Topps 60 Best Cards...#11-13!

After days of waiting, Topps finally added card #'s 11-13 on their Topps 60 countdown. Making way for them to announce (hopefully soon) their Top 10 cards as voted by the collecting public.

Here are card #'s 11-13 "on Topps 60 Greatest Cards of All Time":

• #13: 1970 Topps #712 Nolan Ryan
• #12: 1982 Topps Traded #50T Cal Ripken Jr.
• #11: 1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire USA

Thoughts. Well, they couldn't get any higher I guess. I voted for the McGwire card for my ten best. He almost cracked the Top 10. I'm going to go off a limb that it is more about the card than the player as if it was, and I am certainly in the minority of this thinking, he wouldn't have even made the 60 in the first place.

Before we get to the Top 10 (and it looks like the site today has card #'s 10-6 up), I want to review my votes from back in December when this whole thing started. My Topps 10 included (and my reasons behind the selections):

• 1952 Mantle (if this card isn't number one, then you might as well shut down the legitimacy of the site, the reputation of the company, and the sanity of the collectors/voters who rigged it so that it won't win)
• 1954 Banks (needed to put a Cub in here)
• 1957 Aaron (the reverse negative that made even Aaron feel bad about it - he thought he posed incorrectly on purpose)
• 1973 Clemente (has, sadly, the complete stats of probably the greatest players, if not human beings, on the planet)
• 1984 Mattingly (when I started collecting in 1987, this card was KING)
• 1985 McGwire (between the home run chase and my first forays into collecting online, this card was KING)
• 1987 Bonds (admit it what other reason was there to include this card other than to stir the pot)
• 2001 Suzuki (one of the most sought after cards in the 21st century...still is ten years later).
• 2001 Pujols Traded (see Suzuki)
• 2006 Gordon (gimmicks aside, finding this card was akin to Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket)

It looks like some of the cards I picked will make the Top 10. But how many? Here is the list of cards #60-#11:

• #60: 1973 Topps #615 Rookie Third Basemen Ron Cey/John Hilton/Mike Schmidt.
• #59: 1983 Topps #498 Wade Boggs Rookie Card
• #58: 1974 Topps #456 Dave Winfield Rookie Card
• #57: 1958 Topps #47 Roger Maris Rookie Card
• #56: 2007 Topps #40 Derek Jeter (with George W. Bush/Mickey Mantle)
• #55: 1956 Topps #135 Mickey Mantle
• #54: 1989 Topps #647 Randy Johnson Rookie Card
• #53: 1987 Topps Traded #70T Greg Maddux Rookie Card
• #52: 1992 Topps #156 Manny Ramirez Draft Pick
• #51: 1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson Rookie Card
• #50: 1967 Topps #581 Bill Denehy/Tom Seaver 1967 Mets Rookie Stars
• #49: 1956 Topps #79 Sandy Koufax
• #48: 1955 Topps #50 Jackie Robinson
• #47: 1956 Topps #5 Ted Williams
• #46: 1953 Topps #244 Willie Mays
• #45: 1987 Topps #366 Mark McGwire
• #44: 1957 Topps #302 Sandy Koufax
• #43: 1978 Topps #36 Eddie Murray
• #42: 1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn
• #41: 1955 Topps #123 Sandy Koufax
• #40: 1977 Topps #110 Reggie Jackson
• #39: 1985 Topps #181 Roger Clemens
• #38: 1985 Topps #536 Kirby Puckett
• #37: 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies #T247 Albert Pujols
• #36: 1960 Topps #148 Carl Yastrzemski
• #35: 1956 Topps #33 Roberto Clemente
• #34: 1955 Topps #2 Ted Williams
• #33: 1955 Topps #164 Roberto Clemente
• #32: 1985 Topps #3 Dwight Gooden Record Breaker
• #31: 1969 Topps #260 Reggie Jackson
• #30: 1953 Topps #82 Mickey Mantle
• #29: 1963 Topps #537 1963 Rookie Stars Pedro Gonzalez/Ken McMullen/Pete Rose/Al Weis
• #28: 1982 Topps #21 Baltimore Orioles Future Stars Bob Bonner/Cal Ripken/Jeff Schneider
• #27: 1954 Topps #94 Ernie Banks
• #26: 1979 Topps #116 Ozzie Smith
• #25: 1957 Topps #1 Ted Williams
• #24: 1953 Topps #1 Jackie Robinson
• #23: 1971 Topps #5 Thurman Munson
• #22: 1954 Topps #90 Willie Mays
• #21: 1984 Topps #182 Darryl Strawberry
• #20: 1993 Topps #98 Derek Jeter
• #19: 1984 Topps #8 Don Mattingly
• #18: 1975 Topps #228 George Brett
• #17: 1987 Topps #320 Barry Bonds
• #16: 1964 Topps #125 Pete Rose
• #15: 1953 Topps #220 Satchel Paige (Satchell)
• #14: 1957 Topps #20 Hank Aaron (Reverse Negative)
• #13: 1970 Topps #712 Nolan Ryan
• #12: 1982 Topps Traded #50T Cal Ripken Jr.
• #11: 1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire USA

Reviewing the list, and knowing that almost all his cards were among the 100 card nominees, it is very strange, but not surprising, to see that only two of Mickey Mantle's cards made the list of fifty so far, with one card for sure getting into the top ten. I'm wondering if Topps actually thought that all of his cards would have somehow made the countdown...

So six of my ten choices cracked the Top 60. The other four have a shot at making the Top 10 (Mantle, Clemente, Ichiro, Alex Gordon). Whose cards made the Topps 10? Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama