HOF Rookie Project #5 - 1975 Topps Robin Yount #223

Card: 1975 Topps #223 Robin Yount
How I got it: Purchased on Ebay
Cost: $5.30 delivered
Why I Bought it: For my HOF Rookie Card Project/Card I have always wanted
My Thoughts: Now this is my kind of card. I have wanted this cards for as long back as I can remember. I picked this guy up for 2.80 with 2.50 shipping and I couldn't be happier. It is pretty beat up, but if you have read my earlier posts, you would know that is how I like my vintage for my personal collection. Yount played 20 seasons all with the Brewers. He won the mvp award two times (1982,1989) and recorded 3,142 hits. His 1731 hits were the most of any player during the 1980's. The first half of Yount's career was played at shortstop before a shoulder injury forced him to the outfield in 1985. Yount was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 his first year of elgibility with 77.5% of the vote.

My doughter on the Robin Yount plate outside of Miller Park in Milwaukee.

HOF Rookie Project #4 - 1966 Topps Don Sutton #288

I am going to switch it up a bit on these posts and just put my thoughts on the card and just a quick blurb on his career. Most people probably don't care if I list out his stats and can look them up anyway on Baseball-Reference.

Card: 1966 Topps #288 Dodgers Rookie Stars
How I got it: Purchased on Ebay
Cost: $6.52 delivered
Why I Bought it: For my HOF Rookie Card Project
My Thoughts: Damn, Sutton has some monsterous looking ears in that photo. It looks like to me that Topps airbrushed a blue hat on him. Sutton was one of those pitchers that was good but never considered great during his career. Granted he did have a 324-256 record, but he played on some pretty impressive teams as well. Sutton was inducted into the hall of fame in 1998. The other guy on the card Bill Singer played 14 years compiling a career record of 118-127. He did win 20 games in a season on two occasions which was one more time than Sutton did.

HOF Rookie Project #3 - 1978 Topps Paul Molitor #707

One of these days I will actually get to do a HOF rookie card post on a single player card.
Molitor was initially drafted in the 1974 draft by The Reds as a pitcher in the 28th round. He decided to go to college and play at the University of Minnesota. After 3 standout years as a Gopher, he was drafted as the third overall pick in the 1977 amateur draft.

He started his career as a shortstop, moved to second base, then to third base and then spent the second half of his career playing first base, but mostly dh’ing.

In his rookie campaign, Molitor would hit .273 with 142 hits, while finishing 2nd in the ROY voting to Lou Whitaker. This seems to be a trend as all three HOF’rs I have profiled so far have finished 2nd in the ROY voting.

Molitor would go on to be one of the great hitters of his generation. 4 times in his career he would have over 200 hits in a season, leading the league 3 times (91, 93, 96). Him and Robin Yount electrified Milwaukee for an entire decade, the same way Braun and Fielder would have done had Prince been able to come to an agreement to stay here.

Living in Wisconsin, my greatest memory of Molitor was his 39 game hitting streak that captivated the entire state during the summer of 1987. I was never a Brewer fan, but I had a lot of respect for Molitor and the way he played growing up.

Molitor left Milwaukee after the 1992 season and signing with the Toronto Blue Jays. His first season in Toronto, he as an all star, finished second in the MVP voting to Frank Thomas, and then went on to win the MVP of the World Series while leading Toronto to their second of back to back titles.

After 1995 he joined the Twins because they were his hometown team, and he wanted the chance to play with Kirby Puckett. He never had the chance to play with Puckett due to Kirby’s career ending glaucoma. He joined the 3,000 hit club on September 16, 1996 with a triple off of Jose Rosado.

Molitor would retire after the 1998 season with 3,319 hits, a career average of .306, 504 stolen bases, and 605 doubles. These numbers are even more astonishing when you realize that he missed over 500 career games due to injury and lost time in the strike shortened season.
“The Ignitor” was inducted into the hall of fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility with 85.2% of the vote.

As for the other players on the card, this is one of the few multi player rookie cards that had to superstars on it.

Alan Trammell – Was part of the longest running double play duo of all time as him and Lou Whitaker played 19 seasons together. He was a 6 time all-star, 4 time gold glover, 1984 World Series MVP. He finished his career with an avg of .285, 185 home runs, 2.365 hits and 1.003 runs batted in. He was one of the best players of the 1980’s, but not quite a hall of famer.

U.L. Washington – Was a solid journeyman that played the first 8 years of his 11 year career with the Kansas City Royals. He finished his career with the Pirates after a one year stint in Montreal. He finished with a .251 career batting average, 27 hr’s and 255 rbi’s.

Mickey Klutts – Played 8 total seasons for 3 different teams, mostly as a backup. Finished his career with 14hr’s, 59 rbi’s, and a .241 average.

HOF Rookie Project #2 - 1975 Topps Jim Rice #616

Another hall of fame post and another 1975 Topps multi player rookie card. This time it is Jim Rice.

Rice broke into the league in 1974, with his official rookie season being 1975. Like Gary Carter he was runner up for ROY in 1975, losing out to his teammate Fred Lynn. Rice, Lynn, and Dwight Evans would team up to form one of the most formidable outfields in history in the late 70's.

Rice would go on to lead the AL in homeruns 3 times in his career (77,78,83), lead the league in rbi's 2 times (78,83), go to 8 all star games, and win the AL MVP in 1978.

His entired career was played in Boston like his predecessors in left field Ted Williams and The Yaz.

Rice was finally inducted into the HOF in 2009 in his final year of eligibility.

Sorry I don't have much more to say on Rice. While he played during my childhood, I don't think other than the 86 World Series did I ever see him play and I must admit I hate the Boston Red Sox.

Since this is a multi player rookie card, lets take a look at the other guys on the card and see how they did.

Dave Augustine - Lasted only 2 seasons in the majors playing in 29 games having 29 AB's. So needless to say, he was a scrub.

Pepe Mangual - Played 6 total seasons between the Expos and Mets. Finished his career with 16 HRs 83 RBIs and .242 AVG.

John Scott - Played 3 seasons never playing in more than 79 games in a season.

So unlike the Gary Carter rookie card where everyone had at least a serviceable MLB Career, this card shows you just how uncertain the prospects can be. Everyone outside of Rice on this card was a scrub.

HOF Rookie Project #1 - 1975 Topps Gary Carter #620

I guess it's fitting that my first post for my hall of fame rookie project would be for Gary Carter, the man we lost two days ago. I already went in depth on how he touched me personally, so this post will be strictly about his career and my thoughts on the card.

First off, I will say, I am not a big fan of the multi player rookie cards that Topps put out, maybe even still puts out I am not sure. It just sucks to me that someone like Gary Carter has to share his rookie card with 3 no names, but then again no one knew Carter was going to be as great as he was either.

Carter was drafted by the Expos in the 3rd round of the 1972 draft. He made is major league debut on September 16th, 1974 an played in 9 games to finish out that season. The next year, Carter hit .268 with 17 hr's and 64 rbi's finishing second in the rookie of the year voting to John "The Count of" Montefusco. Carter was also an all star his rookie season.

1976 saw Carter break his finger so he was limited in playing time. The next season with a new group of young outfielders, Carter quit splitting time between catching and playing the outfield, and became the Expos every day catcher. He blasted 31 hrs and knocked in 84 that season. By 1979 Carter had established himself as one of the best catchers in the game. He would go on to reach 10 consecutive all star games where he had several moments of clutch heroics.

After the 1984 season Carter was traded to the Mets. He continued to shine there with 32 hrs in 1985 and then of course the magical 1986 season where he led the league with 106 rbi's. 1987 saw Carter's numbers start to come down and then in 1988 he had his lowest totals of hrs and rbis since 1976. After a tough year in 1989 The Mets released him and he went on to finish his career with the Giants, Dodgers, and finally back to the Expos.

Carter finished with 324 career homers 1225 runs batted in and a .264 career batting average. He was inducted into the hall of fame in 2003 his sixth time on the ballot. He passed away at the young age of 57 on February 16, 2012 from brain tumors.

Since this is a multi player rookie card, lets take a look and see how the others on this card stacked up.

Marc Hill - Played from 1973 - 1986 for 4 different teams, mostly as a backup catcher. He finished his career with 34 homers 198 rbi's and a .223 lifetime batting average.

Danny Meyer - Was a solid player for the Mariners in the late 70's. He hit 20 hr's or more twice during that time span. He finished his career with 86 homers 459 rbis and a .253 batting average.

Leon Roberts - Joined Meyer on the Mariners in the late 70's and had a couple of decent years. In he hit 22 homers while knocking in 92 and batting .301. He finished his career with 78 homers 328 rbi's and a .267 average.

So this rookie card actually produced a hall of famer, 2 pretty good utility guys, and a back up catcher that stayed employed as a major leaguer for 14 years. This has to be one of the better multi rookie cards that Topps produced.