In my ongoing quest to plug the holes in every baseball card set issued during my youth, I recently landed the 1980 Burger King Pitch, Hit & Run set.
Like the Burger King team sets of the late 70’s/80’s, this set’s design was produced by Topps and used the flagship design from the year of release. As a youngster I was well aware of the Burger King team sets, but I don’t remember knowing anything about the Pitch, Hit & Run set. It could be that I outgrew the commercial for this set (I was 14) and it passed me by. I know I was too old to participate in Pitch, Hit & Run activities.
Still, this was a huge mistake on my part, this set is 100% filled with the players of my youth and also features one of my all-time favorite aspects of cards from that era – updates and variations – spin-offs from the flagship set, whether related to changing teams or for no good reason at all.
My favorite aspect of sets like O-Pee-Chee are the changes from the Topps set, but even with OPC, some of the cards look similar to the Topps cards (same image). But with this particular Burger King set, no two photos are the same. Oh, some of it is a matter of cropping, but still how spectacular that each card is different from the main Topps set!
I’m going to compare every single card, but before I get to that, let’s look at a comparison.
I fell in love with the 1980 Topps blue backs, but even with that setting, seeing those backs red is almost as wild as it was when the 1982 Topps Traded set changed the green backs to red. The 1980 Topps cartoon has been changed to advertising logos that are the same on every card.
The set comes with an unnumbered checklist card. This comes in handy because when you look at the cards you might wonder why players like Enos Cabell and Frank Taveras are included while Johnny Bench and Mike Schmidt are excluded. The checklist required players to represent each of the attributes in “Pitch, Hit and Run”.
Okay, now let’s compare each individual Burger King card to the Topps card. I start with the most drastic changes and work down to the most subtle. In most cases I don’t take into account light/dark differences that can vary from card to card. And of course, each Burger King card features the BK logo and the words “Collector’s Series” replacing the position flag on the Topps card.
Nolan Ryan
Starting with the biggest blockbuster trade of the 1979-80 offseason, when Nolan Ryan signed with the Astros. Not only has Ryan changed teams, but he has gone from promotion to portrait and Burger King stripped Ryan of the All-Star banner because he didn’t want to repeat the 1975 Topps Bobby Murcer card that featured Ryan as an All-Star for the other league. The signature has also been shifted to the left so that it doesn’t cover Ryan’s entire chin.
Joe Morgan
Another team change reflects another Astros signing. Burger King’s menu has been updated, but also more mundane. There’s also a huge amount of empty space above Morgan, which perhaps highlights his nickname “Little Joe” better than any other card.
Ron LeFlore
LeFlore moves from the Tigers to the Expos and from dangling in a batting cage to freezing in a warm-up jacket. Burger King also corrected LeFlore’s signature. I should also mention that the transaction section on the Burger King backs has been updated to reflect the player’s move to a new team.
Bobby Bonds
Bonds move from the Indians to the Cardinals after being traded. It’s a similar pose, but it looks drastically different.
Reggie Jackson
Now we’re in the group of cards that don’t illustrate team changes, but the picture still changes. Here, Jackson goes from a great slam shot to a standard pose in a road uniform. It’s not that exciting, but Jackson got a lot of action shots during the late 70s/80s part of his career, so it’s appreciated.
Fred Lynn
Keeping the All-Star banner with a different image is quite attractive. Lynn goes from trotting in from the outfield to a standard strike shot.
Ron Guidry
Another Yankee changing from Topps action to Burger King pose. A nice background in the BK recording.
Keith Hernández
The 1980 Topps Hernandez card has been one of my favorites in the set since I first saw it, so the Burger King photo doesn’t compare, but the difference is good!
Blue life
I honestly don’t know why some of the images were changed. Maybe it’s possible that Burger King asked for the clearest set possible? The BK card corrects Blue’s signature.
Omar Moreno
Moreno goes from a batting helmet to a pillbox hat. It’s also much warmer on Moreno’s Topps card.
Dave Winfield
Both Topps and Burger King use a close-up of Winfield, but the uniform changes and he wears different hats. BK also stacked Winfield’s signature.
Dave Lopes
The card I have known the longest and the card I have had the longest. Lopes is clearly in two different places here, even though he is wearing a helmet in each place. The large amount of air on the BK map has always bothered me.
Jim Palmer
It amuses me that Palmer is not wearing a hat in each photo, and it appears that each photo took place at different times and in different stadiums, although I’m not 100 percent sure.
Tom Zeever
Interesting choice for Burger King as it uses a much more distant photo, although both appear to be from the same game.
Jerry Koosman
Again it looks like it’s from the same play, possibly the same field, but the Burger King shot is zoomed out.
Dave Parker
This is where the cards start that show the same image, but major differences in cropping or other photo adjustments. Unlike other Burger King cards, this one uses the empty space that the Topps card doesn’t have. I automatically like the BK card better.
Jim Rice
The Burger King map zooms out on the Rice photo so you can see Rice’s left foot and more of the dugout background.
Rollie fingers
The Burger King photo has been shifted down to avoid covering Fingers’ head with the BK logo, quite a shame.
Phil Niekro
Here the Burger King photo Niekro shifts up to center him more in the photo.
Steve Carlton
Carlton’s shot is more zoomed in on the BK map. Also note that the font used for Carlton’s name is different. This is the case for a few other cards (the Koosman for example), perhaps to save space with the text “Collector’s Series” on the left.
Bill North
It appears that the Burger King shot is zoomed out on North and then cropped at the bottom, similar to the Topps map. Strange choice.
JR Richard
The rest will be more subtle changes, but I think you’ll be able to tell the difference. Burger King zooms out on the Richard photo.
Piet Roos
The Burger King map zooms out slightly on Rose. The darkened BK photo almost makes Rose look like a sinister version of his Topps card.
Don Baylor
Zoom out more for Burger King and then crop again at the bottom, probably to avoid overlapping the Burger King logo too much.
Rod Carew
The Topps photo is tighter on Carew than the Burger King shot, notice you can see Carew’s shoulder number better.
Frank Taveras
Zoomed out on the Burger King photo.
George Brett
Here the Burger King shot shifts Brett a bit.
George Foster
Don’t mind the difference in photo tone, Burger King zoomed in on the Foster photo.
Cesar Cedeno
My Burger King card has a photo blob on it, but that’s not the difference. The BK photo is zoomed in.
Bruce Sutter
Sutter has zoomed in a bit on the Burger King menu.
Willie Wilson
Wilson’s photo is shifted to the right and the signature is moved up.
Enos Cabell
Cabell is shifted to the right and slightly down on the BK map.
Julio Cruz
For me the most difficult difference to determine, but just look at that post behind Cruz. In the BK photo you can see the top of it and that is because the photo image is not as clean as on the Topps card.
And that includes all Burger King cards and satisfies my curiosity.
I will enjoy adding this set to my 1980 Topps binder – unlike some other Topps years (specifically 1981) I don’t have many extra cards in the back. I need some more OPC this year.
But this Burger King set is a nice addition. Who knows, I might one day be able to do something about those BK team sets from the 1970s, which are not getting any cheaper.
#Comparing #obsessively #king