These 5 Baseball Cards are the "Highlight" of Your Summer

Some of them probably broke your records, too

Hall of Famer Lou Brock was born 84 years ago today.

There’s nothing really profound in that statement, but Brock was definitely a trendsetter and helped pave the way for 1980s speedsters like Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines, Vince Coleman, and, uh, John Cangelosi.

And when I think of Brock and cardboard, one of the cards that always pops to mind is his very last one.

It was sort of a *highlight* of one particular set. More on that in a couple.

But just know, that card the motivation for this list of baseball cards guaranteed to be among the Highlights of your summer…

1975 Topps Steve Busby/Dick Bosman/Nolan Ryan (#7)

Right, I know.

Hank Aaron should probably be in this slot if I’m picking a ‘75 Topps card.

But I’m still sort of miffed Topps went the “Highlight” route after Aaron’s historic 1974 achievements, rather than “Record Breaker.”

Besides, Hammer gets his due later on, in a way only 1980s kids can appreciate.

As for these three gents, Ryan threw his third no-hitter in 1974, on his way to pitching forever.

Meanwhile, Busby had established himself as one of the Royals first big stars, and Bosman was heading into the backstretch of his own solid career.

For all anyone knew at that point in time, Busby might well have been the future Hall of Famer in the bunch.

Cool card, no matter what.

1980 Topps Lou Brock and Carl Yastrszemski (#1)

This is the card that spawned our discussion here today, and it’s a pretty neat one, too.

I mean, you got Brock and Yaz on one hunk of cardboard, commemorating their respective 3000th hits.

Yaz would go on to play four more years (1980-83), racking up plenty more hits and multiplayer cards in the process.

Both men were 40 years old when they reached 3K, but Brock was done at end of the season, retiring as the all-time and single-season stolen base record holder.

Topps didn’t see fit to give him a proper career capper, but they did capitalize on his achievement(s) when it came time to lead off their 1980 set.

1982 Topps Kmart Hank Aaron (#43)

I’ve gone on and on about the Kmart set over the years, from the confusion it spawned to the kid glory of owning the “old” cards pictured as replicas.

There’s another angle that I haven’t thought about much, but that Topps probably hoped was a big draw back in 1982 when these were issued.

Specifically, Kmart gave me access to player cards who would have been off limits otherwise.

All of which is to say that this was my first Hank Aaron card, and it was definitely a highlight. Still is, even if there are more copies running around out there than the product of Aaron’s hits, home runs, and RBI.

1982 Topps Fernando Valenzuela (#6)

Truth be told, there are several pretty fetching Highlight cards in the 1982 Topps set, at least according to my dusty, nostalgia-shaded eyes.

Also truth be told, I didn’t care for many of them back in 1982, when I had some baseball cards but hated them all for not being actual toys.

And the Steve Carlton scared the crap out of me.

But even back then, there was a mystique around Fernando that made this card special to me. I’d heard plenty of buzz about him in 1981 even though I didn’t follow baseball at all.

It’s still a highlight of my collection today, no matter how much that pains me to admit as a Reds fan.

1984 Topps Johnny Bench/Carl Yastrszemski/Gaylord Perry (#6)

See what I mean about Yaz and multiplayer cards?

Once again in 1984, Topps declined to issue career cappers of the three future Hall of Famers who hung up their spikes after the 1983 season.

But at least they jammed them all onto this card together, which was pretty thrilling, if a little sad.

It was definitely a Highlight for a young Reds fan whose team was facing an uncertain future without their all-time great backstop.

And at least Topps didn’t fall prey to Rollie Fingers’ season on the shelf in 1983 and write him off like Donruss did.

—

See, now that I’ve made my case, can you honestly say that those cards are not among the Highlights of your summer?

And I don’t want to hear any excuses about Summer not having actually started yet.

Because, today is also Father’s Dad, and my wiener dog Roscoe said I get to be right all day long.

So if you have a beef with these picks, you’ll have to take it up with him.

Go with God on that one.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam