Top 5 Cards; Joe Morgan

As today's game becomes more focused on high-velocity home runs and puts less emphasis on batting average, multi-tool players are becoming scarcer.

Guys like Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve, and Mike Trout are still some of the best players in the game, but it's become acceptable for players to bat around .230-.240 so long as they rectify that batting average by hitting 30 or more home runs.

2017 and 2018 were historic years for homers, and 2019 is shaping up to be the same. Each year, the total number of dingers rises along with the number of strikeouts. In exchange, there have been fewer hits (singles, doubles, and triples), and players' batting averages have, overall, gotten worse.

I won't get into whether I believe the obsession with home runs is beneficial for the game or not. However, there was a time when the contact hitters outnumbered the power hitters, and there were far more multi-tool players in the game.

One of the most talented of these players was Joe Morgan, an essential part of the Big Red Machine during the mid-1970s. Morgan made the All-Star team for 8 consecutive seasons with the Reds from 1972-1979.

Throughout his 8 years in Cincinnati, he hit .288 with 152 home runs, 612 RBI, and 406 stolen bases. Besides the Reds, Morgan played for the Astros, Giants, Athletics, and Phillies, though the best seasons by far of his 22-year career were with Cincinnati.

I've been collecting cards of Joe Morgan as well as other essential members of the Big Red Machine (Bench, Rose, Perez, Concepcion, and Foster) for several years.

At 92 cards, the Joe Morgan PC is almost at gold tier (100 cards) status, so I figured this was the perfect time to write this top 5 cards list.

#5 2013 Panini Golden Age

This is one of my only cards from the 2013 Panini Golden Age set, a product that's virtually non-existent in the dime boxes at the shows I attend. Similar to Upper Deck Goodwin Champions, Panini Golden Age combines sports figures with pop culture icons. 

One of the athletes that they chose for the '13 release happened to be Joe Morgan. Panini, likely in an attempt to hide the logoless helmet, chose a sensational photo of the 2-time NL MVP award winner and paired it with a gorgeous vintage design. 

A revive of the Golden Age brand is highly unlikely, though it would be interesting to see what Panini could make of this set if it was a part of the Chronicles product.

#4 1985 Fleer

Morgan spent just 1 year of his career with the Oakland Athletics, so it stands to reason that there aren't many cards of him on the A's out there. The only one in my collection is this beauty from 1985 Fleer, my favorite design in the brand's history.

Truth be told, there's not a single color in the '85 Fleer set that doesn't pair beautifully with the silver borders. I absolutely love the combination of light green with grey along with the simple shot of Morgan at the plate in an Athletics away jersey.

I don't know how expensive is it to purchase this set online, but I might just go for it when my birthday or the holidays come along to have a complete version of this gorgeous release.

#3 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces

Oftentimes, I find that Topps dominates the majority of my frankenset and top 5 cards posts, so it's refreshing to see other brands represented.

So far, Panini, Fleer, and Upper Deck have appeared on my top 5 cards list for Joe Morgan, the latter of which is a gorgeous painted card from 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces. This set went the same route as most art sets (Gallery, T206, National Chicle, and Turkey Red) and disappeared after a couple of years.

Thankfully, the dime bins, particularly those at my LCS, helped me to appreciate this fine product and all of its stellar cards.

#2 1970 Kellogg's

The newest addition to the Joe Morgan PC came my way via The National. One of a few cards that I have of the 5-time Gold Glove award winner on the Houston Astros, this beauty from the 1970 Kellogg's set was a bargain back when I bought it in Chicago.

Virtually everything about this card, from the Astros cap to the blue sky background and even the facsimile signature, is so cohesive together. The '70 Kellogg's design is incredibly simple, and that's exactly what makes this card such a standout.

#1 1966 Topps

I keep my relics/autographs and graded cards in separate boxes than my player collections, so I don't count the Joe Morgan rookie card that I have as a part of his PC. This allows me to focus on the other cards when it comes to making the top 5 cards list, like the 1966 Topps card above.

I absolutely love the old-school Topps All-Star rookie trophies from the 60s, and it's a shame that they won't be replicated in Heritage for much longer. In addition to the rookie cup, the Astros uniform and Morgan's pose elevate this card to 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.