Gus Triandos 1930-2013 - 1965 Topps #248

Gus Triandos passed away last week at the age of 82.  Triandos only played two seasons for the Phillies but he played an important role in a game on Fathers Day 1964. He caught Jim Bunning's Perfect Game and until 2010 he was the only catcher in Philllies history to have done so. That year he was joined by Carlos Ruiz who caught Roy Halladay's perfect game.

Gus has a few other interesting accomplishments across his 13 year career.  Check is Wiki page for further reading but he was the first player to catch a no-hitter in both leagues - Prior to the Bunning perfecto Triandos caught a no-hitter by kncukleballer Hoyt Wilhelm.

1965 Topps #248 Gus Triandos

There are only 2 Topps Cards that feature Gus Triandos with the Phils. The first of which was in 1964, but he was wearing a Tigers cap and uni for that card. This makes the 1965 Topps card above the only one which features Triandos in a Phillies uniform.

There is a bit of an oddity that I noticed on the Gus Triandos card.  See if you can find it when you see Triansdos when with his 1965 Topps Phillies brethren. 

1965 Topps Phillies Callison, Roebuck, Traindos, Johnson, Wine, and Boozer. 

Ok one last hint check the logo on the pennant.  For whatever reason the cap on the flag for the Gus Triandos card is not colored in.  It is clear while the rest of the Phils cards are red.  I don't have the entire Phillies 1965 set, but I have a good bit of them and to my knowledge this is the only one of the cards that does not have the red cap.  I checked around on line and found that my clear cap Triandos is not unique - every 65 Triandos card is a clear cap.  I asked Bob Lemke about this and he said that the card would follow under the uncorrected error (UER). 

 For more on Gus Triandos(especially his Orioles career) and his 1965 Topps Card check out this posting at the Great 1965 Topps Project 

2013 Topps Heritage the Originals - 1964 Topps

Ok we have a couple of weeks to go gaga over 2013 Topps. In today's 72 hour news cycle world it is well beyond time to move on - well except for that Pete Rose blip last week.

We have about two weeks to prepare for the onslaught of 2013 Topps Heritage. I will once again embark on a project that I do not know if I will finish, but wanted to look back at the original 1964 Topps upon which 2013 Heritage is based. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp 

1964 Topps is the first set I encountered as an adult collector that I was unaware of as a kid. When I first saw it at my first returning collector card show, I winced.  It was just to boring.  Since that day in probably 2006 or 2007 the design has grown on me a bit, but I still typically bypass the cards from this set when I come across them in a mixed bin.

I would think 1964T is for the collectors that lean towards minimalist design. The design is more than functional with team name prominently displayed across the top and a player nameplate with position on the bottom. Topps gave the Phils the blue nameplate which works as a complimentry color to the red team colors. I am not nuts about the black lettering for the team name which is a bit bland.

The Player photo is pretty large for the era and I do llike the way the caps (or glove in Ray Culp's case) bleeds from the photo above frame into the team name. There is a likely a graphic design term for this - for whatever reasons it is a concept that Topps has gotten away from - it does show up sparingly in 2010 Topps but you have to look. So yes we have had about 20 consecutive years of chrome but no overbleed photography.  Lets mix it up Topps.

Caps Above the Line 

  

1964 Topps #29 Lou Brock

Here ia a favorite 64T card in the Phungo HoF collection. I liked Lou Brock as a kid for a variety of reasons. I am also a fan of cards of players on teams other then the one for which they are best known. Brock was traded in the middle of the 1964 Season - this is his last card as a Cub. The Cubs are represented by at least 4 Hall of Fame players in 1964 Topps - Brock, Ron Santo, Billie Williams, and Ernie Banks.  

The 64 Topps Lou Brock Card is a fine example of the cap reaching into the Team Name portion of the card. There is a lot to like about the shot.  I particularly like the Cubs logo on the uni sleeve.

1964 Topps Gus Triandos

I wonder if Topps will photoshop free agent/traded players in 2013 Heritage.  In the original 1964T set they simply left players in their old caps while changing the team name on the card.  I would like to see Topps stick to the 1964 format in 2013. The Phils even conveniently picked up a Detroit Tigers player in Delmon Young for 2013 which would make it real easy for Topps to rhyme a Heritage card with this Gus Triandos 1964 Topps original. 

Looking ahead

I am working on a look at the 1964 Topps Rookie Cards - hopefully we will have a posting ready for Wednesday.   

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Links

Lou Brock HoF Index

Ray Culp Rookie Cup Index