PressTine Marketing Re-Pack Whatever!
Looking back on the last month or so of posts at Four Baggers, I'm finding there's been far more Foreclosures. So I better hurry up and write about cards before my baseball fans start complaining... Unfortunately, my entire collection is boxed up and not readily accessible as all my photographs of abandoned buildings are.
Which isn't to say I'm not still buying cards. Not at all! I've bought 8 packs of Topps Series 2 already and I don't feel like writing about any of them! Sure those packs of Topps Series 2 have netted me 2 base and 1 insert Ohtani's, but no one cares!
In that same time, I've picked up two Blasters of TriStar's World's Greatest Pack Search, and had infinitely more fun opening those 28 packs, spanning the last 30 years. (Plans are underway to Whatever those two Blasters at some point, but not today.)
Point being, this early into the 2018 Baseball (Card) Season, I'm already suffering from Ohtani burnout.
Basically, I don't care about 2018 cards. I'm sick of the lottery...
Okay, perhaps I'm a hypocrite for denouncing the Ohtani-ness of the 2018 card lottery as I'm buying Blasters advertising a chance to win a Babe Ruth autograph... But it's an imperfect world and I'm just trying to figure out my place in it...
The other night, Laura and I had some Aarons to run. She wanted to stop at the local Dollar Tree (which was a liquor store when I last lived here) for a few things. Reluctantly, I followed along, instead of waiting outside or in the car or anywhere but inside the dollar store...
Sure enough, up by the register and next to the annoying employee that thinks he's funny by making airplane landing jokes over the store intercom, sits a cardboard feeder box of 30 card packs. For $1 each!
I found 7 packs that had intriguing top facing cards, then dumped them in Laura's basket. Then I went outside to take pictures of clouds and non-abandoned buildings while she shopped for whatever it was she was buying...
Off in the distance, I could hear thunder and an occasional dim lightning strike. Nothing severe, but even a minor thunderstorm is a welcome sight after years of rather uneventful Denver weather.
Upon returning home, Laura, my mom and I opened those 7 re-pack packs, and I was stunned to find some really decent stuff inside for such little money...
You know the rules... The Top Whatever is simple ranking in order of what I liked. There are no concrete definitions to my rankings, they are as arbitrary as my moods...
With that in mind, here are the Top 83 re-pack cards I pulled from 7 PressTine packs from Dollar Tree the other night!
Ranked way low because it was nearly welded to the card above it in the pack (a 1995 Donruss Ron Gant, that did not make the Whatever). In order to separate the two cards, I had to use a knife to break the humidity created seal, which damaged both cards beyond repair. While I'm not a Barry Larkin (or Cincinnati Reds) fan, I would have liked to add this card to my yearly albums.
Back in my earliest days of defacing unwanted commons, in my most amateur and juvenile Junior High School ways, poor Bryan Clutterbuck was renamed Cryan Butterfuck.
The 1988 Topps Traded set features some of the worst airbrushing Topps had done since the 1970's. I remember being so disappointed in this set because it was so lazy. Score Rookie and Traded was awesome, Fleer Update was a great and visually appealing boxed set. Topps Traded? Well, it had Team U.S.A. cards!
I can almost let that atrocious windbreaker pass, even with that ridiculous cartoon button, but that Crayola drawn C on Jackson's hat is inexcusable...
Staying in Houston, we have one of the most boring pictures ever printed of the future Hall Of Famer. You can't convince me Biggio wasn't just finishing up a yawn... Just as I did after pulling this card...
These seven re-pack packs had one 1981 Topps common in each. There were no cards older than 1981 in any of them either. Angry Warren Brusstar has reminded me of actor John C. Reilly on this card, though I'm not sure why. This is also my 4th copy of the 1981 Topps Brusstar... But with that sweet wood paneled Family Truckster over his left shoulder, this card is still a keeper today.
Yup, 1990 Donruss is still really ugly... And you can't get more of a basic photo than this one of Carter. A future Hall of Famer that at least had the decency to represent the Montreal Expos on his plaque...
Former 1987 World Series game 7 starter and future member of the MLB Network team of analysts, Magrane has long been a favorite of mine. I did not have this Topps Gold card (other than the one in my factory sealed complete set) before today.
While there was a 1981 Topps card in every packed re-pack pack, there was also an abundance of 2013 Topps in all of them. Diamond is a former (bad) Twins pitcher that was plucked from the Atlanta Braves in the 2012 Rule V Draft, and managed to linger in Minnesota for much longer than anyone expected. Not that the soft tossing lefty did a whole lot. But the Twins teams of that era did little to exceed the minimum Diamond provided...
From Diamond to the (impostor) Big Train... Not sure where that nickname came from, but Carl Willis bears no resemblance to the legendary Walter Johnson. Though Willis played a key middle relief role on the 1991 World Champion Minnesota Twins, and has since become a respected pitching coach with the Cleveland Indians, amongst others.
I would have breezed right on by this unremarkable card, until I noticed the fine collection of Spring Training props and set pieces presented within...
Why is everything from the fifth row, from the side of Roberts' face and up, completely blacked out? What exactly is going on back there that we are not allowed to see?
How come Brandon Wood's facsimile signature looks like it reads: "Jan Wood"? Did Brandon have his mom sign his Topps contract for him?
You know, I could have solved that very question some four years before this card was even printed. Inside a pack of 2002 Bowman Draft, I received a redemption card for a Brandon Wood Autographed Draft Pick Chrome Rookie Refractor With Raisins. But I forgot about it during the great Colorado to Minnesota move of 2003, and the redemption expired without me noticing. Had I successfully mailed it in, I would know what Brandon Wood's autograph TRULY looked like...
The Indians traded Castillo to the Twins, before the 1989 season started. He played most of the next two years with the Twins as a DH and backup outfielder. He was an average player that wasn't either great nor terrible. My only Castillo memory of that time was being extra jazzed when I got him to sign a card after a Twins game at the Metrodome. An issue of Baseball Cards Magazine from a year earlier named Castillo as one of the toughest signers on the Cleveland squad.
Tatis would soon find himself in Montreal, playing third for the Expos, since the Cardinals wanted Dustin Hermansen so much. The trade didn't work out for either team due to injuries and ineffectiveness. Tatis's kid is a top prospect for the San Diego Padres now. Which really makes me feel old.
Boring rookie card photo for the boring Atlanta Braves. Though the netted batting cage surrounding Thomas saves him from the discard pile. And I also like how the section of trees is trimmed to almost fill the fence. Almost.
Some times I liked Rolen, more often than not I didn't. I collected his cards as a top Phillies prospect in the mid 1990's, and thought he developed into great third baseman. Then he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals... There are a few teams a player can be traded to that will make me dislike them quicker than the Cardinals. Most of the NL West and AL East fall under this category. And the Atlanta Braves...
Once in St. Louis, Rolen got cranky and pouty. meaning Rolen didn't like the Cardinals -Tony LaRussa in particular. So after a few years, Rolen's Cardinal feathers were swapped for (Toronto) Blue Jays. And I was a Rolen fan again. Until he wound up in Cincinnati to finish his career. I don't hate the Reds, I've just been given little reason to care about them... Ever...
This Whatever's first Colorado Rockies entry, Kingery was a bit player for the Seattle Mariners before getting a shot with the expansion 1993 Rockies. Kingery played a few seasons as a 4th and 5th outfielder at both Mile High and Coors Field. Never a superstar, he provided decent backup value before fading away.
Up next is the current Rockies closer. Davis signed a surprising massive contract with Colorado in December 2017, when their current free agent closer, Greg Holland, chose to hold out for even more money. Which he never got... Ooops! Guess who is having a better season too...
As for the card itself, I like it quite a bit. About the best thing the Rays have going for them is those striped stirrup socks. Those are pretty sweet. I don't even mind the powder blue Rays jersey, it kinda speaks Tampa to me... Of course I've always had a soft spot for the Rays. With the Expos gone, the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays have been almost adopted as Major League Baseball's pity team. You watch a Rays game and the only thing that comes to mind is:
The former all-field, no-hit Twins prospect (traded to the Indians in a package for Bert Blyleven in 1985) ended up with a lengthy career in the major leagues with the Indians, Royals, Pirates and Diamondbacks. Weather you want to question the legitimacy of his numbers is another issue...
Despite being a Yankee, Balboni is a player I was a fan of. Kinda doughy, big time power and little else. Oh, and a great mustache! As much as I dislike 1990 Donruss, the photo of the batting cage net seems to fit in well with the random speckles Donruss felt this design needed.
This guy was supposed to be good... I remember his 2012 Topps Update rookie card falling third in that set's value, just behind Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish. Well, of the three, Middlebrooks had the best looking rookie card I thought. But a season later, Boston was looking to dump Middlebrooks. His production never matched his rookie year levels, and he's bounced around the majors and minors, trying to recapture that promise.
Hold on tight, I'm going to say something nice about the San Francisco Giants... Their black and orange color scheme works surprisingly well with the Dijon Mustard colored borders of 2002 Topps. A set I can't stand. This card wouldn't have made the Whatever if it wasn't for Rueter being a former beloved Expo in 1993-1995. And I still hate the Giants.
I have no idea what to call all of the different Topps produced Refractors anymore, so my new thing will be to name them after what they look like. I see colored speckles all over it, so it's now a Specklefractor!
Ruffin ended up as a member of the 1993 Colorado Rockies, and pitched somewhat effectively for the Rockies over a few seasons. This came after several below average seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Another 1992 Topps Gold (and not the more expected "*Winner" variation) card that I didn't have. And one with a nice pitching photo.
1983-1985 Topps is one of my favorite 3 year stretches of Topps designs. Though the team logo and team name box seems kinda redundant.
This is the first card I've owned from the 1992 Diet Pepsi set. Despite the lack of team logos, Panini didn't print these.
The late season 100 card "high numbers" set that Upper Deck tacked on to their base set (updating it for traded players and rookies) always featured some nice photography from Spring Training games. Ward's was a favorite of 1991, with the bright contrasting color and classic Indians logo. Upper Deck somehow managed to cram 3 Chief Wahoo's onto the card front. You won't get that in 2018, and not only because Upper Deck can't print baseball cards anymore...
Yay! A Tito Landrum rookie! And two other guys whose only baseball claim to fame is being featured on a 1981 Topps card!
Since I couldn't retire on Wes Chamberlain cards alone, I diversified my portfolio and invested heavily in Todd Van Poppel futures... And while Van Poppel didn't pull a full-on Brien Taylor, his underperformance in the early 1990's led me down the road of forced gas station work and eventual graphic design training...
Had you only delivered on that predicted minimum 8-peat of consecutive Cy Young Awards that I was promised upon the 1990 Amateur Draft, I'd be on a beach in Cancun right now!
Wickman was wrapping up a successful career in 2007, after years with the Yankees, Brewers, Indians and maybe some other teams? I was a big fan of Wickman dating back to 1991, when I read about his cut off right index finger adding drop to his curveball. (Which can be seen on this card.) I wanted to see how that condition would affect his pitches in the major leagues. Wickman didn't disappoint.
Purple has never been a color in the Mariners palate. So why is Dressler sporting purple sleeves? After looking at this picture for a few seconds, I concluded that Dressler was wearing a long sleeve Minnesota Vikings shirt under the Seattle road jersey. The yellow and white stripes confirm that. Now, I don't follow football (honestly can't stand the sport), so I don't know if Dressler quit baseball to be an offensive lineman or something.
Poor Billy is about to be taken out by the unknown sliding Cleveland baserunner, at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I doubt he was able to throw the ball to first before being upended... But at least some people were watching! Making the most notable thing about this picture, the fact that the Cleveland Stadium stands appear to be full of fans! I attended an Indians Brewers game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1993, and was one of about seven fans in attendance... Proof that in the early 1990's, there were actually some people watching Cleveland Indians baseball!
Whenever I see a stray common broken out of a packaged Minor League team set like this one, I wonder which star card was pulled from the set to leave this one separate. I can't think of any key player that would have been featured on the 1989 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, that would have warranted breaking up a team set. But someone did.
It's kind of a surprise to me when I get cards like this in a packed pack re-pack. SPx were far beyond my price range for cards in 1999, so I never bought any (this is also my first 1999 SPx card). Once I acquire one, usually at a cost of next to nothing, I wonder what all the hype was about. Granted this isn't a case -or even a box- hit, just a lowly common. But I see very little that is special about this base card that would make me pay $8 for a pack of five... Sure the hits may be nice, but they are just that... Hits. You are more than likely going to end up with a bunch of these base cards. And for that per-card price, I want something that looks a whole lot nicer than this...
This Kevin Gross was in the pack next to a 1989 Topps Kevin Gross. But the 1989 card had him as a member of the Phillies.
It's my old friend Terry Leach! One of the best autograph signers in Twins history (according to me). After his 2 years and 1 World Series championship with Minnesota, Leach played two seasons with the Chicago White Sox. Which meant he got his highly desirable early 1990's era White Sox Starter jackets for free! And here he is standing in a very dimly lit Tiger Stadium. Lint aside, I've always liked this card.
When it was announced that the 1988 Topps Traded set would feature cards for members of Team U.S.A., I had visions of the legendary 1984 team that got a subset of cards in 1985 Topps. Fronted by the iconic 1985 Mark McGwire team U.S.A. card. Every collector remembers that selling in the $150-$200 range in the fall of 1998. Though, you can now pick up ample copies for under $10 a piece... Regardless, I was jazzed for 1988's Team U.S.A. set, which ended up having a much deeper roster than the 1984 Olympic team. There was no McGwire, but a fair amount of major leaguers who logged a full 6 years of service time.
Strictly not a Cubs fan, but Wrigley shots on cards are always appreciated. And major bonus points were included for that sweet 1990 All Star Game patch. Not as many bonus points for that Cubs blue glove...
1995 Upper Deck was a under-appreciated set in my collection. It featured a nice and simple design, but lacked somewhat in the photography department. On the whole, I felt the images were a little washed out and not as crisp as some of Upper Deck's previous efforts.
But any Upper Deck photos fall flat when held against their measuring stick, the infinitely awesome 1993 set...
Yeah, I was a Dykstra fan... The guy played his balls off for the Mets and Phillies in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Of course there's all the other stuff he's known for today, but I'm gonna ignore that. This card shows Dykstra the way I like to remember him. Not all bloated by steroids (allegedly...) and shown hustling on the field. Unfortunately it's the hustling off the field that he's known for now...
John Cotton was a top prospect for the Cleveland Indians in the early 1990's. He never made the major leagues, but his cards will always have a special home in my collection. In July 1995, I went on a Jay Buckley Baseball Tour. One of the other passengers on the tour bus was Betty Cotton, who was John's mother. She and my mom became friends over that 12 day tour, and would relay stories of John's playing in the minors to us. After the tour, I felt like I knew John from hearing his mother talk glowingly of him.
My mother and Betty Cotton, standing in front of the Jackie Robinson statue outside Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
While John Cotton never made the Major Leagues, he was a member of the 2000 Olympic Baseball Team that won the Gold Medal in the 2000 Olympic Games.
Andujar became an early favorite in my collection because I liked his name. And it's funny, very few 1987 cards feature clear and crisp photos, but I didn't care. Not even 10 years later, I would quickly dismiss a set if it's photography din't meet my standards...
Case in point... What a difference a decade makes on card production... Though I really disliked Finest after the 1995 set. Topps went too gimmicky with it. There was nothing wrong with a very limited press run, super premium card stock set. But Topps had to get fancy...
There would be multiple tiers of cards... And all your star cards would be shorter printed than the commons. And each set would be divided into subsets, highlighting what each player does better... And there's all sorts of Refractors... And then there's...
Yet, I don't think there's enough energy in my fingers to properly convey the disappointing Twins career of precious local boy Joe Mauer... Not disappointing in the sense that he never panned out and was a wasted #1 overall draft pick (2001)... Disappointing in that he should have been a mega superstar, but he was happy enough being that "Golly gee shucks, I'm just happy to be on the team, local boy does good", kinda star.
Hey Mauer, even wholesome hometown athletes need to hit the weights and develop their game! Instead of simply making the major leagues and spending the next 15 years coasting on a reputation that has never fully developed... A baseball player who stands 6 foot, 4 inches, and weighs in at 220 or so pounds, should be able to do more with a bat than routinely plinking the ball to shortstop or second base. And if they can't muster any more power to drive the ball than that, you don't give them $185 million Bill Smith...
But you know what they say about the word nice... It's what you say about something when you have nothing better to say...
Not a coincidence by any means that the next card on the Whatever is the anti-Mauer, Jose Canseco... An insufferable douche that wanted to hit home runs so badly that he injected himself with every chemical known to man, in order to hit those home runs...
However, Canseco earns back a great deal of cred with me in that he readily admits to everything he's done over the years. Which is definitely appreciated in comparison to the hundreds of other players from that era that continue to deny ANY wrongdoing as far as PED's go. Much like his giant inflated red-headed Oakland teammate...
And I know I'm in the minority, but I liked the rainbow gradient Tampa Bay logo on the old DEVIL Rays jerseys...
I'm a Trevor Plouffe fan. Have been since Minnesota took him in the first round of the 2004 Draft. This is also a good shot of the last season the Twins used this particular flavor of home whites. After introducing this pinstriped white home uniform in 1987, it lasted until 2012, with only minor tweaks.
I'm a big Greg Colbrunn fan as well. I'm really needing one of his 1998 Colorado Rockies cards so I can complete the trifecta. Mr. Colbrunn being one of only five players to suit up for major league games with the Rockies, Twins and Expos. And it would absolutely make my baseball season if the Rockies would make a trade with the Texas Rangers for Bartolo Colon, and bring that rare combo up to six... Come on, Dan O'Dowd would have done it for me! He made all sorts of trades that made no baseball sense!
Neither of these guys ever played in the Major Leagues, so it's kind of a wasted card. No idea whatever happened to Todd Noel, but John Oliver put on glasses, became British and got his own HBO talk show! Which is a really good show, so I'm glad he gave up on playing baseball!
Pictured here as an Expo, I'm not sure where this card falls on the Pavano timeline. Likely after banging Alyssa Milano, yet well before his porn star mustache wearing days as a Minnesota Twin... Imagine, if they'd gotten married, she could have been Alyssa Milano-Pavano! (It's funnier if you read it out loud...) Yankee years aside, I'd love to trade lives with Carl Pavano... I'd even keep the mustache!
Jorgensen carved out a nice career in the 1970's and early 1980's with the Mets, Cardinals and Expos. And while I would have chosen to crop this photo a little differently, it's one of my favorites in the 1981 Topps set.
The Blue Jays acquired Alomar after the 1990 season from San Diego, so it was the middle of the 1991 season before any cards of Alomar as a Blue Jay came out. 1991 Leaf was one of the first, and one of my favorites. While it's not very popular today, I was -and still am- a big fan of 1991 Leaf. There's also that great 1991 All Star Game patch shown as well...
His 1992 Topps card is my favorite Cranky Tom Kelly Topps photo. Fresh off winning the 1991 World Series, you'd think he'd be just a little bit happy... But you'd be wrong! Shown here, Kelly's already planning on running David Ortiz out of town, five years before he even joins the team!
The former Cuban defector was a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for their first two years of existence. He was then traded to the Colorado Rockies in the ill-advised Vinny Castilla swap. He lasted only half a (bad) season in Colorado, before being moved to the Boston Red Sox. Which was a trade I remembered nothing about until I looked it up a couple of months ago, when I had a "Whatever happened to that guy?" thought...
When I started the card collection over 30 years ago, one of the very first "vintage" cards I acquired was a 1975 Topps Ted Simmons. He was a Cardinal then, and had long hippie boy hair. The stats on the card back showed Simmons to be a very good catcher, and by the end of his lengthy career, a strong debate could be made that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. While he never made the Hall, he made my collection. I keep all Ted Simmons cards that I didn't previously have. Even though his career was dominated by playing for teams I greatly dislike...
Good-field, no-hit players are tough to find in Colorado. The atmosphere up there makes nearly every player an above average offensive threat. And if it doesn't, you probably aren't going to last long in the game. Clint Barmes is a great example of this. The slick fielding shortstop hit well enough during his first 5 seasons in Colorado to keep his job. Once he got too expensive to keep through arbitration, he was shipped to Houston. Where he didn't hit (at sea level). After a couple more seasons of bouncing around, Barmes was out of the game...
But by that point, he'd made enough money to be set for life. This scenario is hardly exclusive to Barmes. Many players have parlayed early Coors Field success into lucrative mediocrity...
If I was a position player, I'd want to be drafted by the Colorado Rockies over any other team!
Of course in order to test that theory, that player must hit well enough to actually earn major league playing time. While Meyer pre-dates the Rockies by almost a decade, he played several seasons with the AAA Denver Zephyrs. Hitting mile high and mile long home runs by the truck full, but he could never hit well enough in Milwaukee to convince the Brewers into letting him play for 5 seasons before trading him...
Or, if you're a pitcher, Coors Field is where you send your career to die. After the 1999 season, Colorado decided to throw close to $200 million at top tier free agent starting pitching. They overpaid dearly, and ruined the career of Neagle, and nearly ruined the career of Mike Hampton. But I'll give Dan O'Dowd credit here. It was a theory everyone was wanting the Rockies to try, and he did. It just blew up in his face massively...
This is Neagle's rookie card. After blazing through the Twins minor league farm system in 1990 and 1991, Minnesota had a legitimate Ace pitching prospect. And in a very uncharacteristic move for the Twins, they packaged Neagle, along with top outfield prospect Midre Cummings, in a trade for a legitimate major league staff ace. John Smiley pitched well, but the season didn't work out for Minnesota. Neagle became a star in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Atlanta and wherever else he toiled.
Oh, why did I ignore these awesome cards when they came out? First off, I'm not certain which year's set McInnis came from. The Conlon Collection was a set of cards released over a fiour year span (1991-1994) with each year being part of the same set (card numbers continued consecutively over the years), featuring the same black border with simple white text for a design. Each card showed a different picture taken by noted baseball photographer Charles Conlon, between 1905 and 1942. The Sporting News purchased all of Conlon's negatives in 1945, and after sitting them for nearly 50 years, they were released as a large card set throughout the early 1990's. I never bought any back then, despite them being fairly cheap (some 20,000 autographed cards were also hidden away inside packs).
A new collecting goal of mine is to acquire the entire Conlon Collection. I want a four years worth to complete the full set and house it in albums. These are simple and very attractive cards and belong in MY collection!
Stuffy McInnis? Never heard of him. But he and all of his era's friends have a home waiting in my binders...
Stuffy should rank higher than Pierre. No offense Juan, I was a huge fan during your rookie season with the Rockies. And was saddened by O'Dowd including him in the Mike Hampton salary dump trade to the Florida Marlins, after the 2001 season. The speedy outfielder played a big role on the 2003 World Champion Marlins, and went on to a very respectable career. Stealing over 600 bases in the Majors over 13+ seasons.
Lind was a great fielding, light hitting second baseman that lasted a few years in the league, but didn't hit well enough to stick. Both in Pittsburgh and Kansas City his defense was highlight reel, his hitting was AA ball... Lind was still a player I liked to watch. In the field at least...
Seeing the longtime Seattle Mariner and California Angel pitcher pictured in a San Diego Padres uniform is almost as jarring as the few cards that came out with Langston as a Montreal Expo. His stint in San Diego lasted longer than his rental time in Montreal, but he wasn't anywhere near the staff ace he was in the 1980's and early 1990's. Though he did provide the Padres with some quality bullpen innings that year.
At one point, I tried to like 1986 Fleer, even buying a wax box off ebay about a decade ago. But it's still my least favorite Fleer design of the 1980's. A decade where each year had some pretty strong designs, when stacked up against competitors Topps and Donruss. While blurry, this photo of Viola about to unleash a knee buckling Circle-Changeup on some poor sap Detroit Tiger, is awesome for it's era. And that old school Twins logo is still worth praising...
I was so upset when Seattle traded Cruz -one of the hottest prospects in baseball during the 1996 and 1997 seasons- to Toronto, for a big sack of nothing, instead of building their team with him. Cruz in the same outfield as Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr.? That's a no brainer! But Cruz went to the Blue Jays, where he did... NOTHING...
And I really can't stand the updated late 1990's interpretation of the Blue Jays logo... Emphasizing the B and S was pretty appropriate in this case...
The best rookie card of a top Expos prospect, who played over 15 seasons in the major leagues, was a nice pull for me! I love 1990 Leaf as a set, and Grissom as a center fielder.
Again, I say 1992, but this could be any year... I'd also never heard of Tilly Walker as a player, but that picture is awesome. Every Conlon Collection card I see makes me want to see more!
As bad as an idea as the Toronto Blue Jays logo redesign was in 1997, it was even dumber in 2005. We'll take a team named the Blue Jays, and remove all the blue from the uniform. Other than a thin stripe around the numbers and chest logo. Which also had the word Blue removed. Now they were just the Jays. Not blue... Mostly black actually...
I was standing in the Mankato, Minnesota Kwik Trip gas station last year, on my way back to Denver, when news broke that Roy Halladay was killed in a plane crash off the coast of Florida. The Denver, Colorado (Arvada actually) native was one of my favorite pitchers in baseball. From 2003-2013, he was flat out dominant. Multiple no-hitters, impressive World Series and playoff performances, All-Star game appearances... Halladay was one of -if not- the best in the game. I will never forget watching his no-hitter for the Phillies in the 2010 playoffs. The first postseason no-hitter since Don Larsen in 1956.
Each year, Studio made either some really attractive cards (1991-1993) or some really gaudy cards (1994-1996). But the 1997 version of Studio was really nice. They went back to basics and produced a card set that is very easy on the eyes. (Including the "press proof" parallel set.) The problem with Studio, was that it went to a gimmick for 1997. Each pack contained several "cards" that were 8.5" x 11". And no one wanted to collect those...
And if you thought the Blue Jays logo redesign was bad, take a good look at what Disney did to the Angels uniforms in 1997...
1993 Leaf was a very nice set. Full bleed photography, with the exception of a marble looking pattern in team colors at the bottom of each card. A vast improvement over the lazily designed 1992 Leaf set. I was pretty surprised to find an insert from this set in these packed pack re-packs of packs. Especially one who was decidedly not a common. Out of the 25 card set, only Mike Piazza and Chipper Jones sell for more today. And back in the Summer of 1993, this Tim Salmon card sold easily in the $10-$15 range.
Zenith was a super premium line from Pinnacle Brands. Which produced some nice -if not overly gimmicky- cards in the mid-90's, before filing for bankruptcy in 1998. Pinnacle brands stayed on the leading edge of card printing innovation, and developed their "Dufex" method of foil printing. Which they featured in nearly every card set from 1994 on. And they produced some very nice cards using their new technology. (That scan does not do this card any justice.)
The Rookie Roll Call inserts fell about one in every two boxes of 1995 Pinnacle Zenith, making them a difficult pull for the mid 1990's. At one point, I was trying to collect the entire insert set, because it looked so good. Also because I chased stupid card stuff like that in the 1990's. I only was able to pick up about 5 or 6 of the set (no where near all of it) back then... But I do need the Pulsipher...
I've been a Barry Zito fan since the Oakland A's drafted him. Longtime readers of Wasted Quarter may remember me naming Zito as the 2002 "Aaron Award Winner of the Jeff Innis Award for All-Around Excellence in the Field of Baseball Playerizing." (Or something like that... I can't be expected to remember every dumb thing I write.) I followed his career closely from his stellar years in Oakland, to the disaster that followed his 7 year, $122 million dollar contract with the San Francisco Giants, and back to his 2016 career wrap up appearances with Oakland.
This serial numbered base card is numbered out of 4999. Hardly rare, but still a worthwhile card to have. (Zito's actual rookie cards came in the 2000 sets, so here he is just a prospect.) I didn't have this card before today, but was very excited to add it to the other Zito's in my binders. This is one of the cards that would have made my want-list, if I'd ever actually made one...
I will totally give PressTine credit, these re-packs were better and more fun to open than what Fairfield and Tristar have been offering up lately... All 7 packed packs of re-packs had a wide variety of brands and years, and some stuff that you don't often get in dollar stores. I would easily buy some of these again if I found them.
Which isn't to say I'm not still buying cards. Not at all! I've bought 8 packs of Topps Series 2 already and I don't feel like writing about any of them! Sure those packs of Topps Series 2 have netted me 2 base and 1 insert Ohtani's, but no one cares!
In that same time, I've picked up two Blasters of TriStar's World's Greatest Pack Search, and had infinitely more fun opening those 28 packs, spanning the last 30 years. (Plans are underway to Whatever those two Blasters at some point, but not today.)
Point being, this early into the 2018 Baseball (Card) Season, I'm already suffering from Ohtani burnout.
Basically, I don't care about 2018 cards. I'm sick of the lottery...
Okay, perhaps I'm a hypocrite for denouncing the Ohtani-ness of the 2018 card lottery as I'm buying Blasters advertising a chance to win a Babe Ruth autograph... But it's an imperfect world and I'm just trying to figure out my place in it...
The other night, Laura and I had some Aarons to run. She wanted to stop at the local Dollar Tree (which was a liquor store when I last lived here) for a few things. Reluctantly, I followed along, instead of waiting outside or in the car or anywhere but inside the dollar store...
But there may be cards inside!
Sure enough, up by the register and next to the annoying employee that thinks he's funny by making airplane landing jokes over the store intercom, sits a cardboard feeder box of 30 card packs. For $1 each!
That works out to just over 3 cents per card! I like that price!
I found 7 packs that had intriguing top facing cards, then dumped them in Laura's basket. Then I went outside to take pictures of clouds and non-abandoned buildings while she shopped for whatever it was she was buying...
Off in the distance, I could hear thunder and an occasional dim lightning strike. Nothing severe, but even a minor thunderstorm is a welcome sight after years of rather uneventful Denver weather.
Though this humidity can suck it...
Upon returning home, Laura, my mom and I opened those 7 re-pack packs, and I was stunned to find some really decent stuff inside for such little money...
A lot of this may make my permanent collection, instead of just ending up in the trash!
So... Whatever!
******
With that in mind, here are the Top 83 re-pack cards I pulled from 7 PressTine packs from Dollar Tree the other night!
#83 - Barry Larkin - 1995 Score Gold Rush
#82 - Bryan Clutterbuck
Back in my earliest days of defacing unwanted commons, in my most amateur and juvenile Junior High School ways, poor Bryan Clutterbuck was renamed Cryan Butterfuck.
Because I'm HILARIOUS!
Steal that one Baseball Card Vandals!
(Actually, please do... I'd love to see your take on it...)
#81 - Vance Law - 1990 Topps
Former Expo in Cubs digs at Wrigley...
With supersized glasses!
#80 - Danny Jackson - 1988 Topps Traded
The 1988 Topps Traded set features some of the worst airbrushing Topps had done since the 1970's. I remember being so disappointed in this set because it was so lazy. Score Rookie and Traded was awesome, Fleer Update was a great and visually appealing boxed set. Topps Traded? Well, it had Team U.S.A. cards!
I can almost let that atrocious windbreaker pass, even with that ridiculous cartoon button, but that Crayola drawn C on Jackson's hat is inexcusable...
#79 - Dallas Keuchel - 2016 Gypsy Queen
Some Gypsy Queen cards are nice. Then there's these... Such a hit or miss set...
#78 - Craig Biggio - 1992 Topps
Staying in Houston, we have one of the most boring pictures ever printed of the future Hall Of Famer. You can't convince me Biggio wasn't just finishing up a yawn... Just as I did after pulling this card...
#77 - Warren Brusstar - 1981 Topps
These seven re-pack packs had one 1981 Topps common in each. There were no cards older than 1981 in any of them either. Angry Warren Brusstar has reminded me of actor John C. Reilly on this card, though I'm not sure why. This is also my 4th copy of the 1981 Topps Brusstar... But with that sweet wood paneled Family Truckster over his left shoulder, this card is still a keeper today.
#76 - Gary Carter - 1990 Donruss
Yup, 1990 Donruss is still really ugly... And you can't get more of a basic photo than this one of Carter. A future Hall of Famer that at least had the decency to represent the Montreal Expos on his plaque...
(Disappointed finger pointing at you Vladdy...)
#75 - Joe Magrane - 1992 Topps Gold
Former 1987 World Series game 7 starter and future member of the MLB Network team of analysts, Magrane has long been a favorite of mine. I did not have this Topps Gold card (other than the one in my factory sealed complete set) before today.
#74 - Scott Diamond - 2013 Topps
While there was a 1981 Topps card in every packed re-pack pack, there was also an abundance of 2013 Topps in all of them. Diamond is a former (bad) Twins pitcher that was plucked from the Atlanta Braves in the 2012 Rule V Draft, and managed to linger in Minnesota for much longer than anyone expected. Not that the soft tossing lefty did a whole lot. But the Twins teams of that era did little to exceed the minimum Diamond provided...
The Twins of 2011-2016 were all REALLY bad...
#73 - Carl Willis - 1992 Stadium Club
From Diamond to the (impostor) Big Train... Not sure where that nickname came from, but Carl Willis bears no resemblance to the legendary Walter Johnson. Though Willis played a key middle relief role on the 1991 World Champion Minnesota Twins, and has since become a respected pitching coach with the Cleveland Indians, amongst others.
#72 - Wes Chamberlain - 1991 Leaf
I was supposed to have retired off my collection of rookie cards of players such as Chamberlain by now... But I can't blame on Chamberlain...
#71 - Ed VandeBerg - 1986 Topps Traded
#70 - Leon Roberts - 1981 Topps
Why is everything from the fifth row, from the side of Roberts' face and up, completely blacked out? What exactly is going on back there that we are not allowed to see?
#69 - Brandon Wood - 2007 Topps
How come Brandon Wood's facsimile signature looks like it reads: "Jan Wood"? Did Brandon have his mom sign his Topps contract for him?
You know, I could have solved that very question some four years before this card was even printed. Inside a pack of 2002 Bowman Draft, I received a redemption card for a Brandon Wood Autographed Draft Pick Chrome Rookie Refractor With Raisins. But I forgot about it during the great Colorado to Minnesota move of 2003, and the redemption expired without me noticing. Had I successfully mailed it in, I would know what Brandon Wood's autograph TRULY looked like...
Unless his mother, Jan, signed those too...
#68 - Carmen Castillo - 1988 Topps
The Indians traded Castillo to the Twins, before the 1989 season started. He played most of the next two years with the Twins as a DH and backup outfielder. He was an average player that wasn't either great nor terrible. My only Castillo memory of that time was being extra jazzed when I got him to sign a card after a Twins game at the Metrodome. An issue of Baseball Cards Magazine from a year earlier named Castillo as one of the toughest signers on the Cleveland squad.
I should have scanned it for this story...
#67 - Dave Collins - 1984 Topps
Since this card is from 1984, I can only think of Dynasty (with JOAN Collins!).
I do like 1984 Topps...
#66 - Fernando Tatis - 2001 Topps
Tatis would soon find himself in Montreal, playing third for the Expos, since the Cardinals wanted Dustin Hermansen so much. The trade didn't work out for either team due to injuries and ineffectiveness. Tatis's kid is a top prospect for the San Diego Padres now. Which really makes me feel old.
#65 - Danny Espinosa - 2013 Topps
That picture is begging for someone to draw something for Espinosa to ride,
over the sliding Chris Gwynn...
over the sliding Chris Gwynn...
Inflatable tube? Unicorn? Bouncy House?
All acceptable answers...
#64 - Andres Thomas - 1986 Topps Traded
#63 - Scott Rolen - 2007 Ultra
Some times I liked Rolen, more often than not I didn't. I collected his cards as a top Phillies prospect in the mid 1990's, and thought he developed into great third baseman. Then he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals... There are a few teams a player can be traded to that will make me dislike them quicker than the Cardinals. Most of the NL West and AL East fall under this category. And the Atlanta Braves...
Once in St. Louis, Rolen got cranky and pouty. meaning Rolen didn't like the Cardinals -Tony LaRussa in particular. So after a few years, Rolen's Cardinal feathers were swapped for (Toronto) Blue Jays. And I was a Rolen fan again. Until he wound up in Cincinnati to finish his career. I don't hate the Reds, I've just been given little reason to care about them... Ever...
#62 - Mike Kingery - 1995 Donruss
This Whatever's first Colorado Rockies entry, Kingery was a bit player for the Seattle Mariners before getting a shot with the expansion 1993 Rockies. Kingery played a few seasons as a 4th and 5th outfielder at both Mile High and Coors Field. Never a superstar, he provided decent backup value before fading away.
#61 - Wade Davis - 2013 Topps
Up next is the current Rockies closer. Davis signed a surprising massive contract with Colorado in December 2017, when their current free agent closer, Greg Holland, chose to hold out for even more money. Which he never got... Ooops! Guess who is having a better season too...
As for the card itself, I like it quite a bit. About the best thing the Rays have going for them is those striped stirrup socks. Those are pretty sweet. I don't even mind the powder blue Rays jersey, it kinda speaks Tampa to me... Of course I've always had a soft spot for the Rays. With the Expos gone, the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays have been almost adopted as Major League Baseball's pity team. You watch a Rays game and the only thing that comes to mind is:
"Oh, bless their heart..."
#60 - Jay Bell - 1988 Topps
The former all-field, no-hit Twins prospect (traded to the Indians in a package for Bert Blyleven in 1985) ended up with a lengthy career in the major leagues with the Indians, Royals, Pirates and Diamondbacks. Weather you want to question the legitimacy of his numbers is another issue...
AhchooooooooPEDs....
#59 - Steve Balboni - 1990 Donruss
Despite being a Yankee, Balboni is a player I was a fan of. Kinda doughy, big time power and little else. Oh, and a great mustache! As much as I dislike 1990 Donruss, the photo of the batting cage net seems to fit in well with the random speckles Donruss felt this design needed.
#58 - Will Middlebrooks - 2013 Topps
This guy was supposed to be good... I remember his 2012 Topps Update rookie card falling third in that set's value, just behind Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish. Well, of the three, Middlebrooks had the best looking rookie card I thought. But a season later, Boston was looking to dump Middlebrooks. His production never matched his rookie year levels, and he's bounced around the majors and minors, trying to recapture that promise.
All that aside, this is still a pretty great photo. Bonus points for the 100 Years (of Fenway Park) patch.
#57 - Kirk Rueter - 2002 Topps
Hold on tight, I'm going to say something nice about the San Francisco Giants... Their black and orange color scheme works surprisingly well with the Dijon Mustard colored borders of 2002 Topps. A set I can't stand. This card wouldn't have made the Whatever if it wasn't for Rueter being a former beloved Expo in 1993-1995. And I still hate the Giants.
#56 - Matt Joyce - 2016 Topps Chrome Specklefractor
I have no idea what to call all of the different Topps produced Refractors anymore, so my new thing will be to name them after what they look like. I see colored speckles all over it, so it's now a Specklefractor!
#55 - Bruce Ruffin - 1992 Topps Gold
Ruffin ended up as a member of the 1993 Colorado Rockies, and pitched somewhat effectively for the Rockies over a few seasons. This came after several below average seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Another 1992 Topps Gold (and not the more expected "*Winner" variation) card that I didn't have. And one with a nice pitching photo.
#54 - Mike Flanagan - 1985 Topps
#53 - Dennis Eckersley - 1992 Diet Pepsi
This is the first card I've owned from the 1992 Diet Pepsi set. Despite the lack of team logos, Panini didn't print these.
#52 - Turner Ward - 1991 Upper Deck
The late season 100 card "high numbers" set that Upper Deck tacked on to their base set (updating it for traded players and rookies) always featured some nice photography from Spring Training games. Ward's was a favorite of 1991, with the bright contrasting color and classic Indians logo. Upper Deck somehow managed to cram 3 Chief Wahoo's onto the card front. You won't get that in 2018, and not only because Upper Deck can't print baseball cards anymore...
#51 - Cardinals Future Stars - 1981 Topps
#50 - Kirk Gibson - 1992 Stadium Club
I totally forgot that Kirk Gibson played for the Pittsburgh Pirates...
#49 - Todd Van Poppel - 1995 Donruss
Since I couldn't retire on Wes Chamberlain cards alone, I diversified my portfolio and invested heavily in Todd Van Poppel futures... And while Van Poppel didn't pull a full-on Brien Taylor, his underperformance in the early 1990's led me down the road of forced gas station work and eventual graphic design training...
Had you only delivered on that predicted minimum 8-peat of consecutive Cy Young Awards that I was promised upon the 1990 Amateur Draft, I'd be on a beach in Cancun right now!
Damn you Van Poppel!!!
#48 - Bob Wickman -2007 Fleer
Wickman was wrapping up a successful career in 2007, after years with the Yankees, Brewers, Indians and maybe some other teams? I was a big fan of Wickman dating back to 1991, when I read about his cut off right index finger adding drop to his curveball. (Which can be seen on this card.) I wanted to see how that condition would affect his pitches in the major leagues. Wickman didn't disappoint.
#47 - Rob Dressler - 1981 Topps
Purple has never been a color in the Mariners palate. So why is Dressler sporting purple sleeves? After looking at this picture for a few seconds, I concluded that Dressler was wearing a long sleeve Minnesota Vikings shirt under the Seattle road jersey. The yellow and white stripes confirm that. Now, I don't follow football (honestly can't stand the sport), so I don't know if Dressler quit baseball to be an offensive lineman or something.
Maybe Laura knows, she likes the Vikings...
#46 - Billy Spiers - 1991 Topps
Poor Billy is about to be taken out by the unknown sliding Cleveland baserunner, at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I doubt he was able to throw the ball to first before being upended... But at least some people were watching! Making the most notable thing about this picture, the fact that the Cleveland Stadium stands appear to be full of fans! I attended an Indians Brewers game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1993, and was one of about seven fans in attendance... Proof that in the early 1990's, there were actually some people watching Cleveland Indians baseball!
#45 - Steve Stanicek - 1989 Pro Cards
Whenever I see a stray common broken out of a packaged Minor League team set like this one, I wonder which star card was pulled from the set to leave this one separate. I can't think of any key player that would have been featured on the 1989 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, that would have warranted breaking up a team set. But someone did.
But I'll give Stanicek a home. He looks needy...
#44 - Mo Vaughn - 1999 SPx
It's kind of a surprise to me when I get cards like this in a packed pack re-pack. SPx were far beyond my price range for cards in 1999, so I never bought any (this is also my first 1999 SPx card). Once I acquire one, usually at a cost of next to nothing, I wonder what all the hype was about. Granted this isn't a case -or even a box- hit, just a lowly common. But I see very little that is special about this base card that would make me pay $8 for a pack of five... Sure the hits may be nice, but they are just that... Hits. You are more than likely going to end up with a bunch of these base cards. And for that per-card price, I want something that looks a whole lot nicer than this...
#43 - Kevin Gross - 1990 Topps
This Kevin Gross was in the pack next to a 1989 Topps Kevin Gross. But the 1989 card had him as a member of the Phillies.
Guess which card wins?
#42 - Terry Leach - 1992 Stadium Club
It's my old friend Terry Leach! One of the best autograph signers in Twins history (according to me). After his 2 years and 1 World Series championship with Minnesota, Leach played two seasons with the Chicago White Sox. Which meant he got his highly desirable early 1990's era White Sox Starter jackets for free! And here he is standing in a very dimly lit Tiger Stadium. Lint aside, I've always liked this card.
#41 - Andy Benes - 1988 Topps Traded
When it was announced that the 1988 Topps Traded set would feature cards for members of Team U.S.A., I had visions of the legendary 1984 team that got a subset of cards in 1985 Topps. Fronted by the iconic 1985 Mark McGwire team U.S.A. card. Every collector remembers that selling in the $150-$200 range in the fall of 1998. Though, you can now pick up ample copies for under $10 a piece... Regardless, I was jazzed for 1988's Team U.S.A. set, which ended up having a much deeper roster than the 1984 Olympic team. There was no McGwire, but a fair amount of major leaguers who logged a full 6 years of service time.
Including Andy Benes. 1988 first round draft pick of the San Diego Padres!
#40 - Mitch Williams - 1991 Donruss
Strictly not a Cubs fan, but Wrigley shots on cards are always appreciated. And major bonus points were included for that sweet 1990 All Star Game patch. Not as many bonus points for that Cubs blue glove...
#39 - Kevin Appier - 1995 Upper Deck
1995 Upper Deck was a under-appreciated set in my collection. It featured a nice and simple design, but lacked somewhat in the photography department. On the whole, I felt the images were a little washed out and not as crisp as some of Upper Deck's previous efforts.
But any Upper Deck photos fall flat when held against their measuring stick, the infinitely awesome 1993 set...
#38 - Landon Powell - 2005 Bowman's Best
I really expected Powell to be a productive major league catcher. That didn't happen.
Another odd card typically not found in re-packs...
#37 - Lenny Dykstra - 1988 Topps
Great card... And oh look! An Expo!
#36 - John Cotton - 1992 Upper Deck Minor League
John Cotton was a top prospect for the Cleveland Indians in the early 1990's. He never made the major leagues, but his cards will always have a special home in my collection. In July 1995, I went on a Jay Buckley Baseball Tour. One of the other passengers on the tour bus was Betty Cotton, who was John's mother. She and my mom became friends over that 12 day tour, and would relay stories of John's playing in the minors to us. After the tour, I felt like I knew John from hearing his mother talk glowingly of him.
My mother and Betty Cotton, standing in front of the Jackie Robinson statue outside Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
While John Cotton never made the Major Leagues, he was a member of the 2000 Olympic Baseball Team that won the Gold Medal in the 2000 Olympic Games.
And that is still pretty damn cool!
#35 - Tim Wallach - 1989 Topps
Wallach was not playing for the Expos at that game in 1995...
#34 - Pedro Martinez - 2008 Topps Chrome
I overdosed on 2008 Topps and really don't ever want to see it again... Too many bad memories...
#33 - Joaquin Andujar - 1987 Donruss
#32 - Chuck Finley - 1997 Finest
Case in point... What a difference a decade makes on card production... Though I really disliked Finest after the 1995 set. Topps went too gimmicky with it. There was nothing wrong with a very limited press run, super premium card stock set. But Topps had to get fancy...
There would be multiple tiers of cards... And all your star cards would be shorter printed than the commons. And each set would be divided into subsets, highlighting what each player does better... And there's all sorts of Refractors... And then there's...
Knock it off Topps!
#31 - Shane Rawley - 1989 Topps Traded
I think I've covered Shane Rawley's disappointing single season Twins career enough...
#30 - Joe Mauer - 2012 Bowman
Yet, I don't think there's enough energy in my fingers to properly convey the disappointing Twins career of precious local boy Joe Mauer... Not disappointing in the sense that he never panned out and was a wasted #1 overall draft pick (2001)... Disappointing in that he should have been a mega superstar, but he was happy enough being that "Golly gee shucks, I'm just happy to be on the team, local boy does good", kinda star.
Hey Mauer, even wholesome hometown athletes need to hit the weights and develop their game! Instead of simply making the major leagues and spending the next 15 years coasting on a reputation that has never fully developed... A baseball player who stands 6 foot, 4 inches, and weighs in at 220 or so pounds, should be able to do more with a bat than routinely plinking the ball to shortstop or second base. And if they can't muster any more power to drive the ball than that, you don't give them $185 million Bill Smith...
Eh... It's a nice enough card...
But you know what they say about the word nice... It's what you say about something when you have nothing better to say...
#29 - Jose Canseco - 1999 Victory
Not a coincidence by any means that the next card on the Whatever is the anti-Mauer, Jose Canseco... An insufferable douche that wanted to hit home runs so badly that he injected himself with every chemical known to man, in order to hit those home runs...
However, Canseco earns back a great deal of cred with me in that he readily admits to everything he's done over the years. Which is definitely appreciated in comparison to the hundreds of other players from that era that continue to deny ANY wrongdoing as far as PED's go. Much like his giant inflated red-headed Oakland teammate...
And I know I'm in the minority, but I liked the rainbow gradient Tampa Bay logo on the old DEVIL Rays jerseys...
#28 - Vance Law - 1987 Topps
See what playing for the Expos does to your Whatever ranking, Mr. Law?
#27 - Trevor Plouffe - 2013 Topps
I'm a Trevor Plouffe fan. Have been since Minnesota took him in the first round of the 2004 Draft. This is also a good shot of the last season the Twins used this particular flavor of home whites. After introducing this pinstriped white home uniform in 1987, it lasted until 2012, with only minor tweaks.
Special note needs to be taken of big fat Gardenhire, lurking hungrily above Plouffe's left wrist...
#26 - Greg Colbrunn - 1991 Topps
I'm a big Greg Colbrunn fan as well. I'm really needing one of his 1998 Colorado Rockies cards so I can complete the trifecta. Mr. Colbrunn being one of only five players to suit up for major league games with the Rockies, Twins and Expos. And it would absolutely make my baseball season if the Rockies would make a trade with the Texas Rangers for Bartolo Colon, and bring that rare combo up to six... Come on, Dan O'Dowd would have done it for me! He made all sorts of trades that made no baseball sense!
#25 - Todd Noel & John Oliver - 1997 Topps
I really miss Draft Pick cards... Thanks Bud Selig...
Neither of these guys ever played in the Major Leagues, so it's kind of a wasted card. No idea whatever happened to Todd Noel, but John Oliver put on glasses, became British and got his own HBO talk show! Which is a really good show, so I'm glad he gave up on playing baseball!
#24 - Carl Pavano - 2001 Fleer Focus
#23 - Mike Jorgensen - 1981 Topps
Jorgensen carved out a nice career in the 1970's and early 1980's with the Mets, Cardinals and Expos. And while I would have chosen to crop this photo a little differently, it's one of my favorites in the 1981 Topps set.
#22 - Gary Carter - 1989 Score
Yeah, this is much better than Carter's crappy 1990 Donruss card...
#21 - Roberto Alomar - 1991 Leaf
The Blue Jays acquired Alomar after the 1990 season from San Diego, so it was the middle of the 1991 season before any cards of Alomar as a Blue Jay came out. 1991 Leaf was one of the first, and one of my favorites. While it's not very popular today, I was -and still am- a big fan of 1991 Leaf. There's also that great 1991 All Star Game patch shown as well...
#20 - Tom Kelly - 1992 Topps
His 1992 Topps card is my favorite Cranky Tom Kelly Topps photo. Fresh off winning the 1991 World Series, you'd think he'd be just a little bit happy... But you'd be wrong! Shown here, Kelly's already planning on running David Ortiz out of town, five years before he even joins the team!
Okay, that's a little far fetched... I bet he's just angry about Scott Erickson's socks...
Or it's the Shingles...
Cranky Tom Kelly Goutfisch...
(No one gets that joke.)
#19 - Rolando Arrojo - 2000 Fleer Focus
The former Cuban defector was a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for their first two years of existence. He was then traded to the Colorado Rockies in the ill-advised Vinny Castilla swap. He lasted only half a (bad) season in Colorado, before being moved to the Boston Red Sox. Which was a trade I remembered nothing about until I looked it up a couple of months ago, when I had a "Whatever happened to that guy?" thought...
#18 - Ted Simmons - 1987 Donruss
When I started the card collection over 30 years ago, one of the very first "vintage" cards I acquired was a 1975 Topps Ted Simmons. He was a Cardinal then, and had long hippie boy hair. The stats on the card back showed Simmons to be a very good catcher, and by the end of his lengthy career, a strong debate could be made that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. While he never made the Hall, he made my collection. I keep all Ted Simmons cards that I didn't previously have. Even though his career was dominated by playing for teams I greatly dislike...
#17 - Clint Barmes - 2006 Fleer
Good-field, no-hit players are tough to find in Colorado. The atmosphere up there makes nearly every player an above average offensive threat. And if it doesn't, you probably aren't going to last long in the game. Clint Barmes is a great example of this. The slick fielding shortstop hit well enough during his first 5 seasons in Colorado to keep his job. Once he got too expensive to keep through arbitration, he was shipped to Houston. Where he didn't hit (at sea level). After a couple more seasons of bouncing around, Barmes was out of the game...
But by that point, he'd made enough money to be set for life. This scenario is hardly exclusive to Barmes. Many players have parlayed early Coors Field success into lucrative mediocrity...
If I was a position player, I'd want to be drafted by the Colorado Rockies over any other team!
#16 - Joey Meyer - 1988 Fleer Update
Of course in order to test that theory, that player must hit well enough to actually earn major league playing time. While Meyer pre-dates the Rockies by almost a decade, he played several seasons with the AAA Denver Zephyrs. Hitting mile high and mile long home runs by the truck full, but he could never hit well enough in Milwaukee to convince the Brewers into letting him play for 5 seasons before trading him...
#15 - Denny Neagle - 1992 Upper Deck
Or, if you're a pitcher, Coors Field is where you send your career to die. After the 1999 season, Colorado decided to throw close to $200 million at top tier free agent starting pitching. They overpaid dearly, and ruined the career of Neagle, and nearly ruined the career of Mike Hampton. But I'll give Dan O'Dowd credit here. It was a theory everyone was wanting the Rockies to try, and he did. It just blew up in his face massively...
This is Neagle's rookie card. After blazing through the Twins minor league farm system in 1990 and 1991, Minnesota had a legitimate Ace pitching prospect. And in a very uncharacteristic move for the Twins, they packaged Neagle, along with top outfield prospect Midre Cummings, in a trade for a legitimate major league staff ace. John Smiley pitched well, but the season didn't work out for Minnesota. Neagle became a star in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Atlanta and wherever else he toiled.
Midre Cummings didn't work out either...
#14 - Stuffy McInnis - 1992 Conlon Collection
Oh, why did I ignore these awesome cards when they came out? First off, I'm not certain which year's set McInnis came from. The Conlon Collection was a set of cards released over a fiour year span (1991-1994) with each year being part of the same set (card numbers continued consecutively over the years), featuring the same black border with simple white text for a design. Each card showed a different picture taken by noted baseball photographer Charles Conlon, between 1905 and 1942. The Sporting News purchased all of Conlon's negatives in 1945, and after sitting them for nearly 50 years, they were released as a large card set throughout the early 1990's. I never bought any back then, despite them being fairly cheap (some 20,000 autographed cards were also hidden away inside packs).
Now I want them ALL!
A new collecting goal of mine is to acquire the entire Conlon Collection. I want a four years worth to complete the full set and house it in albums. These are simple and very attractive cards and belong in MY collection!
Stuffy McInnis? Never heard of him. But he and all of his era's friends have a home waiting in my binders...
And his name rules too!
#13 - Juan Pierre - 2004 Donruss
Stuffy should rank higher than Pierre. No offense Juan, I was a huge fan during your rookie season with the Rockies. And was saddened by O'Dowd including him in the Mike Hampton salary dump trade to the Florida Marlins, after the 2001 season. The speedy outfielder played a big role on the 2003 World Champion Marlins, and went on to a very respectable career. Stealing over 600 bases in the Majors over 13+ seasons.
I was also a big fan of 2004 Donruss cards, it was a very nice base set for that year.
#12 - Jose Lind - 1988 Donruss
Lind was a great fielding, light hitting second baseman that lasted a few years in the league, but didn't hit well enough to stick. Both in Pittsburgh and Kansas City his defense was highlight reel, his hitting was AA ball... Lind was still a player I liked to watch. In the field at least...
#11 - Mark Langston - 1998 Ultra
Seeing the longtime Seattle Mariner and California Angel pitcher pictured in a San Diego Padres uniform is almost as jarring as the few cards that came out with Langston as a Montreal Expo. His stint in San Diego lasted longer than his rental time in Montreal, but he wasn't anywhere near the staff ace he was in the 1980's and early 1990's. Though he did provide the Padres with some quality bullpen innings that year.
And I'm a sucker for cards that feature netting!
#10 - Frank Viola - 1986 Fleer
At one point, I tried to like 1986 Fleer, even buying a wax box off ebay about a decade ago. But it's still my least favorite Fleer design of the 1980's. A decade where each year had some pretty strong designs, when stacked up against competitors Topps and Donruss. While blurry, this photo of Viola about to unleash a knee buckling Circle-Changeup on some poor sap Detroit Tiger, is awesome for it's era. And that old school Twins logo is still worth praising...
#9 - Jose Cruz Jr. - 1998 Pacific Prism
I was so upset when Seattle traded Cruz -one of the hottest prospects in baseball during the 1996 and 1997 seasons- to Toronto, for a big sack of nothing, instead of building their team with him. Cruz in the same outfield as Jay Buhner and Ken Griffey Jr.? That's a no brainer! But Cruz went to the Blue Jays, where he did... NOTHING...
And I really can't stand the updated late 1990's interpretation of the Blue Jays logo... Emphasizing the B and S was pretty appropriate in this case...
#8 - Marquis Grissom - 1990 Leaf
The best rookie card of a top Expos prospect, who played over 15 seasons in the major leagues, was a nice pull for me! I love 1990 Leaf as a set, and Grissom as a center fielder.
#7 - Tilly Walker - 1992 Conlon Collection
#6 - Andre Thornton - 1984 Topps
Netting!
Chain link!
Empty Spring Training stadium!
Giant thick plastic framed glasses!
Prominent Chief Wahoo!
Windbreaker worn under the jersey!
This card reeks of the 1980's!
And is great for it!
#5 - Roy Halladay - 2007 Ultra
As bad as an idea as the Toronto Blue Jays logo redesign was in 1997, it was even dumber in 2005. We'll take a team named the Blue Jays, and remove all the blue from the uniform. Other than a thin stripe around the numbers and chest logo. Which also had the word Blue removed. Now they were just the Jays. Not blue... Mostly black actually...
So that's where Tampa Bay got the idea!
I was standing in the Mankato, Minnesota Kwik Trip gas station last year, on my way back to Denver, when news broke that Roy Halladay was killed in a plane crash off the coast of Florida. The Denver, Colorado (Arvada actually) native was one of my favorite pitchers in baseball. From 2003-2013, he was flat out dominant. Multiple no-hitters, impressive World Series and playoff performances, All-Star game appearances... Halladay was one of -if not- the best in the game. I will never forget watching his no-hitter for the Phillies in the 2010 playoffs. The first postseason no-hitter since Don Larsen in 1956.
The game will miss Roy Halladay...
#4 - Garret Anderson - 1997 Studio
Each year, Studio made either some really attractive cards (1991-1993) or some really gaudy cards (1994-1996). But the 1997 version of Studio was really nice. They went back to basics and produced a card set that is very easy on the eyes. (Including the "press proof" parallel set.) The problem with Studio, was that it went to a gimmick for 1997. Each pack contained several "cards" that were 8.5" x 11". And no one wanted to collect those...
And if you thought the Blue Jays logo redesign was bad, take a good look at what Disney did to the Angels uniforms in 1997...
#3 - Tim Salmon - 1993 Gold Leaf Rookies
1993 Leaf was a very nice set. Full bleed photography, with the exception of a marble looking pattern in team colors at the bottom of each card. A vast improvement over the lazily designed 1992 Leaf set. I was pretty surprised to find an insert from this set in these packed pack re-packs of packs. Especially one who was decidedly not a common. Out of the 25 card set, only Mike Piazza and Chipper Jones sell for more today. And back in the Summer of 1993, this Tim Salmon card sold easily in the $10-$15 range.
#2 - Bill Pulsipher - 1995 Zenith Rookie Roll Call
Zenith was a super premium line from Pinnacle Brands. Which produced some nice -if not overly gimmicky- cards in the mid-90's, before filing for bankruptcy in 1998. Pinnacle brands stayed on the leading edge of card printing innovation, and developed their "Dufex" method of foil printing. Which they featured in nearly every card set from 1994 on. And they produced some very nice cards using their new technology. (That scan does not do this card any justice.)
The Rookie Roll Call inserts fell about one in every two boxes of 1995 Pinnacle Zenith, making them a difficult pull for the mid 1990's. At one point, I was trying to collect the entire insert set, because it looked so good. Also because I chased stupid card stuff like that in the 1990's. I only was able to pick up about 5 or 6 of the set (no where near all of it) back then... But I do need the Pulsipher...
So maybe that chase is back on?
#1 - Barry Zito - 2001 Fleer Focus
I've been a Barry Zito fan since the Oakland A's drafted him. Longtime readers of Wasted Quarter may remember me naming Zito as the 2002 "Aaron Award Winner of the Jeff Innis Award for All-Around Excellence in the Field of Baseball Playerizing." (Or something like that... I can't be expected to remember every dumb thing I write.) I followed his career closely from his stellar years in Oakland, to the disaster that followed his 7 year, $122 million dollar contract with the San Francisco Giants, and back to his 2016 career wrap up appearances with Oakland.
So I collect Barry Zito cards. Especially his earlier A's stuff.
This serial numbered base card is numbered out of 4999. Hardly rare, but still a worthwhile card to have. (Zito's actual rookie cards came in the 2000 sets, so here he is just a prospect.) I didn't have this card before today, but was very excited to add it to the other Zito's in my binders. This is one of the cards that would have made my want-list, if I'd ever actually made one...
And the perfect way to cap off this Whatever!
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I will totally give PressTine credit, these re-packs were better and more fun to open than what Fairfield and Tristar have been offering up lately... All 7 packed packs of re-packs had a wide variety of brands and years, and some stuff that you don't often get in dollar stores. I would easily buy some of these again if I found them.
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Now here's another awesome abandoned building sitting in Crapids waiting for me to write about it...
Just to fulfill that Foreclosures portion of the story!
It's all about balance!
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