Top 5 Cards: Hank Aaron

With the All-Star Game taking place in just a few days, I thought I'd finally pay tribute to my favorite baseball player of all-time who also happens to hold the all-time record for All-Star Game appearances at 21 throughout his career, missing the game in only his 1st and last years. 

Henry "Hank" Aaron was the very first player I ever collected cards of if I'm not mistaken. Even though Barry Bonds passed him in home runs, many people, including myself, recognize Aaron as the true home run king due to his pure and undisputed talent. This was made better by Aaron's sheer perseverance despite being the victim of racism and hate throughout his career.

Despite all that, Aaron persisted and cemented himself as a top 5 player in baseball history. Moreover, my most recent trip to the card shop and my Stadium Club purchase landed my player collection of his at 99 total cards. He, along with Brooks Robinson currently stand at that number, and I definitely expect to get both of those guys to 100+ cards at the National.

Out of the 99 options I had, here are my personal 5 favorite cards of Hammerin' Hank.

#5 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter

Along with Ernie Banks who will appear on a card with Aaron later on the list, I have more vintage cards of Hank Aaron than nearly any other player. This is likely due to my Dad buying a huge lot of vintage cards from the 50's and 60's when he was in his a teenager and before the value of these cards was believed to be high. Therefore, I went for mainly vintage cards on the list, but I couldn't ignore this 2012 Allen & Ginter card and the fantastic photo that goes with it. While A&G can sometimes become a bit stale, I appreciate the unique image and red color chosen for this card, made better by the fact that the 2012 set is one of my favorites in brand history.

#4 2002 Topps Archives

Hank Aaron, like his fellow superstar from the 60's Willie Mays, spent the last year of his career with a different team than he had spent all the years before with. His 1976 season with the Brewers was not his finest as he missed the All-Star game for the first time in 2 decades. However, it did yield some fantastic cards of him in the light blue and yellow Brewers uniforms. I don't have any originals of Aaron with the Brewers, but I do have this 2002 Topps Archives card which is modeled after the 1976 Topps record breaker card where he set the all-time RBI record which still holds today.

#3 1963 Topps Power Plus

People opening packs back in 1963 must have been incredibly star struck to see 2 of the greatest hitters in baseball, Banks, and Aaron, together on one card. Since I have one of this card and am quite committed to collecting both of these guys at a high level, I often go back and forth between whose collection I should count it towards. I had decided on Banks until today when I realized adding this to the Aaron collection, would put it at exactly 100 cards which is something I've always strived for, so the card might have to go towards Aaron's collection, or it could always stay with Banks. I'm not too certain of what I'll decide.

#2 1959 Topps The Sporting News '59 All-Star

One of Aaron's 21 career All-Star appearances was in the 1959 All-Star Game held in Pittsburgh. In fact, '59 was one of the few seasons where there were 2 different All-Star Games. For a number of years beginning in '59, MLB had the All-Star game be a doubleheader in order to "boost the players' pension fund." Even more bizarre, the '59 doubleheader games were more than a month apart and while the first game was in Pittsburgh, the 2nd took place in LA. Therefore, I wonder which All-Star game actually counted since a. you can't have 2 All-Star appearances in 1 year and b. how would they decide (back then) which league had home-field advantage in the World Series?

#1 1973 Topps

The 1973 Topps set yielded multiple iconic cards that are still recognized today, including this one of Hank Aaron attempting to make a catch in the bright sun during a game. he sunglasses are a nice touch, but blue Braves jersey, a personal favorite of mine, is what really makes the card for me. It could be difficult, especially with 1973 camera quality, to capture an image of a player at exactly the right time for a card like this, yet the photographer did just that for Aaron's '73 Topps card. Add in a little touch of blue and pink at the bottom of the card and there you have it, my favorite card of Hank Aaron, and there were a lot of cards to choose from.