During the 1977 season, Andre Dawson batted .282 with 19 home runs and 65 RBI, which earned him NL Rookie of the Year honors. A rare 1980/81 baseball card. Before Danny Ainge found success at the professional level in basketball as a player, coach and executive, he made his professional sports debut for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1979while he was still in college. He also loves to write about the hobby and has written for Beckett, Topps, SABR and of course, this website. One year removed from his Rookie of the Year-winning season, this Ripken card is still a hobby favorite because it shows the Orioles third baseman's timeless swing and a close-up of his youthful mug all on one important card. Let's be honest, it didn't matter what jersey Ryan wore or what style it was, he was going throw major heat regardless. Murray appeared in his second All-Star Game that season and finished things off with a fifth-place finish in the MVP vote, one of six times he finished in the top five in his storied career. The 1981 season was the St. Louis Cardinals 100th season in St. Louis, Missouri, and their 90th year in the National League (NL). 1981 Topps Baseball Card Checklist. 723 Bruce Bochte. 1 Rickey Henderson #119. 726 Rick Monday. After tallying 138 wins and 2,416 strikeouts over eight seasons with the California Angles, Nolan Ryan signed a $4.5 million four-year deal with the Houston Astros during the 1979 offseason. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at the list: The 1981 American League MVP race came down to two men, Oakland Athletics left fielder Rickey Henderson and former As closer Rollie Fingers. The 1982 season saw Henderson set a single-season best for stolen bases as he swiped a ridiculous 130 bases in total. Keith was a baseball first baseman. That means the card needs to be flawless. Top 10 Most Valuable: 1981 Topps Basketball. Rickey Henderson, an American retired professional baseball player who played his entire 24-year career in Major League Baseball, helped break the sports color barrier. An Enrique Romo Signed Baseball card that has been authenticated by a grading service is pretty hard to find. His struggles didn't last long, though, and maybe it was seeing Mike Schmidt win back-to-back MVPs in 1980 and 1981 because, by the following year, Murphy's production skyrocketed as he'd go on to win back-to-back MVPs of his own in 1982 and 1983. In the teams first game back following the players strike, the 40-year-old recorded hit number 3,631, passing Stan Musial as the National Leagues all-time hits leader. Despite not being a Hall of Famer, Rose's legacy as one of the game's greatest hitters of all time keeps his cards in high demand throughout the hobby. In those 108 games, they played at Fenway Park where they had a record of 56-52. Ultimately, the Padres and Cardinals would complete a multi-player trade before the 1982 season that sent Templeton to San Diego and Smith to St. Louis, where he would play the next fifteen years and become a Cardinals icon. I know the game is played differently these days but even if it weren't, I'd be stunned if anyone in the future ever meets or bests his 130 stolen bases in a season. 1981 Topps Traded MLB Baseball Trading Cards Pick From List #727-#858. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at the list: Lee Smith was one of the greatest relief pitchers to ever step on the mound and is currently a distant number three on the all-time saves list with 478 behind Mariano Rivera (652) and Trevor Hoffman (601). They finished the season with a .546 winning percentage in front of 1,060,379 fans who saw them play. From there you can also add a Card to your collection or wishlist. He helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseball and ushered in the modern closer role. So, for the cards on this list to be worth much, they'll have to be graded by PSA to be in perfect, gem mint condition. 1981 Topps card list & price guide. The 1981 O-Pee-Chee features the Canadian version of the 1981 Topps set, where it is uncommon to see French on an MLB card. It was also the first Topps set to feature a monster 792-card checklist. Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $120. That just shows you what kind of effect being a Hall of Famer can have on baseball card prices. Inc. However, the turf at Olympic Stadium didn't do Dawson any favors resulting in knee problems that would hamper his speed later in his career. There were tons of errors, collation inside boxes was hit and miss (mostly miss) and the . We may earn an affiliate commission if you Kansas City went 20-30 in the season's first half and started the second half slowly, with Manager Jim Frey taking the heat. This card is among the most valuable cards from the set, with PSA 10 cards of this type collecting several thousand dollars at best. Yastrzemski played two more seasons in Boston before retiring, making All-Star appearances at the age of 42 and 43 during the 1982 and 1983 seasons, respectively. Shortcuts: We don't know how big a role nostalgia plays with this one, but it still regularly sells north of $40. Still, as one of the game's greatest leadoff hitters and baserunners, he was overdue to get in anyway. Ungraded & graded values for all '82 Topps Baseball Cards. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The 1981 Canadian version of the 1981 Nolan Ryan Topps baseball card came from O-Pee-Chee at a time when there were two Canadian teams registered in MLB. It has been authenticated and graded a 10 by Beckett Authentication Services. 6 Rickey Henderson #180. It is also (by a slight margin) the most valuable card in the 1984 Topps Football set. Clocking in at 605 cards in total, this set made history when it first debuted. . This card features Tim Maines, Roberto Ramos and Bobby Pate, all the players listed were stars in their prime. Most Expensive, 1981 Donruss. Despite this seemingly unjustified absence from more "Midsummer Classics," Yount is considered to be the greatest Milwaukee Brewer in the franchise's history. 1981 Topps Traded Tim Raines Rookie Baseball Card #816 NM-MT FREE SHIPPING. The card from 1981 features three outstanding baseball players who were kings in their lanes. However, once he was in San Diego, Templeton's hitting declined drastically and he'd never bat over .300 again. They were the fourteenth and fifteenth players to achieve the incredible milestone. Read our methodology. And the reason it's worth so much in PSA 10 condition? While George Brett lit up the AL in 1980, Mike Schmidt was doing the same in the NL and would take home his first of three career MVP Awards for his efforts. 1981 Topps card list & price guide. 2017-18 Panini National Treasures Donovan Mitchell RC Auto Patch /99. 6) 1981 Topps Traded Rollie Fingers (#761) This may be the most iconic 1981 baseball card of all, thanks to 1) Fingers signature mustache, 2) the old-school kneeling pose, 3) the Cy Young-MVP twofer Rollie pulled off in 1981, and the 1982 Topps Kmart set that immortalized the entire card in miniature. 3. His .246 batting average and .355 slugging percentage were also career lows. He also had a flair for the big hit and helped Philadelphia to a 34-21 record in the first half to secure a playoff spot for the Phillies halfway through the season. This bad boy sold for $18,500 on eBay auctions in May 2021. Aurelio Alejandro Lpez Rios was a Mexican professional baseball player. Total Cards: 726. We are user supported. At the time, everyone thought the Padres were getting the better end of the deal as Templeton was a much better hitter. While this set may be slightly overlooked in the history of the hobby, it still delivers a great checklist. 1981 Topps Project 70 Card Wade Boggs by Efdot FOIL, 8. Greatest Topps Baseball Cards of All-Time. Shortcuts: Most Expensive, Cheapest, List by Card # You own: 0 / 1202 items 0% Track your collection for free. He also paced the Majors in ERA+ (195) and hits per 9 innings (6.0). If you do the math on those 2,416 strikeouts he accumulated during his time with the Angels, that meant he averaged302 strikeouts per season, a mark many pitchers would be lucky to reach even once during their careers. Instead, he was more of a craftsman on the mound and outsmarted hitters to allow a career-low 6.5 hits per nine innings. On the other hand, Ozzie's bat did nothing but improve and combined with the amazing glove he already had, he'd deliver Hall of Fame-caliber play for years in St. Louis. 6. In 196 plate appearances (178 at-bats), he slashed .309/.369/.489 with eight home runs and 25 RBI. There are only 7 examples of this card in circulation at the time of this writing that have achieved that gradeso they're very scarce. 1981 Fleer card list & price guide. During his career, Rose was known for his all-around ability and enthusiasm. 1980 Topps #482 Rickey Henderson Rookie Card. His career was far from over at that point, but Schmidt's play showed the baseball world that they were already witnessing the greatest third baseman of all-time in the making. But, you'll remember that by 1982, Topps was no longer the only major company producing baseball cards as both Donruss and Fleer had joined the scene the year prior. Let's be clear:most of the cards from this set do not have any value these days. The player who played the most games at first base in major league history was Eddie Murray, who amassed 2,413-lifetime games at the position along with nearly 600 more as a designated hitter. The imagery on this card is some of the best on this list and in the set in general, as Topps perfectly captured Jackson taking a massive swing. Tim Raines first became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2008 but wasn't elected until 2017 when he received a convincing 86% of the vote. Many times, though, he'd fail to connect on those swings and would up earning himself a spot as the career leader in strikeouts with 2,597. When collectors think back to the junk wax era, one of the first sets to jump into minds is 1987 Topps Baseball. The last sale's most valuable Topps Nolan Ryan baseball card is the 1974 Topps Nolan Ryan baseball card number #20. Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $2,700. $29. Along with those of Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg, the 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn rookie card is one of the most important and iconic baseball cards of the 1980's.. Sure, Gwynn was one of the greatest hitters who ever played with 8 batting titles to his name, but why are collectors willing to pay so much for this card . Smith continued his outstanding defensive work in 1981 by leading the National League in assists for the third straight year to pick up his second straight Gold Glove. Tom Seaver came within a handful of votes of winning his fourth Cy Young on the 1981 season with an incredible pitching display that saw him lead the Majors in wins (14) and winning percentage (.875). Featured here is a rare rookie card from 1989 with an authenticated signature of Steve Avery. 1981 Pete Rose Baseball Card. While some of the game's big names struggled with the split-season, Schmidt held things together all year to lead the Majors in home runs (31), RBI (91), OBP (.435), slugging percentage (.644), OPS (1.080), OPS + (198), and total bases (228).