As a bonus, we have created an All-Time Legendary Card Lineup with players from every team! This team features the players we felt were the best to ever play at their respective positions while taking into account the impact and importance of their cards.
For example, center field gave us an incredibly difficult decision. Do we put Willie Mays there? He is arguably the best all-around player to have ever played, hitting for power and average and playing center field as well as anyone has ever seen. Or do we put Mickey Mantle there? Often cited as the most physically gifted baseball player ever, Mantle is a legend in the game, but injuries left him with numbers that fall below Mays’ incredible contributions. The deciding factor for us was Mantle’s legendary baseball card. The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle is one of the two most important cards in the history of the Hobby. Since we were creating the All-Time Legendary Card Lineup, we had to put Mantle and his iconic card out there.
Center field wasn’t the only difficult decision. In fact, basically every position could be argued one way or another (well, except for relief pitcher). That’s why we decided to have a bench and a bullpen. There are too many legendary players that deserve to be on this team, so we wanted to at least include them in some way. And, of course, we left off many deserving players even with the addition of a bench and a bullpen.
Thank you for joining us on this fun journey through the history of each franchise in baseball, it was a pleasure creating each list and interacting with passionate collectors and baseball fans from across the country.
You can purchase many of these cards on the Beckett Marketplace: Sandy Koufax, Johnny Bench, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Mike Schmidt, Honus Wagner, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle (Reprints), Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays (Reprint), Roberto Clemente (reprint), Jackie Robinson (reprint), Hank Aaron (1994 reissue), Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux and Mariano Rivera.