Category: Hobbies

It’s been a really long time since I’ve been to an actual card show.  I remember going to a huge one in the 90’s in Atlanta and being on the budget of a 14 year old.  As in, I got what mom and dad agreed to buy.  I remember the tables and seeing cards I assumed I would never own.  I’ve always wanted to replay that day and take my time and let it soak in.  I’ve been to every card shop in Georgia, or so it seems.  I’ve turned over 100 rocks at antique shops looking for interesting finds.  But none of that searching could bring back the excitement and wonder of that card show.That’s where Charlie Heinisch and Middle Georgia Sports Cards comes in to play.  I’ve mentioned Charlie and his card shop in Warner Robins here before.  It’s the best shop I’ve been to in a long time.  Charlie cares about the hobby and the collectors in it.  He helped jumpstart an area of Georgia that had really fallen behind in collecting.  Along with the card shop, he formed a Facebook page with trading and auction days and general helpful info for collectors interested in the Braves, Hawks, Falcons and UGA.Charlie has also brought back card shows to our area.  He has a card show in McDonough, Ga every month and tries to have one in Macon a couple times a year.  McDonough is still a decent haul for me (about 2 hours) but is a little closer than Atlanta.  But 2 hours is as close as a card show has been to me in the last 15 years.  He’s been having them for a little while now but I’ve never been able to make it.  I have a wife and 2 kids and the weekend is the only time we really have to unwind.  So asking them to take off with me to McDonough to look at cards is not really an option.  And I’ve not been able to take off and just leave them with nothing to do either.  This weekend worked out perfectly as my wife had a women’s retreat (literally a day at the beach) and my girls went to grandma’s for the weekend.  So there was nothing standing between me and that sweet hotel conference room of cardboard this time!

I’ve actually been planning this day all week.  The show started at 10 so I would get up and leave the house around 7, allowing time for a good breakfast and leisurely stroll up I-75 North.  I’d spend half the day planted in front of quarter boxes digging to my hearts content.  Mrs. Dub was leaving at 6:30 so it timed out perfect.  When this morning finally arrived, she asked me for some help around 5:30 and I laid back down to just catch a few winks before having to get up and ready.  After what I thought were a few winks, I woke up and the clock read 9:32.  Bad start.  I jumped up, hopped in the shower and rolled out about as quickly as I’ve ever moved.  I had the truck gassed up, a McGriddle in my hand and was northbound by 10.  Only 3 hours later than I had planned.  

The ride was nice because I had some Beckett Radio and Wax Ecstatic podcasts to listen to.  I made it to the Hilton in McDonough around 12:30 thanks to some heavy traffic for the last few miles and my heart actually started racing when I went to get out of the truck.  I am not kidding when I tell you that I was full on excited like it was Christmas morning!  I was at a card show, had some change in my pocket and had nothing on my schedule for the rest of the day.  Totally unfettered.  So let’s get to the fun!

When I walked in, it was hard not to quickly become overwhelmed.  I had to slow down and realize that I had all afternoon.  I had to pace myself.  The first thing I had to do was find Charlie’s table.  Another thing about Charlie is that he is the king of the sweet hobby boxes!  I have had more luck with his product than any other CS or website.  I went ahead and set aside a couple of boxes and started sifting through his quarter boxes.  Here are the finds.

I picked up a box of 2017 Classics, which is one of my favorite affordable football card sets.  I also picked up my second box of Archives.  Maybe a Jeter Auto in this one, who knows?  I’ll be working on a review post for Classics as soon as I bust it.

I picked up these 2 Fleer Gwynns that I needed for my 80’s collection.

These vintage football cards had my name written all over them for 25 cents!  ’78 White Shoes and Joiner – ’80 William Andrews and ’81 Winslow.

I nabbed this ’80 Largent specifically to try the TTM address that Alex Kent recently shared with me.

How about a couple of ’88 Rookies of Tecmo Super Bowl Legends?  The Boz and The Nightmare!

I couldn’t pass up this sweet Pro Vision!

My last .25 pick up was this Eric Lindros ’90 Score Baseball Rookie.  Always loved this card!  Then I found some autographs at Charlie’s booth!

This would have been the purchase of the day if not for the next Auto that I found!  A Tony Pena autograph in the amazing Yellow Pirates uni!  Unbelievable!

The Pena finished a close second to this beauty.  Yes, your eyes are seeing this!  A 1990 design Kevin Maas autograph.  If you collected baseball cards in 1990, you know how momentous this actually is.  I could have left when I found this and the day would have been complete.  But, there’s more goodness to show.

A couple of booths over, I found another Archives Auto to add to my collection.  Tony Fernandez was a great name from the late 80’s.  Easy call to purchase this.

Then there’s this half naked Willie Gault Pro Line Auto.  I won’t spend too much time looking at the front but if you put a Pro Line Auto in front of me, I’m going to buy it 100% of the time.

I then found the vintage booth and shopped there for quite a while.  I don’t have much to show because a lot of that got packaged up to ship out to some of my friends when I got home.  I did get this ’77 Dave Parker.  I think ’77 will be my 70’s PC since it was my year of birth.

I picked up this ’84 Oriole’s checklist because it had Ripken on the front.  Couldn’t pass it up for .50 cents.

Very proud of this pick up of a 1958 Curt Flood RC for $2.50.  Its vintage and it’s also a very pivotal player in MLB history.  Score!

My best pickup at the vintage table was this 1955 Ernie Banks for $10.  I did not care about condition as I snapped this up the minute I saw it and the price tag.  The price tag was a little higher but the seller cut me a deal when I bought multiple cards.  The rest of the vintage cards will be turning up on Twitter over the next week or so.

The next booth was a “Junk Wax” booth so I picked up this ’90 Pro Set and ’91 Pro Set Platinum for $3 apiece.  He had ’91 Fleer Baseball too but I just couldn’t pull the trigger.

The final piece for the day was this lot of Junk Wax packs that I bought to refill my “When I Was A Kid” box that gets heavy usage for giveaways.  I picked up 15 packs of ’89 Donruss and 5 packs of ’91-’92 Skybox for a total of $4.  No brainer.

Well, this was my day at the card show, for the most part.  Like I said, there are some things that I can’t really show because it would ruin the surprise for those that are getting envelopes this week.  I can’t wait until the next show and I will beg and plead with Mrs. Dub to let me go.  But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  For now, I’m going to bask in the glory of what was a truly successful day for me and my card habit!

J-Dub

I remember the first time I saw a baseball card.  Well at least I think it’s the first time I saw a card.  It’s possible that I stumbled across one at 5 or 6 but I don’t actually remember it.  With this card, I remember where I was, what grade I was in and the actual card I saw.  I even remember how I was able to get it from the owner and into my possession.  I suppose it stands as the first baseball card I ever owned, though it was a year or so before I officially started collecting.  It remains in my collection today and is one of a handful of older star cards that I was able to pick up when I was first starting to collect.  I use the term “older” to describe cards from 70’s to early 80’s.  I’m sure it means another era to some but I consider anything 5+ years before I started collecting, older.

I don’t really own a ton of cards that are pre-1980.  I have somewhat angled my current collecting preferences to mid 80’s.  I have a pretty fair amount of 1985 or newer cards and those are some of my favorite sets to this day.  But other than a box here or there, I don’t have a ton of really early 80’s and I have even fewer 70’s cards.  The ones I do have all usually carry a story with how they wound up in my collection.  Many of them were picked up in my early collecting days because they really weren’t that old at the time.  I don’t remember exactly what was traded in many instances but I do recall certain events that surround obtaining the cards.  Here are some of the cards I have that fit what I’m describing.  Some of the details have become fuzzy over time but the cards live on to tell their story.1980 Topps Ozzie Smith – This is that very first card that I remember.  I was 10 years old at the time at Mitchell County Middle School.  The reason I remember my age is because of where I was when I saw the card.  I remember being in one of the “mobile units” of the 5th grade wing that was for our music class.  We went to this class to play all of the old weird noise makers from that age.  They weren’t instruments per se, although I think we may have been introduced to the recorder that year.  Anyhow, my friends and I played marbles in the 5th grade.  We had the perfect sandy playground area for this activity.  There were some players that could clean my clock but there were some that I could hang with too.  I remember one of my friends showing off some cards in the music room and one of them was this Ozzie Smith.  Being 1987, I knew Ozzie as The Wizard in St Louis from watching the Braves and Cubs almost daily.  I wanted this card, even though I didn’t collect.  There was something cool about that baseball card.  Well, we played marbles at recess and I won that card from my friend.  It would be the first card of several that I won (or lost) playing stupid kids games.  But I won this one and I was thrilled.  I didn’t have toploader’s or binders or anything like that so I believe I just took it home and put it on my bookshelf.  It’s in a toploader now.1981 Fleer Willie Stargell – This was a sweet trade in 7th grade but did not cost me a card in exchange.  This was a food item, much like the Dave Winfield Twins/Indians trade from 94.  In 7th grade, we had this small brick standalone building that was fenced and locked 6 1/2 of the 7 hours we were at school each day.  But that small 30 minute window it was open was magical.  It was a small snack stand that had drink machines, snack machines and a small ice cream/popsicle stand.  Everything could be had for .35 cents or less.  I remember it being a BIG deal to be able to drink a soft drink at school during the day.  I always went with a grape soda for some reason.  One of the major items available was the “superstar” popsicle.  We’ve all seen some version of this and it’s most widely known as a “bomb pop” I believe.  It was first come-first serve and was the the first item that ran out every day.  I happened to procure one on this hot South Georgia afternoon and there was another student who missed out.  I might as well have been holding a $100 bill in my hand instead of the popsicle.  After some strong 12 year old negotiations, I was able to pry away this 1981 Fleer Willie Stargell.  So I essentially traded a popsicle for a Pops.  Ok, that was a lame play on words.1978 Topps André Dawson – I’ve mentioned my early infatuation with the Cubs and how much I was able to see them play on TV.  One of the players I really loved on that team was André Dawson.  The Hawk was a power hitting outfielder that could crush a baseball.  It’s amazing when I look at his stat totals now that he didn’t reach 500 home runs.  He had double digit home runs in 18 of his 21 seasons and the 3 that he didn’t were partial seasons that combine to only equal 145 games.  He hit 10 homes in those 3 seasons so he still hit double digits in less than a full seasons worth of games.  He even hit 49 one season.  Just totally surprised to see his total at 438.  In the early days of collecting, I tried to target Dawson in trades because of his stud status.  I remember having most of the 1991 Score Superstar set and one of the neighborhood kid collectors like myself wanted some of them.  I don’t even remember the cards he wanted but when I saw this 1978 André Dawson in his collection, I figured we could make something happen.  Remember in 1991, this Dawson wasn’t all that old.  It was like owning a card now from 2003, sort of.  The eras don’t match up but that gives you an idea of card age at the time.  We pulled off the deal and I still have this card.  I’ll bet you a bomb pop that he doesn’t have those ’91 Superstars anymore.1979 Topps Johnny Bench – I’ve mentioned my Uncle Speedy here before.  He had two kids that were my age, Corey and Jared.  We did pretty much everything together.  We played on the same little league teams, we played pick up games with buddies, we played marathon seasons of Tecmo And RBI and we collected baseball cards.  They had access to more vintage cards than I did because Uncle Speedy had some in his collection.  One specific thing I remember about baseball cards and Uncle Speedy was playing RBI 1 against him and he would tell us about the players that he really watched closely or even played with at one point or another.  I remember him talking about the California Angels with Tony Armas, Doug DeCincs and Bob Boone, who I knew absolutely nothing about at the time.  We would cross reference the backs of baseball cards to corroborate his stories about their stats and he was always dead on.  He was a real wealth of knowledge as it related to 70’s and 80’s MLB.  Well, one of the older cards that Corey and Jared had in their collection was this 1979 Johnny Bench All Star card.  We pulled of a trade on one of our many late night sorting sessions and even though it’s an all-star card instead of his regular card, I still love it.1981 Topps Nolan Ryan – I’m going to be perfectly honest with you here.  I don’t remember exactly how I got this card.  But for some reason, I keep going back to a memory of the flea market with my granddaddy.  We would go eat at Western Sizzlin in East Albany some Saturday’s or Sunday’s after church.  That would be followed by a trip over to the flea market across from Cooper Tire, now known as Kitty’s Flea Market.  It may have been called that then but I have no clue.  It’s a relative ghost town now with just a few booths of knockoff items that are more cheap new items than cool nostalgic ones.  But back in the day, Kitty’s was rocking and my granddaddy was a wheeler and dealer.  I watched him work deals on CB Radios, fishing poles and truck parts like a modern day Pawn Star.  Every now and then, we would run up on a booth that had some toys or Atari games and I would spend some time there.  For some reason, I keep placing this Nolan at that flea market.  I know I picked up some cards at the flea market from time to time and most of them were very early in my collecting days and I had no idea who the players were.  They were just sports cards so I liked them.  Maybe I got this card there and maybe I didn’t but it certainly makes me think of those days so I’m going to tie the two together unless a clearer memory comes to the forefront.

I still find it amazing that certain small objects can trigger such great memories.  Sports cards and video games are the most nostalgic for me in that respect.  I can tie so much of my youth to those inanimate objects.  I was just a regular kid who liked sports and these cards will always be a reminder of those days.  There aren’t many other interests from our youth that can be held with such high regard.  Nintendos have eventually broken and there’s been no one to fix them.  Our toys have gone by the wayside.  We can’t go in the front yard and play football anymore because either me or one of my friends will break a hip.  I don’t even have a VHS to play old movies on.  I have to go out and buy the DVD if I want to watch an old classic on TV, but it’s not the same.  Sports cards are the one thing I can still tangibly hold in my hand that places me back at those awesome moments in my life.  And without memories, what are we really?  We are who we are today because of the experiences of our youth, for better or worse.  Mine just happened to be great and I hang on to these cards to constantly remind me of the good ole days.

There was a recent “copy and paste” post going around on FaceBook which is something I don’t usually participate in.   However, this particular post was “List Favorite MLB Players By Position During “Your” Lifetime.”  I completed this one and posted it up with some thought but not real in depth consideration.  I have gone back and reconsidered the list and thought I should modify it somewhat.  Once I revisited the idea, I realized that I had gotten most of them right the first time but there were couple of glaring omissions in my initial attempt.  And as is a Dub Mentality staple, I also thought that I should include a card that was memorable for me of the player.  It wouldn’t be as much fun without some cards.  These are not their best card issues but they are ones that immediately pop in my mind when I think of the player and when I collected.

I’d like for you to review my list and let me know what you think but I also want to hear what you have to say in the comments of this post.  Obviously there is no right or wrong answer as we can’t control who others’ favorite players are.  Remember, this is your “favorite” players, not necessarily the greatest at the position of all time.  That is another discussion entirely.   So in order for you to fully complete the process, let me lay out some basic parameters for the task.  While it’s not easy and you will second guess every position at times, it’s a really fun thought process.

• Positions include C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, OF, OF, OF, DH, RHSP (Right Handed Starting Pitcher), LHSP and RP.

• There is some room for “cheating the system” with the DH and RP spot if players moved to those positions later in their careers. Be as liberal with your list as you would like but don’t list Ken Griffey Jr. as your favorite SS ever.

• The title includes “your lifetime” so you can choose players that retired if you were 2 years old if you want to but I stuck with players that I collected heavily and/or saw play.

• Trust me; this is harder than you think. Just wait until the last paragraph that outlines some of the players that had to be left out.

Catcher – Tony Pena

This may seem like an odd selection to some but there is a reason that I always think of Tony Pena when I think about catchers.  First, he was pretty dang good.  He was a 4x All-Star and 4x Gold Glove Winner.  He also was the master of the fake intentional walk!  But that’s just part of the reason he is on this list.  When I first started watching baseball, I was drawn to jersey color.   I was a young kid and was entertained by some of the louder colors like the Astros and Pirates.  My Braves were powder blue and I loved it.  But I remember watching the Pirates on a family vacation to Atlanta.  They had Bill Madlock, Willie Stargell and Dave Parker at the time.  Their catcher was Tony Pena and the way he sat behind home plate with his one leg straightened out caught my eye.  I thought he was awesome!  I followed his career as I grew up and always liked him.   Of course, the card that catches my eye every time is the ’85 Donruss pictured above.

1B – Frank Thomas

This one was pretty easy for me but I almost swung him to DH to add another 1B to the list.  Turns out, I had to do that when I got to the OF position because it is loaded.  The Big Hurt was from Columbus, GA, which is about an hour and a half from where I grew up.  He then went on to play at Auburn, which is clearly a rival for Georgia but is my favorite team in the SEC West (except for the Cam years).   He was at Auburn the same time as Bo Jackson in 1986 and was recruited to play football as a tight end.  He went undrafted in baseball out of high school and called it the worst moment of his life.  He wanted to play so badly that he once said, “I could have been drafted for a dozen baseballs and a couple of fungos.”  He played only one season of football at Auburn, catching 3 passes for 45 yards.  He suffered an ankle injury preparing for the ’87 season and turned his focus to baseball.   Coach Pat Dye pushed him to pursue the baseball career after the baseball coach told him he would be a 1st round pick but he kept him on football scholarship.  He won the triple crown twice at Auburn and the rest is history.   Frank is and always will be a top 5 favorite player regardless of position.  The Braves had the 5th pick in that ’86 Draft and chose Kent Mercker.   What could have been…. The card I chose for Big Frank was the ’93 Ultra All Star.   I love this subset!

2B – Ryne Sandberg

I have written about watching the cubbies growing up on the blog so this one had to go to Ryno.   It was actually kind of close with Craig Biggio but my youthful days of watching the Cubs after school won out.  I collected Cubs along with the Braves when I stared in ’89 because of my familiarity with them.   They were loveable losers like us too at the time.  Ryno’s stats speak for themselves and he might be the greatest 2B to ever play the game but that isn’t what this list is about.  He was a career .285 hitter with 282 home runs, which is good for 4th all time among 2B.  Biggio is #3 on that list by the way. He was also a 10x All-Star, 9x Gold Glove and 7x Silver Slugger winner.   Is there much more to say?  I watched him play every day on my TV and he was a star.   That pretty much seals it.  And my favorite card of him is the ’89 Topps for nostalgic reasons.

SS – Ozzie Smith

While this started as a tough one, it was turned out to be an easy selection.  SS is a position that I paid a lot of attention to growing up and there were some great ones.  Barry Larkin and Cal Ripken Jr. immediately come to mind.   But the player that I always loved and still do was The Wizard.  While Bleacher Report ranked him 2nd behind Omar Vizquel, I think he is the greatest SS of all time.  The smile was so memorable too.  He looked like he enjoyed the game and made me want to play!  He won 13 consecutive Gold Gloves and holds the record for career assists.  Then there’s the backflip too!!   Check out this video if you want to experience The Wizard at his best.  If you’re clicking videos, here’s Here’s a great one with Will Clark.   The Ozzie pictured above is the best looking card I have of him.  The powder blue pants, the red border, the spring training top.  I love this card.

3B – Chipper Jones

Did you honestly think there would be another choice here?  Sure, there are several great third sackers that could have made this list and there are quite a few that I really like.   But Chipper is a Brave and he is one of the all time greatest.  He was an 8x All-Star, 2x Silver Slugger, NL MVP, Batting Champion and World Series Champion.   And he played his entire career in Atlanta, which is very rare in this day and age.   Admittedly, there were times when he wasn’t my favorite player on the team but I never wanted him anywhere else.  He was a gamer and one heckuva team player.  So while 3B is loaded with talent, Chipper gets the nod for me.  And the card chosen was his 1991 Macon Braves Classic card.   I thought this card was going to be worth $1MM one day.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

OF – Ron Gant

Of course Ron Gant is on my list. Don’t act surprised.  I have waxed poetically about #5 before on the blog and you can read that here.  My favorite Gant card is this ’89 Donruss.  Love the colors!

OF – Ken Griffey Jr.

The Kid.  This was a unanimous decision in a sea of uncertainty when I started looking through the outfielders.  But there was no way I could leave him off of this list.  He had the most beautiful swing of anybody that ever held a baseball bat.  He had a smile like Ozzie that would just make you understand how fun the game could be.  We don’t even have to bust through the stats but he was an All-Star, Gold Glover, Silver Slugger and Home Run Leader more seasons than some players actually play in a career.   I was able to see him play in person once in Atlanta when he was with the Reds.  We watched the game from our outfield seats but with the game out of reach, the stands started emptying so Mrs. Dub and I made it to some prime real estate behind the plate to see his final at bat.  He laced a double into the left center field gap and I was a stones throw away from that sweet swing.  I will see that ball flying into the night sky for the rest of my life.  It was truly one of those baseball moments that make me love the game.  For my childhood memories, you can’t beat the Ken Griffey Jr. Dream Team Card.

OF – Jose Canseco

With Gant and Griffey locked in, my challenge was to find one OF to fill the final spot.   My list was about 20 players long too.   This one may not be a unanimous decision but I couldn’t go in any other direction when all was said and done.  Canseco was the first cards in my binder for many years at the beginning of my collection.  Plus, I’ve told the story about dressing up as him in the 7th grade to do a public speaking autobiography.  He was the king of baseball in the late 80’s and could mash a ball like nobody’s business.  We found out why that was the case as his career started going off the rails.  He also had the humiliating baseball off of the head for a home run incident.  But nobody was more fun to watch at the plate during his heyday.   Because of what he meant to me when I started this hobby, he made the cut for the final OF spot.  The 1987 Topps was the first card of Jose I owned and remains a favorite of mine.

DH – Bo Jackson

This is where I had to pull another outfielder in.  I could not have a list of favorite players that didn’t include Bo.   He had a shorter career than most but it was as explosive as any.  He was as big as an ox, fast as a deer, could play the outfield with the best of them, mash the ball with the power hitters and steal bases like a leadoff hitter.  And none of that even touches his other abilities like flattening Brian Bosworth on the gridiron.   Bo was truly robbed of a more fruitful career when he suffered his hip injury but sports fans all over the world were also robbed of seeing his otherworldly talent on display.  A great 30 for 30 is “You Don’t Know Bo” and I would definitely recommend giving it a watch.  Bo is a dude’s dude, a man’s man.  The aforementioned coach at Auburn, Pat Dye, was asked who the greatest athlete he ever coached was.  His answer, “Bo Jackson was the best athlete I ever coached. Frank Thomas was the second best athlete.  And I might have had it reversed.”  Both of them made my list.  My absolute favorite Bo is the ’87 Topps.  It could be my favorite card of all time but that’s a bold statement off the cuff like that.

RHSP – Nolan Ryan

This is one I got wrong on my first attempt.   To be honest, I missed Ryan during my list process and I have no idea why.  My first choice was Doc Gooden and he remains my second choice but Nolan Ryan moves to #1 without much debate.  The Ryan Express threw so hard, he broke his catcher’s finger on a routine basis.  He was throwing harder in his mid 40’s than a lot pitchers when they were 23.   The thing I always heard about his fast ball was that it was heavy.  It was thrown so hard, it just felt heavy when it was hit or caught.   I shared my TTM success from earlier this year on him and I couldn’t have been more excited about the return.  Even though I like Robin Ventura as well, my favorite Nolan Ryan moment was this.  The card of choice here is the 1989 Upper Deck Football Toss.

LFSP – Tom Glavine

Tom Glavine is an Atlanta great.  He should have been a Brave for life but that didn’t happen.  Glavine was a key component on the Braves teams that made so many memories for me as a kid.  He was an artist on the mound and could hit pretty good too.  The one blemish he has for me is that whole “Player’s Union Rep during the ’94 Strike” thing but I can get passed that as I understand what his role was at this point.   It doesn’t diminish what he did on the field for my team.   I also got a chance to meet Glavine at a Braves game a few years ago and he signed for me, which was really cool.  He finished his career with 305 wins, 10 All-Star appearances, 4 Silver Slugger Awards and a World Series MVP.  He also led the NL in wins 5 times.  He would have been more decorated today had he not been sandwiched in the rotation by Greg Maddux and John Smoltz for all those years.  My favorite Tom Glavine card is actually a John Smoltz card, sort of.

RP – John Smoltz

Speaking of a John Smoltz card, this was another unanimous decision, even though I was accused of cheating on FaceBook when I listed Smoltz as a Relief Pitcher.  While he was a stellar starting pitcher with 213 wins, Marmaduke was also lights out in the closer role for many years for the Braves, notching 155 saves.  He remains the only pitcher in history to have 200 wins and 150 saves in a career.  He is also the only pitcher I can think of that made the move from SP to Closer and back to SP effectively.  Dennis Eckersley was moved from SP to RP but his days as an SP were over.  Number 29 will always be my favorite Braves pitcher of all time.  He was what our organization was all about in the 90’s.  My favorite Smoltz card is the ’89 Upper Deck.   I would not have wanted to be in the batters box for that photo.

That is really about the best I can do without driving myself insane. The names I had to leave off of this list are a who’s who of baseball royalty from the 80’s and 90’s. I had to pass over Benny Santiago, Pudge, Bagwell, McGriff, Mattingly, Biggio, Cal, Larkin, Boggs, Hawk, Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Puckett, Clemens, Maddux, Doc, Big Unit and Eckersley! Some of these players could be on the list but I am sticking with this final draft. What about you? Let me know in the comments who your favorites were!

J-Dub

No matter how old I get or how many miles I put between 12 years old and now, there are certain images that I still have from those days.  I remember the McGwire ’90 Fleer I got at Halloween that year.  I remember the back of ’89 Score because that’s the way I went through packs to maintain suspense.  I remember the ’89 Mel Hall Donruss card that I used in the make believe baseball games on my blue shag carpet.  I don’t know why we remember certain things that seem so insignificant but I understand why memory loss is such a traumatic event as you get older.  I don’t want to lose these images or memories.  So to combat the issue, I keep doing what I do and I never turn my nose up at a cheap box of cards from the most overproduced era in history.I’m here today to talk about some of those images that I still have from that time in my life.  When I go through Camilla on my way to my parents house, I instinctively glance over at the new Wal-Mart that was built right beside the old Wal-Mart that is now a Marvin’s Building Supply.  I’ll never forget that old Wal-Mart and wish it was like it was when I was a kid.  I remember the first time I saw the card display in that store.  It was a cube display with cards on every side.  There were ’89 Topps, ’89 Donruss, ’89 Score, ’90 Pro Set, ’90 Hoops and ’90 Skybox.  Talk about a card cornacopia!  Along with the cards were other items like Ultra Pro 9 pocket sleeves, a couple of binder choices and the magazine source for all of my baseball card knowledge in those days, Beckett Baseball Card Monthly.If you mention the name “Beckett” to anyone in the general range of 40 years old, chances are that they will know exactly what you are talking about.  It was better than Sports Illustrated for me!  I’m not going to give a full blown history of Dr. James Beckett but we’ll start with the founding of Beckett Publications in 1984.  Sports cards really took off in the early to mid 80’s and Dr. Beckett, a statistics professor, decided to launch a magazine that would cover pricing and other aspects of the industry.  The magazine was as popular as any when I was 12-13 years old and was the end all for all trade discussions and fairness gauges.  There was no eBay, no Twitter, no FaceBook or even the internet itself in those days.  Availability and pricing was limited to your friends and Beckett.  So when I went to Wal-Mart, sometimes the cards weren’t even as important as buying the new magazine.  You couldn’t even start a discussion with the potential trade recipient if you hadn’t memorized the updated values.The first thing I did when I got my new magazine was scour the current sets for the much sought after ⬆️ (up arrow).  If cards were on the rise, they were coming out of the binder and going into safe keeping.  If, heaven forbid, I found the down arrow, they usually went back into the binder as I shed a lone tear for the player.  I recall one period where EVERY SINGLE 1990 Leaf card had the up arrow beside it.  One of my best friends had the entire set in a binder and I was so jealous!  After looking at the price changes, I went over to the Hot List to see what was going on.  It ranged from Elite Cards to hot Rookies but almost always had a Ken Griffey Jr. there.  My next stop was the section that had the upcoming card shows.  I’d find Georgia and see if I was lucky enough to have one coming to South Georgia.  More often than not, Atlanta was the hot spot.  After reading the articles, the last thing I would do is take it to my dad and show him the vintage prices and make sure he hadn’t stumbled on any of his old cards.  That answer never changed.  They were likely destroyed by his playing with them or thrown out by Granny years later.  I always had to check though.Now Beckett is so much more than “just a price guide.”  They have grading services, which is my go to for the few cards I’ll get graded.  They also have a website with an online marketplace where you can search for needs and fill in the gaps if you don’t want to go the eBay option.  They are on social media too and are active in that arena.  The most useful aspect of Beckett at this time for me is the Beckett Radio Podcast (@BeckettRadio) hosted by #TheFatpacks (@EricNorton316 and @PaulWirth23).  They have turned me on to so many new products (even some outside of sports) and are a wonderful resource for upcoming events, products and hobby happenings.  They are also very active on Twitter with fantasy leagues and giveaways so you have to follow them if you like sports cards!  You also need to subscribe to the podcast, Beckett Radio.  You won’t be disappointed.

So as you can see, the magazine that brought me such a big part of the hobby in my youth is still a vital part of the hobby today.  By now, you may be asking, “what does that have to do with images from your youth.”  Well, I’m about to get to that.  Last week on the podcast, the guys opened up the mailbag and I had a question that was discussed on air.  The question was, “What’s your personal favorite Beckett Magazine Cover of all time?”  It even made me think back to the tons of covers I’ve seen over the years and I started doing some ranking.  I thought I would share my thoughts here but was not able to really nail down a complete list.  I wasn’t able to pick just one, or five or even ten so I decided to list my twelve favorites.  They are in reasonable order from 12-1 but the ranking has changed several times and I may not be married to this as my final ranking for good.  I don’t think #1 will change but each time I look at these I feel guilty for having any of them ranked lower than #2.  So take the ranking with a grain of salt except for #1.

#12 – November/December 1990 – David Robinson #5 – I did not have a ton of friends who collected basketball cards but we all watched and played.  I was pretty heavy in collecting the cards though too.  My cousin Coop was big in it too.  We had our teams and players and would trade quite often.  For those that didn’t collect basketball, let me tell you that the ’89 Hoops David Robinson was sort of like the ’89 Ken Griffey Jr. Rookies.  I had to have these cards and still love them today.  There were actually two versions in the set.  One card featured him holding his Spurs jersey and the other was him shooting a free throw.  David Robinson was one of my favorite players back then and he came in and handled business quietly.  I simply loved this cover with The Admiral standing in front of The Alamo.  I also liked 90 Fleer basketball cards as well and the card featured was a favorite.#11 – March 1992 – Cal Ripken Jr. #84 – Who doesn’t love Cal?  You show me someone who doesn’t love Cal and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t love baseball.  He was still a couple of years away from breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak but was right in the thick of a Hall of Fame career in 1992.  This was also the year he appeared in the Donruss Elite insert set and this remains one of my all time favorite chase sets.  It was the first after all.  This was a great shot of Cal and I’ll always remember this cover.#10 – March 1991 – Ken Griffey Jr. #72 – Our first Jr. makes an appearance at #10 but there will be a more iconic cover in the top 3.  This one I loved because of the image.  It was Jr. in his classic follow through that was the envy of every young baseball player that hit left handed.  I had never seen a smoother swing and don’t know that it’s been beat since.  Jr. was a graceful player that was always admired for the fun loving nature he showed in his cards.  The Jr. on this cover and the one later are what I remember and loved so much about him back then.  The game got heavy a little later in his career and people tried to slander his good name but I’ll always hold him near and dear to my heart as a collector who started in 1989 when he broke through.#9 – December 1990 – Nolan Ryan #69 – This may be the lowest Nolan Ryan has ever been on any list ever concocted and that’s why I still struggle with my rankings. But the covers ahead of this one can’t be justified at any lower ranking.  This was truly tough.  “The Ryan Express” was a hero of mine in my young pitching days and I even had his “arm workout” book from my sophomore season in high school.  I remember curling jugs of water and throwing to a taped square on the wall outside my house as the guide was instructing me.  I don’t know if I ever got better because of it but I felt like I did and that was all that mattered.  Nolan was as intimidating a pitcher as there ever was and I only imagined the fear I would have looking at this pose from the batters box.  A great cover that probably is ranked too low.#8 – October 1990 – Jose Canseco #67 – This one was a classic and I could see it from several rows over as I approached the card cube at my Wal-Mart that day.  This was the same year I had performed my Canseco “autobiography” I spoke of in a previous post.  Canseco was THE MAN in ’89-’90 and he had the first page in my card binder.  I couldn’t get enough Canseco in my life and the cover here depicted the aforementioned 1990 Leaf that was totally on fire!  He’s sporting the A’s yellow jersey and has a look of confusion and bloodshot eyes but this is definitely top 10 material for my list!#7 – December 1989 – Bo Jackson #1 – This was the first Beckett Football installment and had the hottest player in sports on the cover.  He was at the top of his game and was only a couple of months away from taking the video game hero title away from Mario.  I remember this being one of the first magazines I got but I didn’t save them back them like I should have.  In fact, I would roll them up or fold them to get them to fit in my bookbag every day so it probably wouldn’t be in great shape even if I had.  I got started with baseball cards but football has always run a VERY close 2nd and has been #1 at some points.  My first big football set was ’90 Pro Set but I do remember picking up some ’89 Pro Set as well.  I still have the Bo Super Rookie and it’s one of my favorites.  You may wonder why Bo comes in at #7.  Don’t worry, there’s another one coming.#6 – May/June 1990 – Barry Sanders #4 – Bo was an absolute beast in baseball and football.  But no running back ran with the shiftiness and wizardry of Barry Sanders.  He was as close to Bo on Super Tecmo as you could get and was underrated because of the Raider RB.  I loved collecting Barry and I had a crazy ton of the ’90 Score pictured on the front.  My two favorite cards from the base set were two players that you’ve probably never heard of, or you’ve forgotten.  One was Percy Snow, a linebacker from Michigan State that was drafted by the Chiefs.  The other was Fred Washington that played at TCU and was drafted by the Bears.  I loved those cards and never got to see Washington’s career take off because of a fatal car accident his rookie year.  We were also robbed at the end of Barry’s career as he hung up the cleats very early and still had a lot left in the tank.  I loved that “Beckett Football Card Magazine” was in blue and silver like the uni’s and it really set off the image.#5 – April 1991 – Dominique Wilkins #9 – First, just look at the beautiful inset ’90 Hoops card.  Nique throwing down a windmill jam with the awesome silver border.  I don’t know that I have owned more cards in a set than ’90 Hoops, except maybe ’90 Pro Set.  I loved these Hoops cards and still do.  I have the equivalent of a full box of unopened Hoops packs at my house that I throw in giveaways from time to time.  The rookie class was awesome with Kemp, Hardaway, Payton and Glen Rice.  This was the heyday of great basketball and weekly Sunday matchups on NBC.  And of course, my main man was Dominique Wilkins.  Not only a star in the NBA and one of the most exciting players ever but he was playing at Stegeman Colliseum in Athens, GA even before that.  This is a top 5 no doubter!#4 – April 1992 – Frank Thomas #85 – This is one of the covers that I automatically picture in my head when someone says “Beckett”.  There was a card too from 1992 from this same setting in the Topps set but The Big Hurt has a big smile and looks friendly.  He looks like he is ready to pound a fastball in this photo!  Frank was a loveable player and grew up just about an hour and a half from where I’m from so was as close to a hometown superstar as we had at the time.  He played for Auburn, which was a slight knock but he remains a big figure in Georgia today.  I never owned the ’90 Topps error card as it is pretty rare but I loaded up on the corrected version along with ’89 Score update Rookies.  And this is a great time to mention again that I just recently added a great Frank Thomas autographed jersey thanks to the kindness of Robert Ballis (@RBallis)!!!#3 – September 1991 – Michael Jordan #14 – There are very few images in sports as iconic as MJ kissing the trophy.  And Beckett captured it perfectly with issue #14 of the Basketball edition.  Jordan may be the only player to grace both the Basketball and Baseball covers.  I’d have to do a little research but I can’t think of another.  Bo got Baseball and Football and Deion may have at one point as well.  MJ shocked the world when he announced he was retiring from basketball to play baseball and the hobby world went nuts too.  He also has a Basketball cover in the #45 Bulls jersey when he returned to the league that was very memorable but not quite Top 12 material.  This one was easy and belongs in the Top 3 for me.  I appreciate MJ more and more as the years pass and the NBA becomes more watered down and free agency driven.  In my day, The Dream Team represented America, not just one city.#2 – July 1990 – Ken Griffey Jr. #64 – Here is the iconic Jr. for me.  I don’t remember the specific hot list from this guide but I can assure you that half of them were Jr. cards. There was truly no hotter name in 1990 than Ken Griffey Jr.  He even made Canseco take a back seat.  And this smile was what you saw from Jr. on a routine basis except when they made him into a villain in 1994’s “Little Big League.”  1989 Upper Deck is obviously his marquee card and you may know by now that I still haven’t pulled one from a pack.  But I had a cache of ’89 Donruss rookies that I would horde like they were ’52 Mantle’s.  This was such a great time to be a baseball fan and collector.  This magazine brings back such fond memories and I can’t help but smile when I see it.#1 – June 1990 – Bo Jackson #63 – You had to know this was coming, right?  It is quite a coincidence that the top magazine on this list is issue #63 and it’s followed by #64 that is second on this list.  This was collecting to me.  If my life as a collector was an old VHS movie, this would be the box cover.  Bo in the pads with the bat over his shoulders may be the most iconic image on a sports card ever but is certainly the top photo in my lifetime.  It’s even better because it’s black and white.  Score football put out a similar card with Bo in the batting stance but it didn’t have the pop that this one did.  Maybe it’s because of the purple border.  Or maybe it’s because ’89 Score also had Aikman, Barry and Deion rookies.  Either way, this image takes first prize and is why this magazine cover lands at #1.
What are some of your favorite Beckett covers?  There are plenty more out there like Jordan with the Sox, Rickey Henderson and Larry Bird that I didn’t get to.  And there’s an entire catalog of Hockey that I know nothing about.  Technology has come along and hurt a lot of physical publications and made them move to the internet.  But even still, nothing beats holding a Beckett Price Guide in your hands and looking up your card prices!  Comment below or on Twitter and tell us your favorite Beckett Magazine memory.  And if you’re a podcast fan, I urge you to check out Beckett Radio this week!  

J-Dub