In 1974, the interest in Topps baseball cards was at a very high level.
It was full of stars from that era of baseball, including Nolan Ryan, Johnny Bench, and perhaps most notably Hank Aaron – who had a storming season in 1973 in terms of his home run record.
There are 678 cards altogether which could today be considered a classic baseball set. Among them there are some great cards that you shouldn’t miss out on, so we’ll focus on those in this article.
If you love the 70s card design and are a bit of a retro aficionado, then you’ll love the design of these cards.
Best 1974 Topps Baseball Cards
These are the best cards that you can get from the 1974 Topps baseball set.
1. 1974 Topps Hank Aaron HR King #1
Considering the nature of the set and Hank Aaron’s achievement in the 1973 season, there’s probably no better card to start the set other than this.
Hank Aaron is one of the all-time greats of baseball. In 1973, he managed to score his 713th home run in his career, meaning he was just one home run shy of Babe Ruth’s record of 714 by the start of the 1974 season.
And since Aaron still had a couple of years of his career to run at this point, it was clear that he was going to overcome Ruth’s record this coming season.
As you can imagine, the hype for this card was huge.
Aaron ended his career with 755 total home runs, which, to this day, is still an admirable record that’s going to be celebrated for decades to come.
And this card caps the historic moment in baseball that you can now get for yourself. It is the most valuable card from the set, as it can cost thousands of dollars in the best conditions.
2. 1974 Topps Dave Winfield RC #456
In the second place, we have Dave Winfield’s rookie card from 1974. This too is a memorable baseball card, considering Winfield went on to become a 12-time All-Star inductee and a Hall of Famer.
He was the #4 pick in the 1973 draft pick by the San Diego Padres.
Winfield was ready to play with the big boys straight away. At the age of just 22, he was ready to compete with some of the biggest baseball legends without having to enter minor leagues, which is the case with the vast majority of players.
He batted an admirable .277 in his first 56 games, which is a decent achievement for a rookie.
In his later years with the Padres, Winfield developed into a superstar as he was first inducted into the All-Star team in 1977.
Winfield continued his career with five other teams, including the Yankees, Angels, Blue Jays, Twins, and the Indians.
This card will cost you thousands in the best conditions.
3. 1974 Topps Nolan Ryan #20
Almost any 70s or 80s Topps set would simply not be complete without a