1988 TOPPS KEITH HERNANDEZ Earlier this week, I finally finished putting my Topps doubles and cards from other manufacturers of players who made the Hall of Fame into plastic sheets and binders. The final (current) tally is 134 players and managers and 1,516 cards. It’s a project that has been on the to-do list for [...]
2018 TOPPS HERITAGE MARK VIENTOS Mark Vientos hit two homers in a Spring Training game against the Marlins today, which made me search for one of his cards. This Heritage card jumped out to me, with its ultra-tight shot of Vientos. But what really caught my eye was the double yellow combination. The big circle [...]
1970 TOPPS DUFFY DYER This Duffy Dyer card is from the last series in what at the time was the largest set Topps had ever produced. As one who has had the privilege/misfortune to chase high-series cards in a bunch of different sets over the years, it has always seemed to me that these cards [...]
1962 TOPPS ROGER CRAIG My collection has complete sets from the late 90s to 1963, plus 1961. Currently, my chase includes 1960, 1957 and the first series of 1952. Missing is 1962, the first year of the Mets, one that would seem to be a key set for a Mets fan who collects cards. How [...]
1984 FLEER UPDATE DWIGHT GOODEN In 1990 I started a Dwight Gooden collection. Previously, my interest was all about collecting complete sets and that’s still very much my priority. But, given all of the various card manufacturers that were around then, it seemed reasonable to have a single-player corner in my collection. Gooden had already [...]
1988 TOPPS JOHN MITCHELL On the back of this card, we learn that John Mitchell was the International League Pitcher of the Year in 1986. It must have been a down year for pitching in the IL because nothing screams out awesome from his pitching line that year. Mitchell finished 12-9 with a 3.39 ERA [...]
1974 TOPPS GEORGE STONE One year after getting the dreaded, “cap raised so you can’t see the logo” baseball card, Stone got this cool in action shot in his 1974 offering. As well he should. After coming over from the Braves in the Danny Frisella & Gary Gentry deal, Stone began the ’73 season in [...]
1966 TOPPS KEN BOYER When I was in grade school, I read every sports biography I could get my hands on. Our school library had “Ken Boyer: Guardian of the Hot Corner,” and I became the third person in my house to check out the book from PS 1. Because their brothers seemingly had a [...]
1991 TOPPS SID FERNANDEZ This is a card from the junk wax era. But to me, this is the last great Topps set. The 1990 and 1991 sets aren’t thought much of by collectors and that’s a shame. The 1990 set was colorful without being garish and the follow-up was a modern take on the [...]
1982 TOPPS METS FUTURE STARS Perhaps the greatest rookie card in Topps’ history is the 1968 Jerry Koosman/Nolan Ryan card. And in Mets’ rookie card history there were plenty of examples of the card containing a player that went on to achieve great success. But to me, this rookie card is just bursting with potential. [...]
1971 TOPPS ART SHAMSKY After getting head shots with no cap while wearing a Reds jersey in both 1968 and 1969, Topps made it up to Art Shamsky the next two years. His 1970 card has him in full Mets uniform, mock swinging a bat. And the card has METS in yellow letters, which really [...]