All Time Home Run Club: Carlos Delgado Joins the 400 Club

[stevejrogers]

In the late 1990's my Dad picked up a cheap set of cards in a Florida flea market. It was a 1985 set put out by Topps and Circle K that was the top 50 HR Hitters at the time (sans Joe DiMaggio due to image license issues)

Taking that set, and with the fact that at the time the 300 Club was around 80 deep, I decided to do a project of having a card of every member of the 300 HR club. Updated every year (and every so often during the season) and usually using a card of the team the player would probably be best known for (aside from being in the aforementioned Topps set) or just a nifty card of my choosing!

Delgado (now represented by his 2006 Topps Card) is your latest member, but first here is your Top 20 All Time MLB HR Leaders, AKA, The 500 HR Club


755

725

714

660

588

586

583

573

569

563

562

548

536

534

521

521

512

512

511

504

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Sweet Jimmy Foxx portrait.

[stevejrogers]

And now, the rest of the 400 Club, the rest of the top 42 Homerun Hitters in MLB history


493

493

475

475

475

469

466

465

462

455

453

452

449

442

438

434

431

426

415

414

407

402

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

My thoughts: Dave Winfield was an Injun?

(I know he was; just forgotten)

There's no question bb cards have gotten uglier and uglier in recent years. Even the horrible Canseco card beats that horrid relective crap on the Delgado card.

[stevejrogers]

Heh, just today I changed Murray from a 1996 Score Card Indian to an Oriole and Andre Dawson from a Red Sox (some mid-1990 Leaf set) to that 1988 Topps Woolworth Highlight card of him as a Cubbie (though that should be changed to an Expo next time I get to it)

Says alot for some of these vagabound guys in recent years. While Killebrew was a Royal, Foxx a Cub, Snider a Met, ect, its another thing for a Fred McGriff and Dave Kingman playing for a slew of teams without one defining team for their career.

[stevejrogers]

I also have one going for 3,000 hits, 300 wins and 3,000 Ks. Not sure if I'm going to add anymore milestone trackers. I'm mulling over 300 saves and an easy-to-do (number of players to collect) SB one as well

Interesting this to notice, when my Dad bought the set for me, the guy right at 300, HOF Chuck Klein was number 81 on the all time list, (Rogers Hornsby with 301 right above him. As of this very moment, 8/27/2006, Chuck Klein stands at 114.

[Zvon]

Excellent tribute Mr Rogers.

I remember those orange border cards very well- I had em all.

Thought I dont remember if they were the kind available in Topps rack packs, or a mail in deal. Rack packs, I think.
I really thought those cards were kinda blah back then- but looking back with nostagia I have to say now thats one kool set.

[nymr83]

can we please put Arod in a Mariners jersey and Delgado on Toronto?

aldo i hate "modern" baseball cards, in their attempts to catch the players "in action" they lose the old nice portrait look, i can't even tell who half of them are without checking.

[Guest Iubitul]

Nymr83 wrote: aldo i hate "modern" baseball cards, in their attempts to catch the players "in action" they lose the old nice portrait look, i can't even tell who half of them are without checking.

But an action shot done right, like the McGriff card, looks so much better than just a posed portrait shot.

I always liked the inventive portrait cards - there was one that Roger Clemens posed for - I think it was Upper Deck - that had him leaning against the Green Monster, and angled in such a way that "Strike" and 'Out" were positioned right next to him. That is one of my favorite all time cards

[stevejrogers]

Nymr83 wrote: can we please put Arod in a Mariners jersey and Delgado on Toronto? aldo i hate "modern" baseball cards, in their attempts to catch the players "in action" they lose the old nice portrait look, i can't even tell who half of them are without checking.

Hey its my darn collection, I shall have player in the uni of my choosing!

=

That was just for this current moment, probably when I go through the updates at the end of the season I'll put Delgado in as a Jay

Thats more of a future thing with ARod, chances are he;s going to be a MFY for a long while, probably longer than he was a Mariner

[stevejrogers]

="Iubitul"] ="Nymr83"]aldo i hate "modern" baseball cards, in their attempts to catch the players "in action" they lose the old nice portrait look, i can't even tell who half of them are without checking. But an action shot done right, like the McGriff card, looks so much better than just a posed portrait shot. I always liked the inventive portrait cards - there was one that Roger Clemens posed for - I think it was Upper Deck - that had him leaning against the Green Monster, and angled in such a way that "Strike" and 'Out" were positioned right next to him. That is one of my favorite all time cards

1991 Topps

[Frayed Knot]

Of course if you listen to some current Yanqui fans they'd just as soon have ARod off their team the second this season's is over if not before.
He's something like 0 for his last 12 with 10 Ks.


Griffey tied Reggie the other day - 1 more and he knocks ol' RJ out of the top 10 (tee-hee).
Just in time for his 60th birthday.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: Of course if you listen to some current Yanqui fans they'd just as soon have ARod off their team the second this season's is over if not before. He's something like 0 for his last 12 with 10 Ks. Griffey tied Reggie the other day - 1 more and he knocks ol' RJ out of the top 10 (tee-hee). Just in time for his 60th birthday.

Heh! You know its funny, Reggie is one of those guys in the list where you really don't think of him as having over 560 career HRs, you really just think of his posteason performances. Reggie only won 1 AL regular season MVP in 1973! (Rod Carew, Jim Rice, Don Baylor, George Brett and Rollie Fingers were your AL MVPs during Reggie's Yanqui years)

Ditto with Ted Williams, of course because of his War years he isn't, but you would have thought of him being among the 3,000 hit club, not the 500 HR club and yet he is a member of the 500 HR club and not the 3,000 club

[stevejrogers]

="Zvon"]Excellent tribute Mr Rogers. I remember those orange border cards very well- I had em all. Thought I dont remember if they were the kind available in Topps rack packs, or a mail in deal. Rack packs, I think. I really thought those cards were kinda blah back then- but looking back with nostagia I have to say now thats one kool set.

I'm sure they were only available at Circle K stores, much like their K-Mart and Woolworths (theres a flash from the past for ya) sets from the same era (1980's) and probably just sold as a set

These aren't the AS Glossy sets I think you are thinking about. The ones that had 40 cards that you sent away for, and a 22ish set that featured the previous years ASG starting lineups which were found in the triple packed rack packs.

What I liked also is that the Yogi Berra card in the set shows Berra in a Met uni!

It appears that they reused a photo from Berra's lone card as a Met from the 1965 set.

Funny because Berra hit exactly 0 HRs as a Met!

[Theoldmole]

This is a very neat display.