The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #170

It's been a looong while since I did one of these Ultimate Baseball Card Set posts. The idea is to find my favorite card across my entire collection for a given card number. I think I was subconsciously saving some of these for a day when I had a greater percentage of my collection cataloged, but it seems cards come in as fast or faster than they get scanned and processed, so now's as good a time as any!  Today let's look at card #170...

Being a multiple of 10, slot #170 has been home to some great players on many checklists over the years.  Quite often, at least in the Topps flagship sets, you'll have a second tier star or local fan favorite like Billy Williams here.  This is a solid card, and I'm warming up to 1970 Topps a bit, but it doesn't stand a chance against some of the other competition.

Here's a guy who's been absolutely roping the ball for the Red Sox this year, at least he was until he ran into the wall and hurt himself an hour or two ago now.  Even better, this Dodger was sent to me by everyone's favorite Dodger fan, Night Owl.  A nice enough card, but it's not even in the top 5 card #170s that I've got...

I think I've got enough Nolan Ryan cards to cover just about any card number, so of course I have one that's #170.  There's no way this logo-less Prizm card is going to come out on top.

Hall of Famer?  Check.  Red Sox great?  Check.  Classic Stadium Club photography?  Check.  This Boggs has a lot going for it, but I think you'll agree that it doesn't deserve top slot.

If there's one thing about my collecting habits that keeps getting reinforced as the years go by, it's that I enjoy vintage cards most.  Anything from the '50s or earlier just strikes a chord with me for reasons I can't explain.  I considered making this one my selection based on that killer shoulder patch alone, but in the end I found five #170s I like more...

In fifth place, card #170 from my all-time favorite vintage set, 1953 Topps.  A Red Sox card from this set is always going to carry some weight if I'm judging.  Besides, look at that smile!

Leaping ahead of Bill Werle and into the fourth place slot is the 2012 Topps Jacoby Ellsbury card.  I think it's fairly obvious that the photograph is what propelled this one so high on my list.  One of the best examples of a play at the plate card that I can think of.  One of them anyway.  Before you get to thinking this list is going to be all Red Sox, the next card will prove that my bias only goes so far:

Obviously this 1977 Thurman Munson can't hold a candle to his '71 Topps issue (which I already selected when I did this exercise for card #5 previously).  Still, this is a nice shot of Thurman, and I like the perfectly positioned facsimile autograph.  My copy comes with bonus, authentic 1970s scratch marks along the right side of the card.

When I said the Jacoby Ellsbury card was one of the best play at the plate cards I can think of, that was a little bit of foreshadowing.  I like the '91 Topps Carlton Fisk even better.  This image is one of the best ever used on a baseball card as far as I'm concerned, and the folks who are responsible for cropping photos over at Topps nowadays could learn a thing or two from studying it.  As you can see, I enjoy this card so much that I actually tracked down a graded Desert Shield parallel.  This was a few years ago, and I can't say I'd bother doing that these days, but it cost me less than $20 and I do enjoy having it around.

Alright, so what card #170 beats out all others in my mind?  If you're a child of the '80s like I am then you may have already guessed it.  Here's my favorite card #170 out of the 18,000+ baseball cards and counting in my collection...

Yup, a true classic.  Nothing against the other cards, but I stand by my decision.  I'm not even a huge 1987 Topps fan.  If you really let it sink in, it's not the greatest photograph, mainly due to the chain-link fence backdrop.  The rainbow-colored Future Stars logo doesn't really fit with the muted, wood grain design.  For some reason though, when I look at this card I just smile.  I don't care if it's worth just ten cents, or whether there are 50,000,000 of this card in existence, to me it's perfect.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #248

Time to select another card for The Ultimate Baseball Set, a franken-set compiled from all of the baseball cards I own from any brand or year.  Today I'll select card #248.  Don't worry, I'm not going with Wilbur Howard and his obnoxious 'Stros uniform.  Even for such an obscure card number as 248 there were at least a few cards in my collection that outranked Wilbur here:

Babe Ruth occupies #248 in the 2007 Goudey set with a nice Heads Up short print.  I don't have any vintage Ruth cards, so this is the closest thing I've got.  Not going to make the cut though.

I've yet to select a Red Sox card for this set yet, and I had hopes that this would be my first chance.  I like this Pedroia Gypsy Queen mini, but honestly I wouldn't rank it above even the Goudey Ruth card.

Now here's a much more interesting Red Sox card, a 1964 Topps Johnny Pesky.  One of my favorite Red Sox cards, from one of my favorite '60s sets.  I would have loved to have chosen this card for inclusion in the set, but unfortunately I had to pass on it.

The 1959 Topps Red Sox team card was another really strong choice at #248.  I love everything about this card, most of all the old school batting sock logo.  There was one #248 that won out over even this card though.

1984 Donruss - #248 - Don Mattingly RC

Yeah, I chose a Yankee over those two great Red Sox cards.  I sound like a broken record here (four of the six cards I've selected now are big-name '80s rookie cards), but during the time when I collected cards as a child the rookie card was king.  The 1984 Donruss Mattingly was right up there with the best of the decade.  In fact, this may be the biggest non-Hall-of-Fame rookie card of the decade.  Maybe?

The other reason I selected this one is because I am a huge fan of the 1984 Donruss set.  Like many other collectors, I feel it's a level above anything else Donruss ever released.  I could devote entire posts to this set (and hope to at some point), but for now I'm happy to have it represented in my Ultimate Baseball Card Set.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 6 cards and counting, can be seen here.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #482

It's been far too long since I selected a card for my Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which is a lifelong project to build the ultimate franken-set composed of cards from all years and brands.  Today I'll be selecting card #482...

For such an obscure card number, I was surprised that I was able to find a few decent #482s in my collection.  This card would have been a solid pick because I was always an Olerud fan; he's a good representation of those dominant early-'90s Toronto teams.  Unfortunately for John there were a few others I liked a bit better...

Here's a decent contestant, the Padres team card from the 1971 Topps set.  I love a good vintage team card, and this one's in really great shape.  I don't really have any particular affinity to an early '70s Padres team though, so I'm passing on this one.

One of my favorite junk wax era sets, 1993 Upper Deck, has an interesting card #482.  Any card with The Wizard on it gets consideration, but there were two others that surpassed even this one.

First, the runner-up.  I had a really hard time passing over this card for inclusion.  The 1958 Topps All Star cards are some of my favorite baseball cards of all time.  I like them so much I've collected the entire set in grade PSA 6.  On top of that, I haven't shown much of it here, but I actually have a pretty respectable vintage Banks collection.  If Ernie's going to make it into the franken-set it will have to be a different card, because today he's been beaten out by another Hall-of-Famer:

1983 Topps - #482 - Tony Gwynn RC

I'm sure my viewpoint is skewed by the time period that I grew up in, but I consider this card a timeless classic.  It's certainly one of the top ten rookie cards from a decade that was all about the rookie card.  Gwynn was one of the most talented hitters who ever stepped to the plate, and the fact that his rookie comes from one of the most visually appealing sets of the decade made this the clear cut choice for #482 in my set.  I've had this exact copy since I was around 10 years old, and I still consider it one of my favorite cards a couple of decades later.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 5 cards and counting, can be seen here.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #83

Just over a year ago now I decided I was going to do a series of posts where I'd create the ultimate baseball and hockey franken-sets from my collection. In the 12 months that have passed since I've selected exactly 3 baseball cards. I know this is a lifelong project, but that pace is just not going to cut it. Luckily, I picked up a card at another show yesterday that's perfect for my set.  Before we get to that though, here's a quick refresher on the cards I've selected so far.

For card #5 I chose Thurman Munson's 1971 Topps card.  This one is an absolute classic and possibly my favorite baseball card of the entire decade.  I don't see this card ever being superseded in the set.

For a variety of reasons I chose Cal Ripken Jr's 1982 Topps rookie card as card #21.  Like the Munson, it's one of those cherished classics that is recognizable to almost any collector.  More importantly for me though, it was the first big rookie card I ever landed, and I still have my original childhood copy to this day.

Finally, for card #232 I selected this Minnie Minoso Record Breaker card.  This is definitely the one card I've selected so far that I could see being replaced someday, but I just found the feat of hitting a single in a Major League game at age 53 so impressive.  #232 is a bit of an odd number also, so maybe Minoso has a chance of sticking around for a while after all...

Anyway, for today's post I'm selecting card #83 for the set.  Some of you may know where this is going, as I can't think of any other #83s that are more well-known than the one I picked up yesterday...

As I've generally done with these posts, we'll look at some of the runners-up first.  Will Clark makes an appearance at #83 in my collection, as Mr. Intense.  I do have a soft spot for these Emotion cards, but not enough to select this one for my set.

Here's a brand new #83, a very recent addition to my Nolan Ryan collection from this past Saturday's card show.  One of my favorite players, and very shiny, but doesn't make the cut.

Ozzie Smith is another of my childhood favorites, and I do like both of the Upper Deck Masterpieces sets, however this isn't one of the most impressive cards from the 2008 set.  Apologies to the Wizard but he's not getting in yet.

I've also got a couple of vintage Red Sox cards that I briefly considered.  There's this Earl Wilson hand-cut Post card from 1963...

...and this '55 Topps Tom Brewer.  Both nice cards, but neither can top this obvious choice:

1983 Topps - #83 - Ryne Sandberg RC

This Sandberg rookie is one of those cards that for whatever reason took me way too long to finally purchase.  It may seem silly to say this about a card from 1983 Topps, but I've been searching this one out for years.  I think my own frugal nature was my biggest obstacle the entire time, as I often saw them priced at $10 or more in the condition (mint) that I was looking for, and just didn't want to shell out that much for one.  Even at Sunday's show I passed on two copies of this card that the dealers were unwilling to go lower than $10 on.  My patience paid off at last though, as I found this one in a miscellaneous box of 80s cards in top loaders for just $5.  I would have to say that this was the card I was happiest to come home from Sunday's show with.

So, can you think of a card #83 that can rival this one, or do you think I made the right choice?

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 4 cards and counting, can be seen here.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #232

Ever feel old? I recently joined a floor hockey league, and after my first session this past weekend I was sore for a couple of days. It made me realize that I'm definitely not getting any younger. I definitely am getting older. Perhaps if you can relate to this feeling, today's induction into The Ultimate Baseball Card Set will help you feel a bit better.

As is the custom though, before we get to the winning card, here are some runners-up...

Card #232 in the 2010 Topps set is a pretty nice team checklist of your World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals (as well as a guy who recently became $250 million richer)...

I have card #232 from one of my all-time favorite sets. However, despite being a high-numbered card, Mr. Kokos here is not all that exciting, and besides I already posted about this card almost four years ago now.

Card #232 in the 1960 Topps set is Jim Busby of the Boston Red Sox. This is possibly my favorite set of the entire 1960s Topps run, and that old Red Sox logo is a thing of beauty. There are a couple of other decent #232's from the 60s as well...

...I like the background of this 1966 Glenn Beckert...

...and this 1969 Topps Dave Ricketts isn't too shabby either. All of these are nice cards, but they don't make me feel any better about the fact that the years are ticking by. The winning card sure does though:

1977 Topps - #232 - Minnie Minoso Record Breaker

I really like the Record Breaker cards from the old Topps baseball sets, and this may be the one I like most out of the many in my collection. I never knew it existed until a short while back when I was working on completing the 1977 Topps set. As you can tell from the front, the card pays tribute to Minoso becoming the oldest player to record a hit in an MLB game. An impressive feat no doubt, but it's even more impressive when you see the details. If you had to guess how old Minoso was when he recorded this hit, what would you say? 47? 50? 52? If you guessed any of those you'd be too low! Check it out...

No, your eyes do not deceive you, Minnie Minoso connected for a single towards the end of the 1976 season at the age of 53! How amazing is that? I'm sure many of you were aware of this, and maybe this is one of those sports trivia facts I should have known, but I was shocked to learn about it.

Minoso's accomplishments deserve a post of their own, which I hope to get to someday, so I won't give you a full breakdown here. If there was ever a feat that was worthy of a baseball card though, I'd say this is it. Perhaps even more amazing than his 1976 single is the fact that he got two more MLB at bats four years later in 1980, at the age of 57!!! Unfortunately he wasn't able to record a hit in either, but impressive nonetheless.

When you think of sports records that may never be broken, I'd say this has to be near the top of the list for baseball. All of a sudden I don't feel so sore...

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 3 cards and counting, can be seen here.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #21

I decided a few months back that I was going to compile The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, a franken-set of my all-time favorite baseball cards to go along with the hockey version I've been plugging away at. I selected the first card, a 1971 Topps Thurman Munson, all the way back on the first Sunday of the 2011 NFL season. I've done nothing since! Time to get cracking...today I'll choose card #21 for the set. As usual, let's look at some of the cards that did not make the cut first:

This 1975 Topps Rollie Fingers was in the running for sure. Despite that fantastic facial hair though, this card just didn't cut it. The photo isn't exactly stellar, and as you can tell from the scan my copy of this card is more than a bit off-center (it's got some wax stains on the back too!).

Nolan Ryan's 1990 Leaf card didn't really stand a chance, but '90 Leaf was one of the more desirable sets during my first go-round at collecting so I thought it was at least worth showing. I picked this card out of a quarter box at one of the few cards shows I've ever been to about 4 years ago.

The runner up was this 1962 Topps Jim Kaat. A great card for sure, but like the Hall of Fame selection committee recently did, I'm going to pass on inducting Jim here.

That brings us to our winner. If you were a child of the 80s and 90s like I was, you might have already guessed which card I went with for #21 in the set...

1982 Topps - #21 - Bob Bonner/Cal Ripken Jr./Jeff Schneider RC

Aside from being one of the iconic cards of the 80s (if not one of the most iconic Topps cards period), this card was the pride of my childhood collection. Ripken was a boyhood idol, and this card was one of my most prized possessions from the time I pulled it from an '82 Topps vending box I got as a birthday present. When I think of the baseball card boom of the 80s, this is one of the first cards that comes to mind.

I think most collectors feel the same way about this card, as it came in at #12 in this past year's top 60 list of Topps baseball cards. True, Ripken's solo card from the 1982 Topps Traded set is much more valuable but in my mind this is the card I think of when it comes to Cal's rookies. Nowadays you can get a really nice copy for less than the cost of a blaster.

When I first got back into collecting in 2007 I actually pulled another one of these in a 1982 Topps rack pack from Dave and Adam's Card World. That one's been traded away, but I still have my childhood copy to this day.


The Ultimate Baseball Card Set, which now stands at 2 cards and counting, can be viewed here.

The Ultimate Baseball Card Set - Card #5

A few days ago I decided to start a franken-set called The Ultimate Hockey Card Set. I'm sure you all know what the concept is, and as I hinted at I'm going to do one for baseball as well. So, while the rest of the world is checking their fantasy rosters and getting the latest injury updates leading up to today's NFL action, I'm looking through my thousands upon thousands of baseball cards trying to figure out which ones I like best. What can I say...

I feel like the sheer number of baseball cards out there is just so much greater than the number of hockey cards. I mean with hockey, before the year 1990 you pretty much had an O-Pee-Chee set that was just under 400 cards, and a Topps set that was less than half that size (with cards typically identical to O-Pee-Chee but on lower quality cardstock). With baseball though, you had 3 major companies doing sets of 600+ cards throughout the 80's, and even more appearing in the latter part of the decade. Even going back as far as the 1950s, Topps had sets of 500+ cards, plus sets from competitor Bowman in the first half of the decade. Anyway, my point is that in some cases I'm going to have a hell of a time selecting any one baseball card for this set.

For the first post, we'll start off with card #5. I found that I have some pretty nice card #5's in the collection. There's the Bo Jackson Fleer Provision card at the top of this post. I'm not going with that one, but it did seem appropriate as a leading image on this first NFL Sunday of the 2011 season. There were some other close runners-up, a great card from 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces:

I loved Masterpieces baseball, it was a bummer to see it go after just two sets. As a Red Sox fan, this is pretty much perfection. This card is a perfect example of a historic moment captured on cardboard. Unfortunately for Carlton here, this card doesn't quite make the cut.

Some of the game's most successful players appear on #5 cards in my collection:

This '78 Topps Pete Rose Record Breaker is just one example. Even the all-time hit king couldn't cut it for card #5.

I have card #5 from perhaps my favorite baseball set of all time:

In fact, it was the last card I posted about from the set, just over a year ago (remember kids, don't play with dynamite). Even though he played the majority of his career for the Red Sox, Joe doesn't make the cut either.

My only relic card of The Wizard is a #5. Believe it or not I got this card for $1 on eBay, with no shipping charge. Quite a steal, but unfortunately for Ozzie here I'm passing on this one.

Both of the players that I collect have interesting #5 cards:

Most of the Will Clark #5's I have are junk wax era oddballs, like this disc that came with popcorn.

On the Nolan Ryan front, I considered a couple of cards, including this 1982 Topps highlight. 1982 was the year I was born, and that Astros jersey is pretty nice (in an awful kind of way). Believe it or not, I briefly considered this card:

Yes, this is a 1990 Topps card. I know most people hate this set, but it was one of the first I ever collected. The first 5 cards, all Nolan Ryan, have a lot of sentimental value to me.

This '75 Topps highlight card ended up runner up. A fine card indeed, I don't really have anything negative to say about it. Truth be told, none of these cards really had a chance. I have a #5 card that's so great, I knew I was going to choose it from the outset. In fact, it's the reason I chose #5 as the card to kick off this set with:

1971 Topps - #5 - Thurman Munson

I picked this card up just over 6 months ago, for what I'd consider an absolute steal. It's easily one of my top 20 cards period. I think most people that have a copy of this card feel this way about it. What's not to love? The subject is one of the era's great stars, it's an awesome horizontal action photo, and the All-Star Rookie Cup makes an appearance. Add to that the challenge of finding one in good condition thanks to the 1971 Topps black borders, and this is indeed a classic.

As with the Ultimate Hockey Card set, you can track my progress here. I'll also have a link up in the sidebar. Comments/suggestions/arguments are welcome, after all that's half the fun!