1970 Topps Booklet: The Willie Mays Story

Once I was down to needing one last card for the 1970 Topps Booklets set, I decided if I could find a cheap one. It wasn't long before I won an auction for a minimum bid of $3 with shipping.

Willie Mays! These booklets are little mini-comic books that are quite well-done, but the insides seem to be and afterthought for most collectors. I thought it might be fun to show the insides of each booklet, one booklet at a time.

Mays actually played for the New York Cubans at the age of 15. He was 17 when he played for the Black Barons. Baseball-Reference lists his 1948 stats but not his 1946 stats, so I guess the 15-year-old Mays was a semi-pro.

The player narrating his life during play is a standby of these comics.

Mays hit "only" 60 more home runs in his career, not enough to catch Ruth. It's still a phenomenal number of home runs for a guy who excelled in every area of the sport, rather than just a focus on slugging.

This was booklet #24 of 24, so if I do this as a series I'd go backwards, starting with #23 Al Ferrara. Any interest in this being a series?