This is always a fun experiment to do as I don't imagine that Topps thought we would be looking at their sets in groups of nine cards encased in plastic pages when they originally made these sets.
As far as all out fire power goes, nothing compares to card #64-70. You're getting three stars per page on each card with many of them Hall of Fame inductees. But I consider this sort of cheating in determining the best possible group of nine.
Look at all those wonderful stats! These cards are the only easy way you would ever be able to find who was the 20th best in RBIs or 17th in strikeouts.
The other contender is the group of cards #523-531. This page's Hall of Famers, Ernie Banks and Carl Yastrzemski, together are of a higher caliber than Bench and Wilhelm. Sandwiched between two other rookies you'll find Bill Buckner's second year card. Hi actual rookie card was the year before when he was featured in the same type of "rookie stars" card. It is also important to note that Tigers fan favorite Mickey Stanley is in this group.
So which nine-card grouping do you think is best?
As far as all out fire power goes, nothing compares to card #64-70. You're getting three stars per page on each card with many of them Hall of Fame inductees. But I consider this sort of cheating in determining the best possible group of nine.
Look at all those wonderful stats! These cards are the only easy way you would ever be able to find who was the 20th best in RBIs or 17th in strikeouts.
As I flipped through the pages there were no obvious amazing pages and this is mainly because Topps used to spread out the star players giving them the nice round numbers of 100, 200, 300 and so on. So what you are hoping for is an established legend with some rookies or prospects that also eventually had great careers. So there are two main contenders that had at least two Hall of Fame inductees as well as other significant players.
First up we have cards #244-252 with two Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Hoyt Wilhelm. You also have Twins fan favorite Jim Kaat and the rookie card for Royals great Paul Splittorff who you may not have realized won more than 160 games and over 15 games in four seasons.
The other contender is the group of cards #523-531. This page's Hall of Famers, Ernie Banks and Carl Yastrzemski, together are of a higher caliber than Bench and Wilhelm. Sandwiched between two other rookies you'll find Bill Buckner's second year card. Hi actual rookie card was the year before when he was featured in the same type of "rookie stars" card. It is also important to note that Tigers fan favorite Mickey Stanley is in this group.
So which nine-card grouping do you think is best?
Comments
I'll have to look at my set and see if I like anything better.