Screenshot via Mets YouTube
Last week, I finally had the opportunity to watch the new HBOMax documentary “Say Hey, Willie Mays.” I can count on one hand the number of baseball players from before I was born whose highlights I would look forward to watching. I would gladly watch highlights of Willie Mays any day of the week.
I was in awe watching a now 91-year-old living legend speaking about his career. Arguably the greatest baseball player that ever lived, Mays returned to New York when he was well past his prime, but for a small moment in time, the Say Hey Kid wore the Orange and Blue.
Adding a baseball card to your collection of Willie Mays in a Mets uniform from his playing days leaves collectors with few options. Topps left Mays out of their 1974 release, but he was pictured on card number 473 for Game 2 of the 1973 World Series, which the Mets won 10-7 over the A’s. The 1973 Topps set starts off with an All-Time Home Run Leaders card featuring the then Home Run King Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Mays.
That leaves collectors with just one option for a solo Mays card in a Mets uniform: card number 305 from 1973 Topps.
One of the vintage cards that has been in my personal collection the longest, a 1973 Topps Willie Mays is a difficult card to find in mint condition. So, when I found one with a slightly dinged corner, I jumped on it.
Naturally, the detail in the player pictures on vintage cards lacks the detail that can be seen in the photography used even ten years later, but it’s blatantly obvious that the years had caught up to Willie as he prepared to play his final season while turning 42 years old. The lines on his face bely that of a ballplayer that has seen feats of triumph in summer’s past in the city that never sleeps and then the city by the bay.
The 1973 Topps Mets team set is an outstanding one. McGraw, Matlack, Grote, Koosman, Harrelson, Yogi, Kranepool, Cleon, Garrett, Seaver, and Willie. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Adding Mays’ 1973 Topps card is going to cost some money. The better the condition, the higher the cost. A Willie Mays card is a must-have for every collector. Of course, the amount of money you would have to spend really depends on how much wear and tear you can live with on a card. This card is listed as low as $18 on COMC and listings on eBay start slightly higher. However, you may be able to get lucky and pay less on an auction. Either way, it all comes back to what is the condition of the card and what price are you willing to pay for a card that is well below mint condition.
This year is the 50th anniversary of Willie Mays’ first and last player card as a New York Met, and it is a card that has stood the test of time. Now that Mets owner Steve Cohen has fulfilled former owner Joan Payson’s decades-old promise to retire the Say Hey Kid’s number 24, this card added significance for any Mets collector.
