Card of the Week: 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #20 Mike Schmidt
Posted by Andy on September 29, 2010
For a few years, Topps put out a series of All-Time Fan Favorite cards that featured classic player photos on classic Topps designs. Collector reaction was quite mixed. I myself absolutely love the cards because they invoke all the iconic Topps designs of the past in new cards. A good amount of effort went into designing each card and using a photo from the appropriate time period. These are high-quality cards in terms of the cardstock and printing, so they lack the look and feel of the classic cards, as compared to the Heritage series they've had, which intentionally used lower-quality printing and card stock so that the cards more closely resembled the classic examples.
This 2004 card uses the 1974 Topps set, in which Schmidt had his first solo card.
That classic photo of Schmidt is pretty cool. In the background we can see a billboard for the Pinellas County Title Company. Phillies fans will probably know that Clearwater, the longtime spring training home of the Phillies, is in Pinellas County in Florida.
The backs of the All-Time Fan Favorites cards were similarly styled after the classic card backs, except that they showed the player's career stats with the team. For a player who had more than one stint with a team these cards show the stats from the various stints with that team.
Usually I put some stats in these posts but I think we all know about the exploits of Michael Jack Schmidt.
Further reading:
I posted all of the All-Time Fan Favorites cards that used the 1988 Topps design.
September 29th, 2010 at 8:11 am
What I like best about the card is the little "Mike enjoys listening to music" blurb in the corner. When I was a kid back in the early 60's those little tidbits helped to make me feel like I kind of knew something about the players on a personal level and helped make a connection to the game & players.
September 29th, 2010 at 8:45 am
It's funny to see Schmidt without the mustache, it almost feels like he's had it since he was 14 years old.
I liked this set when it came out. There were a lot of really nice glossy photos mixed in with those classic Topps card designs.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:04 am
That is not the same photo that is on the actual 1974 Topps card. He is in a batting stance on the original card. 1974 is a decent set. That was the year that the Padres were going to move to Washington DC and the cards that the variance with the "Washington Natnl League". Funny thing was that the only Padre that didn't have this on the card was Dave Winfield I beleive and that was his rookie year.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Classic.
BTW, I'm reading "Mint Condition" right now, great book I recommend to everyone.
I love the original Schmidt rookie, I have a couple.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Sorry, my phrase "classic player photos" may have been misunderstood. I meant only that the photos were from the appropriate period, not that they had been used previously on cards.
September 29th, 2010 at 11:07 am
My review of Mint Condition is here:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/8249
If you buy from the link I provided in that post, Baseball-Reference.com gets a small referral fee from Amazon.com.
September 29th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
@1
Hartvig -- The blurbs were my favorite thing about baseball cards, especially the quirky ones. I believe one Hideki Irabu card quoted him saying, "I’m always drawn to shiny objects."
Years ago, when I did typesetting & paste-up, I made up baseball cards for a couple of buddies, with quips like, "Keith is a revolutionary in the off-season." (It wasn't true, of course; Keith was a full-time revolutionary.)
September 29th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Andy, I was never a rabid collector and I stopped purchasing cards sometime in my late 20's, but I love these posts. They always get me all nostalgic. Thanks!
September 29th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Doesn't everyone like music? "Mike likes day time and night time, and Mike likes the ladies." Thanks Topps. Big help.
September 29th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Schmidt was another one that I miscalculated -- but that was based on his first-year batting average. And in response to #9, I haven't followed music trends since Elvis got drafted; so obviously, music wouldn't be a worthy note in my bio.