lou brock is in my hall of famer collection

given my burgeoning fandom of davey lopes, maury wills, and ty cobb, i was well aware of lou brock in the late 1970's. he's in my hall of famer collection, represented by this card:

that is a 2018 topps archives signature series 1989 topps card, numbered 53/61. here's the back:

sure, i would have preferred that this card be an actual 1979 topps card rather than the 1989 turn back the clock card, but it's ok. this is how i think of brock - strong sideburn game and a peeling stl logo on his helmet.

[note - i scheduled this post to be published tonight several weeks ago, and with brock's passing on sunday i thought i would add this bit to note that brock was one of the first non-dodger, non-yankee players that i recognized thanks to his prominence in the 1978 topps set. rest in peace.]

back in 1978, when i really began collecting cards and following baseball, topps did not put stolen bases as one of the stats on the backs of cards. luckily, brock had a record breaker card in that set (card #1!), honoring him for achieving the pinnacle of the sport regarding stolen bases. the card noted that he had passed ty cobb on the all-time stolen bases list to become "baseball's all-time theft king".  you will note that the back of the above card brings billy hamilton in to the conversation, and if one recognizes hamilton as having been the actual career leader in steals, then the 1978 topps record breaker card is meaningless.  

in 1979, topps included the "all-time record holders" subset, which, as a young fan of the game, i thought was the best! i opened packs and had a chance of finding a card with hank aaron or ty cobb on it! for the stolen bases card, brock was there as both the season record holder and the career record holder. the back of that card did include hamilton, but with an asterisk noting that his career total of 937 steals was achieved under different scoring rules. it's worth noting that both cobb's and hamilton's career totals have changed in the last couple of decades, but brock still passed them both.

the back of that 1979 card was how i learned that brock had set the season mark of 118 stolen bases earlier in the decade, eclipsing maury wills' record in the process. i was disappointed to have missed an opportunity to see a dodger on one of those cards, and i have to admit that my appreciation of brock was diminished a bit. i was therefore happy to see brock's name further down on the annual leader board as a i began collecting dodger cards from seasons past, including the 1976 and 1977 league leader cards with davey lopes at the top of the list!

still, i looked forward to a 1980 lou brock card after he surpassed 3,000 hits during the 1979 season. i was very disappointed to find that brock was given the same treatment as brooks robinson and al kaline before him - no 'final tribute' card, but rather a record breaker/highlight card, and one that he shared with carl yastrzemski (who also reached 3,000 hits in 1979) at that. going on 40 years later, i'm still waiting for topps to produce a card for brock using the 1980 design.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

lou brock - 2018 topps archives signature series 1989 buyback 53/61

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49

ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

tony gwynn - 1997 donruss signature series millennium marks autograph 0702/1000

cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph

 

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.