1960's represent!

sometime around the year 2000, i began putting together "sampler" sets of topps sets from 1952 through 1969. i had no intention of ever completing any of those sets, and i figured it would be a fun idea to pick up a card from each team and each subset for those older sets.

i finished the task in a few years (it was a low priority), but then decided to scrap the collection as i began putting together the 1965 and 1957 sets.  now, i've decided to put together a "representative card" mini collection that will make it easier for me to see a great card from each topps flagship set from 1952 on.

i'll show off the cards occasionally, along with a reason for choosing that particular card. i won't use a card that is in my dodger collection, or any other collection for that matter, so i should wind up with a good variety.  here are the cards that represent the 1960's in this mini collection:

1960 - whitey ford

this is the last of the horizontal cards in this collection, and it's a good one. i used to have an al kaline card from this set, but gave it up to the travelling box several years ago that suspiciously went missing shortly thereafter. anyway, i picked up the ford card for my sampler project in a lot of vintage cards. very inexpensive card of a yankee hall of famer!

1961 - tracy stallard

this was the very first 1961 topps card i ever owned. i bought it from my local card and comic store when i was 9 or 10. i had recently read about roger maris breaking babe ruth's record and was excited to own a card of the pitcher who was victimized for number 61. a guy standing next to me at the counter as i presented the card for purchase said "hey, tracy stallard. isn't he the guy who gave up home run number 61 to maris?". i was nervous that this information might cause the store owner to jack up the price as if he didn't already know who stallard was. i paid a quarter.

1962 - brooks robinson

i still need the 1957 topps brooks robinson rookie, so this is the oldest card i own of the human vacuum cleaner. it was also part of a vintage lot purchase in the early 2000's. brooks was a big deal to me as far as collecting was concerned, thanks to his 1971 topps world series highlight card and his 1978 topps record breaker card.

1963 - al kaline

it's not a 1960 card, but here's kaline nonetheless. i picked up this card at a card show in the twin cities from kurt's famous vintage bargain bin. the crease across kaline's forehead meant big savings for me. i first learned of kaline around 1979 when i was doing research on players who wore number 6, like steve garvey.

1964 - duke snider

there was a time when i decided to complete topps runs for notable dodger players such as don newcombe, gil hodges, and duke snider (you'll see another example shortly). when i disassembled my player collections around the time that i started the sampler sets, cards like this duke migrated to the samplers. i'm still waiting for topps to make a 1965 duke card, even though he'd be a giant on that one.

1965 - bert campaneris

speaking of 1965, here is the first card i owned from that set. spurred by my interest in the a's thanks to billy ball in 1982 and given my fandom of catfish hunter, i was on the lookout for a's cards back to 1965. the local card and comic shop had long boxes of singles from old sets, and this campy was the first one i chose from the 1965 box. the kc cap and huge rookie "cup" trophy made it an obvious choice.

1966 - ted davidson

this was another card picked up for the sampler set, but it was done so with purpose. davidson was from my neck of the woods, and i even went to school and played little league with his son. however, i had no idea that his dad had pitched in the big leagues until another friend told me a year or so later. ted had even thrown batting practice to the little league all-star team one year - but it was (unfortunately for me) the year before i made the squad.

1967 - maury wills

here's another card from my efforts to complete topps runs of certain dodger players. this card also happens to be the first named topps maury wills card (his 1960 card is a world series highlight focused more on luis aparicio), and it's a high number to boot. 

1968 - tom seaver

this card was the crown jewel of my 1968 topps sampler set, although i obtained it in the mid-1990's. a few years before the internet and ebay, i traded my star wars figures and vehicles for baseball cards. a coworker of mine was a mets fan who had collected cards, but was turning his attention to toys. my brother and i had a serious cache of star wars figures, vehicles, and play sets from the original trilogy that were just sitting in a closet at my parents' house. i made my coworker throw in a 1989 upper deck ken griffey jr card in addition to his mets cards (which also included a 1971 topps nolan ryan card). i had no regrets, although i probably should have some now.

1969 - aurelio rodriguez

to be honest, i am not sure when i acquired this card - whether it was during my sampler days or before. i know i wanted to own it as a kid when error cards were all the rage and this one was touted as a prime example, even though it was an uncorrected error. when the gary pettis card came out in 1985, this rodriguez card was once again in the spotlight as they both featured people other than the supposed player, but not a different player. in this case, that's a bat boy on the card, while the pettis card featured gary's younger brother. it was a tough call between this card and the reverse negative larry haney card as far as representing 1969 was concerned, but in the end, the angel won over the pilot.

which cards would represent the 1960's in your collection?

up next, the 1970's represent! stay tuned...