By the page: 1977 Topps #1-9

Still one of my all time favorite sets, 1977 Topps is probably one of the easiest sets to put together for a collector that's looking for an older set that isn't too expensive.  It's the first baseball set that I can remember trying to put together from packs when I was a kid, and it's the first group of cards that my mother threw out as I got older.

Top row:  Batting leaders, Home Run Leaders and RBI Leaders

You don't really hear enough about Bill Madlock being one of the best all around 3rd basemen during the 70's and 80's.  He's usually overshadowed by the power numbers of Mike Schmidt, but his ability to hit shouldn't be overlooked.  4 time batting champion, 5 other seasons he hit better than .300 and just over 2000 career hits are nothing to sneeze at.  George Foster is another guy that I don't think gets the publicity he deserves.  Take a look at his numbers between 1976-1979, and he's just as good if not better than the majority of ML outfielders.

The Brett/Madlock card is probably in need of an upgrade since it is off centered quite a bit.  The other 2 cards are in pretty good shape.


Middle row: Stolen Base Leaders, Victory Leaders and Strikeout Leaders

Ryan and Seaver together on one card.   Magic.  Unfortunately it also suffers from centering issues, just like the Brett/Madlock card.  The stolen base leaders card also is a bit off center, but probably won't cost me as much to upgrade (if I decide to do so) as the other 2. 

Bottom row: ERA Leaders, Leading Firemen and Doug Rader

I wonder why that the term "firemen" fell out of use.  Up until 2000, the top relief pitcher in each league won the "Fireman of the Year" award, but now the title is just the "Reliever of the year".  1977 would be the last year of Doug Rader's career, spending it with the Padres & Blue Jays hitting a combined .251 with 18 HRs

All in all, it's not a bad looking first page for the set.  Upgrades to cards #1 & 6 while probably necessary, aren't exactly high on the list at this time.  Maybe someday when I finish all the other sets that I'm working on I'll get around to it.

thanks for reading, Robert