1968 TOPPS BOB HENDLEY If Bob Hendley is remembered in baseball today, it’s for throwing a one-hitter in a game that Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game. The only run scored in the game was an unearned one, making it a perfect representation of the deadball 1960s. But what makes him a subject of the [...]
Let’s see, the players want much needed fairness in the game and greedy owners, led by the master negotiator, Rob Manfred, want nothing but to preserve superiority over the MLBPA. It is a lousy old tune. Breaking word that the highly respected Jeff Passan has managed to upset the MLB and now is on the [...]
My guess is that when Topps came up with their Heritage brand, they likely had someone like me in mind as their target audience. And maybe that just rubs me the wrong way. I would like nothing better than to go to the store and buy a pack of 1970 Topps baseball cards. But I’ve [...]
If you followed baseball in the 1970s, you know who Gene Clines was. He showed a lot of promise his first few years in the majors with the Pirates and while he never developed into even a full-time player, he played in the majors for parts of 10 seasons. Not only that, he stayed in [...]
Many times, I’ve wondered what percentage of “Rookie Stars” or “Future Stars” or whatever label Topps was using at the time turned out to be that way. Not many is my guess. They’re all stars on Draft Day and they’re all stars when they get their first baseball card. But reality is a cruel thing. [...]
If you’re a card collector, or if you read Marvin Miller’s book, you know that the 1969 Topps set was a really tough one for Topps. Miller, in one of his early acts as head of the union, tried to get Topps to increase the amount of money it paid the players in licensing. Topps [...]
I really dig the 1990s Topps Finest offerings but it would have been illuminating to have been in the meetings that led to the creation of the 1996 Finest set. Topps - Okay, we’re going to have 359 cards and we’re going to release them in two series. The first one’s going to have 191 [...]
The first two decades of the Mets’ existence is my favorite era of Topps cards. Sure, it would be nice to make 3-4 trades and get some classic 50s and 1961 sets in there, but few things in life are perfect. The first set I’d trade would be the 1962 one, a set so ugly [...]
Timing is everything. David Cone should be remembered as one of the best Mets pitchers ever. But because he didn’t play on the 1986 team – along with an unfortunate issue or two during his Mets tenure – he’s rarely among the first pitchers fans tick off when listing the team’s greats. The fact he [...]
There are all kinds of ways to have fun at the ballpark. I like to watch the game but I don’t look down at those who want to drink beer, yell at the umpire and look at the pretty girls. And there are those who go to see the mascot. I don’t know what it [...]
Awhile ago, a popular meme-type thing was to list three steps to success, where the first item was very basic and easy, the third line was “success!” and the second step was left blank. It seems that’s the idea that card companies were following in the mid-80’s to mid-90’s. The first item was “crank up [...]
When I first started collecting, the conventional wisdom was that getting autographs on your cards lessened their value. Not sure why this was the prevailing view – maybe the thought was that it would be too easy to counterfeit. Anyway, card manufacturers began to create autographed cards and no one thinks they detract from the [...]