no. 290 - tony oliva

Who is the man: Tony Oliva really was the man at this point, enjoying one of the finest runs of his career. He would win the American League batting title in 1971 by hitting .337, the best single-season average of his career.

Can ya dig it: Oliva looks remarkably young on this card, and really on most of his cards.

Right on: Love the Twins uniforms from this time period.

You see this cat Oliva is a bad mother: Oliva was the first player to win Rookie of the Year honors and the American League batting title in the same year. In fact, he was the first Cuban player to win rookie of the year or a batting title.

Shut your mouth: Oliva didn't receive a lot of attention despite his ability. And he wasn't one to draw attention to any discrimination. To this day he is often overlooked.

No one understands him but his woman: There was quite a bit of confusion about who Oliva actually was when he was signed by the Twins. To speed his way out of Cuba, he used his brother Pedro's paperwork and arrived at camp known as "Pedro Oliva." It took him a long time to shake the name "Pedro" and he eventually legally changed his name to Pedro Oliva Jr. Quite frankly, while reading up on Oliva, I'm still confused by the circumstances, what actually happened and what his name actually is.

(A word about the back): 1970 would be the last time that Oliva would lead the league in hits.

no. 61 - 1970 american league batting leaders

Who is the man: Alex Johnson is the man. He beat out Carl Yastrzemski for the 1970 American League batting title by .0003 of a point, one of the closest batting races in history.

Can ya dig it: I can dig these leaders subsets because you often get three stars on one card, but I can tell they're going to make for difficult posts to write.

Right on: These are among the greatest-looking leaders cards ever produced by Topps.

You see these cats are bad mothers: For fear of losing material when these players' individual cards come up, I am going to skip this category.

Shut your mouth: Alex Johnson robbed Carl Yastrzemski of a home run during the 1970 season, a home run that would have put Yaz over Johnson for the batting title. Johnson later admitted that a fan in the stands put the ball in his glove.

No on understand him but his woman: The year following Johnson's batting title, the Angels benched him, citing attitude issues. He was later indefinitely suspended. Although reinstated, he wouldn't play for the Angels again and never recovered the form he displayed in 1970.

(A word about the back): I love the in-depth listing of the leaders. Don Mincher, at .246, is a batting leader!!! Topps really needs to bring back the long lists on the backs of cards. Collectors love that stuff. ... Well, at least old collectors like me do.