Night Owl Cards

Before I get to the top all-star cards from the greatest era of all-star cards, I would like to acknowledge fans of the 1980 Topps all-star cards. I kind of gave the '80 Topps all-stars the shrug-off in this countdown. Only the Nolan Ryan card made the top 20. In my view, the 1980s all-star cards just can't stack up with the earlier all-star cards. I don't dislike the 1980s all-stars. In fact this Ted Simmons card is unbelievably fantastic. It's just that by 1980, I was a teen and a six-year veteran of collecting cards. The all-star players were no longer mythical gods to bow down before as you gave thanks that you were deemed worthy to obtain their card. Instead, they were cool finds that got me a step closer to completing the set. "YES! #450! The George Brett card! I NEEDED that number." Functionality had replaced mythic wonder. This countdown is more about mythic wonder than functionality. But really you could put the Simmons card at No. 1 and yo...

This all-star card did not make the Top 20 countdown. Can you believe it? My favorite player of all-time. The man who just pulled the railing off from behind him and is now using it as a bat is not in the countdown. The 1978 Cey all-star card did not make it either. Who is doing this thing? And what have they done with night owl? I knew this whole countdown wouldn't make sense. But that is no reason to waste blog material. So on we go. With this latest grouping of all-stars, I couldn't help but notice the powers in baseball during this period. The Reds, the Yankees, the Dodgers, the A's, the Red Sox. Those were the teams in charge. And because of that, they all have their fair share of all-star cards between 1975-81. The team tally for this period looks like this: AL - Red Sox-12, Yankees-10, Royals-9, A's-6, Twins-6, Orioles-4, Angels-3, Rangers-3, Tigers-3, Brewers-2, Indians-1, White Sox-1 NL - Reds-21, Dodgers-18, Phillies-10, Pirates-5, Braves-2, C...

Although I believe the perfect period for All-Star cards was from 1975-81, that doesn't mean it was without its flaws. The most egregious, of course, was Topps' failure to reward All-Star notice to a player who was voted a starter in the previous year's All-Star Game. Richie Zisk is one such example. He was voted a starting outfielder for the American League in 1977 and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in that game. Then kids pulled his card the following year and got the above airbrushed monstrosity with no All-Star badge. The double indignity. It would be easy enough to MS Paint the badge onto this card and attempt to virtually right a wrong, but I know someone else on another blog has done it already. Plus, I don't have the time, patience, ability -- you know, the usual excuses. So, instead, let me cite a couple of other examples of Topps All-Star snubs during this period. Reggie Jackson was an All-Star in the 1974 game, but when the 1975 set came out, he di...

I have determined that it is almost impossible to rank the all-star cards from 1975-81 -- what I call the "Golden Age of All-Star Cards" -- with any kind of objectivity. I'm really trying, because objectivity has been pounded into my head as a valuable thing to possess. But I basically threw up my hands after a few minutes of the whole business . I can't do it. Once you slap that all-star star or badge or banner on a card, it immediately becomes special. How can I eliminate any of the cards from the countdown if all of them are special? But press on I must. Because I do it for you. I give and give and give ... Anyway. The point is there are a lot of cards that you probably think should be in this Top 20 countdown, that I think should probably be in this Top 20 countdown, that aren't in the countdown. For example the 1975 Topps Pete Rose card, a card that I looked at as a tiny cardboard god when I was a kid, is not in the countdown. I don't even...