BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher
Even though their team came up short in the 1965 Fall Classic, disappointed collectors and fans of the Minnesota Twins could still look forward to Topps’ World Series subset in the following year’s 1966 set.
Instead, adding salt to their wounds, Topps stiffed them.
After relocating from Washington, DC to Minnesota for the 1961 season, the Twins quickly became a powerhouse in the American League. This was in sharp contrast to their final years in Washington where they perennially finished in the second division and were often cellar dwellers.
In 1965, the Twins were led to the A.L. pennant by an offense that included future Hall-of-Famers Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva, plus MVP Zoilo Versalles. In addition, 21-game winner Jim “Mudcat” Grant, Jim Perry and Jim Kaat (also to become enshrined in Cooperstown) led the pitching staff.
Minnesota faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. The L.A. team included the best hurler in baseball, Cy Young Award winner Sandy Koufax. He and Don Drysdale – both Hall-of-Famers to be — together posted 49 victories. The Twins started out hot and it eventually became a see-saw series, with the Dodgers triumphing in seven games.
Two examples of Topps’ World Series cards: 1965 and 1967
Starting in 1960 and continuing through 1978, Topps issued about a half-dozen World Series cards each year highlighting the previous year’s Fall Classic. (The Dodgers had appeared in the subset in 1960 and 1964.) However, Topps skipped one year — and only one year — throughout that 19-year run. For some unknown reason the 1966 Topps set did NOT include World Series cards. In other words, in the only year the Twins would have been featured, they were left out. … Cheated. … Robbed. … Ripped off.
The only positive was that Minnesota’s 1966 Topps team card (#526) showed them with the large headline of “1ST PLACE • AMERICAN LEAGUE.”
Small solace.
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