1983 Miscellaneous Cards

Subsets
1983 Topps had largely the same subsets as the 1982 Topps...there were All-Stars, Team Leaders, League Leaders, Record Breakers. Gone though were the team prospects cards and in action cards, but 1983 gave us a before and after photo of super veteran players. If you were a fan of Rickey Henderson, his image appears in all of the subsets in 1982, including a record breaker for a record that people cared about (not the typical most strikeouts by a 40 year old pitcher on a full-moon Sunday game).


Generational Theory
For my day job, I recently had to read a book on generational theory called The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. It was interesting in that it gave me a new way to think about how generations and their behaviors are cyclical and their attitudes shape history. Unfortunately we are now in what is called an unraveling, meaning things aren't well and are heading to a crisis.

According to the above mentioned book, the definition of the baby boom generation was anyone born between 1943-1960. Anyone who was from the Silent generation, the generation that grew up as children of the Great Depression and WWII were born between 1925-1942. Generation X is formed by the people born between 1961-1981. According to Strauss and Howe, each generation falls into one of four categories, each following right behind the other. I am definitely a Generation X, being born in 1974. My generation is a nomad type generation. Looking at this website which is a companion of the author's work, Gen X and other nomad generations (such as the Lost generation, people born between 1883-1900, think of Babe Ruth, Dwight Eisenhower, and the WWI generation, these are their characteristics (you can read about all 4 types by expanding archetypes on the left side):

• As Nomads replace Prophets in childhood during an Awakening, they are left underprotected at a time of social convulsion and adult self-discovery.
• As alienated Nomads replace Prophets in young adulthood during an Unraveling, they become brazen free agents, lending their pragmatism and independence to an era of growing social turmoil.
• As pragmatic Nomads replace Prophets in midlife during a Crisis, they apply toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young.
• As exhausted Nomads replace Prophets in elderhood during a High, they slow the pace of social change, shunning the old crusades in favor of simplicity and survivalism.

Anyway, the theory is interesting. To tie it back to baseball cards in 1983, Topps issued the Super Veteran cards in 1983. In 1984, Topps would issue a current active leaders subset, which I will review in a few months when I get to the 1984 sets. Something interesting was happening in 1982 in baseball. Using the the years above, the first player of Generation X (born in 1961) came up in 1981...Fred Manrique of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1982, several more came up including Scott Garrelts, Rafael Belliard, Don Mattingly, and Storm Davis. In 1983, the early Boomers (born between 1943-1951), were now at least 32 years old and moving past the prime years of their careers. They were now starting to make their presence on the all-time leader boards. In 1983 you also still had a handful of Silent generation players hanging around. The last one to leave baseball would be Phil Niekro, born in 1939, who played his last season in 1987.

To give an idea when this group, which I call the early boomers, made their mark in the game, check out the roster of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds...Pete Rose and Tony Perez were late silent and three players were born after 1951 (none of major significance). The rest (Joe Morgan, George Foster, Ken Griffey) were all born between 1943-1951. Looking at their World Series opponents that year, the Red Sox, they had 6 players born in the Silent Generation (Tim McCarver, Luis Tiant, Carl Yastrzemski) and 4 who were born after 1951 (Jim Rice, Fred Lynn). The majority of the team was born between 1943-1951 (Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans, Cecil Cooper, Tony Conigliaro). The worst team in the NL that year, the Astros, had more younger players and only one silent player, Tommy Helms. The majority (Cesar Cedeno, Jose Cruz, Bob Watson, Cliff Johnson, Mike Easler) were all born at this time.

The Super Veteran subset was a salute to these players who largely had their careers centered around the early to mid 1970s that were still around in 1982. The oldest player in the subset was Jim Kaat (born 1938), the youngest was Bruce Sutter (born 1953).

At the same time, this focus on baseball history gave Donruss the opportunity to make some excellent rookie cards. Many of the iconic rookie baseball cards from this point on would no longer be the player's Topps cards.

Highlights

__	TO	1	HL	Tony Armas (11 Putouts in Right Field)	OAK
__	TO	2	HL	Rickey Henderson (Most Stolen Bases in a Season)	OAK
__	TO	3	HL	Greg Minton (Hurled 269 1/3 Consecutive Innings Allowing No Homers)	SFG
__	TO	4	HL	Lance Parrish (Threw out 3 runners in All-Star Game)	DET
__	TO	5	HL	Manny Trillo (479 Consecutive Errorless Chances)	PHI
__	TO	6	HL	John Wathan (Stolen Base Record by Catchers)	KCR
__	FL	630	HL	300 Career Wins (Gaylord Perry, Bud Bulling)	SEA
__	FL	641	HL	Joel Youngblood (Two Teams - Same Day)	XXX

Mascots

__

DO

645

ST

The San Diego Chicken

XXX

League Leaders

__	TO	701	LD	1982 Batting Leaders (Willie Wilson, Al Oliver)	XXX
__	TO	702	LD	1982 Home Run Leaders (Reggie Jackson, Gorman Thomas, Dave Kingman)	XXX
__	TO	703	LD	1982 Runs Batted In Leaders (Hal McRae, Dale Murphy)	XXX
__	TO	704	LD	1982 Stolen Base Leaders (Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines)	XXX
__	TO	705	LD	1982 Victory Leaders (LaMarr Hoyt, Steve Carlton)	XXX
__	TO	706	LD	1982 Strikeout Leaders (Floyd Bannister, Steve Carlton)	XXX
__	TO	707	LD	1982 Earned Run Average Leaders (Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Rogers)	XXX
__	TO	708	LD	1982 Leading Firemen (Dan Quisenberry, Bruce Sutter)	XXX

All-Stars

__	TO	386	AS	Rod Carew	CAL
__	TO	387	AS	Bob Grich	CAL
__	TO	388	AS	George Brett	KCR
__	TO	389	AS	Robin Yount	MIL
__	TO	390	AS	Reggie Jackson	CAL
__	TO	391	AS	Rickey Henderson	OAK
__	TO	392	AS	Fred Lynn	CAL
__	TO	393	AS	Carlton Fisk	CHW
__	TO	394	AS	Pete Vuckovich	MIL
__	TO	395	AS	Larry Gura	KCR
__	TO	396	AS	Dan Quisenberry	KCR
__	TO	397	AS	Pete Rose	PHI
__	TO	398	AS	Manny Trillo	PHI
__	TO	399	AS	Mike Schmidt	PHI
__	TO	400	AS	Dave Concepcion	CIN
__	TO	401	AS	Dale Murphy	ATL
__	TO	402	AS	Andre Dawson	MON
__	TO	403	AS	Tim Raines	MON
__	TO	404	AS	Gary Carter	MON
__	TO	405	AS	Steve Rogers	MON
__	TO	406	AS	Steve Carlton	PHI
__	TO	407	AS	Bruce Sutter	STL

Super Veterans

__	TO	61	SV	Johnny Bench	CIN
__	TO	201	SV	Rod Carew	CAL
__	TO	71	SV	Steve Carlton	PHI
__	TO	36	SV	Rollie Fingers	MIL
__	TO	256	SV	Gene Garber	ATL
__	TO	241	SV	Rich Gossage	NYY
__	TO	501	SV	Reggie Jackson	CAL
__	TO	231	SV	Fergie Jenkins	CHC
__	TO	736	SV	Tommy John	CAL
__	TO	673	SV	Jim Kaat	STL
__	TO	161	SV	Dave Kingman	NYM
__	TO	334	SV	Dave LaRoche	NYY
__	TO	694	SV	Sparky Lyle	CHW
__	TO	378	SV	Lee May	KCR
__	TO	511	SV	Tug McGraw	PHI
__	TO	604	SV	Joe Morgan	SFG
__	TO	783	SV	Bobby Murcer	NYY
__	TO	636	SV	Graig Nettles	NYY
__	TO	411	SV	Phil Niekro	ATL
__	TO	421	SV	Al Oliver	MON
__	TO	491	SV	Jim Palmer	BAL
__	TO	716	SV	Tony Perez	BOS
__	TO	464	SV	Gaylord Perry	SEA
__	TO	101	SV	Pete Rose	PHI
__	TO	361	SV	Nolan Ryan	HOU
__	TO	301	SV	Mike Schmidt	PHI
__	TO	581	SV	Tom Seaver	CIN
__	TO	451	SV	Ted Simmons	MIL
__	TO	283	SV	Reggie Smith	SFG
__	TO	741	SV	Rusty Staub	NYM
__	TO	151	SV	Bruce Sutter	STL
__	TO	146	SV	Don Sutton	MIL
__	TO	18	SV	Kent Tekulve	PIT
__	TO	179	SV	Luis Tiant	CAL
__	TO	551	SV	Carl Yastrzemski	BOS

Team Leaders

__	TO	502	TM	Braves Team Leaders (Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro)	ATL
__	TO	21	TM	Orioles Team Leaders (Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer)	BAL
__	TO	381	TM	Red Sox Team Leaders (Jim Rice, Bob Stanley)	BOS
__	TO	651	TM	Angels Team Leaders (Rod Carew, Mike Witt)	CAL
__	TO	51	TM	Cubs Team Leaders (Leon Durham, Fergie Jenkins)	CHC
__	TO	591	TM	White Sox Team Leaders (Greg Luzinski, LaMarr Hoyt)	CHW
__	TO	351	TM	Reds Team Leaders (Cesar Cedeno, Mario Soto)	CIN
__	TO	141	TM	Indians Team Leaders (Toby Harrah, Rick Sutcliffe)	CLE
__	TO	261	TM	Tigers Team Leaders (Larry Herndon, Dan Petry)	DET
__	TO	441	TM	Astros Team Leaders (Ray Knight, Joe Niekro)	HOU
__	TO	471	TM	Royals Team Leaders (Willie Wilson, Vida Blue)	KCR
__	TO	681	TM	Dodgers Team Leaders (Pedro Guerrero, Fernando Valenzuela)	LAD
__	TO	321	TM	Brewers Team Leaders (Robin Yount, Pete Vuckovich)	MIL
__	TO	771	TM	Twins Team Leaders (Kent Hrbek, Bobby Castillo)	MIN
__	TO	111	TM	Expos Team Leaders (Al Oliver, Steve Rogers)	MON
__	TO	621	TM	Mets Team Leaders (Mookie Wilson, Craig Swan)	NYM
__	TO	81	TM	Yankees Team Leaders (Jerry Mumphrey, Dave Righetti)	NYY
__	TO	531	TM	Athletics Team Leaders (Rickey Henderson, Rick Langford)	OAK
__	TO	229	TM	Phillies Leaders (Bo Diaz, Steve Carlton)	PHI
__	TO	291	TM	Pirates Team Leaders (Bill Madlock, John Candelaria)	PIT
__	TO	742	TM	Padres Team Leaders (Terry Kennedy, Tim Lollar)	SDP
__	TO	171	TM	Giants Team Leaders (Joe Morgan, Bill Laskey)	SFG
__	TO	711	TM	Mariners Team Leaders (Bruce Bochte, Jim Beattie)	SEA
__	TO	561	TM	Cardinals Team Leaders (Lonnie Smith, Joaquin Andujar)	STL
__	TO	412	TM	Rangers Team Leaders (Buddy Bell, Charlie Hough)	TEX
__	TO	202	TM	Blue Jays Team Leaders (Damaso Garcia, Dave Stieb)	TOR

Checklists

__	TO	129	CH	Checklist 1-132	XXX
__	TO	249	CH	Checklist 133-264	XXX
__	TO	349	CH	Checklist 265-396	XXX
__	TO	526	CH	Checklist 397-528	XXX
__	TO	642	CH	Checklist 529-660	XXX
__	TO	769	CH	Checklist 661-792	XXX
__	TT	132	CH	Checklist 1-132	XXX