The Short Guys of 1973 Topps

As a short guy myself, I appreciate those athletes of my height (or shorter!) that have made a name for themselves in professional sports. A couple of favorites that come to mind are Tony Campana (5'8"), formerly of the Cubs and Diamondbacks, and Doug Flutie, who I enjoyed watching upon his return to the NFL in the late 90s. A Google search claims that Flutie is 5'10", meaning he's somehow grown an inch or two since retiring at age 43. Maybe I should start saying I'm 5'10". 

I recently chronicled the tallest players from 1973 Topps, but today is an ode to the short guys, all of them less than 5'8". 

The Shortest Players of 1973 Topps

Joe Morgan (5'7")

Who knew this list would feature a Hall of Famer? And it would feature two more if I included manager cards (Yogi Berra and Earl Weaver were both 5'7").

Vic Davalillo (5'7")

After the 1973 season, Davalillo spent a few years playing in Mexico, returning to MLB with the Dodgers in 1977. He retired after the 1980 season, having spent his final years appearing primarily as a pinch hitter. Davalillo's older brother Pompeyo, who played just one MLB season (1953), was 5'3". 

Walt Williams (5'6")

Williams overall height was affected, according to his obituary, by a typhus injection he received as a young child that caused his neck to shrink. 

Walt 'No Neck' Williams dies (mlb.com)

Freddie Patek (5'4" or 5'5")

One of the great cards from the set and one that is very characteristic of 1973 Topps. It just happens to belong to the shortest player in the league at the time, too. The card lists Patek at 5'4", though official records now indicate he is 5'5".

Do you have any favorite "short" baseball players or other athletes? 

A Hall of Fame Swap

A couple of months ago, I decided to make a trade on TCDB.com after seeing several Hall of Famer cards on the tradelist of a great trading partner, Jade from North Carolina. I had been hanging on to a few Hall of Fame cards that I got earlier this year, not really knowing what to do with them. They are great cards, but they didn't really have a good spot in my collection. Along with these was a rookie card of a "Hall of Very Good" member. I decided to make a run at some cards Jade had, using these Hall of Famers as a springboard. 

I'll start with the four cards I traded, and I think after seeing these gems, you'll realize I got some great stuff in return. 

1961 Topps Yogi Berra

1962 Topps Stan Musial 

This is a fantastic card and was probably the toughest one of the bunch to part with. 

1963 Topps Hoyt Wilhelm

1981 Topps Traded Fernando Valenzuela 

So, what did Jade have that tempted me so much and made me willing to give up some great cards? I'll build up from least to most exciting, with the last two cards being equally awesome in my opinion. 

1955 Bowman Edwin Hurley 

My first umpire card from the set.

1955 Bowman Gil Hodges 

I usually don't like creasing on my cards, but I am a little more lenient with a vintage Hall of Famer.

1955 Bowman Robin Roberts

One of the many things I like about this set are their unique card backs. This one treats us to the best fielding play Robin Roberts ever saw. 

1955 Bowman Bob Feller

I feel like this is one of the more iconic cards of the set, so again, I don't mind some creasing and paper loss in this case. 

1955 Bowman Al Kaline

The highest book value of any of the cards I've shown on this post, this 2nd year Kaline is a treat. Someone penciled in RF on the front of the card, but it's still fantastic. 

I still don't think I'll ever finish this set (see Mantle, Aaron, Mays), but with these cards and some recent other trades and acquisitions, I now own over half the set (166/320). I never could have predicted that many years ago when the Virgil Trucks card caught my eye on eBay one day. 

1955 Bowman: An Accidental Collection

Two things are true concerning the 1955 Bowman set.

• I really like the set. It's probably my favorite of all time.
• I will never complete the set (reasons include: Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, et al.)

I started thinking about this set a little more when looking for some cards for Matt at Diamond Jesters and his Time Travel Trade program. I actually found three dupes of 1955 Bowman cards that I sent to him in exchange for some vintage Cubs I needed.

I never intended to complete this set, but over the years I have accumulated over 1/5 of the cards (around 70 different cards in all; the set totals 320). Most of these were obtained probably close to 10 years ago, when eBay would have them at reasonable prices. I still will look on occasion for new ones from time to time, but only like to pay $1/card shipped, and that doesn't happen very often. I'm not sure of how the value of this set has changed in the last decade, but I'm thinking it's probably increased considerably.

I got my first 1955 Bowman card shortly after learning about the set, maybe about 15 years ago. It was an eBay purchase and I'm thinking I probably paid 99 cents with free shipping. So for me, this is the most recognizable card of the set. And probably my favorite, because there's something about that first card.

1955 Bowman #26, Virgil Trucks

Such a simple, cool, retro design. The TV border is of course the defining characteristic of the set. The card backs are great, too! They feature standard bio information, past year and career stats, and a text section that varies by card. Some of the various topics include, "My Biggest Thrill in Baseball," "My Favorite Baseball Memories," "My Advice to Youngsters," among others. The Virgil Trucks card has this card back:

A great story, but I read somewhere about someone doing research and finding that it couldn't have occurred exactly the way Trucks told it, based on the date and situation and such. Still a great story, though. 

Unlike a lot of my other retro cards, I don't only have commons from this set. Here are a few hall of famers from my collection:

1955 Bowman
#59 Whitey Ford
#10 Phil Rizzuto
#168 Yogi Berra
#103, Eddie Mathews

Yogi has some surface wear, others have some creasing, and one corner of the Rizzuto was the victim of my scissors opening the envelope (GAH!) but overall I think they're pretty nice. The Mathews is probably my favorite of this bunch. My dream card from the set would probably be the Ernie Banks.

Like I said earlier, I have no plans to complete the set, and that's ok. I appreciate the ones I have and it was fun to take a look at these again. Hope you enjoyed them, too!