Former Cal Athletes' Backstories as Pros Are Often Revealed in the Cards

We examine eight sports cards of Golden Bears that are perhaps distinct from all others.

My summers as kid were consumed by three things:

— Listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons call Giants games on KSFO on my transistor radio

— Playing baseball with the neighborhood kids at the park down the street from our house

— And collecting baseball cards

My fascination with baseball cards was all-consuming. In those days, Topps had a monopoly on producing cards, which made it easy for young collectors. You didn’t have to decide which set to collect — there was only one.

For a nickel, you’d get five cards, some other insert prize and a powdery stick of the worst bubblegum on the planet.

Now, of course, the market is saturated with all kinds of cards from a variety of manufacturers. The sports card hobby is apparently making a comeback, even if it’s now — and for a while — has been something grownups are more involved with than kids.

Just for fun, I’ve identified eight sports cards of former Cal stars that are intriguing because of the stories behind them. Hope you’re enjoying the summer:

Cal’s first great star

Brick Muller

Harold “Brick” Muller had one of the great single years of any Cal athlete. At barely 19 years old, he won a silver medal in the high jump at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.

Just five weeks after the high jump final, Muller and the Bears kicked off the first of five straight undefeated seasons. Cal outscored its opponents 510 points to 14 including a 127-0 win over Saint Mary’s.The Bears stunned the college football world with a 28-0 win over heavily favored Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, in which Muller threw a long touchdown pass.

By the way, what is that creature in the upper-lefthand corner of Muller's card? Doesn't look much like a bear to me.

A New York Yankee, briefly

Jackie Jensen

Jackie Jensen was a spectacular two-sport star for the Bears, the football program’s first 1,000-yard running back and a pitcher-outfielder for the Cal baseball team that won the first College World Series in 1947.

Jensen signed with the Oakland Oaks in Pacific Coast League before the New York Yankees bought his contract. He figured to be Joe DiMaggio’s backup in center field, perhaps ultimately his replacement.

But in 1951, the Yankees brought up Mickey Mantle, and Jensen’s future in New York soon came to an end. Jensen batted .298 with 8 home runs and 25 RBI in 56 games in ’51. Mantle hit 13 homers and drove in 65 runs in 96 games . . . as a 19-year-old.

Traded to Boston seven games into the 1952 season, Jensen couldn’t match Mantle’s brilliance. But he was very good, hitting at least 20 home runs for six straight seasons and winning the 1958 America League MVP when he hit 35 homers and led the league with 122 RBI.

Wrong place, wrong time

Darrall Imhoff

Center Darrall Imhoff (shown above while playing for the 76ers) was the best player on the best Cal basketball team of all-time. He helped lead the Bears to the 1959 national championship, then was a consensus All-American a year later when Cal returned to the Final Four.

After helping coach Pete Newell’s 1960 Olympic team win a gold medal at Rome, Imhoff began a 12-year NBA career during which his made seven playoff appearances and was chosen to the 1967 All-Star Game. A solid journeyman.

Unfortunately, those unfamiliar with his collegiate heroics may only remember Imhoff for his role as the starting center for the New York Knicks on the evening of March 2, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain scored a record 100 points.

Imhoff actually only played 20 minutes while posting seven points and six rebounds. In his book, “Wilt, 1962,” author Gary Pomerantz quoted Imhoff after being called for his third foul as telling the ref, "Well, why don't you just give the guy a hundred now and we'll all go home!” Imhoff eventually fouled out and Chamberlain got his 100.

Wilt would have scored against anyone that night. He took 63 shots (made 36 of them), was 28-for-32 from the free throw line (astounding accuracy for a career 51-percent foul shooter) and grabbed 25 rebounds.

Vive le Kapp

Joe Kapp

Cal legend Joe Kapp, who quarterbacked the Bears to their most recent (recent?) Rose Bowl appearance on Jan. 1, 1959, led the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl a decade later.

In the meantime, Kapp played eight seasons in the Canadian Football League, with the Calgary Stampeders and the BC Lions. He directed the Lions to victory in the 1964 Grey Cup — Canada’s vision of the Super Bowl.

The Post cereal card pictured above is unique in my experience because it includes Kapp’s bio information in both English and French in order to appeal Canadian fans. Aaron Rodgers can make no such claim.

Andy Messersmith: Game changer

Andy Messersmith

Messersmith was a pitcher for Cal in the 1960s who fashioned an excellent major league career: a 130-99 win-loss record with a 2.86 earned run average. He twice won 20 games, including in 1974.

During spring training prior to the ’75 season, while negotiating for a new contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Messersmith asked for a no-trade clause. These these types of demands were unheard at the time, when ownership had complete control of a player’s fortunes.

Messersmith went on to play the 1975 season without a contact, posting a 19-14 record with a 2.29 ERA, and leading the National League with 40 games started, 19 complete games, seven shutouts and 321.2 innings pitched. He also won a Gold Glove for his fielding.

After the season, Messersmith won a landmark arbitration case, was declared a free agent and signed a three-year, $1 million contract with the Atlanta Braves. That means he was earning almost $100,000 more in 1976 than Hank Aaron, who had just broken Babe Ruth's home run record. 

Professional sports were changed forever.

Father and son professionals

Jared Goff, left, and dad Jerry Goff

Before quarterback Jared Goff re-wrote Cal’s passing records and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, his father already had completed his career as a professional athlete.

Jerry Goff was no star but he played portions of six MLB seasons as a catcher with the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.

Jared, now preparing to begin his first season with the Detroit Lions, started 69 games in five seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, passing for more than 18,000 yards with 107 touchdowns. He was twice a Pro Bowl pick and in 2018 led the Rams to a Super Bowl.

There are golf cards? Who knew

Collin Morikawa

Collin Morikawa rates perhaps behind only Aaron Rodgers among Cal’s most prominent and successful current professional athletes.

Sports Illustrated was impressed enough to include Morikawa in its SI For Kids card collection. He has more than lived up to any expectations, with four tour victories, including the 2020 PGA Championship, a No. 4 world ranking, nearly $12 million in career winnings in just 25 months, and a spot in the Tokyo Olympics golf field later this month.

And he’s just 24.

Not a first baseman . . .  not for now, anyway

Andrew Vaughn

Most everyone expected Cal slugger Andrew Vaughn to eventually make it in the majors. The college baseball's Player of the Year as a first baseman with the Bears as a sophomore in 2018, Vaughn was the No. 3 pick in the 2019 MLB draft.

COVID-19 deprived him of a traditional minor-league experience in 2020, but he was invited to spring training this year with the Chicago White Sox, who hoped he would make the team as a designated hitter.

He made the Opening Day roster but a spate of injuries in the White Sox outfield has landed the 23-year-old a daily spot in left fielder, a position he had rarely played. He has been hot and cold at the plate, with eight home runs and a .245 batting average entering play Monday. But he has been better than expected defensively, without an error through 62 gams in left field.

Cover photo of Jared and Jerry Goff

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo