1973 Topps - Over the Halfway Point

My last purchase has put my 1973 Topps set build over the halfway mark.  And as another fellow blogger says, that means it can go to the binder.  This haul came through an eBay purchase.  I got a number of cards that I needed in the lot, which is becoming harder to do.  It is becoming a "get more doubles, than needs" game now as I try to finish my birth year set.

This lot not only brought to me one of my favorite cards from the set, but in my entire collection as well.  The #1 card from the set, the All-Time Home Run Leaders card with Ruth, Aaron, and Mays.  With Aaron only 41 dingers away from tying Ruth, fans would have to wait until April 8, 1974 to see him surpass the record as he ended the 1973 campaign with 713.  Like I have said in a previously, if you have not read Aaron's autobiography, I Had a Hammer, it is a must read about not only Aaron and the record, but also about history and civil rights.  Along with the Ruth card, I was able to get another couple of Hall-of-Famers in Rollie Fingers (1992) and Willie McCovey (1986).

Another aspect of the 1973 set that I like is the manager cards.  On some of these cards, which include the coaches on staff as well, some of the photos have been cropped so close that the ears are missing.  Topps must have corrected some of these as there are different card variations for most of the managers.  Included in this lot were two notable managers, Leo Durocher and Yogi Berra.  Durocher would be in his last year as a major league manager finishing 3rd place with the Houston Astros and Berra would be managing his only NL Pennant winner with the New York Mets.  Berra's Mets would eventually lose the World Series in 7 games to the Oakland Athletics.

This last purchase puts my 1973 Topps Set build up to 352 cards out of 660 cards for 53.3%.   Most of the cards will be a little more difficult (and expensive) to acquire as most will be hard to find Series 5 High Numbers including the most coveted card in the set, the Mike Schmidt rookie.  My 1973 Want List can be found here if you have anything on my list.

The Pursuit Continues - 2000 Upper Deck Legends - Legendary Jerseys

Thanks to a couple of purchases I have acquired 2 more additions to my pursuit of the 2000 Upper Deck Legends subset, Legendary Jerseys, both of which happen to be Giants.  The first purchase was a Bobby Bonds Jersey card that I bought for $1.04 + shipping.  A pretty good deal if you ask me.  I honestly don't remember much about Bobby as I grew up in his son's era.  I was first acquainted with Bobby during his 1980 season with the Cardinals which would turn out to be his next to last.  Even though he only played 14 years, he still hit a remarkable 332 homeruns and drove in over a thousands runs.  He was a three time All-Star, 3 time Gold Glove winner, and finished in the top 5 for MVP voting twice.  His best year was probably 1973 when he hit .283 with 39 homeruns and 96 runs batted in.  He also led the league with 131 runs that year along with being named the All Star Game MVP.  That game, played in the new Royals Stadium in Kansas City for the first and only time was one that I have heard stories about as my parents sat in the far corner of the upper deck.  Fortunately, Kansas City gets to play host again for the 2012 game.

My second purchase was for 2 Willie McCovey Jersey cards.  I hesitate to say purchase since I really came away with this one for free as I turned the second one around quickly on eBay and made my money back.  Again, about the only thing I remember about McCovey was the end of his career.  I do remember getting his 1980 Topps card that highlighted his 512th home run which set an all-time mark for National League lefties.  According to the back of the card, that came on a 3 run pinch-hit homer to defeat the Pirates on June 9, 1979.  McCovey finished his career with 521 homeruns and 1555 runs batted in.  He would be inducted into Cooperstown in 1986 with 81.4% of the vote.  He was the 1959 Rookie of the Year and the 1969 National League MVP.  His best year was probably his MVP season when he led the league in home runs (45), RBI's (126), on-base % (.456), and slugging % (.656) while hitting .320.

This brings my set total up to 5 cards out of 52.  The pursuit continues!