Harold Reynolds ate 32-year-old Topps gum

A party 70 years in the making

February 10th, 2021

1951 is a big year for baseball fans. That was the year Bobby Thomson hit his famous "Shot Heard 'Round the World," the Yankees won their third of five consecutive World Series and Topps released their very first baseball card set.

Though that year's cards were more like game pieces, it was still the set that started everything. So, on Tuesday night and the eve of the release of Topps' Series 1 cards for 2021, the brand went all out with an online party to celebrate its 70th anniversary. During a live stream broadcast on all of Topps' social channels, players and celebrities came together to rip open packs of cards and share stories of their favorite players.

Keith Olbermann, in his role of ceremonial baseball card ripper, opened the very first pack of 2021. And the player who was first out of the wrapper was ... drum roll ... the Orioles' Chris Davis. He was soon followed by the reigning NL MVP Award winner Freddie Freeman, Red Sox star Rafael Devers, Braves postseason hero Marcell Ozuna and American League Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis.

Here's a peek at what this year's cards look like:

Olbermann was soon followed by stars and players like John Smoltz, Don Mattingly, Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols, Fergie Jenkins, Tom Glavine and even current stars Kris Bryant and Juan Soto, who opened cards from every decade that the brand has been in business. They even finished off the evening by having new Marlins GM Kim Ng open a pack of cards.

But perhaps the best -- and by that, we mean the most disgusting -- moment came when Harold Reynolds and Matt Vasgersian opened up packs of 1980s cards from the MLB Network set. Throwing caution to the wind, Reynolds decided to sample the now brittle and dusty 1989 gum. He immediately regretted it.

"I don't know about the gum," Reynolds said as he chewed and his face pulled into a grimace. A minute later, Reynolds added, "I'm getting sick. That gum messed me up."

Some other highlights included when Mark McGwire -- in front of a portrait of himself -- managed to find one of his own cards in a pack:

And actress, comedian and Braves fan Sarah Tiana then pulled a special Hank Aaron card. Tiana teared up as she remembered the late Aaron's legacy.

You can catch up with the whole thing by watching the video below, and you can get your own cards when they hit stores on Wednesday morning.