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Below are some tidbits on baseball and sportscard collecting along with a listing of the All-Time and Active Leaders in a selected statistical cateogry. Visit our web site for more info on vintage and current baseball, football, basketball, hockey, sports and non-sport cards and card collecting.

Q1: How long have sports cards been around ? (part 1) The first baseball trading cards date back to 1869. For many years, baseball cards were packaged in packs of tobacco as a way to increase sales the same way that today prizes are packaged in boxes of cereal. In the 1920's and 1930's, candy and gum companies started packaging baseball cards in their products as well. Baseball card production was virtually halted in the early 1940's due to paper shortages created by World War II. The "Modern Era" of baseball cards began in 1948 when Bowman Gum Inc. offered one card and one piece of gum in a pack for a penny. The first important football set was the Mayo set featuring college players in 1984. Other than the 1935 National Chicle set no other key football set was issued until 1948 when noth Bowman and Leaf produced sets. History Of O-Pee-Chee (T5) O-Pee-Chee, also known as OPC, is the Canadian equivalent of Topps. The history of this gum & sports card company is actually quite different. OPC is based in London, Ontario Canada and pre-dates Topps by many years. OPC’s first sports card set was back in 1933 when they produced the V304 hockey cards. The set included stars Eddie Shore and Howie Morenz and has a book value of around $15,000. Their first baseball set was released in 1937. It was a cross between the 1934 Goudeys and Batter-Ups and featured only American League players. The top player in the set is Joe Dimaggio. OPC started their long run of complete baseball card sets in 1965. In these early years, the OPC sets were much smaller than Topps and usually included only the first couple of series. Although they were printed on a slightly different card stock the cards front and backs were nearly identical to Topps but with a small "Printed in Canada" on the back. Baseball was much less popular in Canada and it is estimated that OPC cards from these early years were produced in a ratio of between 1% and 5% of Topps cards making them exceedingly scarce !!! Starting in 1970, OPC baseball cards became more interesting. Canadian legislation demanded that all items produced in Canada carry both French & English so O-Pee-Chee baseball cards became bilingual with their card backs printed in both languages. In 1971, the OPC baseball set had a much more interesting back design and also offered 14 different card photos not in the Topps set of that year. 1972 OPC included a card of Gil Hodges mentioning his death that was not a part of the Topps set. 1974 OPC did include any of the "Washington Nationals/San Diego Padres" variations. In 1977 although the card format remained the same, about 1/3 of the OPC set had different poses/images than their Topps counterparts. In the late ‘70’s, the OPC card fronts appeared similar to Topps but sometimes included traded information with a line across them saying "Now with XXXX". These differences were due the the OPC cards being printed much later into the season allowing for an update of the players status. OPC also was busy with their hockey and Canadian Football League issues. In 1968 they re- entered the hockey market. Today OPC is still strong in the baseball card and hockey card market and has also started printing non-sports cards.

***  EXTRA-BASE HITS  -  ALL-TIME Leaders  ***
Player    Hits    1B      2B    3B    HR    EBH
----------------     -----   -----   ---   ---   ---   -----
Hank Aaron           3,771   2,294   624    98   755   1,477
Stan Musial          3,630   2,253   725   177   475   1,377
Babe Ruth            2,873   1,517   506   136   714   1,356
+ BARRY BONDS        2,727   1,377   563    77   702   1,342
Willie Mays          3,283   1,960   523   140   660   1,323
Lou Gehrig           2,721   1,531   534   163   493   1,190
Frank Robinson       2,943   1,757   528    72   586   1,186
Carl Yastrzemski     3,419   2,262   646    59   452   1,157
Rafael Palmeiro      2,914   1,768   569    38   549   1,156
Ty Cobb              4,191   3,052   724   298   117   1,136
Tris Speaker         3,514   2,383   792   222   117   1,131
George Brett         3,154   2,035   665   137   317   1,119
Jimmie Foxx          2,646   1,529   458   125   534   1,117
Ted Williams         2,654   1,537   525    71   521   1,117
Eddie Murray         3,255   2,156   560    35   504   1,099
Dave Winfield        3,110   2,017   540    88   465   1,093
Cal Ripken           3,184   2,106   603    44   431   1,078
Reggie Jackson       2,584   1,509   463    49   563   1,075
Mel Ott              2,876   1,805   488    72   511   1,071
Pete Rose            4,256   3,215   746   135   160   1,041
Andre Dawson         2,774   1,735   503    98   438   1,039
Mike Schmidt         2,234   1,219   408    59   548   1,015
Rogers Hornsby       2,930   1,919   541   169   301   1,011
Ernie Banks          2,583   1,574   407    90   512   1,009
Honus Wagner         3,420   2,424   643   252   101     996

***  EXTRA-BASE HITS  -  ALL-TIME Leaders  ***
Rank Player (age) Extra-Base Hits Bats
 1.  Hank Aaron HOF        1477
 2.  Stan Musial HOF       1377
 3.  Babe Ruth HOF         1356
 4.+ BARRY BONDS (40)      1349
 5.  Willie Mays HOF       1323
 6.  Rafael Palmeiro       1192
 7.  Lou Gehrig HOF        1190
 8.  Frank Robinson HOF    1186
 9.  Carl Yastrzemski HOF  1157
10.  Ty Cobb HOF           1136
11.  Tris Speaker HOF      1131
12.  George Brett HOF      1119
13.  Jimmie Foxx HOF       1117
     Ted Williams HOF      1117
15.  Eddie Murray HOF      1099
16.  Dave Winfield HOF     1093
17.  Cal Ripken            1078
18.  Reggie Jackson HOF    1075
19.  Mel Ott HOF           1071
20.  Pete Rose             1041
21.  Andre Dawson          1039
22.  Mike Schmidt HOF      1015
23.  Rogers Hornsby HOF    1011
24.  Ernie Banks HOF       1009
25.+ KEN GRIFFEY JR (35)   1002
26.  Al Simmons HOF         995
27.  Honus Wagner HOF       993
28.  Sammy Sosa             987
29.  Al Kaline HOF          972
30.  Jeff Bagwell           969
31.  Tony Perez HOF         963
32.  Robin Yount HOF        960
33.  Fred McGriff           958
34.  Paul Molitor HOF       953
     Willie Stargell HOF    953
36.  Mickey Mantle HOF      952
37.  Billy Williams HOF     948
38.  Dwight Evans           941
39.  Dave Parker            940
40.  Eddie Mathews HOF      938
41.  Harold Baines          921
     Goose Goslin HOF       921
43.  Willie McCovey HOF     920
44.+ CRAIG BIGGIO (39)      916
     Larry Walker           916
46.  Paul Waner HOF         909
47.+ FRANK THOMAS (37)      906
48.  Charlie Gehringer HOF  904
49.  Nap Lajoie HOF         903
50.  Harmon Killebrew HOF   887
51.+ GARY SHEFFIELD (36)    886
52.  Joe Carter             881
     Joe DiMaggio HOF       881
54.  Harry Heilmann HOF     876
55.  Andres Galarraga       875
56.+ LUIS GONZALEZ (37)     874
57.  Rickey Henderson       873
58.  Vada Pinson            868
59.  Sam Crawford HOF       864
60.+ MANNY RAMIREZ (33)     861
61.  Joe Medwick HOF        858
62.  Duke Snider HOF        850
63.+ JUAN GONZALEZ (35)     847
   + JEFF KENT (37)         847
65.  Roberto Clemente HOF   846
66.  Carlton Fisk HOF       844
67.  Gary Gaetti            842
68.  Mark McGwire           841
69.  Edgar Martinez         838
     Rusty Staub            838
71.  Jim Bottomley HOF      835
72.+ STEVE FINLEY (40)      834
     Jim Rice               834
74.  Al Oliver              825
75.  Orlando Cepeda HOF     823
76.  Cap Anson HOF          820
77.  Brooks Robinson HOF    818
78.  Ellis Burks            817
79.  Jose Canseco           816
80.  Joe Morgan HOF         813
81.  Roger Connor HOF       812
82.  Johnny Mize HOF        809
83.  Ed Delahanty HOF       808
84.  Chili Davis            804
85.  Joe Cronin HOF         803
86.  Jake Beckley HOF       802
87.  Roberto Alomar         794
     Johnny Bench HOF       794
89.+ ALEX RODRIGUEZ (29)    792
     Ruben Sierra           792
91.  Albert Belle           791
92.  Dale Murphy            787
93.  Mickey Vernon          782
94.  Hank Greenberg HOF     781
95.  Zack Wheat HOF         780
96.  Darrell Evans          779
     Bob Johnson            779
98.  Ted Simmons            778
   + JIM THOME (34)         778
100. Lou Brock HOF          776

Active Leaders for Extra-Base Hits
Rank Player (age) Extra-Base Hits
 1.  Barry Bonds (40)      1349
 2.  Rafael Palmeiro (40)  1192
 3.  Ken Griffey Jr (35)   1002
 4.  Sammy Sosa (36)        987
 5.  Jeff Bagwell (37)      969
 6.  Craig Biggio (39)      916
 7.  Frank Thomas (37)      906
 8.  Gary Sheffield (36)    886
 9.  Luis Gonzalez (37)     874
10.  Manny Ramirez (33)     861
11.  Juan Gonzalez (35)     847
     Jeff Kent (37)         847
13.  Steve Finley (40)      834
14.  Alex Rodriguez (29)    792
     Ruben Sierra (39)      792
16.  Jim Thome (34)         778
17.  John Olerud (36)       768
18.  Carlos Delgado (33)    767
19.  Bernie Williams (36)   750
20.  Ivan Rodriguez (33)    747
21.  Shawn Green (32)       718
22.  Jim Edmonds (35)       714
23.  Chipper Jones (33)     713
24.  Mike Piazza (36)       711
25.  Moises Alou (38)       709
26.  Vinny Castilla (37)    682
27.  B.J. Surhoff           670
28.  Todd Helton (31)       668
29.  Reggie Sanders (37)    662
30.  Garret Anderson (33)   656

1962 Topps Baseball Bucks Another Hit Topps Test Issue from the 1960's !!! The 1962 Topps Bucks were one of Topps most creative Test Issues. Each "Buck" resembled U.S. currency and measured 1 3/4" x 4 1/8" but instead of George Washington staring at you, it could be Mickey Mantle !!! A drawing of the player's home park along with a brief write-up also appeared on the front. The backs included team and league logos. The 1962 Topps Bucks test issue was sold in it's own 1 cent wax packs and was not an insert in 1962 Topps wax packs. Most examples exist with a fold line but it should not be overly noticeable. Player selection was great as the set is packed with numerous Hall-of-Famers including MICKEY MANTLE, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Carl Yastrzemski, Stan Musial, Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Don Drysdale, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron and more !!!

1977 Topps CLOTH STICKERS One of the few Topps specialty issues of the late 1970's, the set contained 55 cloth stickers of the top players of 1977 along with 18 puzzle cards which joined together to form photos of the 1976 American League or 1976 National League All-Star teams. Very attractive visually, these cloth stickers/cards were a separate Topps test issue and sold in their own packs. Each pack contained 2 stickers and 1 checklist puzzle piece. According to S.C.D., player photos on the front are identical to their 1977 regular cards but the backs are different. The regulation card size 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" stickers have a paper backing which lists the player's career highlights and could easily be removed to allow the cloth to be adhered to a jacket, notebook, etc. TOP STARS: Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Bench, Robin Yount, Lou Brock & more! The 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers set also has a scarcer Mark Fidrych ROOKIE card !!!

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