Fun topic...
I agree picking only 4 is next to impossible. There are cards like the 50B Robinson or 59 Koufax that I love, but obviously can't compare to a 52 Mick.
It will be very interesting to note which cards appear most often on our lists.
For Mt. Rushmore, I'd have to put aside some personal sleeper pics and most heavily weight a card's importance to the collecting hobby and sport, so with that in mind I'd vote these for Mt. Rushmore...
Yes, Mick appears twice, but as much as I love the Clemente, Mays, Ryan, Koufax, Rose, Aaron, and many others, Mickey Mantle is the standard bearer of the baseball card collecting world. Add to that how hard it is to find a nice copy of his undisputed rookie card, and I have to give his 51B the nod.
The Paige I select because, as Orlando says in his book, it's the toughest post war card-- in terms of total graded pop and then specimens within that group that have even a modicum of eye appeal, this card is legendarily brutal, and an elusive piece for many a baseball card collection. When the desire and budget are there, and one still has a hard time acquiring one, that says something.
Ted Williams is in the discussion of greatest hitter ever alongside the likes of Ruth and Gehrig and then his Wilson Franks is another card with hobby mystique, a great action shot, and also has a cool condition quirk-- with the top cut being unattractively sloped on so many.
But have to shout out to:
- 51 Mays
- 52 & 53 Bowman Musials
- 54 Aaron
- 55 Clemente
- 55 Koufax
- 56 Mantle
- 63 Rose
- 68 Ryan
- 84T or D Mattingly (images that crystallize that booming 80s card era for so many of us)