Completed Set: 1980 Topps Baseball

 

What is Pete Rose thinking about here? 

 

That he and his Phillies—Schmidt, Luzinski, Trillo, Maddox, Carlton, and company—have a shot at the World Series title in 1980? That in a few more years he'll set the all-time hits record? Or, if he's waiting for his slot at batting practice, he's probably focusing his mind on the scouting report of the pitcher he'd be facing during the game, and how he's going to approach each at-bat.

 

But maybe he's really thinking about Topps baseball cards. Like this:

1974 Topps?

Banner.

1977 Topps?

Banner.

1979 Topps?

Banner.

1980 Topps?

Banner.

 

That's a lot of banners on baseball cards in a short span of years.

And our fictional Pete Rose makes a good point, doesn't he? I mean, it was the start of a new decade. New stars were emerging in the game. You had Rickey, of course. And soon after you'd have Baines, Gibby, and Fernando Mania. Then Ripken, Gwynn, Boggs, and Sandberg showed they came to play. 

 

By the midpoint of the decade, there'd be Mattingly, Strawberry, Gooden, Puckett, and Clemens. Then guys like Bonds, Bo Jackson, Will Clark, Jose Canseco, and Mark McGwire would really usher in a whole new ballgame.

 

However, Topps stuck with the banners. It was solid. Standard. Familiar. Just like their 1980 set.

 

As with any set from the previous decade, there are some pleasant headshots.

 

 

And a good amount of batting poses.

 

 

 

More than that, there are some good poses in the batting cage.

 

Just look at all the steely focus on display. And those aren't just run-of-the-mill MLBers. 1980 Topps tells us that once you get to the top, you have to work even harder to stay there.

There's also some good action to be found. You'll find a handful hitters hitting. 

 

 

And a few fielders gettin' dirty and workin' hard.

 

 

But more than anything else, you'll find pitchers doing their thing. Flip through the entire set, and the quantity might surprise you. In fact, there were so many pitching shots at so many different points of the delivery that I created some frame-by-frame action sequences.

 

Proceed left to right to check out some righties:  

 

  

 

And now go right to left for some lefties: 

 

 

 

Now go left to right again, but watch out—these pitchers are comin' right at ya! 

 

 

 

And let's not forget about the catchers. Topps did a great job portraying these men in their natural habitat. They're grinders. Grunt-workers. Lunch pail guys.

 

 

There's no glamour there. Just grit. And I love that. This was back when infield dirt was dirt. And sand. And dust. There ain't no perfectly groomed clay here. No.

 

And I think the card design lends itself pretty well to those guys. It's simple. No frills. You get a name on top, then a player position in one banner, and a team name in the other banner. That's all. 

 

What else do you need? It's a baseball card. Enjoy it.

 

Besides, the uniforms of the day provided more than enough bright colors and eye-catching design. Check out these classics.  

 

 

 

On the subject of bright and eye-catching, how about the rookie cards?

 

Well, there's one big name in the 1980 Topps set that we know and love. He's right down there in the middle, paired up with a couple of underrated examples. 

 

 

Now let's look at a card back.

 

The black text on a light blue background is pretty decent for readability. The stats section, placed atop a pale gray color, is even better. You also get some career highlights, oftentimes from the player's minor league career. I like that, because it provides a reminder that a lot of MLBers—even the "commons"—were big men on campus during their minor league days. Just look at all of Bill Fahey's accolades up there!

 

And let's talk about the cartoons. After a two-year hiatus, Topps brought them back. Here are a few that I like. 

 

 

 

1980 Topps had a few subsets, as well.

 

The league leader cards were nice and clean, with a modified banner design that contained the year and the league designation.

 

 

Team cards were spread throughout the set. Nothing says "vintage baseball card set" quite like a team portrait card with the team's checklist on the back.

 

As for the future stars, I like how 1980 Topps numbered them consecutively, toward the end of the set. Kids must have had a lot of fun flipping through all those stars and wondering which ones would pan out. Jesse Orosco and Mike Scott over there did pretty well for themselves.

Finally, on the left you'll find a sample of the Highlights subset that started off the set, a checklist in the middle, and an example of a card featuring the all-star banner on the right. 

 

And that's 1980 Topps. It's a simple, straightforward design. (With Fleer and Donruss about to join the game, Topps would need to get a little more creative going forward.)

Now that I've completed the set and flipped through the cards, I think I've taken a little more of a shine to it.

How about you readers? Are you a fan of this set? Where would you rank the design among all the sets of the 1980s?

Let me know in the comment section, and thanks for reading!