Randy Poffo Baseball Cards

Randy “Macho Man” Savage (Randy Poffo) is a wrestling legend of the 1970s and the 1980s.

You might remember his brutal, powerful wrestling style which earned him the nickname of “Macho Man”.

Or, you might remember his epic battles with Hulk Hogan. When Pomp and Circumstance would start playing, you’d know that the Savage was about to enter the ring and kick some ass.

But did you know that he almost became a baseball player? Up until 1974, Poffo was playing in the minor league and was a big candidate to be drafted to the major league.

Interestingly, he picked the wrestling career – and you can’t blame him for it.

If you’re looking for Randy Poffo’s baseball cards, these might be your best options.

Best Randy Poffo Baseball Cards

These are the Randy Poffo baseball cards that many people are talking about. Although they’re not very easy to find, they still generate a lot of interest among card collectors.

1974 Cincinnati Reds Randy Poffo #661

1974 Cincinnati Reds Randy Poffo #661

Here we have a card with an image of a young Randy Poffo from his minor league baseball days.

Poffo spent his time in baseball as a part of the Cincinnati Reds minor league farm. He played for the Red Birds and Tampa Tarpons, but he was also a part of the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor league setup.

It’s fair to say that Poffo was a talented young man. He was known for his powerful throw, but also for the fact that he switched his throw from right to left hand.

There are some stories about how Poffo practiced throwing and batting with his left hand by batting into a hanging car tire as powerfully as he could before he could master his left-hand swing.

And that’s exactly the type of character Poffo was – he was all about power and strength.

This card is a bit tough to find nowadays, but certainly the most well-known baseball card from his minor league days. In 1973, he started getting involved in wrestling more and more and before he could play in the major league, he was already a professional wrestler.

There are some interesting facts and pieces of trivia on the back of this card, such as:

  • Has improved his swing by dropping his elbow
  • Is looking to increase his power by adding weightlifting to his training (yeah, that sounds like the Macho Man alright)
  • Naturally a righty, Poffo had to learn to throw southpaw after an injury
  • Randy’s father is a professional wrestler (Angelo Poffo)

Overall, this is the most well-known baseball card of Poffo to date, although not much is known about his baseball days and aspirations. You might have a difficult time finding this out there, although it shouldn’t be very expensive.

You should also know that this is probably a fan-made baseball card, so it’s not produced by official card companies, but rather sold by a third-party online.

1971 Randy Poffo Gulf Coast Cardinals

1971 Randy Poffo Gulf Coast Cardinals

The second Randy Poffo baseball card comes from his days with the Gulf Coast Cardinals, an affiliate team for the St. Louis Cardinals.

During his time with this team, Poffo was a catcher, although, in his later days in the minor leagues, he went on to become an outfielder.

The interesting thing about this card is that you can see a young Randy Poffo with the baseball gear on, which makes for an interesting image that you wouldn’t exactly imagine if you didn’t know Poffo played baseball.

Many people who knew Poffo and his baseball have said in the past that Poffo would have gone on and become a professional baseball player, but for his injuries. One of the major injuries to his right elbow set him back for many years as he had to learn how to throw with his left hand.

In any case, Randy decided in 1973 to follow the footsteps of his father and younger brother and continue with the wrestling career, which he probably didn’t regret doing.

If we take a look at his batting averages, you can see that they reached near the batting average of .300 almost every season, which was quite decent for a young man like Poffo.

You can see the slight drop-off in the 1974 season, which is probably due to the injury that he suffered that we talked about earlier.

Randy Poffo Cardinals Card

Randy Poffo Cardinals Card

Not much is known about this card, so it is possible that this card was custom-made by someone and sold after that online or on other marketplaces.

But, you’ll still see this card pop-up now and then, which is why we included it on this list.

On this card, Poffo is seen in his Cardinals outfit when he was still a part of the St. Louis Cardinals’ youth system. It is an interesting image for sure, and the card has that typical 70s design that you’d expect from a card like this.

It might not be the official Randy Poffo card, but it’s an interesting one if you’re a big fan of Randy Savage or Randy Poffo, and you’re interested in collecting as much memorabilia of Poffo as possible from all sports.

Leaf Artist Proof Sketches Randy Poffo Sketch

Leaf Artist Proof Sketches Randy Poffo Sketch

Now, this is by far the most expensive card that we’re going to feature on this list. While this card is only a sketch made by an artist, it is often still considered to be a baseball card of Randy Poffo.

The sketch was authorized and sponsored by Leaf who then released the sketch as a part of the Artist Proof collection.

The most interesting thing about this card is that it’s going to appeal to you greatly if you’re a Cincinnati fan. The sketch is a recreation of his image that we saw earlier when he was a part of the Cincinnati youth system.

There’s just one issue with this card: availability.

It’s extremely rare to find this sketch online, so the only few listings that you’re going to find will cost a small fortune.

But the good thing about this card is that it’s certified and created by authorized artists and signed off by Leaf, which is a very reputable card company. It’s the only official card to be released of Poffo in his baseball gear by a card company.

About Poffo as a Baseball Player

Most of you will remember Randy Poffo by the name of Randy Savage, aka the Macho Man. But in his younger years, Poffo was a talented baseball player.

Poffo started his minor league baseball career in 1971, when he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and put in the minor league system. There, he played two seasons for the Gulf Coast Cardinals (1971 and 1972), where he played as a catcher.

After that, Poffo played for two teams in the 1973 season: Orangeburg Cardinals, and GCL Red Birds in Florida.

His best season in the minor leagues was for the GCL Red Birds where his batting average was .344, but he only played 25 games for the Red Birds that season – probably because of an injury.

Poffo’s last season in baseball was in 1974 when he played for the Tampa Tarpons, who were a minor league affiliate for the Cincinnati Reds.

At this point, Poffo was already a professional wrestler, so his baseball career was on the backburner already.

In 1973, Randy started professional wrestling where his first character was called The Spider. This character was kind of similar to Spider-Man, which meant that Poffo received quite a lot of attention in his first months of wrestling.

With the help of his father, Angelo, and his younger brother, Lanny, Randy Poffo “Savage” managed to become one of the best wrestlers in history. Today, we remember Randy as the Macho Man, a historic figure in wrestling that is never to be forgotten.

Randy Poffo’s Wrestling Cards

If you’re not particularly fond of the Poffo baseball cards, then the good news is that you have some great wrestling cards, as well.

Most of his wrestling cards were printed by major card companies, so that’s a big plus if you don’t like the fact that some of his baseball cards are custom-made.

If you’re looking for Randy Savage or Randy Poffo’s wrestling cards, these might be your best options.

  • 1985 O-Pee-Chee Randy Savage & Elizabeth #63

1985 O-Pee-Chee Randy Savage & Elizabeth #63

This is one of the best and most valuable Randy Savage’s wrestling cards. His wife at the time, Elizabeth, often featured in Randy’s wrestling skits and matches, so they decided to make a card of them both together.

    • 1997 Topps WWF Macho Man & Elizabeth #7

1997 Topps WWF Macho Man & Elizabeth #7

There’s another great card that features both Macho Man and Elizabeth, and that is the Topps 1997 card.

If you’re looking for other wrestling cards of the Macho Man, you can’t go wrong with the Topps cards. There are many of those that you can choose from, but you’ll also find a wide variety of other cards that you might be interested in.

Author

  • Vince

    I'm a big time sports nerd, with soccer being my first true love. I've been collecting sports cards since I was a little kid, and now... well, not much has changed, but I write about it... and I have facial hair.

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