Set Collection: 1973 Topps (Mike Schmidt!!!!)

Completing my 1971 and 1972 Topps sets was an expected surprise. I've decided to be a bit more proactive with my 1973 set. I still lack a ton of cards, including almost every card in the final series, which, as far as high number series go, not that bad. After a recent COMC purchase and a monumental eBay purchase, I'm making progress and I am 7 cards closer. I still have a ways to go.

Before my family relocated to Georgia from Memphis, TN, I had two favorite teams. One was the Montreal Expos (who's AA franchise was located in Memphis in the 70s) and the other was the Philadelphia Phillies. I can remember all of the World Series fairly well from around 1975 on, but 1980 was the first time I ever felt truly invested in the outcome. Schmidt is one of the defining players of my childhood and is the best player to ever play his position. There was a time when I never though I would own this card, but it's an honor to have it in my collection. (And honestly, how many cards released in the last five years can you say that about?)

I have a great deal of respect for the talent of Yaz, but like a number of other great players, George Brett comes to mind, I simply never cared for him. Ever, ever, ever.

The "Secretary of Defense" was a mainstay of those great 1970s Phillies teams that just kept coming up short of a World Series. He was still roaming the outfield at Veterans Stadium when the Phillies finally captured a championship in 1980. Looking back at his numbers, he was, for a period of about five years, a damn great player.

It is strange for me to talk about the Phillies teams of this era, because I hate, hate, hate the Phillies of the 90s onward. 

I used to travel a lot for work and here is a list of the famous people I've seen on airplanes: Bob Newhart, Stevie Wonder, Little Richard, and Rod Carew.