1977 Mike Schmidt Topps redux

The 1977 Topps set was the first year I attempted to piece together the entire 660 card set, the old fashioned way... one pack at a time. I was 11 years old. I bought an untold number of wax packs, rack packs, and celo packs. I even got into a bit of trouble because I pulled off what would be ruled an unfair trade with a younger (cough... stupid) neighborhood boy. I think it was something like 4 of my Detroit Tiger doubles (including Mark Fidrych) for his prized Pete Rose card. Little did I know, but this set would go onto become what the PSA would call "the Rodney Dangerfield of '70s baseball issues".

In 1977 Mike Schmidt led the Phillies to the first 100 win season in franchise history. They recorded the best record in the National League (KC won 102 in the AL), and a second straight NL East title. They lost to the LA Dodgers in a heartbreaking 4 game NLCS. Individually, Schmidt's streak of NL HR crowns was broken at three, but he won the 2nd of what would be 10 career gold gloves and continued to establish himself as a superstar.

For my redux card, I decided to show Mike Schmidt playing defense. In 1977 he recorded 2.5 dWARs (Defensive Wins Above Replacement), which would be the best defensive single season of his hall of fame career. Everyone remembers Mike Schmidt for hitting 500+ home runs, but it was the combo of this powerful offense and stellar defense that separates him as the greatest third baseman in the history of the game.