Player: Mike Schmidt
Set: 1973 Topps
Card Number: 615
Why is This Card a Must Have?: Off to 1973 and the era of side burns. Before Alex Rodriguez took up third base, I would have called Mike the best third baseman ever to play the game. Mike was the first player I ever saw where I knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer. Every year I watched his home run totals increase until he finally passed 500 in 1987. Growing up in NJ he was easily my favorite baseball player. Over his career, he won 3 MVPs (1980, 1981, 1986), he was also an 11 time All Star, and finished in the MVP voting race 12 times. He hit over 40 home runs in a season 3 times and over 35 home runs in a season 11 times. His entrance to the Hall was merely a formality and this card is the first of his collection.
What Ever Happened To: Ron Cey, he put up a fairly good career as well. Overall he was a 0.261/316/1139 career hitter. Not HOF material, but a very solid career, who was a big part of those late 70s / early 80s Dodger teams. John Hilton was never more than a career platoon guy. He only played from 1972 – 1976 and had 108 career hits.
On a Scale of 1 to 10, How Must Have Is This Card?: A 10, this is one of those cornerstone cards for every collection, a card where you can say, this is the most important and valuable card I have. As far as rookie cards go from 1970 – now, this is the best in my mind.
This card has been on my ‘want’ list for years!! In my opinion it is a Top 5 rookie card from the 1970′s!!
Imagine your favorite player is Ron Cey and you want all of the Ron Cey cards you can find. Well, that’s my problem. To me, this is a Cey card more than a Schmidt card, and I’m STILL trying to get it because it costs so much.
A nerd sandwich inside two thick slices of bad-ass. I love this card.