By the time Rose left the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1983 season at age 42, it was pretty clear that he was going to hang around long enough to break Ty Cobb’s record for career hits.

The only question at the time was WHERE he was going to play out his career, and it looked like that might happen north of the border when he signed with the Montreal Expos in January of 1984.

Fans and collectors yawned or gasped at the news, depending on how closely we followed Rose, and we were all a bit shocked by the sight of Rose in his red, white, and powder blue togs that spring. We braced for the weirdness that would ensue when Charlie Hustle showed up in his Expos uniform that fall in traded and update sets.

Before we ever got that far, though, the Cincinnati Reds swooped in and traded Tom Lawless (irony?) for Rose to set up one of the most ballyhooed baseball homecomings of all time.

Though we may not have realized it at the time, the move also kicked off, in earnest, THE big hobby craze of the 80s: rookie card mania.

Not to Mention Hume Hysteria

Sure, before Rose found his way back to the Riverfront, collectors chased after the rookie cards of their favorite players because they wanted to have everything. There was also the general perception that rookie cards in good condition would be the rarest of all a player’s cards, due to attrition if nothing else.

But when Rose became the Reds’ player-manager on August 16, 1984, the entire baseball universe coalesced on the idea that the chase was on.

Rose would be chasing Cobb’s ghost while wearing the hometown Cincinnati Red — the same Red he had bled since childhood.

And hobbyists would be chasing Rose’s cards — all of them — to try and complete their collections before the magical base knock streaked through the Queen City night.

Leading the way, of course, was that 1963 Pete Rose rookie card.

Like a Cardboard Clown Costume

Visually, the card was striking, if not exactly attractive.

As was the case with most rookies during the 1960s and 1970s, Rose was relegated to the multi-player card treatment by Topps, who liked to hedge their bets on young, unproven talent.

In this case, card #537 featured a bright yellow background with four tiny, circular head shots of (clockwise from the top left) second baseman Pedro Gonzalez of the New York Yankees, third baseman Ken McMullen of the Los Angeles Dodgers, shortstop Al Weis of the Chicago White Sox, and Rose (listed as a second baseman).

Each floating head was ironed on over a red background, and a big blue rectangle at the top of the card proclaimed in white block letters that these were “1963 Rookie Stars.”

As it turned out, only Rose played regularly in 1963 and hit over .250 (though Weis managed the feat in 99 games), and he was rewarded with the National League Rookie of the Year award.

Twenty-one years later, Rose was the clear winner of the four-man lineup, and the rush to pick up his cards had pushed his rookie card values into the stratosphere. By Christmas of 1984, collectors and dealers were trying to catch their breaths and make sure they were stocked up for the 1985 season, when Rose needed needed a scant 95 hits to

So collectors from Cincy to Philly to Indy to NY to LA snatched up all the Roses we could find, and the prices on those pasteboards climbed skyward. eclipse Cobb.

It was the first time in the modern hobby era that we had an active player gunning for immortality AND a huge number of collectors gunning for his cards at the same time. Collectively, we burned up the card show circuit and kept the hot stove blistering throughout the winter.

Who Would Hit 4192 First — Rose or His Rookie?

The Rose rookie traded briskly at around $500 that holiday season, and you were ecstatic if you could scoop one up for less than $400. And back then, we cared about condit
ion, but there was no such thing as a graded card, so we did the best we could.

On September 11, 1985, when Rose slapped Number 4192 into the Riverfront outfield and stomped on first base next to a smiling Steve Garvey, then with the San Diego Padres, the Rose rookie was closing in on $1000 in eyeballed-mint condition.

That moment was the high-point of the Rose hype, but his rookie card — and his other issues — continued to make steady gains as he led the Reds into strong second-place finishes each year from 1985 to 1988.

And then, being the frontrunner that he is, Rose was at the forefront of the bust that would threaten every aspect of the hobby in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

What Goes Up May Go Up Again

Of course, the downfall of Rose’s cards mirrored the downfall of the hero himself, and lifetime banishment for betting on the game he loved tarnished all aspects of his public persona.

Baseball cards were simply along for the ride, and prices fell precipitously.

Over the years, however, many fans have softened their stance on Rose, whether due to comparisons with the transgressions of steroid-era players or just thanks to the passage of time. And, as more and more of the new generation realized what a great player Rose was on the field, his card prices began to rebound.

This was especially true for graded older issues, and, naturally, the blue, yellow, and red monstrosity led the way again. Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find a graded copy of his 1963 Topps rookie card in PSA 7 (NM) for under $4000.

Love him or hate him, the Cobb-buster changed baseball forever.

And, ugly or not, the 1963 Topps Pete Rose rookie card ushered in a new era in collecting mania and set the stage for much of the hobby explosion to come.

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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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Consider …

Mike Schmidt is the greatest third baseman of all-time and one of the greatest overall players in the history of Major League Baseball. For several years in the 1980s, Mike Schmidt baseball cards were among the hottest in the hobby, too, as Iron Mike racked up three MVP awards and more than 500 career home runs.

But it’s been more than 30 years now since Schmidt retired, and a lot has happened in that time.

Pete Rose was banned from baseball.

The game almost imploded due to the players’ strike in 1994 and 1995.

Home run records fell like Seattle rain during the so-called Steroid Era as bashers like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and — ahem — Brady Anderson rewrote the record books.

The hobby boomed and busted.

The hobby boomed again when the pandemic wrecked the rest of the world.

Along the way, Schmidt fell out of the public spotlight and mostly slid from collectors minds.

But Schmidt is still around, a living monument to better times in Phillies land … at least when times are rough, which seems to be plenty often.

And Schmidt’s cards are still around, too, testaments to the wonders of the hobby’s glory years.

What follows is a rundown of every regular-issue Mike Schmidt baseball card produced by the major card companies during a storied career.

So sit back and enjoy the pasteboard show of the guy that Bill James once said was not that far off from the conversation for “best player ever.”

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1973 Topps Mike Schmidt Rookie Card (#615)

If you could own only one Mike Schmidt card, this would be the one to target.

Not only is it the rookie card of a top-tier Hall of Famer, but it’s also part of the 1973 Topps high series — the very last time Topps issued sets in parts before ushering in the modern era with an all-at-once 1974 series.

The Mike Schmidt rookie card is no aesthetic masterpiece, and it relegates Mike to the last third of the real estate, but he does share rookie honors with John Hilton. Ron Cey is there, too, though technically his rookie card comes in the 1972 set.

No matter its shortcomings the 1973 Topps Mike Schmidt rookie card is a must-have for any serious vintage collector, and it carries a price tag befitting its status as a hobby legend (values for copies in PSA 7 condition).

Value: $400-475 (PSA 7)

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1974 Topps Mike Schmidt (#283)

There was a time in the late 1980s and early 1990s when “second-year cards” were all the rage, and they owed their fling with the spotlight largely to Schmidt and other players of his ilk.

It made some sense.

After all, this 1974 Topps pasteboard was the first to picture Schmidt all by himself, and it is still a very early card of a Hall of Famer.

This card in raw condition generally won’t sell for anywhere near the $100 or so it brought at its peak, but copies in really nice graded condition still carry a heavy price tag today.

Value: $140-160 (PSA 8)

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1975 Topps Mike Schmidt (#70)

By the time this 1975 Topps card was issued, Schmidt had led the league in home runs for the first time, with 36 in 1974. He was a legitimate power hitter with a bright future ahead of him, so it would have been great to see his big swing on this card.

Instead, collectors got an awkward head shot that didn’t tell them much about the quiet man with the monster bat.

But these 1975 cards were mostly about the design, and few things make a veteran collector’s tummy flutter like a stack of these Chiclet-colored beauties. And if that stack has a legend — like Mike Schmidt — nestled inside?

All the better.

Value: $140-150 (PSA 8)

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1976 Topps Mike Schmidt (#480)

At first glance, this photo seems even worse than the 1975 Topps version — Mike Schmidt bunting?

On closer examination, I prefer to think that Schmitty has just slammed a bomb and is preparing to discard his bat and round the bases.

This was one of the first pre-1981 cards that I added to my own collection, so it holds a special place in my collector’s heart.

Value: $65-80 (PSA 8)

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1977 Topps Mike Schmidt (#140)

Compared to the sets around it, 1977 Topps featured a pretty crisp card design, and this spring shot of Iron Mike adds to the fresh feel.

Solid card of a legend still ramping up against a perfect blue-and-fluffy-white-cloud sky and Shea Stadium gearing up for a division matchup in the background.

Value: $40-60 (PSA 8)

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1978 Topps Mike Schmidt (#360)

The 1978 Topps set features a minimalist design that is somewhat reminiscent of the classic 1957 Topps set.

Too bad Topps chose to use all that photo real estate for a fairly boring head shot here on the sixth-year Schmidt card.

Even with no “action” and an indecisive looking Schmitty, though, this is a solid offering of a soon-to-be legend.

Value: $20-25 (PSA 8)

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1979 Topps Mike Schmidt (#610)

Was Schmidt ever happy on a baseball card early in his career?

He doesn’t look too thrilled here on his 1979 Topps cards, for sure, but the color scheme works well and the overall design is clean. And, maybe that serious face is because Schmidt is in his “office” – the batting cage.

Value: $25-30 (PSA 8)

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1980 Topps Mike Schmidt (#270)

Schmidt’s Topps offering got a little snazzier just in time for his first MVP campaign.

He was already 30 years old by the time this card came out, but his superb conditioning and key role on the contending Phils would keep him in his prime for several more years.

This batting-practice pose shows Schmidt’s intensity even in game prep and is nicely framed by the banner-laden 1980 Topps design and the “N.L. ALL-STAR” designation.

Value: $15-25 (PSA 8)

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1981 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#11)

Schmidt didn’t break into a smile for his first non-Topps cards, either, but collectors were happy to see both Donruss and Fleer join The Old Gum Company on store shelves in 1981.

Donruss card stock was thin as tissue paper, but this is a decent looking glamor shot of Iron Mike.

Value: $15-30 (PSA 9)

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1981 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#5)

The overall quality of the 1981 Fleer set was a smidge better than its Donruss counterpart, but it looks like they used the same photographer, on the same day.

Same warm-up suit.

Same hair.

(Of course, Fleer also produced another version of #5, with Schmidt at bat – value is about the same, though the portrait version appears to me a bit more scarce. )

Value: $15-30 (PSA 9)

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1981 Topps Mike Schmidt (#540)

This is the first Schmidt card I remember pulling from a pack, and it still stokes the collector’s fire in me every time I see it.

One of the few cards to feature Mike live in the field, this 1981 Topps beauty makes you believe he could stop a train with his glove and grit.

Value: $40-50 (PSA 9)

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1982 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#294)

The 1982 Donruss set featured crisper photos and thicker card stock than the 1981 set, but Schmidt looks about the same.

Same warm-up suit.

Same hair.

Same scowl.

Value: $15-35 (PSA 9)

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1982 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#258)

Is that a smile on Mike Schmidt’s 1982 Fleer card?

He must have just won an award or something.

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1982 Topps Mike Schmidt (#100)

While not quite as toothy as his Fleer offering, the 1982 Topps Schmidt card came about as close to showing a smile as any Topps Schmitty pasteboard before it.

Ah, the joys of being in your prime, huh?

Value: $35-55 (PSA 9)

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1983 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#168)

Strong follow-through from Mike on his 1983 Donruss card, with a design nearly identical to the 1982 set.

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1983 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#173)

Schmidt must have really mellowed as the 1980s wore on because you can almost see an upturned corner of the mouth as he talks to an unidentified Montreal Expo on this 1983 Fleer card.

Who is that masked man?

Looks like either Tim Raines or Al Oliver, both of whom were on the 1982 NL All-Star roster. Could have also been Andre Dawson … those 1980s Expos teams were loaded!

Value: $15-20 (PSA 9)

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1983 Topps Mike Schmidt (#300)

Schmidt looks off-balance on his 1983 Topps card, but the power in his follow-through and the stunning card design make this one a winner all the way around.

Value: $30-35 (PSA 9)

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1984 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#183)

The 1984 Donruss set established a new standard for card design and (perceived) scarcity.

It’s a classic issue that never goes out of style, and Donruss even managed to get Schmidt in a fielding shot.

Good on you, pre-Panini.

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1984 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#48)

Maybe it’s because the company was based in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia, but Schmidt seemed to love Fleer’s camera.

How else to explain all the smiles and near-smiles, as on this solid 1984 Fleer offering?

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1984 Topps Mike Schmidt (#700)

This is the first card I ever paid a premium for while I could still (or soon) pull it from a pack.

This beauty cost me 40 cents in March of 1984, purchased from a favorite dealer who used to set up at a local (Indianapolis) flea market.

Not a perfect card by any means, but not bad either.

And priceless in terms of nostalgia.

Value: $25-40 (PSA 9)

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1985 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#61)

Donruss got in on the Smiling Schmidt craze with its 1985 offering.

Pretty sure Mike could have swung all three of those bats at once and slammed a dinger with each one.

Value: $15-20 (PSA 9)

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1985 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#265)

This 1985 Fleer card broke the string of Schmidt head shots, but the sacrifice was worth it.

Just look at those colors and that awesome home run follow-through!

Value: $15-20 (PSA 9)

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1985 Topps Mike Schmidt (#500)

You may not realize it, but Schmidt could run pretty well throughout a large chunk of his career.

Even by 1984, when this photo for his 1985 Topps card was snapped, he still had some wheels — though they weren’t as good as he thought.

That season, he stole five bases … and was thrown out seven times.

Value: $20-25 (PSA 9)

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1986 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#61)

Iron Mike is channeling Ted Kluszewski on this 1986 Donruss card.

Welcome to the gun show!

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1986 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#450)

After several years of smiles and one at-bat action shot, Fleer treated collectors with this unusual pre-game shot of Schmidt in 1986.

Should there be air quotes around “treated”?

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1986 Sportflics Mike Schmidt (#44)

Sportflics had impenetrable Mylar packs (take that, “innovator” Upper Deck)!

Sportflics had Magic Motion!

Sportflics had 3-D!

Sportflics had clean card backs!

Sportflics had thick card stock!

Sportflics had indecipherable images.

Value: $5-10 (PSA 9)

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1986 Topps Mike Schmidt (#200)

Ho hum. Another vicious follow-through on another Topps card during another MVP season for Big Mike Schmidt.

Value: $20-25 (PSA 9)

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1987 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#139)

Mike Schmidt was 37 years old when this 1987 Donruss card was issued and, though he’d just come off an MVP campaign, his face was showing his age.

Iron Mike would get lost in the shuffle of young sluggers in 1987 and would finish 14th in MVP voting even though he had a better year than many of those ahead of him.

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1987 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#187)

Schmitty in a sunny ballpark watching the flight of a home run (?) ball.

Pretty heady stuff.

Value: $10-15 (PSA 9)

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1987 Sportflics Mike Schmidt (#30)

The 1987 Sportflics set featured all of the same goodies as the 1986 inaugural set, but they added a color photo to card backs.

Doesn’t sound like much now, maybe, but it was awesome at the time.

Value: $5-10 (PSA 9)

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1987 Topps Mike Schmidt (#430)

The 1987 Topps set is a love-it-or-hate-it type of proposition.

Personally, I love it … one of my favorite sets of all-time.

Here, Schmidt looks on, apparently trying to decide how far he should hit the next pitch.

Value: $15-25 (PSA 9)

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1988 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#330)

Did a ball just fly through the zone so fast that Mike Schmidt can’t figure out what happened?

Is he watching a bug crawl across the infield grass toward him?

Or is this a Starting Lineup Schmidt figurine?

Those are the mysteries of the 1988 Donruss Mike Schmidt card.

Value: $25-35 (PSA 10)

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1988 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#315)

I always thought of 1988 Fleer as the Little Debbie set because the design reminds me of an icing-laden snack cake.

Photos are crowded out by busy border elements, but this image of Schmidt is a pretty solid action shot nonetheless.

And looks like he generated a pretty good breeze with that swing-and-miss.

Value: $25-35 (PSA 10)

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1988 Score Mike Schmidt (#16)

The 1988 Score set pushed the limits for baseball card technology at the time and had collectors excited by its quality white card stock, solid photography, and comprehensive card backs — complete with another (fairly large) color photo.

The Schmidt card features the HOFer on his toes at third base, ready for whatever might come his way.

Value: $80-90 (PSA 10)

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1988 Sportflics Mike Schmidt (#35)

Sportflics was back in 1988 with a heavier card design and an even larger photo on the reverse.

I still have no idea what Schmitty is up to on the card front, though.

Value: $20-25 (PSA 10)

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1988 Topps Mike Schmidt (#600)

Schmidt’s warming up for his second-to-last season on this card, and Topps celebrated by capturing him still in his pajamas, and with his hair on backwards.

Mornings can be rough.

Value: $50-60 (PSA 10)

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1989 Bowman Mike Schmidt (#402)

The 1989 Bowman set was widely panned by collectors, mainly because the cards were too big to fit in with all our other little rectangles.

We also didn’t really ask for a revival of the dead brand, and many saw it as a money grab by Topps. That was true, of course, but it was still pretty cool to get a shot of reinvigorated hobby history if you were a fan of such nostalgia (guilty as charged).

And, boy, does this Schmidt card look great, with an almost-end-of-the-road Michael Jack watching the flight of some poor baseball he just demolished, his seldom-seen burgundy Phillies jersey fairly glistening in the eternal sunshine of the diamond.

Value: $20-25 (PSA 10)

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1989 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#193)

Schmidt’s last regular Donruss card treats collectors to one final classy follow-through.

Value: $30-35 (PSA 10)

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1989 Fleer Mike Schmidt (#582)

Schmidt checks his swing and his career aspirations on this 1989 Fleer card.

Value: $30-35 (PSA 10)

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1989 Score Mike Schmidt (#149)

Of all the regular-issue cards of Mike Schmidt over his storied career, it took until 1989 for a card company to capture him in the midst of his powerful swing.

Thanks, 1989 Score!

Value: $15-25 (PSA 10)

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1989 Sportflics Mike Schmidt (#21)

By this point, Sportflics was all about the back-of-card photo.

Value: $5-10 (PSA 10)

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1989 Topps Mike Schmidt (#100)

Mike Schmidt, running for first one last time on his 1989 Topps card.

Value: $40-55 (PSA 10)

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1989 Upper Deck Mike Schmidt (#406)

Upper Deck changed almost everything about the hobby in 1989, and they were lucky enough to get in one Schmidt card before the legend hung up his spikes.

I would have been OK if they switched the front and back photos, but it’s a great piece of hobby history no matter how you flip it.

Value: $75-85 (PSA 10)

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1990 Donruss Mike Schmidt (#643)

I’m breaking my own rules by including this 1990 Donruss card here because it’s a tribute card, not really a regular-issue pasteboard.

But back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, companies just didn’t issue cards of non-active players, no matter how great.

Granting Schmidt this capstone offering that shows his entire career stats roll gets Donruss an extra feather in its cap.

Value: $20-30 (PSA 10)

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1990 Upper Deck Mike Schmidt (#20)

Like the Donruss card above, this 1990 Upper Deck issue breaks my rules.

But Schmidt’s retirement deserved cardboard commemoration, and this artistic number does the trick.

Value: $45-55 (PSA 10)

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Sure, you’ll have plenty of people who can’t resist the nostalgia of 1987’s wood-grained borders or the (supposed) game-changing slickness of 1989 Upper Deck, but you can rest assured that 1983 Topps will be well-represented.

And why not?

With a clean-crisp-classic design, huge star power, interesting subsets, and — YES! — a heavyweight class of rookie cards, 1983 Topps offers something for everyone.

And that goes for the high rollers, too, those collectors/investors who want to sink their hobby cash into some blue chip cards.

Because, though you can’t claim that 1983 Topps baseball is limited in any sort of way, it also predates the explosive and soul-sucking Junk Wax Era by a bit, and these cards have held their own in the modern market.

In fact, the top pasteboards in this set are downright hobby classics, with plenty of money changing hands in the name of pursuing them, even here in the 2020s.

And that’s why we’re here today — to take a look at the very best the set has to offer, with an eye toward both nostalgia and card value.

What follows, then, are the most valuable 1983 Topps baseball cards, by measure of actual selling prices for copies in PSA 9 condition (the most common grade handed out for the set by the hobby giant).

And, if you keep reading past #1, you just might find some bonus listings PLUS the best of the best among 1983 Topps Traded baseball cards.

Ready for the show?

Great … let’s play ball!

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25) 1983 Topps Ozzie Smith (#540)

Ozzie Smith had a pretty decent first year in St. Louis after the December 1981 challenge trade of shortstops that sent Garry Templeton to the Padres in exchange for the light-hitting Wizard.

Not only did he win a third Gold Glove, but he also notched his first of 15 All-Star appearances.

And, oh yeah – the Cards ended the year as world champions.

The next season, collectors delighted in this sterling first Ozzie-Cardinals card (if you set aside his 1982 Topps Traded issue for the moment).

Value: $15-20

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24) 1983 Topps Carl Yastrzemski (#550)

Yastrzemski entered the 1983 season with more than 3000 hits, 440 home runs, an MVP award, a Triple Crown, 43 years of living under his belt … and nothing at all left to prove.

So, it was little surprise when he announced his retirement, but it also gave this final Topps card of his a bit more hobby oomph.

It’s still a classic today.

Value: $15-25

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23) 1983 Topps Reggie Jackson (#500)

Guess who led the majors in home runs in 1982?

Yeah, it was 36-year-old Reggie Jackson, who christened his Angels career by smashing 39 long balls to tie Milwaukee’s Gorman Thomas, while also driving in 101 runs.

All of that was good enough to land Reggie some MVP consideration (he finished sixth in voting) and one of the greatest cards of 1983 … if not of all time.

Value: $15-25

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22) 1983 Topps Andre Dawson (#680)

You couldn’t have a conversation about the “best player in baseball” during the 1980s without focusing on Andre Dawson, the Expos right fielder who could do it all: hit, run, crush, field, throw.

And, in 1983, we got to witness The Hawk in peak form, as he hit .299 with 32 home runs, 113 RBI, 104 runs scored, 25 stolen bases and finished second (to Dale Murphy) in National League MVP voting.

His crisp, vibrant Topps card was a favorite right out of the pack that year, and it only became more popular as Dawson piled up the stats.

Value: $20-25

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21) 1983 Topps Frank Viola Rookie Card (#586)

Viola’s rookie showing of 4-10 with a 5.21 ERA did little to make his 1983 Topps RC a hot item among kids or collectors.

Ditto his follow-up of 7-15, 5.49.

But, when Sweet Music fired up his orchestra to the tune of 18-12, 3.21 in 1984, we all sat up and listened.

And, by the time he nabbed the 1988 A.L. Cy Young award, this card was one of the stoutest of all 1983 Topps pasteboards.

Value: $20-25

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20) 1983 Topps Robin Yount (#350)

Like Dale Murphy, Robin Yount used 1982 as a platform season to announce to the world outside of his small market just how good he was.

That summer, the Milwaukee shortstop hit .331 with 29 home runs, 114 RBI, 46 doubles, and 129 runs scored. Heck, he even swiped 14 bases.

And, oh yeah – he led the Brewers to a division title and A.L. pennant before they finally bowed out in a thrilling seven-game World Series against the Cardinals.

It all spelled “MVP” and a classic 1983 Topps card for Yount.

Value: $20-25

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19) 1983 Topps Gary Carter (#370)

By 1983, Carter had pretty much taken over the title of “best catcher in baseball” from Johnny Bench, and he had a litany of All-Star appearances to prove it.

It was more of the same in 1983, along with this dandy of a baseball card that became ever more popular when The Kid expanded his fanbase by landing with the Mets before the 1985 season.

Value: $20-25

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18) 1983 Topps Rickey Henderson Record Breaker (#2)

Everyone knew Henderson could blaze the basepaths entering the 1982 season, courtesy of his 100 steals in 1980 and league-leading 56 in the strike-torn 1981.

But then, Rickey went out and did the impossible, breaking Lou Brock’s single-season record by swiping an amazing 130 bags in ‘82.

Of course, that was all just the beginning of the huge milestones for The Man of Steal, and this 1983 Topps Record Breaker has developed an aura of its own over the decades since.

Value: $20-25

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17) 1983 Topps Gary Gaetti Rookie Card (#431)

Gaetti’s 25 home runs as a rookie in 1982 might have made big waves in the game and the hobby had he toiled for a team other than a small-market Twins team with a putrid record.

And, likewise, his 1983 Topps rookie card may have been a barnburner right out of the pack.

As things played out, though, Minnesota’s third baseman just kept slugging and, by the time the Twins won a World Series in 1987, The Rat and his cards were starting to get their due.

Today, his rookie card is a slow-burn favorite that has little trouble keeping up with the market.

Value: $20-25

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16) 1983 Topps Dennis Eckersley (#270)

After a down year – by his standards – in 1980, and another so-so performance during the interrupted 1981 season, Eckersley’s bounce-back in 1982 looked modest in black and white: 13-13, 3.73 ERA.

But that was actually good for 4.5 WAR, making Eck’s 224.1 solid innings a key reason the Red Sox hung around the periphery of contention most of the season.

Of course, it would all sort of bottom out for the former ace over the next few years, before he found a new lease on baseball life as a reliever with the Oakland A’s later in the decade, a move that set him on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

And one that eventually elevated all of his cards – including this one – to hobby superstar status.

Value: $20-30

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15) 1983 Topps Rod Carew (#200)

As Carew approached the 1983 season, his career batting average sat at a sterling .331, but, at age 37, it had been five seasons since he topped that mark.

Never you mind about father time and the Angels’ bat magician, though, because Carew uncorked a .339 mark in ‘83 that would stand as his sixth-highest mark ever and point him straight at 3000 hits … and Cooperstown.

This card went along for the ride during that long-ago summer and still looks great all these years later.

Value: $20-30

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14) 1983 Topps Tom Seaver (#580)

At age 37, Seaver posted one of his worst campaigns ever in 1982, going 5-13 with an unsightly 5.50 ERA for a similarly unsightly Cincinnati Reds team.

None of that mattered much to the baseball world, though, and particularly not to New York Mets fans after the Reds flipped the future Hall of Famer back to his original team in December, in exchange for Charlie Puleo and Lloyd McClendon (and, yes, Jason Felice).

This last Reds card of Tom Terrific was painful for Reds and Mets faithful alike that summer of 1983, but it’s a classic today, marking the end of one era and the beginning – or revival – of another.

Value: $20-30

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13) 1983 Topps Dale Murphy (#760)

After sliding back in the power department during The Strike in 1981 following a 33-homer breakout in 1980, Murphy was poised and ready for a full season of glory in 1982.

And, boy, what a season it was!

Murphy won the National League MVP award on the back of 36 home runs, 109 RBI, and 23 steals, leading the Braves to their second division title (1969) in the process.

Murph was even better in 1983, making this Topps card an instant classic that summer.

Value: $25-30

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12) 1983 Topps George Brett (#600)

After hitting .390 to win the A.L. batting title (and MVP) and leading the Royals to the World Series in 1980, Brett took a step backward to mere superstar status in 1981 and 1982.

He was plenty popular with collectors all through those years, though, and the infamous Pine Tar Incident in the summer of 1983 marked his explosive return to the national consciousness.

It was an all-out sprint to the Hall of Fame from that point forward, including a stop in the 1985 World Series to help K.C. win their first title.

Value: $25-35

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11) 1983 Topps Johnny Bench (#60)

The Reds were a withered stinker of a team in 1982, but at least they still had Johnny Bench (and a few other big names from the ‘70s) to keep fans interested.

Then, in the midst of another toilet-circling season in 1983, Bench announced his retirement and sealed this card’s fate as his *last* base Topps issue.

It’s still a hobby classic today.

Value: $30-35

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10) 1983 Topps Pete Rose (#100)

Rose was a longtime collector favorite entering the 1983 season, and his role in helping the “Wheeze Kids” Phillies to another World Series appearance that fall did nothing but boost his popularity.

And, since Charlie Hustle left Philly to sign a free agent deal with the Montreal Expos in 1984, this Topps card represented the end of his storied run with the team he helped to their first-ever title in 1980.

Sure, he would appear with the Phillies on 1984 cards, but he was long gone by then.

Value: $30-40

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9) 1983 Topps Mike Schmidt (#300)

Schmidt saw his string of consecutive MVP awards snapped by Dale Murphy in 1982, but the Phillies slugger was still one of the best players in the game entering the 1983 season.

He’d drive home that point by leading the majors with 40 home runs that summer, and by leading the Phillies to a National League pennant, their second in four years and last until 1993.

Today, Schmidt stands as one the (if not THE) greatest third basemen of all time, and an enduring collector favorite.

Value: $30-40

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8) 1983 Topps Pete Rose All-Star (#397)

In 1982, Rose made his tenth consecutive All-Star appearance, then followed that up by helping lead the Phillies to a somewhat unexpected N.L. pennant in 1983.

As it turned out, that would be Rose’s last All-Star appearance … until, that is, he got the nod during his run on Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record in 1985.

It’s fitting, then, that this last All-Star card of Charlie Hustle has become something of a hobby classic.

Value: $30-40

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7) 1983 Topps Willie McGee Rookie Card (#49)

McGee made his major league debut in May of 1982 and then finished the season (well, postseason) as the starting centerfielder for the world champions.

It would be hard to top that sort of beginning, but McGee pulled it off, helping the Cards to two more World Series through 1987, winning the National League batting title and MVP (.353) award in 1985.

He also managed to cop the N.L. batting crown in 1990 despite a late August trade that sent him to the A’s.

Along the way, collectors took a shine to McGee’s rookie card, and it still maintains some hobby swagger today.

Value: $30-50

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6) 1983 Topps Nolan Ryan (#360)

As 1983 dawned, Nolan Ryan was seen in most circles as a flamethrower more than a bona fide ace, and he really wasn’t all that popular in the hobby.

By the end of the season, he had surpassed Walter Johnson’s all-time strikeout record, but sat behind Steve Carlton on leaderboard, as Lefty also took down Big Train (as did Gaylord Perry).

But, while Carlton was rounding the corner on his career, The Ryan Express was just getting fired up, and Ryan would spend the next ten seasons putting the strikeout record out of reach, tossing no-hitters, and generally turning himself into a living – and hobby – legend.

Value: $45-50

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5) 1983 Topps Rickey Henderson (#180)

Henderson was fresh off setting the single-season stolen base record (130!) when this beauty started popping out of packs, but he still had plenty of highlights in front of him.

In fact, Rickey was just getting warmed up on a career that would span 25 seasons and produce 3055 hits and all-time records for runs scored (2295) and steals (1406).

Today, Henderson’s cards are always among the most popular in whichever set they appear, and 1983 Topps is no exception.

Value: $45-55

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4) 1983 Topps Cal Ripken Jr. (#163)

Ripken was already a star by the time this card debuted, having won the 1982 American League Rookie of the Year Award.

By the end of 1983, he was a bona fide superstar, copping A.L. MVP honors en route to leading the Orioles to their last (so far!) World Series championship.

Cal’s legend would only grow from there, of course, and the popularity of his 1983 Topps card pretty much kept pace.

Value: $50-75

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3) 1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg Rookie Card (#83)

After years of mediocrity – and much worse – the Chicago Cubs shook up the baseball world in the summer of 1984, battling with the upstart New York Mets for supremacy in the N.L. East.

In the end, the Cubbies prevailed, thanks to a Cy Young performance from Rick Sutcliffe, acquired midseason from the Indians, and the breakout of their young second baseman, Ryne Sandberg.

Ryno brought a balanced game to the northside that featured a blend of speed, power, and defense that not only helped his team to the playoffs but also garnered the MVP trophy for Sandberg.

His amazing and unexpected performance sent collectors scrambling to snatch his 1983 RCs from obscurity, and they’ve been hobby favorites ever since.

Value: $85-100

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2) 1983 Topps Wade Boggs Rookie Card (#498)

Boggs was the first of the big three from among the crop of 1983 rookie card legends to make his name, breaking out to an amazing .361 batting average and his first American League hitting crown in 1983.

A slide back to “just” .325 in 1984 had some fans and collectors wary of his superstar status, but a string of four more titles from 1985 through 1988 put all that noise to rest.

Today, Boggs’ 1983 Topps rookie card is one of the most famous and valuable 1980s cards of them all, and Boggs, of course, is a Hall of Famer.

Value: $115-150

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1) 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn Rookie Card (#482)

It took awhile for Tony Gwynn to register with fans early in the 1984 season, what with the Tigers streaking to a historic start, and the Mets and Cubs actually winning some games.

An unknown Padres hitter batting .434 in the first month of the season was neat and all, but it sort of got lost in the noise of “it’s still early.”

By the time San Diego captured the National League West crown in September, though, everyone knew who their star right fielder was – he was the breakout superstar who would finish at .351 to lead the majors and win the first of his record eight N.L. batting titles.

And by then, collectors had rummaged through our stacks of 1983 commons to elevate Gwynn’s rookie card to hobby royalty, a perch it never abdicated.

Value: $200-225

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Honorable Mention

So, those are the heavy hitters among 1983 Topps baseball cards, but they’re not the whole story.

Not even close.

In fact …

This set is just so jampacked with goodies that it’s pretty much impossible to do justice to them all in a simple post like this one.

But we can at least pull out a few more representative cards, ones that serve as exemplars for others that we won’t mention here at all, but that take the same general form.

Some of these “honorable mentions” even pop up into the ranks of the best-sellers from time to time.

(And, if you want more details on subsets, distribution, inserts, checklist, and the like, checkout our Ultimate Guide to 1983 Topps baseball cards.)

5) 1983 Topps Nolan Ryan Super Veteran (#361)

Even though this Super Veteran card rightly showed that Ryan had been in the majors for nearly 15 years, the truth in that moment was that he was still something of an enigma in 1983.

Or, at least, he wasn’t highly regarded as a true ace. No, Nolan Ryan was just a fireballer, not one of the best pitchers in the game.

Over the next ten years, of course, Ryan would burn through any lingering doubts about his legend, thanks to a litany of no-hitters, strikeouts, records, and headlock-punches that no mere mortal could match.

Value: $20-25

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4) 1983 Topps Mike Schmidt Super Veteran (#301)

Schmidt was undoubtedly a “Super Veteran” in 1983, having already built a near Hall of Fame resume, but also still “prime” enough that he was a threat to win another MVP award any given season.

Yeah, Schmitty was in the upper tier of popularity among the SVs, and he stands as fitting exemplar for the landmark subset even today.

Value: $20-25

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3) 1983 Topps Gaylord Perry (#463)

In his quest to reach 300 wins, Gaylord Perry latched on with the lowly Seattle Mariners for his age-43 season in 1982.

It all panned out for the Vaseline meister, as he won ten games in 1982 … then decided to hang around for one more season.

As it turned out, that gave K-Lord the chance to pass Walter Johnson on the all-time strikeouts list, same as Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton did.

And, while Perry’s last solo base Topps card may not be worth a fortune, it’s still a great cardboard history marker that has a classic feel today.

Value: $20-25

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2) 1983 Topps Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines (#704)

Quick!

Who are the greatest base runners, and especially the greatest leadoff hitters, of the last 50 years?

Yeah, Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines.

And, thanks to their prowess on the basepaths, Raines and Henderson appeared on a string of these stolen base leaders cards over the years.

As it turns out, each and every one is a double-shot of Hall of Fame splendor.

Value: $25-30

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1) 1983 Topps Rickey Henderson All-Star (#391)

If there was one player in the history of the game that looks perfectly at home on All-Star cards, maybe even more so than on any other type of card, it’s Rickey Henderson, the ultimate hot dog.

Rickey could more than back up all the bluster, though, which makes the big star plastered on this classic card look just right.

Value: $25-30

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1983 Topps Traded

By the fall of 1983, the hobby was starting to boom, and we all wanted more, more, MORE(!) baseball cards.

And, we had also become accustomed to the annual post-season release of the 132-card Topps Traded set.

We were ready.

As it turned out, our fervor was more than justified, as evidenced all these years later by these most valuable 1983 Topps Traded baseball cards.

(Note: We’re using PSA 10 prices here since the Traded cards tend to show up in better graded condition than the base cards.)

6) 1983 Topps Traded Joe Morgan (#77T)

After a one-year return to the Astros in 1980 following his wildly successful run with the Big Red Machine in the 1970s, Joe Morgan spent two decent-to-good seasons with the San Francisco Giants.

In December of 1982, though, the Giants traded Little Joe to Philadelphia, where he became a key member of the Wheeze Kids team that won a National League pennant.

Widely considered to be the greatest second baseman of all time, Morgan remains a hobby favorite, and this is the first of just a few cards to feature him as a member of the Phillies.

Value: $35-45

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5) 1983 Topps Traded Julio Franco Rookie Card (#34T)

For awhile there, it looked like Franco might play forever, and he actually did suit up in the majors until he was 49 years old.

Along the way, he accumulated almost 2600 hits, nearly 300 stolen bases, more than 1200 runs scored, and nearly as many RBI.

His first Topps card – this one – doesn’t get a ton of notice, but it’s a piece of hobby and baseball history in its own right.

Value: $45-50

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4) 1983 Topps Traded Keith Hernandez (#43T)

In June of 1983, the Cardinals shocked their fans, and the baseball world in general, by trading franchise staple Keith Hernandez to the New York Mets in exchange for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.

As it turned out, that was one of the first big moves that started the Mets down the road to their 1986 championship, as Hernandez just kept clicking along at superstarlevels in his new setting.

Not surprisingly, diving into the biggest media market in the sport only served to expand the influence of the 1979 N.L. co-MVP (with Willie Stargell), helping to make his 1983 Topps Traded card one of the most popular hunks of the year-end box set.

Today, this card still stands as a hobby classic, marking a milestone in the game’s history.

Value: $50-55

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3) 1983 Topps Traded Tony Phillips Rookie Card (#87T)

Phillips put together one of the quietest 2000-hit careers in baseball history, and his cards certainly never lit up the market.

But the man was maybe the greatest utility man of all time, starting more than 200 games at four different positions and posting more than 50 career wins above replacement (WAR).

Given all that, Phillips’ 1983 Topps Traded rookie card just may be an underrated, undervalued card in today’s booming market.

Value: $65-75

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2) 1983 Topps Traded Tom Seaver (#101T)

Seaver put together a forgettable 1982 campaign for the Reds, but his return to the Mets in 1983 seemed to re-energize the mound great, and collectors ate up the chance to see Tom Terrific in his familiar NYM uniform at least one more time.

And wrapped in that classic 1983 Topps design, to boot!

Value: $90-100

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1) 1983 Topps Traded Darryl Strawberry Rookie Card (#108T)

Has there ever been a more anticipated baseball card than the 1983 Topps Traded Darryl Strawberry rookie?

The only challenger that springs immediately to mind are the Traded and Update cards of Straw’s otherworldly teammate, Dwight Gooden, the next year.

In 1983, though, Strawberry lit up the baseball world with a package of power, speed, and grace that made us all excited for the future.

And, unlike A.L. rookie of the year Ron Kittle, the Mets young star had no cards in base issues that summer, setting up Topps Traded as a stone-cold hobby classic and firmly establishing the year-end issue as an industry staple.

Value: $350-400

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And, of all the Wax Pack Gods that I worshipped as a kid in the 1980s, Rose was always one of the most difficult to come by. He was in all of the same overproduced sets as Walt Terrell and John Mizerock, but somehow there never seemed to be enough Pete Rose baseball cards to satisfy my appetite.

Maybe it was because I was a Reds fan or maybe it was because I was in awe of Rose’s exploits on the field as he marched toward Ty Cobb’s legacy at an age when he should have been collecting Social Security and taking up woodworking.

Rose wasn’t my favorite player — that was and still is Mike Schmidt — but Charlie Hustle did intrigue me like no other.

And he touched the same nerve with the hobby at large, as his assault on the all-time hits record was maybe the first large-scale milestone watch that was accompanied by escalating card prices. In many way, Rose’s 1963 Topps issue was instrumental to the burgeoning rookie-card craze.

The Pete Rose bubble was also one of the first to burst when he succumbed to a gambling scandal in 1989, and demand and prices tumbled through the 1990s.

Over the years, though, as the steroid taint touched players who had eclipsed Rose in the public eye, many fans began to take a more positive view of Rose, at least in terms of his on-field accomplishments.

As support has grown in recent times for Pete’s reinstatement, or at least for his induction into Cooperstown, the values of his cards have stabilized and begun to climb again, too. That’s especially true for quality graded copies of his early pasteboards.

And, after 27 long years, Pete Rose was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in late June of 2016. Of course, Rose was enshrined in the Reds Hall of Fame and not Cooperstown, but it did get his name into the news again and sparked new interest in his cards.

Turns out those same cards that were so elusive 30-40 years ago have held a decent amount of their value over the decades and, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you (and I) can look at them anytime you want.

To help out with that endeavor, I have gathered the entire run of regular-issue Rose cards below.  For now, these include just Pete’s base card from each set, but check back here — and on our Pete Rose page — often if you’re a Rose nut like I am, because I’ll be adding leader and record-breaker cards, oddball issues, and other goodies over time.

Happy collecting!

In 1969, the Montreal Expos became the first Major League Baseball team ever to be based outside the United States.

As one of four expansion teams that summer — the San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots, and Kansas City Royals were the others — the Expos gave fans everywhere a front-row seat for what it took to build a championship team.

Uh … er … well …

That is, they gave fans a look at what it was like to claw your way above .500 and then watch as two player strikes in 14 years wipe out your best seasons …

… and then lose momentum and eventually move out of town.

But during the 35 years that the Expos graced Montreal and MLB, they built a lifetime of memories for fans north of the border and imparted an undeniable flair that was distinctly Exposian.

Will the Montreal Expos ever return to the MLB scene?

For sure, there are plenty of folks who would like to see that happen.

But until then, here are 35 facts to warm your Expos cockles, especially if you’re a baseball card collector.

Montreal Expos Cardboard Exposé

• On October 14, 1968, the Expos made outfielder Manny Mota (Pittsburgh Pirates) their first selection in the expansion draft.
• The first major-issue Expos baseball card was the 1969 Topps Jesus Alou (#22).
• The first Topps card to show the Expos logo was the 1969 Ty Cline pasteboard (#442).
• The first multi-player rookie card to show Expos players was the 1969 Topps Expos Rookie Stars card (#284) featuring Jerry Robertson and Mike Wegener.
• From 1969 through 1976, the Expos played home games at Jarry Park Stadium, seen to good effect in the background of the 1969 Fud’s Photography Expos postcard set.
• The first Expos team card was in the 1970 Topps set (#509).
• Carl Morton went 18-11 with a 3.60 ERA to win the 1970 National League Rookie of the Year award. The only other Expo ever named ROY was Andre Dawson in 1977.
• Pitcher Steve Rogers spent his entire 13-year career with the Expos, from 1973 through 1985. During that time, he made five All-Star teams and finished in the top 10 of the NL Cy Young vote three times.
• Though he ended his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, third baseman Tim Wallach matched Rogers for the longest Expos tenure, playing in Montreal from 1980 through 1992. During that span, he made five All-Star teams, won three gold gloves, and nabbed two top-10 MVP finishes.
• The first Hall of Fame player pictured on a baseball card as a member of the Montreal Expos was Gary Carter on his 1975 Topps rookie card (#620).
• Dick Williams was the only Expos skipper inducted into the Hall of Fame as a manager. He guided Montreal for five years (1977-81), including their first winning campaign in 1979. William’s 1978 Topps card shows him in his red, white, and blue Expos togs.
• Ross Grimsley went 20-11 for the Expos in 1978 to become the only 20-game winner in team history (pre-Nationals).
• In both 1979 and 1980, the Expos entered the final weekend of the season with a chance to win the NL East crown but came up just short each time. Both division winners — Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies — would go on to win the World Series.
• The earliest baseball card of any member of the Montreal Expos is the 1951 Bowman Gene Mauch (#312).
• The earliest baseball card of Montreal Expos player is the 1953 Topps (#246) Roy Face rookie card when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• On April 13, 1984, Pete Rose collected career hit number 4000 while playing for the Expos against his former team, the Philadelphia Phillies, in Olympic Stadium. Rose would appear as an Expo on several baseball cards that fall and in 1985 despite being traded to the Cincinnati Reds in August of ’84.
• The Expos landed two entries in the first run of Rated Rookies in 1984. Mike Stenhouse was #29 and Angel Salazar was #33.
• Gary Carter was the first Expo to be named the MVP of the All-Star Game, in 1981. He also won the award in 1984, and Tim Raines copped the honor in 1987.
• Although Tim Raines has key rookie cards in the 1981 Topps base and Traded sets and the debut Donruss set from the same year, Fleer did not issue a card of the Expos great until 1982.
• The first “leaders” card to feature a member of the Expos was 1972 Topps card #95, which showed Bill Stoneman after he finished third in the National League with 251 strikeouts in 1971.
• The first Fleer Expo card was the 1981 Gary Carter issue (#142).
• Larry Parrish (#89) appeared on the first Expos card in the 1981 Donruss set.
• Thanks to the 1981 baseball strike, the Expos played in one of the first-ever National League Division Series. They dropped the Philadelphia Phillies in five games before losing the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks to a series-winning home run by Rick Monday in the top of the 9th inning of Game 5.
• The first Topps All-Star card to feature a member of the Montreal Expos was the 1982 Andre Dawson AS, #341. Gary Carter appeared on card #344.
• Coincidentally, the 1982 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was held at Olympic Stadium, the only time Montreal hosted the mid-summer classic.
• In 1982, Canadian discount store Zellers issued a set of 20 three-card panels using 12 different Expos players to illustrate “Pro Tips” on various aspects of playing baseball.
• Jeff Reardon won the 1985 Rolaids Fireman Award as (presumably) the NL’s best relief pitcher. He was the only Expos hurler ever so honored.
• Olympic Stadium was featured on the back of the 1988 Fleer Montreal Expos sticker inserted into wax packs.
• On May 22, 1992, the Expos hired Felipe Alou as their new manager, making him the first Dominican-born skipper in MLB history. Alou’s first manager card can be found in the 1992 Topps Traded set (#3T).
• Alou won the NL Manager of the Year Award in 1994, joining Buck Rodgers (1987) as the only Expos field bosses to garner that honor.
• Pedro Martinez won the 1997 National League Cy Young Award while pitching for Montreal. It was the only MVP or Cy Young ever won by an Expos player.
• The Expos retired three uniform numbers — Gary Carter (8), Andre Dawson (10) & Rusty Staub (10), Tim Raines (30)
• The last Montreal Expos player to appear on a regular-issue Topps card was Tony Batista (#201) in 2005.
• Manager Frank Robinson was the last uniformed member of the Montreal Expos to appear on a regular-issue Topps card — #284 in the 2005 set.
• Card #655 in the 2005 Topps set is the last Montreal Expos team card.

And a couple of bonus morsels because the Expos always strove for more …

• Washington was bound and determined to grab one of the 1969 expansion teams as their own once the Senators left town. In 1974, the San Diego Padres almost made the move, as evidenced by Topps’ infamous “Washington Nat’l Lea.” cards. The Expos, of course, actually became the Washington Nationals after the 2004  season.
• Joel Youngblood appeared on one of those cool multi-player Fleer Superstar Specials in 1983 — and he was both players! The card commemorated Youngblood’s feat of playing for both the New York Mets and the Expos on August 4, 1982.

(Check out our other posts related to the Montreal Expos here and check back here for more of our ultimate team guides.)

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Along the way, they squeak past the Montreal Expos in the NL East and then took five games to knock off the Houston Astros in the best-of-five NLCS. Finally, they upended the favored Kansas City Royals, four games to two, in the Series.

Today, most fans associate that Phillies team with Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, and should-be HOFer Pete Rose.

But the Phils were loaded with other big contributors, too, many of whom filled up their own trophy cases with baseball awards.

Secretary of Defense

Take centerfielder Garry Maddox, for example, who played 15 years in the Major Leagues and nabbed eight Gold Gloves for his work in center. He won seven of those consecutively, from 1976-82, all with Philadelphia.

Few could hold a candle to Maddox in the field during his prime, and that stellar glove had him in the conversation for MVP on more than one occasion.

It also earned him the nickname of “Secretary of Defense.”

Aside from his fleet feet and amazing leather, Maddox was also known for his outstanding full beard, which made him instantly recognizable even from a distance.

As it turns out, that facial hair stemmed from Maddox’s stint in the US Army.

After his debut for the San Francisco Giants in 1968, Maddox entered the armed forces and was sent to Vietnam during the heart of that war. While deployed, he was exposed to chemicals that left his skin sensitive to contact and made it painful to shave. To combat this discomfort, Maddox began working on his beard and had it perfected by the middle of the 1970s.

How fitting is it, then, that this Vietnam veteran who was forever altered by his experiences overseas would be one of the heroes of the Phillies’ Memorial Day game during perhaps their greatest season?

Running for First

Whether patriotism or pennant hopes fueled Maddox that day, or whether he just got hot at the right time, there’s no denying that he was even more of a superstar than usual on May 26, 1980 — Memorial Day.

That night, the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates visited the second-place Phillies for a game that would help set the stage for a summer-long pennant race.

Both clubs had their bats working that night, and Maddox helped the Phils keep pace with the Willie Stargell-led Bucs by knocking a 2-run, 2-out homer off Bert Blyleven in the third inning and scoring after stealing second in the eighth.

By the bottom of the ninth, Kent Tekulve was on the mound for the Pirates, and Pittsburgh held a 5-4 lead.

The Phillies weren’t done yet, though, and had tied the game on consecutive hits by Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, and Bob Boone by the time Maddox came to bat.

Tekulve wanted no part of Garry and issued an intentional walk to get at the light-hitting Larry Bowa. Bowa made Tekulve pay, though, singling to right field to score pinch runner Lonnie Smith.

The Phils had pulled into a virtual tie for first place, and they had their cast of stars to thank, as usual.

No one shone more brightly in their firmament that night, though, than 30-year-old Vietnam vet Garry Maddox, who finished 3-for-4 with three runs.

Truly a Memorial Day to remember.

Everybody knows that Topps celebrated their 40th anniversary in 1991.with a special “40 Years of Baseball” logo on each card front as well a contest that gave collectors the chance to win vintage cards

Heck, they plastered their special “40 Years of Baseball” logo on each card front and also gave collectors the chance to win vintage cards and other fabulous prizes with each wax pack purchased.

You also know that Topps has issued plenty of Archive and Heritage cards over the last couple of decades, paying homage to their classic designs of yesteryear.

And if you’ve been around the hobby for awhile, you may remember that the first time Topps reprinted one of their sets was in 1983. That’s the year they reissued their classic 1952 Topps set.

But only hobbyists who have really been paying attention know that it’s not true — that 1952 Topps redo was not Topps’ first foray into issuing reproductions of their own creations.

And their original choice for that honor just might tell us something about how the company itself viewed its early sets.

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Teacher’s Pet?

The 1951 Topps sets were not all that inspiring when compared to their competition.

While Bowman was busy cranking out a full issue of hand-painted current players, Topps showed up to the game with two decks of cards — Red Backs and Blue Backs — and two sets of stand-ups — Current All-Stars and Connie Mack All-Stars.

Even though the stand-up issues are scarce and command a lot of attention when they come up for sale, Topps would have been in trouble if their 1952 offerings were a repeat of the ’51s.

Luckily for the company and the collecting public, though, T.C.G. rolled out their legendary behemoth led by the Mickey Mantle “rookie card” that has fueled the hobby for 65 years.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the ’52s were good but not necessarily better than the Bowman issues of the era.

Bigger, for sure, but not an artistic breakthrough.

The 1953 Topps set, though … now that baby was a work of art.

Like, each card was literally a work of art by painter Gary Dvorak. Whether or not boys ripping packs in the moment appreciated the ’53 Topps cards, collectors have certainly developed a loved for them over the decades.

And, apparently, the set hit a sweet spot for Topps themselves.

How can we know that?

Well, for one thing, the ’53 set was the subject of the very first Topps Archives set in 1991.

But more telling was that Topps broke the seal on their reprinting machinery to reprint part of the set way back on 1973, on the 2oth anniversary of Dvorak’s masterpieces.

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Obscure but Beautiful

Information surrounding these cards is sketchy, but at least a couple of forums have tackled the “set” in recent years — here and here, for example.

What we do know is that there were eight cards issued, and the design had been pared down from the originals to include just the player painting and the player’s name.

Card backs looked a lot like an early Bowman creation, with a large block of text followed by biographical information at the bottom. At the very top is “BASEBALL STARS” and the card number.

Sources seem to differ on the exact year of issue, with some listing 1972 and others 1973.

Whichever of the two is correct, everyone agrees that Topps got three of the player’s names wrong:

• Vic Janowicz was mislabeled as Clyde McCullough
• Jim Fridley was mislabeled as Al Rosen
• Bill Antonello was mislabeled as Carl Furillo

Those missteps seem to lead credence to the idea that maybe this was a test issue, with some veteran collectors (see forums above) speculating that several hundred of each card was issued.

Simply the Best … 20 Years Later

All the while Topps was semi-celebrating their glorious 1953 set, they were pumping out a so-so 1973 issue.

Given the mundane design of that base issue and some drab photography, it’s a fairly easy call to peg one of the reprints as the best baeball card of 1973.

But which one to choose?

It’s hard to go wrong with any of them, but the winner here is the Hal Newhouser card.

The left-handed follow-through, the old-time advertising on the short outfield wall, the forestry beyond the outfield wall, the high-noon shadowing on the mound.

What a gorgeous card!

Easily worth of the title, “Best of 1973” … even if it was issued in 1972.

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Of course, Rose had plenty of opportunities to make all those outs, seeing as he also holds the MLB records for most games played(3562), most plate appearances (15890), and most at-bats(14053).

Also of course, all those trips to the plate yielded some positive results, too … not just outs.

Namely, Rose famously chased down Ty Cobb‘s all-time record for hits over a 24-year career that included stints with the Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos in between career-defining runs with the Cincinnati Reds from 1963 through 1978, and from 1984 through 1989.

All told, Rose racked up 4256 hits, still the Major League record, and he maintains a lofty standing on several career lists, including …

• 1st in singles (3215)
• 2nd in doubles (746) behind Tris Speaker (792)
• 6th in runs scored (2165)
• 14th in walks (1566)
• Tied for 7th in All-Star Game appearances (17) with Ted Williams

Rose was also a key member of six pennant winners and three World Series champ — the 1975 and 1976 Reds, and the 1980 Phillies.

While a member of the Big Red Machine (and while it was warming up), Charlie Hustle won the 1973 National League MVP award, nabbed two Gold Gloves, and copped three batting titles.

He also gave fans a preview of what lay ahead when he put together a 44-game hitting streak in 1978, making the nation sit up and take notice as he took aim at Joe DiMaggio‘s 56-game mark set in 1941.

Seven years later, and back in Cincinnati, Rose once again mesmerized the sports world during his run toward 4191 (Cobb’s record).

By September 11, 1985, the night he smacked number 4192 against the Padres at Riverfront Stadium, there was no more celebrated athlete that Peter Edward Rose.

That shine was fairly short-lived, of course, as Rose’s betting scandal forever tarnished his image in the game and effectively barred him from election to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

So, despite all the accolades he rung up in his career, perhaps Rose’s record for the most outs in Major League history is a fitting encapsulation of the warts and awards, all rolled up into one.

It was a three-day excursion and would be the first time I was away from home. As a self-avowed momma’s boy and an inveterate comfort-seeker, I was trepidatious about the adventure at best.

Then, on the Friday before we left, I found out that I had to have a tetanus shot before we left on Monday. It was indignity after indignity as my mom took me to the hospital on Saturday morning to get my arm pricked.

Within a few hours, I had a reaction to the shot, my arm growing hot and red and eventually swelling up a few inches. My dad was concerned, but he’s always been a “rub dirt on it” type of guy where his own health was concerned, so he prevailed on mom and me to suck it up. It was just a shot, after all.

Cardboard Salve

So I went to bed on Saturday and felt even worse on Sunday, but there was a silver lining: my parents were taking me to a baseball card show in Indianapolis that day.

My arm ached all through the day, and the pain and accompanying fever made me nauseous, but the exhilaration of fresh cardboard kept me going.

This was early April, so all the new sets were out and fully available at that point, and the Detroit Tigers were already running away with the American League pennant. The other baseball news that filtered into my corner of the world was that Pete Rose was making the final turn on his assault of Ty Cobb‘s all-time hit record.

Jettisoned by the Philadelphia Phillies after their World Series loss in 1983, Rose had inexplicably latched on with the Montreal Expos. While it was an ingnominious way for him to round out his career, Rose’s Canadian assignment at least meant he’d probably get regular playing time. The Expos were always scrambling to put fannies in their seats, and having Rose on-board for a record chase would help in that regard.

Now, my dad had never been a baseball fan, but he was a lifelong Hoosier and a former athlete, so he couldn’t help but soak in some of the flavor of The Big Red Machine a decade earlier. So when I started following baseball and baseball cards, he whipped out the few names he knew so we could speak a common language.

Thanks to Dad, I knew that Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, and George Foster had been Big Stars not that long before even though my friends viewed them as nothing more than old men.

Coupled with Dad’s tacit encouragement, Rose’s record run stoked my collecting fires and gave me a target on which to focus: locate and buy any Rose card I could find.

Holy Grail, Batman

It was against this backdrop that my parents and I stepped up to the table run by “Mike” on that spring Sunday afternoon. Mike was a local dealer from whom we’d bought a few minor Rose cards and a stack of old Baseball Digest magazines over the previous year. He was a fellow Rose fan and lit up when he saw me.

“Hey, I have something I think you’ll want to see,” Mike said.

Mom and Dad looked at each other as Mike popped open one of his display cases and fished out a card that pictured a young Pete Rose from the shoulders up. Across the top, “REDS” was printed in large purple block letters.

“This is a 1964 Topps card, the first one that shows Rose alone,” Mike explained.

I was already familiar with the 1963 Topps Rose rookie card by that point — it was legendary within the hobby — and the photo on the card that Mike held toward me looked awfully familiar.

Mike nodded toward the card. “Go ahead,” he said.

I could feel my parents tense up as I delicately plucked the Rose from Mike’s hands, but he nodded toward them, too, assuring them it was OK.

“Wow!” I said. “Isn’t that the same picture that’s on his rookie card?”

“Good eye!” Mike said. “Yeah, Topps used to use the same pictures multiple years, especially for young players. There wasn’t much competition in the baseball card market, so they didn’t have to try that hard.”

“It’s awesome!” I said.

I could feel Dad lean closer, looking at the card over my shoulder. I glanced back at him just in time to see his eyes go wide, and I followed his stern gaze back to the front of the card.

That’s a Lot of Money for a Piece of Cardboard

The price sticker sealed my fate: $65.

“Does that say $65?” Dad asked Mike.

“Yeah, and I’m afraid that’s a firm price. I heard that one of them sold in St. Louis last weekend for $100. He’s going to break Ty Cobb’s record, and his cards are only going to get more expensive the closer he gets.”

My dad just looked at Mike for a few seconds, then at my mom.

“Well, that’s a lot of money for a piece of cardboard.” It was the dad line of all dad lines when it came to baseball cards, and I’m sure it’s one most collectors still hear in their nightmares.

I took one last look at the Rose and handed it to Mike, catching a glimpse of the creamsicle back as he slid it into the display case.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Sure, you bet,” Mike said. “Keep cheering those Reds.”

We walked out of the room and through the sprawling convention center toward the parking lot. At first, I was stunned by having held such a significant piece of hobby history in my hands, but soon enough, I was digging into the packs I was lucky enough to come away with. Our conversation turned to where we were going to eat on the way home, and I mostly forgot about the Rose.

With the adrenaline of the moment gone, my arm started to hurt again, and my stomach felt queasy when we climbed into the truck a few minutes later. I wasn’t sure if I could eat, but I’d give it a try.

I slid across to the center of the bench seat and tried to position myself so Dad wouldn’t break my leg as he worked through the gears with the on-floor gear shift. Mom climbed in the passenger’s side, and, finally, Dad slid into the driver’s seat.

By that time, I was wrapped up in my own world — thumbing through a stack of cards, clutching my sore arm, and trying to coax my belly into the greasy meal ahead. I thought Dad was just being clumsy when he elbowed me in the side.

And when he jabbed my leg.

But then he did it again and, in that subtle way that all dad’s seem to cultivate over the years, said, “Here, can you hold this for me?”

He slid something flat from his palm and lay it on my lap.

Magic Dad

It was the 1964 Topps Pete Rose baseball card.

For an instant, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing, like when a baby tooth falls out on the floor and you just stand there looking at it. Does that really belong to you?

“Really?” I shrieked.

“Really,” Dad said. “You heard Mike, right? Pete is going to break that record, and his cards are only going to get more expensive.”

I looked at mom, and she just smiled. I suspect she may have favored Dad with a certain sort of expression over the top of my head, but I didn’t see it.

What I saw was the most beautiful baseball card in the world, and it was all mine. From Rose’s gap-toothed smile on the front to the unscratched trivia answer box on the back, it was mine.

To this day, I’m not sure how Dad pulled off his deceit because I swear he was with us on the whole walk out to the truck. Maybe it was the fever or the distraction of my other cards, or maybe my dad really is all-powerful, as I sometimes suspected.

I can’t even imagine what Dad had to give up to buy that card for me. I’m sure we still ate something on the way home that night, but I’m not at all sure my dad ate lunch for the next week — maybe even the next month.

It was a pattern that would repeat itself over the years — my Dad making sacrifices to help me get where I wanted or needed to be. It happened with my 1986 Topps set, it happened when I went to college and stayed on the family dole, and it’s still happening as an adult — Dad is always there to help with projects or lend advice.

On that day, though, my new card gave me something to think about while I trudged through the rainy, muddy forest for three days, and it became the cornerstone of my collection.

Little wonder that it’s still my favorite baseball card nearly 40 years later.

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

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