My vintage card of the week: The 1969 Topps Johnny Bench All-Star Rookie Trophy card. This is another case where I greatly prefer a player’s second card because it’s his first solo card. I’ve owned the ’68 card, but it doesn’t hold a candle to this ’69 in my eyes. Such a classic image here, with the blue of the name circle matching the blue of Johnny’s eyes. He looks poised to build the Big Red Machine.

My vintage card of the week: The 1974 Topps Tom Seaver. The 1974 Topps set included several horizontal action shots of stars, and this Seaver card is my favorite. He’s finishing his classic drop-and-drive delivery as the fans look on. This card isn’t expensive, but it’s maddeningly hard to find a copy without any tilt.

My vintage card of the week: The 1964 Topps Pete Rose. I much prefer this second Topps card to his rookie card. Pete’s first solo card with the All-Star Rookie trophy is just visually superior to the four floating heads on the 1963 card. And I’m glad I feel that way, because this card was much more affordable to add to my collection than his rookie card would be!

My vintage card of the week: The 1983 Fleer Tony Gwynn rookie card. I appreciate all three of Tony’s rookie cards, but something about the Fleer just makes it stand out to me. I love the gray borders and the yellow and brown jersey and hat, and the prominent old-school Padres logo just makes the card pop. Gwynn was the best pure hitter of my baseball generation, and I still think he would’ve hit .400 in 1994 if the strike hadn’t robbed him of the opportunity.

My vintage card of the week: The 1957 Topps Frank Robinson rookie card. I think Frank might be the most underrated player in the history of the game, at least in terms of hobby interest. 2X MVP (the first and only player to win MVP in both leagues until Shohei came along). Triple Crown winner. ROY. 14X AS. 2 WS championships and a WS MVP. And counting stats? 586 HR; 1812 RBI; and 107.2 career WAR. The numbers are incredible. And his cultural legacy? He was the first Black manager in Major League Baseball. This 1957 Topps card is a great-looking card that deserves more love in the hobby.