Great #1 Cards to Celebrate the New Year

Clean slates, pithy reminders, and general silliness abound

Hey … it’s 2023!t

So, Happy New Year!

Since it’s the first day of the next 365, I thought it might be fun to celebrate a few awesome #1s — some #1 baseball cards, that is.

Here are a few that made an early impression on me, and that still carry some weight today.

1962 Topps Roger Maris

This one counts as a personal childhood experience even though it predates my existence by a decade because I knew someone who had one of these babies.

And Maris’ strained, melancholy facial expression matched perfectly with all the folklore around how much of a toll the pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record had taken on The Rajah in 1961.

If you want a reminder that perseverance and hard work can pay off, and that sometimes the hard times lead to better things, this is the New Year card for you.

1981 Topps George Brett and Bill Buckner

Before Brett became a World Series hero for the Royals in 1985 and before Buckner became a World Series goat for the Red Sox in 1986, they were united on this card after winning their leagues’ batting titles in 1980.

Sure, Buckner’s .324 paled compared to Brett’s .390, but this card is a reminder that we’re not defined by one bad moment, no matter how visible or egregious it may seem in that moment.

There’s always good to remember, and there’s usually good ahead, too

1982 Donruss Pete Rose Diamond King

The pile of blurry mush that was 1981 Donruss did little to build confidence in the brand’s future among collectors. Indeed, Big D needed to burst out of the box in a big way if they hoped to salvage their 1982 issue.

It was a tall order, but in came Dick Perez and Pete Rose and …

BAM!

Donruss hit us right in the face with this amazing first-ever Diamond King card that makes Rose look somehow harsh and majestic at the same time.

Never mind that it was all downhill for the issue after the DKs — this card is a lesson in turning over a new leaf.

1983 Topps Tony Armas Record Breaker

I had no idea who Tony Armas was as I entered my first summer a real baseball card collector, but I pulled this beaut early on.

So, who was this guy, and how did he land on card #1 in the beautiful 1983 Topps set?

Well, ostensibly (based on the card itself), Armas was some sort of defensive wizard who somehow managed to coax 11 hitters to loft balls his direction in rightfield during a single game.

As I dove into the diamond statistics that came my way courtesy of the Sunday paper, though, I found out that Armas was a big-bat slugger who toiled not for the A’s but for the Red Sox. Dude would even win the A.L. home run crown in Beantown in 1984!

This card reminds us — things aren’t always as they seem, even on the clean slate of a New Year.

1986 Fleer Steve Balboni

Steve Balboni was born in January of 1957, but all available evidence suggests he was one of the game’s great folk heroes at least 100 years before that.

And, by the time he led off the 1986 Fleer set as the most alphabetically-blessed member of the world champion Royals, Balboni had won 37 home run titles, smacked multiple balls that traveled from the waterfalls of Royals stadium to Baseball City to the St. Louis arches and back, and spent his offseasons climbing moon mountains with Pecos Bill and Slue-Foot Sue.

No wonder he looked so epic on this #1.

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So, what are you favorite #1 cards?

I’d love to year your picks!

And …

Happy New Year!

—Adam