Frankensteining History with 1973 Topps and the Dodgers Infield
The beginning of a long cardboard run
If you were an especially observant fan and a diligent collector in 1973, you might have laid out an impressive cardboard crystal ball on your bedroom shag carpet or dining room table on June 13 that year.
See, that’s that first day the vaunted Dodgers infield of first baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, third baseman Ron Cey, and shortstop Bill Russell took the field together.
That quartet would stay together until L.A. traded Lopes to the A’s just before the 1982 season. Along the way, they’d help the Dodgers win three National League West division titles, four National League pennants, and one World Series.
As it happens, all four of those guys also had cards in the 1973 Topps set, though there was some sharing involved.
(Click the cards below for current eBay listings (affiliate links))
Garvey had his own card, also known as “Wes Parker’s Backside,” at number 213 …
So did Russell, at number 108 …
Cey led off the Rookie Third Baseman card (#615) , known in many circles as "The John Hilton Rookie Card” …
Lopes, meanwhile, took up anchor on card #309, Rookie Second Basemen …
So, you could have laid all these babies out and “played” along as these four youngsters started down the road to teammate immortality.
Except …
You couldn’t, not really.
That’s because 1973 was the last year Topps issued their cards in series, so the Cey and Lopes rookies weren’t available in early June.
Unless you were, like, a Topps insider, or something.
Of course, you could have hedged with Cey, since his *real* rookie card came in 1972:
(On a side note, Ben Oglivie was a really good player, too, and … I’ll bet you had no idea Bernie Williams got his start so long ago, huh?)
But that’s not a 1973 card, and, besides, Lopes gives us no such out.
So, we couldn’t really have curled up with fresh-from-the-pack Dodger infielders on June 13, 1973, but we can still pretend.
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