Because It Should Exist: 1979 Topps #721 Mets Prospects

1948-1979 Countdown: #40. 1979 Topps

Sometimes, good things come in ugly packages. This is not one of those times. This set features what has to be one of the most awful card designs ever, with a pretty terrible checklist to match. Needless to say, it was one of the first “older” sets I tried to complete. Besides a select few highlights, this set is garbage. Not worth taking out of the box, let alone putting in pages (and yes, my set is in pages).

Few rookies, bad photos, and a lackluster amount of subset cards make for a painful year of Topps baseball.

Best of the Set
No, it isn’t Ozzie Smith (#116), though unless you are Pedro Guerrero or Pedro Guerrero’s mother, Smith's is the only meaningful rookie card in the set. The best card of the set belongs to Ozzie’s Padres teammate Mark Lee (#138). If I have to explain why this is the best card from a set littered with bad photos… well, let’s just say that the closest Mark ever got to an All-Star Game was wearing that patch on his jersey.

Goudey Tradeaway #5: Rolen & Drew for Bird & Drago

This trade comes in from our old friend Dave in Vermont.

Giving: JD Drew, #47; Scott Rolen, #91
Getting: Doug Bird, 1983 Topps Traded; Dick Drago, 1979 Topps

The funny thing about the Red Sox from 1978 to 1984 is that they had at least five pitchers who looked exactly the same from the neck up. Let's look back together: Dick 'The Dragon' Drago: white guy with a mustache; Mark Clear: white guy with a mustache; Dennis Eckersley: white guy with a mustache; Doug Bird: white guy with a mustache; Bruce Hurst: white guy with a mustache. I'll stop at five, but I haven't even mentioned Steamer Stanley.

The Bird/Dragon twofer is countered with two Phillie malcontents (Drew and Rolen). Drew kind of looks like Bud Bundy on this card.