Guest Writer – Lanny Ribes

1982 Topps Traded – What if???

Those of you that know me, or follow me at @DOCBZ17, know that I have an affinity for customs. Maybe affinity isn’t the right word, how about insanity? Sickness, there you go. Whatever you would like to call it, I love it. I love making custom cards of my son, @angeloribes (he has over 80 and counting). I love making custom cards of other people’s children for them, I love how genuinely happy it makes them. I do it for fun, I do it for my friends, fellow collectors, and fellow baseball/softball moms and dads. But mostly, I do it in an attempt to answer the question – what if?

What if Pete Rose had his own rookie card? What if Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays had appeared in the 1951 Topps set? What if my 5 year old son was drafted by the White Sox? I absolutely love attempting to answer these questions through customizing the cards that could have been. So much in fact, that I am going to periodically write a guest blog such as this one (with Dub’s blessing, of course), marking a set in history that could have been very different had its checklist been slightly “altered”.

Today’s set that I will be enhancing is the 1982 Topps Traded set. A 132-card set that was sold separately from the base set in its bright blue box, we all know it for its super attraction, the Cal Ripken, Jr. XRC. More valuable than his actual RC in the 1982 Topps base set, this card appealed to collectors for several reasons. First, and most obvious, Cal is on his own card. It has a facsimile autograph. It wasn’t widely available. Since it only came in a box, it is more susceptible to corner and edge damage. To the purist, the base Ripken will always be his true RC. To the collector, it is glaringly obvious why the Traded version is typically the most desirable.

The other two cards that everyone will recognize from the set are the Tom Paciorek and Steve Kemp. No? Just me? Yeah, I’m a White Sox fan. OK, so maybe you will recognize the Ozzie Smith and Reggie Jackson cards, showing them in their new digs. Both deals actually happened prior to the 1982 season, but after Topps had already issued its single-series base set. The Topps Traded set was collectors’ first chance to see cards depicting these two future HOFers with their new teams, and they have been favorites for over 35 years.

The resumes, and deals that sent them to their new teams, almost don’t even need to be discussed. Ozzie for Gary? Wow. Ozzie went on to help the Cardinals to a World Series victory in 1982, and World Series appearances in 1985 and 1987, with a final stop in Cooperstown. Reggie was already well on his way to the Hall of Fame at the time of his free agent signing with the Angels, leaving behind a very tumultuous, yet very successful time in New York. He led the AL in home runs in 1982, and homered in his first game returning to Yankee stadium that year. “The Wizard of Oz” and “Mr. October” joined “Iron Man” in a Topps Traded set for the ages.

But what if this set checklist were a tad bit different? What if the industry at the time had dictated a more prospect-driven product? What if this set had included subsets, like those following it eventually included? Ready to have some fun? Let’s have some fun…

In honor of full disclosure, it is not very easy to find off-beat photos from 1982. Granted, I didn’t visit my local collegiate library, dig up 33 year old michrofiche (it’s a thing, young people may need to Google it to prove me right), and find archival 1982 photos of Bobby Bonds, who signed as a free agent with the Yankees, only to be released later in the season. I didn’t find any photos of Luis Tiant with the Angels, other than the ones already used on his 1983 cards. I mean, what fun would that be? I could have used a Bonds pic from his earlier years with the Yanks. Can’t do it, gotta be as accurate as I can. Don Sutton and Tommy John would have been easier, they have looked the same forever. But I’m not here to fool you.

You know what else is impossible to find? Pictures of Benito Santiago, Ruben Sierra, and Edgar Martinez from 1982 – the year they were all signed as international free agents. Sure, they were signed later in the year, but how cool would cards of them have been in that set?

You want some crazy? How about a Draft Picks subset? Until I did the research, I could not believe the firepower in that draft. Granted, many of the them did not sign deals out of high school, they went on to college and were drafted in subsequent drafts. But check this list out:

Shawon Dunston – Cubs (1st rd, 1st overall)

Dwight Gooden – Mets (1st rd, 5th overall)

David Wells – Blue Jays (2nd rd)

Barry Bonds – Giants (2nd rd)

Bo Jackson – Yankees (2nd rd)

Barry Larkin – Reds (2nd rd)

Jimmy Key – Blue Jays (3rd rd)

Will Clark – Royals (4th rd)

Randy Johnson – Braves (4th rd)

Rafael Palmiero – Mets (8th rd)

Jose Canseco – A’s (15th rd)

Bret Saberhagen – Royals (19th rd)

Seriously??? A Bo Jackson Yankees card? Gooden and Canseco cards in 1982? Bonds? Larkin? Unit? Can you imagine the hype on this set over the years had these cards been included? I only wish it was a little easier to find a picture of Dwight Gooden from high school, I would have loved to work up some customs of these players. It would also be a blast to do my own “1982 Draft Class” logo. For the sanctity of this project however, I couldn’t bring myself to use a college photo of Bo Jackson, even a Lynchburg photo of Doc Gooden wasn’t good enough. But I’m sure they will show up in later editions of this blog (spoiler alert slash selfless promotion).

What if my son had played back in the day? What if my dad had been a fire-balling reliever out of the Sox pen? Here are a couple of the customs I have done over the years. I don’t even think that the fonts are accurate, but that’s what progress is all about. These are obviously some of my favorites!

When the 1983 sets came out, only one major brand picked up this next guy. He only played in 20 games in 1982, with 32 plate appearances. He batted .241 with one, yes ONE home run. Nobody knew that in 1983 he would play 145 games and hit 35 home runs, on his way to earning the AL Rookie of the Year Award, all while being a very important piece of the lineup during the White Sox run to a Divisional Championship. He’s a great guy, and those of you who have written to him also know him as a TTM legend. What if Topps had included Ron Kittle in their 1982 Traded set?

So, this next dude played 123 games in 1982 with 422 at bats, 125 hits, 24 stolen bases, and batted almost .300. He helped the new addition, Ozzie Smith, lead the Cardinals to a World Series victory with an absolutely sensational catch in Game 3 that robbed a home run. Why didn’t he get a card in the actual Traded set in 1982? No idea. Now he has one. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Willie McGee.

There was a particular “Big 3” of rookie cards when the 1983 sets came out. But things could have been very different had they all appeared in the 1982 Topps Traded set. This first guy actually played 13 games in 1981, so he could have easily appeared in the base 1982 set. Only problem? He wasn’t that good. By the beginning of 1982 he had already been traded to a new team, so there is actually a better chance that this first custom would have appeared in the base set rather than the Traded set. It would have been the only non-insert that pictured this future HOFer on his original team, and we missed out on it. Lucky for us, in 1982 he had almost 700 plate appearances and nearly 200 hits. And since he technically changed teams, I’m going to go ahead and put them both in here, because who knows how it really could have been handled? Maybe one in the base set and one in the Traded set? The Cubs kinda made up for the Lou Brock trade with this one, bringing Ryne Sandberg in as a utility infielder and a throw in on the Larry Bowa trade. Not a bad throw in.

Here’s another guy who should have definitely been included in the 1982 Topps Traded set. He played 104 games for his team that year with 381 plate appearances, batting a measly .349. He would finish his career 18 seasons later, with a lifetime .328 average, 3010 hits, and eventually a bust in the Hall of Fame. Unlike Sandberg, who started out as a utility infielder throw in to a trade, Wade Boggs started strong and finished strong, would have been nice to see him in this set. Now we get to!

This next player wasn’t too far away from having a custom NBA card instead of an MLB card. Lucky for us, he chose baseball. He played in 54 games in 1982 batting .289, the only season in his 20 year Hall of Fame career that would see him bat under .300. With over 3100 career hits and a lifetime average of .338 – all while playing for the same team – Tony Gwynn was a shoe-in HOFer that could have easily been included in this set.

I had no idea that this last player came up at the end of 1982. With only 7 games and 13 plate appearances, he definitely would not have been a candidate for the set. But it’s a good thing that I don’t have a lot of rules. Its also a good thing I really wanted to see an ’82 of this guy! He played 14 years and ended up with a lifetime average of .307. With just over 2100 hits, unfortunately he did not have the length to his career that the others did, or he would have undoubtedly ended up in Cooperstown along with them. And this card of Don Mattingly, would have turned the collecting universe upside down back in the day!

So, there you have it, my updated “What If” version of the 1982 Topps Traded set. Thank you for taking the trip with me and imagining what it would have been like to pull this group from that bright blue box!