J.R. Richard - 1979 NL Pitching Title, 107 Wins, 1,493 SO's, 3.15 Career ERA, Career Houston Astros.

Richard stood 6'8", but it was the velocity of his fast ball that was most intimidating. He led the league in wild pitches 3 times, and led the league in walks 3 times. However, his fast ball could top 100mph, in which he led the league in strikeouts twice as well. In those 2 league leading seasons combined, he accumulated over 600 strikeouts.

Richard played 10 seasons, and really started firing on all cylinders from 1975 through 1980. Many of his earlier seasons were partial seasons, as he was a bit under developed with his overall mechanics. In 1980, during the middle of the season, Richards suffered a stroke and had to unfortunately retire from the game of baseball.

Happily, after many personal life struggles Richard is alive and well today. He has fond memories of baseball, and should be considered as one of the greatest pitchers the Houston Astros ever had.

Chris Chambliss - 1971 AL ROY, 2,109 Hits, 392 Doubles, 185 HR's, 972 RBI's, .279 Career Hitter, 1,687 Double Plays Turned at First Base, 8th All-Time, 1 Gold Glove, 2 WS Rings.

Trophy rookie cards are awesome, particularly the top hat and baseball player styled trophies in my opinion.

Chris was a first round first pick in the 1970 Draft.

Dave Kingman - 1,575 Hits, 240 Doubles, 442 HR's, 1,210 RBI's, 1,816 Strike-outs, .236 Career Hitter, 3 Time All-Star.

Known as the Sky King for his 6'6" frame, and towering home-runs. 28% of Kingman's hits were homers, and oh yeah...he struck out quite a bit. His career numbers are almost identical to Adam Dunn's. Gotta love the go for broke style power hitters.

Jose Cruz - 2,251 Hits, 391 Doubles, 165 HR's, 1,077 RBI's, 317 SB's, .284 Career Hitter, 2 Time All-Star.

George Hendrick - 1,980 Hits, 343 Doubles, 267 HR's, 1,111 RBI's, .278 Career Hitter, 4 Time All-Star, 2 WS Rings.

Dwight Evans - 2,446 Hits, 483 Doubles, 385 HR's, 1,384 RBI's, 8 Gold Gloves as Right Fielder, 3 Time All-Star.

Dwight Evans, this rookie card has to be in the top ten on this list of most underrated. Dwight was an all around exceptional player, great bat, great glove.

Bob Boone - 1,838 Hits, 303 Doubles, 105 HR's, 826 RBI's, 254 Career Hitter, 2,225 Games as Catcher, 3rd All-Time, 11,260 Career Putouts, 7th All-Time, 7 Gold Gloves, 4 Time All-Star, 1 WS Ring.

Gary Matthews - 1973 NL ROY, 2,011 Hits, 319 Doubles, 234 HR's, 978 RBI's, 183 SB's, .281 Career Hitter.

Buddy Bell - 2,514 Hits, 425 Doubles, 201 HR's, 1,106 RBI's, .279 Career Hitter, 2,183 Games Played at Third Base, 7th All-Time, 6 Gold Gloves, 5 Time All-Star.

Rich Gossage - HOF Career, 310 Career Saves, 3.01 Career ERA, 1,502 SO's, 9 Time All-Star, 1 WS Ring.

The '73 Gossage is another great card that can be found quite cheaply, a nice HOF player rookie card for any collection.

A few years ago, I had acquired this card graded on eBay....and didn't realize until recently that the original owner stamped the date of when they received the card on the back of the card. It's hard to notice at first because it blends in with the printed black text on the back. The person who I bought it from was probably not the original owner, and obviously didn't bother to point that out in their listing. I thought the stamp on the back was interesting, but I'm also not too happy about it.