Too Many Happy Hours at Topps

[Rich Klein]

And he was a defensive whiz when that mattered more than batting.

Think about the other seven teams in 61:

Eddie Kasko had a fine year for the Reds in 61, he could have been a good choice

Dick Groat slumped in 61 after winning the MVP in 60, he was not going to earn that honor


Maury Wills would have been a good choice but remember Topps could not issue cards of him. Nef Ced

Jose Pagan would, in reality has been a good choice but was not selected

According to Baseball Reference; Bob Lillis was the Cards starter at short but no one they had would have been a good nominee

That would be Ernie Banks last year as the full-time SS for the Cubs. With his offensive numbers, he would have been a good choice but his defense was failing rapidly at short

Ruben Amaro started for the Phils at SS. While a nice player, Roy was better.

You do have to remember this was also a different time in baseball. We rewerded defensive brilliance a lot more than we do today. The major swing actually took about another 20 years as players such as Ed Brinkman, Dick Schofield and Gene Michael all lasted years without being able to hit a lick. Today, not so muich

Rich