My Favorite 1967 Cards

I started collecting baseball cards in 1967 - not at the start of the season, but sometime in May as I recall. I think Topps was into their 2nd or 3rd series by that time, but through trading with other kids, I was able to play catch-up and get all the earlier cards I missed (except for the Cardinals team).

 

Before I started collecting cards in 1967, I only knew who 3 of the players were: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Harmon Killebrew. I had heard the name "Johnny Callison", but didn't know who he was. I don't think I had ever heard of Willie Mays though.

 

As best as I can remember, these were my favorite 1967 cards at that time:

The top row of players is self-explanatory. 

 

In 1967, Topps made 13 multi-player cards. These 3 were my favorites. (I was a Phillies' fan, but I'm not sure why I liked the other two cards over all the rest.) 

 

Chris Short and Johnny Callison were my two favorite Phillies players. I started following that team the same month I began collecting cards. 

 

 

Jim Palmer's card came along in the 4th or 5th series, as I recall. I became a big Palmer fan when I got this card. I don't remember why - he missed almost all of the 1967 season, and I wasn't following the Orioles. Maybe it was because the Orioles had just won the World Series in '66, and here was a good, young pitcher named "Jim"? 

 

Anyway, on one of the T-shirts I had bought from a local discount store (those surplus high school gym shirts with various schools' names on the front, that you could pick up for a dollar or so) I had written a big number "22" with a Magic Marker. (As I'm typing this, I am remembering the kid in the Vince Papale movie "Invincible", who made the number "83" on his shirt with bits of duct tape.) 

 

One of my friends who was a Cowboys' fan just assumed it was in reference to Bob Hayes. Ha!

 

So I had become a Jim Palmer fan before his great comeback in 1969. For that, I feel like I got in on the ground floor. LOL

Cards Clubbers (#63)

Here's another of the 13 multi-player cards in the 1967 set. I think this was one of the last cards I got in 1967, as before the year was out, I completed the first 6 series (a/k/a low numbers), except for the Cardinals Team card.

I began collecting baseball cards in May 1967, and by that time the 3rd series was probably in the stores, so I had to trade with friends and otherwise scramble to complete the first 2 series.


Lou Brock and Curt Flood were 2/3 of the Cardinals' outfield during the mid-to-late 1960s. In 1967, they would be joined by Roger Maris, as the Cardinals made 2 consecutive World Series appearances (winning in 1967).

Curt Flood was the Cardinals' regular center fielder from 1958-1969, and won a Gold Glove every season from 1963-69. He was also the team's leadoff batter from 8/31/61 to 6/6/65, when Lou Brock took over the top slot in the order.

Lou Brock came to the Cardinals in June 1964, and played through the 1979 season. He was the teams' starting left fielder during that entire time, except for the first 23 games of the 1966 season, when he moved to right field as the Cards tried out the newly-acquired Alex Johnson in left.

From 1966 to 1974, Lou led the NL in stolen bases every season except 1970. He stole a career-high 118 bases in 1974. He also led the NL in runs scored in '66 and '71.

Both Brock and Flood finished with a .293 career batting average.