Saturday, January 14, 2017

Game On

It's a lazy Boxing Day around the Main Topps Archives Research Complex kids (I write in advance usually) and I decided to do some maintenance on the blog. This mainly consists of fixing incorrect tags and little typos as I find them.  In the midst of this very low-level work I realized I had never devoted a full post to one of my favorite Topps insert sets of all time - the 1968 Baseball Game cards, which should really be referred to as Batter Up cards. I've touched on this set in a couple of "overview" posts, namely one on rewraps and another on the link between Topps and Ed-U-Cards but never on its own.

The set is widely known and collected of course, with Mantle and Clemente being the key cards in a set of 33 that features well composed color portraits of each player. One card was inserted into mid-series wax and cello packs:


Is it just me or does that look like Yogi Berra?  The game is pretty self explanatory but just in case...


You were on your own with the rules if you got your cards in the cello packs:



I'm sure many cello packs have the card inserted face out but that seems to be the prevalent side from what I can tell.

Great look to these:


I chose Davis as my example for a reason, which we will get to momentarily. You can see how the game worked just by looking at the card. You can also see the typical Topps funky cut at what is almost the apex of the card.  Centering issues plagued Topps for decades and their insert sets were even worse in this regard than the regular issues.  You can see the Davis is well off center, the reverse tells the tale too, although it's quite interesting in any event:


I love the little Topps baseballs.  The design resembles but does not mimic the 1951 Blue Backs. 

I linked above to the Batter Up game that Topps sold as a standalone set but will show the box proof here again as it's a beaut:


Yes, two different price points on the same sheet! Either is difficult, I think the 10 cent variety is the tougher of the two but it's quite hard to find either. I don't have the box myself but Friend o'the Archive Bob Fisk sent me a scan of one yonks ago, 15 cent variety:


The box back indicates it was printed no later than 1969, given the Brooklyn address and we can narrow it even further as you will see below:


My guess is the game just collected unused inserts and was test marketed in late in the 1968 season, which ties in to one of two reasons why I chose Tommy Davis as a representative example.  He was traded by the Mets to the White Sox on December 15, 1967 for Tommie Agee and Al Weis in a move that would ultimately cement the 1969 Mets championship, so technically speaking, Davis was a member of the White Sox when the set was issued, although he's clearly in Mets duds on the card. If you look at the team checklist below, you will see the Mets are the only team without a player in the set. (Correction 1/14/17: The ever vigilant Keith Olbermann advises Davis is in Dodger duds)You could make an argument for Rusty Staub as an Expo and even Davis as a Pilot if the set was boxed for resale in 1969 since both were capless, but there were really no players shown who could have been Royals or Padres so I say the Batter Up set is definitely from 1968.

It's a great little set, easy to collect as it's remarkably plentiful and the rounded corners a thick gloss help protect these babies.

Here are alphabetical and team checklists for your viewing pleasure:

1 ALOU MATTY PITTSBURGH PIRATES
2 MANTLE MICKEY NEW YORK YANKEES
3 YASTRZEMSKI CARL BOSTON RED SOX
4 AARON HANK ATLANTA BRAVES
5 KILLEBREW HARMON MINNESOTA TWINS
6 CLEMENTE ROBERTO PITTSBURGH PIRATES
7 ROBINSON FRANK BALTIMORE ORIOLES
8 MAYS WILLIE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
9 ROBINSON BROOKS BALTIMORE ORIOLES
10 DAVIS TOMMY CHICAGO WHITE SOX
11 FREEHAN BILL DETROIT TIGERS
12 OSTEEN CLAUDE LOS ANGELES DODGERS
13 PETERS GARY CHICAGO WHITE SOX
14 LONBORG JIM BOSTON RED SOX
15 HARGAN STEVE CLEVELAND INDIANS
16 CHANCE DEAN MINNESOTA TWINS
17 McCORMICK MIKE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
18 McCARVER TIM ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
19 SANTO RON CHICAGO CUBS
20 GONZALEZ TONY PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
21 HOWARD FRANK WASHINGTON SENATORS
22 SCOTT GEORGE BOSTON RED SOX
23 ALLEN RICHIE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
24 WYNN JIM HOUSTON ASTROS
25 ALLEY GENE PITTSBURGH PIRATES
26 MONDAY RICK OAKLAND ATHLETICS
27 KALINE AL DETROIT TIGERS
28 STAUB RUSTY HOUSTON ASTROS
29 CAREW ROD MINNESOTA TWINS
30 ROSE PETE CINCINNATI REDS
31 TORRE JOE ATLANTA BRAVES
32 CEPEDA ORLANDO ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
33 FREGOSI JIM CALIFORNIA ANGELS

Alphabetical:

4 AARON HANK ATLANTA BRAVES
31 TORRE JOE ATLANTA BRAVES
9 ROBINSON BROOKS BALTIMORE ORIOLES
7 ROBINSON FRANK BALTIMORE ORIOLES
3 YASTRZEMSKI CARL BOSTON RED SOX
22 SCOTT GEORGE BOSTON RED SOX
14 LONBORG JIM BOSTON RED SOX
33 FREGOSI JIM CALIFORNIA ANGELS
19 SANTO RON CHICAGO CUBS
13 PETERS GARY CHICAGO WHITE SOX
10 DAVIS TOMMY CHICAGO WHITE SOX
30 ROSE PETE CINCINNATI REDS
15 HARGAN STEVE CLEVELAND INDIANS
27 KALINE AL DETROIT TIGERS
11 FREEHAN BILL DETROIT TIGERS
24 WYNN JIM HOUSTON ASTROS
28 STAUB RUSTY HOUSTON ASTROS
12 OSTEEN CLAUDE LOS ANGELES DODGERS
16 CHANCE DEAN MINNESOTA TWINS
5 KILLEBREW HARMON MINNESOTA TWINS
29 CAREW ROD MINNESOTA TWINS
2 MANTLE MICKEY NEW YORK YANKEES
26 MONDAY RICK OAKLAND ATHLETICS
23 ALLEN RICHIE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
20 GONZALEZ TONY PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
25 ALLEY GENE PITTSBURGH PIRATES
1 ALOU MATTY PITTSBURGH PIRATES
6 CLEMENTE ROBERTO PITTSBURGH PIRATES
17 McCORMICK MIKE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
8 MAYS WILLIE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
32 CEPEDA ORLANDO ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
18 McCARVER TIM ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
21 HOWARD FRANK WASHINGTON SENATORS

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