1975 “MVP” Project: 1960 Topps Dick Groat

I loved the 1975 Topps MVP subset when I was a kid, and spent a lot of time poring over the images of vintage Topps cards. I’ve decided if getting all of the featured cards isn’t a realistic goal for me, that doesn’t mean I can’t get *some* of the cards.

Here’s my card from the 1975 subset, one that I’ve had for 47 years…

And here’s the card I got earlier this year:

Before I get into why Dick Groat was the NL MVP, I should mention that all 22 of the first place votes for NL MVP were divided among three Pittsburgh Pirates: 16 for Groat, 5 for 3B Don Hoak (who finished 2nd overall) and 1 for Roberto Clemente (who finished 8th).

The Pirates were not heavily favored going in to the 1960 season, having gone 78-76 (4th place, 9 GB) in 1959.  They won the National League pennant with 95 wins (7.0 games ahead of the Milwaukee Braves) and would beat the Yankees in the World Series in 7 games, with Game 7 being one of the greatest games in history (which I mention even though the World Series does not factor into MVP voting).

Why was Dick Groat the 1960 NL MVP?

• Lead the NL with a .325 batting average, beating Dodger Norm Larker on the last day of the season.  A National League shortstop would not lead the league in batting again until Hanley Ramirez in 2009
• Lead the Majors with 154 singles and was third in the NL with 186 hits
• Went 6-for-6 in a May 13 game against Milwaukee;  he had 3 singles, 3 doubles, 2 runs and also had two hits in the Pirates’ 8-run 7th inning

Overall I presume that this was a matter of “You have to see him play every day”, because everything I found on Groat’s 1960 MVP season boiled down to “He was a flashy shortstop who got a lot of hits”, and while that’s impressive it doesn’t in and of itself say “MVP!”

Before I go, I’ll mention that Groat was a basketball All-American at Duke University and went from Duke to the Pirates without ever playing in the minor leagues.

1975 “MVP” Project: 1964 Topps Brooks Robinson and Ken Boyer

I loved the 1975 MVP subset when I was a kid, and spent a lot of time poring over the images of vintage Topps cards. I’ve decided if getting all of the featured cards isn’t a realistic goal for me, that doesn’t mean I can’t get *some* of the cards.

Here’s my card from the 1975 subset, one that I’ve had for 47 years…

And since I have both of the actual cards – my oldest such pairing to date – I’ll feature both and touch on what got Brooks Robinson and Ken Boyer their league’s MVP awards.

Why was Brooks Robinson the 1964 AL MVP?

• Lead the AL with 118 RBI, a career-best, and played in 163 games
• Brooks won the Gold Glove for the 5th consecutive time, lead American League 3rd basemen with 153 putouts and 327 assists, had a .972 fielding percentage and was involved in 40 double plays
• Batted .464 in September
• Over the season he hit .317 with 28 homers, 35 doubles and 82 runs
• Brooks got 18 first place votes, with Mickey Mantle getting the other 2 first place votes.

Why was Ken Boyer the 1964 NL MVP?

• Boyer played in all 162 of the Cardinals’ game and lead them to their first pennant (and world championship) in 18 years.
• He lead the Majors with 119 RBI, the first NL 3rd baseman to lead the league in RBIs since Heinie Zimmerman in 1917
• He batted .295 with 30 doubles, 10 triples, 24 homers and 100 runs scored
• Boyer got 14 of the 20 first place votes in the MVP voting. Other players who got 1st place votes are Philadelphia’s Johnny Callison (2 1st place votes), St. Louis’ Bill White (2 votes), Milwaukee’s Joe Torre (1 vote) and Lou Brock (1 vote). Brock split the season between the Cubs and Cardinals.
• Although the World Series wouldn’t have factored in to the MVP voting, Boyer hit 2 homers against the Yankees, including a grand slam off of Al Downing in the Cards’ 4-3 win at Yankee Stadium. In game 7, Boyer had three hits, including a double and a home run, and scored three runs as the Cardinals won their first world championship since 1946

1975 “MVP” Project: 1958 Topps Jackie Jensen

I loved the 1975 MVP subset when I was a kid, and spent a lot of time poring over the images of vintage Topps cards.  I’ve decided if getting all of the featured cards isn’t a realistic goal for me, that doesn’t mean I can’t get *some* of the cards.

Today I’m going to look at Jackie Jensen, the 1958 American League MVP.

Here’s my card from the 1975 subset, one that I’ve had for over 45 years…

Here’s the off-center card I recently acquired…

So why was Jackie Jensen the 1958 AL MVP?

In 1958 the Red Sox finished in 3rd place with a 79-75-1 record, 13 games behind the pennant-winning Yankees.

Jensen played in all 154 games, started in the All-Star game for the first time, hit a career-high 35 home runs, was second in the league with 99 walks and lead the league with 122 RBI. He batted .286 and scored 83 runs and his .396 on-base percentage was 5th-best in the American League.

Jensen received 9 first place MVP votes and beat out the Yankees’ Bob Turley (7 first place votes), Cleveland’s Rocky Colavito (4) and the Athletics’ Bob Cerv (3).

 

1975 “MVP” Project: 1967 Topps Orlando Cepeda

I loved the 1975 MVP subset when I was a kid, and I’ve decided if getting all of the featured cards isn’t a realistic goal for me, that doesn’t mean I can’t get *some* of the cards.

Today I’m going to look at Orlando Cepeda, the 1967 NL MVP.

Here’s my card from the 1975 subset, one that I’ve had for over 45 years…

Here’s the actual card I recently acquired…

So why was Orlando Cepeda the 1967 NL MVP?

The Cardinals finished in 6th place in 1966, but in 1967 would win 101 games and finish 10.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Giants (Cepeda’s former team) before beating the Red Sox in 7 games. Cepeda batted .325 with a league-leading 111 RBI. He also scored 91 runs and hit 25 homers

Cepeda got all of the first place votes – just the second NL Player to win the MVP unanimously – and handily beat his competition with 280 points as compared to Tim McCarver’s 136 and Roberto Clemente’s 129.

1975 “MVP” Project: 1965 Topps Zoilo Versalles

I won’t get into the full explanation of this project, especially when I wrote about it last year, but the general idea is this:  I loved the 1975 “MVP subset when I was a kid, and I somewhat recently decided last year that even if getting all of the featured cards wasn’t realistic for me, that doesn’t mean I can’t get *some* of the cards.

Honestly, calling this a “project” is overselling it a bit, because not a huge priority…  Not so much a chase as it is a ‘side gig’.

In this post I’m going to feature one of my recent COMC acquisitions, a 1965 Topps card of AL MVP Zoilo Versalles.

Here’s the card from the 1975 subset…

Here’s the actual card…

As with other cards I’ve obtained so far, ‘1975 Me’ is still gaping at this, saying “WOW, AFTER ALL THIS TIME I’VE GOT THIS CARD!”

…And now I can see the back!  The cartoon is fairly uninteresting by 1965 standards.  You can also see from the pen mark and small amounts of scotch tape why I got this card cheap.  The front presents well, so this grades as a “Shlabotnik 10”.

So why was Zoilo Versalles the 1965 AL MVP?

The 1965 Twins won 102 games, finished 7 games ahead of the 2nd place White Sox but lost the World Series to the Dodgers in 7 games. Versalles lead the league in runs (126), doubles (45), triples (12), extra-base hits (76) and total bases (308).  In addition he hit for a .273 average with 77 RBI and 27 stolen bases.  He also lead AL shortstops with 105 double plays.

Versalles easily won the MVP voting with 19 first place votes and 275 points, with teammate Tony Oliva finishing second with 1 first place vote and 174 points.  In winning the award he became the first MVP in either league who was not born in the USA.

 

I Don’t Need More Goals, But…: The 1975 “MVP” Project

I need more collecting projects like I need the proverbial hole in the head… but the idea for this one came to me and I couldn’t resist.

1975 was my second year of collecting, and I spent an awful lot of time dreaming on the “MVP” subset in 1975 Topps, a subset that was tied together by the “25 Years of Topps Baseball” theme.

I was originally introduced to vintage Topps card designs by the 1974 “Hank Aaron Special” subset…

…and I pored over these cards as well. I vowed to myself that one day I would own all of these cards… in fact, one day I would own every single Topps baseball card!!!

BWAH-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAAAA!

So let’s fast-forward 45 years. I must confess, I don’t own every single Topps baseball card, I don’t even have a complete set older than 1973… (well, other than insert and oddball sets). Given my current trajectory, I don’t see that changing.

I thought about chasing just those cards featured in this 1975 subset, but honestly, when I think of the hundreds of dollars it would involve to get just those two 1954 cards of Berra and Mays… well, there are things I can do with that money that would bring me far more joy …like completing my 1964 Topps “Giants” set.

…And there’s another obstacle in such a project: Some of these cards are ‘customs’ Topps made because there weren’t actual Topps cards of Roy Campanella in 1955 or of Maury Wills in 1962.

So here’s where my epiphany comes in.

Late last year, I came to the realization that just because I can’t have all of these MVP cards doesn’t mean I can’t have *some* of them.

A 1965 Willie Mays is probably not realistic, but a 1965 Zoilo Versalles?  Hey, I can do that.

I’ve started to keep an eye out for affordable MVP’s, and I’ve got a 1960 Dick Groat sitting at COMC waiting for me to request a shipment

So today I’m featuring the 1971 MVP’s

A couple of years ago I picked up this Joe Torre, and it seemed Oh, so very odd to look at this card in standard sized instead of the 1″ by 1.5″ version on the 1975 card.

At the show I went to in February, I picked up the other card, this iconic Vida Blue card.

Again, it’s odd to see a full-sized version of this card.

So at some point I’ll go back and share the MVP cards I already have (1973 and 1974), and any new cards I pick up (like that Groat), but this won’t be much of a recurring series… I just like the idea behind the project and wanted to share it.