The 1974 Topps Pete Rose baseball card was a cardboard embodiment for a man who stood as an almost mythical figure when I started collecting baseball cards in the early 1980s.

For example, my dad used to tell me stories about Rose’s exploits with the Cincinnati Reds even though Dad was never a baseball fan and Pete had been in Philadelphia for about five years by that point.

It was relatively easy to find information about Rose in those pre-Internet days, too, which helped build him up as larger-than-life in my impressionable mind.

He was interviewed and written about in The Sporting News and Sport.

He was all over the pages of hobby publications like Sports Collectors Digest and Baseball Cards.

And he was featured prominently in every baseball card set and subset I came across — Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Topps Foldouts, Topps Stickers, Fleer Stickers, Topps All-Stars, and on and on and on.

4192

Pete was a bona fide legend, but that wasn’t the only reason he was getting so much play. No, it was becoming clear that Rose would do whatever it t ook to hold on long enough to break Ty Cobb‘s all-time record for career hits, commonly accepted at the time to be 4191.

Hence, “4192” became synonymous with Rose and his chase.

Given all that, I expected to see Rose around each cardboard and paper corner as I devoured every bit of information I could find about baseball and baseball cards.

But I was a new collector, and my world was modern. I wasn’t at all prepared for the display case full of old cards that ran me over one day when my parents took me to a junk/antique shop in the next town over when I was about 11.

There were cards from the 1950s and 1960s, with names like Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Koufax, and all the other mythical figures I was learning about.

It was a mesmerizing sight for young eyes accustomed to thumbing through wax packs filled with the round headshots of 1983 Topps and the bat-and-glove design of 1983 Donruss.

The Best of the Best

As mindblowing as all those golden swaths of cardboard were, though, one card knocked all the others to the side like a raging bowling ball and grabbed me by the throat — the 1974 Topps Pete Rose base card.

Of course, I didn’t know what issue it was from at first sight, and the card probably looks pretty mundane to modern collectors. After all, 1974 Topps features some of the grainiest photos and one of the more blah designs of the entire decade.

But, man, Pete looked absolutely perfect in this shot.

His laser stare was locked on an unseen pitch rocketing his way. He gripped the bat in both hands, throwing it forward to bunt the ball. His legs were already motoring toward first base, so confident was he that he’d succeed in his mission.

And just in case things didn’t work out, Pete’s mouth hung open as if he’d take a bite out of the ball if it came to that.

This man was throwing his whole being into getting on base for his beloved Cincinnati Reds, and the simple red banners accentuated Rose’s Cincy uniform.

The whole concoction was a red-alert, blood-pumping bundle of baseball grit that was irresistible to a young fan with a burning passion for the game.

It was a masterpiece in cardboard for which I gladly plunked down my hard-earned $3.50.

A pittance to pay for a card that still burns as one of my favorite from the 1970s more than 30 years later.

(This is Day 11 of our response to Tony L.’s 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge. See all our posts in this series here.)

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That’s what happens when you …

• Break the all-time rookie home run record
• Come back from injury and slumps to reclaim your place as one of the top sluggers in the game
• Break the all-time single-season home run record

Big Mac was amazing, but like most heroes, he experienced a fall from grace — most notably the ding his reputation and records took as a result of the PED backlash of the last 15 years or so.

So where does that leave McGwire’s rookie cards?

Glad you asked!

Despite reports of their demise, McGwire cardboard has rebounded — not to their halcyon heights of his glory days, but to at least the level of a living legend with an outside shot at the Hall of Fame.

Here, then is a rundown of Big Mac’s Big Five rookie cards as they stand in the marketplace today.

1985 Topps Mark McGwire Rookie Card (#401)

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When 1985 Topps baseball cards first came out, collectors weren’t quite sure what to do with cards the numbered 389-404.

Thanks to the explosion of Red, White, and Blue, along with the “USA: 1984 United States Baseball Team” designation, we knew these cards represented members of the 1984 US Olympic squad.

A few of us might have remembered that the US lost the Gold-medal game to Japan, and we might also have recognized a some of the players from their time at the Los Angeles Olympics or from their college exploits.

But for most of us — at least kids like me — these cards were just a waste of space.

I mean, most of the players were completely unrecognizable, and they didn’t have any discernible Major League affiliation. Couldn’t Topps have put that cardboard real estate to better use, like including more Cincinnati Reds players or bringing back “Rookie Stars” cards?

Of course, even back then, there were folks in this business who knew how to create a buzz around young players and their first cards, so it didn’t take long for the word to get around at card shows …

Mike Dunne was going to be a great pitcher.

Oddibe McDowell was the next Willie Mays.

Cory Snyder was the next, longer-lasting Joe Charboneau.

So their cards, and a couple others (Shane Mack comes to mind) picked up some steam.

Nobody was too jazzed about generic cards of John Hoover, Flavio Alfaro, or Rod Dedeaux, though.

And, really, no one was too amped up about Mark McGwire, either.

But a scant two years later, Big Mac was becoming, well, Big Mac … stepping in at first base for the Oakland A’s and making a perfect Bash Brother partner for 1986 American League Rookie of the Year Jose Canseco.

By the 1987 All-Star break, McGwire had already slammed 31 home runs and looked like he would break not only the rookie record for dingers in a season, but maybe Roger Maris‘ all-time single-season mark of 61.

McGwire slowed down and managed “only” 49 homers on the full season, but the young slugger had arguably already cemented his place as a legend by the time he took home the 1987 AL ROY award that November.

Along the way, of course, Big Mac’s exploits helped supersize the demand and prices for his cards. During that magical summer, his 1987 Donruss card (see below) took on its own magical sheen, and his 1987 Topps rookie card (also see below) didn’t languish long on dealer tables, either.

But it was his exotic 1985 Topps card that really caught collectors’ fancies during that Summer of Slam.

Look how young McGwire is!

That card is old … it must be scarce!

How could we not see this greatness coming?!?

And so we grabbed on and chased the previously shunned 1985 Topps Mark McGwire pre-rookie card like a tail chasing its dog. And, as we did, prices climbed higher and higher until it was the most expensive 1980s card going, outside of the 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly Rookie card.

Now, McGwire ebbed and flowed over the next decade or so, and his card prices did, too.

But by the time he found himself with the St. Louis Cardinals in the mid-1990s and was ready to really crank up the power, the hobby had changed. We had pretty much lived through the heart of the Junk Wax Era, for one thing, and 1985 Topps cards looked like hens’ teeth compared to the pasteboard swill we’d been swilling for several years.

About the same time, in 1998, PSA came on the scene and nearly instantly created the ultimate condition premium — a high PSA grading could rocket card values.

So, as McGwire ramped up his chase of Maris in 1998, collectors ramped up our hunt for his 1985 Topps USA card again, this time with an even stronger focus on condition than ever before. As Big Mac’s homer totals climbed, so did the price tag on his first Topps card — well into three figures.

Untold wads of cash changed hands buying and selling McGwire rookies from that point until his PED-induced fall from grace in the 2000s jabbed a pinhole in the market, and a lot of folks felt duped when prices tanked afterward.

But the funny thing about life and baseball and baseball cards is that hardly anything is permanent, except for maybe our memories of the good times. Grudges dull, breaking news and new indignities obscure the scars of the past, and we learn to move on.

Big Mac has moved on to some extent, working as a Major League coach of various sorts over the past few years, getting his face back in the game.

He may never make the Hall of Fame, but he’s not the pariah he once was either.

Same goes for his 1985 Topps rookie cards … as of this writing, they sell regularly on eBay for less than $10 in raw condition but can stretch all the way to $2500 or so for PSA 10 copies.

And, oh yeah — there’s also the glossy Tiffany version of this hobby classic that sells ion PSA 10 for between $10,000 and $20,000.

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1987 Donruss Mark McGwire Rated Rookie (#46)

There was a perception in the early months of 1987 that the new Fleer cards were super scarce and that the new Donruss cards were just plain old scarce. Turns out neither of those ideas were particularly true, but the gleam of scarcity shone on these cards for several years and graced them with pricing premiums all along the way.

Even so, a Fleer developed a big problem during that long-ago summer — they didn’t include Mark McGwire in their base set.

Donruss, on the other hand, was all over the big slugger, even slathering him with the coveted Rated Rookie rating.

So if you wanted a “high-quality” rookie card of the latest phenom, one that you could pull from then-current packs, Donruss was your only choice.

As a consequence, the McGwire RR climbed to $10 and beyond in the flash of a spike, and we (collectively) kept pushing until the card was out of reach for many younger collectors. Think of the children!

Like the 1985 Topps USA card (see above), that pricing frenzy couldn’t survive the Junk Wax Era and the PED scandals, but it’s not completely dead these days.

Think $1 or so for raw copies and $45+ for PSA 10s, depending on whether the wind is blowing in or out.

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1987 Fleer Update Mark McGwire (#U-76)

Fleer finally got their McGwire act together by including him in their 1987 Update set, but it felt — and still feels — pretty ridiculous to give them credit for a “rookie” card nearly three years after Topps broke the slugging seal with their 1985 USA cards (see above).

Even so, this is the first Fleer Big Mac card, and it enjoyed a couple of bombs in batting practice.

Today, you can usually find this one for a couple bucks raw and maybe $40-50 in PSA 10.

You can often find the glossy versions for about the same prices.

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1987 Sportflics Rookies Mark McGwire (#13)

Take everything I said about Fleer above and multiply it by three — for the patented triple-motion action — for Sportflics.

The still-new kid on the block could have included McGwire in their base 1987 set of corrugated cards, but they didn’t.

Instead, they jumped on the bandwagon with their follow-on “Rookies” set to produce what may be the most underwhelming card ever issued of a 500-home-run man.

This one will cost maybe $1 or so raw, on up to $20-25 in PSA 9 and $50 or more for a “perfect” 10.

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1987 Topps Mark McGwire (#366)

The 1987 Topps set was never scarce in any sort of way, but it became a hobby classic the instant that first collector cracked open a wax pack that winter.

Those wood borders are polarizing, sure, but they are also freaking iconic — and pretty darn good-looking if you ask me.

And that shot of McGwire is not perfect, but it’s unusual and shows the young masher poised and ready to … mash.

This was an extremely popular card from the time Big Mac started getting national coverage and, though it never attained the value of the USA or Donruss cards, it always sold well during McGwire’s upswings.

These days, you can still buy large lots of these beauties for around $1 a card, but you’ll have to cough up $80 or more for a PSA 10 specimen.

And if you want a Tiffany version in 10? Better dig a little deeper, as you’re likely looking at a $300 price tag.

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(Check out our other posts related to Mark McGwire here).

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It may sound ridiculous now, but the start of the 1987 baseball card collecting season was marked by a frenzy of scarcity.

Now, this doesn’t and never did apply to the 1987 Topps woodies that are so iconic these days. I remember going to a flea market in late December of 1986 and already being able to buy 5000-count boxes of ’87 Topps cards that dealers had chucked into their discard piles after extracting the stars.

But by Valentine’s Day of 1987, all of the new cards should have been on retail shelves across the America … they weren’t.

Again, Topps was everywhere, but depending on where you were, Fleer and Donruss were almost non-existent.

Word spread fast, too, and any boxes of Fleer or Donruss that did make their way to local shows sold for ever-escalating premiums. Packs that retailed at 35 cents quickly moved past 50 cents, then a dollar, and two, on their way to three bucks or more.

The interesting thing was that this scarcity seemed to be regional — in central Indiana, we had some pockets of Donruss wax but Fleer was like the Loch Ness monster: often discussed but seldom seen. The situation was reversed in other areas of the country.

These circumstances led to the first large-scale networking that I remember happening within the hobby. The ads in Sports Collectors Digest were sprinkled with collectors and dealers offering up their excess Donruss wax for an equal quantity of Fleer product, and vice versa.

This deal-making helped to level out the market a tad, but there were still plenty of collectors scrambling for Donruss or Fleer cards, or both, by the time the season began.

And even well into the summer, those cards carried a significant premium over their Topps counterparts.

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Power Surge

Of course, the summer of 1987 was also notable because it marked the return of serious, widespread power to the game for the first time in decades.

Towering home runs were flying out of ballparks at a record pace, and old-school fans cried foul: the balls were juiced, the mound was lower, the umpires were rigging at-bats, batters were too muscular.

Plenty of explanations were proffered for the power surge, but the upshot was that fans loved the renewed fireworks. We always do, right?

And card collectors, especially, embraced the new generation of sluggers, even if some of them were old favorites like Andre Dawson, by then toiling for the Chicago Cubs in friendly Wrigley Field.

But the one guy who really captured our imaginations was Mark McGwire of the Oakland A’s.

Just a year after teammate Jose Canseco had nearly toppled the rookie home run record — Jose finished with 37 to Wally Berger‘s 38 for the 1930 Boston Braves — McGwire entered the All-Star break with 33 dingers.

This young giant might not just eclipse Berger’s mark but also seemed to have a bead on Roger Maris‘ single-season home run record of 61.

The marriage of baseball card scarcity and monstrous young power was pure gold.

Now, we already had a McGwire card to chase in the form of his 1985 Topps Olympics card, but it had its detractors. For one thing, it wasn’t very attractive — it didn’t even show him in his A’s uniform.

For another, it was a Topps card, which at the time gave it the stigma as being of lower quality, from a production standpoint, than Fleer or Donruss products.

Despite those drawbacks, that 1985 McGwire took off and priced many younger collectors out of the Big Mac market.

But those hobbyists could turn their attentions to current-year product because both Topps and Donruss had included him in their base sets.

The Topps card sold well and rose in value, but it suffered from the perceived higher quality of the Donruss issue in general and from the fact that it was McGwire’s second Topps card. Fleer whiffed completely and would have to wait until their Update set after the season to join the Big Mac party.

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A Clear Winner

So collectors turned to the 1987 Donruss Mark McGwire Rated Rookies card in droves.

As McGwire kept slamming balls into the Oakland night, we soaked up any and all available Donruss wax like a Mojave sponge dropped into the Great Salt Lake.

The cost of ownership for that hunk of cardboard rose to $5 and then to $7, $10, and more. By the time McGwire ended the season with 49 homers and the American League Rookie of the Year award, it looked like the card would go up in value forever.

Subsequent years saw Big Mac bounce up and down in production and popularity until he put it all together with the St. Loius Cardinals in the late 1990s, including setting a new single-season mark with 70 home runs in 1998.

By then, we knew that none of the 1987 products were as limited as we had thought they were, but McGwire’s late march through the record books and past career homers gave his rookie cards new life.

Things aren’t always as they seem, of course, and much of the sparkle has been rubbed off Big Mac’s accomplishments by the taint of the Steroid Era.

Today, you can buy his 1987 Donruss rookie card for a couple bucks a pop in solid ungraded condition.

But for anyone who lived through the McGwire-and-Donruss boom the first time around, we know there is more to the card. The mere sight of Big Mac in his batting stance in front of hundreds of empty stadium seats, with the Rated Rookies logo and the swatches of baseballs embedded in black border, punctuated by the bright red alarm bar at the bottom of the card makes our breath catch.

Because we remember it all.

And, for all it meant and all it still means, we know this is the best card issued in 1987.

(Read all about this 30-day challenge — and jump in on the fun — right here.)

You might also enjoy our complete rundown of Mark McGwire rookie cards.

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Tim Raines baseball cards spent most of their lives chasing the the cardboard version of that other all-time leadoff man who plied his trade during the 1980s and 1990s, and who shall remain nameless (for a few paragraphs, at least).

In many ways, the cards mirrored the men themselves.

But …

Tim Raines was a giant killer, and that was never more evident than at the 1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Oakland

That summer, Andre Dawson was playing for peanuts in Wrigley Field, trying to prove himself after being shunned on the free agent market. He was smashing baseballs like no one since George Foster had 10 years earlier.

In the American League, strapping young Mark McGwire was a rookie first baseman for the hometown A’s. On the heels of teammate Jose Canseco‘s monster rookie season in 1986, McGwire took up the Bash Brother mantle and matched Dawson homer-for-homer throughout the season.

But on that sweltering July 14th night in the Coliseum, two of the most potent lineups in recent memory battled to a 0-0 tie after nine innings. And after 10 innings. And after 11 innings.

And after 12 innings.

Finally, in the top of the 13th, NL catcher Ozzie Virgil led off with a single against Jay Howell. Lee Smith struck out, Hubie Brooks singled, and Willie McGee lined out.

The number-5 hitter in the inning thus strode to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second.

There is more than a little irony in the fact that that hitter was Tim Raines, the Montreal Expos’ speed burner who normally slotted into the leadoff position. On this occasion, though, it was up to Raines to bring home the bacon — and he delivered by smacking a two-run triple that gave the National League a 2-0 lead.

It didn’t matter that Juan Samuel — another burner — lined out to end the inning, because Sid Fernandez set down the AL in order after allowing a leadoff walk to Kevin Seitzer.

For the game, Raines went 3-for-3 and was an easy pick for MVP, besting all the sluggers and lockdown pitchers who had pushed the contest deep into the night.

It was a stellar performance by a superstar at the peak of his game, but it was soon forgotten as baseballs continued to fly out of stadiums faster than Donruss and Fleer wax packs flew off store shelves that year. By October, Raines had amassed 50 stolen bases, 123 runs, and batted .330. He was one of the very best players on the planet but finished a distant seventh in MVP voting, far, far behind Dawson, who won the NL award.

That season was a microcosm of Raines’ career: consistent superlative play with frequent flashes of otherworldly talent.

But he was always overshadowed.

For most of his time in the Majors, it was Rickey Henderson who relegated Raines to an afterthought in the conversation about the best leadoff men in baseball.

Even when Rickey had a rare down season, Raines was mired in the obscurity of Montreal.

And when the Expos finally let him go, four years after Dawson’s escape, Raines landed with the Chicago White Sox and was immediately eclipsed by “Big Hurt” Frank Thomas.

As the speed began to erode, Raines moved to the New York Yankees, where he won titles in 1996 and 1998. Stints in Oakland, Montreal (again), Baltimore, and Florida left the speedster with 2605 hits, 808 stolen bases (against just 146 times caught stealing), and a lifetime batting average of .294.

It was all great stuff, but by that time, Barry Bonds and others were swatting home runs like they were fleas, and the public was hungry for bigger numbers, more gawd, more flash. Raines slid into retirement as an interesting footnote to the pre-Millennium era in baseball.

It was little surprise, then, that he languished on the Hall of Fame ballot for most of his eligibility. It took him six ballots to crack the 50% barrier, and, even in 2015, he languished well below 60%.

But with the backlog of huge all-time names clearing out in recent years and an increased overall appreciation of analytics, Raines took a big leap forward in 2016, being chosen by 69.8%  of voters.

And then finally, in 2017, The Rock got The Call.

After a career that saw him slug .425, get on base at a .385 clip, and score 1571 runs, Tim Raines goes into the Hall of Fame as the eighth greatest left fielder of all time (according to the JAWS metric at Baseball Reference).

What better way to celebrate Rock’s election than with a little vintage cardboard? In that spirit, here are 30 of the best Tim Raines baseball cards ever issued.

Why 30?

Take a look at that uniform number flying around the bases in your diamond memories.

(This is part of a series of posts about the 2017 Hall of Fame inductions. Read them all here.)

1979 TCMA Memphis Chicks (#20)

There’s not much to this card other than the fact that it features a minor leaguer named Tim Raines two year before he’d appear on a “real” baseball card and almost 40 before he’d be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Seems worthy of your consideration, no?

1981 Donruss (#538)

Sure, Fleer may have been the company that ended Topps’ monopoly by winning a famous $1 antitrust lawsuit in 1980, but it was Donruss who really surprised collectors in 1981. After nearly three decades of pumping out non-sports cards, Donruss reached across the collecting aisle with a rush-job baseball set to go head-to-head with the other two giants.

While the cardstock was as flimsy as toilet paper and the photos were generally dark and blurry, Donruss scored a coup as the only manufacturer to issue a single-player Tim Raines rookie card in its base set.

1981 Topps (#479)

Of course, Topps was still king to most collectors in 1981, and their version of Raines’ rookie card has been the standard-bearer since it was issued. Never mind the fact that he has to share his debut with a pair of immortals: Roberto Ramos and Bobby Pate.

1981 Topps Traded (#816)

Topps used their first full, dedicated Traded set, at least in part, to ameliorate their whiff on featuring Raines on a solo pasteboard in their base set. His #816 is arguably one of his best-looking early issues and sees healthy continued activity on eBay.

1982 Kellogg’s (#53)

You can’t really run down the cards of any even moderately popular player from the late 1970s or early 1980s without breaking out that novelty of novelties — the 3-D card. In Raines’ 1982 Kellogg’s issue, he appears to be searching for lost keys, but it’s still a fun card.

1982 Topps Stolen Base Leaders (’81) — and Rickey Henderson (#164)

Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines appeared together on a slew of these League Leader cards in the 1980s, but this is the only one where Raines actually bested his AL counterpart, 71 to 56 swipes in the strike-shortened 1981 season. Perhaps that failing spurred Rickey on to his record 180 thefts in 1982.

1982 Zellers (#3)

One of my favorite parts about collecting in the 1980s were all of the oddball and regional issues that would wink at me from the pages of Sports Collectors Digest and occasionally make an appearance at a local card show. In the US, the 1982 Zellers Montreal Expos set was a real delicacy since it was issued in Canada. It didn’t hurt any that the Expos were loaded with young talent, and Raines was right there alongside Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, and all the rest.

1982 Perma-Graphics Super Star

The oddball parade continues with Raines’ 1982 Perma-Graphics Super Star issue. Each of these cards was rendered on hard plastic stock which, coupled with its smaller-than-normal size, earned the set the sobriquet of “credit cards.” These were another card-show favorite and a great impulse buy that was nearly impossible to resist.

1983 Topps All-Star (#403)

With its blue star, this card immediately brings to mind that hot summer night in 1987 when Raines bested all of the sluggers to take home the All-Star MVP award. He doesn’t look too happy here, but things would get better.

1983 Topps (#595)

Raines looks like he’s standing in the middle of a meadow, but you just know he’s getting ready to turn on the burners and make some poor pitcher pay for being too slow to the plate. Great design, and a nice full-body shot of the Expos home whites.

1984 Donruss (#299)

The 1984 Donruss set was a landmark in the hobby, combining vastly improved card quality with perceived scarcity. This shot of a peaking Raines is a perfect fit.

1984 Topps (#370)

The design is not quite as strong as the 1983 Topps or 1984 Donruss set, but the visuals for this underrated Tim Raines card are better than its counterpart in those other more ballyhooed sets. Great card that you can find for next to nothing most days.

1984 Topps Nestlè Dream Team (#17)

Topps made two Nestlè sets in 1984 — one 792-card parallel that the chocolate maker released in sheet-only form, and a special “Dream Team” set that was issued in small, cellophane-wrapped groups in the company’s chocolate candy bars. The former is fairly scarce, but this Raines card is a sweet example of the latter and a wonderful period piece for nostalgia lovers.

1987 Fleer (#328)

This was the year that all three major companies unleashed innovative designs, and the 1987 Topps set remains a classic that evokes the essence of the era. It was the other two sets, though, and especially the 1987 Fleer set, that set the hobby abuzz. Early-season scarcity sent collectors scrambling to soak up any product they could locate, and prices spiraled out of control. It may have been the first true new-product frenzy, and if you dared to open a pack, you could have pulled this cherry Raines card.

 1987 Fleer Juan Samuel and — Doubles & Triples (#642)

During the 1980s, Fleer revived a concept that Topps had used to great effect two and three decades earlier — the multi-player “candid” card. By 1987, Juan Samuel had joined Raines and Henderson among the list of legitimate burners, and he added a healthy dose of power to the mix. No wonder he took top billing on this card, but he seems out of place next to a HOFer all these years later.

1988 Donruss Diamond Kings (#2)

This is Raines’ only Diamond Kings card, and it came the year after Andre Dawson left Montreal for the Chicago Cubs. It also came as part of the first set that was perceived as massively overproduced almost the second the first cases came off the truck. No matter though, because it’s still a beautiful combination of colors and baseball.

1989 Topps Rock Raines (#560)

“Rock” looks every bit as powerful as his nickname would suggest as he prepares for his time at-bat on the front of this 1989 Topps card. There are those who would suggest that Topps was taking a dig at Raines for his “extracurricular” activities by using his sobriquet here, but we’ll leave that for the card truthers.

 1990 Baseball Cards Magazine 1969 Topps Replica (#24)

Back when it was still thrilling to go the actual mailbox every day and every envelope might contain an adventure of one sort or another, the best day of each month was the day my copy of Baseball Cards Magazine arrived. The writing was like nothing else going, and the articles were innovative and fun. I felt like I’d found my brethren. Maybe best of all was that the rag came with actual cards, inserted in the middle and featuring then-current players on classic Topps designs. It was heaven, just like this Raines insert.

 1991 Topps Desert Shield (#360)

In early 1991, the US plunged into the first Gulf War. Before we unleashed Desert Storm, though, we tried the more diplomatic Desert Shield. Though that sentiment soon escalated to full-on military offensives, it did give Topps the chance to issue a special run of their 40th-anniversary cards to be sent to our military men and women in the Middle East. Of course, where there was something new in the hobby, there was a way for someone to make money, so the cards quickly found their way to the stateside market. Here, Rock Raines is in full-swing glory beneath the Desert Shield shield.

1991 Upper Deck (#773)

After the 1990 season, Raines bid adieu to Montreal and landed with the Chicago White Sox. While base sets that year still pictured him in Expos togs, the updates caught him in his ChiSox uniform. As a first card with his new team, it’s hard to beat this 1991 Upper Deck high number offering, featuring a clean design and a crisp action shot.

 1992 Topps (#426)

After years of almost outright begging by collectors, Topps finally capitulated and ditched their long-standing love of soft, drab brown card stock in 1992. The new white stock complemented the crisp new design, and this Raines action shot is a perfect example of a card done right.

 1993 Stadium Club White Sox (#5)

Topps Stadium Club was one of a handful of super premium sets that lit the hobby on fire during the early 1990s. It was the darling of 1991 that had lost a bit of luster by ’93. In an attempt to regain some of that sheen, Topps issued 16 team-specific, factory-sealed sets, each containing 30 cards. This Raines offering is typical of the artsy photography and glitzy design elements of the era.

 1994 Donruss Triple Play (#268)

Full-bleed images, garish product logos, and a set name that makes it impossible to distinguish from 20 other issues of the same time period? Yeah, 1994 Donruss Triple Play checks all those boxes for being a poster boy of the overproduction era, but this Tim Raines card looks pretty darn good anyway.

1995 Topps (#77)

This must have been what opposing pitchers saw in their nightmares as they prepared to face Raines — Rock waving goodbye on his way to second base. Topps designs and quality came a long way between 1990 and 1995, huh?

1996 Pacific (#284)

There were just so many sets from so many manufacturers in the 1990s — does anyone even remember Pacific? We do, right here, right now, with this solid action shot of Raines coming out of the batter’s box.

1997 Topps (#334)

Any pinstripes card from the mid-1990s just looks regal, and especially if it’s coupled with a solid Topps design. Add in Tim Raines, and you have a triple-whammy that stands out in any commons bin.

1999 Plumbers Union (#30)

Thanks to the Plumbers Steamfitters Refrigeration Local Union 342, we get this team-color-coded card of a tough-looking Raines, ready to hack a baseball or maybe cut down a tree (yes, I know that’s not in the typical job description for steamfitters).

Cool oddball all the way around

2001 Fleer Platinum (#308)

Fleer may have missed out on issuing a Raines rookie card in their first set in 1981, but they got their chance to make up for that with their 2001 Platinum edition. Great to see an old design upgraded with better print quality and image crispness.

2002 Fleer Tradition (#87)

Tim Raines on a modern-day Goudey card? No way this one could have missed the list, even if Raines in Orioles gear looks almost as strange as Eric Davis would have.

Oh.

Right.

2003 Donruss (#285)

If you had told me that Tim Raines finished his career with the Florida Marlins, I wouldn’t have believed it. But this Donruss pasteboard proves me wrong and serves as a capper card that shows his entire MLB record. Still looks strange, but it is, indeed, a wrap.

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There Eckersley was, posed on the front of his second-year pasteboard in cold-weather gear that included a long-sleeve “sweat” suit underneath a Cleveland Indians red home jersey. Of course, you might have been forgiven for thinking the top was actually pink and not red given Topps color scheme for the team that year.

And it was fitting, right?

The Indians were perennial doormats who couldn’t possibly hang with the big boys in the old AL East, so a nice, gentle color seemed appropriate.

‘Hidden’ Potential

Now, it’s true that Frank Robinson — the first black manager in the history of the Major Leagues — had guided The Tribe to an 81-78 record and fourth place finish in 1976, but no one really expected Cleveland to jump up and knock off the New York Yankees — right?

And who was Dennis Eckersley?

Fans outside of Cleveland may have known him as the young guy with a lively fastball, but he was no household name. Most would have simply thumbed past the card in a stack of gum-chalk-covered 1977s, but a few would have turned the card over.

For those who took the time to study Eckersley’s stats, card #525 was likely a revelation …

In 1975, he had won 13 games and lost only seven for a Cleveland team that finished 79-80, showing some glimmers of promise. Along the way, Eckersley struck out 152 batters in 187 innings and sported a cool 2.60 ERA.

In 1976, the ERA ballooned to 3.44 and his record fell to 13-12, but Eckersley racked up 200 Ks in 199 innings. Back in those days, you just didn’t strike out a batter an inning unless your name was ‘Nolan Ryan‘, so … maybe Eckersley was worth a second look after all.

Really curious collectors my have, at that point, glanced up at the bio section of this 1977 card and done a quick calculation — as the ’77 season got rolling, Eckersley was just 22 years old.

This was getting interesting for anyone who made it this far, and Eckersley definitely warranted further scrutiny.

Flipping the card back to the front — and armed with the knowledge that a few minutes of a statistical deep-dive can impart — you probably would have noticed it immediately.

It was the glare of an intense competitor. The humorless expression of a young athlete who had no time for doubters. And the slightly unkempt hair that hinted Eckersley might be a little … wild.

If you weren’t excited by this kid by that point, well, it would still be hard to blame you.

Not Good but Dominant

After all, he still pitched for the Cleveland Indians, and they were going nowhere fast. Despite the improvements they’d shown under Robinson since he took over at the start of 1975, they stumbled to an 18-22 record that left them in fifth place through May 29 of 1977, a day on which they beat the struggling Oakland A’s on a Duane Kuiper walk-off single (how many times have you heard that one?!).

Even with that victory and the good things F. Robby had done for Cleveland, his managerial seat was already plenty warm by Memorial Day, May 30.

That night, the Indians hosted the California Angels and their own young ace Frank Tanana. On the mound for Cleveland would be that same, still clean-shaven fireballer that collectors may or may not have noticed in their first trips through 1977 Topps wax packs: Dennis Eckersley.

Tanana entered the game 8-1 and turned in another amazing performance that included six strikeouts over nine full innings, allowing just five hits and a single walk. The only run he surrendered came on a bunt groundout by Jim Norris in the bottom of the first inning to score — yes — Duane Kuiper.

Unfortunately for Tanana, Eckersley was utterly dominant, striking out 12 and walking just one batter in a nine-inning shutout. And, oh, by the way — he didn’t give up any hits at all.

Take a look at that savage sidearm delivery in the grainy footage below as Eckersley Gil Flores for the final out of his stunning no-hitter, and you get a small hint as to what Angels batters faced that day.

Now, look back to that glowering young man on the front of his 1977 Topps baseball card.

Doesn’t he look just a tad more vicious? Don’t those stats on the back make more sense?

Of course, none of that really mattered for the Cleveland Indians that season, who would finish at 71-90 and in fifth place. For his troubles, Robinson would be canned less than a month after Eckersley’s gem.

And Eckersley himself finished a pedestrian 14-13, though he did make his first All-Star game. He’d be gone before the 1978 season began, though, traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he’d record his greatest season as a starter.

From there, “Dennis” went through a series of up-and-down seasons and battled a myriad of personal issues before he emerged a decade after his no-hitter with the Oakland A’s as The Eck to become one of the most dominant relief pitchers in baseball history.

Could we have seen all the twists and turns of his storied career just by reading our cardboard crystal balls?

Hardly, but there were plenty of clues in Dennis Eckersley’s 1977 Topps baseball card that the young man was something special on the mound.

Here … let me help you out …

The perfect Rickey card would have to include …

• A crouch, if he’s at-bat
• That other crouch, if he’s on the basepaths
• A steely stare
• The vibrant Green & Gold of the Oakland A’s
• The staid navy blue pinstripes of the New York Yankees if you prefer mid-1980s vintage
• A clean, classic card design
• His gaudy numbers on full display on the card back

And … well, this should go without saying, but … the card should spell Henderson’s name correctly. Both of his names.

The good news is that there are plenty of cards that check all those boxes.

His 1980 Topps rookie card is a pretty good example:

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His 1984 Topps card fits the bill, too:

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And this 1983 Topps Record Breaker …

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And his 1985 Fleer card …

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And even his 1989 Topps card …

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But you know which Rickey Henderson card wasn’t quite so perfect? That would be his very first card …

Humble Beginnings

Henderson spent the 1977 season as an 18-year-old prospect with the Single-A Modesto A’s. He did just OK … he hit .345, stole 95 bases, and scored 120 runs.

Pretty pedestrian stuff.

Anyway, a group named Chong Enterprises produced a team set for Modesto that season, and they included a card of Rickey.

And boy, was it a doozy!

Consider …

• The photo was in black-and-white.
• The photo was about half bat.
• The photo was grainy enough that you can’t really see his eyes very well. Maybe he’s glaring?
• The back is blank.
• The card number appears prominently on the card front, in the upper left-hand corner, like so:  “5)”
• There is no card design to speak of.

And, oh my — Rickey’s name is spelled wrong.

So Rickey Henderson’s first-ever baseball card is actually a “Ricky” Henderson baseball card, and it could be a Dave Henderson baseball card for all we can tell from the photo.

Looking at pictures of the card, you also get the feeling it might actually just be an old newspaper clipping.

The thing is, though, looking at pictures of the card may be just about as close as you’re ever going to get to one of these things. You see, the Chong cards are about as rare as a game without Rickey on base.

According to Matthew Glidden, an estimated 500 of the team sets were issued in 1977, at a time before everyone thought every baseball card would be worth a fortune someday. You can be sure that not all of those sets made it through the last 40 years, in other words.

So far, in fact, PSA has graded 29 of the Henderson cards, with none scoring a perfect 10 and only one rating a flat out 9 with no qualifiers.

Click WHERE to Buy One?

As you might imagine, sales of this first Rickey (Ricky) card are pretty unusual, too. According to a PSA post from nearly a decade ago, an off-centered PSA 9 Rickey sold for $1300+ way back in 2007.

The card comes up for auction occasionally these days, but it’s not one you’re likely to find on an eBay whim or at your local card shop or show, and it’s hard telling how much you’d have to pay for an actual copy at the moment. Huggins & Scott auctioned a PSA 7 Henderson for $1400 (11 bids) in October 2014, so today’s price undoubtedly would be north of that.

As Glidden notes in the piece above, Chong reprinted the card, with some modifications, as part of their 1989 Modesto A’s alumni issue. And, considering the *ahem* quality of the originals, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to find counterfeit versions of the 1977 card running around out there (though I haven’t explicitly heard of any).

All told, if you want to own Rickey Henderson’s first baseball card, his 1977 Modesto A’s issue is the only game in town.

You’ll need lots of persistence and good luck to catch one, though — just like Rickey himself.

(Check out the rest of our player-focused posts here.)

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After all …

The baseball card hobby changed forever in 1981 when both Fleer and Donruss began producing little swatches of cardboard with athletes on the front, finally putting a stop to Topps’ monopoly.

So the 1980 Topps set is historic because it was the last issue of Topps’ (original) monopoly. They’re worth owning for that fact alone.

But which 1980 Topps baseball cards are most valuable?

That’s what we’re here to find out, with the help of the PSA Auction Prices Realized (APR) tool

What follows, then, is a list of the 10 most valuable 1980 Topps baseball cards in PSA 9 NM-MT condition, according to APR.

Let’s dig in …

(Note: This post contains affiliate links — if you click one to go over to eBay or Amazon and buy something while you’re there, we’ll receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.)

30) 1980 Topps Dave Stieb Rookie Card (#77)

OK, this is going to be just a bit geeky, but …

Can you guess which pitcher recorded the most Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in the 1980s?

Well, considering that you’re in the “Dave Stieb” section of this post, you can bet your sweet bippy the answer is Dave Stieb.

In fact, Stieb’s 45.2 WAR in the 80s is more than 10 points better than second-placer Bob Welch (35.1).

In case you’re wondering, “Hall of Famer” Jack Morris comes in at 27.9. Yeah.

Stieb doesn’t get much love these days, but the fact remains that he was one of the very best pitchers of this era, and collectors haven’t forgotten about him completely.

He does have a pretty stellar rookie card, after all!

Value: $25-35

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29) 1980 Topps Jim Palmer (#590)

Jim Palmer must have been pretty hard to take if you were almost any other Major League pitcher in the 1970s.

It wasn’t just that Palmer won 20 games eight times in nine seasons from 1970 through 1978 …

Or that he won three Cy Young awards and finished in the top 3 three other times …

Or that he and his Baltimore Orioles were, like, always in or winning the World Series.

No, on top of all that, Palmer had to look like a movie star and model underwear, for gosh sake.

I think I’d have a problem with a guy like that, but maybe I’m just small.

Anyway, Palmer continues his goodness well into retirement, checking in on lists like this one.

Value: $30-35

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28) 1980 Topps Alan Trammell (#232)

Trammell was just 22 years old entering the 1980 season but had already established himself as the Tigers shortstop with two solid seasons under his belt.

Things would take a turn for the better that summer, as the future Hall of Famer hit .300 and set new career highs in home runs (9), RBI (65), and stolen bases (17). He also made his first All-Star Game and snagged his first Gold Glove, to boot.

While Trammell was busy ratcheting up his game in preparation for Detroit’s glory years later in the decade, collectors were treated all season long to the youngster practicing his bunt on a bright and sunny Topps card.

Value: $30-40

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27) 1980 Topps Dave Parker (#310)

Parker was among the most glamorous stars of the late 1970s, and his 1978 season yielded a second straight National League batting title, along with the Senior Circuit’s MVP award.

Another big season in 1979 helped the Pirates to a championship and further solidified Parker’s standing in baseball’s firmament.

While the Cobra ran into some tough years early in the next decade, his 1980 Topps card is a classic reflection of his best seasons with Pittsburgh and enjoyed a renaissance in popularity when the slugger reestablished his superstar status with the Reds.

Value: $30-40

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26) 1980 Topps Paul Molitor (#406)

For years, Molitor was one of the most frustrating players in the game – a superbly talented batter who was so unpredictably fragile that his overall value was all over the place.

But a part-time move to designated hitter while still with the Brewers in 1987, followed by more exclusive DH duties with the Blue Jays and Twins the ‘90s set Molitor on a path toward 3000 hits … and the Hall of Fame.

Today, all of his cards remain hobby favorites, and this 1980 Topps beauty is no exception.

Value: $30-40

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25) 1980 Topps Johnny Bench (#100)

The 1980 Topps set was absolutely loaded with great catcher cards, and most of them showed the tools of ignorance to great effect. From stabbing a ball in the air with a catcher’s mitt to gunning down a would-be base stealer to staring down an unseen umpire or willful pitcher, Topps caught it all in this set.

But they went for a tremendous batting shot when it came time to showcase the greatest catcher who has ever played the game.

Any Johnny Bench card is worth owning, and this beauty is definitely no exception.

Value: $30-40

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24) 1980 Topps Strikeout Leaders – Nolan Ryan and J.R. Richard (#206)

How would you like for your favorite team to feature the top two strikeout pitchers in the game at the top of their rotation?

If that sounds like a dream come true, well, now you know how Houston Astros followers must have felt entering the 1980 season.

Because, after J.R. Richard led the National League with 313 Ks in 1979, the ‘Stros signed Nolan Ryan as a free agent that offseason … and The Express had topped the Junior Circuit with 223 punchouts in his last year with the Angels.

Oh, and the new teammates were featured together on one amazing baseball card, thanks to Topps and their celebration of 1979’s league leaders.

Value: $35-40

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23) Willie McCovey (#335)

After four seasons away, McCovey made a triumphant return to the Giants in 1977, smashing 28 long balls and then crushing his way into the 500 Home Run club in ‘78.

He didn’t have much left in the tank after that but did manage another 15 dingers in 1979 … and a final Topps card in 1980 (two, actually, thanks to a record-breaker for most homers by an NL left-hander).

Value: $35-40

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22) 1980 Topps Steve Carlton (#210)

At 34, Carlton had a down-for-him showing in 1979, going 18-11 with a 3.62 ERA and “just” 212 strikeouts.

Students of the game might have been forgiven for thinking Lefty had turned into his decline.

Carlton, though, had other ideas, as evidenced by his 24-9, 2.34 ERA, and major league best 286 Ks in 1980, helping the Phillies win their first World Series and snagging his third Cy Young Award in the process.

This action-packed card was there all season as the Philly lefty reasserted his star, and it’s still solid in the hobby.

Value: $35-45

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21) 1980 Topps Goose Gossage (#140)

By 1980, Goose Gossage had already been one of the most dominant closers in the game for nearly a decade. His star only got brighter once he landed with the New York Yankees in 1978, and he steamrolled right on through the 1980s and into the 1990s as a fearsome competitor and fan favorite.

Still one of the few relievers to make it to Cooperstown, Gossage is also the only one on this list.

Value: $35-45

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20) 1980 Topps Willie Stargell (#610)

Willie Stargell was 103 years old (or something like that) when the “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates shocked the earth to win the 1979 World Series.

Stargell’s 1980 Topps card makes this list because 1) it has the price chops to warrant inclusion and 2) we get to see Pops as he looked during his 1979 MVP season.

It’s a no-brainer, even if Willie doesn’t seem all that thrilled by it.

Value: $40-45

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19) 1980 Topps Mike Schmidt (#270)

Schmidt was already a three-time home run champ as the 1980 season dawned, but his profile as a big-strikeout slugger entering his 30s had a history of not aging all that well.

If big Mike was worried about any of that, though, he hid it well behind a 48-home-run fireworks display that landed him his first MVP award and got the Phillies over their hump to win their first World Series championship ever.

Oh, yeah — Schmidt was the MVP of that Fall Classic, too.

And, speaking of classics, this 1980 Topps Schmidt qualifies, forever tied to the start of a dominant decade that left no doubt he was among the all-time greats.

Value: $40-45

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18) 1980 Topps Andre Dawson (#235)

Coming into the 1980 season, the 1977 National League Rookie of the Year winner had yet to really take the next leap toward superstardom.

Sure, Dawson was coming off two 25-home-run seasons, but it was going to take more than that to help him overcome the anonymity of baseball life in Montreal.

Good thing The Hawk was ready to crank up his game with a string of Gold Gloves, All-Star selections, and offensive showings that would establish him as one of the very best players in the game during the 1980s.

It all helped solidify Dawson’s cards as hobby favorites, and this 1980 Topps is among his more popular early issues.

Value: $40-50

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17) 1980 Topps Carl Yastrzemski and Lou Brock – 3000 hits (#1)

No wonder this gem sits pretty on our list of most valuable 1980 Topps baseball cards.

I mean, how often do you see two players reach the 3000-hit plateau in the same season? Hardly ever, right?

Well, actually …

Honus Wagner and Nap Lajoie did it in 1914.

Tris Speaker and Eddie Collins did it in 1925.

Hank Aaron and Willie Mays did it in 1970.

Lou Brock and Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1979.

Robin Yount and George Brett did it in 1992.

Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs did it in 1999.

So it’s not rare at all, as 12 of the 32 players to reach 3000 hits had to share their milestone to some degree. But you don’t usually see the two guys on the same card, right?

Right … so it’s understandable why PSA has this Yaz & Brock combo at $5.

Value: $40-50

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16) 1980 Topps Don Sutton (#440)

By 1980, Don Sutton was a grizzled veteran of 14 major league seasons, and a bridge to great Dodger hurlers of the past like Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.

The question was, could he stick around long enough to help a new generation of L.A. pitchers make their marks.

Well, not only was Sutton *around* long enough to welcome the likes of Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Howe, and Fernando Valenzuela, he found a new gear in his mid-30s.

Beginning with an MLB-best 2.20 ERA in 1980, Sutton reeled off three straight sub-3.10 seasons and set his sights on 300 wins, finishing his 23-year career with 324 Ws.

That pretty much guaranteed he’d snag a Cooperstown plaque and keep his Hall of Fame cards – like this 1980 Topps classic – in the hobby limelight.

Value: $45-50

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15) 1980 Topps Tom Seaver (#500)

Coming off a 16-6 season to help the Reds win the NL West in 1979, Seaver seemed worse for the wear in 1980, slipping to 10-8 with an uncharacteristic 3.65 ERA.

At least collectors could find solace in Seaver’s kick-butt 1980 Topps baseball card, one of the best in the set.

Oh, and they could have also just hung on, because Tom Terrific was back to being one of baseball’s best pitchers in the strike-torn 1981 season, rendering 1980 just a pebble in the road on the way to Cooperstown.

Value: $45-50

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14) 1980 Topps Ted Simmons (#85)

Simmons was a five-time All-Star by the time this classic 1980 Topps card made its way to collectors.

He’d add one more Midsummer Classic to his St. Louis resume before the Cardinals shipped him to the Brewers in December of ‘80, then add a couple more for Milwaukee. Along the way, Simmons would star for his new team and eventually face his *old* team as they squared off in the 1982 World Series.

And, of course, in 2020, the Veterans Committee voted Simmons into the Hall of Fame, giving all his cards a big hobby boost

Value: $45-50

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13) 1980 Topps Carlton Fisk (#40)

The 1980 Topps set was jam-packed with great catcher cards – so many that this snazzy Pudge entry isn’t even the best of the bunch.

But when it comes to the catchers themselves, there weren’t many better than Fisk as the 1980 season dawned. Or, rather, there weren’t many catchers active in 1980 who ended up better than Fisk.

Because, truth be told, the Red Sox star had an uncharacteristically injury-plagued and statistically anemic season in 1979, and 1980 was a bit truncated, too.

Those two subpar (by his standards) showings undoubtedly contributed to the debacle that led to his Boston departure before the 1981 season, but Fisk still had some of his best seasons left in the tank, much to the delight of White Sox fans … and collectors!

Value: $45-50

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12) 1980 Topps Jim Rice (#200)

Rice was a superstar in the majors almost from the moment he set foot on the Fenway grass, finishing second in voting for American League Rookie of the Year Award and third in MVP balloting in 1975 (losing out to teammate Fred Lynn for both).

A couple years later, Rice began a three-year run of power dominance that produced 39, 46, and 39 home runs, the 1978 AL MVP award, and a rare 400-total-base performance that same summer.

Rice’s relatively meager 22 homers in 1980, then, registered as something of a disappointment, but the Boston faithful could hang their hopes on a rebound for the still-young 27-year-old.

And collectors everywhere could revel in the slugger’s classic 1980 Topps card … and we still do.

Value: $45-55

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11) 1980 Topps Dale Murphy (#274)

Murphy turned in the first two 20-homer seasons of his career in 1978 and 1979, but the post-Hank Aaron Braves were pukerific enough that hardly anyone noticed.

When Murph turned up the heat even more in 1980, though, he garnered enough attention to make his first All-Star Game. Finishing with 33 home runs, the young center fielder even picked up some down-ballot MVP votes, foreshadowing the dual hardware he’d win in 1982 and 1983.

Today, Murphy’s 1980 Topps card stands as a hunk of hobby and MLB history, listing the Atlanta legend at “C-1B” even as he was on his way to a Gold Glove future on the grass.

Value: $45-55

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10) Dave Winfield (#230)

As the legend goes, Dave Winfield could play – and excel at – any sport that ever saw the light of day while he was in Minnesota, and he was given an opportunity to undertake most of them professionally.

In the end, Winfield chose baseball, skipped the minors, and, by 1980, had logged three All-Star appearances and a Gold Glove with the Twins.

He added another of each in 1980, then signed the richest free agent deal to that point with the New York Yankees. Winnie’s time in the Bronx was tumultuous, as life with George Steinbrenner tended to be, but Winfield continued to shine.

Eventually, of course, he landed in Cooperstown, and all his cards – including the last issued while he was still actually with the Padres – continue to curry favor in the hobby.

Value: $40-60

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9) 1980 Topps Steve Garvey (#290)

For fans who followed baseball in the 1970s and 1980s, it’s sort of hard to believe that Garvey fell short of Hall of Fame standards by most reckonings.

After all, the man was a perennial All-Star and one of the most admired players in the game for the majority of his career.

But, though Mr.Clean may never make the Cooperstown cut, he still gets his share of hobby attention, and his 1980 classic certainly has a HOF flair of its own.

Value: $50-55

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8) 1980 Topps Gary Carter (#70)

Coming off his second All-Star appearance, Carter headed into 1980 as one of the best catchers in the game, and Topps unleashed a classic shot of The Kid that also helped establish him as a hobby favorite.

By the time he hung up his spikes in 1992, Carter had done his part to round out a Hall of Fame resume that bore fruit in 2003, and pretty much all his cards maintain strong interest among collectors.

Value: $60-65

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7) 1980 Topps Eddie Murray (#160)

At just 24 years old entering the 1980 season, Eddie Murray had established himself as a solid run producer with 20-plus-homer power and seemed poised for even bigger things ahead.

Indeed, Murray reached new highs in both home runs and RBI that summer – 32 and 116, respectively.

But, while Murray’s peak performance pretty much got stuck at those levels from there on out, his amazing longevity and consistency set him apart from the All-Star/superstar pack.

In the end, his 3200+ hits, 500+ home runs, and 1900+ RBI gave Murray an easy path to Cooperstown and keep his early cards on lists like this one all these years later.

Value: $60-70

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6) 1980 Topps Pete Rose (#540)

Whether you think he got a raw deal or is just a mess of a person — not necessarily mutually exclusive viewpoints — there is no denying that Pete Rose lit up the baseball diamond like few others for the better part of 30 years.

His pursuit of Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record was the first big chase with national focus after baseball cards entered their boom era. By the time Rose passed the Georgia Peach on September 11, 1985, his cards were the hottest in the hobby, and they’ve stayed near the top of every set since.

Through the good times and bad, Rose cardboard remains Hall of Fame stuff, and his 1980 Topps card has a spot on this list.

Value: $65-70

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5) 1980 Topps George Brett (#450)

Brett was already a batting champion (1976) and four-time All-Star entering the 1980 season, but his legend was about to explode in his age-27 summer.

Though hampered by, um, injuries that limited him to 515 plate appearances in 117 games, Brett nonetheless led the Royals to the World Series and also became the first man in decades to seriously chase a .400 batting average.

In the end, Mullet landed at .390, but it was good enough to cop the AL MVP award and solidify his status as an all-timer … and to make this 1980 Topps card a stone-cold classic.

Value: $70-75

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4) 1980 Topps Ozzie Smith (#393)

Ozzie Smith owns the best rookie card in the 1979 Topps set and has for more than 40 years now.

So is it any shock that his second-year card makes it to our list of the of the most valuable from the 1980 Topps set?

Value: $70-80

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3) 1980 Topps Reggie Jackson (#600)

At age 34, Reggie Jackson entered the 1980 season as one of the most celebrated postseason performers of all time, but also three years removed from his last 30-homer season and five years out from his most recent dinger title.

All Mr. October did that summer was pace the American League with 41 home runs, lead the Yankees to another AL East title, and finish second in MVP voting.

No wonder this Hall of Fame cardboard is among the most popular and valuable in the set.

Value: $75-80

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2) 1980 Topps Nolan Ryan (#580)

By the time this card found its way into collectors’ hands, Ryan was gearing up for his run with the Houston Astros, thanks to a landmark contract.

In case you forgot, Ryan signed a four-year, $4.5 million deal with the Astros in November 1979, and the baseball world was aghast at the thought of the first million-dollar-per-year player.

A decade or so later, salaries had escalated considerably, and Ryan had turned into a bona fide legend as he headed across the Lone Star state to the Texas Rangers. That move, along with his seven no-hitters, 300+ wins, and 5000+ strikeouts sent Ryan’s cards into the stratosphere.

His cardboard has resided near the top of the price list for just about every set he appears in for nearly three decades now, so it’s not surprising that he checks in with a solid showing here, too.

Value: $200-275

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1) 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie Card (#482)

Rickey Henderson burst onto the scene with 34 stolen bases in just 89 games for the Oakland A’s in 1979 and never really stopped running. When he finally retired from Major League Baseball in 2003 after a quarter century in the game, Henderson had shattered the all-time record for steals, finishing with a mind-blowing 1406. He also holds the mark for runs scored at 2295 and slammed nearly 300 home runs among his more than 3000 hits.

Rickey redefined the leadoff role and was a first ballot Hall of Famer — and an all-time hot dog. No wonder his rookie card has led the way for the 1980 Topps set in terms of value for more than 30 years.

Value: $1800-2000

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Of course, that’s no mean feat, and only a couple dozen guys will be able to pull off the trick by the end of the year. Heck, plenty of players never win a World Series, and some high-profile names never even made it to the Fall Classic before hanging up their spikes.

But the two ends of the baseball season are inextricably linked — you go to Spring Training when it’s still freaking winter so that you have a chance to still be playing when it’s cold again, with another winter just around the corner.

And if you’re like most teams, and most players, and you fall short of your goal in October,  you’re left chomping at the bit to get to your next spring camp. Because, you know, next time around will be different.

Given this bond between beginning and end, between preparation and success, it’s only fitting that I end my 2019 Spring Training Baseball Card Challenge, here on Day 46, with a look at a World Series baseball card.

Now, there are plenty of cards to choose from, as Topps issued cards commemorating the Fall Classic for a couple of decades.

So how do you choose just one?

The answer is, you rely on personal experiences and personal tastes, like just about everything else in this hobby.

So …

The first World Series card I remember owning was the 1981 Topps beauty that shows Tug McGraw with triumphant fists in the air after the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 Series. It’s a great card that always reminds me of collecting — I think I pulled it from one of my first packs, and I can almost taste the gum whenever I see a copy.

It was really hard to resist choosing old Tug in this slot.

But there is another contender that really tweaks my hobby sensibilities, and it’s a multi-parter — the 1975 Topps subset celebrating the Oakland A’s five-game victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1974 World Series.

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This baby has a lot going for it …

• The ALCS and NLCS each get a card of their own.
• Each World Series game gets a dedicated card.
• The last card in the subset is a Series capper.
• The border colors are outrageous and awesome — yellow, purple, and pink everywhere.
• The photos are awesome (if grainy).
• The Dodgers lost the Series handily.
• I owned the subset early on in my collecting career (bought as a “team set” for a couple bucks).

So, yeah, that’s a preponderance of goodness that I cannot ignore, and my choice will come from this subset. But which card in particular?

Well, the Game 1 card (#461) features an awesome shot of Reggie Jackson at bat, but I’ve given Reggie plenty of love on this site over the years.

The Game 2 card shows happy Dodgers in the dugout after their only victory in that October showdown. Pass.

Rollie Fingers is dealing on Game 3, and the card is a solid contender.

Same for the Game 5 card, with Joe Rudi rounding third after hitting a homer while Ron Cey looks on.

But for my money, nothing beats the Game 4 card, where a batter is following through on a monster swing that looks like it did something good. I mean, you can see that Steve Yeager is left just hanging there behind the plate, waiting with his glove extended for a pitch that never made it to him.

And the batter?

Oh, that’s just A’s starter Ken Holtzman, who pitched six innings in that game, gave up two runs, struck out seven … and hit a home run in the bottom of the third inning off Dodgers starter Andy Messersmith to put Oakland up, 1-0.

Holtzman also won the game, with Fingers picking up the save, setting up the A’s for a Series victory the next night.

And did I mention the card is laid out in a sweeping horizontal format?

Yeah, it’s a winner, just like Ken Holtzman was in 1974.

He closed the loop, from Spring Training stiffness to World Series glory, and he’s the perfect guy to close out this series with.

Enjoy the season!

Check out the entire series of 2019 Spring Training Challenge posts here.

They’re one of the prime drivers for the friendships we form, the social tribes — in the vernacular of today’s whippersnappers — we build.

I mean, have you ever had friends you met at work? Unless your name is “Albert Belle,” chances are pretty good. And somewhere among that group, I’ll bet there are at least a few folks who would have never come into your circle were it not for things you did together in the job place.

And if you’ve ever lost a job or a loved one or a pair of glasses, you know it’s the people around you going through the same emotions, or who have gone through the same emotions, who help you survive the grieving process.

But it’s not just negative or tough situations that help bring people together … nope, good stuff can do it, too.

Like baseball cards.

I mean, here we are, two people who don’t know each other (probably) sharing some digital space for a few minutes and having the same sorts of nostalgic thoughts — about baseball, about collecting, about fathers and sons or other relationships, about the good times we’ve had in the hobby, and the good times we hope lie ahead.

We have a shared past, shared hopes and dreams, whether or not we ever meet each other.

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And I’ll bet that most of us who partake of the cardboard arts have other shared experiences, too, from similar memories of our school days to anticipation of the new baseball season.

And cartoons.

I mean, if you’re reading this, chances are you grew up at least partially in the 1970s or 1980s … or at least the 1960s or 1990s. And in any of those cases, you likely know a thing or two about Saturday morning cartoons, Sunday funnies, maybe even comic books.

It’s one of the reasons, I think, why those little cartoons on the backs of some old baseball cards appealed to us so much as kids, and why they continue to pull at us today.

It’s also why I knew I had to include a card based specifically on the merits of its cartoon quality here on Day 44 of my 2019 Spring Training Baseball Card Challenge. Toons are one of the basic building blocks of a classic card collection, after all.

But which card, among the hundreds or thousands of possibilities, would make the cut here?

It was a tough call, let me tell you. But in the end, I came back to our true north for the day — shared experiences.

Page through (or thumb through if you’re going the stacks route) just about any Topps issue from 1954 through 1982, and you’ll see the dilemma — but not if you linger in 1973. Because there, on card #551, Topps presents us with a cartoon that stops the whole search train on the spot.

The front of the card features Mike Kilkenny, then of the Cleveland Indians and formerly of the Detroit Tigers, Oakland A’s, and San Diego Padres. Kilkenny is gazing into (or at a spot near) the camera, not looking too amused from his set-position pose, but looking very 70s chic with his brake-shoe sideburns. A sparsely populated Indians dugout peeps in behind him, and a few fans mill around in the blue stadium seats looming into the darkness above that.

It’s a fine card of a journeyman pitcher (23-18, 4.43 RA, 4 saves over five Major League season).

But flip the thing over and, holy cow!

Right at the very top of the vertical card back is a drawing of a young player in a baseball uniform, a large sack slung over one shoulder, and a trio of baseball-card-shaped golden *things* in his other hand. The caption confirms what you suspected at first glance:

Mike carries his baseball cards in his duffle bag.

Forget holy cow … holy crap!

This guy was one of us … a collector who couldn’t stand to be away from his precious cardboard for even as long as it took to do his business at the stadium. Nope, they went along with him. How could you not love him for that?

How could you not love this card for telling us about it?

You couldn’t not love either one, that’s how.

We have shared experiences, Mike and me, and you, too. And here’s one more for you …

Mike Kilkenny passed away on June 28, 2018, at the age of 73. I somehow missed the news, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. And it’s all the sadder to learn about now, because Mike Kilkenny wasn’t “just” a baseball player … he was part of the vast cardboard brotherhood that ties us all together.

Check out the entire series of 2019 Spring Training Challenge posts here.

If you’ve ever been to a Major League stadium or even paid attention to the non-action shots on a television broadcast, you know there are plenty of dark crannies that aren’t readily accessible to the average fan.

What lurked in the shadows beyond the bullpens in the old cookie-cutter stadiums like Riverfront Stadium and Veterans Stadium?

What happens behind the Green Monster scoreboard when winter sets in and the Boston Red Sox are scattered to the winds.

And what sort of aquatic secrets do the Kauffman Stadium waterfalls harbor?

I’m sure a select few folks know the answers to these individual questions, but the rest of us are left to speculate.  And it was these types of mysteries that began stirring in my addled brain as I considered which card to profile on this Day 27 of my 2019 Spring Training Baseball Card Challenge.

See, my task today is to talk about a card showing a stadium I want to visit but never have. The field for this one is wide, because I’ve only made it to a handful of big-league parks — Riverfront Stadium, Great American Ballpark, Fenway Park, Jacobs Field, Busch Stadium (though not to see an actual game).

So I decided to first pick the park I most want to visit, then find a card that shows that park to some degree. If said cardboard could also help me answer one of the game’s lingering questions, all the better.

And, with all due respect to Dodger Stadium, AT & T Park, and Camden Yards, the place I most want to visit is Wrigley Field. It shouldn’t be all that hard to accomplish considering my Hoosier roots, but the trip to Addison and Clark has somehow eluded me to this point.

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I’ve seen Wrigley in its televised glory hundreds of times over the years, though, and it seems to me there’s no other venue that can capture the neighborhood feel and deep history all in one fell swoop quite like the Chicago Cubs‘ home. Maybe someday I’ll prove that notion to myself.

In the meantime, I’m left to ponder how wonderful the place must be, but also to wonder what sorts of creatures might be hiding in the fabled Wrigley Field ivy. I mean, that stuff’s been there since before World War II, right? There’s been plenty of time for an infestation of one sort of another to develop.

So I went searching for a card that might give me an insight into he secrets of the ivy, and my first stop bore fruit. As an ancient man who has been collecting baseball cards since they were made out of granite, I remember vividly that roughly 112% of all 1981 Donruss cards featured the Wrigley Field ivy in the background. (The other -12% were the test cards that were actually better than their Topps counterparts.)

I could have picked anyone of those cards for this piece, but there was only one that really made any sense: card #553 of Dave Kingman.

By the time Kingman signed as a free agent with the Cubs before the 1978 season, “Kong” was already pretty much who he was going to be — a monstrous dude with a monstrous swing who could hit the ball out of the Grand Canyon but couldn’t get on base or do a whole lot else, including stay in one place for long.

Still, it’s somewhat astounding it took him so long to land with the cubs, considering how “cozy” the Cozy Confines were, especially with favorable wind conditions. You might say he was born to play with the Cubs.

In his first year by the lake, Kingman turned in a Kingman-esque season, featuring 28 home runs and 79 RBI. In 1979, though, it all clicked, and Kingman slammed 49 homers, drove in 115, and even hit .288.

The perfect marriage was working perfectly.

Then, 1980 brought injuries that limited Kong to just 81 games and saw his production fall to .278, 18, 57. Before the 1981 season could even begin, Chicago traded him to the New York Mets in exchange for Steve Henderson.

Nothing could erase the work he’d done with the Cubs, though, or the idea that Kingman’s rightful place would always be there among the ivy, tantalizingly close to home plate, especially for a slugger of his stature.

To drive that point home, collectors spent that first summer of Kingman’s Mets tenure pulling his ’81 Donruss card from fresh wax packs. Captured there in cardboard bliss for eternity was a smiling Kong, enveloped by the green ivy of his natural habitat.

And, this card also solves one of baseball’s mysteries — we know what lives (or lived) in the Wrigley Field ivy. It’s Kong himself.

Check out the entire series of 2019 Spring Training Challenge posts here.

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