#47 Roger Maris

This is Roger Maris' rookie card and it's one of the more costly cards in the set. When I first decided to chase the Topps '58 set I tracked down a copy of this card at a too-good-to-be-true price on eBay. And, as you might have guessed, it was too good to be true. The card I bought was fake. But I learned a valuable lesson...read the whole description. The seller had, in very fine print at the bottom of the description, implied that the card might not be authentic. This copy is legit.

Maris was highly touted and had a minor league career that lived up to the hype. He made the Indians in 1957 and was off to a great start when injuries derailed his season. In 1958 a new regime, led by Frank Lane and Bobby Bragan, took over the Indians and after another injury, Maris' days in Cleveland were numbered.

He was traded to the Athletics in June and played well for KC until the inevitable trade to the Yankees for the 1960 season. Most of the rest is well known...the trials of his '61 homer season, trade to the Cardinals, etc. Here is Baseball Reference's list of Maris' notable achievements:

• 4-time AL All-Star (1959-1962)
• 2-time AL MVP (1960 & 1961)
• AL Gold Glove Winner (1960/RF)
• AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1960)
• AL Runs Scored Leader (1961)
• AL Total Bases Leader (1961)
• AL Home Runs Leader (1961)
• 2-time AL RBI Leader (1960 & 1961)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 6 (1958 & 1960-1964)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1960-1962)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1961)
• 50-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1961)
• 60-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1961)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 3 (1960-1962)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1961)
• Won three World Series with the New York Yankees (1961 & 1962) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1967)

Looking at the reverse side of the cards shows that Maris is one of the very few players whose name is given a non-italic treatment to go along with the comic-style first letters. 

#158 Cleveland Indians

The 1958 Cleveland Indians finished 4th in the AL with a 77-76 record. They were managed by Bobby Bragan for the first half of the year before he was replaced by Joe Gordon. Rocky Colavito led the club in homers (41) and RBI (113) while Vic Power topped the club with a .317 batting average. Cal McLish, Ray Narleski, Gary Bell and Mudcat Grant formed the rotation with Don Mossi and Hoyt Wilhelm fronting the bullpen.

The card shows the '57 Indians team with Kerby Farrell at the helm. I have a slight obsession with team photos. I keep a magnifying glass on my desk and enjoy spotting familiar faces on team cards. The '58 set is one that lists the players on the front which kind of takes the fun out of it. But it's still nice to see rookie Roger Maris on this one. The '57 set had much better team cards IMO. The had team stats on the back and also listed the players pictured.

The card is in decent shape..until you turn it over. A former owner extended the checklist with a pen. I have this on  'upgrade...someday' status.