Cards That Never Were: Doug Howard Topps 1973-'77

Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create virtual trading cards for players missed in various sets. It is a concept I have borrowed from far too many to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

Outfielder-first baseman Doug Howard was drafted by the California Angels in the 8th round of the 1970 MLB June Amateur Draft. He made his MLB debut in 1972 and had stints in 1973 and '74. After the '74 season, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He played a bit with the Cards in '75, then was traded to the Cleveland Indians after the season. After the '76 season, he was traded to the expansion Toronto Blue Jays, although he wouldn't play for them and his career ended. For his career, Howard played 97 games, hitting .212 with 1 HR, 22 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

For his efforts, Topps did not give him any cards, although OPC (Canadian Topps) put him on a multi-player prospects card as a Blue Jay. That left all five of his cards missing. When I started making his '73 card, I saw Gio of When Topps Had (Base)Balls already beat me to it again. In fact, he had already made all five of Howard's cards. All that was left for me to do is put Gio and his great site in the spotlight. He has thousands of virtual cards and they are all incredible. He is truly the master!