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Tommy Harper
Cincinnati Reds
Outfield
Born: October 14, 1940, Oak Grove, LA
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1962-1967; Cleveland Indians 1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Milwaukee Brewers 1970-1971; Boston Red Sox 1972-1974; California Angels 1975; Oakland Athletics 1975; Baltimore Orioles 1976
Tommy Harper was considered one of the first (if not the first) superstars for the Milwaukee Brewers, joining the exclusive 30-30 Club in 1970 when he hit 31 home runs and stole 38 bases. At the time, the only other club members were Hank Aaron (#170), Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays (#250) and Ken Williams. A few years later, he was one of the top hitters for the 1973 Red Sox, hitting .281 and leading the league with 54 stolen bases. His only other time topping the league in stolen bases came in 1969 during the only year of the Seattle Pilots' existence. Mostly a left fielder throughout his career, Harper was the team's opening day second baseman and finished the season as their regular third baseman.
Harper played 15 seasons in the majors, hitting .257 with 146 career home runs and 408 stolen bases. He finished in the top ten in the league in stolen bases ten different times and his career tally currently has him sitting at 68th on the all-time stolen base leaders list. After retiring, Harper served as a coach for the Red Sox (1980-1984, 2000-2002) and Expos (1990-1999). He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2010.
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #62
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February. This was our first baseball card show of 2020 and the fourth show we've attended in Valley Forge since March 2019. I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests. We ended up adding 23 cards to our set.
This Harper card was from an initial batch of 17 commons and semi-stars purchased from John's Sports Cards within the first hour of our arrival. I didn't track each individual price of the cards purchased, but this card was from a half-price binder and the 17-card lot cost me $50 total. John's table has been located in the back right of the showroom floor for as long as we've been going to these shows, and I know I've bought a bunch of vintage Topps cards from him in the past including cards needed for my 1971 Topps set. He's one of those dealers who you can't help but remember, probably because he genuinely seems happy and to be enjoying what he's doing. Doug and I would come back to him later in the show for a few major purchases for our set, and I'll eventually feature all cards added in upcoming posts.
The Card
This is Harper's third appearance in a Topps set. The back of the card refers (twice) to his play as a second baseman, but when this card came out he hadn't yet played second base for the Reds. In his 1,810 career games, Harper played only 85 games at second base with most of those appearances coming during his years with the Pilots/Brewers.
Reds Team Set
1965 Season
Harper played in a career high 159 games in 1965 and led the N.L. with 126 runs scored. Mays was a distant second with 118. He patrolled left field for the Reds, sharing the outfield with Vada Pinson (#355) in center and Frank Robinson (#120) in right. Harper hit .257 with 18 home runs and 64 RBIs while stealing a team-leading 35 bases. According to his SABR biography, Harper once asked a newspaper reporter not to refer to him as a slugger, preferring to be known as a base stealer, a good bunter and someone who scores runs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #158
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1963-1977
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1983 Galasso 1969 Seattle Pilots #37
99 - Harper non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/4/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #46 Bob Lee - Los Angeles Angels
Next Card: #48 Claude Raymond - Houston Astros
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