1983 Topps #498 Wade Boggs (RC)

On Friday we ran the clean up on the 1983 Wheeze Kids series, today we finish looking at the 1983 Topps RC set - A 3 post feature, which I was to lazy to finish.

1983 Topps #498 Wade Boggs  


3000 Hits, a World Championship, 5 batting titles, and a 12 time All-Star.  Wade Boggs was also the 1986 and 1988 O-WAR champ. In 1986 Boggs finish 7th in the MVP voting which was taken by teammate Roger Clemens, Fellow Red Sox player Jim Rice also polled better than Boggs. The 1988 award was taken by 40/40 man Jose Canseco. Once again in '88 Boggs(6th) was outvoted by a teammate - Mike Greenwell 

For The Collector
There are only several million 1983T complete sets out there, consequently the sets HoF RCs are pretty affordable.A check of recent auctions revealed the following:

$3.19 - Low Auction
$5 - At least a dozen sales were completed for $5 or less
$383 - The High for the card (PSA - GEM MT 10)

1983 Topps HoF RCs
Tony Gwynn
Ryne Sandberg

Sources

Old Cardboard - Hall of Fame Rookie Cards

ebay.com
baseball-ref.com

1983 NL Champions: Mike Schmidt 1973 Topps #615 (RC)

In today's edition of 1983 Wheeze Kids we present a Big Fish in any Phillies Fans Collection.

Mike Schmidt 1973 Topps #615 (RC)

The 1983 Phillies didn't have many standout hitting seasons on their roster. The exception was Mike Schmidt, He led the league in Home Runs, Walks and OBP . It was good enough for 3rd in the MVP voting behind Dale Murphy and Andre Dawson.

Schmidt's regular season carried into the NLCS which saw him bat .467 with a pair of doubles and a Home Run, for a nice .800 slugging number. Unfortunatley for the Phillies The Orioles pitching staff figured out the future Hall of Famer and Schmidt stuggled during the World Series only managing a single in 20 ABs.

For the Collector
I picked up the above card a little over a year ago for just under $42 via ebay.  At some point I will do a full FTC on the auction numbers for this card, but don't have my stuff together today.

In OtherWords

Night Owl Cards - A view of this card from a Dodger Fan.

HoF Index: Mike Schmidt
1973 Topps #615 (RC)
1974 Topps #283  (First Solo Card)
1975 Topps #70 & related Mini
1976 All-Star Program
1977 Topps #441 (70th Birthday)
1981 Fleer #645 Triple Threat Schmidt, Rose, Bowa
1981 Topps #206 Record Breakers (Single Season HRs for 3B)
1988 Fleer Superstars #33 
2002 Fleer GotG Dueling Duos #DD-27 (with HoF George Brett)
2005 UD Classic Moments #CM-MS (30th Anniversary 500 Home Runs)
2008 UD Baseball Heroes #138 (40th Anniversary of 4 Home Run Game - 1976 0417)
2013 Panini USA Baseball #34
2013 Topps Chasing History (gold) #CH-92 Mike Schmidt


Complete Phungo HoF Index
 
Sources & Links
1983 Wheeze Kids Index
Baseball-ref.com

1983 Topps #83 Ryne Sandberg

This week the Phillies host the Cubs and Ryne Sandberg will be in the dugout opposite the Cubs for the first time since leaving the Chicago organization a few seasons ago.  Well for the first time at the Major League level anyway - Sandberg managed the Phillies AAA Lehigh Valley affiliate prior to 2013 and possibly faced a lower level Cubs affiliate. 

The trade of Ryne Sandberg by the Phillies to the Cubs in 1982 is often mentioned when the Phillies worst trade converstions arise. He was part of a deal that brought Ivan DeJesus to Philadelphia, DeJesus was part of the 1983 National League Champions. In my opinion any deal that garners a League Championship cannot be looked upon totally unfavorably.

Hall of Fame

Ryno of course went on to have a Hall of Fame career.  His 16 MLB seasons included 10 all-star appearances, 9 Gold Gloves ,and 7 Silver Sluggers all at second base. Sandberg finished his career with 282 home runs. 277 of those were as a second baseman, good enough for the position record at the time of his 1997 retirement (a number surpassed by Jeff Kent in 2004). In addtion to being a threat at the plate and on defensive Sandberg was also adept on the basebaths with 344 career SBs including 54 in 1985.    .

The Cubs reached the postseason twice during Sandberg's career in 1984 and 1989. Those two season are of course both part of the Cubs long World Series drought. 

1983 Topps #83 Ryne Sandberg RC

There are a number of non-mainstream Ryne Sandberg cards issued prior to 1983. These include his 1980 TCMA Reading Phillies card.  1983 featured cards from Donruss Fleer and Topps.   

In off condition I found the Topps Sandberg RC for under $3.  Not sure if that is a good deal for a card that can also be found in decent condition at reasonable prices. There are a dozen auctions of this card that ended under $5.  

Graded Card Pricing  

Grade	$Price	Pop
PSA 7 NM	$7.25	1
PSA 8 NM-MT	$7.55	1
PSA 8 NM-MT	$8.25	1
PSA 8 NM-MT	< $10.06	15
PSA 10 MINT	$303	1

Ryne Sandberg HoF Index
1991 Score #815
1997 Topps Chrome (Card Show Dimers)
2005 UD Classics #125 managerial debut
2013 Topps Archives #48 (1972 Topps retro/blaster break)
2014 Heritage #57
2015 Heritage #411 - Rhyming card with 1966T Gene Mauch 
 

Sources

Old Cardboard - Hall of Fame Rookie Cards

baseball-ref.com

ebay.com

wikipedia.com

Reading the Competition: 1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn RC

A quick Question, What Jersey Number is Tony Gwynn wearing on this Topps Rookie Card? I did a quick search and found nothing. Does anyone have an early 80s Padres media guide that may has a 40 man roster listing Gwynn? I am a little surprised that with all the information out there, that this remains a mystery.

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This week the Phillies are on the Road in Southern California, facing the Padres during the week followed by the Dodgers over the weekend. To mark the first part of the road trip we are very happy to examine the Tony Gwynn Rookie card(s)

1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn

2013 marks the 30th anniversary of one of my favorite Topps Sets, 1983. I Iike the design and the dual photos. Another bonus is the impressive checklist that includes 3 HoF RCs - Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, and Wade Boggs.

1983 is near the outset of the MLB awarding multiple trading card licenses and there are actually at least three Gwynn RCs.  Plus there is a 1982 TCMA card and the 1983 OPC Gwynn. For me I am a Topps guy and the 1983 #482 card above is the Gwynn Rookie Card.

HoF Career  
We have covered the career of the first ballot Hall of Famer previously. His career accomplishments are worth reiterating 3141 Hits, 1300+ Runs, 1100+ RBI, 300 SB, 7 batting titles, 15 time all-star. He was also a member of both of the Padres World Series teams, 1984 and 1998.

According to Wikipedia Tony Gwynn has been battling various health issues (some weight related) but he remains active as the coach of the San Diego State Aztecs. The biggest name that Gwynn coached with the Aztecs is likely Stephen Strasburg. In 2013 Tony Gwynn's son Tony Gwynn Jr remains in professional baseball, playing at the AAA level of the Dodgers system in Albuquerque (batting .321/ .400 OBP at press time)

For the Collector

This makes me sick. Tony Gwynn is a first ballot Hall of Famer, His Topps Rookie Card is 30 years old and had recent auctions close as low as $2.10 Shipped! Hell, a year ago Cardboard Connection selected the card as one of the 10 most valuable RCs of the 1980s.

Why the hell would anyone buy a pack of 2013 Topps S2 when for the same price you could have Tony Gwynn's Rookie Card?  At least two other auctions ended under $3.

The 1983 Donruss #598 came in as low as $3.48 while the 1983 Fleer #360 came in at $3.50 - A graded (PSA 5 EX) version of the Fleer card went for $3.99.  

All 3 cards could be found multiple times for under $5 and All 3 cards are each currently available BIN under $10. 

On the other end of the spectrum graded version of the cards sold as follows:

Topps #482 Tony Gwynn PSA GEM MT 10: $454 
Fleer #360 Tony Gwynn PSA GEM MT 10: $75
Donruss #598 BGS GEM MT 9.5: $53 

HoF Index
2005 Topps Pristine #105 (#d/999)
2012T A&G What's in a Name
2011 Topps Tier One
2002 UD World Series Heroes #57  (Memorials and Tributes)

Sources
30 Year Old Cardboard
Cardboard Connection
Old Cardboard
ebay.com
Baseball-Ref.com
San Diego State Baseball
Wikipedia