Joy of a team set, chapter 25

 

Whenever I add cards to my 1970 Topps set, the 1969 set is not far behind. I either add a few '69s at the same time or I have them on my mind when I'm thinking about 1970.

Compared with 1970, I have a lot of work to do on '69 and it's difficult for me to see progress when I still have around 70 cards to go and a lot of big names and several upgrades, too. But I shouldn't think that way, I have made progress this year.

A blog is good for charting that. When you're in a card funk, just look through the past year (which I'll be doing in detail next week) and you'll be amazed at the advances you've made.

For example, upon reviewing I was surprised with all the 1969 cards I've picked up over the previous 12 months. I've really been at this '69 pursuit seriously for only the last year-and-a-half, spurred on by my (now former) co-worker's collection that I helped evaluate.

 

I checked my inventory to see which team sets that I had completed, as that's a handy measuring stick. It turns out I've completed just four of them, as the cards I need are well-distributed across all the teams. Those finished teams are the Dodgers (although I still need a couple extras unless I want to raid the team binder), the Red Sox, the White Sox and the Astros ... sorry, the Houstons.

 

I think out of those, the Red Sox are the biggest achievement as there are a few notable cards in that team set, not big, big names (except one) but better than the White Sox or Houstons, that's for sure.

 

So let's take a look at that team set now:

 

 

The Red Sox start out as almost unscathed by the onslaught of cap-less photos and blank-hat photos that plague many of the cards in '69. That first page is amazing -- maybe not the most up-to-date photos, I'm sure, but is there another nine-card streak for any other team in the set as clean as that one?

The second page is more typical with Ken Harrelson and Ray Culp.

All right, let's do the usual rundown:

Favorite cards runners-up: 5. Jose Tartabull; 4. Carl Yastrzemski, 3. Rico Petrocelli; 2. Jim Lonborg.

 

 

Favorite element on the back: I instinctively looked to the cartoons as Topps was in its second wave of cartoon excellence around this time. But with Conigliaro, you get a two-fer, maybe even a three-fer. There's the cartoon, of course -- damn hippy. But then there's the famed account of Conigliaro's beaning and just for emphasis: INJURED - OUT ALL SEASON. I think Topps could've gotten away with just "Injured" but drama.

Famous error card: More of a variation than error, but the Red Sox Rookie Stars card that contains Ken Brett and Gerry Moses, is one of the white name-yellow name cards.

Team's claim to fame: The Red Sox were two years removed from their "Impossible Dream" season. The big news was the return of Conigliaro. The offense did pretty well with Yaz and Reggie Smith, but Harrelson was traded away and the pitching didn't produce. Manager Dick Williams was dismissed near the end of the season.

Cards that give me the nostalgies: I was not around to collect the 1969 set, but there are a few '69 cards that I saw as youngster when my friend's older brother gifted him with some older cards, and then my brother and I started making trades with our friend to get those cards. Every '69 card from that time is still a big deal to me. For the Red Sox that would be Ray Culp, Congliaro, Jim Lonborg and Dick Williams.

Players I've talked to: None, but Russ Gibson's son emailed me once to compliment me about a post I did about his dad.

 

Former, future Dodgers: Ken Brett, Jerry Stephenson, Reggie Smith.

 

Worst-conditioned card: Pretty happy with all of these, but the Brett-Moses rookie card is full of rounded corners.

 

 

Most 1969 card: It's got to be Ken Harrelson. Yellow-and-green are Red Sox colors, right? (never mind today's anything-goes uniforms). And he'd be on the Indians a dozen games into the 1969 season!