Updating for 2024 – Hall of Famers in Topps Traded

Next, time to to update for the 4 new inductees in 2022 and 2023.  There’s only 2 years to update for this one.

Adrian Beltre’s first years were during a timeframe where Topps was not making the Traded/Update set, and Joe Mauer was included in the 2002 Draft Pick subset for the base set.  So neither of them were in any Update sets before 2004 (which is where this blog has currently stalled!)

Both Todd Helton and Jim Leyland, however, have one card in Topps Traded for the early part of their careers.

Jim Leyland – this year’s Eras Committee electee is in the 1986 Topps Traded set for when he was first hired by the Pirates.

Todd Helton – elected via the Baseball Writers’ in his 7th try.  He has a card in Topps Traded after participating in the 1993 USA Collegiate National Team.  He was one of their best (arguably their best) hitters, slugging .516 with a .352 batting average.  He also pitched for 1-2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs.  Link here.

Asterisks are where one of these guys were added:

1981 Topps Traded – 10 HOF

Bert Blyleven, Rollie Fingers, Carlton Fisk, Joe Morgan, Gaylord Perry, Bruce Sutter, Don Sutton, Dave Winfield, Tim Raines, Ted Simmons

1982 Topps Traded – 5 HOF

Reggie Jackson, Ferguson Jenkins, Perry, Cal Ripken, Ozzie Smith

1983 Topps Traded – 3 HOF

Morgan, Tony Perez, Tom Seaver

1984 Topps Traded – 7 HOF

Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, Morgan, Phil Niekro, Perez, Seaver, Yogi Berra (mgr)

1985 Topps Traded – 5 HOF

Gary Carter, Rickey Henderson, Sutter, Sutton, Earl Weaver (mgr)

1986 Topps Traded – 5 HOF***

Niekro, Seaver, Simmons, Dick Williams (mgr), Jim Leyland (mgr)

1987 Topps Traded – 6 HOF

Steve Carlton, Andre Dawson, Eckersley, R. Jackson, Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff

1988 Topps Traded – 4 HOF

Roberto Alomar, Gossage, Lee Smith, Frank Robinson (mgr)

1989 Topps Traded – 6 HOF

Blyleven, Ken Griffey Jr., Henderson, Randy Johnson, Eddie Murray, Nolan Ryan

1990 Topps Traded – 5 HOF

Carter, L. Smith, Winfield, Red Schoendienst (mgr), Bobby Cox (mgr)

1991 Topps Traded – 7 HOF

Alomar, Jeff Bagwell, Carter, McGriff, Jack Morris, Raines, Ivan Rodriguez,

1992 Topps Traded – 4 HOF

Carter, Morris, Murray, Winfield

1993 Topps Traded – 7 HOF****

Wade Boggs, Dawson, Todd Helton, McGriff, Paul Molitor, Mike Piazza, Winfield

1994 Topps Traded – 6 HOF

Henderson, Pedro Martinez, Morris, Murray, Ryne Sandberg, L. Smith

1995 Topps Traded – 18 HOF

Andre Dawson, Mariano Rivera, L. Smith, Larry Walker, Boggs (subset), Tony Gwynn (subset), McGriff (subset), Kirby Puckett (subset), Ripken (subset), Frank Thomas (subset), O. Smith (subset), Johnson (subset), Craig Biggio (subset), Griffey Jr. (subset), Piazza (subset), Bagwell (subset), Rodriguez (subset), Chipper Jones (subset)

1999 Topps Traded – 0 HOF

2000 Topps Traded – 0 HOF

2001 Topps Traded – 20 HOF

Henderson, Alomar, Carter, Eckersley, Fisk, Griffey Jr., R. Jackson, Juan Marichal, Maddux, McGriff, Morgan, Morris, Piazza, Raines, Ripken, Ryan, Seaver, O. Smith, L. Smith, Winfield (other than Rickey – the rest are from the reprint subset)

2002 Topps Traded – 9 HOF

Henderson, Raines, Scott Rolen, Frank Robinson (mgr), Ryan (subset), R. Jackson (subset), Boggs (subset), Alomar (subset), Griffey Jr. (subset)

2003 Topps Traded – 6 HOF

Alomar, Henderson, McGriff, David Ortiz, Ivan Rodriguez, Jim Thome

2004 Topps Traded – 2 HOF

Maddux, Walker

Updating for 2024 – Hall of Famers in Topps sets

Quite the week!  My guy Jim Harbaugh had to come out and put Tuesday’s news to the stereotypical “yesterday’s news” – but on Tuesday night we got 3 new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A couple Hall of Famers in this pic…

Last year for this post I said “Todd Helton likely will be up next, along with 1 or 2 new guys and maybe Billy Wagner”.  Well, it was 2 new guys but not Wagner.  I think he’ll get his enshrinement next year, though it is his last chance from the BBWAA.

Adrian Beltre (1st year), Todd Helton (7th) and Joe Mauer (1st) were elected by the Baseball Writers.  They are joining Jim Leyland (Eras Committee) in the election ceremonies in Cooperstown on July 21st.

Background! (obligatory info)

The number of Hall of Famers in a given set has always been something that intrigued me.  I count the number of Hall of Famers for every new set I start, and post about it in my overview.  So, since there are now 3 new Hall of Famers to account for, I need to go back and update those posts.  In showing this stuff below, I will show the cumulative total as well.

First, some reminders.  I include all Hall of Famers from the set.  That includes someone like Johnny Bench who had a Turn Back the Clock card in the 1990 set.  I also include managers who were Hall of Fame players (Frank Robinson in 1984 Topps, or my personal favorite – Yogi Berra as an Astro coach on their 1987 Topps team leader card).  I also include player cards of guys who made the Hall of Fame as a manager (i.e., 1969 Topps Bobby Cox).  If you have a bronze plaque in Cooperstown and you’re in the set, I’m including you.  Also – note that all 4 of these guys have cards after 2004, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten in this Lifetime Topps project!  Hopefully I change that this year!

• For this particular class – Leyland was first hired as the Pirates manager in 1986.  So his first regular Topps card (I’ll do Topps Traded/Update in a different post) was in 1987.  He managed there through 1996, then managed the Marlins and Rockies – but Topps stopped doing managers from 1993 to 2001 so he didn’t have any cards until after 2004 (which is is far as I’ve gone on this project to date).
• Helton is the player who goes back the furthest.  His first regular Topps card (again – not counting Traded for this post) was 1996.  He wasn’t in 1997, but is back for good after that.  So Helton is an addition for 1996 and 1998-2004 below.
• Beltre’s first card was in the Prospects subset of 1998, so he is an addition from 1998 to 2004 below.  He would match Roy Halladay and David Ortiz as the latest first base Topps card of a Hall of Famer, except…
• That will get surpassed by his fellow classmate!  Joe Mauer was a late addition to the 2002 Topps Draft Picks subset as the #1 overall draft selection in the 2001 MLB Draft.  He is the 4th #1 overall pick to make the Hall of Fame (Griffey, Chipper, Baines), and he will impact 2002-2004 below.

One more thing – Leyland’s addition puts 1993 in a tie with 1983 for the most Hall of Famers in the list below.  My guess is an earlier set has more, but I’m not completely sure.

Without any further ado, here we go!

1980 Topps – 45 Hall of Famers

Johnny Bench, Bert Blyleven, George Brett, Rod Carew, Steve Carlton, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Carlton Fisk, Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Willie McCovey, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Jack Morris, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Phil Niekro, Tony Perez, Gaylord Perry, Jim Rice, Nolan Ryan, Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver, Ted Simmons, Ozzie Smith, Willie Stargell, Bruce Sutter, Don Sutton, Alan Trammell, Dave Winfield, Carl Yastrzemski, Robin Yount, Earl Weaver (manager), Tommy LaSorda (manager), Dick Williams (manager), Sparky Anderson (manager), Joe Torre (manager), Bobby Cox (manager), Tony LaRussa (manager), Lou Brock (HL)

• No adds from the 2024 class

1981 Topps – 46 Hall of Famers

Gone (-2):  McCovey and Brock were gone after retiring

New (+3):  Whitey Herzog got a manager card when he was hired by St. Louis.  Rock Raines and Harold Baines got cards in the 1981 set as part of the Future Stars triple player cards.

• No adds from the 2024 class

1982 Topps – 40 Hall of Famers

Gone (-8):  There was no manager subset in 1982, which accounts for the big drop – Weaver, LaSorda, Williams, Herzog, Anderson, Torre, Cox and LaRussa aren’t in this set.

New (+2):  Cal Ripken Jr. and Lee Smith both have rookie cards in this set.

• No adds from the 2024 class

1983 Topps – 51 Hall of Famers

Gone (-1):  Willie Stargell retired and had his last card in 1982 (-1).

New (+12):  The manager subset came back, which led to 9 new cards of Hall of Famers – Weaver, LaSorda, Williams, Sparky, Herzog, Cox, Torre, LaRussa and Frank Robinson.  Additionally, Wade Boggs, Ryne Sandberg and Tony Gwynn entered the fray.

• No adds from the 2024 class

1984 Topps – 49 Hall of Famers

Gone (-2):  Earl Weaver had retired after the 1982 season, with no new Hall of Fame blood in this set.  Jim Kaat retired after 1983, so he could have had a card in this set but Topps didn’t include him.

Bench, Perry and Yastrzemski were only included in a subset card.

• No adds from the 2024 class

1985 Topps – 45 Hall of Famers

Gone (-6):  Robinson was gone after his stint as the Giants manager was over, while Bench, Yaz, Perry, Palmer and Jenkins had also had their last player cards.

New (+2):  Kirby Puckett’s rookie card is in this set, and Yogi Berra had a card for his second (and controversial) stint as Yankee manager (+2).  When I started this blog, Puckett was the most recent rookie card of any Hall of Famer!

• No adds from the 2024 class

1986 Topps – 45 Hall of Famers

Gone (-3):  Torre was fired as Braves manager in 1984 and wasn’t gone until this set.  Berra was fired as well, and Joe Morgan retired.

New (+3):  Earl Weaver was back as the O’s manager, and we had a Turn Back the Clock subset that got Willie Mays and Frank Robinson into the mix.

• No adds from the 2024 class

1987 Topps – 44 Hall of Famers

Gone (-6):  Cox was no longer the Blue Jay skipper at this point, and Carew, Fingers and Tony Perez all retired. Robinson and Mays were gone from the TBC subset….

New (+5):  But Clemente and Yastrzemski replaced them.  Barry Larkin had his first card in this set, and Yogi Berra had the awesome TL card as coach of the Astros!  And Jim Leyland got his first Topps card as the new Pirates skipper.

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1988 Topps – 43 Hall of Famers

Gone (-7):  Mr. October, Lefty and Tom Terrific and Earl Weaver all retired at this point.  Clemente, Yaz and Berra were gone from subsets .  

New (+)6:  Maddux, Glavine and McGriff had their first base Topps cards, and the subsets were a wash due to 3 new Cardinals – Bob Gibson and Stan Musial from the TBC subset, and Red Schoendienst being featured on the Cards Team Leader card.  

Phil Niekro made it only on the Record Breaker subset with his brother in this set.

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1989 Topps – 45 Hall of Famers

Gone (-7):  Sutton, Simmons, Niekro (RB), Williams (mgr), Schoendienst (TL), Musial (TBC), Gibson (TBC)

New (+9):  Roberto Alomar RC, Randy Johnson RC, Craig Biggio RC, John Smoltz RC, Hank Aaron (TBC), Brock (TBC), Gil Hodges (TBC), Tony Oliva (TBC) Frank Robinson (back as a manager)

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1990 Topps – 45 Hall of Famers

Gone (-6):  2 relievers exited the set – Bruce Sutter and Goose Gossage (who would be back), and 4 guys from the TBC set.

New (+6)  Frank Thomas and Larry Walker had RC’s in the set, while Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez had their first regular Topps cards. Koufax and Bench were added to the TBC subset (Mike Schmidt had his only card in the TBC subset this year, but he had cards leading up to 1990 so this isn’t a change).

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1991 Topps – 43 Hall of Famers

Gone (-5):  Rice (retired), Herzog (retired), Schmidt, Bench, Koufax (the TBC set had ended its 5-year run)

New (+3):  Torre and Cox, both of whom got back in the managing saddle.  Chipper Jones had his first card via the 1st Round Draft Pick subset.

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1992 Topps – 47 Hall of Famers

Gone (-1):  Robinson (fired as Oriole manager)

New (+5):  Gossage (back after a stint in Japan).  Pudge and Bagwell are in this set – true rookies were in the Traded set from 1991, but for both these guys this is their first base Topps card.  Thome and Mussina are also in this set – they had cards in other products (not Topps Traded) in previous years, so this isn’t their rookie card.

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1993 Topps – 51 Hall of Famers

Gone (-1):  Gossage (retired for good this time)

New (+5):  Tony Perez (Reds manager), Pedro Martinez (first Topps card), Mike Piazza (first Topps card – Prospects card), Trevor Hoffman (first Topps card – Marlins card), Derek Jeter (RC)

• The induction of Leyland increased this number by 1

1994 Topps – 41 Hall of Famers (a mass exodus!)

Gone (-11):  Topps did away with manager cards in 1994, which meant no cards for Torre, LaRussa, Cox, Sparky, Perez, LaSorda and Leyland.  Additionally, Blyleven, Carter and Fisk all retired. Jack Morris didn’t have a card despite pitching in both 1993 and 1994.  He did have a card in 1994 Topps Traded, and some cards in a few 1995 sets.

New (+1):  Hank Aaron (tribute)

• No adds from the 2024 class

1995 Topps – 36 Hall of Famers (further depleted!)

Gone (-6):  Brett, Ryan and Yount (all retired for good).  Sandberg (retired temporarily).  Dawson (left out of the set, though he is in ’95 Traded).  Aaron (tribute).

New (+1):  Babe Ruth (tribute)

• No adds from the 2024 class

1996 Topps – 39 Hall of Famers (an actual increase!)

Gone (-3):  Winfield (retired), Trammell (not included despite playing both 1995 and 1996), Ruth (tribute)

New (+6):  Mickey Mantle (tribute), Dawson (back after ’95 snub), Sandberg (back in baseball after a year-plus hiatus), Vladimir Guerrero & Scott Rolen (via the prospect subset), Todd Helton (via the Draft Picks subset)

• The induction of Helton increased this number by 1

1997 Topps – 35 Hall of Famers

Gone (-6):  Dawson, Puckett, Ozzie Smith (retired), Mantle (tribute), Lee Smith, Helton (in the Minors). Topps didn’t include Lee Smith in the flagship set after 1996 despite him pitching for 2 teams in 1996 and pitching in 25 games in 1997.

New (+2):  Jackie Robinson (tribute), Mariano Rivera (first Topps card)

• No adds from the 2024 class

1998 Topps – 35 Hall of Famers

Gone (-5):  Murray, Sandberg (retired), Robinson (tribute), Henderson (snubbed – he even has an insert card in the product), Raines (also snubbed).

New (+5):  Roberto Clemente (tribute), Roy Halladay, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre (all first Topps cards via the prospects set), Helton (back with a regular card).

• The induction of Helton & Beltre increased this number by 2

1999 Topps – 33 Hall of Famers

Gone (-4):  Molitor, Eckersley (retired), Clemente (tribute), Baines (snubbed)

New (+2):  Nolan Ryan (tribute), Henderson (back after snub)

• The induction of Helton & Beltre increased this number by 2

2000 Topps – 34 Hall of Famers

Gone (-2):  Nolan Ryan (tribute), David Ortiz (missing as he played mostly in the minors in 1999)

New (+3):  Hank Aaron (tribute), Raines & Baines (back with regular cards!)

• The induction of Helton & Beltre increased this number by 2

2001 Topps – 43 Hall of Famers

Gone (-2):  Wade Boggs (retired), Tim Raines (temporarily retired – but this was his last base Topps card)

New (+11):  Ortiz was back for good in 2001.  The manager subset was back, which meant new cards for Torre, Cox and LaRussa.  There was also a Golden Moments subset, which had new cards of Bill Mazeroski, Reggie Jackson, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Nolan Ryan, Lou Brock and Carlton Fisk.

Hank Aaron’s Tribute card was gone in 2001, but he was still in the Golden Moments subset.

• The induction of Helton & Beltre increased this number by 2

2002 Topps – 34 Hall of Famers

Gone (-11):  Cal Ripken & Harold Baines retired, and the Golden Moments subset was gone, which meant those cards of Mazeroski, Jackson, Robinson, Clemente, Ryan, Brock, Fisk and Aaron were gone.  Roy Halladay does not have any 2002 Topps cards except for Topps 206 – so there must have been some sort of contract dispute over his likeness that was resolved in time for 2003.

New (+2):  Tony Perez managed the Marlins at the end of 2002, and got a manager card in this set for it.  Joe Mauer was included as a 2002 Draft Picks card – he was clearly a late addition as he’s the only Draft Pick subset that’s included in the numbering of the regular cards outside of the consecutive Draft Picks subsets.

• The induction of Helton, Beltre & Mauer increased this number by 3

2003 Topps – 34 Hall of Famers

Gone (-2):  Tony Gwynn had retired in 2001, but still got a 2002 card.  He was gone from the set in 2003.  Perez was no longer a manager, so his card was gone as well.

New (+2):  Frank Robinson became the Expos manager in 2002, and got a card in this set.  Halladay was back in good graces with the card folks in Philly in 2003.

• The induction of Helton, Beltre & Mauer increased this number by 3

2004 Topps – 34 Hall of Famers

Gone (-1):  Rickey Henderson retired.

New (+1):  Mike Schmidt was included in a subset card along with Jim Thome.

• The induction of Helton, Beltre & Mauer increased this number by 3.

Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #101 Brothership – For 4

Happy start of the NFL playoffs!  Seems like a good day to do a Saturday Suds!

Brewery:  Brothership Brewing in Mokena, IL

Beer:  For #4

Description:  A double dry-hopped New England style IPA.  This was brewed in participation in Ales for ALS – a fundraising program where breweries create delicious beers and donate proceeds to ALS research.  The program puts out a hop blend and different breweries make a beer based on that.  A portion of sales goes towards research for the battle against ALS.

New England IPAs are my favorite style – and I’ve had this both years Brothership released it.  Both times it was very good!

Medium:  Draft and 16-oz cans.

How it’s related to baseball:  The name is a tribute to Lou Gehrig.  If I see an Ales for ALS brew when I’m out at a restaurant or something – I usually buy it.  My friend was diagnosed with ALS 5 years ago and sadly passed away from this awful disease almost 2 years ago.

Completed insert set – 2003 Topps Red Backs

As promised – I finished up another insert set from 2003 – I got the Red backs done the same time I got the Blue Backs finished.  So back-to-back posts for these.  This is the third insert set I’ve completed from 2003.

Info about the set:

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Set description:  Topps didn’t reprint old cards in the flagship set for 2003.  Instead, they piggy-backed off of the Heritage theme that had gotten skipped when they started with 1952 Topps (in 2001 Heritage).  Paying homage to the 1951 Red Back & Blue Back sets, Topps issued Blue Back cards in series 1 and Red Back cards in series 2.  The cards are standard size – unlike the 1951 Playing card size set.  They also deviated from the OG by only making 40 cards in each series (the originals had 52).

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:12 Topps series 2

Hall of Famers:  12.  Ichiro, Guerrero, Jeter, Piazza, Rolen, Randy Johnson, Chipper, Thome, Ivan Rodriguez, Bagwell, Larry Walker, Pedro, Maddux

Ken Griffey Jr. was swapped out of this series

How I put the set together:

• 3 cards from the s2 HTA box I opened
• 2 cards from the National Sports Card Convention (2015)
• 1 card from another card show
• 10 cards from trades
• 7 cards from Sportlots
• 6 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 11 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  Same as the last post!  Pretty cool set at the time, sucks they printed it on the same cardstock and not Heritage card stock.  Also sucks they made it a different card size than the original.  Also sucks they didn’t make the easy jump to make it a 52-card set.  And finally – sucks they didn’t number it!

I like this set a bit more – the photos are cropped to not be as close up.

Card that completed my set:  Albert Pujols

I got this one on COMC on Black Friday, which showed up at just at the end of last year.  The Captain for the Blue Backs, the Machine for the Red Backs – so I think I was holding out on a few of the more expensive ones.

Best card (my opinion):  Carlos Delgado

Love the Blue Jays cap from then and this is a pic that fits with this set.  As I said – I like the focus on these being a little further back from the Blue Backs set.

My Favorite Reds card:  Adam Dunn

He’s the only one in this series after they pulled Griffey and Austin Kearns.

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These cards have no number on the back – but there is an order that both Beckett and Baseballcardpedia follow.  For tracking purposes while I was trying to finish this set – I used that.

See my rant on not numbering these cards in the previous Blue Backs set post!  Here’s a scan of the set.

Any other tidbits:  In addition to Griffey & Kearns, Bernie Williams, Eric Chavez, Eric Hinske, Jimmy Rollins, Kas Ishii, Mark Prior and Richie Sexson were not in this series after being in the Blue Backs set.  They were replaced by Barry Zito, Brian Giles, Delgado, Garret Anderson, Magglio Ordonez, Manny Ramirez, Mark Prior, Miguel Tejada and Torii Hunter.

Here’s the breakout of “events” in this set – a lot more Balls and Strikes compared to the Blue Backs

• Ball – 12
• Strike – 8
• Single – 3
• Stolen Base – 3
• Foul Ball – 3
• Out – 2
• Fly Out – 2
• Bunt – 2
• Home Run – 1
• Triple – 1
• Double – 1
• Hit By Pitch – 1
• Bunt (sacrifice) – 1
• Balk – 1
• Foul Out – 0

Completed insert set – 2003 Topps Blue Backs

This is only my second completed insert set from 2003 – though there’s another one coming up next!

Info about the set:

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Set description:  Topps didn’t reprint old cards in the flagship set for 2003.  Instead, they piggy-backed off of the Heritage theme that had gotten skipped when they started with 1952 Topps (in 2001 Heritage).  Paying homage to the 1951 Red Back & Blue Back sets, Topps issued Blue Back cards in series 1 and Red Back cards in series 2.  The cards are standard size – unlike the 1951 Playing card size set.  They also deviated from the OG by only making 40 cards in each series (the originals had 52).

Set composition:  40 cards, 1:12 series 1

Hall of Famers:  13.  Jeter, Guerrero, Griffey Jr., Piazza, Chipper, Ivan Rodriguez, Bagwell, Thome, Pedro, Randy Johnson, Larry Walker, Maddux, Rolen

How I put the set together:

• 6 cards (3 each) from the s1 hobby and HTA boxes I opened
• 3 cards from the National Sports Card Convention (2 in 2013, 1 in 2015)
• 2 cards from trades
• 15 cards from Sportlots
• 8 cards from Beckett’s Marketplace
• 6 cards from COMC

Thoughts on the set:  Pretty cool set at the time, sucks they printed it on the same cardstock and not Heritage card stock.  Also sucks they made it a different card size than the original.  Also sucks they didn’t make the easy jump to make it a 52-card set.  And finally – sucks they didn’t number it!

Card that completed my set:  Derek Jeter

I got this one on COMC on Black Friday, which showed up at just at the end of last year.  Their shipping times are coming back down!

Best card (my opinion):  Todd Helton

The flipped up sunglasses for Helton was the coolest photo in my opinion.

My Favorite Reds card:  Adam Dunn

This was a fun time to be a Reds fan.  Griffey was still there and we hoped for some prime production for him, Sean Casey was the mayor, and Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns were young up-and-comers!  Griffey and Kearns also had cards in this set.

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These cards have no number on the back – but there is an order that both Beckett and Baseballcardpedia follow.  For tracking purposes while I was trying to finish this set – I used theirs.

I will say – I hate when cards aren’t numbered.  It’s like Topps is saying “we don’t think of this as a set you should try to complete”.  And the original ones had card numbers on the front – so it doesn’t even go with the history of their company they’re trying to pay homage to!

Soap box rant over.  Here’s a scan of the set.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s the breakout of “events” in this set:

• Single – 5
• Out – 4
• Ball – 4
• Strike – 4
• Fly Out – 3
• Foul Ball – 3
• Stolen Base – 3
• Home Run – 3
• Double – 2
• Hit By Pitch – 2
• Foul Out – 2
• Bunt – 2
• Bunt (sacrifice) – 1
• Triple – 1
• Balk – 1

Completed master set – one last look at 1998 Topps

Once I completed the Topps Milestone set (see previous post), that meant I’d notched the master set for 1998 Topps.

This was a missing link type year – and there were some major obstacles!  I’ve now finished everything Topps from 1980 to 2001!  This also means I’ve finished off the second full decade of “Master Sets” that I’m doing!

Info about my base set:

How I put the base set together:

• 265 cards from series 1 hobby box
• 188 cards from series 2 hobby box
• 48 cards from trades
• 2 cards from an eBay lot

Card that completed my set: #160 – Derek Jeter

Best card (my opinion): #146 – Jose Guillen

Check out this link to see the rest of the base set post.

My “Master” Set Info:

685 cards – 503 “base”, 176 “insert”, 6 “other”

• Insert sets:  Rookie Class, Etch-A-Sketch, Mystery Finest Interleague, Mystery Finest Bordered, Flashback, Clout Nine, Hall Bound, Focal Point, Baby Boomers, Milestone, Clemente Tribute, Roberto Clemente Reprints, Roberto Clemente Finest
• Promo sets:  Pre-Production

Toughest card to track down:  Milestone #MS3 – Dennis Eckersley

There were a number of difficult cards to track down – so many of these insert sets were easier to find Chrome versions.  And for both Milestone and Hall Bound – I thought I had the finishing card coming my way until it got here and I realized it was the Chrome version.  Baby Boomers and the Flashback set were also similarly difficult.  But I’ll go with the one that took me the longest to track down – which was this card.

How I put the additional sets together:

• Promos – all 6 cards from eBay (as a set)
• Inserts – 17 cards from boxes, 4 from trades, 1 from a card show, 91 from COMC, 32 from Beckett’s Marketplace, 28 from Sportlots, 3 from eBay

Other product bests

Completed insert set – 1998 Topps Milestone

1998 had some tough insert sets – and I’ve now knocked them all off their pedestal!

Info about the set:

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Set description:  This was a retail-only set in 1998 Topps series 2.  This set focused on career milestones that these individual players were close to at the end of the 1997 season.  The front has an action photo and a larger posed photo over a blue foil cloud background.  The back discusses the milestones that player could reach in 1998.

Set composition:  10 cards, 1:36 odds (1998 Topps series 2 retail)

Hall of Famers:  6.  Eckersley, Griffey Jr., Gwynn, Maddux, Ripken, Thomas

The other 4 guys all had some level of steroid implications.

How I put the set together:

• 5 cards from COMC
• 3 cards from Beckett’s marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 1 card from eBay

Like the series 1 retail-only insert set from 1998 (Baby Boomers) – I didn’t get any from actual card packs, makes me sad 😦

Thoughts on the set:  This is a nice insert set, I like themes that these sets had around this time frame and it’s a very pretty design.  Reminds me of some mid-90s Upper Deck insert sets I also really liked.  This would have been fun to collect in 1998.

Card that completed my set:  #MS3 – Dennis Eckersley

I bought this from Beckett Marketplace on Black Friday.  I was looking for this card for what seemed like forever quite a while – the 2nd to last card I bought was in 2017.  In fact, at one point I thought I had this card and realized it was the Topps Chrome version (which are much more easy to find compared to the base Topps set).

Best card (my opinion):  #MS6 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Easy pick, this is the winner hands down!  Griffey with the backwards cap!

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none, though Griffey would be a Red!

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Here’s a scan of the set – front and back.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s the milestone predicted for the 1998 season for each player:

• Barry Bonds – MLB’s first 400 HR, 400 SB player (reached in 1998)
• Roger Clemens – 3,000 strikeouts (reached in 1998)
• Dennis Eckersley – 1,070 Games pitched – all-time leader (he passed Hoyt Wilhelm with the final appearance of his 1998 season and career – but Jesse Orosco passed him the next  season)
• Juan Gonzalez – 300 HR (reached in 1998)
• Ken Griffey Jr. – 300 HR (reached in 1998)
• Tony Gwynn – 9th batting title to pass Honus Wagner for NL mark (never reached) and 3,000 hits (reached but not in 1998)
• Greg Maddux – 200 wins and 2,000 strikeouts (both reached in 1998)
• Mark McGwire – 400 HR and 1,000 RBI (both reached in 1998)
• Cal Ripken Jr. – 400 HR and 1,000 XBH (both reached but not in 1998)
• Frrank Thomas – tie Joe DiMaggio for 2nd with 8 straight 100 RBI to start their career (full seasons

Rickey Henderson got to 2,000 runs in 1998 and was just the 6th person to reach that mark – he should have made this set!  Especially since the Thomas one was kind of a reach.

Completed insert set – 2012 Allen & Ginter mini Musical Masters

Merry Christmas!  I had a bit of a post backlog, but I’m through that now and don’t have as much time – but do hope I can get a couple more in before the new year.  Here’s a quick completed insert set from some Black Friday purchases I made.  I didn’t go too crazy compared to the Summer/Fall purchases I made earlier this year.  But I do have a pretty big completion milestone after this one.

I collected Ginter in 2011 and 2012 (only) – so I’m trying to finish up some of the insert sets from those 2 years.  I knocked off the one remaining card from my recent Beckett purchases that I did on Black Friday.  A couple sets from that – and then a few coming from COMC that will be early next year I think!

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Info about the set:

Set description:  “16 musically minded cards featuring famous composers from throughout history.”  These are vertically oriented minis with the maestros (which by the way should have been the name of this set) depicted on the front and a write-up on their career exploits on the back.

Set composition: 16 cards, 1:5 odds (2012 Allen & Ginter’s)

I only got one of these in my box – I think it’s that the insert minis are 1:5 in total

Hall of Famers: Not a sports set.

Card that completed my set: #MM-14 Igor Stravinsky

I got this card from Beckett Marketplace as a Black Friday purchase.

How I put the set together:

• 1 card from the Ginter hobby box I bought
• 1 card from a Ginter case break I did back in 2012
• 1 card from a card show
• 1 card from a trade
• 5 cards from Beckett Marketplace
• 6 cards from COMC
• 1 cards from Sportlots

Thoughts on the set:  This is one of the many sets that makes Ginter unique, and it’s kind of neat to go through.  A good selection by Topps here.

I wish they had thrown in like 4 more modern composers to make this 20 cards to fill out that mini page.  John Williams and Howard Shore would be so easy – cut up a few of their blazers, get them to sign some framed minis and you have a perfect add to the Ginter product!

Best card (my opinion): #MM-2, MM-3 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven

I’m not a classical music aficionado – but it would be hard to pick above these two or between these two in my understanding.

Here’s the scan of the full set.

Any other tidbits:  I always like to do some cross-referencing for sets like this with Goodwin Champions from Upper Deck.  Will just check my top 2 cards here.  Beethoven is in the 2014 Goodwin base set, while Mozart is in the Goudey insert set from the 2016 Goodwin product.

Completed set – 2002 Topps

This was one of those where I thought I’d finished the set – then went through it and was missing a card!  This was from the fall purchases I made – I finished up the 2002 Topps set.  I’ve now completed the base set for everything from 1980 through 2004, which is all the regular sets I’ve started.

I still need a few cards from 2004 Traded and a few more than that for 2002 Traded (those damn SP’s).

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Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 259 cards from the series 1 hobby box
• 284 cards from the series 2 hobby box
• 117 cards from trades
• 55 cards from Just Commons – which appears to now be defunct
• 1 card from Beckett Marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 1 card from COMC

Card that completed my set:  #352 – Cleveland Indians PB (purchased on COMC)

I got this card from COMC a few months ago.

Set composition:  718 cards (549 individual ML player cards, 40 Prospects, 11 Draft Picks, 30 Managers, 12 League Leaders, 5 Season Highlights, 8 Playoff Bound, 8 September 11 Tribute, 1 Bonds Tribute, 24 Award Winners, 30 Team Checklists)

*The 549 individual player cards include 10 All-Star Rookies

Joe Mauer’s Draft Pick card is out of place and not in the numbers for the rest of that subset – so he clearly bumped somebody!

Representation of ’01 MLB season:

Out of the 549 player cards, 8 players did not play in the 2000 season.

• Joe Nathan – was in the minors after shoulder surgery, which would ultimately cause his move to the bullpen
• Mo Vaughn – missed all of 2001 after getting elbow surgery; he hurt it in August 2000 but played through it until the end of that season
• Kris Benson, Seth Etherton – both had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2001
• Mike Sirotka – Missed all of 2001 with a shoulder injury
• Pablo Ozuna – Missed all of 2001 after wrist surgery
• So Taguchi & Kaz Ishii – they got in as late additions to Topps 2002 series 2 after signing from Japan

Nobody has two regular cards in the set – which was a thing in 2001 Topps.

That leaves 541 different players represented.  But, on top of that, there were 3 players in the Prospects set (Chris George, Juan Cruz, Mike Rivera) who did play in the regular season.  So now that leads to 545 players.  The 545 players represent 44.6% out of the 1,220 players who played in MLB in 2001.

Earliest active player from this set:  #305 – Joe Torre, #165 – Rickey Henderson (active players)

Like most of these sets – there are two answers to this.  Henderson is again the earliest active player, making his debut by playing both games of a doubleheader on June 24, 1979 (he stole a base in his first game).

There isn’t a former player tribute subset, so the Manager subset is where the other answer to this question lies.  Torre is one of many managers in this set that played in the 60’s – his MLB debut was actually at the end of the 1960 season.

And it was in a pretty interesting game, on Sunday September 25, 1960.  The Braves were in 3rd and had been eliminated from pennant contention a few games before, but were playing the NL-leading and eventual World Champion Pirates that Sunday.  The 2nd place Cardinals were still mathematically alive with 5 games to go, so everybody was still playing their best hand still.  Torre pinch hit for Milwaukee Braves starter Warren Spahn (!) in the bottom of the 8th, with the Braves losing 2-0.  He got a single off Harvey Haddix, then was removed for pinch runner Lee Maye, who ended up scoring.  The Braves would end up winning the game on a walk-off Eddie Mathews home run in the bottom of the 10th off Elroy Face.

Last active player from this set:  #160 – Albert Pujols

There are no currently active players in this set.  Like 2003 Topps – Pujols was the last player from this set to keep playing after his incredible retirement tour in 2022 with the Cardinals.  La Maquina played his final regular season game on October 4, 2002, notching a single to plate 2 runs in the third inning for this final play of the regular season.  The Cardinals lost both games of the Wild Card Series to the Phillies, the final game being October 8, 2022.  Pujols did go 2-4 in that game, pulled for a pinch runner in the 8th after his last single in the 2-0 loss that ended St. Louis season and his career.

Player with the most cards in the set:  Barry Bonds – 8 cards.  No surprise – Barry Bonds was the guy with the most cards after his record-breaking 73 home run season.  Bonds had 2 cards in the Season Highlights subset (1 for the HR record, another for hitting his 500th homer), 2 cards in the League Leaders subset, a card in the United We Stand subset (Astros vs Giants), the HR Tribute card with 73 variants, the Award Winner for notching the MVP, and of course his regular card.

Barry Bonds – #500, #332 / #336 (Season Highlights), #344 / #345 (League Leaders), #364 (United We Stand), #365 (Tribute), #717 (Award Winners)

Ichiro actually made this a close contest – he’s on 7 cards!

First Card and the Hundreds:  #1 – Pedro Martinez, #100 – Vladimir Guerrero, #200 – Randy Johnson, #300 – Lou Piniella MG, #400 – Curt Schilling, #500 – Barry Bonds, #600 – Mark McGwire, #700 – Eric Chaves AW

Highest book value:  #622 – Joe Mauer RC

For the non-SP cards – Mauer’s true RC from the Draft Pick subset is the most valuable in Beckett.

Most notable card: #365 – Barry Bonds HR

Just as Topps did in 1999 (McGwire & Sosa), Barry Bonds is featured on card in the set with 73 different versions focusing on each of his record-breaking homers from the 2001 season.  I’d say this is the most notable card for the controversy of having a bunch of SP variations and not a “regular” version of the card, and also for the fact he broke the biggest record in sports.

Even the most common earlier cards would technically be the most valuable per Beckett – ahead of the $10 of the Mauer card above.

Best card (my opinion): #595 – Tim Salmon

I love the sleeveless look from this era (see Reds post below) – and Salmon was always one of my favorite players going back to his Rookie of the Year season in 1993.  For whatever reason, this card just stands out to me.

Second best card (also my opinion): #165 – Rickey Henderson

This is a far inferior set from a photograph standpoint compared to the 2001 Topps set.  But there are some neat cards.  I always love Rickey Henderson cards.

But while a Wrigley Field at bat for the Man of Steal is great – this one is special for a different reason.  It’s one of 2 base Topps cards (3 if you count his 2002 Topps Traded card) where the player’s card back has exactly 3,000 hits.

The other being Roberto Clemente from 1973 Topps.  Henderson notched his 3,000th hit on the final game of the year, which also his teammate and fellow 3,000 hit member Tony Gwynn’s last game.  Gwynn and Henderson were actually not in the game at the same time; Henderson led the game off, got a double for hit #3k and was removed the next inning.  Gwynn came in for his last AB as a pinch hitter in the 9th.

Best subset card: #358 – Mike Piazza UNITED

This was a pretty easy pick.  The Bonds card is interesting, and as I said above – notable.  But Piazza and the connection with New York after the 9-11 terrorist attacks is a part of baseball lore from that era.  Topps didn’t do a Jeter / President Bush card for the Yankees game in this subset – that could have given the above card a run for its money.

Favorite action photo: #10 – Mike Hampton

Again – this set just doesn’t have the plethora of great action shots that 2001 Topps.  So I’m going with one that’s more interesting.  Hampton won the Silver Slugger this year, and 2 years later would accomplish the daily double as the first pitcher to win the Silver Slugger and the Gold Glove in the same year.  It’s happened 2 more times – and won’t happen again since the DH was implemented in the National League.

Favorite non-action photo: #193 – Sandy Alomar

There should be more cards like this, guys in the dugout.  Beats out some of the autograph signing cards and on-deck circle cards in this set.

My Favorite Reds card:  #451 – Todd Walker

The sleeveless uniforms were the best.  This one is such a cool swing – Walker is putting everything he has into it!  It beats out pretty cool Reds cards from Sean Casey and Dmitri Young.

Other Notable Cards:  There are a lot of “last Topps cards” in this set.  I really appreciate this Eric Davis card because it’s got his final stats on the back.  He was my favorite player growing up, and while I know in the back of my mind he finished his career in San Francisco – I forgot he was on the team the year Bonds set the HR record.  He pinch hit in the game where Bonds broke the record and hit the final #73 (but not the game where Bonds tied McGwire).

A few of the best photos – sorry on the double up on Hampton! I’m re-using an old scan for this one.

2015 All-Star Stitches: National League players not in the set

As a reminder, I went to the All-Star game & Home Run Derby in Cincinnati in 2015.  So I’m collecting this All-Star Stitches set from Topps Update 2015!  These cards have swatches from the Monday practice festivities.

This isn’t a post for a new card – but an update for the “cards that never happened”!  Here are the 7 National League players that were on the 2015 All-Star roster but didn’t get a Topps All-Star Stitches card.

Starters that were out for injury:

Matt Holliday

How he made the roster:  Holliday was voted as one of the NL outfielders.  This was his 7th (and final) All-Star Game selection.  Holliday was also an injury casualty for attendance of this game.  He strained his quad in early June trying to catch a fly ball from Carlos Gonzalez.  This was actually the only time he was chosen as a starter.  He reinjured the quad when he came back after the All-Star break and 2015 proved to be a lost season for him – and sort of signaled the beginning of the end of his career.

Holliday was replaced as a starter by Joc Pederson and on the roster by Ryan Braun (who was also not in the set – see below).

Interestingly – Holliday was at the 2015 Monday festivities based on his 2015 Update card.  I’ll probably need to put that card in the binder!

Giancarlo Stanton

How he made the roster:  Stanton was voted as one of the NL outfielders.  This was his 3rd All-Star Game selection.  He has received some grief on his injury history in the news of late – but he broke his hand on June 27 at a point when he was probably having the best season in the league (27 homer in 74 games). That ultimately ended his season. He was replaced as a starter by Joc Pederson and on the roster by Ryan Braun (who was also not in the set – see below).  He wasn’t at the Monday festivities (and didn’t have a card in Update or in this set).

Reserves who just weren’t in the set:

Francisco Rodriguez

How he made the roster:  K-Rod was named to the roster by Bruce Bochy for his 6th and final All-Star appearance (2nd with Milwaukee).  He was the only Brewer on the team that year.

He was in Cincy and played in the game; I don’t know if he was at the Monday events as the card above is from the actual game.  He has this card in the Update set – so either Topps chose to just not include him or he wasn’t there on Monday to have the gear for an All-Star Stitches card.

Trevor Rosenthal

How he made the roster:  Rosenthal had a phenomenal year as the Cardinals closer and was voted in by the players.  He didn’t pitch in the game – which isn’t unusual as managers will hold relievers back more than any other position.  This was his 1st and only All-Star appearance.

He has a base card in the Update set, picturing him with all the other Cardinals form the game.  And he has a rarer card with Yadier Molina and Michael Wacha in the Stitches set, numbered out of 25.  But it pictures him in the Tuesday All-Star gear.  You’d think that means he was there Monday and there is more out there; but there isn’t a card picturing him in the Monday gear and can you actually trust Topps getting the jerseys?  You’d hope so but can’t know for sure.

Jonathan Papelbon

How he made the roster:  Like Francisco Rodriguez – Papelbon was named to the roster by NL manager Bruce Bochy.  This would be his 6th and final All-Star selection.  He would ask out of Philly shortly out of this game, only to go over to the Nationals and get into it with Bryce Harper and eventually argue his way out of MLB a little earlier than his talent probably demanded it.

He didn’t pitch in the All-Star game.  He was in Cincy for everything; he has a card in the Update set and – as it shows – was there for Monday so I don’t know why he doesn’t have a Topps All-Star Stitches card.

Michael Wacha

How he made the roster:  Wacha was one of the starters Bochy selected to round out his roster.  He ended up not playing in the game – like teammate Rosenthal, this was his 1st and only All-Star selection.

Wacha also has a base card in the Update set, picturing him getting the other Cardinals form the game.  And he has the rare card with Yadier Molina and Rosenthal noted above.  Unlike Rosenthal – the picture on that set shows him in Monday gear; so I can conifrm he was there!  No clue why Topps didn’t include him in the regular portion of the Stitches set.

Ryan Braun

How he made the roster:  As I mentioned above – Braun was the roster replacement for Matt Holliday.  He came in as a pinch-hitter to lead off the 9th inning and tripled off of Glen Perkins.  His All-Star card from Topps Update shows him chugging around the bases for that triple.

Brandon Crawford brought him in with a sacrifice fly, so he did score a run in this game.  As seems to be the theme for this post, this was his 6th and final All-Star Game appearance.  Like the other sets – just have no clue why he wasn’t in the set.  Seems like maybe the later additions just weren’t in the checklist.

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STIT-AB A.J. Burnett – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-AC Aroldis Chapman – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-AE Alcides Escobar – Kansas City Royals
STIT-AGN Adrian Gonzalez – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-AJ Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-AM Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-APO A.J. Pollock – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-APU Albert Pujols – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-AR Anthony Rizzo – Chicago Cubs
STIT-BB Brad Boxberger – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-BC Brandon Crawford – San Francisco Giants
STIT-BD Brian Dozier – Minnesota Twins
STIT-BG Brett Gardner – New York Yankees
STIT-BHA Bryce Harper – Washington Nationals
STIT-BHO Brock Holt – Boston Red Sox
STIT-BP Buster Posey – San Francisco Giants
STIT-CA Chris Archer – Tampa Bay Rays
STIT-CK Clayton Kershaw – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-CM Carlos Martinez – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-CS Chris Sale – Chicago White Sox
STIT-DB Dellin Betances – New York Yankees
STIT-DK Dallas Keuchel – Houston Astros
STIT-DL DJ LeMahieu – Colorado Rockies
STIT-DO Darren O’Day – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-DP David Price – Detroit Tigers
STIT-FH Felix Hernandez – Seattle Mariners
STIT-GC Gerrit Cole – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-GP Glen Perkins – Minnesota Twins
STIT-JA Jose Altuve – Houston Astros
STIT-JDE Jacob deGrom – New York Mets

STIT-JDO Josh Donaldson – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-JK Jason Kipnis – Cleveland Indians
STIT-JM J.D. Martinez – Detroit Tigers
STIT-JPA Joe Panik – San Francisco Giants
STIT-JPD Joc Pederson – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-JPE Jhonny Peralta – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-JU Justin Upton – San Diego Padres
STIT-KB Kris Bryant – Chicago Cubs
STIT-KH Kelvin Herrera – Kansas City Royals
STIT-LC Lorenzo Cain – Kansas City Royals
STIT-MB Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
STIT-MMA Manny Machado – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-MME Mark Melancon – Pittsburgh Pirates
STIT-MTE Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees
STIT-MTR Mike Trout – Los Angeles Angels
STIT-NA Nolan Arenado – Colorado Rockies
STIT-NC Nelson Cruz – Seattle Mariners
STIT-PF Prince Fielder – Texas Rangers
STIT-PG Paul Goldschmidt – Arizona Diamondbacks
STIT-RM Russell Martin – Toronto Blue Jays
STIT-SM Shelby Miller – Atlanta Braves
STIT-SP Salvador Perez – Kansas City Royals
STIT-SV Stephen Vogt – Oakland Athletics
STIT-TF Todd Frazier – Cincinnati Reds
STIT-TT Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
STIT-WD Wade Davis – Kansas City Royals
STIT-YG Yasmani Grandal – Los Angeles Dodgers
STIT-YM Yadier Molina – St. Louis Cardinals
STIT-ZB Zach Britton – Baltimore Orioles
STIT-ZG Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers

2020:

ASSC-DG Dee Gordon – Miami Marlins
ASSC-SG Sonny Gray – Oakland A’s

ASSC-MS Max Scherzer – Washington Nationals