The top 20 cards of the decade

When I was a young teenager, the 1970s ended and we all looked to the '80s as a futuristic age that would helps us forget many of the issues of the previous 10 years -- inflation, Vietnam, presidential corruption and  disco.

The '80s weren't the savior we all thought they would be, although I do admit it's been the greatest decade of my life. But the beginning of the decade was pretty cool because end-of-the-decade retrospectives were everywhere. I'd read about the biggest moments of the '70s and listen to countdowns of the greatest hits of the previous 10 years. The baseball magazines I read back then would recount the best players from the '70s and look forward to the projected stars of the '80s.

I soaked it all up, but I didn't do the same for the decades that followed.

When the '80s ended, I couldn't be bothered reviewing the past 10 years. I was too busy looking for my first full-time job. When the '90s ended, I was too busy talking people off the Y2K ledge. At the end of 2009, I had a blog, a perfect vehicle for a decade review, but I did nothing.

Now it's the end of the 2010s, and I've noticed several looks back at the last 10 years, in baseball, music, pop culture and the news. It's been cool. I love stuff like that.

I thought I'd do a decade review for baseball cards.

I made a list of the top cards in my collection from the last 10 years. I won't define them as "the best" cards because "best" means different things to different people.

I specifically wanted to find the cards that summed up some aspect of the decade and in most cases I wanted the photo on the card to do the representing. This isn't a countdown about innovation or what's been added to a card. This is about the card itself and what it represents and how it speaks about the decade we just saw.

To me, the past decade in cards has been about redefining what we think of as a baseball card according to the image on the card. So I whittled my list down to 20 cards that more or less broke the mold of what was known as a baseball card picture before 2010.

I'm happy to say that the 20 cards represent each year of the decade. I didn't plan that, it's just how it went.

Along with the list, I'm going to present a few other brief lists that also look back on baseball cards in the last decade.

I hope you enjoy.

The Top 20 Of The Decade

20.

2019 Topps Stadium Club, #290, Stan Musial

You will see Stadium Club throughout this countdown. Of all of the sets issued this decade, it truly redefined what was "appropriate" for a baseball card.

This card cracks the countdown because it shows two mega-stars, Hall of Famers for the ages, in a way that nobody has ever featured multiple mega-star Hall of Famers. Previous cards that dared show Stan Musial and Bob Gibson together would picture them standing together, posing or mugging with a headline underneath, saying something like "Class of the Cardinals".

Instead, Musial and Gibson are locking arms in a spring training workout ritual, just like two other dudes on the preseason roster. That is most unusual and also most mesmerizing. It's a charming photo.


19.

2018 Topps, #297, Kevin Kiermaier

Outfield catches at the wall have been standard baseball card material for more than the past decade. They're always popular images and as photo technology has improved you can get the clearest possible photos of a moment that was next-to-impossible to get in focus a few decades ago.

My issue with even the best of the outfield catches is often you have no idea whether the player has caught the ball, which if he did, would make the photo that much better.

The same is true for this card at first glance. But I'm happy to say that Kiermaier did make the catch:

The card makes the countdown while other fantastic outfield wall shots don't because Kiermaier takes up so much space in making the catch and also because of the fine cropping job by Topps. It's amazing what you can do when you have the right equipment -- talking about Topps, the photographer and Kiermaier here.


18.

2019 Topps Stadium Club, #161, Clayton Kershaw

In a sentence that sums up the decade in baseball cards, this is not the only card in the countdown showing a baseball player sharing the baseball field with an animal.

Kershaw generated a few candidates for this countdown. In the end, this is the only one that made it. It is so unusual but absolutely captivating. This is the one card from this year's Stadium Club (there is one every year) that made me want to own it instantly.


17.

2016 Topps Stadium Club, #271, Martin Prado

Like the outfield-wall catch, the decade featured probably way too many Gatorade shower celebrations on cards. Some -- the ones where you can't even see the player being featured -- are annoying.

In fact, most are annoying, just because I'm not interested in watching somebody be doused with liquid when I'm looking at a baseball card. But if you're gonna do it, do it like this.

This Getty photo captures the moment when the ice begins leaving the bucket toward its destination. The pourer is Justin Bour. The interviewer is Craig Minervini. Martin Prado has just hit a game-winning sacrifice fly against the Mets, which doesn't strike me as reason for such an extravagant celebration. But when you're a Marlin, you're probably bored so I'll give it to them.

It sure made a cool card.

And here's what happened next.


16.

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter, #286, Revolving Door

This is one of the most polarizing cards of the decade.

Allen & Ginter had been expanding our view of what a baseball card is since its return in 2006. The Revolving Door card is the previous decade's Pluto card.

For me, the Revolving Door sums up everything great about A&G, celebrating invention, celebrating the quirky, squeezing it into a "baseball set," and making me laugh all at the same time. It still amuses me. And that's what collecting should be, amusing.

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INTERLUDE 1: The Best Inserts of the Decade

I didn't do much research with any of these interlude topics. I just picked what struck me, so it's not set in stone. But I do like all of these insert sets (believe me there were a whole bunch of crap inserts this decade, too).

5. Opening Day mascots

Opening Day returned after a year hiatus at the start of the decade and signaled that it would be a little more fun than previous OD sets with the addition of a mascot insert set, which has continued throughout the decade. The set isn't perfect because Topps apparently doesn't have the rights to name some of the mascots, which strikes me as ridiculous, so some mascots are not named on the front but are named on the back. Weird.

4. Topps Allen & Ginter 2017 Dudes minis

Dude, I love this set. I haven't done anything with it in more than a year, which I guess makes me "Forgetful Collector Dude". Maybe they'll make a card of me.

3. Topps First Pitch cards, 2015-17

Celebrities made their way to flagship in 2015 as Topps created an insert set showcasing notable people who threw out the first pitch at ballgames. This was a wonderful idea that allowed team collectors to include people like Tony Hawk and Lou Ferrigno in their collections. Of course, many of the "celebrities" I had never heard of, so only about half of the cards are exciting.

2. 2010 Topps Tales Of The Game/More Tales Of The Game

I was not afraid to complete insert sets at the start of the decade. But that was because they were pretty good back then.

In 2010, Topps devoted cards to specific famous baseball moments in time. Some happened on the field, some were just famous stories. Only a few of the topics feel forced and it was great to see moments such as Jimmy Piersall rounding the bases backward and Joel Youngblood playing for two different teams in the same day celebrated on modern cards.

1. 2011 Topps Lineage 1975 minis

Probably my most favorite insert ever. Want to see me try to complete a 200-card insert? Make it 1975 mini-themed. That's what a set called Lineage did in 2011 and I got it done.

To date, it's the only insert set in my collection with its own binder.

OK, back to the countdown ...

The OTHER countdown.

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15.

2017 Topps Stadium Club, #135, Jameson Taillon

Those fans who enjoy traveling the country to visit baseball stadiums are always after other baseball fans to do the same.

"You've got to visit (insert convoluted sponsored stadium name)," they say.

I pretty much ignore them. I'll visit the stadium when the time is right, meaning I have time, money and I feel like fighting city traffic.

But there's one stadium that I think I better get to before it's too late and that's PNC Park, home of the Pirates. It's not only the consensus "most beautiful modern stadium," but it's not all that far from me.

And it created this wonderful card. Stadium Club has several cards showing a wide view of the stadium with the player inside it. I like this one the best because of the skyline and the park's beauty.

14.

2015 Topps Stadium Club, #1, Fernando Valenzuela

In 2015, Stadium Club returned to the masses. No longer an "hobby-only" set, as in the previous year, Regular Joe collectors could get their hands on the cards, too.

Fernando Valenzuela's card -- card No. 1 in the set -- was one of the first cards to indicate that this set was a must-collect.

This photo's appeal is in Valenzuela's smile and his apparent enthusiasm for signing items for a crowd of fans at Dodger Stadium, even though it's obvious he has been smacked in the face by a program a time or two.

This card ushered in the modern Stadium Club era, one that still reigns supreme, as this countdown is showing.

13.

2015 Topps Stadium Club, #259, Greg Maddux

Expanding the idea of what makes a baseball card means showing one of the greatest pitchers of all-time, wearing glasses and shorts, playing golf and not explaining it at all other than that you should KNOW that Maddux really likes to play golf.

12.

2015 Topps, #177, Paul Konerko

Collectors like "farewell" cards, "final tribute" cards.

Many times, though, the photo doesn't recognize the finality of the player's career so we have to interpret which "final tribute" cards say "farewell" the best. Think, for example, the 1973 Roberto Clemente card, which is really just Clemente at the plate offering at a pitch.

But with this card, it really IS a final tribute. Paul Konerko is acknowledging a standing ovation as he leaves the field for the last time in his major league career on Sept. 28, 2014 in Chicago. In case you still don't know what's going on, fans in the stands are lifting up homemade signs that say "Thanks," and featuring his initials and uniform number.

This tells a much better story than Derek Jeter's "final tribute" card in the same set at the coveted No. 1 spot.

11.

2013 Topps, #12, A.J. Pierzynski

I am a sucker for panoramic photos. I don't think I'm alone in this.

I'm sure that if this card did not contain a border, you could see even more of this photo, but I argue the card would lose some of its character. The 2013 Topps set is heavy on character, thanks to its design and I love looking into the lens to see this image.

I'm still looking at it.

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INTERLUDE 2: The Best Sets Of The Decade

Didn't spend a lot of time on this either. I just thought "favorite" and "ooh, that's a Biggie" and picked five of those.

5. 2013 Panini Hometown Heroes

The greatest one-off set of the decade. Proof that a set without logos is collectible.

4. 2011 Topps Lineage

Another one-off set, but it spawned the current Archives set, which has thrived since its arrival in 2012.

The base set is somewhat forgettable, which is too bad. But the inserts and parallels contains lots of fun throwbacks to previous sets. It's difficult to explain to collectors who have only known this Archives set, but Lineage was quite a bit more fun than Archives, probably because much of it was a new concept.

3. 2011 Topps Update

The most coveted major set of the entire decade.

It's amusing to me that this blog features several posts from 2011 of me casually heading down to the store to buy some Update and then showing the contents like they were regular cards that hardly anybody cared to see.

Today, spotting a 2011 Update card is like seeing a rare animal in the wild. And that rare animal is dragging along an exorbitant price tag.

2. 2015 Topps Stadium Club

The set that signaled that Topps could produce some of the greatest images ever created of baseball players. (Maybe the 2014 set was that set, but I didn't see much of it, so it doesn't count).

1. 2015 Topps

One of the most colorful flagship sets of all-time and a reminder of how great we had it in the '70s.

This set design caused me to complete the set and the update set during a period when I had weaned myself off of attempting to complete the flagship set every year. I have not tried to complete a flagship set since.

Back to that other countdown ...

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10.

2019 Topps Heritage, #252, Pat Neshek

Heritage has been known for adhering to the set it is featuring to a fanatical degree, recreating errors, matching teams with card numbers, etc.

Pat Neshek, famed baseball-playing card collector, took things to the next level by getting in on Heritage's references. For his photo, Neshek donned sunglasses that are similar to the ones worn by former Phillie Lowell Palmer on his 1970 Topps card, which is also card No. 252 in the set.

9.

2013 Topps, #253, Adam Greenberg

Adam Greenberg received one official at-bat in the major leagues. This card features that at-bat.

Greenberg was beaned in his first major league appearance in 2005, playing for the Cubs. After dealing with the effects of the beaning and toiling in the minor leagues afterward, Greenberg received a one-day contract from the Marlins after a Cubs fan's online petition to get Greenberg signed.

Greenberg struck out in his only MLB appearance. Some would call this a stunt. Some would call this baseball card a stunt. But it is a unique card and therefore in the countdown.

8.

2011 Topps, #204, Oakland Athletics

I do love dugout shots and this dugout shot is the dugout shot to end all dugout shots.

I don't think I've seen that much of a dugout on a single card. Buckets and coolers and apparel. Great stuff. And well worth defending, apparently, because Dallas Braden, Kurt Suzuki and Rajai Davis are standing guard.

7.

2018 Topps Stadium Club, #95, Yasiel Puig

Yasiel Puig created many memorable baseball cards in the last decade (see below) and many memorable moments that nobody had ever seen on a baseball field before.

I think this one captures Puig-ness better than any of them though. This is Puig sliding into third after hitting a triple during Game 1 of the 2017 NLDS against Arizona. Puig was so excited that he had to stick out his tongue in that look-what-I-did way that Puig likes to do.

6.

2012 Topps, #172, Reed Johnson

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this card in 2012. Seagulls? Where's Randy Johnson? Where's Dave Winfield? (I guess those would make much uglier baseball cards).

The seagulls appear to be helping Johnson field the ball. "We'll get that for you, Reed!"

This card helped liven up a set that I didn't care for much. And it's one of the very few that shows animals in action on a baseball card.

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INTERLUDE 3: The 3 Top Baseball Card Players Of The Decade

These are the three players from the decade that seemed to produce great baseball cards almost year after year, at least when I was reviewing which cards to include for this post.

In reverse order:

3. Jonathan LuCroy

That's just a few. I'm missing his 2010 Topps Update card, which is pretty nice. Also this year' Update card is quite awesome and I need to get it.

2. Yasiel Puig

Obviously, being a Dodgers collector, I could throw a whole lot more on here and declare him as the winner. But I'll try to be somewhat impartial (I certainly have enough Dodger cards in this countdown).

1. Billy Hamilton

If Billy Hamilton has made a bad baseball card, I don't own it. Even in the cards where he's not in motion, he's always interesting. You could make a cartoon superhero show with just card photos from Hamilton's career.

All right, the decade countdown show is almost done ...

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5.

2010 Topps, #1, Prince Fielder

The dawn of a new decade and a new set began with this card.

The image is from the previous decade but it is very much a Teens Decade card. I'm not much for orchestrated celebrations but this one is the one to end all baseball versions. Topps put it on a card and I'm sure people who weren't around for this need it explained to them. What in the world is happening?

But it's a definite moment in time and I really like those kinds of cards.

4. 

2015 Topps Stadium Club, #210, George Brett

The 2015 Stadium Club set marks the time that I realized that Topps was taking photographs that had appeared elsewhere for its baseball cards.

The set is full of examples of this but I chose the George Brett photo to represent all of the other ones.

It is a famous photo from National Geographic Magazine, which appeared in an article about Kansas City in 1976. I remember the photo (it famously became the inspiration for the song "Royals" by Lorde). To see such a familiar magazine photo like that shrunken down to appear on a sturdy baseball card kind of blew my mind.

Even though the photo was taken decades before this set was created, it still signals a notable baseball card moment of the decade: card photos so good that they were already famous pictures years ago.

3.

2016 Topps Chrome, #191, Jose Bautista

More polarization. (The decade was full of it).

Jose Bautista's bat toss to end Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS set off a wave of contrasting opinions and stretched into the next season. It is one of the most famous baseball moments of the last 10 years and probably helped legitimize the bat flip, which was super controversial in 2015 but not so much now.

I didn't expect Topps to put it on a card, I was a little impressed it did.

I prefer the Chrome version of this card just because the bat appears to be coming at you in 3D.

2.

2014 Topps Stadium Club, #42, Jackie Robinson

Seeing this card after seeing the Fernando Stadium Club card, I'm wondering why I included both of these on the list.

But both were "I-must-have" cards the moment I saw them. This was my favorite card from 2014, one of those story-telling cards that Stadium Club is so good at delivering.

This set marked the return of Stadium Club for the first time since 2008 (and only the second time since 2003). I was very glad to see it again when I saw this card.

1.

2011 Topps Update, #U174, Mike Trout

No doubt, other kinds of collectors would conduct a "top cards of the decade" very differently. Those countdowns might include more rookies or more online cards or more tricked-out  booklet-auto-relic-swatch cards.

But no matter how you count it down, you probably should include the Mike Trout 2011 Update card on it and place it very high.

Unlike most of the cards on this countdown, the photo isn't all that special. But the card itself is.

It generated the card world in which we now live: rookie card fever dialed up to 200. Every year Topps makes a rookie card, as plentiful as all of the other rookie cards, but this particular one goes through the roof in price. Suddenly, a card as equally available as any other in the set is as scarce as all get-out.

Mike Trout's rookie card is that scenario to this day, eight years after it was created.

It's funny that back in 2011 I barely had any idea who Trout was. In fact, in this post, I admit I didn't know who he is and confuse him with another player. Silly, unsuspecting night owl.

That's what can transpire in 10 years.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the look back. Certainly I could have include 20 other cards on this list (Stadium Club made things pretty difficult), but I don't see anyone else putting this together.