2012 Heritage & 1963 Topps – 1990 Reds and Big Red Machine

There was one Big Red Machine member in the players in the 1964 Topps set.  Pete Rose was the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, and 1964 was his first “solo” card.  He also has a Topps Venezuelan version as well.

In the 2012 Heritage product, Topps stamped a Pete Rose rookie card and inserted into packs as a 50th anniversary buyback; it sold on eBay last year.  I’m not sure if they did so for Rose’s card this year, but I’d assume they did.  However I haven’t seen that one on eBay.  I found this very interesting at the time last year; for the first time since 1989, a Pete Rose card was included in a baseball card product licensed by MLB.  It’s not an original card, which is why it’s OK, I guess.

There are no other Big Red Machine members in 2013 Heritage or 1964 Topps, however there is a single member of the 1990 Reds team.  Though many of the players from that team weren’t even born yet, the team’s manager had his first card in 1964 Topps.  Lou Piniella was featured on the first of 3 “rookie prospect” cards in 1964.  He took a while to make it to the bigs, as his next Topps card wasn’t until 1968.  He was on a card early enough on that he also has a Venezuelan edition, too, and probably a buyback version in 2013 Heritage (though I haven’t seen one on eBay yet).

2013 Heritage & 1964 Topps parallel sets

After there was no parallel in the 1963 Topps set, Topps Venezuelan was back in 1964 after a year layoff, and this time it is a parallel of the first 370 cards in the set (the first 4 series).  The cards have a distinctive black back.  The trivia question is still there, but it isn’t a scratch-off – the answer is just right there for you to see.  These cards were released in Venezuela and command a big premium, particularly a nice copy, when you can find them.

2013 Heritage Venezuelan – 525 cards (1:47)

Topps copied this in 2013 with Heritage, paralleling the entire 500-card Heritage set, as well as the action variations (I’m pretty sure they didn’t parallel the color swaps or any other variations).

Topps again issued, as box-toppers in 2013 Heritage, buybacks of original 1964 cards that are now stamped as “50th anniversary”.  I know 2013 is the 50th set if you’re counting 1964 as the first set.  But that doesn’t make it the 50th anniversary – this always confuses me.  Anyways, these cards came in “penny” 1-card packs inserted in every other hobby box (with the ad panel coming as the other potential box-topper).  Here’s the one I got in my first Heritage box.  It’s interesting, because this is an “uncorrected error” card from the ’64 set – Koppe is right-handed and has his glove on the right hand.  Sly little devil!

The 2013 Heritage set also has a whole lot more of what we’re used to as far as parallel sets go.  In addition to all the variations I’ll posted on later, there are quite a few of the standard parallel cards.  There are now 4 sets of Chrome parallels, and 2 25-card partial parallels that you could probably consider “variations”.  But they seem more like partial parallels to me!  In fact, all 6 of these sets are partial parallels – either 100 cards or 25 cards.  Odds below are for hobby packs, except for the Bordered parallels, which only come from retail packs.

Chrome – 100 cards (1:24; #/999)

Chrome Refractor – 100 cards (1:42; #/564)

Chrome Black Refractor – 100 cards (1:368; #/64)

I’m collecting versions of the Bautista card because I like the picture.

 

Chrome Gold Refractor – 100 cards (1:1,932; #/5)

But not the Gold Border cards.  They are new this year, and a bit unnecessary (and too pricey) if you ask me!

Chrome Purple Refractors – 100 cards (effectively 1:12 – each hobby case contains one hot box, which has 1 purple refractor per pack)

Purple refractors are new in 2013, though they are kind of back from 2011, when there were hot boxes with green refractors.  These were unannounced – so .

Mini – 100 cards (1:235; #/100)

Minis are new this year as well, and also a bit unnecessary if you ask me.  I do like these better than the Gold border things, though.

Black Border – 100 cards (1 per 3-pack retail blister)

These are back as incentive packaging for packs at either Wal-Mart or Target.  I did get one pack of these, and the black border works well with this set, better than the past two years.  That Longoria is pretty nice, too.

2013 Heritage & 1964 Topps – Variations

One of the big things for the Topps Heritage product is all the card variations.  It’s always done in a way also a throwback to the relevant set (in this case 1964).

Error variations

An apostrophe where it doesn’t belong – card #4

In 1964, card #4 was the AL victory leaders, and this error was the one correction made in the middle of the print run back then (the rest of the cards below are uncorrected errors).

Card #4 is again AL victory leaders in 2013 Heritage.  The 2013 Heritage set has a rare variation where the apostrophe is added as well.  These error variations come 1:1,567 packs, which is basically one every 3+ cases.

Born in 1942 – card #125

Pete Rose’s 1964 Topps card is fairly iconic; it’s the hit king’s first 2013 card, and it showcases the All-Star Rookie Team trophy. This was the second year in a row the previous year’s NL Rookie of the Year had something wrong with his card.  Ken Hubbs had won the award the previous year, and his card omitted his position.  Rose’s card says he was born in 1942, but he was actually born in 1941.

Yu Darvish has card #125 in 2013 Heritage – an interesting match.  He’s on the All-Star Rookie Team, but wasn’t the second baseman, isn’t a Red and certainly isn’t the reigning NL Rookie of the Year.  He got the 1942 treatment as well.  In fact, Topps put his birthdate at April 15, while his actual birthday is August 16, 1986.

…Or 1932 – card #325

Card #325 had a similar error – with Hector Lopez showing a birthdate of 1932 as opposed to his true birth year of 1929.

Rafael Betancourt has card #325 in 2013 Heritage and has the same super-rare error variation, again with him also getting the birthdate and not just birth year corrected.

…Or 1930 – card #335

The famous (to card collectors) Don Mossi got an uncorrected birth year error as well.  His card says he was born in 1930, but like Lopez he was also born in 1929.

Johnny Venters is the equivalent in 2013 Heritage.

…Or 1931 – card #355

And the last of the 4 birthday errors was Vic Power, who was 4 years off (shown as 1931, actually born in 1927).

The Orioles’ Chris Tillman got the 1931 treatment in 2013.

Pittsburfh!

Card #440 in 1964 was the great Roberto Clemente, and Topps misspelled his team’s city, fat-fingering the g in “Pittsburgh”.

Topps really reached here to get their poster boy another variation in Heritage.

The correlation here just doesn’t make sense.  In 1964, they misspelled his 1960 season (not the most recent one on the statline).  And they misspelled the name of the city Clemente did in fact play for, whereas with Harper, they changed his team and then made the misspelling the same.  Oh well.

Senators Variations

Topps also created four variations where the photo was different for players on the Nationals; the cards still say “Nationals” on the top, but the players are shown wearing old school uniforms of the Washington Senators.  The 4 players with these cards are Ross Detwiler, Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, and (of course) Mr. Harper.  Supposedly there were supposed to be Colt 45 variations but those were scrapped.

Senator Variations – 4 cards (1:13,058)

Swap Variations

Topps also created two different variations – one that plays with the 1964 card design, and another that switches the photo used.

Action Image – 25 cards (1:26, hobby only)

The first swap variation were 25 action image variations where the player photo was changed to an action shot.  To be honest, though, they didn’t even do the greatest action shots, as the Cano demonstrates.  But it is much better than his regular card which is just a big time closeup.

Color Swap – 25 cards (1:155, hobby only)

There are also 25 color variations where the team name is in yellow letters and the background for the name and position is over a gray bar.

Last up are the red and blue borders that have become standard fare at Target and Wal-Mart.

Target Red Border – 25 cards (1:8; Target retail only)

Wal-Mart Blue Border – 25 cards (1:8; Wal-Mart retail only)

It’s worth noting – the Wal-Mart Blues and Target Reds are 2 completely different groupings of 25 cards.

1964 Topps / 2013 Heritage – Ad Panels

Advertising Panels

Prior to and during the release of its 1964 flagship baseball set, Topps sent 3-card advertising panels to market the set to retailers carrying the product.  These 3-card panels had 3 different player cards on the front of the card.  Beckett lists 6 different player combinations known:

• Walt Alston, Bill Henry, Vada Pinson
• Jimmie Hall, Ernie Broglio, AL ERA Leaders
• Mickey Mantle, Jim Davenport, Boog Powell
• Denis Menke, Dean Chance, Tim Harkness
• Hoyt Wilhelm, Curt Flood, Bill Bruton
• Carl Willey, White Sox Rookies, Bob Friend

There also must be others, because I found a picture of the one below with John Wyatt, Joe Nuxhall and the AL Strikeout Leaders card.  I have seen one of the Willey/Friend and Sox Rookies in a Legendary Auctions ad on the web.

The reverse has info on the set – see the picture below.  Topps was advertising the metal coins that were inserted into packs.  There is one example player’s card back for each panel issued, and for 1964 that was Mickey Mantle (it was Roger Maris in 1962, but I don’t know who it is for 1963 – my guess is Stan Musial).

For the 2013 Heritage Set, Topps again directly copied this idea.  This is one of 3 options you were guaranteed to get as a topper to a hobby box (the others being 1964 buybacks and Topps Giants).  Like the 1964 version, these are 3-card panels with 3 different player cards on the front.  The reverse shows the card back of Justin Verlander - I’m surprised they didn’t do King Felix, who is on the front of all their packaging.  They also advertise the fact that you can find metal coins in the Heritage product, though those only come as buybacks of the originals.  There are 30 different panels.  The orange background promotional language is probably designed based on the 1963 panel.  I didn’t pull one from either box of Heritage, so these pictures are sniped form the interwebs.

1964 Topps Giants & the 2013 Heritage version

Topps Giants – 20 cards (hobby box topper)

The other set from 1964 that Topps included in the 2013 Heritage product was the 1964 Topps Giants set.  The larger cards were issued as a 60-card set in their own packs in 1964, while cards from the 2013 cards come as box toppers in hobby boxes.  They are very rare, supposedly coming one every other case or so from what I’ve read.  Topps has previously used this design in a retro set, as these were much more common in 2011 Lineage.

In Lineage these came 1 per box, so they weren’t nearly as rare (read: expensive) as the ones this year.  Also, this year’s set includes 15 active and 5 former players.  Out of the former players, Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews don’t have cards in the original set – not sure why they weren’t included back in 1964 (particularly Banks as Mathews was on the downside of his career).  Here are the other players with the 2 cards side by side.  The card on the right is the new one from Heritage; the left is the 1964 card.

Bob Gibson

Harmon Killebrew

Willie Mays

For Mays, I already had a picture on the blog of his original, so I didn’t feel like going through all the photo-shopping to get it side-by-side with his one from this year.

It’s also notable for Mays that they used a photo that couldn’t possibly be from 1964 – that’s a New York Giants had he’s got on!

1964 Bazooka & the 2013 Heritage version

In 1964, Topps issued a set of 36 full color, blank backed, numbered cards in panels of three on the backs of Bazooka bubble gum boxes.  The individual cards are similar to mini tobacco card sizes – measuring 1-9/16″ by 2-1/2″.  The panels of 3 cards are obviously 3 times that length - 4-11/16″.  Today you can find these “cards” cut up into individuals, or in the 3-card panels they originally came in.

The set contains 13 members of the Hall of Fame in this insert set – over a third of the set.  The HOF-ers are Mantle, Spahn, Killebrew, Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Yastrzemski, B. Williams, McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Koufax, Kaline.

Heritage Bazooka – 20 cards (1:377 retail packs)

Topps did a remake of these cards in the 2013 Heritage product.  These come in the same size and design as the 1964 set.  There are 20 cards in the 2013 Heritage Bazooka set, and they come only in retail packs at a pretty rare rate – 1:377.  There is a mix between old and new players.  I pulled a card of Felix Hernandez from a retail pack – certainly beating the odds!

I like when Topps does these with Heritage, though it’s a little bit off because this set (and the Giants set that came as a box topper) wasn’t associated with Topps flagship – it was a separate issue that came with Bazooka gum boxes.  I wish they were a little easier to come by, too – because I’d like to collect them but will need to wait and see if the prices ever come down!

There are 6 players who have cards in the 1964 set and in the Heritage version.  The card on the right is the 1964 version, the one on the left is the 2013 Heritage version.

Willie Mays

Sandy Koufax

Brooks Robinson

Carl Yastrzemski

Harmon Killebrew

Roberto Clemente

2013 Heritage vs. Vintage #17 – The finale

“Vintage” as in 1964 Topps, got really close in the last post, getting back to within one point in my comparisons.  This is the last post I’m going to do for Heritage comparisons, and there are three cards I have in mind to finish up. There’s one great player that comes to mind from the 60′s who I haven’t featured yet, and then there’s my two favorite cards from the current year’s Heritage set that I also want to show off.

Card #440 – Roberto Clemente / Bryce Harper

Topps decided to match Harper up with Roberto Clemente this year.  I already featured Harper as part of my All-Star rookie post, but I did want to include Clemente and this is the right number.   This card has an error variation as well – Pittsburgh is misspelled on the back of Clemente’s card, and Topps decided to do a version of Harper’s card misspelled.  Seems silly.

I already featured Harper’s trivia question, as I already featured his card.

Trivia question: Who pitched two shutouts in one double-header?

Trivia answer: Ed Reulbach in 1908.  (That’s insane!)

Winner:

Pretty easy.  Clemente is awesome, and Harper, though he’s growing on me a bit, is not.  Plus, it’s stupid Topps did this comparison this year.

Tied, 30-30

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Card #438 – Andrew McCutchen / Checklist 6

Now this is who Topps should have matched Clemente up with!  Pittsburgh Pirate, Outfielder, and MVP candidate from last year, just like Roberto himself.

And the photo they chose is pretty comparable.  This is my favorite card from Heritage this year – it’s a great photo of McCutchen, even if it is staged.  This is the type of photo that goes with this design – much better than those close-up head shots.

Winner:

And of course, McCutchen is going against a checklist.  Against Buster Posey?  He won’t take home the MVP hardware.  Against a checklist?  An easy win for Heritage, even though it is a checklist with Bob Clemente’s name on it.

2013 Heritage leads, 31-30

This means it comes down to the last card.  Heritage will at least get a tie – but can Vintage come back to get that tie?

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Card #89 - Jose Bautista / Boog Powell

I picked this because it’s probably my second favorite card of the set.  I’m actually collecting any of the Bautista parallels – I like this almost as much as the McCutchen.  Again, this is the right kind of shot for this design.  Waist up, and I love the bat pose with the clouds in the background.

Unlike the last one, this is a good matchup. The Blue Jays didn’t exist in 1964, so Topps can’t match Bautista up with the same team.  But they can match him up with another slugging outfielder!

Trivia question: Who holds the NL mark for strikeouts in a 9-inning game?

Trivia answer: Sandy Koufax had 18 on 2 different occasions.  This NL mark was eventually broken by Steve Carlton with 19 in 1969, and then Tom Seaver matched Carlton a year later.  David Cone would match them in 1991, before Kerry Wood broke that record and matched Roger Clemens’ major league record in 1998.

Winner:

This is a tough one. The Bautista is one of my favorites, but the Powell card is pretty awesome.  The old school Orioles logo on his sleeve is cool, it also meets the criteria of the right kind of photo for this design.  And he’s got the “suns out guns out” thing going on.  But I’m staying with the Bautista – he’s got a good-looking bird logo poking its head out, too!

2013 Heritage WINS, 32-30

Well, that’s it for my Heritage comparison with the original for 2013.  Unlike the last two years, Heritage came out on top.  I think some of that is because this isn’t my favorite design of all time.  I really liked the past 2 years, and I’m excited about next year’s 1965 design with the pennant.  I do think Topps did pretty well with this product, so maybe that’s why I ended up giving Heritage the victory here!  I’m going to do a few more posts about some of the other stuff in the product, and then it’s back to the Lifetime Topps project!

2013 Heritage vs. Vintage #16 – Some good comparisons

Heritage took the lead back at 29-27 in my last post.  I think I’m going to do this post and then one more, so we’ll see where this ends up, but Heritage has the lead for now.

Card #190 – Derek Jeter / Bobby Richardson

Tony Kubek would have been the appropriate comparison with Jeter, seeing how he was the Yankees shortstop in 1963.  But Richardson isn’t a bad choice either – he’s a fellow Yankee infielder and a fellow World Series MVP as well.

Jeter doesn’t have a trivia question – too many stats on the back!

Trivia question: How many balls were required for a walk in 1888?

Trivia answer: 9 balls

Winner:

If you hate the Yankees, you probably don’t like either of these cards.  If you’re like me and don’t love the Yanks but appreciate their history, you like both of these cards.  I like the Jeter with the classic pose, and I like the Yankee Stadium seats in the background.  I also like the Richardson in another defensive classic pose, and I like the batting cage in the background there.  Two cards I’d love to own.  But the Jeter card is a little bit better in my mind.

2013 Heritage leads, 30-27

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Card #100 – Robinson Cano / Elston Howard

Cano would have made more sense with Richardson above, but Elston Howard is pretty good, too.  Cano hasn’t won an MVP yet, but he’s been in the top 6 of the MVP race for 3 straight years (coming in 4th last year).

Trivia question: Who hit more grand slams than any other switch hitter?

Trivia answer: Eddie Murray, 19.

Howard was the reigning MVP at the time this card came out, and he would place 3rd in the 1964 MVP race.  That’s probably why he got card #100.

Trivia question: What was home plate made of originally?

Trivia answer: Iron!

Winner:

Cano is waiting on that big contract from the Yankees next year before he buys a razor. The Cano card is one of those pictures I don’t like about Heritage – the up-close-and-personal headshot.  Whereas the Howard is one of the good photos in this set – a pose with a good glimpse into the background.  In this case, old Yankee Stadium.  Easy victory for vintage here.

2013 Heritage leads, 30-28

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Card #400 – Kris Medlen / Warren Spahn

Warren Spahn was coming off a 23-7 season in 1963, his last great season in what was an amazing career.  He would win only 13 more games in his career, but that was good for the most wins of any pitcher since the dead ball era.

Kris Medlen kind of came out of nowhere last year to go 10-1 for the Braves.  He’s a very promising young pitcher for the Braves, and he’s certainly a good choice to include as a corollary to Warren Spahn.

Winner:

I sure love being indecisive, and I’ve got a lot of reasons to go with another tie here.  I really like the Medlen / Spahn matchup, so that’s a notch in favor of Heritage.  I also like the similarity in poses.  Both in a pitching pose from the numbers up, with blue sky and a green horizon in the background.  This is Spahn’s last card as a Brave – and that’s got to be worth something, too.  Plus, he looks old man badass.  Sorry, Medlen, you lose out in a close one here!

2013 Heritage leads, 30-29

2013 Heritage vs. Vintage #15 – The Backgrounds

1964 Topps came back and tied it up at 26.5 points for both Vintage and Heritage yesterday.  That’s a big comeback, a 2011 Cardinals or 2012 Giants-style comeback, as Heritage had a 7 point lead at one point.

I’m going to do 3 more of these posts, so this is where the rubber meets the road for my comparisons.  Today’s comparisons are for some cards that aren’t notable players or anything – just cards where I liked the picture.  Mostly because I liked the background – there were a number of cards where the background was pretty interesting.  I guess in a set with a bunch of head shots, that’s what you’ve got to look for.

Card #274 – Justin Morneau / Checklist

I’m going to start with a first baseman who’s had a pretty good career.  A concussion has really derailed it, though.  When he got that concussion in 2010, Morneau was working on the best season of his career.  That’s saying something for a former MVP.  Here’s hoping he gets back to form – he bounced back a bit last year.

I was intrigued by the background here, and looked it up – Morneau is in the Twins’ Spring Training facility, Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

Trivia question: Who is the only switch hitting player with 300 HR and 300 SB?

Trivia answer: Carlos Beltran, who joined the club last year.  (I felt that this was a particularly good trivia question)

Winner:

Morneau with a pretty cool photo and an interesting backdrop gets the victory over a checklist any day!

2013 Heritage leads, 27.5-26.5

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Card #305 – Todd Helton / Jack Lamabe

So Helton plays for the Rockies (he’s played his entire career for the Rockies) and of course the Rockies were not around in 1964.  So there isn’t a team Topps can match him up with – though it would have been nice to have him put with a first baseman or something.

Jack Lamabe was a journeyman pitcher who never had a lot of success in the bigs.  He gave up the most earned runs in the AL in 1964 – which did mean that he was good enough to get into enough games to give up a lot of runs.  In a time before free agency, he sure moved around a bunch.  From 1965 to 1968, he actually played for the Red Sox, Astros, White Sox, Mets, Cardinals and Cubs.  6 teams in 4 years – including 3 teams in 1967.

Trivia question: What is a whitewash in baseball?

Trivia answer: A shutout.

Winner:

I picked this card because Helton looks like he’s posing in that Rockies uniform in the middle of a barren wasteland.  It looks like World War 3 happened behind him or something.  And I like cards that have weird stuff going on behind them, so the potential Hall of Famer takes this one.

2013 Heritage leads, 28.5-26.5

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Card #307 – Dan Straily / Joe Gibbon

Now this is cool.  Behind Helton was a devoid landscape.  Straily is apparently about to start a game in the mountains out West!  This guy will do anything to stay on that big league roster!

But for some reason, Straily started one game for the A’s this year, gave up 2 runs in 7 innings, then was sent down to the minors.  I’m not sure why they went with that approach, but the guy is a potential star it seems in the future.

Joe Gibbon was a young potential future star when this card came out, and though he never flourished, he stayed in the bigs for quite a while.

Trivia question: Who holds the A.L. record for total bases in a year?

Trivia answer: Babe Ruth, 457 in 1921. Not sure why Topps qualified this back in 1964.  Ruth held the MLB record, not just the AL record.  He still does, BTW.

Winner:

I love the Pirates and Reds uniforms from this time period that have the sleeveless look.  And it’s a good pose compared to some of those capless head shots this set can have.  But I also love that mountain in the background for the Straily card.  So I’m calling this a tie.

2013 Heritage leads, 29-27

2013 Heritage vs. Vintage #14 – Stars from 1964

Two days ago, I looked at some of the stars from today’s game and saw who their counterparts were.  Today, I’ll go at it from the other side – who were the best players in the mid 1960′s and who did Topps match them up with.  There were a lot of great players back then, some of whom I’ve already featured.  But 4 guys stick out in my mind above the rest.  3 of them are outfielders on anybody’s top-10 list when you put together the greats of the game.  The other is Sandy Koufax, who didn’t do it for a very long time, but in 1963/64 was in the midst of a 5-year stretch of pitching that the game had not really seen before, and certainly hasn’t seen since.

Card #200 – Sandy Koufax / Clayton Kershaw

For the second year in a row, Topps matched these two hurlers up.  They are definitely getting it right by doing this.  Kershaw is off to another great start in 2012, though tough luck has him sitting at 2-2 despite his 1.88 ERA.  He won the 2011 Cy Young after going 21-5, and finished 2nd last year to R.A. Dickey.  Both years he led the league in ERA.

Trivia question: Who set a record in 2012 for the most franchises played for?

Trivia answer: Octavio Dotel; Detroit was his 13th.

And in 1964, Koufax was coming off his 3rd straight year leading the league in ERA.  He would go on to lead the circuit for 2 more years before he hung up his spikes after the 1966 season, which may have been his best.

Trivia question: Who holds the lifetime mark for times at bat?

Trivia answer: Ty Cobb – 11,249.  That’s what the card says, but that’s a typo – the recognized number of at bats for Cobb is 11,429.  And Baseball Reference actually credits him with 11,434.  Regardless, it’s amazing that at one point in the game’s history, the man with the most at bats was also the man with the highest batting average.  Hank Aaron would go on to pass Cobb for total at bats, and then Pete Rose would go on to pass Aaron with over 14,000 at bats in MLB.

Winner:

After two pretty nice cards in 2012/1963, neither of these are Topps’ best effort for Kershaw or Koufax.  I’m going with a push.  I don’t really like either all that much, so I’ll give a push.

2013 Heritage leads, 26-24

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Card #300 – Hank Aaron / Jason Heyward

This seems to be a tandem Topps goes with quite frequently.  Now that the Upton brothers are also patrolling the outfield with Heyward for the Braves, they have some options other than Jay Hey, but this is still a good comparison.

Heyward’s card has a trivia question I’ve already featured.

Aaron always has some pretty nice cards from this time frame.  Even for one of those close-ups, this is a good shot and I like the M on his cap – it’s cool seeing the Milwaukee Braves logo.

Trivia question: Who was the 1963 White Sox home run champion?

Trivia answer: Pete Ward and Dave Nicholson both had 22.

Winner:

I like both of these cards.  Aaron always seems to be photogenic, and the old Braves uniforms are pretty nice.  But Heyward has a good card here – Topps seems to have caught him in a legit baseball moment, unlike the Aaron card; Heyward is looking down, checking on his bat before he steps into the batter’s box.  I’ll give this one a push.

2013 Heritage leads, 26.5-24.5

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Card #150 – Melky Cabrera / Willie Mays

Oh, Topps.  Even if Melky had re-signed with the Giants, this wouldn’t have been a good comparison.

Trivia question: What’s the team record for losses in a season?

Trivia answer: 134 by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders.  There’s some background to this.  In 1899, the Robison brothers, who owned the Cleveland franchise, bought the St. Louis Browns (now Cardinals) and moved all their good players (including Cy Young) to their St. Louis franchise.  The Spiders were so bad that teams stopped traveling to Cleveland to play – saying their share of the meager ticket revenue didn’t cover costs to make the trip.  So the Spiders were a) bad, and b) didn’t have a home park.  This led to a 20-134 record.  Ownership in multiple teams has long since been outlawed.

Mays doesn’t have a trivia question since his full statline is pretty long by this point.

Winner:

Mays over the cheater who probably should have been the batting champion if you really follow the rules last year (but I’m glad they didn’t).

2013 Heritage leads, 26.5-25.5

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Card #50 – Curtis Granderson / Mickey Mantle

No trivia questions for me to pass along here.  Mantle is, like Mays, far enough along in his career that his statline doesn’t allow the space.  And Granderson has a trivia question I’ve already featured.

I like the symmetry here.  The switch hitting Mantle is shown during batting practice, with Yankee Stadium in the background, posing as a righty.  Grandy man is shown posing, too, as a lefty (he bats left but throws right).  I’m not sure what that background is; I’ve noticed similar backgrounds for other Yankees in the Heritage set, so I think it may be something from their Spring Training facility.

Winner:

Normally it would be really difficult to beat out a Mantle card.  Mantle Topps cards are iconic.  And this Granderson card is pretty nice, particularly since it’s got the symmetry of the comparison (the right photo, the right position, right team).  But I’m not putting a Granderson card ahead of Mantle.  Mantle and Mays have brought 1964 Topps back into a tie, after being 7 points down a little while ago.

Tied, 26.5-26.5