1970'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.

i was alive when all of these cards were considered current year releases, although i was born after the 1970 world series. i have completed all of these sets, but am happy to have extras of a few favorites that i can put in to this collection. bring on the 70's!

1970 - bob locker

the 1970 topps set was the first set that i completed that dated back to before i began collecting. i enjoyed finding cards of players sporting the one-and-done pilots uniforms like locker above. locker's 1971 topps card was one of the first of those i obtained as a young collector, and it is the image that comes to mind when i hear his name, but his 1970 card with the pilot uniform, green team text, and yankee stadium facade makes for a great card to represent this set.

1971 - ken mcmullen

so many great cards in the 1971 topps set, but the mcmullen card might be the most interesting. the photo, of course, comes from a game played in old yankee stadium, with some of the monuments and plaques erected to former yankees in the background and in the field of play! i just recently realized that the pole to mcmullen's left is not the flagpole, but rather a speaker pole.  the flagpole is actually just cut off from the left border of the photo. the partial monument along that border belongs to former manager miller huggins, and it was the first monument to be placed with it being installed right in front of the flagpole. the other monument that is visible is babe ruth's, and the plaque on the wall is that of former owner jacob ruppert.  there is another monument on the other side of huggins' that belongs to lou gehrig, and at the time of this photo there would have been three more plaques - one for general manager ed barrow, one for joe dimaggio and the other for mickey mantle.

i got a kick out of billy crystal's interview in ken burns' "baseball" when he said that he thought huggins, ruth, and gehrig were buried out there - the monuments do look like headstones. i've never made it to a yankee home game, but when i do, i will spend some time in monument park.

1972 - jim hunter

other than dodger cards, a's cards were the first ones i went searching for from seasons prior to the start of my collecting days in 1978. the interest in those cards were spurred on by billyball, rickey henderson, and hunter, who had just retired after some successful seasons with the yankees. 1972 marked the start of the a's world series winning streak (although it was the second season in their run of five straight al west titles), so i figured it was a good card to use in this collection. it's also the last of hunter's cards to show him without a mustache.

1973 - willie mays

say hey! unfortunately, the 1973 topps set included this, the final regular card of mays. i'm still waiting on a 1974 design card of his that i can put in my final tribute collection - the 1974 topps world series card is not the same thing. i first obtained the all-time home run leaders card featuring mays, hank aaron, and babe ruth from the 1973 set sometime back in the 1980s, but i didn't own this card until the mid-2000s - maybe even later than that. i thought about putting it in my memorials collection due to the black armband that is on display honoring the late gil hodges, but opted for ken boswell instead. so, this willie gets to represent the 1973 set in this collection, even though it lacks the general weirdness of the set.

1974 - juan marichal

the first 1974 topps card i owned was either marichal's, harmon killebrew's, or steve braun's. i considered killebrew for this spot, but decided on marichal since his card is a bit more dynamic than killebrew's. in fact, i was amazed by marichal's leg kick! i soured on marichal once i found out about his brawl with john roseboro, but i do consider the lack of a 1976 topps card for him to be a terrible if understandable miss. i considered adding marichal to my hall of famer collection, but i think i would only do so if a signed buyback version of this card were available.

1975 - hank aaron

the hank aaron card to have in our neighborhood in the late 1970s was his 1974 topps card #1. this one seemed generic to me, but it was still hank aaron! aaron was on card #1 in the 1975 set, too, and so he bookended the set as this is card #660. anyway, seeing aaron as a brewer is strange to me, but it happened. i think the runnerup to this card for this collection was the herb washington card, but aaron wins out.

1976 - lou brock

brock was a big deal to me because he was featured on card #1 of the 1978 topps set for setting the all-time stolen base record. as a fan of davey lopes, i appreciated the stolen base, and so i appreciated brock. while his 1976 card was not the first to enter my collection - that would be jerry reuss' card that a kid from one street over had and traded to me - i did acquire it fairly early on. it's strange, but i always assumed brock was leading off of first, but was confused by the player behind brock as the uniform number didn't match up to the pirates' roster as i knew it from the back of their team cards. then at some point i realized he was probably leading off of second base, but the uniform number still confused me.  once i learned about baseball reference in 2000 or 2001, i looked more closely and realized that the player behind him was jackie hernandez, who had most recently played shortstop for the pirates in 1973 while wearing number 2. by then, i recognized that the photo was from 1973 because of the roberto clemente patch on hernandez' left sleeve. that would make the outfielder either gene clines or dave parker. can't tell which, but clines if it's the left fielder as it likely is.

you can tell that this brock card was a card that i looked at often, right?

1977 - reggie jackson

this card is well-loved and well traveled. i've owned it for as long as i can remember, although it was not one of the cards in the first pack of cards i ever opened, which was a pack of 1977 topps given to me by my uncle. actually, the only two cards i really remember from that pack were mike schmidt and bill travers. the travers card is in similar shape to reggie here, and is in my 'meaningful and just because' mini collection. i took better care of the schmidt card, and may actually have given it to my dad when he established a player collection of schmidt in 1980. anyway, my dad did not collect cards of reggie, but there were a couple of yankee fans in the neighborhood who did. i am pretty sure that this card came from the kid across the street in a trade.  reggie was a big deal to me even though he helped the yankees beat the dodgers in 1977 and 1978 because he performed at such a high level at the plate - at least in the eyes of a burgeoning fan. there was no denying that he thrived in the spotlight, and the majority of times i saw him on tv were in the playoffs.  speaking of which, i do recall trading with the kid across the street in 1981 just as the collecting season began. he had a bob welch fleer card that i wanted, and i was able to get it from him for free just by reminding him of reggie's strikeout in the 1978 fall classic at the hand of welch.

1978 - pete rose

now we are in to cards that were obtained during my real-time collecting days. don baylor was my first favorite non-dodger, but i also liked pete rose. i heard about rose a lot thanks to dodger tv and radio broadcasts, as well as magazines, books, and cards. i liked watching him play, and saw him in person a few times at an annual hot stove dinner held in my hometown. one year, i followed him in to the bar area of the elks lodge that hosted the event, and he wasn't too happy about it. i am sure he needed a break from the crowd, but i was a kid and just wanted his autograph. he did sign for me, and i still have that autograph, along with another one from a different year's dinner. i also traded an autograph i got from him at yet another of those dinners for some cards - i remember my dad thinking i got a bad deal. to me, i just figured i would see pete again next year and get another autograph.

1979 - willie stargell

pops had a big year in 1979. he led the pirates to a world series championship, and shared the national league mvp with keith hernandez. at the time, i thought stargell should have won it outright, as i subscribed (and still do) to the idea that the mvp is not necessarily the player with the best stats, but could be the one who makes the greatest impact. even so, i didn't see an issue with andre dawson winning in 1987 while playing for a last place club, and i do think kirk gibson deserved the award in 1988. looking back on it now, i think maybe dave winfield (who received as many first place votes as hernandez that year) should have won the 1979 award. still, stargell gets credit from me for bringing the world series trophy back to the national league, and for having an awesome batting stance routine that i enjoyed mimicking during wiffle ball games in the neighborhood.

up next, the 1980's represent! stay tuned...