My Favorite 1968 Cards

1968 was the second year I collected baseball cards.

It seemed like the first series had a lot of players who were in the not-to-be-found 1967 high-numbered series. (Tom Seaver, Rod Carew, Brooks Robinson, Vada Pinson, Rocky Colavito, Al Ferrara, Cookie Rojas, and Juan Pizarro to name a few.) So I quickly had cards for those missing players. 

These were my favorite cards from that set.

Bobby Wine - I always liked this photo, but I'm not sure why.  Although I was a Phillies fan, I was not particularly a Bobby Wine fan, nor was he one of the team's top dozen or so players.

Gary Sutherland - I do know why I liked this card.  His rookie card in 1967 was in the high-numbered series, so I didn't get that until years later.  Plus, here's a kid only a few years older than my pre-teen self at the time, and he was IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES! Surely he would be the Phillies' "shortstop of the future", with only the aging Dick Groat and weak-hitting Bobby Wine to contend with.

NL ERA Leaders - Two Phillies among the league's top three!

Super Stars / Manager's Dream - These 2 cards were in the 6th or 7th series, and were 2 of the 3 multi-player cards in the 1968 set.  The players were from a mix of teams, which was a departure from Topps' usual multi-player cards.

NL Batting Leaders - In 1967, Tony Gonzalez had worked his way up from platoon left-fielder to every-day center-fielder, and finished with a .339 batting average. (In the late-60s, Phillies' fans had to find positives anywhere we could!)

Tom Seaver - I still don't have Tom Seaver's 1967 rookie card, so this was my first Seaver card. ROY, shiny trophy, what's not to like?

Denny McLain - I admit, I jumped on the Tigers' bandwagon sometime during the 1968 season, and followed McLain's trek to 30 wins and the World Championship.

Mickey Mantle - A favorite card of mine and 99.99% of all the other kids.

Tom Seaver (#45)

Tom Seaver was the right-handed pitcher on Topps’ all-rookie team in 1967.

Seaver was drafted by the Dodgers in June 1965 but did not sign. He was then drafted by the Braves the following January, but the pick was voided by the commissioner on a technicality involving his college playing status. The Mets won a lottery (which also included the Phillies and Indians) and signed Seaver in April 1966.

After 1 season in the minors, “Tom Terrific” debuted with the Mets in April 1967, starting the 2nd game of the season, and going on to start 34 games and pitch 251 innings (leading the team in both categories). With 16 wins, he was the only Mets’ pitcher with double-digit wins, and was named the NL Rookie of the Year.

Seaver spearheaded the Mets' rise to respectability, after spending their first 7 seasons as the league's doormat. He was an all-star in 11 of his first 12 seasons (only missing in 1974). He also won the Cy Young award in ’69, ’73, and ’75. Tom was a 5-time 20-game winner, and led the NL in wins in 1969 and 1975. Seaver led the NL in strikeouts 5 times and ERA 3 times. All of the above stats were as Met.

During the 1977 season, he was traded to the Reds and continued winning through the 1981 season. After an off-year in 1982, he returned to the Mets for 1983 (another sub-par season), then had 2 good years for the White Sox (1984-85) before wrapping up his career in 1986 with the ChiSox and BoSox.

Seaver pitched in the post-season 3 times: ’69 and ’73 with the Mets, and 1979 with the Reds.