1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson and the First Topps Cartoon

To mark the anniversary of Jackie Robinson birth on January 31, 1919 We are going to take a look at the opening card of the 1953 Set.

1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson

We previously covered this card in 2013 and it now serves as the anchor posting for our Jackie Robinson HOF Index. That posting is largely a price guide for the card.

Today I want to take a look at the back of the card.

Cartoons first appear on the backs of cards in 1953. As the resident of the #1 slot in the set Jackie Robinson also has the honor of being the face of Topps first -toon. Ok this isn't in the same stratosphere of the Hall of Famers other accomplishments, but it is of interest to the card collector in me.

The first -toon is an interesting one, I doubt I would have even noticed it on a less noteworthy players card, but Jackie Robinson will make sure I look.

When I read the card I questioned the veracity of the information in the text. It specified that the original Home Plate was made of iron.

Fortunately in the 21st century via the magic of Twitter we can go right to baseball historians who have done much research around such topics.  Here is the question I posed to the MLB official Historian John Thorn.

1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson #1 (b-side)

Soon afterward John Thorn replied!

And he filled in some details. Yes the Plate was originally Iron, and he added some bonus info.

That is a lot of critical historical info in under 140 characters. 

It doesn't end there. One of Thorn's followers fleshed out some details on Home Plate. Those details  were then further elaborated on by John Thorn.

 So there we have the reasons for why we call the base Home Plate and the chronology of from the 1845 disc shape to the present shape.

Topps #1
We have recently been obsessed with #1 Cards. This posting will be a second entry for 1953T #1, which to me is the greatest of all the Topps #1 cards.

Sources and Links
Jackie Robinson HoF Index
Topps #1 Club
Our Game John Thorn
Twitter John Thorn
Twitter Peter Alexis

1982 Topps #1 Steve Carlton Record Breaker

A few nights ago we ran a column on the Derek Jeter 2015 Topps #1 card and how it compares with the companies other opening cards.

1982 Topps #1 Steve Carlton Highlight NL Strikeout Record

I classified all the #1s in relation to the Jeter card. The judging was very subjective, and this is one of the cards that I determined was better than 2015T Jeter. Lefty got the nod because he is one of my favorite players from when I was a kid and was the Ace for the Phillies first World Championship team in 1980.

Your results may vary - if you don't like it, write your own blog.

Steve Carlton broke Bob Gibson's NL Career Strikeout mark on Septemember 21st 1981 in a 1-0 loss to the Montreal Expos. The tying K took place in the 2nd inning against Montreal Third Baseman Larry Parrish. The following inning Carlton struck out Hall of Famer Andre Dawson with the Record Breaker.

The OCD collector in me would like to point out that the above Photo of Steve Carlton shows Lefty in the Phillies Home Whites. This means that the picture was NOT taken at the game in which Carlton broke Gibson's records.

Flip

1982 Topps #1 Steve Carlton Highlight NL Strikeout Record (b-side)

The back of the card contains some info on the game without noting that the Phillies lost that day. The L was not on Carlton who pitched 10 shutout innings. The game was in the 17th inning when Dawson recorded a bases loaded single to give the Expos the victory.

An incredible dozen different players were penciled in the Number nine spot for the Phillies that day including Rookie Ryne Sandberg who entered the game as a pinch runner.

The text also mentions the previous record holder Bob Gibson who was honored by Topps with a Highlight Card in 1975 commemorating his 3000th strikeout.

Sources and Links
Topps #1 Club Index
Phungo Steve Carlton HOF Index
baseball-ref

Abe Vigoda 1921-2016

It makes me happy that Abe Vigoda lived long enough to make it into the Topps Allen & Ginter's collection.

2013 Topps Allen & Ginter's #176 Abe Vigoda

Of course it took them eight releases to get around to publishing the card of the cult icon. In addition to this base version of the card there are Relic and Autographed cards as well as A&Gs several parallels.

 2013 Topps Allen & Ginter's #176 Abe Vigoda (b-side)

The text on the back has Vigoda's standard Bio mentioning the Godfather and Barney Miller. Bonus points for noting the Fish spinoff, however a "Boo" for ignoring is late nite tv cult status.

Frankaset

2013 Topps Allen & Ginter's Frankenset #171-179

I have never built an A&G set, but I do pick up a few packs or perhaps a blaster each year. From these purchases and fervent dime box procurement I have built a near complete Frankenset. I am happy to report that Fish is presently holding down the #176 slot in the Phungo AnG Binder - right next to a 2006 Miguel Cabrera Card. 

On Stage
In additon to his TV and Film work Abe Vigoda was also a busy theater actor.  In 1972 he apprently played Abraham Lincoln in something called "Tough to Get Help"

Tough to Get Help Bio of Abe Vigoda (1972)

Interesting to see Abe Vigoda's bio as he was just coming off of his Godfather performance. Cool to see him mentioned with Jimmy Durante as part of "the halcyon days of comedy"

Card related Abe Vigoda Postings and Memorials 
Baseball Card Breakdown (1933 Goudey Custom)

Sources and Links
Playbill Vault

Topps mum on 2016 #1 and Where does the Derek Jeter 2015T #1 rank

Topps recently released their 2016 Series 1 checker....without card numbers. Doesn't sound like much of a checklist, but I do understand the attraction to withholding the info until the date of release. Bryce Harper who is this years cover boy and has already sat at #1 is a legit candidate as are Mike Trout, Matt Harvey and possibly a Kansas City Royal. 

2015 Topps #1
When 2015 Topps was released last year there was some discussion on the choice of Derek Jeter for the #1 Slot on the checker.

2015 Topps Chrome #1 Derek Jeter

Those unhappy with Jeter at #1 were mainly concerned that a retired player took the top spot in the set. In my opinion this is boloney. I think those that didn't like the Captain at number one were Jeter/Yankees Haters.

Retired players have been part of Topps sets for years - Mickey Mantle occupied the #7 slot on a half dozen sets between 2006 and 2012. George Brett has a 1994 card after announcing his retirement the previous September, Roberto Clemente was issued a card in 1973 Topps following his death in a plane crash the previous year. In 2000 Hank Aaron occupied his uniform number (#44)

In my opinion this is a great card. It captures a moment that every baseball fan knows. It is a career moment rather than a big postseason play.The picture has action, excitement and emotion. The 2015 design is a good one - throughout the set it helps show of a photo without detracting from the shot.

Just for the sake of accuracy I would like to note that the above card is from 2015 Chrome. Jeter occupied the #1 slot in both sets last year

2015 Topps Chrome #1 Derek Jeter (b-side)

Check the upper right of the card and yes it is card #1, also note the Chrome designation



Where does the Jeter #1 Card Rank
I am a little surprised that Derek Jeter has never* appeared as Card #1 in Topps, he has been the last card and been the subject of a noteworthy variation but never #1. 

We took a look at the history of Topps #1 and broke down the cards to figure out which cards we liked best. Charted below are the results - For each card I list the subject Jeter is competing with, and then two columns Jeter and Field. If I felt that this years card was better, The Jeter column gets noted, otherwise the Field Column is labelled the winner.

	Subject	Jeter	Field			Subject	Jeter	Field
2014	Mike Trout	Jeter			2006	A-Rod	Jeter
2013	Bryce Harper	Jeter			2005	A-Rod		Field
2012	Ryan Braun	Jeter			2004	Jim Thome	Jeter
2011	Ryan Braun	Jeter			2003	A-Rod	Jeter
2010	Prince Fielder	Jeter			2002	Pedro	Jeter
2009	A-Rod	Jeter			2001	Cal Ripken		Field
2008	A-Rod	Jeter			2000	McGwire	Jeter
2007	John Lackey	Jeter
1999	Clemens	Jeter			1989	George Bell RB	Jeter
1998	Tony Gwynn	Jeter			1988	Vince Coleman RB	Jeter
1997	Barry Bonds	Jeter			1987	Roger Clemens RB		Field
1996	Gwynn Sub	Jeter			1986	Pete Rose		Field
1995	Frank Thomas		Field		1985	Carlton Fisk RB		Field
1994	Mike Piazza cup		Field		1984	Steve Carlton RB		Field
1993	Robin Yount		Field		1983	Tony Armas RB	Jeter
1992	Nolan Ryan		Field		1982	Steve Carlton RB		Field
1991	Nolan Ryan		Field		1981	LL BA Brett Buckner		Field
1990	Nolan Ryan		Field		1980	HL 3000 Hits Brock Yaz		Field
1979	LL BA Carew D Parker	Jeter			1969	LL BA Yaz Cater Oliva	Jeter
1978	RB Lou Brock SB Car		Field		1968	LL BA Clemente		Field
1977	LL BA Brett Madlock	Jeter			1967	WSC Robinson Robinson		Field
1976	RB Hank Aaron RBI		Field		1966	Willie Mays		Field
1975	HL Hank Aaron HR		Field		1965	LL BA Oliva B Robinson		Field
1974	Hank Aaron HR King		Field		1964	LL ERA Koufax		Field
1973	HRs Ruth Aaron Mays		Field		1963	LL BA NL		Field
1972	WSC Pirates		Field		1962	Roger Maris		Field
1971	WSC Orioles		Field		1961	Dick Groat		Field
1970	WSC Mets		Field		1960	Early Wynn	Jeter
1959	Ford Frick	Jeter			1955	Dusty Rhodes	Jeter
1958	Ted Williams		Field		1954	Ted Williams		Field
1957	Ted Williams		Field		1953	Jackie Robinson		Field
1956	William Harridge	Jeter			1952	Andy Pafko		Field

There are nine grey blocks that I felt were debatable, A good argument could get me to switch my allegiance on any of those columns.

For the life of me I have no idea what I was doing with the yellow blocks.

2015 marks the 64th edition of Topps. Of the 63 previous I felt as the the Derek Jeter #1 Card was better than 27 of them. The field took the remaining 36. HOWEVER, if you were to give Jeter all 6 of his borderline that would elevate this years card to 33 Wins versus 30 for the field.

That puts 2015 Topps #1 Derek Jeter pretty close to the middle of the 63 #1 Cards all time.

The Green Blocks are links to postings on the specified card. See "Topps #1 Project" below for additional info. 

Topps 2005 #1
In 2005 the top spot was occupied by Alex Rodriguez - Above I mentioned that Derek Jeter has never been Card #1, this is mostly true, I am pretty sure he has a guest cameo on the 2005 Alex Rodriguez Card

I am curious on feedback on any of the lists, a lot of these cards you may be familiar with, for others I would suggest going to the Topps Baseball Card Database

Topps #1 Project
We have an index of the Topps #1 cards here. Just another of the many features that we plan on starting for 2016, who knows how far we will get into the project. Also cards listed in green link to a posting discussing the specific #1 card. Some of these cards are from past columns. Hopefully the future will have additional posts. 

Derek Jeter vs other #1 Polls
Shortly after I posted this column I started running Polls to see which card folks preferred Jeter or another #1. Hopefully this will give us a picture of where the 2015 #1 card ranks. The results of these polls are below:

2016 Mike Trout 4: 2015 Jeter 3 (2016 01 28)
1982 Steve Carlton 8: 2015 Jeter 1 (2016 01 27)


Sources, Links and Updates
Phungo Topps #1 Index
Phungo 2015 Topps Index
Lawrence Jounal World
A Cardboard Problem
Cardboard Connection
Baseball Card Database

Update: 2016 01 31 - added Derek Jeter vs other #1 Polls section