I think it was during the
pandemic (2021?) that I came across uncompleted 1984 and 1985 Topps sets at the
card store/comic store/action figure store near my jobs that acts as the
closest thing that I have to an LCS. The sets were $10 each. Both came in a binder.
And what I mean by uncompleted sets is that the person who sold them to said “LCS”
had taken all of the star cards out (and Mets card), and essentially sold the
rest for what they could get.
I’m
guessing less than $10 each.
When
I initially bought the sets, I didn’t realize they both contained that year’s
traded set along with the standard 792-card set that Topps put out in both 1984
and 1985. And, yes, they were plundered of all the star cards and Mets cards as
well. It was no matter to me. I wanted the regular 1984 and 1985 Topps sets and
had every intention of buying the cards I’d need to complete the sets. But Traded
Sets? As a kid, I didn’t even know about Traded sets until the 1985 set came
out with Vince Coleman’s rookie card or extra rookie card or whatever rookie
card in it. I certainly never considered Traded sets to be an addition to the
standard sets. I considered them anomalies, if I’m being honest; a 132-card agent
of chaos that muddied the waters of the rookie card.
But having once owned the 1985 Topps Traded
Set as I kid, I had to flip through the binder pages until I came across HIS
card.
There’s George Hendrick.
Smiling.
His ballcap backwards.
Seemingly happy.
In a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform.
George Hendrick didn’t have that great
of a tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates. To be honest, the team went 54-107
that year, so no one really had a good time playing baseball in Pittsburgh in
1985. In just 69 games Hendrick batted .230 with 2 home runs and 25 RBI. He was
gone from the team by August 2nd, traded to the California Angels, a
team that won the AL West the very next season. A season in which George
Hendrick batted .272 in 104 games with seven times the home runs he hit in
Pittsburgh.
I didn’t like George Hendrick.in
1985.
Like other Pirates fans I took out
our frustrations with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization out on him.
And maybe these guys too.
Thought I exclude Big Daddy from that bunch...maybe Orsulak too.
11-year-old me gleefully called
George Hendrick “Joggin’” George, one of the nicknames that had hounded the
4-time all-star his entire career.
I was glad to see him go.
But…
There’s always been something about George
Hendrick’s 1985 Topps Traded card for me. I can’t tell if it’s the happiness
made manifest in the image. George smiling. Maybe joking with another teammate
off camera. The idea that not all was bad between George Hendrick and the city
of Pittsburgh in 1985, gives me a warm feeling. I wondered when the picture
that been taken. Hendrick is wearing a batting jacket, so one can’t tell if
this is a spring training game, an away game, or a home game. A lot of
collectors can tell stadiums right away. I can’t. And the blurriness of the background
image doesn’t help in determining where the picture was taken. I’m curious
because I want to know if the picture of Geroge Hendrick was taken before the
season started, with there still being hope.
Or maybe just lighter moment taken
during a colossally bad Pittsburgh baseball year.
Regardless, the 1985 Topps Traded
George Hendrick card is a favorite of mine. It’s only one of two officially
released cards of Hendrick with the Pirates.
I like the George Hendrick looks like
he’s having the time of his life playing on one of the worst baseball teams I’ve
ever seen in my entire life. I like that unbeknownst to Mr. Hendrick that he’s
going to be getting the hell out of Pittsburgh before that hellish summer ends.
That he’d be shipped out to Anaheim. Maybe not too far from where he played
ball at Freemont H.S. in Los Angeles. That the next season he’d be playing for
something real, before his career finally wound down in 1988, after 18 years in
the Big Leagues.
Here’s
to you, Joggin’ George!
Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!
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