The 1985 Topps Traded baseball card set was issued midway through the 1985 Major League Baseball season as a special release highlighting players who had been traded to new teams since the initial 1985 Topps baseball card series was produced and released earlier that year. At 180 cards, the 1985 Topps Traded set captured many of the notable player transactions that occurred in the months after the regular season began.
As was common for Topps Traded sets of the era, the cards featured the same basic design and color scheme as the flagship Topps release but with updated photos showing players in the uniforms of their new clubs. While star players fetched high prices in trades, it was often the depth players and role players who found themselves shipped to different teams midseason that made up the bulk of the Traded set’s subject matter. Cards of these recently swapped veterans and role players proved popular among collectors seeking to stay up to date on the numerous trades and roster changes that the lively baseball trading season often brought.
Some of the bigger name stars to appear in the 1985 Topps Traded set included Don Baylor, who was traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Boston Red Sox in May. A veteran slugger and league MVP, Baylor provided needed pop to the Red Sox lineup. Another aging but productive slugger, Steve Kemp, appeared after being dealt from the New York Mets to the Detroit Tigers in June. Though past his prime, Kemp provided some thunder to a Tigers team hoping to make a push in the competitive AL East.
Pitchers also dotted the Traded checklist. Former Cy Young winner Dave Stewart was featured after going from the Texas Rangers to the Philadelphia Phillies in May. His veteran presence was seen as a boost to Phillies’ staff. Relief pitcher Lee Smith, then one of the game’s best closers, received a Traded card after his June trade moving him from the Chicago Cubs to the Boston Red Sox. Smith helped solidify a Red Sox bullpen that had some question marks entering the summer months.
While stars were splashed across sports magazine covers when they switched teams, it was the mid-tier players and role players who truly captured the scope and frequency of trades across MLB in 1985. For collectors, seeing these depth players in new uniforms provided visual confirmation of all the underneath roster churning that season. Names like Mickey Hatcher (Astros to Tigers), Tom Herr (Twins to Angels), Andy Hawkins (Yankees to Padres), and Scott Bankhead (Rangers to Cardinals) populated the Traded checklist with recently swapped role players.
Among the more visually striking cards in the 1985 Topps Traded set were those showing players photographed in uniforms they had worn for only a brief period of time before being traded yet again. Enos Cabell’s card, for example, was cropped from a photo taken during his extremely short-lived May stint with the Minnesota Twins after coming over from the Angels. Similarly, Ted Power’s Traded issue depicted him as a Chicago White Sox player, despite having been dealt from the White Sox to the Cardinals after playing just 27 games for Chicago. Cards like these serves as almost ephemeral snapshots capturing fleeting moments in a player’s constant state of baseball flux.
While stars were the main attraction, completeness drivers eagerly sought out even the most obscure depth player cards to finish their 1985 Topps Traded sets. Rent-A-Players like Tom Brennan, Craig Lefferts, and John Urrea appeal mostly to hardcore collectors completing runs. The set’s checkerboard backbone was roundly filled by the likes of Champ Summers, Rance Mulliniks, and Dan Schatzeder – all just bit role players who happened to switch uniforms that season. For completionists, gathering each one was a small victory.
In the end, the 180-card 1985 Topps Traded release fulfilled its role of chronicling all the midseason trades and roster changes from that often chaotic baseball summer of 1985. Prices have climbed steadily for stars of the set like Dave Stewart and Lee Smith, but condition-sensitive copies of depth players can still be found affordably by dedicated traders and collectors. The set stands as an important historical annual documenting many of the names and transactions that helped shape the subsequent seasons after initial rosters and cards were first produced. For fans and collectors alike, 1985 Topps Traded brought much needed baseball continuity at the season’s midway point.
