I made a few purchases last year on Sportlots to finish up some sets that were low hanging fruit. One of those was 2003 Topps Traded & Rookies – where I had needed just one card for 5 years.
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Info about my set:
How I put the set together:
- 270 cards from the Topps Traded HTA jumbo box
- 4 card from a trade with reader Bill
- 1 card from Sportlots
Card that completed my set: #T146T – Gabe Gross
I got this from Sportlots in early 2021, as I mentioned I did kind of catch-all buy of some low hanging fruit.
Set composition: 275 cards (115 single MLB player cards, 5 Managers, 45 Prospects, 110 1st Year Cards)
Representation of ’02 MLB season: This set passed the point where this is relevant to do for traded. The guys in the first 115 cards are all players who either signed with a new team in the offseason – for example, David Ortiz, Pudge Rodriguez or Cris Carpenter signing with Boston, Florida and St. Louis respectively.
There are also some mid-season 2003 trades like Aaron bleeping Boone (see below)! There aren’t any players with their 2002 baseball teams in this set, so putting this type of comparison with the 2002 regular set doesn’t make a ton of sense.
Last active player from this set: #T158 – Adam Wainwright
Pretty wild there’s a guy in this set still playing – though it’s possible Wainwright will follow Yadier and Pujols and announce his retirement this offseason.
The earlier player is Rickey Henderson. So the player years from this set span from 1979 to 2022 – 6 different decades! That excludes the managers, where Felipe Alou would bring it back 2 more decades as he debuted in 1958.
Highest book value: #T200 – Robinson Cano
This is a true RC for Cano, so it’s way ahead of any other cards from the most recent Beckett I have. Miguel Cabrera is in the Prospects subset, but this is a couple years after his true RC.
Most notable card: #T200 – Robinson Cano
That it’s the most notable rookie card in a Traded set makes it the default most notable card as well, though the first Red Sox Topps based card for Big Papi is worth mentioning as well.
Best card (my opinion): #T108 – Aaron Boone
A part of me should hate this card, because Boone was a bit of a fan favorite for me when he was with the Reds – and this card exists to point out he was traded away when they started to stink in the early aughts. But he hit one of the biggest homers in postseason history, one of only 3 walk-off homers to clinch the pennant in the history of this great game – and this is the card that shows the midseason trade for it.
Second best card (also my opinion): #T52 – David Ortiz
Obviously Ortiz moving to the Red Sox had a much bigger long term impact than the Boone trade.
Best subset card: #T116 – Dusty Baker
Dusty finally got that World Series ring as a manager the other day. He’s beloved throughout all of baseball, and despite some silly fans who think they can do better – his win-loss record is second to none. Felt appropriate to pick him here.
Favorite action photo: #T81 – Bobby Kielty
Traded/Update sets aren’t particularly known for their action shots. This is a very good one. The Aramis Ramirez card was the other one I considered – looks like he’s just hit a home run.
Favorite non-action photo: #T100 – Kenny Rogers
The Gambler was always a pretty cool player, and this dugout shot works pretty well. said, I like the cool effect with the background here. I couldn’t have told you he played for Minnesota, but apparently he went 13-8 his one season there.
My Favorite Reds card: #T168 – Joe Valentine
Unfortunate default here – of the 4 Reds cards in this set, Joe was the only guy who ever spent time with the actual Major League ballclub, though he had a negative WAR so maybe that should even DQ him for this distinct honor!
Lifetime Topps project 
