The “Topps” Giants

When my brother and I were boys and occasionally bought baseball cards, the only brand I remember being available (we’re talking late-1960s and early-1970s) was Topps.  As aspiring baseball scholars, we soon realized that the very best players were distinguished by card numbers ending with two zeros.  Numbers like 100, 200, or 300 were reserved for the Aarons, Mayses and Seavers of the baseball firmament.  Numbers ending in a single zero,  where 50, 150 or 450 were held in higher regard than 160 or 370, were reserved for the next level — Rico Carty, Lou Brock, Joe Torre.  The level below them had numbers that ended in 5.

Starting in 1990, the “best” player would often be number 1.  Last year’s number 1 was Ryan Braun, and the “00” cards were Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Josh Hamilton, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez and Clayton Kershaw.  But The New York Times reported three Sundays ago that with its 2013 set, Topps has gotten rid of its idiosyncratic formula for assigning numbers to the players’ baseball cards.

Most fans and collectors seem to bemoan this.  I long ago quit collecting baseball cards, but I like an idea Joe Posnanski had.  He recently undertook a study on Joe Blogs, his personal website, creating a point system to determine to whom Topps had assigned the best numbers during their careers.  I thought I’d do the same with the Giants.

So, I’ve devised a scoring system in which a player gets 10 points for every “00” card they achieved.  I also, after 1990, give 10 points for that cherished number 1 card.  They get 5 points for cards that end in “0.”  I only count the card if it is a regular player card.  No “All-Star” card or player-in-action card or special card reliving history will be counted.  So here are the Topps Giants of all time:

Six other Giants, including Monte Irvin, Gaylord Perry and Kevin Mitchell, are tied with 15 points.  Only three current Giants have any points: Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito  have 10 points each.  (Okay, four “current” Giants if we count Dave Righetti, who got his points while a Giant reliever in the 1990s.)