Dave Concepcion spent all 19 years of his career (2,488 games) with the
Reds. A member of 4 penant winners, 2 World Series winners, and the Reds
Hall of Fame, Davey redefined the shortstop position. It's a travesty
that Concepcion is not in Cooperstown. The Veteran's committee needs to
provide a remedy.
With a career beginning in 1970 and ending in 1988, Davey graced the
Topps base sets for 18 issues with some pretty excellent cardboard
goodness. So much, in fact, they need split over two posts. We pick back up with 1980.
1980 was a good design, but wasted without a nice photo from the playing field. Though I guess it might be a candid from the on-deck circle, I still would have liked a good shot of Davey turnin two here.
Good action photo, just not framed very well. Don't know about that batter's stance, Dave.
Concepcion's final of nine All Star appearances would be in 1982. He would also win the Silver Slugger award for shortstops.
Nice sig. Nice hockey stick.
Here's a nice photo of Davey puttin' one back, back, back.
A collector-favorite All Star card design, though the close-ups are gettin a little stale.
Now we're back in the upper echelon. Such a great card. Reminds me of Raising the Second Flag on Iwo Jima, Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph, with Davey's bat in place of the flag. Who doesn't love '83 Topps?
Action shots are the norm by now, thankfully, and headshots are relegated to an inset.
Another masterpiece, rivaling '83. We see Davey baffling some hapless infielders with his shuck-and-jive base running abilities. You cannot contain David Ismael Concepcion Benitez! You can't!
While we have yet another close-up, I actually like this card. I have a soft spot for 1986 Topps for no reason at all (I wasn't even collecting for another 5 years).
I also irrationally enjoyed these Leaders cards. Davey made the Reds' cut in '86, along with his heavenly aura, apparently. Dave Parker and Tom Browning would dominate the Reds roster in '85, and therefore the back of this card.
While not quite up there with '83 and '85, 1987 would give us an upper-tier Davey. Looks like one of his 3,670 career putouts. Also, we have a nice cameo of future Red Herm Winningham. Sweet.
Alright, I'll allow a close-up of a smiling Davey for his farewell card. By now, Dave was playing backup to some kid you may have heard of, Mr. Barry Larkin. Concepcion had quite a large torch to pass, and Larkin ran with it as far as anyone could. Concepcion was a part of 84 Reds games in his final year, his 19th season, including his only pitching appearance: 1.1 shutout innings against the Dodgers. Lifetime ERA: 0.00. Most. Excellent.
Go Reds.
Concepcion had quite a few awesome '80s cards! I think my personal favorite is the '87, closely followed by his '83 and '85 issues.
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