“Lost Cards”: The Year After, 1974

1974

Best Player to retire in 1973.   Willie Mays (Hall of Famer)

Did he have a 1974 card?   No and Yes.

Mays was featured on a card displaying game 2 of the 1973 World Series, a game the Mets won.  They’d lose the series, however, and like Sandy Koufax some 7 years earlier, Mays didn’t have a final Topps card with his full statistical prowess on the back.  Wish he had.  

Was a “retro” card ever produced?   No – Topps didn’t do a “never was” card of Mays.  Here’s an awesome custom card, however, made by the blog “When Topps had (Base) Balls!“.

Apologies to:   Luis Aparicio (Hall of Famer).  Aparicio did in fact get a 1974 Topps card – which is shown above.