Top 5 Cards; Harmon Killebrew

Even taking his struggles with batting average into account, Harmon Killebrew remains one of the greatest and most underrated hitters in Baseball history.

Through the first 5 years of his Hall of Fame career, Killebrew had just 254 at-bats for the Washington Senators; he seemed to be a half-decent bench player but not much else.

All of this, however, changed in 1959, when the 11-time All-Star earned the starting job for Washington and never looked back. He was named to the All-Star team for the first time that season, finishing '59 with an AL-high 42 homers and 105 RBI despite a .242 average. 

In an era that featured numerous Hall of Fame hitters playing alongside Killebrew, I believe his lackluster .256 career average leaves something to be desired. 

That stat, nevertheless, shouldn't take away from the fact that Killebrew had to play 1st/3rd base whereas, today, a slugger with a batting average similar to his could be the team's DH so the hitter could concentrate more on his swing.

Killebrew's incredible 573 career home runs put him at #12 on the all-time list, trailing Mark McGwire by a mere 10 dingers. He's also one of the first players I ever collected along with Duke Snider, Catfish Hunter, and Ivan Rodriguez.

Currently, my Harmon Killebrew player collection is only 1 card away from Gold Tier status. At 99 cards, it's incredibly likely that this Monday's Mansfield show will give this PC the boost it needs to reach the 100-card total.

In the meantime, here are my carefully-chosen 5 favorite cards in the Harmon Killebrew player collection.

#5 1973 Topps

It was a toss-up between Killebrew's 1972 and 1973 Topps and which one I'd select for my top 5. However, after much consideration, I decided that the unique '73 Topps card was more deserving of the #5 spot on my countdown.

The angle at which the photo was taken is incredibly unusual, something I rarely see on Baseball cards. It reminds me of Xander Bogaerts' 2016 Topps Archives card, for those of you who know what I'm talking about.

The greatest thing about this card, however, is that it excites me, something that a sizeable number of 1973 Topps cards fail to do. I find myself looking in a million directions when I glance at this card, and that's an excellent trait for practically any Baseball card to have.

#3 1970 Topps

For one reason or another, Topps incorporated a significant number of photographs just like the one above in the 1970 Flagship set; images that show players selecting a bat from the bat rack in their team's dugout. In fact, these photos are so prevalent that they've become synonymous with the set itself.

Although Killebrew's card isn't the best version of these bat rack photographs, that doesn't take away from how classic this vintage card is. Both the image and set design are simple yet complex at the same time if that makes sense. 

The card may not be as unique as the one from '73 Flagship, but it's stellar nevertheless.

#3 2016 Topps Stadium Club

The only card on this list not from the 50s-70s, Killebrew's 2016 Topps Stadium Club card is truly stunning; the caliber of photography, even for Stadium Club, is virtually unmatched by anything that I've ever seen before.

It's just a shame that Killebrew has so many standout vintage cards because I could easily see the '16 Stadium Club card making the top 2 otherwise. The minimalistic set design complements the black and white photo extraordinarily well, and I'm thrilled that Topps chose to feature the 1969 AL MVP as a member of the Washington Senators rather than the traditional choice, the Minnesota Twins.

#2 1959 Topps

This isn't my only vintage card of Killebrew on the Washington Senators, but it's undoubtedly the greatest of the limited bunch. Not only do I love the 1959 Topps set, but the card's condition, aside from the centering, is excellent, especially for a card that's 60 years old.

The superb condition is thanks to the fact that I purchased this card myself at a show a few years back. I ended up paying just $10 for what was and remains the oldest card in my Harmon Killebrew player collection; another simple yet marvelous vintage card, featuring an awesome Washington Senators logo in the bottom lefthand corner.

#1 1962 Topps Killebrew Sends One Into Orbit

Even though I have Killebrew's actual 1962 Topps base card in my collection as well, this highlights card is unlike anything else that I've seen from Topps in the 1960s. Yes, they've created a few different combos, highlights, or record breakers cards, but nothing quite as spectacular as this.

The 3 different pictures show the progression of Killebrew's home run swing. There are a few other players included in this subset, but Killebrew's is easily my favorite.

Plus, as if the 3 images weren't enough, the famous wood borders of the 1962 Topps set add another special element to this beautiful card. 

It's not often that I say this, but I can't seem to find something wrong with this 1962 Topps card, making it a no-brainer for the #1 spot.

Ranking Topps Sets by Decade; 1960s

With debatably the best selection of sets to choose from across any decade, the ranking of the Topps sets from the 1960s will likely prove to be one of the most challenging decisions I'll have to make throughout this mini-series. 

In addition to having countless Hall of Famers and star players to elevate their products, Topps went all out in the 1960s, creating set after memorable set, many of which would likely fall in the top 10 or even top 5 of my favorite Topps Flagship sets of all-time.

One of my favorite parts of the 60s sets is that each and every year included at least 1 unique color for a certain teams' cards, helping to differentiate the cards and sets from one another as well as allowing each card to stand on its own. 

I'm also not too certain what year they were introduced in, but the Topps All-Star rookie trophies, like the one shown above, made their debut in the 60s as well.

There are very few 1960s sets that I'm not very fond of, but they're compensated for by the 60s products that I'm crazy about. It's a tough call if I would call the 60s or the 70s the best decade for Topps Flagship sets, but I do know that this decade produced some of the best Topps sets of all-time.

#10 1964 Topps

1964 Topps is the only set across the entire decade that lacks the ability to be special and stand out. Even sets like '61 and '66, products that are usually dubbed boring, have images taking up most of the card as well as some contrasting colors, but not '64 Topps.

While the banner at the bottom has different colors depending on the team, the unnecessarily large team name at the top takes away precious space that could easily be occupied by the photo. Simply put, there's not much excitement going on with '64 Topps, landing the set at the very bottom of the list.

#9 1969 Topps

Like 1964 Topps, 1969 has a very plain set design that doesn't do much to catch attention. With that being said, at least '69 Topps, the set that 2018 Topps Heritage was based on, has images that take up almost the entire card, a feature that can help to distract from the relatively boring base set design.

I appreciate Topps' continuous effort to include a wide variety of different colors and combinations. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save 1969 Topps from its less than interesting self.

#8 1966 Topps

1966 Topps may look more complete than the previously mentioned sets, but it's far from the best that the 60s have to offer. I'll admit, I believe that '66 Topps would look great as a complete set with page after page of cards with matching banners at the top and bottom. However, the cards aren't really able to stand out on their own. Ultimately, it gets lost in the star-studded collection of 60s products.

#7 1961 Topps

Since I'm currently collecting the 1961 Topps set, I suppose I should have a bit more optimism and place this set a bit higher on my list. However, no amount of color at the bottom of these cards can distract from the fact that the set is somewhat uninteresting. 

As far as 60s sets go, the images are pretty decent, though nothing spectacular. However, it's the type of set that should have a bit more going on. In other words, it seems almost incomplete, like it lacks that one final detail to elevate 1961 Topps to a much better product.

#6 1967 Topps

Maybe it was my lack of familiarity with the 1967 Topps set that caused me to ignore how solid of a set it is for so many years. Apart from collecting cards from the members of the '67 impossible dream Red Sox team, my selection of 1967 Topps cards is fairly limited. However, the different-colored team names appeal to me greatly, and this is one of the few sets in Topps history in which the fake signatures don't look out of place.

#5 1963 Topps

'63 Topps was one of the designs on my underrated Topps sets post from a couple days ago, and for good reason. The use of 2 different images isn't something that every set can necessarily pull off, yet '63 Topps accomplishes it in a near perfect manner. The image takes up just the right amount of space, and I actually don't mind the black and white photo cutting off a little bit of the actual image, in this instance.

#4 1965 Topps

As much as I love the 1965 Topps set, I want to be able to love the set even more, specifically because of the awesome pennants on each and every card, featuring the team's logo from back in the mid-1960s. With that being said, I can't ignore that it's simply not the best set from this decade, because there are a couple others that break the typical mold of a Topps Flagship set in favor of a design so unique that it simply cannot be ignored.

#3 1968 Topps

Whether you love or hate the burlap pattern design, I can basically guarantee 1 thing; you'll easily be able to recognize the 1968 Topps design because of how different it is from every other set ever made. Only a handful of Topps products break away from the white borders and repetitive design and create something totally different. 1968 Topps is one of those sets, but it's not the only product with a unique border produced in the 60s, more on that later.

#2 1960 Topps

With every card being landscape rather than vertical and the continuation of 2 images per card, 1960 Topps seems to fit in more with the 1950s rather than the 60s, not that that's a bad thing whatsoever. If I could describe the set in 1 word, it would be "different," because there's really not another set out there like 1960 Topps. It almost has too much going on, but Topps was able to stop themselves before getting out of hand.

#1 1962 Topps

Trust me, I thought about this decision for quite some time, but there's simply no better set throughout the entire 1960s decade that is superior to the 1962 Topps set, featuring the iconic wood borders. '62 Topps was bold enough to do the wood border first, long before the overhyped 1967 set was released. Accompanied by respectable photos and the overturned edge of the photo that I've come to love, it's hard not to appreciate the 1962 Topps set.