Month: March 2017

When I say 1987 Baseball Cards, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? That answer is almost overwhelmingly ’87 Topps with the classic woodgrain border. That design is so iconic, Topps still can’t let it go. I love it too but sometimes too much of a good thing can actually be bad. One set you probably don’t think of when I say 1987 is the Fleer Baseball’s Best set that pits Sluggers vs Pitchers. To be honest, it’s one of those forgettable sets in an otherwise memorable year for baseball cards. But I haven’t forgotten about it. There are some classic players on the checklist that wouldn’t normally land in a small set like this. And you know I never pass up a chance for a trip down memory lane!We’ll start with the design of he set. The front of the card was quite different from the all blue base Fleer set. These were semi-glossy with a little grainier photo than those in the flagship product. They had white outside borders with alternating blue and red at the top and bottom. The top of the card had a classic late 80’s splash banner with “1987 Baseball’s Best” and the Fleer logo. The bottom of the card had the player’s name, their designation as a “slugger” or “pitcher” and a corresponding stat. The sluggers had their batting average and the pitchers had their ERA. I found it odd to put the batting average for the slugger because the two didn’t necessarily correlate.  The backs of the cards were similar to the flagship product in that they were red, white and blue with full stats to see. A look at the back also reveals that the stat on the front is a career stat and not the previous year. For example, Kevin Bass has an average of .274 printed on the front. The back shows this as his career stat but lists his previous year (1986) as a .311 average, which would have been more appealing on the front. Kevin Bass was a good major league ball player but I did not consider him a slugger. And his career .274 average and 40 home runs through 5 major league seasons up until 1987 support that consideration. We’ll talk more on some of the strange selections in the checklist later.I found out quickly that the card stock was a bit flimsy. I had Kevin Bass out for a minute looking at his stats and it had already started bowing. It went quickly back into the box. The set itself provided 44 cards (11 more than the KayBee set) and 6 additional stickers, or at least that’s what was advertised. I actually had 9 stickers in the box. There were 3 multi sticker sheets and then 6 team logo stickers. An odd thing about the stickers was that the back of the sticker card had a completely different team on it, as outlined in this Padres front and Braves back. I will say that the backs of the sticker cards were quite attractive with a black and white drawing of a ball and glove with a color logo above. Was I the only one that actually enjoyed Fleer’s sticker gimmick?Of the 44 players, the sluggers outnumbered the pitchers 29-15. Some of the usual names were included; Boggs, Brett, Canseco, Gwynn, Mattingly, McGwire, Murphy, Gooden, Clemens and Puckett. But there were some odd names too like Incaviglia, Bass, Leonard, Phelps, Tabler and our old friend Jack Clark from the KayBee set. Please don’t think I don’t like Clark. I just don’t know why he was included in all of these additional sets. The year these were printed, he hit .237 with 9 home runs for crying out loud. His career average was .275 and he averaged 15 home runs over a 13 year career to that point. I missed the boat on Mr. Clark. And as an aside, the box had another misprint much like KayBee in that McGwire was spelled McGuire. The card was correct. And yes, Cal Ripken Jr. was in fact included in this set but still no Nolan Ryan.  The Bash Brothers (Canseco/McGwire) were included as they should have been in retrospect. However, at the time this set was generated, McGwire was sitting on a .189 average with 3 bombs in 18 career games. Fleer must’ve had wonderful foresight. Canseco was a tad better with a career .249 average and 38 bombs in 2 seasons. The Canseco does have a great shot on the front of the card though. The true Bash Brothers in this set were Jesse Barfield and George Bell from the Toronto Blue Jays. Barfield hit .289 with 40 home runs in 86 while Bell hit .309 with 31 dingers. Now that is what sluggers look like! And those powder blue uniforms were beautiful even on grainy cards.As for the pitchers, Clemens and Gooden were obvious inclusions based on their stats in ’86. However, there were a few names that had escaped my memory but also deserved their place. Mike Witt was 18-10 with a 2.84 ERA in ’86. Mike Scott was also included with his 18-10 record and 2.22 ERA. They even plugged in a closer in Jeff Reardon with his 35 saves from ’86. Using more of a career lens as opposed to the previous season, they included Bret Saberhagen, who was coming off of a 7-12 season with a 4.15 ERA. And normally steady Rick Sutcliffe had an abysmal season with a 5-14 record and a 4.64 ERA. These are not the type of seasons that usually culminate in inclusion in a “Baseball’s Best” set. Career-wise, yes, very good ball players but 1986 was not so pleasant.That brings me to my biggest head scratcher inclusions. And as I said above, good ball players, just not “Best”. I could never hit .235 in the majors but I also would never be classified as a “Slugger” either.

• Pat Tabler – Career .288 with 29 home runs in 5 full seasons. He did hit .326 in ’86 so that might equal a pass but still not a “slugger”.
• Ken Phelps – Career .235 with 64 home runs in 6 partial seasons. This guy had been bouncing between the majors and minors since 1976 and he’s included in “Baseball’s Best”?
• Jeffrey Leonard – Career .273 with 81 home runs in 11 partial seasons? I don’t know….. Even though Pete Incaviglia hit for a terrible average, he did hit 30 fly balls that left the park.
• Ivan Calderon – He did hit .303 in ’86 but he had played 4 seasons at the major league level and never appeared in more than 67 games and had a career .266 average.

All in all, a neat retro set that can be had for very little cash. You can even find them sealed on Ebay, assuring their minty condition. While neat and retro, it also needed some help saving it from being below a Dub Score of 3. The inclusion of some big superstars like Ripken, Boggs, Puckett and Gooden was nice. And the inclusion of some serious sluggers like Jesse Barfield, George Bell and Dave Parker was a plus too. I liked the stickers included and also wasn’t too disappointed in the design, even by 1987 standards. When 90% of the market is pushing the woodgrain of the ’87 Topps, it was a nice change of pace for nostalgia. I’d pay $5 for the set and in fact just did so I could have one that was sealed. Just enjoy it for what it is – a fun look at baseball players from the late ‘80’s.

Dub Score – 3

You can thank the man, the myth, the legend, Scott Berger (@SBergerBOSTON) for this post. We got to talking about oddball card sets a couple of weeks ago after I included the Jose Canseco KMart card in my Nostalgia Night post. Before I get too far into the post itself, be sure to take a moment and check out Scott’s twitter profile and give him a follow. First, you should follow him because he’s a great member of the Hobby Community. But more importantly Scott is a fighter. He is a 2x Brain Tumor Survivor and has a fundraising page set up for “The Berg and the Burb Phoenix Brain Tumor Walk” that you should check out. If you have some cards or items that you can donate to the cause, you can find a place to do that on his Twitter page. Scott is a good dude and respected member of our awesome group here on Twitter.Back to our conversation. He found the 1990 Unopened Kmart box in his closet and shared a photo with me. That led me to my box of oddballs. I have a lot of unique old stuff like that still in boxes that I peruse from time to time. I found this 1989 Superstars of Baseball Set made by KayBee Toys. Scott had mentioned that he worked at Kaybee at one time during college and remembered sheets of cards that were available. My wife worked at KayBee when she was in college too but that would’ve been after the card heyday so I didn’t get any employee perks. When I found this, I immediately felt like a kid again and wanted to go through the box. So naturally, I did. And the result is this blog post!The set was manufactured by Topps and advertised as 33 “Super Glossy” Photo Cards. Let me tell you, they are still quite glossy some 28 years later. The checklist is really strong and Topps got it right for the most part. I’m not saying that all of the players weren’t stars but there were a couple there that didn’t quite have staying power. Jack Clark was just so-so in my book and Pedro Guerrero was good but not great. You may disagree and that’s fine. That’s one of the fun parts of collecting. Stars are classified differently for each collector. I am not sure where the number 33 came from because it’s not an even distribution among the teams or the leagues. Here’s a photo of the checklist to see for yourself. And yes, I got an “error box” as Carlton Fisk is spelled Carlston Fisk. The card is correct.Boston has the most with four superstars in the set, which is almost legit when you see that they include Mike Greenwell, Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens. If I’m making the checklist, I’m leaving out Dwight Evans. I’m sure this isn’t the case in Boston but I always thought Mike Greenwell was grossly underrated. He should’ve received a lot more love than he did. The same could be said for Ellis Burks in my opinion. The Yankees and Mets each had three superstars. They were Rickey Henderson, Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry and Gary Carter. I’m iffy on Carter to be honest. A great catcher but I think putting more than two superstars on a team really limited the set if they were going to be married to that 33 number.The other multi star teams were Oakland (Canseco/McGwire), San Diego (Gwynn/Clark), Chicago Cubs (Sandberg/Dawson), Expos (Raines/Galarraga), Los Angeles (Hershiser/Gibson), St. Louis (Smith/Guerrero) and Minnesota (Puckett/Viola). No offense to these players, but you could remove Clark and Guerrero to make room for other teams. I’ll get to the notable players left out in a minute. So to recap, I think they could have nixed Evans, Carter, Clark and Guerrero. That’s four players that could be replaced. And as an aside, the Raines card may be my favorite in the set. The photo is awesome and they used the nickname “Rock”.Finally, you have the one star teams and it’s hard to argue against any of these because I think they were legitimate stars for those teams. Those were Kansas City (Brett), San Fran (W Clark), Cincinnati (Davis), Chicago WS (Fisk), Atlanta (Murphy), Baltimore (Murray), Philadelphia (Schmidt), Detroit (Trammell – the one not in the HOF) and Milwaukee (Yount). Those are legitimate stars in my opinion and I’m ok with it.But going back to the checklist of 33 – I don’t understand it when you consider the teams and players left off. In the American League, the Blue Jays were left out. They had Fred McGriff, George Bell and Rance Mulliniks that year. Of course, I’m joking with Rance as I just like bringing him up. Then the Indians were absent. To be honest, they were pretty brutal in ’89 but they did have Joe Carter. Is he not worthy of a spot that Jack Clark gets? The Angels didn’t make the cut which meant Wally Joyner, Chuck Finley and Bert Blyleven were left out. The Texas Rangers were nowhere to be found so Topps must not have thought enough of Nolan Ryan to give him a card. The Mariners weren’t very good either but they had Alvin Davis and a young kid named Ken Griffey Jr., who Upper Deck had the foresight to make #1 in their checklist.  Over in the National League, the Pirates were left off the checklist. They only had Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Doug Drabek. The Astros were pretty much abysmal like the Indians but they did have Glenn Davis and Craig Biggio. Perhaps the strangest omission from the set altogether was Cal Ripken Jr. Who made that decision? Leaving Bo Jackson, Ruben Sierra and Kevin Mitchell out are one kind of mistake. But leaving Cal Jr. out of a “Superstars of Baseball” set was plain sacrilege. I got off on a tangent there because I really love the set. I just have an issue with the checklist in certain areas.The cards themselves are on pretty good card stock for 1989. As I mentioned above, they were pretty dadgum glossy, but they haven’t stuck together like the UV coatings of the early 90’s. They are in relatively good condition for cards of their age. The fronts of the cards have a white border with a reddish pink inset border. They read “Superstars of Baseball” at the top. The player name is just below the Superstar banner. The Topps logo is visible in the top right or left of each photo. Finally, the KayBee logo is centered at the bottom of the card.The backs of the cards leave a bit to be desired as it relates to design. I do like the information included on the back but the old Padres yellow and brown print is not very easy on the eyes. It does not seem to match up with the front of the card design. There is an inset photo on the back that gives a bit of a profile shot. All of the requisite info is included; team, position, height, weight, draft info, DOB and a little blurb about the player’s career. The stats include 1988 and the career totals. One interesting aspect of the back is that there is a section for their first year in pro ball and their first year in the majors. I found it interesting that Robin Yount played his first professional game 4 years before I was born.In general, these sets are not very valuable and only register on the nostalgia scale. That is what collecting is to me though, as I’ve discussed many times here. I personally like all of these old sets like KayBee and KMart. I am fully aware that these sets are part of what brought the industry down in the early 90’s because everybody had to get involved with card manufacturing. But they also take me back to when collecting was carefree and more about the player on the card than the serial number or the autograph. There were no subtle variations that you had to study when you went through these cards. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just not what got me hooked in the first place. So while I’ll buy the new product, collect and trade it and enjoy it, I’ll still go back to my roots when I need to slow life down. Those roots are buried at KayBee and Big B Drug and anywhere else you could buy shiny new baseball cards!So let me hear your thoughts. We can talk about the checklist. We can talk about other sets that you remember buying back in the day. We can talk about why you think Jack Clark should be in the Hall of Fame. What say you?

J-Dub 

I believe that basketball cards are a vastly underrated sector of the hobby. As one of the original “big four” sports, it seems to have the smallest following and generates very little buzz in the community. That’s not to say that there isn’t a passionate group of fans that are engaged but the truth is that it’s just not close to Baseball, Football and Hockey. I love basketball and have personally collected basketball cards since the late 80’s but even my collection pales in comparison to Baseball and Football. My hockey collection is almost non-existent thanks to my location in the country. I don’t know the exact reason it lags behind the other sports but it’s clearly not on the same level.Yet, as I sifted through my basketball cards last night, the same great memories I have with baseball and football came rushing back to me. I was taken back to when I spent all of my lawn mowing money grabbing ’89 Hoops at the local Wal-Mart and desperately hoping for the David Robinson rookie. I remembered those Saturdays spent betting basketball cards on actual pick up basketball games. I found names that may not be everyday names now but were huge gets back then flashed before my eyes. I found that memorable Hoops Shawn Kemp Rookie card that I loved so much. Kemp was one of the fiercest dunkers of my generation! I stumbled across the Sean Elliott RC card and I remembered how smooth his jumper was and trying to emulate it in my backyard. And then I found the iconic names! Basketball is still a great sport to watch and there are lots of superstars that litter the league but the game was on a totally different level when I started collecting in the late 80’s.

The Bigs

We’ll save the icon section for the end but there are some huge names to be found in the stack of bigs I have. These four were some of my favorites. Hakeem (Akeem) “The Dream” Olajuwon was an absolute beast that was as smooth a big man as there was. His “Dream Shake” was a thing of beauty. Patrick Ewing was probably the most popular big man of the group during that time thanks in part to the market he played in. He was on some very good Knick teams but they always came up a tad short in the Championship department. One player that did not come up short in that department was “The Admiral”, David Robinson. He was another big man who played the game like a stretch forward. He had a smooth jumper and could bang down low as well. The final on the Mount Rushmore of Dub Centers was the least smooth. He was to smooth, what was rain is to dry. BUT, don’t bring any weak offense towards Dikembe Mutombo because he would send that mess packing. He was a Hawk for many years and was always a fan favorite.  Stadium Club made a BEAUTIFUL basketball card!

The Forwards

Some big names here too but I have my own favorites again. I liked the Fab Four in college but I was actually pulling for UNC because Eric Montross was one of my favorite players. I was, however, devastated that it happened the way it did for Webber. I am probably in a bit of the minority but I really liked Chris Webber. I often wonder what would have happened with the Magic if they had kept him but it’s hard to argue with Penny Hardaway’s production. The Mailman was another personal favorite but he came up short in the championship series’ as well during his career. The “Round Mound of Rebound”, Charles Barkley, played on one of the best teams in the 90’s to take on the Bulls in a championship….Still lost. Finally, I mentioned Shawn Kemp above. Always loved Shawn Kemp!

The Guards

I had some obvious favorites in this group and then maybe a surprise or two. Allen Iverson was the most entertaining player to watch for a stretch of time in the 90’s. The guy could do almost anything, except practice. One of the purest shooters of my generation was Reggie Miller and he stepped up huge in the spotlight many times but could never get over the championship hump either. You may sense a trend with the championships here but it’s important to remember that the Bulls were alive and well during the 90’s. Drexler did get a championship but it was with the Rockets during a year that Michael Jordan was off playing baseball. They beat my Orlando Magic, who we’ll discuss a little more below. Finally, Tim Hardaway was the creator of the “Killer Crossover” and was so much fun to watch. I loved that Golden State team that had Hardaway, Richmond, Mullin and Webber. Now, Tim Jr. plays for my beloved Hawks and he is blossoming into a young star as well.

The Orlando Magic

The Magic were an expansion team that was formed during my early collection years. They slowly built their team through the draft. Their first pick in 1989 was one of my favorite players, Nick Anderson. They followed up in 1990 with the shooter from Georgia Tech, “3-D” Dennis Scott. Then Shaq Diesel came in 1992 with the number 1 overall pick. The Magic won the #1 overall pick again in 1993, despite having very low odds in the lottery. They did a draft and trade of Chris Webber for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. At the time of the move, I was disappointed because I could only imagine that Webber and Shaq down low would be the perfect compliment to Scott and Anderson on the wings. But then Penny Hardaway showed me that he may have been the best all around point guard in the league. They eventually made it to the NBA finals in 1995, only to fall to the Rockets with Olajuwon, Drexler, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry and Sam Cassell. In hindsight, that Rockets team was absolutely loaded!

The Charlotte Hornets

Another expansion team from my youth, they also had a solid stretch of picks in the early 90’s. They drafted Larry Johnson in ’91 and Alonzo Mourning in ’92 and they went on to form one of the most formidable front courts in the league. Mourning was an offensive and defensive force and Johnson was a ball of muscle that could shoot and rebound. Mourning would eventually be inducted to the Hall of Fame but that honor has thus far eluded “Grand-mama” for reasons I don’t quite understand yet. Whether you collected cards or not, if you were a basketball fan, odds were high that you were the proud owner of some Hornets Starter gear in the early 90’s.  

The Yugoslavians

I was a big fan of both Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic. Draz could shoot the lights out and Divac was a gentle giant. I did not know their connections at the time I was watching them play but later saw the 30 for 30, “Once Brothers”. If you’ve never seen it, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. It is probably my favorite 30 for 30 episodes but is without a doubt in my top 3. Vlade had a very nice run with the Lakers in the early 90’s while Petrovic struggled to find his home until a move to the New Jersey Nets. Most of you are familiar with the story of Petrovic’s fatal car crash that cut his career short. Again, go watch “Once Brothers”. You’ll thank me for it.

The Star That Faded Too Soon

Speaking of tragic deaths that cut a career short, none were more tragic to me than that of Reggie Lewis. Reggie was well on his way to absolute stardom when he tragically lost his life on the basketball court. He was selected as an All-Star in 1992 and was coming off of back to back 20+ PPG seasons. He had averaged 17.6 over his first 6 seasons with the Celtics. In the first round of the playoffs against Charlotte, on April 29, 1993, Lewis collapsed on the court and was taken to the hospital. He would not return that series. Later, on July 27, 1993, Lewis was practicing at Brandeis University, where he suffered sudden cardiac death, at only 27 years old. I remember seeing the headline on ESPN while I was at a church camp that summer. It was devastating news and one of my first looks at a young healthy person losing their life.  I absolutely LOVED that Skybox Set!

The Icons

Last, but certainly not least, we have the Icons of my generation. Some of the above players deserve consideration but these 4 were the cream of the crop for me. Michael Jordan is the greatest player to ever step on the court, I don’t care what you have to say about LeBron. Magic was the greatest point guard to ever play the game and is probably the 2nd best all around player of all time. Larry Bird is the greatest shooter of all time and played with as much effort and grit as anyone before or after his time. Finally, as a Hawk and UGA fan, “The Human Highlight Film”, Dominique Wilkins is my favorite basketball player of all time. Dunk Champion, Scoring Champion, All-Time First Teamer and absolute stud on the court, Nique still resides in Atlanta and is one of the play by play analysts for the Hawks. I had the good fortune of meeting him at Atlanta Motor Speedway one year for a photo and autograph. It was a great moment for me!So as you can see, basketball collecting definitely belongs on the big stage. There is a largely untapped market out there that is begging to be hobby-fied (new made up word). There are some really fine products on the market today as well but not the quantity that’s available in other sports. I buy some from time to time but a big part of collecting to me is sharing and trading with other collectors. I just haven’t found enough yet to go head first into the sport. I’m ready though!

 J-Dub

 

 

 

 

Today is really a special day for me.  I have stated before that I am a Donruss man.  I know, Panini is a little different now and they don’t have an MLB license and they do points in their sets and they produced the abomination that is ’90 Donruss.  I know all of that. But I am a Donruss man.  I’ve loved the product since I started collecting in late ’88 and I still buy it today.  I really like the ’17 design and just bought a box of it to break sometime in the near future.   I love that they have jumped into Football now and I love the new Optic product.  My first big rookie card was the ’89 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr.  The first big chase card I went after was Donruss Elite.  There’s a lot about Donruss that I love.  But one of my favorite things about Donruss is the 1986 card design.I don’t know why this design specifically jumps out at me other than it’s really retro and reminds me of the great 80’s.  Maybe it’s because of the “Max Headroom” feel it has to it.  Maybe it’s because it had the famous Jose Canseco rookie that I loved so much as a kid.  Maybe it’s because it’s always been one of the pricier Donruss boxes and not one I could just pick up at the local flea market for $5.  It’s a set that predates when I started collecting but I’ve always been drawn to it.  And even with all of that being said, until today, I had never opened one single pack of it.  I have a lot of singles that I’ve picked up from various places but you just don’t see ’86 Donruss packs laying around often and the box has always been a tad high for me to justify the expense.  The boxes today range from $35-$50 depending on the seller.  So I finally had enough of “wishing” I had an ’86 Donruss box to break.  I just broke down and bought one, chalking it up to a severe case of nostalgia-itis.  Then, after it came in, I sat on it…..for almost 3 weeks.  I looked at the box everyday and thought, “nah, I’ll do it tomorrow.”  I guess I just didn’t want it to be over so quickly.  Besides, I had been waiting a long long time to finally break one of these boxes.  But today, after all of that delay and anticipation, I did it.  I declared today ’86 Donruss Saturday!  The ’86 set has a checklist of 660 cards, which includes 26 painted Diamond Kings, as has been the standard for many years.  The wax box consists of 36 packs with 15 cards and 1 Hank Aaron puzzle card.  As with other 80’s-90’s Donruss sets, one of the features was a large puzzle that you could put together with 60 puzzle pieces.  1986 was strong with my hometown Braves’ Hank Aaron.  The set also produced some strong rookies, including Canseco, Fred McGriff, Andres Gallaraga, Cecil Fielder, Paul O’Neill and Darren Daulton.  It’s truly a set with the perfect blend of both young superstars and stars on their way out.  Young superstars include Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemens, Darryl Strawberry and Dale Murphy.  Some of the older stars in the set are Don Sutton, Vida Blue, Rod Carew, Dave Winfield, George Brett and Mike Schmidt.  The checklist is really loaded with a wide variety.The box did not come without some drawbacks.  While I am a Donruss fanboy, I am also fair in both my praise and criticism.  The Diamond Kings checklist leaves a bit to be desired.  The best player I pulled in my box was Orel Hershiser.  The checklist includes such names as Rick Mahler, Mike Davis and Bill Doran.  Those may have been household names in ’86 but they didn’t have any staying power.  Also, while the cards were in overall great condition for a 30 year old box, the cut of the cards was somewhat weak.  More than any other boxes I’ve broke in the recent months, the length of these cards were very inconsistent.  When you stack these cards, the cut issue is rather obvious.  But, all in all, the condition of the cards and packs was much better than I anticipated.  I pulled what seems like 90% of the set together with my first box.  That figure may be off one way or the other but that’s my best guess after collating rather unscientifically.  I did pull McGriff, Gallaraga, Dykstra, Daulton and Fielder rookies, among many second year stars as well.  However, I fell short of my overall goal of pulling Canseco, McGriff and Gallaraga.  Unfortunately, I pulled neither Canseco or O’Neill.  Perhaps I’ll have better luck with my 2nd box (Dub Score Spoiler Alert).  I enjoyed many of the names and the trip back to my early baseball days.  Nolan Ryan popped up a couple of times.  The Twinkies duo of Viola and Hrbek continue to haunt me as they were ever present with others from that dastardly team like Gladden, Gaetti and Jack Morris.  My Braves were poorly represented with the only  notable player being Dale Murphy.  But the big names of the late 80’s were there and this was a very nice timeframe between their rookie years and their established years of 88-89.  Like I said, it really is a great mix of young and veteran stars.  1986 was also a very nice year in the history of jerseys.  The Braves were in the nice blues that I loved in the 80’s in most photos while the Astros had their classic orange and yellow combo.  The Expos were sporting their nicest uni (in my opinion) with the classic red, white and blue and the Pirates were rocking the old pillbox hats!  The set used a very good balance of action and posed shots as well.  As was classic 80’s, there was also a ton of porn stache’s, Jheri curl and mullets.  The set really has it all.  And the packs were classic wax with no bubblegum to powder up the cards.  No UV coating and no bubble gum powder helped these cards stay in pretty fine condition.  There wasn’t much of a nostalgic scent to the cards as there is with many of the 80’s Topps sets but I’ll sacrifice the scent for the lack of powder.The box was everything I had hoped and more.  The only negative was that I didn’t pull a Canseco.  But the fact that I pulled almost every other star made up for that. I’ve busted several ’89 boxes and haven’t pulled a Jr. and been much more dissapointed with the results.  I’ll go back to the well for a second box soon.  I’d like to complete the set and try once more to pull the Canseco.  Because of my background, this set is really cool even 30 years later.  It has a Michael Jackson video/Knight Rider/Saturday Morning Cartoon feel to it that will keep me coming back for more.  When you bust a mid to late 80’s box, you go into it knowing that, at best, you may pull some moderate value rookie ($5-$10) so it’s not about dollar value.  It’s about the value of taking a step back to some vivid moment in your childhood when you first saw the ’86 Ozzie Smith.  For me, that’s a huge part of what collecting is about.  At this point in my life, I’ve pulled 1 of 1’s, nice autographs, printing plates, etc.  That can  definitely be exciting.  But nothing gives me a sense of comfort and makes the stress of the real world fall away like a retro box of baseball cards from when I was a little squirt playing video games 24/7.  This box gave me that feeling 100%.  So to me, that is a very good return value.  The price is also fairly reasonable these days and the quality of the product holds up in my opinion.  I’ll have to go with a Dub Score of 5, even though this one was destined for one from the start.  The next box is going to be more difficult to grade high.  I’ve got an ’89 Topps box ready for breaking in my next retro review.  1989 was a great year but the set didn’t exactly light the world on fire.  Until then, Keep Collecting!

Dub Score – 5

I started thinking about this when I got that ’86 Donruss box a couple of weeks ago.  You know, the one that I still haven’t opened.  It’s really bothering me but I just haven’t had the time I think should be allotted to meticulously go through those packs.  It’s sort of a big deal for me because I’ve always wanted to rip a box but for whatever reason, just never have been able to get it done.  I guess I still can’t get it done even though the box is sitting right in front of me.  Anywho, two of the big rookies in the set are Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff.  For totally different reasons, they have one major thing in common; neither are in the Hall of Fame.  I have to thank Matt Sammon at @waxandgumstains for making me think so hard about Fred McGriff and the Hall.  But I really don’t understand why he isn’t.  I get why Jose isn’t, even though he was one of the most dominant hitters of the late 80’s-early 90’s and one of my all time faves.  The Crime Dog doesn’t have those kind of numbers but he also doesn’t have that kind of baggage.  

So that’s what brought me here.  What players should be in the Hall that I collected growing up?  Moreover, what about the players that didn’t have any glaring steroid allegations?  I decided to avoid the whole steroid issue (almost) in this review because I didn’t want to beat a dead horse.  Some of these players may have even had some weird link to some of the issues but they aren’t Clemens or McGwire or Sosa.  These are players that,  by and large, did it the right way on the field.  They are also players that might eventually get in through some veterans committee waiver but they aren’t in yet and I think they should be.  I’ve also tried to put them in order from least to most deserving.  This is not a comprehensive list by any means but it is based on the thoughts of yours truly.  And again, this list is restricted to a time period in which I collected these guys heavily.#5 Alan Trammell – I first remember Alan Trammell from RBI Baseball from 1987.  The Tigers were stacked and Trammell hit .343 with 28 bombs and 105 RBI that year.  He was also a middle infielder, which was my spot on the field too.  Those numbers are really staggering for a short stop from the mid 80’s.  He also had 21 stolen bases and he won silver slugger during that season.  I know, you don’t get into the Hall for one season so here is more support: 20 seasons, 6x All-Star, ’84 World Series Champ and MVP, 4x Gold Glover and 3x Silver Slugger.  He had 7 seasons batting over .300 and 13 double digit steals seasons.  Perhaps one of the most impressive stats is that he only had 3 seasons with more than 60 K’s and none more than 71.  He averaged 8 less K’s per season than Cal, hit 10 points higher in his career and won 2 more Gold Gloves.  Now, I’m not arguing that he is actually Ripken but he had a worthy career.  Unfortunately, none of his numbers jump out as threshold numbers.  .285 avg, 2365 hits and 185 HR.  But if you ask me, he belongs in the Hall!#4 Don Mattingly – “Donnie Baseball” did not have a career as lengthy as Trammell but he did but up numbers.  He finished his career as a .307 hitter with 2153 hits.  He also outclubbed Trammell in HR’s with 222.  He had 1,000+ RBI and only averaged 40 K’s per season.  He was also a 6x All-Star, 9x Gold Glover, 3x Silver Slugger, AL MVP (’85), AL Batting Champ (’84) and AL RBI Champ (’85).  He was the captain of the Yankees from ’91-’95 and had his #23 retired.  The only thing he didn’t do was win a World Series.  He was an absolute stud during his heyday but ran into injuries along the way and just didn’t finish with any of those magic numbers either.  But the Hall is not just about numbers.  The dude was nicknamed Donnie Baseball for crying out loud!#3 Larry Walker – Mattingly and Trammell’s numbers sort of pale in comparison to #3 on our list.  Larry Walker hit .313 for his career and almost hit more home runs than the other two combined, 383.  He struck out a little more but he hit .350+ in 4 out of 5 seasons from 1997-2001.  Add in 230 steals and 150 RF assists, good for 17th all-time, and you have yourself a 5 tool player!  Over 17 seasons, he was a 6x All-Star, won 7x Gold Gloves, 3x Silver Sluggers, led the NL in HR in 97, was the MLB batting champion 3x and won NL MVP in ’97.  Seriously, you’re telling me that this guy doesn’t belong in the Hall?#2 Gary Sheffield – Now, a controversial pick.  Yes, he has been linked to PED’s but not in the same capacity as the big guys from the day.  Yes, he was a bit of a hothead and character issue guy but he helped ball clubs win.  He played for 22 seasons and was a 9x All-Star, 5x Silver Slugger, a World Series Champ and an NL Batting Champ in 92.  There are no Gold Gloves on the resume but he did top 500 HR (509) and hit .292 over his career.  He came up shy of 3,000 hits by only 311 and had 1676 RBI.  As a power hitter in a strikeout era, he also only K’d an average of 74 times per season.  He never struck out more than 83 times in a season.  Recently inducted Jeff Bagwell struck out 100+ times in 10 of 15 seasons.  Again, not comparing the two players as a whole, just giving a reference.  Sheffield has his issues but he was always a very intimidating force at the plate.  His stats are worthy but he just has too much baggage at this point.  #1 Fred McGriff – First and foremost, I’m a Braves fan and Crime Dog was a tremendous player on those teams from 93-97, eventually winning that WS ring in ’95.  He hit 130 of his career 493 HR’s during that 5 year stretch and hit for a .297 average as a Bravo.  He finished his career 10 hits shy of 2500 and 7 HR shy of 500.  Over 19 seasons, he was a 5x All-Star, All-Star MVP (94), a 3x Silver Slugger and 2x HR Champ.  He also never found himself in the news for any dubious reasons, was not linked to PED scandals and was by all accounts a consummate teammate and professional.  He is one of my all time favorite 1B, along with Frank Thomas.  This guy is the prime example of what the Hall of Fame stands for in my opinion.  And as if all of that weren’t enough already, he also gave Tom Emansky his full endorsement on his hitting instruction videos.  Case closed in my book!No-Brainer – Pete Rose – I really didn’t want to have to do this but can we get Pete in the Hall already?  He obviously had a character flaw with his betting on baseball.  I’m not going to completely ignore that fact.  But what he did in the diamond is unparalleled.  4,256 hits??  17x All-Star, 3x World Series Champ, Rookie of the Year, NL MVP, Clemente Award Winner, 2x Gold Glover, Silver Slugger, All Century Team.  3,000 hits is a benchmark stat for HOF and Rose had 3,215 singles!!  It’s time people!  Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame!

I’m sure everyone has their list that differs.  There are tons of metrics that people use.  But sometimes we make things more difficult than they have to be.  The eye test is important to me and these guys all pass it.  Of course, everyone can’t get in and there will always be fringe players but these guys excelled at the game and had long, decorated careers that should be honored and admired.  What about you?  Who’s in your top 5?

J-Dub