1970 Topps Baseball

And so, the last of my seven set blogs shuts down today. I have had a lot of fun doing this since I started in September 2009, but I must admit the last year or two has felt more like work t...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-long-and-winding-road.html

Here are the AL ERA, Wins, and Strikeout leaders for the 1969 season. ELEVEN starting pitchers had an ERA under 3.00! What gets ignored on the card front are the relievers, but the back shows t...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2022/06/al-pitching-leaders-68-70-72.html

Here are the AL Batting Average, RBI, and Home Run leaders for the 1969 season. On their way to the inaugural AL West title, the Twins also snared the Triple Crown, though it took two players t...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2022/06/al-batting-leaders-62-64-66.html

I was so pleased with the 16 cards from a recent purchase, that I jumped right back into the pool and bought 10 more cards. I now need only 12 to complete the set.    I have my suspicions tha...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2021/06/more-new-acquisitions.html

Last week I emerged from my pandemic hibernation and bought some baseball cards for the first time in almost 2 years . I snared 16 vintage 1970 cards on my want list, which leaves me with only 22...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2021/06/new-acquisitions.html

Jerry Kenney was to be part of the "new wave" of Yankee stars to replace Mantle & Co (led by Bobby Murcer , and also including 1968 ROY Stan Bahnsen ). But things didn’t quite turn out for Kenn...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2021/05/jerry-kenney-219.html

Today we look at Steve Renko's rookie card.    Renko was signed by the Mets in July 1965, but did not play that summer. He also only played one game in 1966.    After 2 full seasons on th...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2021/04/steve-renko-87.html

Roger Nelson had a 9 (essentially 6) year career from 1967-76, mostly with the Kansas City Royals.   Nelson was signed by the White Sox in 1963, and played 5 seasons in their farm system, culm...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2021/01/roger-nelson-633.html

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year.    This is post #28 in the series: Jim Rooker and Woody Woodward - both ...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/12/born-on-same-day-9231942.html

Pedro Borbon was a mainstay in the Big Red Machine’s bullpen from 1972-77, and led the team in saves in ’73, ’74, and ’77. Borbon pitched in 593 games in his 12-year career, starting only...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/10/pedro-borbon-358.html

The days of one pitcher (Sandy Koufax) dominating every category are long gone.  Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson, and Fergie Jenkins each appear twice among the leaders. It's surprising to see...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/08/nl-pitching-leaders-67-69-71.html

These are the 1969 NL leaders in batting average, RBI, and home runs. Willie McCovey gets 2/3 of a triple crown, and was 5th in batting average, 28 points behind Pete Rose. I was surprise...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/07/nl-batting-leaders-61-63-65.html

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year.  This is post #27 in the series: Sam McDowell and Billy Wilson - both bor...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/04/born-on-same-day-9211942.html

It's April, and time for some spring cleaning on my blogs. Gone are the sidebar lists of "Oldest Living Players Not Blogged" and "Top 20 Players to be blogged". In their place are extended "On-de...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/04/dick-drago-37.html

Here are the American League opening day lineups from half a century ago. Teams are shown in order of their 1970 finish. EAST DIVISION: Elrod Hendricks caught more games than Andy Etchebarren...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/03/50-years-ago-1970-opening-day-lineups-al.html

This season is temporarily on hold, but 50 years ago next week was Opening Day 1970. April 6, 1970 featured the traditional opening games in Cincinnati and Washington. All other teams began the...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/03/50-years-ago-1970-opening-day-lineups-nl.html

Angel Bravo is the oldest living player (with a card in the 1966-70 sets) that I have not yet featured on a blog. He had a very brief major-league career with the White Sox (1969), Reds (1970-7...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/03/angel-bravo-283.html

Dan McGinn was the Expos’ first closer. He was the Reds’ 1st-round pick in 1966, and made his major-league debut with 14 games (12 innings) in September 1968. McGinn was selected by the Exp...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2020/03/dan-mcginn-364.html

This is Jim Rooker's first solo card, and one of the many nice cards from the '69 and '70 sets featuring the new Royals' uniform. Although the expansion 1969 Royals pitching staff was led by ex...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/10/jim-rooker-222.html

This is "Wonderful" Willie Smith, on his last decent-looking baseball card. Willie had a card every year from 1965 to 1971, but Topps didn’t make much of an effort on his cards. He was capless ...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/10/willie-smith-318.html

This is Tom Hilgendorf's rookie card. On the back, it shows that he made his major-league debut in 1969, pitching only 6 games (and 6 INNINGS!) To which I say "Why does he have a card?" Surely he...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/09/tom-hilgendorf-482.html

This is Doug Rader’s 3rd solo card, but anyone familiar with vintage Topps cards will know that the '68 and '69 Astros cards are not much to look at.  Rader also appeared on an Astros Rookies ...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/09/doug-rader-355.html

Joe Coleman Jr. was a starting pitcher for the Senators (1965-70) and Tigers (1971-76), then spent his last 2 ½ years bouncing around to 5 different teams. Coleman (whose father pitched for th...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/08/joe-coleman.html

Another installment in my "Born on the Same Day" series, featuring players who were born on the same day (!) and year.  This is post #25 in the series: Steve Blass and Chuck Taylor - both born...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/07/born-on-same-day-4181942.html

About 5 years ago (wow, has it been that long?) a blog reader sent me four cards from my 1970 want list in exchange for a handful of 1968 Topps playing cards. Those cards were Dave Leonhard , Dal...

http://1970topps.blogspot.com/2019/07/dave-campbell-639.html