The 1975 Topps countdown, worst to best (No. 83-61)

 

Well, I knew it would happen at some point in this giant countdown.

 

As hard as I tried to stay fast to the ranking chart that I created at the start of this countdown and then carefully mark off the cards that I covered, I still ran off the tracks a couple of times.

 

My corrections since the last countdown episode explain the wacky numbering in each of the updated countdown titles for many of the episodes. No longer is it a neat 20 cards per for a lot of them.

 

You see, I unknowingly repeated five cards in the countdown and I skipped over five, too. I thought the five-for-five made updating easier but then I found three more cards I didn't account for. So ...

This current countdown episode has been expanded to help make up for the missing cards. And there are two other cards that I skipped that have been placed in spots in previous countdowns. You may not want to go back to those posts and find those, so here are the two cards:

 

Jim Spencer (card no. 387), ranked at 200.

 

Bob Coluccio (card no. 456), ranked at 144.

That should have straightened everything out. I have 83 cards left on my list and no duplicates that I can find, so let's proceed with the next edition. We're getting down to the end, there will be just three more left in the series after this one!

83. Steve Stone (card 388)

Steve Stone receives a heroic from-the-ground-up shot that makes him look much taller than his 5-10 frame. As a youngster I thought he looked quite portly. I love the blue glove and, of course, the mustache.

82. Dock Ellis (card 385)

A lot of affection for this card, not only because of the man portrayed but because of the personal history attached to this card. I first saw this card in my friend Jennifer's house, it was her card, at some point she (or maybe her dad, she was probably 6 at the time) bought a pack of 1975 Topps. I loved the card right away, the blue and orange border, the black-and-gold Pirates uniform, Dock's grin, the batting cage. I didn't notice him pitching with a batting glove though.

81. Charlie Spikes (card 135)

Another favorite from childhood, Charlie Spikes looked very bad-ass with that pose and that look. The disappearing bat effect is weird.

80. Jerry Morales (card 282)

It's interesting what a simple turn of the head can do. I always like a hand-on-knees fielding pose but this one adds a bit extra with Jerry Morales looking to the side and a wide shot that gets the grandstand and some players in the background.

79. Leroy Stanton (card 342)

Really, all you had to do in the 1970s was show a close-up of a batter posed in mid-swing and that card would be a favorite kids across the nation, as it was for me.

 

 

78. Al Oliver (card 555)

Just a solid card of a great player.

77. Nolan Ryan (card 500)

Nolan Ryan appears on four cards in this set and three of them are in the top 100. However, his solo card is third among those three cards in this countdown. Decent-enough shot but not anything exceptional, except that it's Nolan Ryan.

 

 

76. Andy Messersmith (card 440)

With the first few All-Star cards out of the way now we get to the better-but-not-the-best ones. This card always made me proud to be a Dodger fan because it signaled that a Dodger pitcher started the All-Star Game. Those cards are always special. And the '74 team was the start of the franchise's resurgence.

 

 

75. Jon Matlack (card 290)

Jon Matlack has some really nice Mets cards. There's a good streak of them in the '70s, including this one. Things seemed to go downhill when he went to the Rangers.

74. Jim Wynn (card 570)

Another indication of the Dodgers' arrival in 1974. Jimmy Wynn won Comeback Player of the Year honors after his '74 season. He looks enormously happy on this card, in contrast to some of his non-Dodger cards.

73. George Scott (card 360)

Boomer stepping to the plate to do some damage with his customary necklace. And the second straight card of powerful sideburns.

72. Strikeout Leaders - 1974 (card 312)

This is the highest-ranking League Leaders card in this countdown and that's because of the players featured on the card. I will always be more impressed with great pitchers than great hitters, which I have a feeling is not how most fans think.

71. 1973 Most Valuable Players (card 211)

Here we go! Until this card, just three cards from the MVP subset had appeared on the countdown. Those three all featured "made-up" cards and very obvious ones at that. But overall, I think this is one of the greatest subsets Topps ever made -- even if it was blatant self-promotion. Featuring time-appropriate past cards was a stroke of genius (no doubt sparked by the 1974 Hank Aaron retrospective).

So we are now on a run of MVP cards that won't end until there are no more. Except those first three, I consider all the rest equal and the separation and ranking will be decided by what I think of the set shown, the quality of the cards/photos used and the subject matter.

1973 is the first up because that might be one of the worst Reggie Jackson cards in his career.

70. 1952 Most Valuable Players (card 190)

The classic 1952 set and one of the first cards in the subset I ever saw. I had no idea who Bobby Shantz and Hank Sauer were and as far as '50s players go, this card didn't have very much star power.

69. 1958 Most Valuable Players (card 196)

Solid-looking cards from one of my least-favorite 1950s Topps sets. Probably one of clearest couple of shots in the entire subset though.

 

68. 1960 Most Valuable Players (card 198)

It's interesting to me how the horizontal sets create vertical cards in this subset and vice-versa. The 1960 MVPs is winning no points for Roger Maris' bare head.

67. 1964 Most Valuable Players (card 202)

You can't argue with the subject matter. Not a big fan of the 1964 set, though I should have tried to collect it instead of the impossible '67 set.

66. 1966 Most Valuable Players (card 204)

This card probably packs the most punch in terms of the two players featured. Unfortunately it comes on one of my least-favorite vintage set designs. Frank Robinson's Reds uniform with no hat isn't helping matters and neither is the miscut version that I have because this card ain't cheap.

 

65. 1968 Most Valuable Players (card 206)

This card is burned into my brain as one of the first MVP subset cards I ever saw (the first 3 packs I bought were filled with these things). Classic cards both and I think that purely because of this card. It was a hoot to pick up the actual versions of each of these things. And I say all this despite never being a fan of the '68 set.

64. 1969 Most Valuable Players (card 207)

More heavy hitters straight from 1969. I've always suspected the Killebrew photo as being from a few years earlier but maybe that's just me. That infernal name/position circle also has Killer too far to the right.

 

63. 1970 Most Valuable Players (card 208)

Having just finished off the 1970 set, I can appreciate this card a little more. It's the clearest of the '70s cards shown on this subset.

62. 1961 Most Valuable Players (card 199)

The first of Frank Robinson's two appearances in this set and no two-team shenanigans happening here. Roger Maris, meanwhile, shows up on one of the classic cards of all-time, fresh off of surpassing appearing in packs as he chased Babe Ruth.

61. 1954 Most Valuable Players (card 192)

Now this is a card of a couple of '50s stars! It's not my favorite of the '50s portion of this subset, but it's one of the best.

And there, we got through a slightly extended countdown edition. I'll pick up with the rest of the MVP cards at the start of the next countdown and then get into the very best solo cards from this great, great set.

Thanks for joining in as always.