#TBT: The Final Thoughts?

For the past couple weeks I have shown off some of the Throwback Thursday sets that Andrew McCutchen appeared in.  In the three sets he appeared in, only one was a set that wasn't originally a baseball design.  

My thoughts on Topps reusing past designs have been discussed many times before.  I would love to add a Cutch card to my collection for each year from 1952-2021.  Topps has botched this opportunity as they continue to repeat Cutch many times over for some designs and not using him in others. 

My favorite of the three cards Cutch appeared in for the 2016 #TBT online exclusive set is the 1957 football design featuring Andrew McCutchen and Roberto Clemente.

The set that preceded this football design theme was 90210 (Topps would use it again a year later).

The set that followed the 1957 Football design was 1982 Topps (a design Cutch still hasn't been represented in)

That #TBT set only features Cal Ripken Jr. and looks at his career using the 1982 Highlights design.

There are so many fun nonsports Topps designs over the years.  I've already discussed my ideas for using the Dick Tracy Wanted stickers and 1990 TMNT movie cards for future #TBT card designs. 

How about the 1991 Addams Family?

Release it around Halloween and have it feature players wearing masks in the clubhouse or on field.

You could even go with players dressing up for themed road trips

I know I would find a Giancarlo Stanton as a pharaoh a fun card to add to my collection.

It could join this 2019 Topps Update Cole Tucker SP photo variant.

#TBT other options

Last Thursday I discussed a desire to have had Andrew McCutchen appear on different Throwback Thursday sets from Topps.  Cutch appeared on 3 #TBT online sets, all in 2017.  As I previously discussed 2 of those sets were based on Topps baseball card designs.  

2017 Topps Throwback #49

This online exclusive set was designed to commemorate Jackie Robinson Day using a design based on the 1972 Boyhood Photos of the Stars.

As much as I like this design, Cutch has received the 1972 treatment in 2021 Topps Heritage and a mini insert from 2013.

The set that preceeded card 49 was a set based on the 1958 Topps baseball design celebrating the 60th anniversary of that release.

Francisco Lindor was card #48.

It would have been nice to get Cutch in a 1958 design since he hadn't appeared on the 1958 design yet. 

The Topps Throwback set that followed the Jackie Robinson inspired set based on the 1972 Boyhood Stars was the 1990 Topps Football Draft Picks set.  It focused on the best #1 Overall Draft Picks 

Since Cutch wasn't a number one draft  in 2005 (that belongs to Justin Upton), Cutch wasn't eligible for this set.

What are some other sets I would have liked to seen get made into Topps Throwback sets?

I would love to see the 1985-86 Topps Hockey set get used for franchise players of great hockey cities. 

Who wouldn't want a Byron Buxton, Miguel Cabrera, or Bryce Harper card using this design? 

You could even release it early in the year when players are practically wearing snow gear to play the games.

In 1990 Topps produced a set based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie  

Topps should use that design for the best performances by players to make their debuts as teenagers.  Bryce Harper and Juan Soto could highlight it if you only want to feature players born in the 90s. Mel Ott, Dwight Gooden, and Freddie Lindstrom could be represented if you want to go back in time a bit further.

Do you have any sets you'd like to see redesigned by Topps?

#tbt other designs

Topps has been digging into their old designs on cards for many many decades.  In 1975 collectors got images of cards featuring MVP winners from previous seasons using the cards from their MVP season.  In 1987 Topps used the Turn Back the Clock design to highlight some more older designed cards from their vault of designs.  

With that it shouldn't be a surprise that Topps has used some of their non baseball card designs to highlight baseball players in their online exclusive sets #TBT Throwback Thursday releases.

Unfortunately despite appearing in three of these #TBT sets, Cutch has only gotten the treatment of 1 non baseball card set design.  

I will look at each of these 3 #TBT sets over the course of the next three Thursdays and evaluate what could have been done differently based on the previous set homage and following set homage.

Today we are looking at

2017 #TBT card #112

This set was based on the Player Nickname Weekend event and included The Machine (Albert Pujols), All Rise (Aaron Judge), Cutch, Buster (Posey), Chuck Nasty (Charlie Blackmon), and Mookie (Betts)

The set used the 1984 Topps design which has been produced in several other reprint themed sets over the years.  The players nickname is featured going down the side of the card where the traditional team name would go.  The images used all feature the Player Weekend jerseys shown.

When the online exclusive set was first released I enjoyed it as it gave me a Cutch card using the 1984 design, but now that Topps has used the 1984 set in Archives, #TBT, an insert set, and Project 2020 and Project 70 I am kind of over seeing this set.

The next set began with card number #116 and was based on the 1984 football design

It was meant to look at players who may have excelled on the gridiron had they not chosen baseball as their career choice.  Cutch was originally a high school star wide receiver before injuring his ACL which made him focus on baseball.  He is a Steelers fan and has been seen attending the Steelers games at Heinz Field.  

The set preceding the Player Nicknames #TBT based on the 1984 design was the 1991 Beverly Hills 90210 set

The set featured the hottest hitters of the summer

This would have been a fun set for player's weekend.  Similar to what was done with the Arenado card above Topps could have used the player's nickname instead of their first name on the cards.  

Are there any Topps designs you want to see get used?

I'm holding out hope that Topps produces a #TBT set based on the Dick Tracy stickers at the trade deadline based on the criminals of the film.  

Keep the WANTED poster idea

Replace the villain with a player like Trevor Story (or any other trade candidate)

Replace the crime with what they could provide to the new team (Home Runs, Stolen Bases, Strikeouts, Leadership, etc etc etc)

And last you can replace the sticker number with either the player's number or position abbreviation

#tbt: Gray Hair?

You may recall that I had a chance to meet Andrew McCutchen last September.  I showed off the custom dreadlock card that Tanner Jones made for me.  Brad from Brad's (Phillies) Blog met up with me at the show and filmed the entire meeting which I pinned to my Twitter.  The whole interaction can be revisited here on my blog.

Well as weird as it is to have a piece of cardboard with a piece of dreadlock in it, I wasn't done.  I asked Tanner to make another custom for me so that I could send it off to another McCutchen collector who has sold me A LOT of low number Cutch cards over the years.  In addition to that custom I asked Tanner if he could create a t206 style dna relic card.

As a Pirates fan there is no more desirable card than a t206 Honus Wagner card.  It is a holy grail of anyone who collects sports cards.  It makes it more special for a Pirates fan though.  I will never own an original, but did have a chance to hold one at a Chantilly show a few years ago which I wrote about on my old blog here.

Back in 2002 Topps released a bat relic card inside a framed Honus Wagner mini that resembled the legendary t206 card.  It is one of my favorite cards in my collection.  I showed it way back in 2013 on the old Pirates Treasure Room blog.

I asked Tanner to recreate something similar using a strand of the dreadlock I gave him for the custom and he created an awesome Cutch card in that t206 style sporting a Homestead Grays uniform.

Here is what he came up with.  This card is fricking awesome!!!

Cutch is one of the premier black baseball players in the game today.  It may not be a coincidence that his prime years were with the Pirates, a team housed in Pittsburgh. 

For the better part of a decade, the Homestead Grays of Pittsburgh, dominated the Negro Leagues.  I have talked before about Hall of Famers and Negro League legends like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Cool Papa Bell. 

A pitcher who played the twilight of his career with the Grays may have actually been the best pitcher in Negro League history though.  And in case you're wondering, his name isn't Satchel Paige.

" Smoky" Joe Williams was born in 1886 to an African American and Comoche Indian parents.  He began his baseball playing career in 1907 with the San Antonio Black Bronchos. 

Not much is known of his stats, but it has been said that he struck out 27 batters in a 12 inning game and that he threw a no hitter against the New York Giants in an exhibition match.  His barnstorming exhibition games had him defeating many Hall of Famers like Waite Hoyt andGrover Alexander.

In his only matchup versus Paige, Williams bested him 1-0 as a 43 year old while Paige was just breaking into his prime.

In 1952 the Pittsburgh Courier named Williams the greatest Negro Leagues pitcher.

Williams was finally elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

#TBT: Wilmer Fields

Each Thursday this month I will be spotlighting a former Negro League player.

 Today I am showing off Wilmer Fields, pitcher for the Homestead Grays.

Fields received an on card autograph in 2001 Fleer's Greats of the Game set.  Copies of the card can still be grabbed for under $20.

Wilmer Leon Fields was born August 2, 1922 and played in the Negro Leagues during the 1940s and 1950s.

Fields joined the Homestead Grays in 1940 at the age of 17 and would go on to pitch to a 30-9 record in his first three seasons.

He left his baseball career in his prime to serve in the Army and in the 5 seasons following his discharge he would pitch to a 72-17 record.  He helped the Grays clinch four league titles (1940, 1941, 1942, 1948) and won the Championship in 1948.  Had it not been for Fields absence on the Grays while he was in the Army, the Grays likely would have won more Championships.  The 1948 Championship would be the last Negro World Series games played.

As the Negro League was winding down, Fields went to play baseball in Canada where he won 3 MVP awards for his two-way style of play.  When he wasn't on the mound with a devastating fastball, slider, and even a knuckle ball he would play 3rd base or in the outfield.  During his 4 seasons in Canada he posted a record of 38-7 and had batting averages of .392 over 4 seasons in 1951-1955.   He won 3 MVPs in those 4 seasons.

After his venture In Canada he moved to several different Latin Leagues playing in Cuba, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela.

Fields left baseball in 1958 and eventually became a bricklayer's helper.  After that brief work he became an alcohol counselor with the District Government.  He helped reform schools and prisons and would organize games between inmates at the prison and schools.

Upon retirement in the 1980s he helped raise money for former Negro League players by setting up autograph shows and benefit auctions.

Fields was elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 and in 2006 he was elected to the Black Ice Hockey andSports Hall of Fame due to his outstanding performances in the Negro Leagues.

The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to wear the Negro League uniforms on an annual basis.  Topps has used thr uniform for several of their throwback sets including the 2018 Salute Series which featured cards of Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison, and Josh Bell all wearing the Grays uniform.

Andrew McCutchen wore the Homestead Grays uniform many times while a member of the Pirates begining in 2009 which you can see below standing next to Nyjer Morgan.

#TBT: "Judy" of the Crawfords

Over the past 3 Thursdays I have shown off some of the biggest and most popular names in the former Negro Leagues.  Those names include Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Cool Papa Bell.

As we celebrate Black History Month on this final day of February I want to take a look at a few more of the former stars of the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

I have shown a bunch of cards on this blog featuring the purplish pinstripe worn by the Crawfords and tributed by the Pirates over the past few seasons.

Topps purchased these pinstripe Crawfords Jerseys the Pirates wore and used them for multiple product releases over the past few years, most notably in Triple Threads.

We have seen it in Triple Threads by both Cutch and Gerrit Cole.

We have seen it used for the 2016 Scouting Report

The pinstripe even showed up for Cutch's Laser booklet relic. You can see the purple pinstripe to the far left of the window.

The pinstripe also appeared for the Sy Berger tribute for Berger's Best

And here is one more I have celebrating Cutch's MLB debut featuring a relic not from the game mentioned on the card.

The Pittsburgh Crawfords had a really cool design with their uniforms.  It featured a red hat and piping with purple pinstripes.  I am not sure where the idea came to use that combination, but it worked.

In addition to Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell playing for the Crawfords they had a rock of a third baseman in the name of William "Judy" Johnson.

I only have two cards of Judy Johnson and they both feature the same image of Johnson in a Crawfords uniform playing the hot corner.

#tbt: Paige(ing) Another Legend

Hopefully you will enjoy these Black History Month segments this month as there seemed to be some modest responses to the idea.

In addition to the Homestead Grays, the Pirates have paid tribute to another Negro League team throughout the years, the Pittsburgh Crawfords.

The Pirates have worn this uniform once each year since 2012.

It features a gray uniform with purplish pinstripes and red piping along the edges in addition to the numbering and lettering.

While I am not aware of any cards of Cutch being produced wearing this uniform, there have been a few relics produced where the uniform is clearly from an old Crawfords jersey.

This 2016 Gypsy Queen is my favorite as it has the purple like pin stripes and the red Majestic logo worn along the sleeve.  I will show more swatches of this jersey in future posts along with other Pittsburgh Crawfords legends.

One of the first stars that the Pittsburgh Crawfords saw rise to prominence was Hall of Fame pitcher, Satchel Paige.

I don't have nearly enough cards of the former Negro players.

Satchel had a rough childhood even landing himself in reform school before gaining the attention as a teenager and signing a contract to play for $250 a month.

Soon after that initial contract, Satchell began to sign on and play for anyone who would be willing to pay for his electric arm.

Satchel is still the oldest player to make his MLB debut at the age of 42 years old when he began his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1947.

There are many urban myths about Satchell including my personal favorite where he had his team sit down on the field with bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th and clinging to a one run game.  Naturally as the story goes, Paige struck the batter out.

He is to this day considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time.

He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

If you have 30 minutes to spare, I strongly suggest you listen to this video called Black Diamonds: The Satchell Paige Story.
The YouTube video is below.

It is essentially an interview with Satchell.  Truly worth the listen if you love baseball and the history of the game.  There is an interesting segment where Satchell talks about how Jackie Robinson wasn't even on the starting roster for the Kansas City Monarchs.  He would go on to say that any Negro League team could have beaten a team in the majors because those players in the Negro Leagues were tops in the country.