In 1974 Mike Schmidt led the major leagues with 36 home runs, the first of his eight home-run titles. One of his longest drives that summer never came down where it should have. On June 10, at the Astrodome, he hit a public-address speaker hanging 117 feet above the field, and it was ruled a single.
The first home-run title, and the first Topps card with the mustache.
Topps's 1975 set is the one with the two-color borders, 660 cards in a single series. Schmidt's #70 is green above and yellow below, with PHILLIES in red across the top, a 3rd Base baseball in the lower corner and MIKE SCHMIDT at the foot.
It is a close head shot: a maroon cap with the Phillies' P, the mustache that would become part of him, here on a Topps card for the first time, and a facsimile signature across his chest.
He appears in the set a second time, on the home-run leaders card, #307, with Dick Allen.
Those colored borders show every chip and worn corner, centering varies widely, and print defects are common across the set.
