1963 Topps Baseball

A few weeks ago I received a package from the nice folks at Deans Cards, with many cards from the 1963 Topps set. Up until then, my 1963 collection consisted only of the Phillies players, and some curiosities (for me) like Ken Hubbs and a few others who didn't have cards after the 1963 set. With the generous support of Deans Cards, I now have enough blogging material for this set.


Here's the centerpiece of that package from Dean, the Pirates multi-player card for 1963. Featured are catcher Smoky Burgess, 1st baseman Dick Stuart, right fielder Roberto "Bob" Clemente, and left fielder Bob Skinner.



Topps really shoehorned a lot of players onto this card. In the late 1960s, most of these multi-player cards featured two stars from a team, with only the occasional card featuring 3 players. The card back indicates that Stuart was traded (to the Red Sox) after the previous season. This is stated in the body of the text, not a brief note tacked onto the end of the narrative (often in a different font). Maybe it would have been a better idea to only show Burgess, Clemente, and Skinner, then each player would have been more visible.