From Ainge to Zisk - The 1981 Topps Traded Set

In 2018, I finished a collection of all the "Cardboard Box" Topps Traded sets from 1981 - 1991. I thought it would be a fun topic for the blog to dig into the sets and share some highlights from each one. Danny Ainge, of course, was a big rookie card in this set. Not so much for his baseball career, but because this was his first of two professional sports careers.

The back of his card alludes to his versatility. After a few seasons in Toronto, Ainge switched sports and became a household name in Boston. At 6'4" he was considered quite tall as a baseball player. On the basketball court, he was just the right size to be "pesky" in the paint and source of consternation for small forwards throughout the NBA.

It was a decent rookie crop in the 1981 Traded set. The Legend Bob Walk had just moved to Atlanta after starting game 1 of the 1980 World Series for the Phillies. Leon "Bull" Durham was just getting his career started, not knowing he'd one day be on the big screen as a Minnesota Twin in Little Big League.

The big rookie of 1981 was Fernando Valenzuela. He, like many of these guys, had cards in the main 1981 Topps set. That card, however, was shared with two other Dodger Rookies. "Fernandomania" swept the NL and demanded a bigger stage for the young lefty. Topps was happy to oblige.

The only rookie in the set that was also a Hall of Famer was the electric Tim Raines. The Expos were well on their way in 1981 to becoming one of the most exciting teams in recent memory thanks to Raines and their young nucleus of talent.

The Traded set had one big advantage - which was the ability to identify the players making the biggest impacts in the current year. Both Valenzuela and Raines had gaudy numbers by mid season when Topps finalized the checklist for the traded set.

Speaking of Hall of Famers, the 1981 Topps set had 9 in all. Blyleven was relieved to escape the National League, where he would often be pulled from close games before he was ready. Rollie Fingers solidified the bullpen in Milwaukee and helped the team make it to the 1982 World Series. Fisk would become a legend in his new Sox, and Joe Morgan would continue his excellent play well into his late 30s. 

Dave Winfield made headlines joining Reggie Jackson in New York, but would have a tumultuous relationship with the Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner. Don Sutton spent just a year and half in Houston, before heading to the Brewers to join Rollie and Harvey's Wallbangers. Bruce Sutter was right in the prime of his career, and flew south to join the Redbirds. 1981 was his 5th All-Star Appearance, and he led the NL in Saves for the 3rd of 4 straight seasons. The Cardinals were the Brewers' opponents in the '82 Series, and Sutter prevailed over Sutton and Fingers. Gaylord Perry is wearing an extremely clean hat for a man who threw a variety of shall we say "heavy" breaking pitches. Perry was the NL leader in hits allowed, but he also had the lowest walk rate (BB/9).

The only Twin in the 1981 Traded set is the jovial erstwhile Dodger, Mickey Hatcher. Mickey came to the Twins in the Ken Landreaux trade in Spring Training of 1981. Hatcher would spend 6 seasons in Minnesota, returning to the Dodgers in time to win the 1988 World Series. In the series, Hatcher hit .368 with a pair of homers.

Traded sets sometimes get the new team before they get a photo in their new uni. That means bad airbrushing! Rick Reuschel's card was among the worst offenders in the 1981 Traded Set, and Rick can barely hide his disgust.

Then again, there will also be some hidden gems in Traded Sets, and these were my favorites from this set.

As promised -- From Ainge, to Zisk!

The Joy Of A Completed Run

I nearly made this post a few months ago, when I purchased a "complete" 1983 Topps Traded set on eBay for only $12! Well, I still feel like I got a good deal on the set, even though it turned out that one card in particular was missing. I could have been upset about this, but the very low cost combined with the fact that the set was the only card related item on the seller's store made me think they weren't trying to cheat anyone. I let them know that the card was missing from the set, and that someone most likely pulled it out before the set made it to them.

I found this one on COMC, purchased with some store credit that I earned from a PayPal payment from a friend for Twins tickets. So now I've completed the whole run of 80s Topps Traded Sets!

I didn't know the 1981 Traded Set came in the same box design, so it was a surprise to find it on eBay. Most of these were picked up at shows or card shops for a couple bucks. The 1982 set of course was the big ticket item, I hemmed and hawed on that one for some time before buying it. But once I added it, I figured I should do the whole run of sets with the same box design.

I have two questions for you (thanks for reading this far!)

1. Which traded set is your favorite? (I'm partial to 1986 for the crazy rookie checklist)

2. Why are the traded sets exactly 132 cards? (I don't know the answer, I'm hoping someone out there does)

The King of Topps Traded - Rick Cerone

I spent a little time looking through the Topps Traded sets of the 80s, and there are many familiar faces like Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield, Rookies of guys like Bonds, Bo Jackson, Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff, etc. But I noticed one player that kept popping up - Catcher Rick Cerone. The Card above is not from the Traded set - though he had already been traded twice by 1982. Cerone was a first round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians, but was coveted by the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto gave up Rico Carty to Cleveland in exchange for making Cerone the Opening Day starting catcher for the first game in Blue Jays history. When Thurman Munson was tragically killed, the Yankees made the move to acquire Cerone to be their everyday starter behind the plate.

Cerone's best season came in 1980, his first with the Yankees. He even earned enough recognition to finish 7th in the MVP voting for the season (He was 3rd among Yankees behind Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage. He did get one writer's first place vote). After the 1980 season, his production declined and he gave way to Butch Wynegar. He continued as a back up for several years before being dealt to Atlanta in exchange for Rookie pitcher Brian Fisher.

Fisher had a few very good seasons for New York, but Rick would be on the move again after one season for the Braves, as Atlanta traded Cerone and two minor leaguers to Milwaukee for Ted Simmons. Cerone would once again play second fiddle, getting reps behind Charlie Moore in Milwaukee.

George Steinbrenner had his favorites, and among them was Rick Cerone. Following the '86 Season, Cerone was a free agent and the Yankees picked him up again, now to be the primary catcher in New York. He caught 113 games in 1987 for the Yankees and also appeared twice as a pitcher. He finished two games and gave up no runs, finishing his MLB pitching career with a 0.00 ERA.

During Spring Training of 1988, The Yankees decided that catching duties would be shared with Don Slaught and Joel Skinner, so Cerone was the odd man out. The Yankees released Cerone on April 4th, and the Red Sox picked him up about a week later to platoon with Rich Gedman in Boston. The Sox made the playoffs, though Cerone did not play in any of the ALCS games against Oakland.

"Italian Stallion" is quite the nickname for Rick, given to him by Phil Rizzuto of all people...

The 80s were busy for Cerone, and the 90s started out the same way. After 2 seasons in Boston, he would return a third time to New York, now sharing time with Bob Geren. He only appeared in 49 games in 1990, but had the highest batting average of his career, reaching a mark of .302 for the season. With Matt Nokes on the horizon, Cerone again found himself looking for a new job in the offseason.

He didn't have to travel far, as the Mets were looking for a back up behind Charlie O'Brien. He actually did the bulk of the work, appearing in 90 games for the Mets. This too, would end up as a temporary stop, and he would again head north of the border for work in 1992.

Cerone probably should have appeared in the 1992 Traded set, but he missed the cut. He played in just 33 games for Montreal, but was released in July. Gary Carter had returned to Montreal and Darrin Fletcher was taking up the slack as well. Cerone does appear on two cards as an Expo - the 1992 Leaf set and 1992 Topps Stadium Club.

Top Topps Traded (to me)

Just a short post today - showcasing some recent COMC pickups - all Topps Traded. I can find complete sets from time to time at shows, but sometimes a person just wants a few singles!

Having a hard time keeping a straight face looking at Kent Hrbek  and his teenager moustache.

Danny Ainge with the Marlboro ad in the background - take that, Fleer!

Dennis Eckersley and the awful airbrushing on the inset photo.

Of course Bert Blyleven and his orange beard is fantastic as well.

Let's make this a discussion post- what are some of your favorite Topps Traded cards?

I can picture the awesome Oscar Gamble card with the gigantic fro, the Keith Hernandez '83 Topps traded card with the Mets, Nolan Ryan's '89 Topps traded with the Rangers (maybe more memorable to me than the Griffey Rookie).

Or maybe this guy?