1978 Mike Schmidt Topps redux

Of the ten baseball card designs Topps produced in the 1970s, I would have to rate the 1978 set dead last. In my eyes the design is pretty darn boring and I have never found the correct font type to match the script for the team names, which makes creating a good template very hard.

For a non-action photo... the 1978 edition of the Mike Schmidt card catalog is pretty darn awesome. I love the mustache, the Dick Allen memorial ear-flapless helmet (I don't think Schmidt ever actually wore one to the plate) and the wide collared warm-up jacket under the jersey.

Besides a third straight NL East title and another gold glove, nothing about the 1978 season was that memorable for Mike Schmidt. He produced his lowest HR & RBI totals since his forgettable rookie season and his OPS+ was almost 30 points lower than his previous 2 seasons. He did not have a single multi-HR game and 1978 was the only season from 1974 though 1984 the he did not get at least one vote in the NL MVP ballot.

I couldn't recreate the magic of the original Topps card in my redux version, but I did use a era appropriate home action shot. I can't tell if this pic was from '78 or '79. From what I could tell he wore adidas shoes those seasons. I know it isn't from 1976 (no bicentennial sleeve patches) or 1977 (he wore Pumas). By 1980 he had moved to nike.