the clocks turned back

yesterday was the day to "fall back" and turn your clocks back an hour, at least in most parts of the united states. you can use part of that extra hour gained to peruse this post celebrating the "turn back the clock" subsets from the 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990 topps flagship sets. there was a tbtc subset in 1977 topps, but it used photos rather than year appropriate cards, so i am not including it here.

while reviewing the 1982 topps kmart set, i got to thinking about these cards because of the card design (which is similar), and also because of the maury wills card. i quickly decided to collate another set of each of these five card subsets and store them separately in a binder. i do not consider the 1986-1990 run of topps to be binder worthy.

away we go!

1986 topps turn back the clock subset

1981 - fernando valenzuela

i was confused when i first saw this card because something wasn't quite right. the image topps used is not fernando's 1981 topps card (he was on a tri-player rookie card) nor is it his 1981 topps traded card. it's an image clearly from that same photo session, but different all the same. once i realized that, i was actually pleased.  here's the back:

fernando and fernandomania were definitely a major story in 1981, but what about the strike? not even a mention.

1976 - tom seaver

after seeing fernando's card, it was a bit of a letdown to see the other cards in the subset were the same as their actual cards issued in the respective years being reviewed. ultimately, i decided that i preferred it that way. i have seaver's 1976 card in my complete set and also in my retired numbers mini-collection. here's the back:

topps sort of veered away from the record breaker theme, but brought it back to seaver at the end.

1971 - willie mays

i didn't own mays' 1971 topps card when this card was released, but i have it now in my complete set. here's the back:

all of the players name checked on the back are hall of famers, with wilhelm and brock having just been inducted in 1985.

1966 - frank robinson

robinson was the mvp in 1966, so this same card was used in the kmart set. i just recently added the real deal to my collection. here's the back:

lots of individual achievements there, except for the astroturf thing, although i guess chemical engineers and scientists can take a bow.

1961 - roger maris

maris was the 1961 american league mvp, but kmart didn't open until 1962 so he wasn't in that set. i am happy to say i have his 1961 topps card in my collection. here's the back:

i was, and still am, pleased to see no asterisk attached to maris' accomplishment in 1961. he set the season record, period. and it stood until mark mcgwire hit 70.

1987 topps turn back the clock subset

1982 - rickey henderson

rickey's 1982 topps card is iconic. i have it in my "topps flagship through the years" mini-collection as well as my complete sets. here's the back:

seeing rickey run was a must in 1982, and i made it to anaheim for a game that year and saw one of his 130 steals. billy martin also came out at one point and argued with the umpires, so it was a perfect "billy ball" experience.

1977 - reggie jackson

reggie broke my heart as a new fan in 1977, and i told him so the one time i met him in person. i have a really beat up version of this card from my childhood in that same mini-collection as the rickey card above. here's the back:

it was great to see the dodgers' 30-home run foursome mentioned on the card, but even i wouldn't argue that reggie wasn't the story in 1977.

1972 - roberto clemente

clemente's 1973 topps card is one of my top ten favorite cards of all-time, but it makes sense to use his 1972 card as that was his final season. i am happy to have both of those clemente cards in my complete sets. here's the back:

nate colbert's feat mentioned on the back was featured on a turn back the clock card in the 1977 topps set.

1967 - carl yastrzemski

yaz was the 1967 al mvp, so this card is also in the kmart set. it's the first card we've seen so far that i do not own. here's the back:

back-to-back triple crowns in the american league, and then it didn't happen again until 2012 with miguel cabrera.

1962 - maury wills

another mvp year, so another card we saw in the kmart set. and, it's another card that didn't exist back in the year it represents. topps created this card image for the 1975 mvp subset, so this is the third time we've seen it in a set release. here's the back:

good to see all that dodger excellence celebrated!

1988 topps turn back the clock subset

1983 - nolan ryan

i was kind of sour on nolan ryan for a while after he broke sandy koufax's no-hitter record (at the expense of the dodgers), but soon came around to fully appreciate his greatness. the 1983 set was a hit with me and my friends. it was the first time we had seen two photos on the front of cards, and i appreciated the nod to the 1963 card design as well. i've had this card in my complete set since it was released, and i've also kept the one that was in my dad's collection with the rest of his ryans. here's the back:

i remember the back and forth between ryan and steve carlton. similar to what was hyped between max scherzer and justin verlander last year.

1978 - jim rice

that's another mvp year card that was also seen in the kmart set. you know i have this card in my complete sets, and i also have a signed version from one of the archives signature releases as part of my 1978 topps master set. i even have another copy of this turn back the clock card as a part of that master set. here's the back:

rice had a monster year for sure, but i might have chosen pete rose for this card if i were topps.

1973 - ron blomberg

kudos for topps choosing a card to represent an event rather than have another "star" card in the set. i have blomberg's card in my complete set. here's the back:

i still think it's weird that the two leagues had different rules for fifty years.

1968 - bob gibson

yet another mvp whose card we also saw in the kmart set, but it's a no-brainer. i do not own gibson's 1968 topps card, unfortunately. here's the back:

when i was a kid i thought don drysdale's pitching feat in 1968 was worthy of more recognition, but i eventually realized that gibson was on another level that season.

1963 - stan musial

i didn't know much about musial when this card was released other than he wore number 6 and pete rose had passed some of his records. i don't own his '63 card, but i do have rose's! here's the back:

i am still waiting for a 1964 design musial card for my final tributes mini-collection.

1989 topps turn back the clock subset

1984 - dwight gooden

this card is made possible by the 1984 topps traded set. i know i broke that set up a long time ago, and i am not sure if i still have the gooden or not. i know i have his 1984 fleer update card thought. here's the back:

when i think of 1984 in terms of baseball, i think of steve garvey's walk-off home run in the nlcs before i think of gooden, but i wouldn't have chosen garvey over gooden for this card. not every time, anyway.

1979 - lou brock

topps seems to have a thing for cardinals in their final seasons. i remember seeing this card out of a pack back in 1979 and taking note of the state of brock's helmet decal. i have this card in my complete sets, and i have a signed version from one of the archives signature releases in my hall of famer collection as well. here's the back:

no mention of garry templeton or yaz or any of the others who achieved things that were worthy of record breaker cards in the 1980 set.

1974 - hank aaron

the only landscape oriented card in all of these subsets, aaron was a no-brainer to represent 1974. i picked up one of these cards a long time ago and eventually upgraded it for my complete set. here's the back:

good to see dave lopes get a mention, but i remember being a bit surprised that there was nothing about garvey and his all-star and league mvp campaign.

1969 - gil hodges

ol' blue eyes is back. i have hodges' card, but it's in my vintage box and not in any real place in my collection. maybe i will move it into my 1969 sampler set. here's the back:

the miracle mets were definitely the story of 1969. 

1964 - tony oliva

oliva was on a multi-player rookie card in the 1964 topps set, so this is the third card image in these subsets that wasn't part of the original. topps created a slightly different version of this card for 2002 topps archives. either way, i don't own oliva's '64 rookie card. here's the back:

oliva really was elite until his knees gave out. i am glad he was finally elected to the hall of fame.

1990 topps turn back the clock subset

1985 - dick howser

the inclusion of howser to represent 1985 was a bit of a headscratcher to me. i have this card in my complete sets, but would not have picked it to represent 1985. here's the back:

i suppose that, since rose was banned from baseball in august of 1989, topps could not put him on the front of the card. it's good to see him still mentioned on the back, as his breaking of ty cobb's record was a huge deal in 1985. national news broadcasts were interrupted to go live to riverfront stadium for his at bats the night he broke the record. that's crazy. anyway, i'm just glad topps didn't mention or choose jack clark for the card.

1980 - mike schmidt

schmidt was the 1980 national league mvp, so this card was also seen in the kmart set. i was always excited to see all-star banners on cards back when i was a kid opening packs. i have schmidt's card in my complete set and also in my all-star subset collection from 1978-1981. i also have his 1980 card signed in buyback form as part of my hall of famer collection. here's the back:

with everything that george brett and schmidt did in 1980, it is nice to see jerry reuss' no-hitter mentioned.

1975 - fred lynn

lynn was the american league mvp in 1975, so he was featured in the kmart set. however, topps used a differently cropped version of his rookie card photo for that card. this card is more true to the image that was on his four-in-one 1975 topps rookie card (which i have in my complete set). so, topps had two different versions of a solo fred lynn 1975 card, and they still screwed up the card in 2024 topps heritage. here's the back:

the red sox had an embarrassment of riches in their outfield back then with lynn, rice, and dwight evans.

1970 - johnny bench

we saw this card in the kmart set as bench was the national league mvp in 1970. i have this card in my complete set. here's the back:

it's interesting that topps mentioned billy williams' consecutive game streak here but not garvey breaking it on the back of the 1983 card.

1965 - sandy koufax

the last card of these subsets features a card that i have in my dodger collection, my 1965 topps complete set, and in my dad's koufax collection. here's the back:

there was a lot to say about koufax's 1965 season, but i don't think topps really needed to abbreviate "st. louis" to "st. loo".

so there you have the 25 cards that turned back the clock from 1986 through 1990. the five year interval for these cards makes sense, but that was a choppy post. i probably should have gone through the cards the same way i have them stored in my binder:

forty years out from the start of these subsets, i would love for topps to bring them back like this, using actual card designs. it's an insert set made for archives, so here's hoping.