This isn’t a post about the most valuable cards, the rookie cards, or the rarest cards of baseball Hall of Famers. It’s entirely about which card of each player looks the coolest. Sometimes it will be about the photo; sometimes it will be about the card design; sometimes it will be about that je ne sais quoi.
We’ll take this tour of Cardboard Cooperstown alphabetically in what will probably be about a dozen installments. This first leg of our tour will take us from the Hammer to Cool Papa. Enjoy!
Hank Aaron – 1955 Topps
Despite his long and storied career, the Hammer doesn’t have many cards that jump out at me. This is one of the exceptions. Pretty close to a perfect card.
Grover Alexander – 1914-15 Cracker Jack
It’s hard not to love the simple design of the Cracker Jack set, and its color images offer nice contrast with the largely black-and-white issues that followed.
Roberto Alomar – 1994 Collector’s Choice
There is no shortage of action shots among Alomar cards, including ones where Roberto has to jump over Hall of Famers to turn the double play. I’m kind of a sucker for great fielding plays, even if it’s unclear here whether Alomar even got to the ball.
Walter Alston – 1960 Topps
The great design of the 1960 Topps manager cards carries the day here. Every card in this subset is a winner.
Sparky Anderson – 1983 Donruss
Yes, I know it’s 1983 Donruss, but this card is hard to beat. Sparky gives the impression here that he could still do it, probably because he could still do it!
Cap Anson – 1888 Goodwin Champions
The sky on some of these cards is incredible, though it’s hard to see any card of Anson and not recall his role in segregating the National Pastime.
Luis Aparicio – 1958 Topps All-Star
My favorite Topps subset ever carries the day among the many terrific cardboard offerings of the speedy shortstop.
Luke Appling – 1934-36 Diamond Stars
A burst of color and personality from one of my favorite sets ever.
Richie Ashburn – 1952 Bowman
The background skyscrapers give this Ashburn card an edge over the competition, but 1957 Topps is not at all far behind.
Earl Averill – 1934 Butterfinger
Not a lot of playing career offerings for this man. I will admit I don’t love this card, but I loved his other cards even less.
Jeff Bagwell – 1995 Fleer Pro-Visions
To a certain extent many of Bagwell’s cards look the same, and this is particularly so for the phase of his career where he was “hitting the gym” really hard. Aside from being a fan of NASA and the Space Shuttle program, I chose this card as one that could never be confused for blending in with the crowd.
Harold Baines – 1982 Fleer
The collared uniform scores this card massive points. I feel like the photo also manages to capture Harold’s easy manner.
Frank “Home Run” Baker – 1912 Series of Champions T227
The pinstriped pillbox cap adds flair to the card, but I am a particular fan of this issue for at least approaching “normal baseball card size” in an era where most cards were either minuscule or gigantic.
Dave Bancroft – 1921 Exhibits
The photo is clean enough to offer a vivid look at the uniform, glove, and even face of the Giants shortstop.
Ernie Banks – 1958 Topps All-Star
Lost amid the beautiful starred background is the fantastic Chicago-Cubs-on-two-lines uniform Banks wears. All the cards in this subset are winners, but this one may be my favorite.
Al Barlick – 1955 Bowman
Hardly a thing of beauty, but let’s give props to Bowman for even considering an umpire subset.
Ed Barrow – 1981 TCMA
Not a lot of offerings here but I give this Barrow card the nod over his earlier Shakey’s Pizza and Fleer cards for the great photo and simple card design.
Jake Beckley – 1909-11 T206
I’m a bit of a hobby heretic in that I tend to dislike the T206 cards more than I should. However, one aspect I do enjoy is the inclusion of teams beyond the National and American leagues, in this case the Kansas City Blues of the American Association.
Cool Papa Bell
Dick Perez did not lay many lemons in his career, and this card is no exception. The sky is particularly artistic and brings to mind the dirt clouds created every time this legendary speedster slid into second on a steal.
BONUS: Dick Allen – 1973 Topps
In response to several requests to include cards of “should be in the Hall,” here’s the guy for this slice of the alphabet!
Click here for the second installment of this series, which will look at the best cards of Hall of Famers from Bench to Burkett. (And my guess is you already know what the Bench entry will be.)
Jason Cards 