1991 Stadium Club - The Top Whatever...
1991 was likely the peak year of the Junk Wax Era.
After overproducing their base sets for years, the five major league card manufacturers started making sets that attempted to shout: “Look! This wax isn’t so junky!”
Topps efforts of swaying collector dollars back their direction was 1991 Stadium Club. A photography driven card set, with Kodak Imaging Technology! (Whatever that means...) Original retail price was intended to be $3 per 12 card pack.
At 25 cents per card, this would be the most expensive per card price of any card set upon release. Unheard of when the $1/pack price barrier had been broken only two years earlier...
Printed on a thinner stock than competing cards of that that era, if that "Kodak Imaging Technology" included paper, it should have been re-thought. However, I'm thinking the Kodak logo stems from Topps using an improved film in the printing process. Whatever it was that Kodak Imaging Technology did, it revolutionized card photography. No card set had ever looked like this before, but a whole bunch have ever since.
Immediately upon release, 1991 Stadium Club 1st Series immediately caught fire. The $3 pack was quickly selling for 3 plus times it's retail price (or more at some mall card shows). Just as 1990 Leaf did the year before, a new card set took over the hobby...
Mike and I met in our junior year of high school, in Mr. Lee's 4th period English. This exact scenario would duplicate itself for senior year Creative Writing. (Not to mention senior year History as well.) He was sitting in the last desk by the window, in front of the teacher's desk. I took the seat in front of him, as that was the region of the room I would usually sit in.
Our introduction came via They Might Be Giants, as he'd remembered seeing me wearing my black TMBG shirt in the lunchroom the year before (Actual shirt pictured above). We became fast friends, talking about music, writing, baseball, and/or basketball to a lesser degree...
But we followed baseball very close that year. From Cal Ripken to Frank Thomas to Bo Jackson to Nolan Ryan. As the 1991 season was wrapping up, he was rooting for the Atlanta Braves, while I was rooting for the Twins. That would end up the 1991 World Series match up, so we were glued to baseball that fall.
He was working at Burger King at the time, and also collected baseball cards. (Mike gave me that official Burger King ashtray, which remains in my permanent collection.) Though he was more focused on the buying and selling for quick cash. I had more of an emotional attachment to collecting...
A set as nice as 1991 Stadium Club did have it’s fair share of ugly mug shots. Belinda (a common of the commonest variety) makes the Whatever for being one of my favorite early 1990’s middle relief pitchers. After several seasons with the Pirates, Belinda pitched several more with the Kansas City Royals, and then went away. He had much better cards produced over the course of his career...
A rookie in 1991, I've never been a Gonzalez collector. For years he was a slightly above average hitter, but nothing special. After bouncing around, Gonzalez made a name for himself with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, hitting 51 home runs out of nowhere. And one season a career made... Amidst speculation of steroid use…
Leius was a really nice guy in person, a willing and chatty autograph signer at the Metrodome, before and after Twins games. A versatile middle infielder, Leius debut in the majors at the end of the 1990 season. He then played a large role on the 1991 Twins, backing up and shortstop and third base. Eventually platooning with Mike Pagliarulo. Leius played in the majors with Minnesota and Cleveland for about 6 seasons before leaving the game.
The Tigers were beyond terrible for Fryman’s entire Detroit career. He debut as a top prospect and future third baseman for the Tigers. He 1991 Stadium Club Series 2 rookie was hot for a while, and carried a decent price tag, Fryman had a solid career, but never developed into the superstar as predicted in 1990.
Photos are rapidly getting better… Though I’m not a big fan of the photo on this card, Colbrunn had some of my favorite photos in quite a few sets over the years. Colbrunn also is one of very few players to see Major League game time for the Expos, Twins and Rockies, during his career. Along with ample time spent with the Marlins and Diamondbacks. Coming up with the Expos as a catcher, Colbrunn moved to first base and eventually playing some time in the outfield. I still am troubled in that I do not have a Colbrunn Rockies card. There weren’t many made, but I should have at least one…
The always stoic Grissom... Marquis played center field for the Expos through their starstruck 1994 season, then bounced around the major leagues for another decade or so… He never became the star I’d predicted back in 1991, but he had a solid career and was a damn good Expo!
1991 seems like it was the first year for the dark blue Red Sox B.P. jersey with the two Red Sox on the chest. This set was the first time I remember seeing it on cards. That new jersey is the only thing that allowing Clemens to make the Whatever…
Coming off their last place finish in 1990, Minnesota strangely spent some money on bringing in free agents, to a degree I’d never seen before. Among them was Bedrosian. The 1987 National League Cy Young Award Winner with the Philadelphia Phillies, had been traded to the San Francisco Giants during the 1990 season, then signed with Minnesota in the winter. I thought he may end up as Minnesota’s closer, instead was the set up man for Rick Aguilera. Bedrosian had some circulation difficulty with his fingers, due to tobacco use, and did not play in 1992. He came back for a season with Atlanta in 1993 and called it a career...
A relief pitcher from the Chicago White Sox, Jones was sent to Montreal in December 1990 for future Hall of Famer and long-time Expos outfielder Tim Raines. I remember Jones always having rather ugly cards during his White Sox career. That seemed to improve during his season in Montreal… Could just be me though...
Boddicker was a former Orioles and Royals pitcher that was always rumored as about to be traded to Minnesota. I would hear his name brought up all the time as a pitcher the Twins were trying to acquire for their rotation. They never did...
Completely unrelated, but Kurtwood Smith played Clarence Boddicker in the awesome original Robocop. Years before playing Red Foreman on That 70’s Show. So every time I hear Mike Boddicker’s name in my head, I would always imagine Peter Weller saying it in his tinny Robocop Voice…
Predicted to develop into a superstar back in his Texas Ranger days, he later developed into a journeyman, who played for 9 teams over 20 years. Sierra eventually played for the Minnesota Twins. The last 14 games of his playing career, at age 40 in 2006... But there he was…
A free agent signee from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Stubbs provided a good look at the 1991 Brewers new home uniforms. There were a nice improvement over Milwaukee’s 1990 jerseys…
The horizontal photos in 1991 Stadium Club are some of the highlights of the set. However the Brian Barnes is fairly boring. He’d have been left off the Whatever if he pitched for any team other than the Expos… Maybe Minnesota…
Young fireballing relief pitcher, Garces got a brief shot with the 1990 Twins, then disappeared for a while, then resurfaced later with the Red Sox. I kept expecting him to become something in the game.
Yup, there’s a lot of Twins on this Whatever. That’s due to Minnesota winning the 1991 World Series, so their roster is well represented in the set. Also due to the Twins just plain getting some nice looking cards. Better than most teams in 1991 Stadium Club, in my unbiased opinion…
Nokes looks surprised that he actually hit the ball… Which may have been the case for much of his career… I liked Nokes as a player, but he didn’t fulfill his hobby potential, despite’s a few stretches of out and out decentness. I do like this card for showing off the number 1 patch for Billy Martin, who died in a car accident prior to the 1990 season. When this picture was likely taken.
I hated Mike Moore because he destroyed the Twins every game. He didn’t do that in Seattle or Detroit. Only with Oakland. And always in games that mattered most in the standings…
Back in 1990, I had bought a Yankees jacket that I wore to Twins Fest. For some reason, the designers put a red outline on the NY patch on the chest. Pagliarulo gave me crap in an autograph line for the jacket. Telling me the Yankees had no red in their logo. Guess he would know, being the Yankees third baseman from 1984-1989… I don’t remember what I said back, but Pagliarulo ruined that jacket for me. I rarely wore it afterwards.
Oakland did have an absolute ton of good pitching prospects in the early 1990’s. Some of them were spread around the league in trades, to help the big league club leave Minnesota in second place, far too often. Chiamparino was traded to Texas for Harold Baines, then almost immediately flamed out…
I prefer Dennis Topps… Stop being cute… Martinez had quite a lengthy career, from the late 1970’s with the Orioles, to the late 1990’s with Atlanta and Seattle. But in the middle, Martinez pitched a few seasons in Montreal, and we generally very good. Even throwing a perfect game in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in 1991…
Glavine had not yet earned my scorn when I first saw this card. 1991 was before the Braves became my most hated team on the planet. Which didn’t even happen during the 1991 World Series against Minnesota. I still could tolerate Atlanta back then… Hatred didn't develop for a couple more years, when the Braves were moved to the National League East, and became a constant thorn in the Expos side. That is when I really started to despise Ted Turner’s pet project.
As far as Glavine goes, would he have made the Hall of Fame if he had to use the same strike zone that most pitchers did? Seriously, why was home plate 72 inches wide on the days he pitched?
Traded from Montreal after the 1993 season for likely the greatest player acquisition in Montreal Expos history, Pedro Martinez. As a second baseman for the Expos, DeShields was one of the best in the league. He fell off dramatically after the trade to Los Angeles, then drifted to the Cardinals, Orioles and Cubs before retiring in 2002. He then became the manager of the Louisville Bats in the Reds organization. His son, Delino Jr., plays centerfield for the Texas Rangers. And this is a cool card.
Murphy still looks odd as a Phillie… I’ve always felt bad for Dale Murphy. Atlanta trades him after years of futility, they make the World Series the next year… The Phillies don’t sign him for 1993, they make the World Series that year… Murphy signs with the Colorado Rockies in 1993 and…
After a pretty successful 4 year stint in Minnesota, Berenguer signed with the Atlanta Braves. He was injured at the end of 1991, and did not pitch against Minnesota in the World Series. He came back in 1992, then retired after the season.
Now I’m not suggesting that Gonzalez took steroids, but I kept wondering when I’d a Gonzalez card where his arms were larger than his legs. Collectors were clearly suspicious. As the 1990’s advanced, Gonzalez was never a hobby darling, his cards not going for much above commons. Once the P.E.D. testing started, Gonzalez quickly disappeared from the game…
The key trade piece in the return for future Hall of Famer, Bert Blyleven, in 1989. Sorrento did very well in a backup first baseman role for Minnesota in 1991. Then in a move that kind of set the tone for the rest of the 1990’s, Minnesota traded Sorrento to Cleveland, during Spring Training 1992, for a sack of nothing. Days later, Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek hurt himself eating and missed a large chunk of the season. Had we just kept Sorrento, 1992 may have turned out different for Minnesota…
Gubicza was one of the first non-Twins pitchers that I followed, after he won 20 games for the 1988 Kansas City Royals. I began collecting Gubicza cards, and still have most of them. Including a few of his strange 1997 Angels cards. Which just look out of place…
The former Minnesota top prospect carved out a nice 15 year career from 1989-2003. I wouldn’t have seen that from how his 1989 season with Minnesota went…
As he developed into a reliable starting, then relief pitcher in the early 1990's, I thought the Twins dropped the ball in not cross promoting him with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Shortsightedness tends to leave cash on the table...
Good thing you’re blowing a bubble Al, or you wouldn’t have made the Whatever… It’s nothing personal against Al, he was always a nice guy when signing autographs after games. And he was also an ex-Expo. So there’s no way I can actively dislike Al… However, I always felt like Newman was taking the roster spot of someone who could have been a great deal better...
In 618 games (nearly 1900 plate appearances) with Minnesota, he hit a grand total of zero home runs. A favorite of Cranky Tom Kelly, Newman started far far FAR more games than he should. A .581 OPS in 5 seasons with the Twins should have earned him a release, not 5 seasons, a good percentage of which he held a starting job.
I openly cheered when Newman signed with the Texas Rangers for 1992. He lasted one season in Texas before retiring. Didn’t hit a home run there either.
His lone Major League home run came on July 6, 1986, for the Expos in Atlanta. He hit it off Zane Smith in the 4th inning to deep left field, with a runner on first base. I'm almost positive the Twins aired footage of Newman's only home run at some point during a broadcast.
Formerly a skinny speedy infielder, Newman quit playing in 1992, and started eating. By the time he was named Twins third base coach in 2001, he looked as if he’d eaten three Al Newmans…
For as big a part of my collecting 1991 that Ripken was, featuring him way down at #86 on the Whatever seems more than a tad wrong… This is a very nice looking card, but it just didn’t grab me like other Ripkens did…
Like this one? The card story of 1991 (beyond Stadium Club) would have to have been Mike and I discussing the potential of this baby...
Reading a 1988 Score Cal Ripken card turned me into a Ripken fan. In the Spring of 1989, The Dugout got a complete 1982 Topps Traded set in, priced at $40. I promptly mowed some lawns and bought it. The Ripken was only booking at $20 in the Becketts at that time. By September 1991, this card was among the hottest in the Becketts, booking for $250. Following this card's high perch on the hobby pecking order was a constant point of discussion between us...
I mentioned that Mike worked at Burger King most days after school and on weekends. At the same time, I was working nights and weekends at the local Perkins. Doing whatever it was they wanted to make me do at any given moment...
On payday Fridays, we'd leave school as quickly as we could, then drive down to Shinders to buy packs of 1991 Stadium Club, Leaf, Ultra and O Pee Chee Premier. After buying what we needed at Shinders, we'd head back to his house to sort our purchases. Then he got ready for work at the Burger King, and left. I would head back home and get ready for my own shift at the Perkins, that started two hours later that night.
Mike was trying to build the 1991 Stadium Club Series 1 set. While I was collecting Series 2. Shinders was selling Series 1 packs for $8.99 (for 12 cards). An unheard of price at the time... Series 2 was a more realistic $4.99 per pack. Stadium Club was a premium product that was taking the hobby by storm at the time, and was the most desired card released that year. Mike was chasing the dollar through the sale of singles, I loved the looks of the set and wanted to collect it for it's awesomeness...
He would usually drop between $30-$50 on packs of Stadium Club each week. We always talked of splitting a full box of 36 Series packs for $349.99, but neither of us could (or would) drop nearly $200 in one shot... Mike would sell or trade his extras to people either he worked with, or at school for nearly 90% book.
During English class, instead of working or paying attention, he would keep me posted on recent transactions from his card collection. From either notes passed back and forth or stuff scribbled in each others school notebooks...
And I honestly do not remember Mike's justification for charging so much for a 1990 Leaf Mike Bilecki, even in 1991...
Mike was always proposing newer and bigger card sales as he was networking card sales through Burger King and Coon Rapids High School, over the next year or so...
We'll bring this back around to 1991 Stadium Club's Top Whatever again, and go back to Mike and I later...
I’ve previously mentioned how much I’ve liked Fisk, so there isn’t a whole else to say about him as a player. So let’s talk about his hat!
At the end of the 1990 season, to commemorate the final games at Comiskey Park, the White Sox held a turn back the clock game, with all players wearing 1909 White Sox uniforms. Today, this is commonplace, but in 1990, it hadn’t been done before. Thankfully, photographers were out in force to document this game, and some of those shots made it into 1991 Stadium Club.
The White Sox didn’t spring for throwback jackets to match the uniform, so you would occasionally get odd uniform combos like this…
Being a closer for the Tigers from 1987-1995 had to be a lonely job. I don’t think the Tigers won more than 70 games in any of those seasons, so there wasn’t too many saves for Henneman to even get. That said, this is an attractive card with the Old English D and the old Tiger Stadium grass… I didn’t like many Tigers cards, but this is one I did…
I’ve already discussed watching that Mets @ Cubs NBC Saturday Game of the Week in 1989. Whitehurst, Jeff Innis and soon-to-be Minnesota Twin David West pitched for the Mets that day, and all involved in that game became permanent targets for my collection. Plus, how can you not like the name Wally Whitehurst?
If ever a player was born with permanent Topps Wacky Pitching Face, it’s Nabholz. Who has had Wacky Pitching Face on every card I’ve ever seen of him… Even the ones that showed him sitting in the dugout...
Now I know this is County Stadium in Milwaukee! Maybe it’s just the angle on the photo, but why is the opposing catcher cupping Molitor’s butt with his glove?
I’m likely in the minority, but I’ve always liked the Expos uniforms from 1992-2004 a lot more than the 1969-1991 flavor. That said, the blue Spring Training jersey with the white pants was a great look for Montreal. They even go well with the tri-color hats, and bonus points for early 1990’s mullet… Burke was traded to the Mets around the time this card came out, so he didn’t get to model those sweet 1992 Expos duds. With his rock star mullet...
Seattle’s signing of O’Brien confused me. The Mariners already had Tino Martinez as a top first base prospect that was very close to being Major League ready by 1991. So they signed a free agent first baseman to a multi-year contract? Seattle really never seemed to be sold on Tino, trading him to the Yankees instead of playing him in 1996… No one really mentions it, but Seattle of the 1990’s is another of those lost team opportunities. They were so stacked, they should have made a lot more playoff appearances then they did…
Looking at the blurry bat about to connect with the blurred baseball, you have to wonder where this hit ended up? When Alomar started his career with the Padres in 1988, I wouldn’t have predicted Hall of Fame. By the time he got to Toronto, that was no longer questionable. Even though he spit in the face of an umpire….
Merullo was a kind of a nothing player for Chicago the early 1990's. Bench rider in the majors, and backup catcher in his few opportunities. A couple of years later, he had a brief cameo with the Minnesota Twins. And he was still a nothing player…
Did you ever play Pursue The Pennant? That was a GREAT baseball “board” game. And if you used the Matt Merullo card in the 1989 edition, you could easily break Roger Maris’s single season Home Run record… I know there were rules against it, but I always used Merullo. Even over Fisk!
Cue the gimmickry! I don’t like Hershiser. And this card is about as pretentious as they come. I’m assuming that is his wedding ring and not the 1988 World Series ring. But I could be wrong.
Journeyman catcher, who logged a couple of seasons for the Twins, making a surprise appearance in 1991 Stadium Club. When I first pulled this card from a pack, I didn’t realize Salas was even playing anymore.
When 1991 Stadium Club was at it’s peak, Plantier was one of the top rookie cards in the set. Of course, Plantier didn’t pan out as a power hitting first baseman for Boston, and was traded around. He had a decent season in San Diego, but nothing that warranted a $15 price tag on this card. (Shinders!)
Olson got a cup of coffee, catching a few games with the 1989 Twins. He went on to a few seasons in Atlanta, including playing against his former team in the 1991 World Series. While I’m not certain, I think this photo is from Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. That kinda thing is important to me…
Cranky Tom Kelly had just about enough of Dave West at this point in his Twins career. After trading for the former New York Mets top pitching prospect in the Frank Viola deal, West got to Minnesota and did nothing but piss Kelly off for four years before they shipped him to Philadelphia after the 1992 season.
I don’t think of Maddux as a Cub from 1986-1992. I just assume he spent those seasons with Atlanta, where he became another player I loved to hate. That being said, I did make an effort to watch Maddux pitch as often as I could on TV. His games were always must see television, regardless of how much I wanted the Braves to lose. They just never did when Maddux pitched… And that is what made him worth watching.
Strictly a backup utility infielder, Anderson didn’t have a long career. And this is probably my favorite card of his.
The other player the White Sox traded to Montreal for Tim Raines. Calderon had two decent seasons with the Expos, then played one more season in Boston before calling it a career.
Tapani is the exact type of pitcher the Twins need in 2018. Nothing spectacular, but a steady innings-eater that doesn’t get blown away. Another pitcher acquired from the Mets for Frank Viola, he was clearly number three in the pecking order of players received, behind Aguilera and West (no one expected anything from Jack Savage or Tim Drummond). Tapani exceeded expectations and pitched great for Minnesota from 1989 to the 1995 trading deadline, where he was shipped to the Dodgers for a much less than Viola haul…
After 700 years as Joe Maddon’s understudy, Martinez will finally get his own Major League team to manage in 2018, the Washington Nationals! Who used to be the Expos!
Damn… With as fast a baserunner as Willie McGee was, how did he get thrown out stealing by so much? Was Nolan Ryan catching for the Cubs that day?
When Harper was recalled from the minors in 1988 to take over for an injured Tim Laudner, no one would have expected him to become the Twins starting catcher until 1993, winning a World Series in 1991 and batting over .300 in 730 games with the Twins. And he was a really good guy to the fans. I have nothing bad to say about Brian Harper.
One of the first Latin American players to widely have his age brought into question. After a quality 1989 rookie season for the Toronto Blue Jays, his numbers improved slightly in 1990. After the season, Felix was traded to the Angels, where he put on two disappointing seasons. Felix was taken by the Florida Marlins in the Expansion Draft in November, 1992. He was about to turn 25 according to his provided records, when it was discovered that he may be as old as 35. He put in a poor half season for the Marlins in 1993, but was released in July, 1993. He spent 1994 with Detroit, but never played after the strike ended in 1995.
Strange angle, but a cool photo... Briefly one of my favorite Twins, who started promising, but flamed out quickly. Minnesota's 2nd round draft pick in 1982, Anderson had brief cameos in 1986 and 1987, then won the American League ERA title in 1988, going along with 16 wins. He won 17 in 1989, then everything fell apart...
His last game in the major leagues came in October 1991, but Anderson was left off Minnesota's postseason roster. Though he did play in the minor leagues with the Yankees and Cleveland over the next two seasons.
The hero of the 1991 World Series, Larkin gets another of the Twins team set trademark dirt and grass photos. In an interesting phenomenon, a majority of Twins cards in 1991 Stadium Club are actively trying to not show any fences. And it's pretty much only the Twins that got this treatment. Strange as it is, that makes the team set kind of cool, seeing all grass and dirt backdrops for some pretty decent photos.
Another shot from the 1909 Throwback Game. Blurry but good Comiskey here, in the park's final days... And batting donuts in photos rule!
Yes, this awesome card is ranked very low. And I'm going to be overly critical due to unreasonable bias... Let me explain:
Though his record was only 22-17 career against the Twins, every game he pitched against them, that I either listened to on WCCO, or watched on whatever network was airing the game, Finley made the Twins look foolish. It got irritating over the years. And he NEVER WENT AWAY... Going for the Angels to the Indians, just to be an even bigger pain to the Twins...
Just before he retired, Finley was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals for (one of the greatest names in baseball history) Coco Crisp!
I'm also deducting points because the picture is missing a baseball between Finley and the batter. Yeah that's probably because he threw his damn curveball, which is probably about 15 feet in the air...
Because Chuck Finley ruined my day so often, let's go back to 1991 and talk about Mike... And where he lived...
Mike's bedroom in the basement of his father's townhome, was pretty small, and almost taken up entirely by a queen size waterbed. His closet was always opened, with the bare essentials (coins, books, random papers and his cards) strewn about the top shelf, with a few clothes hanging underneath. A tall dresser opposite the bed. On a table next to the dresser was an old answering machine that played normal sized audio cassettes. Mike used that as his stereo, always with the same Air Supply tape queued up.
When we got there from Shinders on payday Fridays, we'd go through our haul and decide where it all went. If it was Stadium Club, it all depended where it fit our need lists. On the wall facing his bed, Mike posted his 1991 Series 1 Stadium Club set, in various stages of completion. He'd taken enough 9-card album pages, and stuck them to his wall with poster putty, in order from 1 to 300.
Mike carried the Topps Magazine checklist poster in his backpack with him to track his progress. He never did complete the set, selling it to me for $100 in June, 1993 before he moved to Iowa and joined the Army. Mike's set was only missing two cards by then. A forgotten common and Robin Ventura.
Today, I have both series completed, housed in an album alongside Mike's Topps magazine checklist poster. Which was only partially updated when he stopped.
It's too bad the card sets from that era were so overproduced, since it's close to worthless now. (A check on recently completed e-bay sales showed only two transactions; a complete set sold for $3.50, while a set of just Series 1 sold for only $2.36.)
One of baseball's most bad-assiest players spent 1990 (his second to last season in the major leagues) in Milwaukee. They traded him to the Angels during 1991 Spring Training for future Rockies cornerstone, Dante Bichette. I'd forgotten about that until today...
Also forgot that Parker's career was wrapped up with 13 games with the Toronto Blue Jays in September 1991. I wish there was a card of that...
Just as I ranked Finley way too low, I also ranked Walker way too high for unreasonable bias... Let me explain:
Walker is an Expo... Do I need to go further?
Okay... In under 4 years, Walker would become another cornerstone of the Colorado Rockies... Who weren't even a team when this set came out... Walker was such an awesome prospect that he appeared in a 1991 Super Premium set DESPITE not playing a single game in 1990, due to injury. And even though it's just a boring head shot, it convey a whole lot more than most of the other because of his missing the previous season due to injury...
New York's 21 year old catcher was another of my key Junk Wax Prospector subjects... And the Stadium Club was one of my favorites... Hundley started off promising in 1990, and showed improvement every season until breaking out with a combined 51 home runs over the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Injuries then took him down real quick. He was out of baseball by 2003, at age 34.
Todd Hundley's name was all over the George Mitchell PED Report, making his career numbers suspect, and his injury troubles all but explained...
Munoz came to the Twins from the Blue Jays, in the July 1990 trade of John Candelaria. A 21 year old outfielder, Munoz looked to be a potential power/speed threat. Minnesota gave him ample chances, over 6 seasons, before giving up on him.
Oakland signed him for the 1996 season, but injuries cut his season off on June 1st. Munoz never played professional baseball again. While he had some power, the rest of game just never developed. He couldn't draw a walk and struck out far too much.
But I liked Munoz, and bought an autographed game used Twins hat from the team owned store. Back when you could do that for less than a rent payment...
Montreal's third baseman for 13 seasons (1980-1992), before moving on to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a trade for absolutely nothing. I like this photo for it's excellent display of the Expos road blues, at Shea Stadium in New York.
I get the allure of the hometown guy, and I've always been critical of Hrbek... He had a decent career, but I think it could have been more, had he taken better care of his body... Injuries cost him a lot of playing time during the last 6 years with Minnesota...
I've never liked Gary Sheffield one bit. He seems like an egotistical jerk, who was another key figure in the steroid era. So I don't collect his cards, and keep very few of them. This Sheffield may just be my favorite in my very limited Sheffield collection, because it is a cool picture.
Avery was one of the hottest pitching prospects in all of baseball in 1990. His cards were hot sellers nationwide, and Avery had a bright future with the Braves. The 1991 Stadium Club Avery was one of the top stars in the set upon release, and my among my favorite of his early cards... Until he blew his arm out...
Sticking with left-handed pitchers, Abbott had a better career than Avery, and was a much better human interest story. Without getting too exploitive, Topps chose an angle showing Abbott's glove resting on his stub hand. To this day, I've probably seen Abbott pitch live in stadium more than any other pitcher in the major leagues. Always been a big Abbott fan since his debut in 1989 for the Angels...
Acquired by the Expos from the Pirates in an August 1990 trade for Zane Smith. Alou only played in 14 games for Montreal in 1990, then missed the entire 1991 season, due to injury. As much time as Larry Walker missed the 1990 season. His rookie season came in 1992, playing under his father and manager, Felipe. Both Alou's were faces of the Expos franchise until after the 1996 season, when Moises left for the Marlins.
Before he became famous as Cleveland's slick fielding shortstop, Vizquel toiled in anonymity with Seattle. At Yankee Stadium... As shown here... And what's with the strange mesh Mariners warm-up jersey?
Clark was a big draw in baseball during his San Francisco days. Not as much in the Texas, Baltimore or St. Louis days... Perhaps if he kept the production pace he had going in San Francisco, he could have received some serious Hall of Fame consideration. He was a great hitter right up until the end. Just couldn't stay healthy. I've never collected him.
Teams outside of the Oakland A's and Pittsburgh Pirates typically didn't do alternate uniforms in the 1980's and early 1990's, but this look would have gone over so well in Olympic Stadium... At least in my mind's eye...
Looks like Puckett's jacket is made out of the same material as a King Soopers shopping bag. With the sleeves AWESOMELY cut all jagged and terrible... Not quite a gimmicked Stadium Club photo, but a great non-traditional one.
The top rookie card in 1991 Stadium Club. And one of the few that had the front of the card featured on the back of the card, noted as that player's official rookie card. Bagwell looks like he's 13 here. I wouldn't be the first to suggest there was more than just the training the prayers and the vitamins that made Bagwell into monster physique he carried ten years later... And all the way to the Hall of Fame.
Here's your full-on Stadium Club gimmickery. But in it's debut set, it was novel and fresh. Dave Stewart, he of the 4 consecutive 20 win seasons (1987-1990), in a tux with strange ball floating behind him? That's so not Dave Stewart...
Brilliant picture of him sliding into Sandy Alomar Jr. Combining two of the hottest players going into 1991, in a single picture. This is a perfect example of Stadium Club at it's awesomest.
The catcher that Montreal acquired from the New York Mets, in the December 1984 Gary Carter trade, amongst all the other pieces. Funny thing is, Fitzgerald played in Montreal longer than Gary Carter played in New York. (1991 would be Fitzgerald's last season with the Expos, before a final year with the Angels in 1992.)
The reason Mike is ranked this high? The awesome "alternate" jersey combined with catchers gear in Expos blue! This card should absolutely be ranked higher!
There's some awesome blurry Shea Stadium going on here. Amazingly, all of the blue makes me not hate all of the red... I'm also torn on weather the cup in Jones' hand is a plain green cup, or if a Gatorade logo has been Toppsed off of it.
Batting cage! I wasn't sold on Conine when he first was breaking into the majors with Kansas City. Once Florida made him a top Expansion Draft pick, he exceeded my expectations with the Marlins. His 1991 Stadium Club rookie card is just plain great.
I shower praise on Jack Morris as being such a great signing for Minnesota, but there wouldn't have been a Game 7 for Morris to pitch, if it wasn't for Chili Davis. His power bat and patience at the plate were the exact thing the Twins needed in their batting order.
I was shocked at the announcement in January 1991, that Davis signed with Minnesota for $4.5 million over two years. The Twins just didn't swim in those waters... Chili Davis was very cool with the fans, engaging and was always a great autograph signer. I have nothing but good things to say about Chili Davis and what he brought to the 1991 Minnesota Twins.
This would be most iconic card for the Minnesota Twins in 1991 Stadium Club, except that it isn't. 1991 was all about watching Scott Erickson dominate the American League, leading Minnesota to the Division title. Almost to the same degree of contribution as Morris.
It's the only 1991 card that shows the 1990 Scott Erickson rookie year trademark look. Solid black shoes with mid length stirrups, pulled down and showing only a hint of the M, that can be seen in the shoe. His trademark look and success on the mound made him unique, and -of course- lead to problems with Cranky Tom Kelly...
Those stories were all over Twin Cities media in the Summer of 1991, and that look should be documented on a card.
Erickson was also a nice -yet elusive- postgame autograph. Great legible signature for an in-person signature with no hard surface to write on!
Damn, the Expos Blue catchers gear looks just as good over the traditional home whites... Too bad this is just from a Spring Training game in West Palm Beach, Florida, instead of a nice outdoor stadium back in Montreal. Maybe someday...
St. Louis is better represented in the 1991 Stadium Club Top Whatever than I would have expected going in. Photographed in St. Louis, Hudler is posing against a backdrop of very little color range. It's almost as if stadiums were made of Legos in the 1980's.... You see this quite often coming from the cookie cutters of the day.
This one just happens to a show what just may be a Lego representation of Busch Stadium. Just not the newest or the oldest of the Busch Stadiums...
I totally get Topps putting Ryan into this role. And have little problem with it. Topps made a good choice with the other tux picture. They needed to gimmick up a star to boost sales and appeal. And Ryan did the trick perfectly. It's still one of the highest in the Becketts book value in the set.
I was a huge Reds fan... Only for the 1990 World Series. I wanted so badly to see Oakland humiliated, and Cincinnati swept the heavily favored Athletics in 4 games!
Not sure why this card is off-centered... But I'm a big fan of the black and blue transition looking into the stands of Yankee Stadium. Hough is not getting ready to throw a knuckleball, which in itself is rather strange... So yeah, I really like this card, even though there's nothing noteworthy, other than it's slightly off from what I'd expected... And I think that's what I like!
Once the story of Eric Show's life unfolded, months after I got my copy of this card, did the calm relaxing with a guitar in hammock picture become a more ironic and tragic one...
Show's career had been slowly falling apart since his 16-11 season in 1988, spent with the San Diego Padres. He played in San Diego for 10 seasons, then signed a two year contract with the Oakland Athletics, for the 1991-92 seasons.
1991 didn't go well, Show missed a bunch of time and pitched only 51 innings, with a 5.92 ERA.
When Spring Training was underway in 1992, Show missed three days of camp, then came back with cuts all over both of his hands. His story was that he had been chased by a gang of youths, but it turned out he was fleeing from the police, who were trying to question him. According to reports, he was standing in front of an adult bookstore, screaming about someone trying to kill him...
Show immediately asked to be released from his $700,000 contract, walked out of camp and never played baseball again.
Knoblauch's 1991 season was big news for the Twins. For years, Minnesota had been looking for a second baseman they could rely on. A black hole on the team for years, Knoblauch arrived and held the starting second baseman's job, until whining himself out of town in early 1998.
He would win the 1991 Rookie of the Year Award, and give me a current Twins hot prospect to collect.
Only Upper Deck put out a Knoblauch card in their first regular season sets, so I had to wait for updates and "premium" card lines to give me the Knoblauch cards I needed. And none were greater than his 1991 Stadium Club Series 2 rookie card.
Like this... To be fair, Smith would definitely rank lower than Knoblauch if the Cubs were playing anyone other than the Expos...
It was a tough call ranking this one ahead of Knoblauch, because this is awesome of a different flavor... Shane Mack and Joe Ortiz, hanging out in some dirt (no grass) with a Home Plate in it. Luckily they are in full uniform and catcher's gear!
To this day I'm debating weather Ventura should have been Number 1. To me, there are two iconic cards in 1991 Stadium Club, and Ventura is one of them. When Mike first started collecting 1991 Stadium Club, he pointed out the perfection of this card:
You have no choice but to agree with an argument like that one. We both decided that we simply must have a full 9-pocket page of Robin Ventura 1991 Stadium Club cards. Both of us would contribute whatever we opened from packs, or purchased off the secondary market to the page. A secondary market nowhere near as convenient as we have today...
When I said there were two iconic cards in 1991 Stadium Club, Ken Griffey Jr. was not one of them. There was also no question in my mind when I started this Whatever, that Ken Griffey Jr. was going to rank at Number 2 on the countdown.
Ken Griffey Jr. was my favorite player at the time, so Topps would have needed to drop a complete lead turd in the punchbowl with Griffey's card for me to not like it. As I'd semi-expected, Topps hit a home run with this Ken Griffey Jr. card.
Thomas was the main draw of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1. Upon it's release, Shinders couldn't keep his card in the case at $20, then $25, then $30, up to $40 at one point in the Fall of 1991. Frank Thomas was smoking hot. And with good reason, he was one of the greatest hitters of my generation. Proving it year after year, all the way to a well deserved first ballot Hall of Fame induction.
Many of the 12 card packs we bought were running at $8-$10/per. Bear in mind, that is in 1991 money. I ran the numbers, that $10 pack of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1 purchased from Shinders in October 1991, would cost you $17.97 today! Series 2 packs were only $5 each. More palatable to me, although that was still $8.99 in today's money...
In November 1991, Mike and I rented a table at a charity baseball card show, held in the auditorium of a local church. I wanted that Frank Thomas for my collection so badly that I traded a 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie for the Stadium Club Thomas and a complete Stadium Club Members Only Mail-In set. (Which I chose not to include here...)
Long after the set had peaked in the Becketts, and tumbled to next to nothing over the next few years. It's value never recovered, and the set remains lumped in with the rest of the Junk Wax Era. Considered to be overproduced garbage.
Despite paying that high price in for Mike's Series set in 1993, I justify it's purchase. This set was nowhere near overproduced garbage. Okay, I'll give you overproduced... But this set is a beautiful and groundbreaking achievement for Topps. It's value transcends the Becketts...
I'll concede the financial loss to me after following the Becketts and 25 + years of market research on it's resale value...
A much bigger loss to the both of us, due to the sheer quantity that we paid peak retail, at it's hottest point for most of this stuff...
Still a huge gain in the long run due to the fun and memories 1991 Stadium Club added to my collection.
Those thoughts about the set and especially the Frank Thomas card, still hold up today. Even though Thomas had fallen so far out of collector favor, his 1991 Stadium Club was dropped from it's Becketts monthly price guide listing over 15 years ago. Frank Thomas was demoted to now just a "star". (The set itself was dropped shortly thereafter...)
To illustrate the collapse of the 1991 Thomas, when Mike at Mike's Sports Cards closed in June 2013, he put out a monster box of singles with pretty much a "make offer" price agreement on what was in there. Stuff he'd found buried in the back room and said he didn't want to bring home.
Today I have my 1991 Stadium Club complete set in a binder. Alongside both of the Members Only mail-In sets and Mike's copy of the 1991 Stadium Club Topps Magazine poster. I also have the Whatever cards set aside in album pages, and a bunch of penny sleeved singles that I didn't want to part with kept warm in Monster Boxes of their own...
That would be an unopened box of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1. The same box that Mike and I didn't buy for $350 at Shinders in October 1991, I really want to own today. Not to open and sell for singles, just to look at and remember.
A quick check on the internets shows that I can have that very box shipped to my home tomorrow for the low low price of 6 and a half hours at Perkins....
After overproducing their base sets for years, the five major league card manufacturers started making sets that attempted to shout: “Look! This wax isn’t so junky!”
Topps efforts of swaying collector dollars back their direction was 1991 Stadium Club. A photography driven card set, with Kodak Imaging Technology! (Whatever that means...) Original retail price was intended to be $3 per 12 card pack.
(New boxes of Stadium Club were a lot less dusty than my opened sample as shown.)
At 25 cents per card, this would be the most expensive per card price of any card set upon release. Unheard of when the $1/pack price barrier had been broken only two years earlier...
The hobby was changing.
Printed on a thinner stock than competing cards of that that era, if that "Kodak Imaging Technology" included paper, it should have been re-thought. However, I'm thinking the Kodak logo stems from Topps using an improved film in the printing process. Whatever it was that Kodak Imaging Technology did, it revolutionized card photography. No card set had ever looked like this before, but a whole bunch have ever since.
Immediately upon release, 1991 Stadium Club 1st Series immediately caught fire. The $3 pack was quickly selling for 3 plus times it's retail price (or more at some mall card shows). Just as 1990 Leaf did the year before, a new card set took over the hobby...
Topps had a major hit on it's hands...
******
But I'll get back to that. Let's take a brief look at my life and the hobby in the Fall 1991...
Mike and I met in our junior year of high school, in Mr. Lee's 4th period English. This exact scenario would duplicate itself for senior year Creative Writing. (Not to mention senior year History as well.) He was sitting in the last desk by the window, in front of the teacher's desk. I took the seat in front of him, as that was the region of the room I would usually sit in.
Our introduction came via They Might Be Giants, as he'd remembered seeing me wearing my black TMBG shirt in the lunchroom the year before (Actual shirt pictured above). We became fast friends, talking about music, writing, baseball, and/or basketball to a lesser degree...
Specifically, Dikembe Mutombo...
But we followed baseball very close that year. From Cal Ripken to Frank Thomas to Bo Jackson to Nolan Ryan. As the 1991 season was wrapping up, he was rooting for the Atlanta Braves, while I was rooting for the Twins. That would end up the 1991 World Series match up, so we were glued to baseball that fall.
He was working at Burger King at the time, and also collected baseball cards. (Mike gave me that official Burger King ashtray, which remains in my permanent collection.) Though he was more focused on the buying and selling for quick cash. I had more of an emotional attachment to collecting...
1991 Stadium Club provides the backdrop for that story...
******
But we'll get to more of that in a few... Let's get back to Top Whatever Countdown...
In this case it's the Top 127 1991 Stadium Club Cards!
(From the extras that are stored in 9-Pocket Pages. I'm not counting my complete set here.
Once again, ranked according to how I feel about them in my collection…)
Starting off with Number 127!
127 - Barry Bonds - Pirates
Don’t feel blue Barry… I just don’t like you...
126 - Stan Belinda - Pirates
125 - Luis Gonzalez - Astros
A rookie in 1991, I've never been a Gonzalez collector. For years he was a slightly above average hitter, but nothing special. After bouncing around, Gonzalez made a name for himself with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, hitting 51 home runs out of nowhere. And one season a career made... Amidst speculation of steroid use…
124 - Scott Leius - Twins
Leius was a really nice guy in person, a willing and chatty autograph signer at the Metrodome, before and after Twins games. A versatile middle infielder, Leius debut in the majors at the end of the 1990 season. He then played a large role on the 1991 Twins, backing up and shortstop and third base. Eventually platooning with Mike Pagliarulo. Leius played in the majors with Minnesota and Cleveland for about 6 seasons before leaving the game.
123 - Travis Fryman - Tigers
The Tigers were beyond terrible for Fryman’s entire Detroit career. He debut as a top prospect and future third baseman for the Tigers. He 1991 Stadium Club Series 2 rookie was hot for a while, and carried a decent price tag, Fryman had a solid career, but never developed into the superstar as predicted in 1990.
122 - Tony Gwynn - Padres
Let’s quickly get these ugly head shot cards out of the way… Sorry Mr. Gwynn...
The MLB Network Presents: Tony Gwynn documentary was fantastic.
Whoever puts those together does a great job.
121 - Ozzie Smith - Cardinals
A laughing mug shot! Even more jovial than fellow Hall of Fame Gwynn…
120 - Greg Colbrunn - Expos
119 - Marquis Grissom - Expos
118 - Roger Clemens - Red Sox
1991 seems like it was the first year for the dark blue Red Sox B.P. jersey with the two Red Sox on the chest. This set was the first time I remember seeing it on cards. That new jersey is the only thing that allowing Clemens to make the Whatever…
117 - Steve Bedrosian - Twins
Steve, you’re new to Minnesota… So why is your hat so filthy?
Coming off their last place finish in 1990, Minnesota strangely spent some money on bringing in free agents, to a degree I’d never seen before. Among them was Bedrosian. The 1987 National League Cy Young Award Winner with the Philadelphia Phillies, had been traded to the San Francisco Giants during the 1990 season, then signed with Minnesota in the winter. I thought he may end up as Minnesota’s closer, instead was the set up man for Rick Aguilera. Bedrosian had some circulation difficulty with his fingers, due to tobacco use, and did not play in 1992. He came back for a season with Atlanta in 1993 and called it a career...
116 - Barry Jones - Expos
A relief pitcher from the Chicago White Sox, Jones was sent to Montreal in December 1990 for future Hall of Famer and long-time Expos outfielder Tim Raines. I remember Jones always having rather ugly cards during his White Sox career. That seemed to improve during his season in Montreal… Could just be me though...
115 - Mike Boddicker - Royals
Boddicker was a former Orioles and Royals pitcher that was always rumored as about to be traded to Minnesota. I would hear his name brought up all the time as a pitcher the Twins were trying to acquire for their rotation. They never did...
Completely unrelated, but Kurtwood Smith played Clarence Boddicker in the awesome original Robocop. Years before playing Red Foreman on That 70’s Show. So every time I hear Mike Boddicker’s name in my head, I would always imagine Peter Weller saying it in his tinny Robocop Voice…
And reruns of That 70's Show were on the TV as I was writing this...
Anyways…
114 - Ruben Sierra - Rangers
Predicted to develop into a superstar back in his Texas Ranger days, he later developed into a journeyman, who played for 9 teams over 20 years. Sierra eventually played for the Minnesota Twins. The last 14 games of his playing career, at age 40 in 2006... But there he was…
113 - Franklin Stubbs - Brewers
A free agent signee from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Stubbs provided a good look at the 1991 Brewers new home uniforms. There were a nice improvement over Milwaukee’s 1990 jerseys…
112 - Brian Barnes - Expos
The horizontal photos in 1991 Stadium Club are some of the highlights of the set. However the Brian Barnes is fairly boring. He’d have been left off the Whatever if he pitched for any team other than the Expos… Maybe Minnesota…
111 - Rich Garces - Twins
Young fireballing relief pitcher, Garces got a brief shot with the 1990 Twins, then disappeared for a while, then resurfaced later with the Red Sox. I kept expecting him to become something in the game.
Instead he just ate a bunch and got fat…
I can relate…
110 - Kevin Brown - Rangers
Brown looks like he doesn’t want to be on the Whatever…
And I don’t think I want him here either…
109 - Gary Wayne - Twins
108 - Craig Worthington - Orioles
Usually Topps gives you a bunch wacky batter faces and wacky pitcher faces.
1991 Stadium Club is giving out wacky runner faces…
107 - Matt Nokes - Yankees
106 - Mike Moore - Athletics
I hated Mike Moore because he destroyed the Twins every game. He didn’t do that in Seattle or Detroit. Only with Oakland. And always in games that mattered most in the standings…
I hated Oakland so much in the early 1990’s…
105 - Mike Pagliarulo - Twins
104 - Scott Chiamparino - Texas
Oakland did have an absolute ton of good pitching prospects in the early 1990’s. Some of them were spread around the league in trades, to help the big league club leave Minnesota in second place, far too often. Chiamparino was traded to Texas for Harold Baines, then almost immediately flamed out…
103 - Terry Leach - Twins
I’ve previously discussed how awesome Terry Leach is…
102 - Denny Martinez - Expos
101 - Andy Van Slyke - Pirates
I like Van Slyke…
100 - Tom Glavine - Braves
Glavine had not yet earned my scorn when I first saw this card. 1991 was before the Braves became my most hated team on the planet. Which didn’t even happen during the 1991 World Series against Minnesota. I still could tolerate Atlanta back then… Hatred didn't develop for a couple more years, when the Braves were moved to the National League East, and became a constant thorn in the Expos side. That is when I really started to despise Ted Turner’s pet project.
As far as Glavine goes, would he have made the Hall of Fame if he had to use the same strike zone that most pitchers did? Seriously, why was home plate 72 inches wide on the days he pitched?
99 - Delino DeShields
Traded from Montreal after the 1993 season for likely the greatest player acquisition in Montreal Expos history, Pedro Martinez. As a second baseman for the Expos, DeShields was one of the best in the league. He fell off dramatically after the trade to Los Angeles, then drifted to the Cardinals, Orioles and Cubs before retiring in 2002. He then became the manager of the Louisville Bats in the Reds organization. His son, Delino Jr., plays centerfield for the Texas Rangers. And this is a cool card.
98 - Dale Murphy - Phillies
Murphy still looks odd as a Phillie… I’ve always felt bad for Dale Murphy. Atlanta trades him after years of futility, they make the World Series the next year… The Phillies don’t sign him for 1993, they make the World Series that year… Murphy signs with the Colorado Rockies in 1993 and…
Yeah well...
97 - Greg Gagne - Twins
Though it looks awkward, Gagne did a great job in getting that bunt down…
96 - Juan Berenguer - Braves
95 - Spike Owen - Expos
Gotta love a baseball player named Spike!
94 - Rick Aguilera - Twins
How much of a steal was the Frank Viola to the New York Mets trade in July 1989?
93 - Eddie Murray - Dodgers
Eddie should have thrown that ball before trying to awkwardly field another…
No wonder he was primarily a DH, he was a little hazy about how baseball works…
92 - Juan Gonzalez - Rangers
Now I’m not suggesting that Gonzalez took steroids, but I kept wondering when I’d a Gonzalez card where his arms were larger than his legs. Collectors were clearly suspicious. As the 1990’s advanced, Gonzalez was never a hobby darling, his cards not going for much above commons. Once the P.E.D. testing started, Gonzalez quickly disappeared from the game…
91 - Paul Sorrento - Twins
The key trade piece in the return for future Hall of Famer, Bert Blyleven, in 1989. Sorrento did very well in a backup first baseman role for Minnesota in 1991. Then in a move that kind of set the tone for the rest of the 1990’s, Minnesota traded Sorrento to Cleveland, during Spring Training 1992, for a sack of nothing. Days later, Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek hurt himself eating and missed a large chunk of the season. Had we just kept Sorrento, 1992 may have turned out different for Minnesota…
90 - Randy Johnson - Mariners
Randy, I like you as a pitcher. You were one of my all time favorites...
Stop wiggling your ass at me...
89 - Mark Gubicza - Royals
88 - Mark Guthrie - Twins
The former Minnesota top prospect carved out a nice 15 year career from 1989-2003. I wouldn’t have seen that from how his 1989 season with Minnesota went…
As he developed into a reliable starting, then relief pitcher in the early 1990's, I thought the Twins dropped the ball in not cross promoting him with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Shortsightedness tends to leave cash on the table...
87 - Al Newman - Twins
Good thing you’re blowing a bubble Al, or you wouldn’t have made the Whatever… It’s nothing personal against Al, he was always a nice guy when signing autographs after games. And he was also an ex-Expo. So there’s no way I can actively dislike Al… However, I always felt like Newman was taking the roster spot of someone who could have been a great deal better...
In 618 games (nearly 1900 plate appearances) with Minnesota, he hit a grand total of zero home runs. A favorite of Cranky Tom Kelly, Newman started far far FAR more games than he should. A .581 OPS in 5 seasons with the Twins should have earned him a release, not 5 seasons, a good percentage of which he held a starting job.
I openly cheered when Newman signed with the Texas Rangers for 1992. He lasted one season in Texas before retiring. Didn’t hit a home run there either.
His lone Major League home run came on July 6, 1986, for the Expos in Atlanta. He hit it off Zane Smith in the 4th inning to deep left field, with a runner on first base. I'm almost positive the Twins aired footage of Newman's only home run at some point during a broadcast.
Formerly a skinny speedy infielder, Newman quit playing in 1992, and started eating. By the time he was named Twins third base coach in 2001, he looked as if he’d eaten three Al Newmans…
86 - Cal Ripken - Orioles
For as big a part of my collecting 1991 that Ripken was, featuring him way down at #86 on the Whatever seems more than a tad wrong… This is a very nice looking card, but it just didn’t grab me like other Ripkens did…
Like this one? The card story of 1991 (beyond Stadium Club) would have to have been Mike and I discussing the potential of this baby...
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken Jr.
Reading a 1988 Score Cal Ripken card turned me into a Ripken fan. In the Spring of 1989, The Dugout got a complete 1982 Topps Traded set in, priced at $40. I promptly mowed some lawns and bought it. The Ripken was only booking at $20 in the Becketts at that time. By September 1991, this card was among the hottest in the Becketts, booking for $250. Following this card's high perch on the hobby pecking order was a constant point of discussion between us...
And it's still not for sale!
******
Let's take a break from the Whatever, and go back to 1991...
I mentioned that Mike worked at Burger King most days after school and on weekends. At the same time, I was working nights and weekends at the local Perkins. Doing whatever it was they wanted to make me do at any given moment...
On payday Fridays, we'd leave school as quickly as we could, then drive down to Shinders to buy packs of 1991 Stadium Club, Leaf, Ultra and O Pee Chee Premier. After buying what we needed at Shinders, we'd head back to his house to sort our purchases. Then he got ready for work at the Burger King, and left. I would head back home and get ready for my own shift at the Perkins, that started two hours later that night.
Mike was trying to build the 1991 Stadium Club Series 1 set. While I was collecting Series 2. Shinders was selling Series 1 packs for $8.99 (for 12 cards). An unheard of price at the time... Series 2 was a more realistic $4.99 per pack. Stadium Club was a premium product that was taking the hobby by storm at the time, and was the most desired card released that year. Mike was chasing the dollar through the sale of singles, I loved the looks of the set and wanted to collect it for it's awesomeness...
He would usually drop between $30-$50 on packs of Stadium Club each week. We always talked of splitting a full box of 36 Series packs for $349.99, but neither of us could (or would) drop nearly $200 in one shot... Mike would sell or trade his extras to people either he worked with, or at school for nearly 90% book.
During English class, instead of working or paying attention, he would keep me posted on recent transactions from his card collection. From either notes passed back and forth or stuff scribbled in each others school notebooks...
And I honestly do not remember Mike's justification for charging so much for a 1990 Leaf Mike Bilecki, even in 1991...
That may or may not have made sense at one point in time...
Heheheh... 3 Subject Noteboobs...
Mike was always proposing newer and bigger card sales as he was networking card sales through Burger King and Coon Rapids High School, over the next year or so...
We'll bring this back around to 1991 Stadium Club's Top Whatever again, and go back to Mike and I later...
*****
85 - Carlton Fisk - White Sox
At the end of the 1990 season, to commemorate the final games at Comiskey Park, the White Sox held a turn back the clock game, with all players wearing 1909 White Sox uniforms. Today, this is commonplace, but in 1990, it hadn’t been done before. Thankfully, photographers were out in force to document this game, and some of those shots made it into 1991 Stadium Club.
The White Sox didn’t spring for throwback jackets to match the uniform, so you would occasionally get odd uniform combos like this…
84 - Danny Gladden - Twins
Current Twins broadcaster and member of both the 1987 and 1991 World Champion Teams.
That’s notable...
83 - Ron Gant - Braves
Never been a Gant fan, but I do like this card…
82 - Mike Henneman - Tigers
Being a closer for the Tigers from 1987-1995 had to be a lonely job. I don’t think the Tigers won more than 70 games in any of those seasons, so there wasn’t too many saves for Henneman to even get. That said, this is an attractive card with the Old English D and the old Tiger Stadium grass… I didn’t like many Tigers cards, but this is one I did…
81 - Tom Browning - Reds
The Reds are a team I have little time for. I don’t like the color red for one.
And I’ve rarely liked their players… Browning’s okay…
80 - Jose Canseco - Athletics
What is there to hate about the 1991 Oakland Athletics?
Prime example number one is this stupid douche…
79 - Jeff Innis - Mets
One of my all time favorite players on one of my least favorite cards of his…
78 - Wally Whitehurst - Mets
I’ve already discussed watching that Mets @ Cubs NBC Saturday Game of the Week in 1989. Whitehurst, Jeff Innis and soon-to-be Minnesota Twin David West pitched for the Mets that day, and all involved in that game became permanent targets for my collection. Plus, how can you not like the name Wally Whitehurst?
77 - Chris Nabholz - Expos
If ever a player was born with permanent Topps Wacky Pitching Face, it’s Nabholz. Who has had Wacky Pitching Face on every card I’ve ever seen of him… Even the ones that showed him sitting in the dugout...
76 - Paul Molitor - Brewers
Now I know this is County Stadium in Milwaukee! Maybe it’s just the angle on the photo, but why is the opposing catcher cupping Molitor’s butt with his glove?
75 - George Brett - Royals
Did Brett just hit a Comiskey Park home run?
74 - Tim Burke - Expos
I’m likely in the minority, but I’ve always liked the Expos uniforms from 1992-2004 a lot more than the 1969-1991 flavor. That said, the blue Spring Training jersey with the white pants was a great look for Montreal. They even go well with the tri-color hats, and bonus points for early 1990’s mullet… Burke was traded to the Mets around the time this card came out, so he didn’t get to model those sweet 1992 Expos duds. With his rock star mullet...
73 - Albert Belle - Indians
Belle should have been one of the all time great players in baseball history.
But he was just an asshole…
72 - Pete O’Brien - Mariners
Seattle’s signing of O’Brien confused me. The Mariners already had Tino Martinez as a top first base prospect that was very close to being Major League ready by 1991. So they signed a free agent first baseman to a multi-year contract? Seattle really never seemed to be sold on Tino, trading him to the Yankees instead of playing him in 1996… No one really mentions it, but Seattle of the 1990’s is another of those lost team opportunities. They were so stacked, they should have made a lot more playoff appearances then they did…
71 - Jack Morris - Twins
Ugly mug shot picture aside, it earns a ton of bonus points for Game 7.
70 - Roberto Alomar - Blue Jays
But why did San Diego trade him in the first place? Now that’s an answer I’d like…
69 - Bill Sampen - Expos
Powder Blue Expos uniform doesn’t look that great against the Wrigley Ivey backdrop.
68 - Mark McGwire - Athletics
What else is there to hate about the 1991 Oakland Athletics?
Steroids… Buckets of Steroids...
67 - Matt Merullo - White Sox
Did you ever play Pursue The Pennant? That was a GREAT baseball “board” game. And if you used the Matt Merullo card in the 1989 edition, you could easily break Roger Maris’s single season Home Run record… I know there were rules against it, but I always used Merullo. Even over Fisk!
66 - Lenny Harris - Dodgers
Either Second Base is really huge or Lenny Harris is really tiny…
65 - Tom Candiotti - Indians
Excellent shot of his knuckleball grip in a nearly empty Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
64 - Orel Hershiser - Dodgers
Did you find your sweater under the tractor seat Orel?
63 - Mark Salas - Tigers
Journeyman catcher, who logged a couple of seasons for the Twins, making a surprise appearance in 1991 Stadium Club. When I first pulled this card from a pack, I didn’t realize Salas was even playing anymore.
62 - Phil Plantier - Red Sox
When 1991 Stadium Club was at it’s peak, Plantier was one of the top rookie cards in the set. Of course, Plantier didn’t pan out as a power hitting first baseman for Boston, and was traded around. He had a decent season in San Diego, but nothing that warranted a $15 price tag on this card. (Shinders!)
61 - Greg Olson - Braves
Olson got a cup of coffee, catching a few games with the 1989 Twins. He went on to a few seasons in Atlanta, including playing against his former team in the 1991 World Series. While I’m not certain, I think this photo is from Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. That kinda thing is important to me…
60 - Dave West - Twins
Cranky Tom Kelly had just about enough of Dave West at this point in his Twins career. After trading for the former New York Mets top pitching prospect in the Frank Viola deal, West got to Minnesota and did nothing but piss Kelly off for four years before they shipped him to Philadelphia after the 1992 season.
59 - Greg Maddux - Cubs
I don’t think of Maddux as a Cub from 1986-1992. I just assume he spent those seasons with Atlanta, where he became another player I loved to hate. That being said, I did make an effort to watch Maddux pitch as often as I could on TV. His games were always must see television, regardless of how much I wanted the Braves to lose. They just never did when Maddux pitched… And that is what made him worth watching.
58 - Junior Ortiz - Twins
Ortiz stay in Minnesota was only 2 seasons as Brian Harper’s backup. In that time, he was a media darling, providing entertaining quips to local reporters. After a prolonged slump midway through the 1990 season, Ortiz told reporters that Junior Ortiz was now gone and he was replaced by Joe Ortiz, who was a much better hitter…
57 - Kent Anderson - Angels
Strictly a backup utility infielder, Anderson didn’t have a long career. And this is probably my favorite card of his.
56 - Ivan Calderon - Expos
The other player the White Sox traded to Montreal for Tim Raines. Calderon had two decent seasons with the Expos, then played one more season in Boston before calling it a career.
55 - Lloyd McClendon - Pirates
A batting cage shot at Three Rivers Stadium. Enough said…
54 - Kevin Tapani - Twins
Tapani is the exact type of pitcher the Twins need in 2018. Nothing spectacular, but a steady innings-eater that doesn’t get blown away. Another pitcher acquired from the Mets for Frank Viola, he was clearly number three in the pecking order of players received, behind Aguilera and West (no one expected anything from Jack Savage or Tim Drummond). Tapani exceeded expectations and pitched great for Minnesota from 1989 to the 1995 trading deadline, where he was shipped to the Dodgers for a much less than Viola haul…
(Ron Coomer? Jose Parra? Chris Latham? Yuck…)
53 - Dave Martinez - Expos
After 700 years as Joe Maddon’s understudy, Martinez will finally get his own Major League team to manage in 2018, the Washington Nationals! Who used to be the Expos!
52 - Ryne Sandberg - Cubs
Damn… With as fast a baserunner as Willie McGee was, how did he get thrown out stealing by so much? Was Nolan Ryan catching for the Cubs that day?
Even Sandberg looks shocked by it…
51 - Brian Harper - Twins
50 - Junior Felix - Angels
One of the first Latin American players to widely have his age brought into question. After a quality 1989 rookie season for the Toronto Blue Jays, his numbers improved slightly in 1990. After the season, Felix was traded to the Angels, where he put on two disappointing seasons. Felix was taken by the Florida Marlins in the Expansion Draft in November, 1992. He was about to turn 25 according to his provided records, when it was discovered that he may be as old as 35. He put in a poor half season for the Marlins in 1993, but was released in July, 1993. He spent 1994 with Detroit, but never played after the strike ended in 1995.
As far as I could tell, his actual age and birth date was never known publicly.
49 - John Smoltz - Braves
Yeah... Braves... Still, a nice card of a future Hall of Famer...
Who LOST Game 7!
(Well, he didn't win...)
48 - Allen Anderson - Twins
Strange angle, but a cool photo... Briefly one of my favorite Twins, who started promising, but flamed out quickly. Minnesota's 2nd round draft pick in 1982, Anderson had brief cameos in 1986 and 1987, then won the American League ERA title in 1988, going along with 16 wins. He won 17 in 1989, then everything fell apart...
His last game in the major leagues came in October 1991, but Anderson was left off Minnesota's postseason roster. Though he did play in the minor leagues with the Yankees and Cleveland over the next two seasons.
47 - Gene Larkin - Twins
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Larkin!
(Nevermind...)
46 - Ozzie Guillen - White Sox
45 - Dennis Boyd - Expos
What bothers the Oil Can?
44 - Chuck Finley - Angels
Though his record was only 22-17 career against the Twins, every game he pitched against them, that I either listened to on WCCO, or watched on whatever network was airing the game, Finley made the Twins look foolish. It got irritating over the years. And he NEVER WENT AWAY... Going for the Angels to the Indians, just to be an even bigger pain to the Twins...
Just before he retired, Finley was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals for (one of the greatest names in baseball history) Coco Crisp!
I'm also deducting points because the picture is missing a baseball between Finley and the batter. Yeah that's probably because he threw his damn curveball, which is probably about 15 feet in the air...
I don't like Chuck Finley.
But he was a damn good pitcher for 17 Major League seasons...
******
Because Chuck Finley ruined my day so often, let's go back to 1991 and talk about Mike... And where he lived...
Mike's bedroom in the basement of his father's townhome, was pretty small, and almost taken up entirely by a queen size waterbed. His closet was always opened, with the bare essentials (coins, books, random papers and his cards) strewn about the top shelf, with a few clothes hanging underneath. A tall dresser opposite the bed. On a table next to the dresser was an old answering machine that played normal sized audio cassettes. Mike used that as his stereo, always with the same Air Supply tape queued up.
When we got there from Shinders on payday Fridays, we'd go through our haul and decide where it all went. If it was Stadium Club, it all depended where it fit our need lists. On the wall facing his bed, Mike posted his 1991 Series 1 Stadium Club set, in various stages of completion. He'd taken enough 9-card album pages, and stuck them to his wall with poster putty, in order from 1 to 300.
Mike carried the Topps Magazine checklist poster in his backpack with him to track his progress. He never did complete the set, selling it to me for $100 in June, 1993 before he moved to Iowa and joined the Army. Mike's set was only missing two cards by then. A forgotten common and Robin Ventura.
Today, I have both series completed, housed in an album alongside Mike's Topps magazine checklist poster. Which was only partially updated when he stopped.
It's too bad the card sets from that era were so overproduced, since it's close to worthless now. (A check on recently completed e-bay sales showed only two transactions; a complete set sold for $3.50, while a set of just Series 1 sold for only $2.36.)
Mike was wise to sell to me when he did...
Back to the Whatever...
******
43 - Dave Parker - Brewers
One of baseball's most bad-assiest players spent 1990 (his second to last season in the major leagues) in Milwaukee. They traded him to the Angels during 1991 Spring Training for future Rockies cornerstone, Dante Bichette. I'd forgotten about that until today...
Also forgot that Parker's career was wrapped up with 13 games with the Toronto Blue Jays in September 1991. I wish there was a card of that...
42 - Larry Walker - Expos
Just as I ranked Finley way too low, I also ranked Walker way too high for unreasonable bias... Let me explain:
Walker is an Expo... Do I need to go further?
Okay... In under 4 years, Walker would become another cornerstone of the Colorado Rockies... Who weren't even a team when this set came out... Walker was such an awesome prospect that he appeared in a 1991 Super Premium set DESPITE not playing a single game in 1990, due to injury. And even though it's just a boring head shot, it convey a whole lot more than most of the other because of his missing the previous season due to injury...
Besides, I like Larry Walker.
41 - Jerald Clark - Padres
Future Rockie and Twin in a batting cage...
Not many Padres made the Whatever, but Clark had to...
40 - Todd Hundley - Mets
New York's 21 year old catcher was another of my key Junk Wax Prospector subjects... And the Stadium Club was one of my favorites... Hundley started off promising in 1990, and showed improvement every season until breaking out with a combined 51 home runs over the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Injuries then took him down real quick. He was out of baseball by 2003, at age 34.
Todd Hundley's name was all over the George Mitchell PED Report, making his career numbers suspect, and his injury troubles all but explained...
In prospecting terms, Hundley turned out to be Fool's Gold...
39 - Pedro Munoz - Twins
Munoz came to the Twins from the Blue Jays, in the July 1990 trade of John Candelaria. A 21 year old outfielder, Munoz looked to be a potential power/speed threat. Minnesota gave him ample chances, over 6 seasons, before giving up on him.
Oakland signed him for the 1996 season, but injuries cut his season off on June 1st. Munoz never played professional baseball again. While he had some power, the rest of game just never developed. He couldn't draw a walk and struck out far too much.
But I liked Munoz, and bought an autographed game used Twins hat from the team owned store. Back when you could do that for less than a rent payment...
38 - Tim Wallach - Expos
Montreal's third baseman for 13 seasons (1980-1992), before moving on to the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a trade for absolutely nothing. I like this photo for it's excellent display of the Expos road blues, at Shea Stadium in New York.
37 - Ron Karkovice - White Sox
Another 1909 Throwback, with a side of blurry Comiskey... Classic!
36 - Dave Winfield - Angels
I'm almost positive that is the old and cramped Tiger Stadium dugout that Winfield can't fit inside...
And I can't get enough of that stack of Angels batting helmets on the shelves behind Winfield...
35 - Kent Hrbek - Twins
Suckin' it in and strikin' out!
I get the allure of the hometown guy, and I've always been critical of Hrbek... He had a decent career, but I think it could have been more, had he taken better care of his body... Injuries cost him a lot of playing time during the last 6 years with Minnesota...
And look, it's another dirt and grass picture!
34 - Gary Sheffield - Brewers
I've never liked Gary Sheffield one bit. He seems like an egotistical jerk, who was another key figure in the steroid era. So I don't collect his cards, and keep very few of them. This Sheffield may just be my favorite in my very limited Sheffield collection, because it is a cool picture.
Maybe I'll start a Whatever countdown of cards of players I don't like... And keep out of hatred!
33 - Steve Avery - Braves
Avery was one of the hottest pitching prospects in all of baseball in 1990. His cards were hot sellers nationwide, and Avery had a bright future with the Braves. The 1991 Stadium Club Avery was one of the top stars in the set upon release, and my among my favorite of his early cards... Until he blew his arm out...
I still like this card, though zooming out a touch would zoom it up the Whatever...
32 - Jim Abbott - Angles
31 - Sammy Sosa - White Sox
They didn't have steroids in 1909...
30 - Moises Alou - Expos
I've always wondered what Alou was eating that was so bitter...
Maybe an autograph seeker just smelled really bad?
Acquired by the Expos from the Pirates in an August 1990 trade for Zane Smith. Alou only played in 14 games for Montreal in 1990, then missed the entire 1991 season, due to injury. As much time as Larry Walker missed the 1990 season. His rookie season came in 1992, playing under his father and manager, Felipe. Both Alou's were faces of the Expos franchise until after the 1996 season, when Moises left for the Marlins.
29 - Omar Vizquel - Mariners
Before he became famous as Cleveland's slick fielding shortstop, Vizquel toiled in anonymity with Seattle. At Yankee Stadium... As shown here... And what's with the strange mesh Mariners warm-up jersey?
28 - Will Clark - Giants
I just don't like the Giants.
27 - Andres Galarraga - Expos
But I do like the Expos!
Teams outside of the Oakland A's and Pittsburgh Pirates typically didn't do alternate uniforms in the 1980's and early 1990's, but this look would have gone over so well in Olympic Stadium... At least in my mind's eye...
26 - Kevin Maas - Yankees
One of my favorite failed Junk Wax Prospector subjects...
And a pretty cool picture of another future Minnesota Twin...
25 - Kirby Puckett - Twins
No dirt! All grass!
Looks like Puckett's jacket is made out of the same material as a King Soopers shopping bag. With the sleeves AWESOMELY cut all jagged and terrible... Not quite a gimmicked Stadium Club photo, but a great non-traditional one.
24 - Robby Thompson - Giants
From the look on Thompson's face, I don't think he was called safe on this play...
And good, because he plays for the Giants!
23 - Jeff Bagwell - Astros
The top rookie card in 1991 Stadium Club. And one of the few that had the front of the card featured on the back of the card, noted as that player's official rookie card. Bagwell looks like he's 13 here. I wouldn't be the first to suggest there was more than just the training the prayers and the vitamins that made Bagwell into monster physique he carried ten years later... And all the way to the Hall of Fame.
Nothing's been proven with Bagwell, so who's to say?
I can say for certain that between Bagwell and Mo Vaughn, Boston chose the wrong first baseman...
For Larry Anderson?
22 - Dave Stewart - Athletics
Here's your full-on Stadium Club gimmickery. But in it's debut set, it was novel and fresh. Dave Stewart, he of the 4 consecutive 20 win seasons (1987-1990), in a tux with strange ball floating behind him? That's so not Dave Stewart...
But awesome!
But screw you Dave Stewart!
(See Chuck Finley)
21 - Rickey Henderson - Athletics
Brilliant picture of him sliding into Sandy Alomar Jr. Combining two of the hottest players going into 1991, in a single picture. This is a perfect example of Stadium Club at it's awesomest.
20 - Mike Fitzgerald - Expos
The catcher that Montreal acquired from the New York Mets, in the December 1984 Gary Carter trade, amongst all the other pieces. Funny thing is, Fitzgerald played in Montreal longer than Gary Carter played in New York. (1991 would be Fitzgerald's last season with the Expos, before a final year with the Angels in 1992.)
The reason Mike is ranked this high? The awesome "alternate" jersey combined with catchers gear in Expos blue! This card should absolutely be ranked higher!
19 - Tim Jones - Cardinals
There's some awesome blurry Shea Stadium going on here. Amazingly, all of the blue makes me not hate all of the red... I'm also torn on weather the cup in Jones' hand is a plain green cup, or if a Gatorade logo has been Toppsed off of it.
I wonder about things like that when I look at cards...
18 - Jeff Conine - Royals
Batting cage! I wasn't sold on Conine when he first was breaking into the majors with Kansas City. Once Florida made him a top Expansion Draft pick, he exceeded my expectations with the Marlins. His 1991 Stadium Club rookie card is just plain great.
17 - Chili Davis - Twins
I shower praise on Jack Morris as being such a great signing for Minnesota, but there wouldn't have been a Game 7 for Morris to pitch, if it wasn't for Chili Davis. His power bat and patience at the plate were the exact thing the Twins needed in their batting order.
I was shocked at the announcement in January 1991, that Davis signed with Minnesota for $4.5 million over two years. The Twins just didn't swim in those waters... Chili Davis was very cool with the fans, engaging and was always a great autograph signer. I have nothing but good things to say about Chili Davis and what he brought to the 1991 Minnesota Twins.
16 - Don Mattingly - Yankees
I've mentioned my Mattingly fandom before. So just enjoy this still from his perfect swing...
15 - Bo Jackson - Royals
What if?
14 - Scott Erickson - Twins
This would be most iconic card for the Minnesota Twins in 1991 Stadium Club, except that it isn't. 1991 was all about watching Scott Erickson dominate the American League, leading Minnesota to the Division title. Almost to the same degree of contribution as Morris.
Why does this card rank so high?
It's the only 1991 card that shows the 1990 Scott Erickson rookie year trademark look. Solid black shoes with mid length stirrups, pulled down and showing only a hint of the M, that can be seen in the shoe. His trademark look and success on the mound made him unique, and -of course- lead to problems with Cranky Tom Kelly...
Those stories were all over Twin Cities media in the Summer of 1991, and that look should be documented on a card.
For once, even the Becketts got it right...
Erickson was also a nice -yet elusive- postgame autograph. Great legible signature for an in-person signature with no hard surface to write on!
13 - Ron Hassey - Expos...
Damn, the Expos Blue catchers gear looks just as good over the traditional home whites... Too bad this is just from a Spring Training game in West Palm Beach, Florida, instead of a nice outdoor stadium back in Montreal. Maybe someday...
My sister used to say that Ron Hassey (in his Oakland days) resembled Chevy Chase...
12 - Rex Hudler - Cardinals
St. Louis is better represented in the 1991 Stadium Club Top Whatever than I would have expected going in. Photographed in St. Louis, Hudler is posing against a backdrop of very little color range. It's almost as if stadiums were made of Legos in the 1980's.... You see this quite often coming from the cookie cutters of the day.
This one just happens to a show what just may be a Lego representation of Busch Stadium. Just not the newest or the oldest of the Busch Stadiums...
St. Louis LOVES it's cheap beer...
11 - Nolan Ryan - Rangers
Have some GIMMICK!!
10 - Chris Sabo - Reds
I was a huge Reds fan... Only for the 1990 World Series. I wanted so badly to see Oakland humiliated, and Cincinnati swept the heavily favored Athletics in 4 games!
Sabo's card commemorates a key moment in that World Series. Such a great card...
9 - Charlie Hough - White Sox
Not sure why this card is off-centered... But I'm a big fan of the black and blue transition looking into the stands of Yankee Stadium. Hough is not getting ready to throw a knuckleball, which in itself is rather strange... So yeah, I really like this card, even though there's nothing noteworthy, other than it's slightly off from what I'd expected... And I think that's what I like!
8 - Wade Boggs - Red Sox
Batting cage! Hall of Famer! One third of a baseball showing at the top of the card.
That's really cool!
7 - Eric Show - Athletics
Gimmick!
Once the story of Eric Show's life unfolded, months after I got my copy of this card, did the calm relaxing with a guitar in hammock picture become a more ironic and tragic one...
Show's career had been slowly falling apart since his 16-11 season in 1988, spent with the San Diego Padres. He played in San Diego for 10 seasons, then signed a two year contract with the Oakland Athletics, for the 1991-92 seasons.
1991 didn't go well, Show missed a bunch of time and pitched only 51 innings, with a 5.92 ERA.
When Spring Training was underway in 1992, Show missed three days of camp, then came back with cuts all over both of his hands. His story was that he had been chased by a gang of youths, but it turned out he was fleeing from the police, who were trying to question him. According to reports, he was standing in front of an adult bookstore, screaming about someone trying to kill him...
Show immediately asked to be released from his $700,000 contract, walked out of camp and never played baseball again.
Eric Show died of a drug overdose on March 16, 1994, at 37 years old.
6 - Chuck Knoblauch - Twins
Knoblauch's 1991 season was big news for the Twins. For years, Minnesota had been looking for a second baseman they could rely on. A black hole on the team for years, Knoblauch arrived and held the starting second baseman's job, until whining himself out of town in early 1998.
He would win the 1991 Rookie of the Year Award, and give me a current Twins hot prospect to collect.
That will be another story for another day...
Only Upper Deck put out a Knoblauch card in their first regular season sets, so I had to wait for updates and "premium" card lines to give me the Knoblauch cards I needed. And none were greater than his 1991 Stadium Club Series 2 rookie card.
The more I look at it now, I'm thinking it may be too low...
But there is so much awesomeness above it...
5 - Dwight Smith - Cubs
And how odd is it that the highest ranking Expos card, is actually a Cubs card?
Whatever...
4 - Shane Mack - Twins
It was a tough call ranking this one ahead of Knoblauch, because this is awesome of a different flavor... Shane Mack and Joe Ortiz, hanging out in some dirt (no grass) with a Home Plate in it. Luckily they are in full uniform and catcher's gear!
3 - Robin Ventura - White Sox
To this day I'm debating weather Ventura should have been Number 1. To me, there are two iconic cards in 1991 Stadium Club, and Ventura is one of them. When Mike first started collecting 1991 Stadium Club, he pointed out the perfection of this card:
First off, the 1909 Throwback game appears again...
Classic uniforms commemorating the birth of Comiskey, played in the last seconds of it's breath.
Those same uniforms cast against the yellow poles between the seats....
Walt Hrniak altered follow through on his swing. Ventura was a classic specimen...
You have no choice but to agree with an argument like that one. We both decided that we simply must have a full 9-pocket page of Robin Ventura 1991 Stadium Club cards. Both of us would contribute whatever we opened from packs, or purchased off the secondary market to the page. A secondary market nowhere near as convenient as we have today...
I would still say this card makes my top 20 of all time.
Which makes it's number 3 ranking criminally low...
2 - Ken Griffey Jr. - Mariners
When I said there were two iconic cards in 1991 Stadium Club, Ken Griffey Jr. was not one of them. There was also no question in my mind when I started this Whatever, that Ken Griffey Jr. was going to rank at Number 2 on the countdown.
I will defend Number 1 in a moment.
Ken Griffey Jr. was my favorite player at the time, so Topps would have needed to drop a complete lead turd in the punchbowl with Griffey's card for me to not like it. As I'd semi-expected, Topps hit a home run with this Ken Griffey Jr. card.
I love everything about it.
1 - Frank Thomas - White Sox
Thomas was the main draw of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1. Upon it's release, Shinders couldn't keep his card in the case at $20, then $25, then $30, up to $40 at one point in the Fall of 1991. Frank Thomas was smoking hot. And with good reason, he was one of the greatest hitters of my generation. Proving it year after year, all the way to a well deserved first ballot Hall of Fame induction.
This was THE card Mike and I had to acquire.
Many of the 12 card packs we bought were running at $8-$10/per. Bear in mind, that is in 1991 money. I ran the numbers, that $10 pack of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1 purchased from Shinders in October 1991, would cost you $17.97 today! Series 2 packs were only $5 each. More palatable to me, although that was still $8.99 in today's money...
That was a big buncha host-bus-dish-prep-cook-wait hours at the Perkins back then!
In November 1991, Mike and I rented a table at a charity baseball card show, held in the auditorium of a local church. I wanted that Frank Thomas for my collection so badly that I traded a 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie for the Stadium Club Thomas and a complete Stadium Club Members Only Mail-In set. (Which I chose not to include here...)
Eventually we both got our Thomaseses...
Mike got one from a pack, and was so excited that he called to tell me as soon as he got home.
I also got one from a pack, as well as the aforementioned trade before too long.
In the years since, I've acquired a few more.
For all those reasons, Frank Thomas is the Number 1 in the 1991 Stadium Club Top Whatever...
Hurry up and subscribe to Topps Magazine!
Those checklist posters are really handy!
*****
Long after the set had peaked in the Becketts, and tumbled to next to nothing over the next few years. It's value never recovered, and the set remains lumped in with the rest of the Junk Wax Era. Considered to be overproduced garbage.
Just slightly better than the base brands of that year...
Despite paying that high price in for Mike's Series set in 1993, I justify it's purchase. This set was nowhere near overproduced garbage. Okay, I'll give you overproduced... But this set is a beautiful and groundbreaking achievement for Topps. It's value transcends the Becketts...
I'll concede the financial loss to me after following the Becketts and 25 + years of market research on it's resale value...
A much bigger loss to the both of us, due to the sheer quantity that we paid peak retail, at it's hottest point for most of this stuff...
Still a huge gain in the long run due to the fun and memories 1991 Stadium Club added to my collection.
Simply put, one of my favorite sets ever.
******
To illustrate the collapse of the 1991 Thomas, when Mike at Mike's Sports Cards closed in June 2013, he put out a monster box of singles with pretty much a "make offer" price agreement on what was in there. Stuff he'd found buried in the back room and said he didn't want to bring home.
I pulled out this pile from the box, and asked: "How much?"
He shot back: "10 bucks..."
Sold!
"You realize how much this would have set me back at a mall card show about 15 years ago?"
(Well, to be fair, the 1985 Fleer Kirby Puckett rookie is creased...)
Amongst this lot of flashbacky 1980's and 1990's gold, was a 1991 Stadium Club Frank Thomas.
What was once selling for $40, was now less than 25 cents...
Yet, hardly a Wasted Quarter...
But there's one more thing I really want for my collection...
That would be an unopened box of 1991 Stadium Club Series 1. The same box that Mike and I didn't buy for $350 at Shinders in October 1991, I really want to own today. Not to open and sell for singles, just to look at and remember.
And retire off of in 20 years!
A quick check on the internets shows that I can have that very box shipped to my home tomorrow for the low low price of 6 and a half hours at Perkins....
I swear... I'm really close to writing shorter stories...
1991 Stadium Club is one of the best sets of the '90s period....I bought some boxes awhile back, had trouble with "clumping" cards aka sticking together...had same problem with 93 Upper Deck...one day I will complete 1991 Stadium Club
ReplyDelete