#572 Giants Heroes - Willie McCovey / Juan Marichal CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #579
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.  

I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set.  It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop.  This was the 20th of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the 20th of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost a little under $10 after the dealer discount.

Marichal and McCovey in 2013

The Card / Giants Team Set

I have to wonder if Topps intended to create one of these combo player cards for each of the 24 teams in the league and just ran out of steam (or good photos), ditching the idea after only four cards.  While Willie McCovey (#440) and Juan Marichal (#370) are unquestionably Giant Heroes, room could have been made on the card for the two other future Hall of Famers from the Giants' roster - Willie Mays (#190) and Gaylord Perry (#485).  Perry hadn't yet solidified his Hall of Fame credentials, but Mays certainly had, although Mays was 37 years old at the time, seven years older than either McCovey or Marichal.  Maybe Topps wanted to highlight the younger stars on the Giants, or maybe they only had the ability to get a picture of McCovey and Marichal together.

In case collectors needed reminding, the back of the card does a great job summing up why both players are worthy to be called Giant Heroes, and the copy writer for Topps even throws in a pun at the end with, "These two offensive and defensive stars are truly Giants of the game today."  This is McCovey's fifth appearance in the set.  He shows up on two league leaders card, an All-Star card, his base card and this combo card.

1969 Season

McCovey and Marichal were first and second on the Giants in terms of bWAR with marks of 8.1 and 7.6, respectively, in 1969.  McCovey won league MVP honors, batting .320 and leading the league in both home runs (45) and RBIs (126).  Marichal was 21-11 with a league-leading 2.10 ERA in 37 games, while also leading the league with eight shutouts.  The Giants finished three games behind the Braves in the National League West pennant race.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#571 Cap Peterson - Cleveland Indians / #573 Jim Palmer - Baltimore Orioles

#556 A's Stars - Sal Bando / Bert Campaneris / Danny Cater CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #73
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this A's Stars card which was $10.

The Card / Athletics Team Set

Similar to the combo card proceeding it, the "Bird Hill Aces" (#532) that omitted the main Bird Hill Ace, Jim Palmer (#573), this card omits the biggest star for the A's in 1969 - Reggie Jackson (#260).  As Jackson had first made his mark on the league in 1968, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to Topps.  What's more, first baseman Danny Cater's (#44) inclusion here is somewhat surprising, given he had never been considered in the "star" category.  He did finish second in the batting race in 1968 with a .290 mark, but that's barely star-worthy.  In 1968, the Athletics sent three players to the All-Star Game - Bert Campaneris (#495), Rick Monday (#105) and John Odom (#195).  In 1969, Odom returned to the All-Star Game and was joined by teammates Sal Bando (#371) and Jackson.  Nothing against former Phillie Cater here, but an A's Stars card likely should have omitted him and included either Monday, Odom or the budding superstar Jackson.

What's more, the first sentence on the back of the card refers to the "youthful A's" which would have fit the description of Bando (25), Monday and Jackson (both 23), but likely not Cater (29).  Had the Topps photographer found someway to squeeze Jackson into this photo, it would have been much more desirable and accurate.

1969 Season

The three top players in 1969 for the Athletics were Jackson, Bando and second baseman Dick Green (#515).  Hank Bauer's (#124) club was in first place as late as July 4th, but then fell into second place on July 5th, where they'd stay for the duration of the season.  Their 88-74 record landed them nine games behind the American League West division winners, the Twins.  Bando batted .281 with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs, leading the team in batting, but second behind Jackson who had a monster year.  At one point, Jackson's home run tally was on pace to break Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs set in 1961.  Jackson would finish the season with 47 home runs and 118 RBIs.

Campaneris had another consistent year, playing steady shortstop and batting .260 with 62 stolen bases, which was second in the league behind Tommy Harper's (#42) 73.  Cater had a decent year too, batting .262 over 152 games with 10 home runs and 76 RBIs.  His RBI tally was third on the club behind Jackson and Bando.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#555 Jim Hart - San Francisco Giants / #557 Frank Fernandez - New York Yankees

#532 Bird Hill Aces - Phoebus / Hardin / McNally / Cuellar CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #72
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this Bird Hill Aces card which was $10.

October 9, 1969 - Cuellar, Palmer and McNally

The Card / Orioles Team Set

Collectors and baseball fans will most likely immediately recognize there's a key person missing in this photo, as it only features four of the five most regularly used starting pitchers by the pennant-winning 1969 Orioles team.  Dave McNally (#340) was the team's opening day pitcher, followed by Mike Cuellar (#453) and Jim Hardin (#610).  But then future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (#573) slotted in as the fourth starter with Tom Phoebus (#185) rounding out the quintet.  Cuellar is the newcomer to the group, as he had been acquired from the Astros on December 4, 1968.  

It's likely this photo was taken during spring training in 1969, on the same day Cuellar was having his picture taken for his solo Topps card in the set.  The back of the card summarizes the accolades of each pitcher, starting with Phoebus and Hardin.  Palmer would throw his only career no-hitter on August 13, 1969, driving home his unfortunate omission from a card labelled "Bird Hill Aces."

1969 Season
McNally was one of six Orioles to head to the All-Star Game in 1969, and the only pitcher from the club.  Cuellar would lead the pitching staff with a 23-11 record, a 2.38 ERA, 18 complete games and five shutouts.  McNally was 20-7 with a 3.22 ERA.  Palmer, despite only making 26 appearances and 23 starts, would top all Orioles pitchers with a 4.2 bWAR.  He was 16-4 with a 2.34 ERA, 11 complete games and a team-leading six shutouts.  He'd strike out 123 in 181 innings.  Phoebus was 14-7 with a 3.52 ERA and Hardin finished with a 6-7 record to go with a 3.60 ERA at the back end of the rotation.

McNally threw an 11-inning complete game shutout against the Twins in Game 2 of the ALDS, striking out 11.  Palmer clinched the series with a complete game of his own in Game 3.  In the 1969 World Series,  Cuellar won Game 1 with a complete game victory, allowing just a run.  Jerry Koosman (#90) out dueled McNally in Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1.  Game 3 saw Palmer get roughed up, allowing four runs over six innings and Game 4 belonged to Tom Seaver (#480) who outmatched Cuellar in another low-scoring extra inning game.  In the decisive Game 5, McNally took the mound again, with he and Eddie Watt (#652) faltering in the late innings as the Mets amazingly took the World Series.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#531 Dick Farrell - Philadelphia Phillies / #533 Nolan Ryan - New York Mets

#539 Ted Shows How - Mike Epstein / Ted Williams CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #4
November 6, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Seventh Inning Stretch)

In early November 2021, needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days.  We loaded our car on a Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area over the weekend, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners.  The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable.  Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.

We had spent a little bit of time in the multi-level Seventh Inning Stretch, located adjacent to Doubleday Field, on Friday.  But on Saturday I wanted to dig in to their haphazard, loosely alphabetical, collection of baseball cards for sale on their second floor.  I spent close to 45 minutes going through the boxes, and this card was one of about a dozen cards I picked out among the glorious mess of cards covering all eras between early 20th Century the late 2010s.  This card cost $12 and was one of a pair of cards, along with Luis Aparico (#75), added to our not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.  We also added one card to my 1935 Diamond Stars set and a few low-priced cards for our future 1959 Topps set.

The Card / Senators Team Set

Ted Williams (#650) was named the Senators manager prior to the 1969 season, taking over for Jim Lemon (#294) who had been let go following the team's 10th place finish the prior season.  

Williams seems to be showing Mike Epstein (#461) how to choke up on the bat in this photo taken at the Senators spring training facility in early 1969.  The back of the card summarizes Williams' career highlights and mentions the hope the team had of Epstein following in Williams' steps. 

1969 Season
Williams guided the club to a record of 86-76 in 1969, winning Manager of the Year honors for his efforts.  It was the only winning season of the franchise's brief 11-year stay in Washington, and they would relocate to Arlington in 1972, rechristened as the Texas Rangers.  Epstein was the Senators' regular first baseman, making 115 starts at the position and appearing in 131 games overall.  He batted .278 with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs, one of his best seasons in the majors.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#538 Charlie Smith - Chicago Cubs / #540 Curt Flood - St. Louis Cardinals