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| 1970 Topps #5, Wes Parker |
Parker might be L.A.'s most underrated first baseman, little-known behind guys like Gil Hodges, Steve Garvey, and Eric Karros. I bet his name comes up about as often as Greg Brock, despite the good hitting and streak of Gold Gloves. Take heart Wes, we remember you!
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| 1971 Topps #5, Thurman Munson |
What more is there to say? One of the best-ever cards by Topps.
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| 1972 Topps #5, John Bateman |
I love to visit Montreal and am always bummed that they lost their baseball team.
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| 1973 Topps #5, Ed Brinkman |
My set profile poked fun at Ed's odd pose here, but it could be worse. It could be raining.
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| 1974 Topps #5, Hank Aaron Special |
Funny that 1968 and 1969 Topps used the same photo, but color-balanced it so differently that the bat looks yellow and the background's a green fog. Baseball cards are weird.
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| 1975 Topps #5, Nolan Ryan Highlight |
Nolan Ryan (as Rangers owner) is again front-and-center for the 2011 World Series. Given the back-and-forth games, I imagine he wanted to pick up a glove again and brush back some batters on more than one occasion.
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| 1976 Topps #5, Tom Seaver Record Breaker |
Pretty sure Seaver can strike anyone out, but that retouched red helmet gives me the willies.
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| 1977 Topps #5, Victory Leaders |
Jim Palmer's average season was 17-10 with a sub-3 ERA. You better believe that's a HOFer.
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| 1978 Topps #5, Pete Rose Record Breaker |
Little League baseball helmets have earflaps on both sides, so either lefties and righties can use them. As a kid, I assumed switch-hitters like Rose would also use them. Nope. As this picture demonstrates, MLB teams can afford two helmets, one for each side.
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| 1979 Topps #5, Victory Leaders |
Trivia: Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph captained the Yankees together from 1986-1988, the only time New York featured team co-captains.
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| 1980 Topps #5, Garry Templeton Highlight |
Another switch-hitting highlight! Always respected guys who can hit well from either side. It seems like a superpower.
Any other collectors who started buying packs in the 1970s? If so, what's the first card or player you remember picking up?
First card was 1974 Tommy John. Card #451.
ReplyDeleteI'm proud to say I have all those #5s, except for Brinkman (although now I'm not sure about the Guidry-Perry. Will have to look in the morning ...)
Cool! Might have an extra Brinkman around, too...
ReplyDeleteThe first card I remember really trying to get was 1973 Rick Stelmaszek, because his wife was our teacher. Sadly, I didn't get that year's card until years later.1
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