The 1970 Topps baseball card set is renowned by collectors for its iconic design featuring player photographs on a solid color background. For Red Sox fans, the 1970 issue commemorates some of the greatest players to don the Boston uniform during that era.
Led by future Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith, and Luis Aparicio, the 1970 Red Sox won 93 games and captured the American League East division title. They were swept by the Twins in the AL Championship Series that year. The 1970 Topps set captures the team during this period of success and features photo cards of almost every player that made the 25-man active roster that season.
Captain Carl Yastrzemski is prominently featured as the leadoff card in the set. At age 30 in 1970, Yaz was already a seven-time All-Star and three-time AL batting champion. His card shows him in the Home Whites uniform posing confidently with bat in hand. Yaz went on to win the AL MVP award that season by batting .329 with 21 home runs and 105 RBIs. He remains one of the greatest players in Red Sox history.
Future Hall of Famer Reggie Smith’s card came next in the series. After coming over from the St. Louis Cardinals in a 1969 trade, Smith was blossoming into a perennial all-star outfielder for Boston. His 1970 season saw him hit .289 with 22 HRs and 80 RBIs in his age 24 season. Smith went on to play 8 seasons for the Sox before finishing his career with the Dodgers and Cardinals.
Veteran shortstop Luis Aparicio also received recognition in the 1970 set. Entering his 15th big league season at age 36, “Lulu” provided veteran leadership at the top of the batting order and brought excellent defense to a young Red Sox infield. Aparicio was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984, largely on the strength of his 9 Gold Glove awards won while with the White Sox earlier in his career.
Other notable Red Sox featured include catcher George Scott, who belted a career-high 31 home runs in 1970, as well as strikeout artist Bill Lee, who posted a 17-10 record despite averaging just under 5 Ks per 9 innings pitched. Mike Andrews, the team’s young sparkplug at second base, also received recognition a season before winning the 1971 AL Rookie of the Year award.
Rookie pitcher Sonny Siebert made his MLB card debut after breaking into the Sox rotation in 1969. Entering his age 25 season in 1970, Siebert won 15 games and posted a 3.56 ERA over 31 starts. He’d go on to have a solid 11-year career mostly spent with the Reds and Indians. Lefty reliever Doug Griffin also earned a rookie card after breaking in with Boston in 1969-70.
Although they fell short of a division crown, the 1970 Red Sox provided many lasting baseball memories for New England fans. For collectors, the 1970 Topps issue captures the team during this exciting period and commemorates the careers of many all-time great players in a Boston uniform. Over 50 years later, cards of Yastrzemski, Smith, Aparicio and others continue to bring back fond recollections of that talented but ultimately frustrated Red Sox squad from the early 1970s.
