This is the tenth post in our 30 Day Baseball Card Challenge series, originally created by Tony L. of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards. This is Day 10: A Card From The 60’s You Like.
The cards from the 1960’s have always held a special place in my heart, as they were the cards that my father collected as a child, and the God-like players he told me about as I grew up to love the game of baseball as well.
I have also noted many times in these blog posts, that the 1962 Topps set was my father’s all time favorite, and that Topps’ similar design in 1987 lured my father back into collecting in his 30’s, and thus, began my long love for collecting cards as well.
With all of that said, it’s no wonder I had trouble picking a card from the 1960’s that I liked. Hell, I could have picked the entire 1965 Topps set, one of the best looking sets of all time in my opinion. I could have picked any card from my father’s favorite 1962 set. i could have picked rookie cards of Pete Rose, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Johnny Bench, or Rusty Staub (wich I have), just to name a few. Cards with names like Aaron, Mays, Clemente, and Banks. The final cards of Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax.
In other words, there are plenty of cards from the 1960’s that I could have chosen for this post. Still, of all the cards from the decade, the cards that I always loved most where the multi player subset cards. Something about seeing the greatest players ever share a piece of 2.5″ x 3.5″ cardboard has always given me goosebumps.
Before I get to the card I chose, I have to give an honorable mention here, as the first card that immediately came to mind was from my father’s favorite, the 1962 Topps set. In that set, card #18 depicts Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays posing together (with Hank Aaron in the background no less) at the 1961 All-Star game, with the words “Manager’s Dream” across the bottom of the card over that famous wood-grain border.
Manager’s dream…now there is an understatement.
No explanation should be needed about this card, but for this who don’t know, this single card contains a photo of the two biggest names of my father’s generation. On a personal note, the card contains my dad’s boyhood hero, Mickey Mantle, standing next to the man my dad has always said was the greatest player he has ever seen, Willie Mays, (who played for my Grandpa Lou’s favorite team)…on a card in my old man’s favorite baseball card set ever.
Still, as I began to write about this card, I remembered another card I learned of years earlier. Once I looked it up to make sure my memory was correct, it was the easy choice. It’s a card of the greatest hitter of all time, giving hitting instruction to a major league player.
The 1969 Topps card #539, “Ted Shows How”, depicts Washington Senator’s manager Ted Williams giving hitting instruction to Senator’s firstbaseman Mike Epstein. It’s impossible not to be envious of Epstein in this moment, as this card is photo proof that he once received hitting lessons from the man regarded by many as the greatest hitter to ever live.
This is the equivalent of learning to paint from Pablo Picasso, having Albert Einstein as your Physics teacher, or being taught piano by Beethoven. And it’s all captured on a baseball card.
Of course, Ted Williams time as manager of the Senators wasn’t very successful, and by most accounts, he had trouble wrapping his head around the fact that ballplayers couldn’t just do the things he taught them. I’ve always found it funny that Williams though hitting was so scientific, that by teaching it he could just create, well, more Ted Williamses.
My favorite part of this card, however, is that every time I look at it, I wonder what Mike Epstein is thinking here.
WAX PACK POETIC 