Hi folks. I am Al from SoDak. I have been reading Twins Daily since its inception and always thought of contributing. Well, here I go.

I am a collector of Twins baseball cards. About 10-15 years ago, I made it a goal to get at least one card from every Twins player who had a card. That goal seems to have morphed into getting each Twins card for every Topps set (and a few other brands here and there). I currently have more than 2,400 cards from about 750 unique players. I have a plan for a series of posts to review and comment on each year’s set of Twins cards. But by no means will this be completed in one initial post. I plan to cover each year in order of the years I have completed. So, I will start with my first completed set (1963 Topps) and go forward to other completed sets. As I continue with my series, I will continue with my collecting. Hopefully when I get the most recent set, I will have more of the earlier sets completed and can loop back and comment on those. Hopefully we all find this an interesting exercise.

To start with I am going to give my opinion of the best card. This will likely be one of the most expensive cards but not necessarily the most expensive. I don’t want to have too many Killebrews, Olivas, Carews, etc. I will also give my opinion of my personal favorite card. This might be based on the look of the card, or a story behind the card or player. Finally, I will discuss the card of the most obscure player in my opinion. This will hopefully include a little research and history of this player so that we can learn more about lesser-known players. I anticipate the obscure player part ending up as the most detailed and longest part of the post.

We’ll see how this goes.

1963 TOPPS
This colorful set is one my favorites from the 1960s. The cards are 2.5” x 3.5” which has been the standard card size since 1957. Each card contains a larger color image of the player with a smaller black and white picture within a circle at the bottom of the card. The player’s name, team and position are on a colorful thick border at the bottom. The league leader cards and many of the rookie cards are of the notorious “floating head” design. This 1963 set contains the Tony Oliva #228 rookie card amongst its 33 Twins cards.

THE BEST
Many sources list the Oliva rookie card and Harmon Killebrew #500 as the most expensive Twins cards in the set. The Oliva card is of the often ridiculed “floating heads” design, so I am going to lean to the Harmon Killebrew card the best card. Hopefully this doesn’t start a trend of too many Killebrews.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
I like the Bob Allison #75 where he is shown in a solid batting pose. Jim Kaat (#165) stares down the camera at the start of a wind-up. To me, that’s a good card and made better by the fact that I was able to get mine autographed at TwinsFest a few years back. I also like that the AL Home Run Leaders #4 has Killebrew front and center as the top dog from 1962. The autograph on the good-looking Jim Kaat card puts that card on top for me as my personal favorite.

MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My choice as the most obscure Twins player included in the 1963 Topps baseball card set is George Banks (card #564).

Interestingly, the Twins had five rookie cards included in the 1963 Topps set. Four of those cards were like the Oliva rookie with “floating heads” design, but one rookie player got his own card – yes, Mr. Banks. Why? Well, he was signed in 1957 by the New York Yankees and had minor league success. George Banks hit 82 minor league home runs through 1960 (on his way to 223 home runs in 11 minor league seasons). In 1961 the Twins selected him in the Rule 5 draft, the mechanism that led to the Twins obtaining Shane Mack and Johan Santana (trade) many years later.

George Banks played mainly 3rd Base and Outfield. He played a total of five seasons in MLB, splitting his time between Minnesota and Cleveland. He was a piece in a key trade – He and Lee Stange were traded to Cleveland for Mudcat Grant who we all know won 21 games in the World Series year of 1965. Mudcat won Game 6 nearly all by himself. He led the Twins to a 5-1 win in this elimination game. He allowed only six hits and was also a force in the batter’s box with a 3-run home run.

Banks could never match his minor league prowess in the big leagues. His WAR was 0.3. He only got 203 at bats in MLB. He played 63 games in 1963, but only 25 in 1964. After the trade he played in a total of 17 games over parts of three seasons in Cleveland.

But George Banks did have a nice 1963 rookie card. The card shows him squaring to bunt which contrasts with his minor league propensity to his home runs. Love it!

So there it is. My first entry in what could end up being a long series about baseball cards and the Minnesota Twins. Hopefully I get some positive feedback, encouragement, and views to keep me motivated.

If you disagree with my opinions, I would love to see your opinions, criticisms, and suggestions in the comments below. Don’t be too hard on me. Let’s have fun with this!