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).
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.
Lifetime Topps project 
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