2008 World Series Champions

Game 5 - Index to posting related to Game 5 of the 2008 World Series

Charlie Manuel

Cole Hamels
Carlos Ruiz
Ryan Howard
Chase Utley 
Pedro Feliz
Jimmy Rollins
Pat Burrell
Shane Victorino
Jayson Werth

Jamie Moyer
Joe Blanton
Brett Myers
Brad Lidge
JC Romero
Ryan Madson

Matt Stairs
Greg Dobbs
Geoff Jenkins
Eric Bruntlett
Chris Coste

Harry Kalas


Thursday, March 1, 2018

1959 Topps All-Star Index

This is an index of our postings related to the 1959 All-Star Subset. It is the second All-Star set produced by Topps.

1959 Topps All-Star #553 Orlando Cepeda



American League

552 Casey Stengel Yankes MGR
554 Bill Skowron Yankees 1B
556 Nellie Fox White Sox 2B
558 Frank Malzone Red Sox 3B
560 Luis Aparicio White Sox SS
562 Al Kaline Tigers OF
564 Mickey Mantle Yankees OF
566 Roy Sievers Senators OF
568 Gus Triandos Orioles OF
570 Bob Turley Yankees OF
572 Billy Pierce White Sox OF

National League
551 Fred Haney Braves MGR
553 Orlando Cepeda Giants 1B
555 Bill Mazeroski Pirates 2B
557 Ken Boyer Cardinals 3B
559 Ernie Banks Cubs SS
561 Hank Aaron Braves OF
563 Willie Mays Giants NL OF
565 Wes Covington Braves OF
567 Del Crandall - Braves OF
569 Bob Friend Pirates OF
571 Warren Spahn Braves OF

Sources & Links
1958 Topps All-Stars
1960 Topps All-Stars 
Baseball-Ref: Baseball Cards

a thousand words

a thousand words
2008 World Champions