This was the second consecutive year for Topps featuring white as the main color of the set. The 1974 design is pretty basic; nothing terribly exciting or fresh. What makes it stand out is the amount of action shots. Eight of the 24 regular Reds cards in the set feature in-game photography. The Joe Morgan, Dave Concepcion, Jack Billingham, and Johnny Bench cards are particularly good lookin.
As for the team, the Reds had assembled the seeds of the best lineup of all-time. They won 98 games in '74, good enough for 2nd in the West (hey, remember when Cincinnati, Ohio was considered 'west'?). The next two years, these guys would tear it up with back-to-back championships.
Special cards include 3 All-Star cards, a leader card, a Ken Griffey RC, and an error variation: #608 Bob Apodaca (Apodaco).
STATS:
Cards - 36 (including the error)
RC's - 4 (Dan Driessen, Ken Griffey, Ed Armbrister, Dick Baney)
All Stars - 12 (Johnny Bench, Ross Grimsley, Joe Morgan, Clay Carroll, Denis Menke, Jack Billingham, Tony Perez, Gary Nolan, Pete Rose, Dave Concepcion, Ken Griffey, George Foster)
Hall of Famers - 4 (Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Sparky Anderson)
Reds Hall of Famers - 14 (Clay Carroll, Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Sparky Anderson, Dave Concepcion, Don Gullett, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Cesar Geronimo, Pedro Borbon, Dan Driessen)
Disembodied Heads - 4
Merv Rettenmund - TRADED!!!!!!
Checklist:
10 Johnny
Bench
34 Andy Kosco
59 Ross Grimsley
85 Joe
Morgan
111 Clay
Carroll
134 Denis
Menke
158 Jack Billingham
181 Cesar
Geronimo
201 Rod
Carew Twins - Pete Rose Reds LL
230 Tony
Perez
248 Tom
Hall
277 Gary
Nolan
287 Clay
Kirby
300 Pete
Rose
326 Reds
Coaches
331
Carlton Fisk - Johnny Bench AS
333 Rod
Carew - Joe Morgan AS
336 Bobby
Murcer - Pete Rose AS
341 Dan Driessen
362 Hal
King
385 Don Gullett
410 Pedro
Borbon
435 Dave
Concepcion
459 Reds
Team
491 Roger
Nelson
507 Larry
Stahl
524 Bill Plummer
559
Darrel Chaney
581 Fred
Norman
598 Dave
Augustine - Ken Griffey - Steve Ontiveros - Jim Tyrone
601 Ed Armbrister - Rich Bladt - Brian Downing - Bake McBride
608a Bob Apodaca - Dick Baney -
John D'Acquisto - Mike Wallace
608b Bob Apodaco - Dick Baney -
John D'Acquisto - Mike Wallace
622 Phil Gagliano
646
George Foster
585T Merv Rettenmund
Go Reds.
Love this set. First one I ever completed as a kid. Ripped a lot of packs that year
ReplyDeleteMan, I would have love to have torn into packs back then. I don't think the mystique of pack ripping will ever be back. It's a different monster now.
DeleteYes it was fun. All base cards. None of this crap they push on us now.
DeleteI remember walking in Sears as a kid and seeing an endcap full of the 1974 Topps set. I begged and begged my mom to get it for me, but no I just got the cards a pack at a time. I have about half of the set. It's probably a good thing I didn't get the whole set because I probably would have destroyed them. I really wore out my cards as a child.
ReplyDeleteGood! Cards back then were meant to be rough-housed.
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