Subsets1983 Topps had largely the same subsets as the 1982 Topps...there were All-Stars, Team Leaders, League Leaders, Record Breake
rs. 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 TheoryFor 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 |
There are two exceptions to the not playing or managing after 1982 rule, with Earl Weaver coming back to manage the Orioles again in 1985 and the interesting case of Bruce Bochte. According to Mr. Bochte's wikipedia entry, he sat out 1983 in protest to rising player salaries. Hard telling if this was a failed attempt to get some notoriety or if this was a sincere move, but he came back to play from 1984-1986 with the Oakland Athletics. I say this failed as I can't seem to find much about this protest in 2010. He also appears to hold the record for most seasons played and never appearing on a team with a winning record and being the guy who invented the term "Mendoza Line". Here is a link to what Bruce Bochte is up to now.
