Sunday Night Baseball: 1961 Topps #35 Ron Santo

With Cubs on national TV tonight prior to hosting the Phillies this week I felt it was a good time to honor Hall of Famer Ron Santo.

1961 Topps #35 Ron Santo (rc)

Due to Topps diligence (and traded sets) it is rare that a player of Santo's stature gets a Rookie Cup on his actual rookie card. I took a glance at the list and among Hall of Famers the only other rookie cup/ rookie card combos I found were Willie McCovey (1960) and Eddie Murray (1978).

There are three other players that qualify, however they won their Rookie All-Star awards in years when Topps chose not to adorn winners cards with the rookie cup icon: Ozzie Smith(1979), Ryne Sandberg(1983), and Kirby Puckett (1985).

Sy Berger on Topps and Santo

1961 February 22 The Sporting News (JT Spink)

In a 1961 interview in "The Sporting News" Topps executive Sy Berger addressed the omission of both Willie McCovey and Ron Santo from the 1959 and 1960 sets respectively.  Regardless both were properly honored with Rookie All-Star cards that also happen to be Hall of Fame Rookie Cards.

1961 Topps #35 Ron Santo (rc - bside)

The center panel of the cartoons mentions Santo's Topps All-Star rookie award. Of the 10 All-Star Rookie cards in the 1961 Topps Set, seven of them have cartoons mentioning their selection.

The text notes that there was a Vote by "Youngsters". As part of an outreach program to raise interest in trading cards Topps sent out ballots via various youth organizations including the Boy Scouts, Boys Clubs of America and the YMCA. The Results of the voting were the early All-Star Rookie teams.

The origins of the Topps Rookie All-Stars is worthy of it's own posting and we hope to elaborate on this at some point.

Phungo Ron Santo HoF Index
1966 Topps Year of the Dragon Birthday
Obituary/Retired Number (2010)

Sources and Links
1961 Topps All-Star Rookies Index
Cards that Never Were
BR Bullpen
The Sporting News (1961 02 22, 1959 07 15)
baseball-ref

Happy New Year - Year of the Dragon

On Janary 23rd the Year of the Dragon will commence.  Today we are going to check out some famous Baseball Dragons:

1940 Ron Santo
1964 Barry Larkin

We start out with this years Hall of Fame inductees Ron Santo and Barry Larkin,  Pretty cool Larkin card - Cooperstown Collection issued 2 decades prior to his actual election.  Like Santo, Willie Stargell is also a 1940 Dragon and a Hall of Famer.    

1976 Pat Burrell

It is starting to appear as if Pat the Bat will not hook up with a team for 2012.  He had a mixed career in Philadelphia, but won a World Championship in the end and then went on to win another championship with the Giants in 2010.  Pretty nice finish.  Form Phil Randy Wolf is also a Dragon from the 1976 birth year.

1952 Fred Lynn
1988 Clayton Kershaw

Our next pair of Dragons features young Phenoms.  Well Fred Lynn was a young Phenom when he won both the Rookie of the Year and MVP award in the same year (1975).  Clayton Kershaw is of course the reigning Cy Young award winner. Fellow Dodger Dee Gordon is also a class of 1988 Dragon.  

1916 Enos Slaughter
1928 Billy Martin 

These two are both Fiery Dragons.  I picked up the 57 Topps Slaughter card out of a 3 for a dollar bin a few years back - of course that is because the back is marred to the point of being non-existent.  Billy Martin's longtime teammate Whitey Ford was also born in 1928.

1880 Christy Mathewson
1904 Chuck Klein

We finish with a couple of retro cards of Hall of Famers who played in the first half of the previous century.  The Mathewson card is from the Great Ones insert series of 2011 Gypsy Queen.  Chuck Klein comes from a 1970s Fleer issue. 


1964 Dragons
I just wanted to note that the 64 Dragons are quite the PED class and include Canseco, Palmiero, and Bonds.

Sources and Links
Ron Santo HoF Index
Pat Burrell PC Index 
 

Ron Santo: 1940-2010

Just read via Core Contrarian the sad news that Ron Santo has Passed.

2007 08 02 Wrigley Field Left Field Foul Poles Featuring Cubs Retired Numbers #14 Ernie Banks and #10 Ron Santo (Click to Enlarge)

  
I never saw him play, but through the magic of Cable TV and the fact that WGN America gets carried in the Philadelphia area I do get to see a fair amount of Cubs games.  Ron Santo appears occasionally and is always referenced in the most beloved terms.  Every team needs an ambassador within their broadcast team and I am glad the Cubs had Ron Santo.

The Photo above is from one of two games I attended at Wrigley Field (both in 2007) - at the time my baseball photos were just for fun and I never did get a good one of the LF pole - but you can be sure the next time I am there I will.

Ron Santo also sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" that day.  For a Chicogoan this may be exhausted territory but for me it was one of the highlights of a fun week in the Windy City.


Ron Santo you will be missed.

Sources and Links
Phungo Ron Santo HoF Index