OK!
I've hit 300 posts and you know what that means: a review of all cards #'rd 300 throughout the 1970's.
And boy these were awesome cards! Best group yet.
Two of my all-time favorite cards are here, as well as nine Hall of
Famers out of ten cards, with the tenth player not too shabby himself!
Let's take a look:
1970: Tom Seaver
Not the nicest card of "Tom Terrific", but it's still a decent card
of Seaver as he was starting out his dominance of the baseball world
throughout the next decade.
Just coming off his first Cy Young season, and leading the New York
Mets to their improbable World Series win over the heavily favored
Baltimore Orioles.
1971: Brooks Robinson
I'm not a fan of this card, as you'll all remember how I redesigned
it a while back. Don't like the image of Brooks swinging and missing,
looking back towards the catcher.
But again, a future Hall of Famer in the prime of his career, albeit the tail-end of his "prime".
THE third baseman on THE Major League team at the time. The Orioles
were in the midst of three consecutive World Series appearances,
winning it all in 1970 over the Cincinnati Reds.
1972: Hank Aaron "In Action"
Nice card of "Hammerin' Hank" rounding the bases in what I assume was a Home Run trot.
Also at the tail-end of his "prime" years, he was poised to take over Babe Ruth as baseball's all-time home run champ.
The next couple of years were the buzz of baseball, culminating in his 715th homer in April of 1974.
1973: Steve Carlton
Not the best photo of Carlton on this card (I may have to redesign
this one in the future), but it was his first card since his truly
breakout season of 1972 where he set the world on fire, winning 27 games
while topping 300 strikeouts and posting a sub-2.00
E.R.A. for a last place team!
Even though it wasn't his first 20-win season, this was the year that set his march towards the Hall of Fame and super-stardom.
1974: Pete Rose
Again, not the best shot of "Charlie Hustle", but this was Topps'
offering of Rose after winning his only Most Valuable Player Award the
previous year while winning the National league batting title.
Rose was to continue kicking-ass throughout the 1970's, culminating
in a "Player of the Decade" award by the Sporting News in 1980.
A major cog in the "Big Red Machine" along with Johnny Bench, Joe
Morgan and company, Rose eventually would overtake Ty Cobb as baseball's
all-time hit king in 1985.
1975: Reggie Jackson
As we all know, this card was "kind of" an error card, being that
it should have been an "all-star" card with all-star in the lower right
corner and yellow and red design scheme like all other all-stars in the
1975 set.
I don't know why Topps messed up this card for the future Hall of
Famer, but the true Reggie Jackson take-over was a couple of years away,
when he joined the Yankees and became "Mr. October", leading the Yanks
to two consecutive Championships in 1977 and
1978.
Nevertheless it's a nice card in what I always felt was a very nice set.
1976: Johnny Bench
Well well. My all-time favorite card, period!
My very first post regarding a card on this blog explains it all.
It really is the "mona lisa" of my youth. The perfect card in my eyes.
The perfect photo, the perfect color-scheme, all-star designation. It has it all.
Bench was THE catcher in baseball from the late '60's to the early '80's, and was arguably the greatest catcher of all-time.
Just LOOK at this card. Just perfect!
1977: Jerry Koosman
The only player with a #300 card in the 1970's that's not a member
of the Hall of Fame, Koosman was NO slouch on the baseball diamond
however!
A 200+ game winner in his career, 20-game winner in both the National and American Leagues, and over 2500+ strikeouts.
The man was just simply overshadowed in a decade that saw a bunch of future Hall of Famers lighting it up on the mound.
But when it was all said and done, Koosman put together a very nice
19-year career, retiring after the 1985 season which saw him pitch for
the Phillies.
1978: Joe Morgan
The greatest second baseman in the game during the decade, Morgan
was the key to the Reds getting over the hump to become what was the
"Big Red Machine" after being acquired from the Houston Astros before
the 1972 season.
By 1978 Morgan was on his way to a Hall of Fame induction, with two
M.V.P. Awards, two World Championships, and five Gold Glove awards.
Nice card in a nicely designed set.
I am such a sucker for "all-star" cards.
1979: Rod Carew
Quite possibly my third all-time favorite card (after the 1976 Bench and 1978 Reggie Jackson cards).
I just love everything about this card of the greatest hitter of the decade. (OK, maybe that giant "Topps" logo in the baseball could have been omitted in the design...)
Even though he was actually a California Angel by the time this
card came out, the image captured Carew in the middle of his Hall of
Fame batting stance, which lead to 3000+ hits, an M.V.P. award, and of
course his seven American league batting titles!
Oh yeah, and he was named to EIGHTEEN straight all-star teams as well! Just awesome…
So there you have it: all cards numbered 300 for Topps throughout the 1970's, and what a great set of cards they are!
Onto #400!
Thanks for reading…
