In the Beginning, There Was Super Joe

Charboneau timed his hobby entry perfectly

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1981 Joe Charboneau Oddballs - Cards of the Day

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Joe Charboneau was not the first rookie phenom to ever capture the hearts and imaginations of baseball fans across the nation and around the world. Why, just a few years before Super Joe’s 1980 debut with the Cleveland Indians, Mark Fidrych was a sensation for the Detroit Tigers…and even the hobby.

To hear those who were there tell it, the 1977 Topps Fidrych rookie card, issued the year after The Bird’s amazing Rookie of the Year campaign, may well have been the first “chase” card. Everyone wanted one!

But Charboneau’s hobby star was on a different level, owing at least in part to his impeccable timing.

The slugging left fielder and designated hitter took his time reaching the majors, plugging away in the minors for the Twins, Phillies, and Indians before finally crashing the bigs in April of 1980.

By then, Charboneau was closing in on his 25th birthday, and the Tribe was closing in on another season fighting with the Toronto Blue Jays to stay out of the cellar in the old American League East.

So, when the rookie started in left and homered on Opening Day against Dave Frost of the Angels, it was easy for Indians manager Dave Garcia to keep finding at-bats for “young” Charboneau.

In all, Charboneau logged 131 appearances for Cleveland that summer, hitting a solid .289 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI. His exploits on the field and his jovial nature, complete with welcoming smile, made him a hit — a sensation, really — throughout the game. That November, he was an easy choice as American League Rookie of the Year, over a field that also featured Dave Stapleton, Doug Corbett, Damaso Garcia, Britt Burns, Rick Peters, and Richard Dotson.

As with Fidrych, collectors couldn’t wait to get their hands on Charboneau’s first card, slated for release in 1981.

But unlike Fidrych, Charboneau was entering a hobby on the verge of big changes. First up, of course, was the much anticipated debut of Fleer after winning a landmark and decades-long legal battle with Topps. More of a surprise was the presence of Donruss, riding Fleer’s coattails into the marketplace.

Suddenly, collectors had three times as many card choices in 1981 as compared to just about every year since Bowman’s last set in 1955. But that was just the beginning.

With the increased competition and collector attention, Topps (and others) decided to squeeze all they could out of the growing card market. So Charboneau appeared in all three major 1981 issues, yes, but also in several other oddball sets that sprang up that year.

Among those is the 1981 Squirt card you see above, issued in two-player panels by Topps and inserted in the bottle slots of Squirt soda cartons over the summer. With just 33 players, this was an exclusive set…and Super Joe made the cut (at #32).

(Charboneau’s panel-mate was 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Dave Parker.)

Ditto for the inaugural Drake’s Big Hitters set, also produced by Topps and limited to 33 players — and also featuring Super Joe (at #21).

Here’s that card:

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Among the other Charboneau cards available to collectors that summer were entries in the following sets:

• 1981 Topps Scratch-Offs - as a single (#12) and as part of various panel combinations

• 1981 Kellogg’s (#54 out of 66 cards)

• 1981 Topps Stickers (#66)

• 1981 O-Pee-Chee (#13)

• Several team and regional issues

Now, to be fair, Fidrych also made his fair share of non-base-card appearances in 1977, including Kellogg’s, regional, OPC, and league leader cards. But there were no second and third major card sets, no Topps-produced limited-checklist sets, no Topps add-ons (like Scratch-Offs and Stickers).

Instead, it was Super Joe Charboneau who came along at just the right time to bring focus to a hobby suddenly flush with choices. In fact, Charboneau was one of only 17 players to appear in each of the Squirt, Drake’s, Kellogg’s, and Topps Stickers sets, and the only rookie.

Here’s the full list:

• Al Oliver

• Bruce Bochte

• Cecil Cooper

• Dave Kingman

• Dave Parker

• Eddie Murray

• Fred Lynn

• George Brett

• George Foster

• Jim Rice

• Joe Charboneau

• Lee Mazzilli

• Mike Schmidt

• Pete Rose

• Reggie Jackson

• Rod Carew

• Steve Garvey

Not bad company for a rookie, huh? Even a phenom?

And, even though the next few years, and the decades since, haven’t been quite as kind to Super Joe’s legacy, he still holds a special place in hobby history.

All of which makes today a good day to celebrate the man. Because today, Joe Charboneau, the first modern-era rookie-card superstar, turns 70 years old.

A Final Shot of The Bird’s Sunshine

It’s always a good day to check out some Fidrych baseball cards, so since we mentioned the Bird up there with Super Joe…

Check out this old post about the last card of Fidrych issued during his pro playing career.

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Keith Hernandez and Mid-June Surprises

The Red Sox shook up the baseball power structure a bit over the weekend when they traded Rafael Devers to the Giants for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs, and Jose Bello. The blockbuster was a surprise for several reasons, not the least of which was the timing — June 15.

With six weeks or so before the trade deadline, San Francisco has a chance to squeeze as much playoff-push juice out of Devers’ potent bat as possible.

But this isn’t the first June 15 surprise.

The Cardinals also shocked the baseball world when they traded 1979 National League co-MVP (with Willie Stargell) to the Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. The date was June 15, 1983, and the move really lit a fire under the Mets’ resurgence.

The first out-of-the-pack cards showing Hernandez with the Mets were issued in 1984, including the Topps number you see above — and a “super” parallel version. Read all about that oddball card right here.