Back to the 80s

I received a large box of cards from Bo of New York today. I had swapped him most of my Yankees cards for a large number of his Mets. The package was like a little time capsule from the 80s/early 90s. It brought back a lot of memories, and may have provided some cards I needed (I still have to check.)

This is a copy of one of the first baseball cards I ever owned. I never really collected baseball cards before 1988, when one of my friends (who did) convinced me to pick up a pack of Topps cards. The only two cards I remember from that pack were Strawberry and Don Mattingly. Since Mattingly was his favorite player, I let him talk me into trading it for some older cards… I think Dan Quisenberry and John Tudor rookie cards, but I really can’t say for sure 20 years later. I still have the Strawberry card, of course.

I have absolutely no recollection of this set. I wasn’t collecting in 1997, but I must have seen some somewhere along the way. Poor Rico didn’t seem to have the best luck with Donruss photographers, but at least this one seems marginally more flattering than the shot used in the Studio set I posted Monday.

 

I love the beard. The posed photo? Not so much. The boring set design? Not at all. But if it wasn’t for this Donruss set (and the equally ugly 1981 Fleer cards), we might still just have one Topps base set and whatever oddball things they came up with to collect.

I love Sportflics! Too bad I can’t figure out how to get the to scan nicely. I never could figure out why they didn’t catch on. Maybe it was the three-card pack for 75 cents when everybody else was offering 10 cards for 50 cents? More likely, its another sign that I’m weird.

No particular reason to post this one; I just like the photo. Sid drove me nuts with his five & six inning starts, but he would probably be a huge star if he were pitching now — at least as long as he didn’t end up pitching in one of those bandbox ballparks.

During the early 1990s, Jeff Innis was my favorite Met. I’m still not quite sure why I picked him, but it probably had something to do with him going out there, doing his job and not complaining to the media. (This may not sound like much, but remember how bad the early 1990s Mets teams were — on the field and off.) If I ever get around to scanning my Jeff Innis collection, I’d probably have the best one on the internet — except for one Topps Tiffany card, I believe I have a copy of every card issued for him.

 

Kevin McReynolds was not one of my favorites, but there’s no denying that he had talent. This card feels like a bit of a stretch for Topps, though. McReynolds was never a huge star and the record he broke was relatively obscure. (Can anybody remember what it is?) To add further insult, the photo is pretty terrible.

Vince looks like he’s trying to figure out what else he can do to anger Mets fans, doesn’t he? 

I wouldn’t mind seeing the Studio idea revisited for an insert set. Some of the studio photography shots are neat to see, though I wouldn’t want to look at an entire large or medium sized set of them.

One last card: In the late 1980s, it seemed like nearly every store had some kind of “limited edition” box set featuring all-stars, rookies or some other theme. I don’t remember seeing this one, but I’ll have to check to see if I have it.

For those that aren’t bored yet, here’s a list of everything that Bo sent:

1988 Topps

Kevin Elster
Sid Fernandez
Dave Magadan
Howard Johnson
Jesse Orosco
Don Schulze
Davey Johnson
David Cone
John Mitchell
Rafael Santana
Mookie Wilson
Lee Mazzilli
Wally Backman
Roger McDowell
Keith Miller
Dwight Gooden All-Star
Randy Myers
Rick Aguilera
Terry Leach
Tim Teufel
John Candelaria
Bob Ojeda
Team Leaders (Carter/McReynolds)
Keith Hernandez
Barry Lyons
Ron Darling
Darryl Strawberry
Kevin McReynolds
Doug Sisk
Bill Almon

1987 Topps

Gary Carter
Ron Darling
Dwight Gooden
Randy Niemann
Tim Teufel
Roger McDowell
Lee Mazzilli
Randy Myers
Len Dykstra
Team Leaders (Carter/Strawberry)
Keith Hernandez
Doug Sisk
Ed Hearn
Darryl Strawberry
Ray Knight
Davey Johnson
Sid Fernandez
Bruce Berenyi
Rick Anderson
Keith Hernandez All-Star
Darryl Strawberry All-Star
Mookie Wilson
Kevin Mitchell
Bob Ojeda

1989 Topps
Gary Carter Record Breaker
Kevin McReynolds Record Breaker
Tim Teufel
Lee Mazzilli
Kevin McReynolds
Ron Darling
Bob McClure
Terry Leach
Gregg Jefferies
Howard Johnson
Darryl Strawberry All-Star
Gary Carter All-Star
Barry Lyons
Len Dykstra
Mackey Sasser
Wally Backman
Keith Miller
Randy Myers
Dwight Gooden Turn Back The Clock
Gil Hodgers Turn Back The Clock
Davey Johnson
Roger McDowell
David West

1991 Topps
Frank Viola
Kevin Elster
Darryl Strawberry
Sid Fernandez
Tom O’Malley
Bud Harrelson
Tim Teufel
Doc Gooden
Mackey Sasser
Darryl Strawberry All-Star
Frank Viola All-Star
John Franco All-Star
Pat Tabler
Charlie O’Brien
Dave Magadan
Julio Valera
John Franco
Alejandro Pena
Wally Whitehurst
David Cone
Keith Miller
Ron Darling
Mark Carreon

1991 Fleer
John Franco
Darren Reed

1992 Fleer
Howard Johnson

1987 Leaf
Wally Backman
Mookie Wilson

1980 Topps
Richie Hebner
Joel Youngblood

1990 Topps
Juan Samuel
Randy Myers
Dave Magadan
Barry Lyons
Ron Darling
Gregg Jefferies
Frank Viola
Sid Fernandez
Tom O’Malley
Jeff Innis
Mackey Sasser
Kevin Elster
Tim Teufel

1991 Leaf Studio
Vince Coleman
Gregg Jefferies
Dave Magadan
Kevin McReynolds
Frank Viola

1990 Score
Blaine Beatty

1991 Score
Sid Fernandez
Jeff Musselman
Julio Valera
Frank Viola

1992 Score
Frank Viola

1987 Sportflics
Ron Darling
Jesse Orosco

1988 Sportflics
Ron Darling

1992 Topps Stadium Club
Dick Schofield

1981 Topps
Ed Glynn
Elliott Maddox

1984 Topps
Jesse Orosco
Jose Oquendo
Hubie Brooks
Carlos Diaz
Doug Sisk
Frank Howard
Bob Bailor
Brian Giles

1985 Topps
George Foster
Ed Lynch
Jerry Martin
Brent Gaff
Doug Sisk
Dwight Gooden Record Breaker
Keith Hernandez Record Breaker
John Christensen
Tom Paciorek
Tom Seaver Turn Back the Clock
Tom Gorman
Clint Hurdle
Jesse Orosco
Rafael Santana
Danny Heep
George Foster
Howard Johnson
Terry Leach

1986 Topps Traded
Randy Niemann

1988 Fleer
Howard Johnson
Barry Lyons
Kevin McReynolds
Bob Ojeda
Doug Sisk
Darryl Strawberry

1987 Donruss
Darryl Strawberry Diamond King
Keith Hernandez
Darryl Strawerry
Wally Backman
Bob Ojeda
Mookie wilson
Rafael Santana
Dave Magadan
Lenny Dykstra

1989 Donruss
Gregg Jefferies
David West
Kevin McReynolds
Darryl Strawberry
Ron Darling
Bob Ojeda
Kevin Elster
Lenny Dykstra
Terry Leach
Tim Teufel
Rick Aguilera
Barry Lyons
Jack Savage

1994 Upper Deck Collector’s Choice
Tim Bogar
Bobby Jones

1981 Donruss
Roy Jackson
Mike Jorgensen
Joel Youngblood
Doug Flynn
Pete Falcone
Tom Hausman

1988 Topps Sticker Backs
Keith Hernandez
Gary Carter
Dwight Gooden
Sid Fernandez

1991 Leaf
Gregg Jefferies

1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier
Bret Saberhagen

1989 Score
Lenny Dykstra
Lee Mazzilli
Sid Fernandez
Mackey Sasser
Keith Miller

1988 Donruss
Ron Darling Diamond King
Kevin Elster
Dwight Gooden
Sid Fernandez
Jesse Orosco
Keith Hernandez
Lenny Dykstra
Darryl Strawberry
Rick Aguilera
Bill Almon
Keith Miller
Howard Johnson
Terry Leach
Kevin McReynolds
Barry Lyons
Randy Myers
Rafael Santana
Tim Teufel

1991 Donruss
Julio Valera
Gregg Jefferies
Kevin McReynolds
Keith Miller
Dwight Gooden
Mark Carreon

1992 Donruss
Dave Magadan
Sid Fernandez

1993 Donruss
Daryl Boston
D.J. Dozier
Bill Pecota
Lee Guetterman
Sid Fernandez
Jeromy Burnitz

1996 Donruss
Pete Harnisch

1997 Donurss
Rico Brogna

1989 Fleer
Mark Carreon
Keith Miller
Tim Teufel

1990 Fleer
Don Aase
Blaine Beatty
Mark Carreon
David Cone
Kevin Elster
Jeff Innis
Barry Lyons
Dave Magadan
Kevin McReynolds

1992 Topps
Charlie O’Brien
Doug Simons
Mark Carreon
Anthony Young
Keith Miller
Al Shirley
Chris Donnels
Wally Whitehurst
Hubie Brooks
Frank Viola
Jeromy Burnitz/D.J. Dozier
Kevin McReynolds
Rick Cerone
Gregg Jefferies
Dave Magadan

1993 Topps
Howard Johnson
Lee Guetterman
Jeff Innis

1997 Topps
Pete Harnisch

1988 Topps Toys R Us Rookies
Randy Myers

1989 Upper Deck
Mackey Sasser
Keith Miller

1990 Upper Deck
Julio Machado
Mark Carreon
Wally Whitehurst
Randy Myers
Frank Viola

1991 Upper Deck
Brook Fordyce
Kevin Elster
Mackey Sasser
Daryl Boston
Keith Miller
Alejandro Pena
Tom Herr
Charlie O’Brien
Todd Hundley
Julio Valera

1992 Upper Deck
Jeromy Burnitz
Dave Magadan
Hubie Brooks
Gregg Jefferies
Frank Viola
Kevin Elster
Wally Whitehurst
Anthony Young
Pete Schourek

1993 Upper Deck
Bobby Bonilla

1997 Upper Deck
John Franco

1988 Score
David Cone
Howard Johnson
Ron Darling
Roger McDowell
Terry Leach
Doug Sisk
Rafael Santana
Len Dykstra
Mookie Wilson

Thanks for the great trade, Bo!