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Beginning in 1956 and going all the way through to 1981, with a one year absence in 1969, Topps included team cards in its flagship sets.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #475
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for a little bit longer as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. I was fairly ambitious documenting these purchases and I was able to compose posts for five cards a week, meaning I'll be completely caught up by the end of May. The ongoing MLB owner's lockout and the lack of any spring training games has given me a little more spare time than usual in February and March. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #475
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for a little bit longer as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. I was fairly ambitious documenting these purchases and I was able to compose posts for five cards a week, meaning I'll be completely caught up by the end of May. The ongoing MLB owner's lockout and the lack of any spring training games has given me a little more spare time than usual in February and March. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Orioles team card which was the priciest of the lot at a little over $13 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
This team photo was taken at some point during either the 1963 or 1964 seasons as the team wore jerseys with Orioles in block letters beginning in 1963. Prior to that, a script version of the Orioles word mark appeared on the fronts of their jerseys. The Oriole team card in the 1966 Topps set uses the same photo.
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1965 Season
The Orioles won 94 games and finished in third place in the American League, eight games behind the pennant winning Twins. They were one season away from their first World Series victory in 1966. Reigning MVP and third baseman Brooks Robinson (#150) led the team with a .297 average, 80 RBIs and he won his fifth Gold Glove. And while Luis Aparicio (#410) batted only .225, his .971 fielding percentage led all American League shortstops. Right fielder Curt Blefary (#49) was tops on the club with 22 home runs.
Closer Stu Miller (#499) had the top pitching performance for the team, going 14-7 with a 1.89 ERA in 67 games, while recording 24 saves. Jim Palmer made his major league debut on April 17th, and he'd be a member of the club's starting pitching rotation for the next 18 seasons.
For each team card featured, I'll be building a checklist of cards that could have been included in a 1965 Topps update set. I'm trying to come up with six potential cards for each team, and this was a little difficult for the Orioles given how well-represented they are in the set.
- Jim Palmer (rhp) - Future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer received his rookie card in the 1966 Topps set, but I'm bump up his first appearance by a year here.
- Dick Brown (c) - Regular catcher Dick Brown stopped appearing in Topps sets in 1963, but he appeared in 88 games for the Orioles in 1964 and another 96 games in 1965, his final season in the majors.
- Paul Blair (of) - Regular center fielder Paul Blair shared a Rookie Stars card with Davey Johnson (#473) in the set.
- Curt Blefary (of) - And regular right fielder Curt Blefary shared a Rookie Stars card with John Miller (#49).
- Dick Hall (rhp) - Reliever Dick Hall was the second most used reliever behind Miller, and he wouldn't appear on another Topps card until 1967 when he was with the Phillies.
- Andy Etchebarren (c) - Catcher Andy Etchebarren would only appear in five games in 1965, but I've give him a card to round out the six cards for the Orioles.
Baseball Reference
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