1975 Topps Home Run Leaders Has a Secret

Mike Schmidt made it to his first All-Star Game in 1974, when he was in the midst of a breakout season that ended up bearing fruit to the tune of a major-league-leading 36 home runs to go along with 116 RBI.

Incredibly, it would be another five full years before the future Hall of Famer garnered his first All-Star start.

He could thank a third base logjam of Ron Cey and Pete Rose for that particular delayed gratification.

In all, Schmitty would show up for an even dozen Midsummer Classics on his way to Cooperstown and a legacy that cemented him as probably the greatest Phillies player of all time.

But do you remember who was the last Philadelphia third baseman before Schmidt to start an All-Star Game for the National League?

Well, if not, you can look it up anytime you want by reaching for that snazzy “HOME RUN LEADERS – 1974” card in the 1975 Topps set:

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Yes, in a bit of delicious cosmic symmetry that seems possible only in baseball, and in baseball cards, Dick Allen started at the hot corner for the NL in the 1967 ASG.

That summer, he hit a robust .307 with 23 home runs, 77 RBI, and 20 stolen bases.

The next summer, the Phils moved Allen to left field … and then to first base in 1969 … and then to the Cardinals in 1970.

Then it was on to the Dodgers in ‘71 for the Wampum Whopper, and to the Chicago White Sox in 1972.

That year, Allen finally got his due, at least sort of, when he nabbed the American League MVP award on the strength of a .308 batting average and league-leading totals in home runs (37) and and RBI (113). He added another 19 steals for good measure.

Allen broke his leg in June 1973, which limited him to 72 games that season and, though the leg still bothered him in 1974, he was well enough to play in 128 games … and to hit 32 home runs.

In that power-sapped era, that was good enough to take the dinger title in the Junior Circuit, and to land Allen his final All-Star nod, where he finally shared the field with the man who might have been his teammate had the baseball winds blown this way or that.

Allen’s power display that summer also set up the cardboard “reunion” with Schmidt the next spring

Today, that Allen-Schmidt combo will set you back about $10 in PSA 7 condition, $25 in PSA 8, and likely more than $100 for PSA 9 copy.

Once you have it, though, or once you look it up, it will jog your memory for free — or maybe send you down the rabbit hole of slugger history and baseball family trees, a journey sure to lead you to all sorts of unexpected destinations.

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