EXTRA! EXTRA! With MLB facing many changes in 1961, collectors were treated to a popular Topps Sporting News All-Star subset

Call it what you will: add-ons, bonuses, expansion, extras, etc. The 1961 Major League Baseball season had as many dramatic changes and additions as searing ground balls routinely captured by Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson.

For starters, the American League added three new teams. The Los Angeles Angels gave the Junior Circuit a West Coast presence; the Washington Senators pulled up stakes and moved to Minnesota to become the Twins; and a “new” Senators franchise arrived in the nation’s capital. Also, the AL bumped up their regular-season schedule from 154 to 162 games, with the NL following suit in 1962.

Plus, for the third of four straight seasons, MLB played two All-Star games—partly to increase the coffers of the relatively tiny player pension fund.

As the 1961 All-Star break approached, not only did the summer heat elevate temperatures, but an increasingly bright spotlight shined on New York Yankee teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. The “M & M Boys,” as the slugging outfielders were known, were under intense pressure by midseason with their pursuit of Yankee legend Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record. Maris eclipsed the milestone on the last day of the regular season with his 61st homer.

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The Yankees, in one of the most dominant displays in league history, would go on to win 109 regular-season games and pull off “a gentleman’s sweep” by beating the Cincinnati Reds in a five-game World Series.

TOPPS ALL-STARS

Meanwhile, within the sports card universe, Topps expanded its annual baseball set from 572 to 587 cards. With a solid format in place since 1958, the card maker once again rounded out their mainstream baseball issue with a Sporting News All-Star subset.

Screenshot Doug Koztoski

The eye-catching design for the 22 high-numbered All-Star cards featured a posed player photo with the image “breaking through” the front page of The Sporting News—one of the era’s key sports publications.

THE ROSTER

The popular subset featured an alternating format with an American League All-Star followed by a National League star.

Managers

Some might question why Orioles manager Paul Richards (#566) begins this grouping but the explanation is simple: in 1960, with Richards at the helm, Baltimore finished second to the pennant-winning Yankees, but since New York fired Yankee manager Casey Stengel after his team’s stunning defeat in the 1960 World Series, Richards, still the O’s skipper in 1961, was the logical choice for this All-Star set.

Danny Murtaugh, the leader of the 1960 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, earned NL manager honors here (#567).

First Base

A dependable player for several seasons, the Yankees’ Bill Skowron (#568) makes the cut for this roster and is paired with perhaps the most obscure player in this lineup, Frank “Pancho” Herrera (#569). The Phillies’ Herrera, to be fair, finished second in the 1960 NL Rookie of the Year Award voting, but exited the big leagues for good once the 1961 regular season concluded.

Second Base

Pesky Nellie Fox of the Chicago White Sox (#570) and the Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski (#571). Both Fox and Maz owned solid reputations for their defensive play and decent bats, but the Pirates second baseman is best known as the only batter to hit a Game 7 World Series Game walk-off homer—in 1960 against the heavily favored Yankees.

Third Base

Slick fielding Orioles legend Brooks Robinson (#572), a solid card in this subset, and the St. Louis Cardinals’ Ken Boyer (#573). Robinson would end up with 16 Gold Gloves and a couple World Series rings (1966, 1970), but Boyer, a Gold Glove recipient for many seasons as well, beat Brooksie to the punch by playing a key role in the Cards 1964 Series victory.

Shortstop

Luis Aparicio of the White Sox (#574), a strong gloveman and base stealer, against the Cubs legend and 1958 and 1959 NL MVP Ernie Banks (#575). This Banks card generally ranks as one of the most popular of the infielder cards in this run.

The outfielders come next and, card for card, deliver the meat of the issue.

Right Field

It was no fluke that Maris (#576) made this All-Star team as he won the 1960 AL MVP, in part, because of his strong defense.

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His NL counterpart was none other than Milwaukee Braves star Hank Aaron (#577), one of the top two or three cards in this 22-card offering. Maris would peak in many ways in 1961, but Aaron, who had several superstar seasons by 1961, would find another gear later in his storied career.

Center Field

Likely the best pair at any position in the subset, the Yankees’ Mantle (#578) is the key to this All-Star team and one of the most sought-after cards in the entire base set. Giants great Willie Mays, perhaps the best ever to play the position, also demands great interest (#579).

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Also See: Why are Willie Mays cards undervalued

Left Field

This slot is a little unusual in that the Detroit Tigers’ Al Kaline (#580) and the Reds’ Frank Robinson (#581) are both listed in this position, which is odd since Kaline was mostly a right fielder.

But for the sake of this Topps subset it probably made more sense to put Kaline in left since Maris had such a good year in right in 1960.

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Catcher

The Minnesota Twins’ Earl Battey (#582) delivered a handful of Gold Glove seasons in the ’60s, while the Braves’ Del Crandall (#583) was a longtime stellar backstop for Milwaukee. This spot sparks only modest appeal.

Pitchers

For this section of the Sporting News All-Stars, both teams had a starting hurler from each side of the mound.

For the right-handers, the selections bring limited sizzle at this point, but back in the day things looked promising for Cleveland Indians ace Jim Perry (#584), who was looked at as a rising star for the Tribe, and Bob Friend (#585), who racked up a handful of good years with the Pirates—and contributed to the team winning it all in 1960.

The Yankees’ Whitey Ford (#586) enters the discussion as the first left-handed pitcher from this team of standouts and the Hall of Famer still had many career victories to rack up as this card came off the printing press.

The set finishes with left-hander Warren Spahn, the winningest MLB hurler in the post-World War II era (363 victories). The Braves’ crafty lefty pitched a handful of innings in 1942 (with no decisions) and then spent three years in the U.S. Army, including fighting in The Battle of the Bulge, before his incredible career ignited.

The Spahn card (#589) stands out for a couple of reasons in addition to his general Cooperstown worthiness. The card back highlights his April 1961 no-hitter against the Giants—one of the few cards in this subset that includes any type of update from that season.

Additionally, although the card back is numbered #589, the actual last series checklist slots the Spahn All-Star as #587, the set ender. Some collectors think cards #587 and #588 were not printed, and perhaps that is true. But, with the alternating layout of this 22-card All-Star group—and from 1958 through 1961 Topps wrapped their baseball sets with four-pitcher All-Star cards—I think an uncorrected printing error on Spahn’s card back, which should read #587, likely solves the “mystery.”

Whether an uncorrected error card or not, finishing the high-numbered All-Stars with a future Hall of Famer remains a satisfying way to conclude the cavalcade of cardboard from a truly memorable year of “extras,” both on the field and within the card set.