New Custom Set: 1978 Topps Traded

So. There are a ton of great interpretations out there on the Web of what an extended series would look like for 1978 Topps. Here's my take: the three-headed design co-opt Topps used for its 1980–81 basketball set. To spice up the idea, I've added noted draft picks from the 1978 drafts. So on top of all-star-caliber players who changed teams either right before the start of or during the season (like Bert Blyleven, Vida Blue, Dennis Eckersley, Gaylord Perry, and Bobby Bonds—twice) and a few common players, I've included somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 draft picks who went on to star in the majors.

This should be a fun project. I'll probably add them to our Facebook page as I complete them. Here's my checklist:

	1	Bobby Bonds	White Sox
		Rawly Eastwick	Phillies
		Mel Hall	Cubs Draft Pick
	2	Jim Essian	A's
		Danny Heep	Astros Draft Pick
		Gaylord Perry	Padres
	3	Bill North	Dodgers
		Tim Wallach	Angels Draft Pick
		Shane Rawley	Mariners
	4	Cal Ripken Jr.	Orioles Draft Pick
		Vida Blue	Giants
		Ryne Sandberg	Phillies Draft Pick
	5	Rudy May	Expos
		Hubie Brooks	Mets Draft Pick
		Al Hrabosky	Royals
	6	John Mayberry	Blue Jays
		Rick Wise	Indians
		Bob Horner	Braves Draft Pick
	7	Gene Garber	Braves
		Kirk Gibson	Tigers Draft Pick
		Pablo Torrealba	White Sox
	8	Ben Oglivie	Brewers
		Jim Bouton	Braves
		Kent Hrbek	Twins Draft Pick
	9	Jerry Remy	Red Sox
		Manny Sanguillen	Pirates
		Bobby Bonds	Rangers
	10	Steve Renko	A's
		Claudell Washington	White Sox
		Andy Hawkins	Padres Draft Pick
	11	Rico Carty	Blue Jays
		Steve Balboni	Yankees Draft Pick
		Willie Horton	Indians
	12	Andy Messersmith	Yankees
		Ken Holtzman	Cubs
		Dave Stieb	Blue Jays Draft Pick
	13	Lloyd Moseby	Blue Jays Draft Pick
		Andy Etchebarren	Brewers
		Bud Harrelson	Phillies
	14	Mike Morgan	A's Draft Pick
		Dennis Eckersley	Red Sox
		George Hendrick	Cardinals
	15	Tom Brunansky	Angels Draft Pick
		Bert Blyleven	Pirates
		Jay Johnstone	Yankees
	16	Buddy Biancalana	Royals Draft Pick
		Rick Miller	Angels
		Nick Esasky	Reds Draft Pick

Where's Waldos?

 Ryne Sandberg, Waldo Candies

I recently discovered that I have TWO of the four Waldo Candies baseball cards. This has been an unbelievable revelation that has changed my life forever.

We are going to piece this puzzle together DaVinci Code style. I have neither read that book nor seen that movie, but assume it's about putting together a set of weird baseball cards. Anyway, here is what we know:

Kevin Maas is one.

Ryne Sandeberg is another.

Kevin Mass and Ryne Sandberg are both white.

Unsurprising considering the Old English prose on these cards.

Waldo Candies is racist.

There are four cards in the set.

If one of the other two cards is Oscar Gamble, I will issue a formal apology.

I will not do that.

Here is an obstacle to our endeavor. If you Google "Waldo Candy Cards" my stupid blog is the first thing to come up. That means Waldo Candy Cards are not a very popular topic of conversation around the Interwebs, meaning it's unlikely we'll ever be able to discover who was featured on the other two cards.

HOWEVER, there's a glimmer of hope. And it comes from an unlikely source: a commenter named 69robster.

I'm sorry, 69robster, you've had "FIVE" of these cards? But the back of the two cards I own explicitly states there are only four cards in the set. Is it possible 69robster has the rare FIFTH Gospel Waldo Candies baseball card in his possession? Or should we be skeptical of 69robster? Something inside of my heart wants to believe 69robster and get to the bottom of this mystery, 69robster-style.

Does anyone know where 69robster is? We should probably find him first, and then take it from there. Does he even still have the cards he claims to have owned for "several years?" Or did he discover their value and find his buyers? And if so, did those men pose as buyers only to harm 69robster in an attempt to keep him quiet and the mystery of the Waldo Candies cards just that -- a mystery?

If you're out there 69robster, let us know you're alright, and that the establishment hasn't gotten to you. We love you, and we miss you.

The Practically Perfect Practical Joker

 

Ryne Sandberg, 1991 Score All-Star

It's difficult to be serious when you're looking at a big-head cartoon baseball card. But let's get serious here for a second. Because guys -- Ryne Sandberg will beat you.

Ryne can beat you so many ways --

Like, beat ME? But I am just sitting here writing about Ryne Sandberg! I didn't ask for any trouble. I have always humbly acknowledged that Ryne Sandberg can beat me in a myriad of ways, including:

with a home run, a clutch base hit, a steal, by scoring from first on a double

By understanding the signs given to him by the third base coach, by telling the outfielders how many outs there are, with his fists, with his MIND,

making a tremendous fielding play.

And with that we have listed all the conceivable ways a baseball player can single-handedly beat a baseball team. WE THOUGHT WE WUZ GONNA WIN BUT WHEN RYNO SCORED FROM FIRST ON DAT DOUBLE WE WUZ LIKE, LIGHTS OUT.

Ryne has such natural instincts and intangibles

Full disclosure: I was never aware a middle infielder possessed intangibles pre-Jeter. I had thought that Derek Jeter literally invented intangibles, an act in itself that IS intangible because no one knows how he did it. So this is all very surprising to me, although not really because I have natural instincts for noticing intangibles.

that he rarely, if ever, makes the wrong play, either on the field or on the bases.

That he rarely, IF EVER, makes the wrong play. IF EVER. IF EVER. IF EVER.

"There is an excellent chance that Ryne Sandberg has never made a mistake." -- this baseball card. 

Not that I am a skeptic, but I did take the initiative to check and: Ryne Sandberg has 109 career errors. That is just in the field. I tried to look up how many times he made the wrong decision while running the bases (j/k I didn't do that), but I couldn't because that is an intangible.

Okay so obviously Ryne Sandberg was a tremendous defensive player by any metric. But I was thinking that maybe we can chill out a little bit with the praise. I think we can all agree that Ryne Sandberg has intangibles, but that doesn't mean he's infallible. I mean, this isn't Don Mattingly we're talking about here.

A gamer who likes to play practical jokes, he set records for

Practical jokes?

errorless games and total chances in '90.

I would like to learn more about the practical jokes. I don't appreciate how this card mentions practical jokes in passing and then doesn't expand. What are the hot foot stats? How did he marry being a gamer AND a practical joker, as it is obviously something not many players can do. Who got the ol' clubhouse whoopie cushion? Who fell victim to a double-decker poop job? Who let the dogs out?

"Day in and day out, there's nothing he can't do," said Cub manager Don Zimmer.

I'm sure there's something he can't do. It may take a hundred years and 12,000 scientists to reveal, but I am confident there is something Ryne Sandberg cannot do. In the meantime, we must all take the word of the man who once fell down while trying to fight Pedro Martinez, which was a hilarious practical joke.

eTopps Cards That Never Were

The real title of this post is Ben Sells Out, Part 2.

Back in January, Topps got in touch with me about helping them checklist a set for eTopps. Needless to say, I was torn. Working for and/or with Topps has been a lifelong dream, and yet here I was, routinely poking fun at their sets and being critical of their products. Lucky for me, they had no stipulations that I had to follow for participating (like no bad-mouthing the company). I think I've kept up my part of the deal over the past seven months; I've not held back with criticism of the situation surrounding Topps, nor about any of their products I've found fault with.

It's probably no big deal, but just so everything is out in the open, I wasn't paid. Actually, that's not true. They paid me in baseball cards, which may sound dumb to most people (my girlfriend thought it did), but I found kind of fun. But enough about my involvement.

If you read SCD, you've probably seen the ads for the all-encompassing VIP tickets offered at The National in Cleveland. Part of that package are a handful of cards from this eTopps set, dubbed the Cards That Never Were. I think the ones at The Nat are going to specially stamped or something. The ones available through eTopps are like other eTopps cards. I think the biggest difference is that these cards will be in that year's original design and (hopefully) won't be plastered with the gaudy eTopps logo.

Here's the official line on the product (I didn't write this):


Introducing eTopps "Cards That Never Were"!

eTopps has gone back in history and created a classic collection of cards that never were! Each card has a unique story and all together the collection will be an instant classic. The collection will include:

* The ultimate tribute card: a 1952 Topps Joe DiMaggio!
* A stunning 1952 Topps Ted Williams and 1954 Topps Stan Musial card! Both players had exclusives with Bowman in the early 50's and as a result did not have Topps cards. Now you can own them!
* Whitey Ford left baseball to serve his country in the Korean War; as a result Whitey never had a '52 Topps card. Now you can...
* Nolan Ryan broke into the Big Leagues in '66 with the Mets, but it wasn't until '68 that Nolan got his rookie card. Now you can get his '67!

All cards will be sequentially numbered and delivered on beautiful eTopps technology. We will offer autographs on many of these cards, which will make them even more special!

The Cards That Never Were will be offered starting Monday August 6th at 1pm EST. The collection will be offered weekly and over time so please be sure to visit eTopps often!


And while Topps didn't end up going with all the guys and issues I had proposed (I still think a 1951 Bowman DiMaggio would be cool, and a 1966 card of Masanori Murakami would go over huge right about now, what with the renewed interest in all things Japanese baseball), the checklist they did decide on is pretty strong, plus there will be autographed versions available. There are 12 subjects in the set, including the ones pictured in this post.

The set doesn't officially debut until August 6th, offered through the eTopps site.