My Two Favorite Cards of 2022...And Why I Don't Like (Maybe Like) Topps Stadium Club

 

Hi

            Hello.

            It’s been a few weeks, hasn’t it?

            A touch longer than I anticipated.

            Well, you know what they say?

            How do you make God laugh?

            Make a plan.

            Or…shit happens.

            Anyway, I hope you all had a good holiday and New Year. Mine ran the gamut from blizzard to jury duty. I didn’t get selected…yeah! And, I guess I made somewhat merry in between those two things. I got to, sort of, see family in Buffalo during that blizzard mess. And the road Gods were kind enough to have the I-290 and I-90 cleared quickly enough so that I could get down to Pittsburgh to see even more family.

            And I got to act like a real card collector too!

            I went inside a Wal-Mart and came across one of those rows packed with sports cards.

            You know, the kind of rows we see in pictures that collector’s post on Twitter or Instagram.

            Images like this:

            Honestly, I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

            I grabbed a lot of these.

            Yes, my new collecting obsession is completing the 2022 Score football card set. I need approximately 30 cards to complete. And no, I don’t know why I’m doing this to myself. I have a year’s worth of blog post psycho-analyzing myself or brow-beating myself for always drifting toward building sets. The best I can come up with is that I still value the common card, and can’t just stack them away like some breaker on a YouTube video.

            Everything must form a function.

            But let’s not talk about set building…again.

            And, I know, I promised some year-end wrap up. But those are kind of boring. Besides, if you’ve read this blog on a regular basis, you can pretty much sum up my collecting year by what I’ve posted.

            No…this week I want to talk about my two favorite cards of 2022.

            Here they are.

            I’m going to write something that’s maybe a touch taboo in card collecting circles: I don’t care for Stadium Club. There…I said it. I will concede that Stadium Club has great photography. But, to me, it’s gimmick photography. 

            Mookie Betts in a fedora. 

            Ted Williams in pilot’s gear. 

            They may work for others, but if I’ve learned anything about myself as a returning collector over the last three years, it’s this: I’m as conservative as they come.

            Yeah…I was shocked to realize it too.

            I always fancied myself a fun card collector.

           

            I guess those days are over.

            Being a card conservative kind of sucks.

            It runs counter to my actual politics.

            But the truth is the truth.

            I’m a conservative collector.

            I want my baseball cards to look like baseball cards. Hitters hitting. Fielders fielding. Pitchers pitching. A player posing with a bat on his shoulder. Or in a stance. Maybe some dude sitting in the dugout like they used to do it.

            Just not Freddie Freeman having a quiet moment of contemplation.

            Oh, why did I leave Atlanta?

            That said...I do have my occassional exceptions to the rule:

            My biases being what they are, 2022 Topps Stadium Club Oneil Cruz and Rickey Henderson are my two favorite cards of last year. Maybe it’s because they are conservative cards. Both are true baseball action shots. The Cruz is a personal favorite. If you’re a Pirates fan, it’s pure Oneil. That look between excitement and giddiness as he rounds the bases, are what we’ve come to expect whenever he does damage to another team’s pitcher. It defines what us fans hope to see from home for a long time.

            Although judging by everything going on with Bryan Reynolds, the odds aren’t they good.

            As for the Rickey.

            I don’t collect Rickey Henderson cards.

            I appreciated him as a kid, but I was never a big Rickey fan.

            And I don’t like horizontal cards.

            So, why did I buy it?

            I…I was drawn to it. Baseball cards have captured so many good Rickey on the basepath cards. Here are a few.

            Rickey belongs on the base paths.

            And I believe 2022 Stadium Club has enhanced that bunch. You can tell by the uniform that it’s young Rickey. Hungry Rickey. Rickey’s who’s in the midst of a 100-stolen base season. The look on his face is pure concentration. He’s going to break for second at any moment. I loved it so much, something said, ah, just get it. Throw it in with the modest Henderson cards that you have, and take it out to look at from time to time.

            Also…I’m going to be starting this book soon.*

           *A brief aside...I feel like I have at least three blog posts where I say I'm going to be starting the Howard Bryant Rickey Henderson bio"soon." And I have meant to start it...soon. It's just that things like 680-page biographies on former Beatles keep getting in the way.*

            But I digress....            

            So, who knows where the Rickey collection is going to go?

            The card is an oddity to me too, because I don’t make it a habit to collect many post-playing day cards for players. I do that with maybe a handful that I’ve mentioned here: Ruth, Robinson, Aaron, Clemente and Stargell. Certainly not Rickey Henderson. But…this isn’t the first time Stadium Club got me like this.

            Let me present to the court, my favorite card from 2021.

            Hell, it wasn’t even just Stadium Club. Topps got me twice with Mr. Murray and 2021.

            So was I just bullshitting about my not liking Stadium Club. Or finding it gimmicky? Well…no. I mean, maybe, no? I think, for me at least, that Stadium Club has so many wonderful in-action shots. That Cruz card should’ve been his base image. The Henderson image was taken when card companies weren’t doing the whole horizontal card thing, so I get it. And for two years now the release has had some of my favorite images. Then I think: go buy a box and have some fun.

            But I know they’ll be images like this:

            And...sigh...I just can't.

Thanks for reading! Happy collecting!

NEXT FRIDAY: Bowman Draft and the perils of prospecting...when you're a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.

Year End Wrap Up Delayed : That's Sooooooo 2022

 I will have Junk Wax Jay wrap up on here by 12pm Thursday December 22nd.

Collecting by the Book: Tyler Kepner's The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series....and, oh, I collect Bill Buckner cards now.

 

We’ve all screwed up.

            We’ve all made mistakes.

            Bought the wrong items at the grocery. Told somebody something that we shouldn’t have. Sent a text or email to the wrong person…in a really wrong way.

            Forgotten somebody’s birthday?

            Mistakes.

            Look, I’m not happy about that fact. I hate mistakes. I hate making mistakes. I hate it when people I’m counting on make mistakes. I don’t even like the word mistake. It sounds like a kinder way to say failure. That’s probably harsh.

            But is it incorrect?

            Most of my mistakes have been small. Akin to the things I’ve listed up above. I’ve made a few big ones. Mistakes I won’t mention on here. But my mistakes have been personal. Out of the public eye.

            Not like the mistake this guy made on October 25, 1986.

            Ouch.

            Did you know he went 0-5 in that game too?

            More on Bill Buckner later.

            I recently finished Tyler Kepner’s new book, The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series.

             I’m going to go out a limb here…but if you’re a baseball fan…I think you might like it. I know that I’m a fan of the book. And I like Kepner’s writing in general. Both in his last book, K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, and the baseball articles that he writes for the New York Times.

Kepner is a good baseball writer. And he’s a fan. A big fan. You can feel it in his prose. His also a pretty great baseball historian. He’s a baseball history weaver. What I mean by this is that Kepner’s books aren’t straight narratives. Time moves in that Doctor Who wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey way. For a few paragraphs we could be talking about 1919 and those damned Black Sox, and in the next few paragraphs we’re in the 21^st Century, the early to mid-2010s, and Madison Bumgarner is doing some sick things with Word Series ERA.

And it all works.

By book’s end history finds a way to coalesce.

Anyone who can pull and bend and twist history, and then make it seem by book’s end that you’ve been told a straight narrative this whole time…well…they’re okay in my book.

As a card collector, I enjoy reading about baseball and baseball history. Obviously, nothing touches sitting down and watching your favorite player play their sport to the best of their ability, either in live action, or maybe watching a moment from games past. But reading about the sport, about players in action, is a close second for me. I can’t read genre fiction. My imagination doesn’t work with Sci Fi, Horror, or any kind of genre writing. But stick my nose into the narrative of sports non-fiction, and I’m there, man. On the field. In the stands.

Over the summer, I did a Junk Wax Jay blog post entitled: Collecting by the Book.

You can read it HERE.

The gist of the post was that I’ve developed this, well, to me at least, strange little PC of players whom I’ve begun collecting based on reading about them in sports non-fiction books.

Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about:

Okay, Terry Bradshaw cards I probably would’ve collected on my own. But I do credit Gary Pomerantz’s book on the 1970s Steelers dynasty, Their Life’s Work, to be the impetus for my really getting back into Football cards. Same with Dan Good’s book on Ken Caminit, Playing Through the Pain. Did I ever think I’d have Caminiti cards in my collection?

This brings us to my new inductee into the Collecting by the Book PC…

Ladies and Gentlemen and all others…I give you…Bill Buckner.

It’s a modest PC.

But it’s a start.

I guess you’re probably asking yourself, or maybe I’m asking myself, why, after having read a book on the history of the World Series, why would you choose to add Bill Buckner to the PC instead of someone else. No one from the Big Red Machine? Carlton Fisk waving that home run ball not enough to entice me to start truly collecting his cards? A Tim Lincecum PC not enough of a challenge? Couldn’t find a single player from the 1990s Braves teams?

Honestly, I don’t know why Buckner struck me the way he did in Kepner’s book. More than Pete Rose or Johnny Bench (both of whom I have many cards in my collection). Or Carlton Fisk (name a Hall of Famer who seemingly showed up in every single pack of cards I ever opened, and I’ll show you Carlton Fisk). Or Tim Lincecum (I have nothing witty to add here). Or a member of the 1990s Braves (I would never…NEVER…unless his name is Henry Aaron…collecting ANYTHING from the Atlanta Braves, past or present…all apologies to Ronald Acuna Jr.).

Actually, I think I do know why I chose Bill Buckner. He’s a sympathetic character…to me at least. If I know Red Sox fans, I’m sure there’s still some middle-aged guy out there in the world holding a grudge. Get over it, will you! They’ve won 4 in the last twenty years! Us Pirates fans have to go back to 1979 for the last time that once-storied franchise actually appeared in the World Series.

But I digress.

Yes, I have sympathy for Bill Buckner. The guy was hurting during that World Series. Buckner had been hurting almost his whole career, Had the guy not severely sprained his ankle in 1975, we might’ve been looking at a potential 300-hit/Hall of Fame player in Bill Buckner. Instead, we get the bottom of the 10^th-inning in Game 6.

Okay, maybe that’s too dramatic.

I think what gets me is that the 1986 World Series is the first World Series that I remember being fully invested in, as a fan and as a collector. The 1979 World Series Pirates, I barely remember. The 1980 World Series is the first one I remember. The ones between 1980-1984, meh to me. The 1985 Series between the Royals and Cardinals is probably the first Series that I saw full games played. I was eleven…they were on school nights, so I saw what I could. But the 1986 World Series is the one I remember being event television for me. Staying up to watch the whole game. Watching parts of games at friend’s homes and then racing back to my house to catch the rest.

I was twelve in 1986. I was probably at my collecting apex. At my most feverish as a collector.

I loved and hated the 1986 New York Mets. Still do. Hated them because they beat up on my hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. Loved them because…well…how could you not be wowed by Doc, Straw, Mex, The Kid, and that colorful cast of other players on the 1986. I might’ve “hated” the Mets, but you can be damn sure I had Gooden, Strawberry, Hernandez and Gary Carter cards in my collection.

Still do.

Full disclosure, me and my friends, Miller, we used to shut Pirates games OFF to put the Mets games on. In Pittsburgh we got New York’s WWOR with our cable package. They played Mets games back then. So, we’d just turn the dial. Boy was my old man pissed when he’d some in from the backyard to get the Pirates score, and we weren’t fast enough to change the channel back.

Remote controls, if you were lucky to have one, were still a touch on the slow side in 1986.

So, see, I was somewhat invested in the 1986 World Series.

Invested how…kind of a love/hate or love to hate thing.

I still don’t know if I’m happy with the outcome.

Actually, that’s not true.

I like the Boston Red Sox about as much as I do the Atlanta Braves.

Eighteen years in New York will do that to a guy.

And I collect this guy.

So....Let's go Mets?

But I remember seeing that Buckner play. And I remember feeling bad that the Red Sox blew it and couldn’t end the Series then and there. And Game Six was a crazy game. Tyler Kepner does a good job detailing just how crazy the game was, as well as the multitude of mistakes the Boston Red Sox made during the course of those 10-innings. Hint…it’s not just Bill Buckner, folks.

If you need a refresher, you can find it HERE.

Plus, the box score.

Yeah...Buckner wasn't having a good time at the plate either.

            And the folks at SABR do a pretty good job of detailing Bill Buckner’s career right HERE.

           A collector would be proud to have his cards in their collection. But Buckner got to be the goat of the 1986 World Series. People need to pin it on one-person instead of a bunch mistakes. It stinks that Bill Buckner got saddled with that. It’s nice that he made his peace (somewhat with it), before he died. That the bulk of Red Sox fans forgave and forgot. At least if what Tyler Kepner wrote is true, they forgave and forgot. Except that one middle-aged guy out there. You know who you are. Go watch your Big Pappi highlights DVD.

            And I’m glad to have Bill Buckner in my Collecting by the Book PC. And I like my Collecting by the Book PC. I feel like, as an adult collector, with players not on the Pirates, I've gotten into that rut of just collect the stars and all others pay cash. A boring PC...to an extent. And I don't want a boring PC. Having Buckner's cards or Ken Caminiti, or even Glenn Burke (another guy I started collecting because of a bio I read on him...it was easy...he only has two cards), adds a splash of color and fun mixing them in with all of them Cooperstown boys.

            I look forward to scouring SportLots, Flea Markets, 10-cent bins, and ComC for all of my Bill Buckner needs.

            That said...I'm currently reading this book.

            And these two are going to be coming up sooner rather than later.

            Collecting by the Book might be getting a touch on the expensive side.

            Be cool if someone wrote an exhaustive account of the 1988 Dodgers.  I've been looking for a reason to start my Kirk Gibson PC.

Thanks for letting me waste a little bit of your time today.

Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!

Next Friday: We’re wrapping up 2022…if that’s even possible.

Topps 2022 Archives : I Can't Quit You, Baby....Okay, I Kinda Can.

 

 

I said I wasn’t going to.

            But I did.

            At least a little bit, I did.

            Earlier I had made the decision not to purchase any 2022 Topps Archives. Cards can be pricy. One has to be selective. I knew that this was the year I wanted to buy some football cards. Unless you’re living under a card collecting rock, you know that football cards, basketball cards, i.e. any cards not baseball cards, have gotten a bit on the expensive side. Especially during the raging months of the pandemic when anyone and everyone got back into the collecting game.

            At that time Football cards (sorry, not a hoops fan and/or collector minus a few Jordan and Dr. J cards that I have) weren’t a priority. I was really exploring where modern baseball cards collecting was going to go for me. When I established what I wanted to be as a baseball card collector (have I actually done that?), I started turning my attention to football cards. But only older stuff. Mostly Pittsburgh Steelers cards. But, you know, once there’s a leak…I started buying football cards for modern players. But still only Steelers. And that was where I planned on stopping.

            But then 2022 happened.

            That big 2020-21 boom that we had in The Hobby seemed to die down somewhat.

            Football card prices began to look somewhat reasonable to me.

            If…certain sacrifices were made.

            I’ve talked on here about how I’m trying to purchase less and less wax. 2022 was the first year since I got back into collecting that I didn’t buy any Heritage cards, save the players I wanted. No Gypsy Queen. No Chrome. No A&G. No Stadium Club, whenever the hell it was coming out. No nada. I wanted to open less wax, but I also wanted to open…Football cards. I knew I could stay away from the aforementioned card products. But there was one obstacle in my way.

            Topps Archives.

            I genuinely love Topps Archives. I love that you get three primary designs from the Topps Vault. I love that it’s a mixture of old and new players. I love building Topps Archives sets, and collecting cards for my favorite players from that set. I’m a fan. I’ve extolled the virtues of Topps Archives on this blog more than once.

            And yet.

            Football cards.

            If I was going to buy football cards. Score first. And then Donruss whenever it comes out. I knew I was going to have to sacrifice Topps Archives as well.

            And I did.

            Sort of.

            Okay, I did two things.

            I found blasters at the MLB Flagship store.

            So I bought one.

            You know, just to see.

            And I bought some singles on SportsLots of players that I collect.

            First up, Jackie and The Babe.

            I don’t collect too many post-playing day cards for many MLB players But with Jackie and The Babe you’re looking at two that I do collect. I don’t maintain any delusions of grandeur that I’ll ever own anything original of Jackie’s or Babe Ruth’s. Their cards are too expensive and I’m a cheapskate. Like a big cheapskate. And I also have acute anxiety over big purchases. It took my three months to build up the courage to buy a new cell phone to replace the one that was…sort of still working?  So because of that, and because of me, I buy Jackie and Babe Ruth cards from their post playing days.

            Here are the other players I bought in their 1963 design.

            Two other guys whom I collect post-playing are Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron. And here they are featured on the 1978 Topps design.

            I’m a big 1978 Topps fan. Knowing this design was going to be featured in Archives this year, well, it made my decision to not buy the cards a little bit tougher. But I really wanted football cards.

            But I did get a Clemente and Aaron.

            And here are some of the other players that I’m adding to team sets or PCs.

            One of the things that surprisingly turned me off on 2022 Topps Archives, was the inclusion of the 1987 Topps Design. Let me say first; 1987 Topps design is probably one of my favorite designs of all-time. It’s certainly my favorite from my youth. I’m an unapologetic lover of the 1987 Topps baseball card design. I was happy to see it getting the 35^th anniversary treatment in base. But…putting the 1987 design in Archives…that was just overkill. And I’m sure Topps had reasons. I don’t know what they are. But it just seems odd to include the same design in Archives that you’re already celebrating in base.

            But I wanted a Satchel Paige card.

            Satchel’s another one whom I never going to own a real playing day card of, so I figured why not.

            And in a Browns uniform too!

            Plus, I’m planning to read this book soon.

            It seemed fitting that I got a Larry Doby card in the blaster that I bought.

            And speaking of blasters.

            I got these as inserts:

            Oh, how I WISH that Topps would make a throwback Topps Big Baseball set. Using the same size too. Just a nice 300-card 1988 Topps Big design.

            But I digress.

            Oh, and these are the other 1987 design cards that I bought for various team/PC purposes.

            Overall, I don’t have the FOMO from 2022 Topps Archives that I thought I would. The blaster rip and the SportLots purchase satiated that hunger. And I’m glad for the decision I made to get some football cards. Because I never know what to do with Hobby Box purchases, I’m not 38-cards away from completing the 2022 Score Football card set.

            Yeah me.

            Down another rabbit hole.

            Anyway…

Thanks for reading! Happy collecting!

Next Friday: Tyler Kepner's The Grandest Stage : A History of the World Series...and why I now collect Bill Buckner cards.

The Topps Woolworth Box Sets by Russell Streur

 

THE TOPPS WOOLWORTH BOX SETS

Russell Streur

 

 

For decades, Woolworth stores defined Main Street retailing in the United States.  Thousands of stores operated across the country selling everything from alarm clocks to parakeets and parchesi games and zebra-pattern evening dresses in the general merchandise version of the five and dime chain.  Barbie dolls and Superman comic books could be found in the aisles, and Easy-Bake ovens, and skateboards and baseball cards.  Lots of baseball cards.  In the junk wax era, the company partnered with Topps and produced annual exclusive boxed sets, eventually settling on a five-year run of season highlights printed on high gloss card stock.  It took a couple years to find the formula.

 

The first effort arrived in stores in 1985, in a 44-card set of all-time record holders carrying the Woolworth brand on the box.  A mix of black-and-white and color photographs are framed by a false wood border that faintly recalls the Topps 1962 design.  The player’s name and team are centered on a yellow plaque at the bottom of the card.  The set ranges from Hank Aaron’s 755 home runs to Cy Young’s 511 career wins.  Many of the names are instantly recognizable—Ernie Banks, Rickey Henderson, and Nolan Ryan to name three.  The inclusion of other players may be less obvious.  Johnny Frederick, who hit a record six pinch hit home runs for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932, is in the set.  So are season extra base hit leaders Earl Webb (67 doubles in 1931 for the Red Sox, Card 37) and Owen Wilson of the Pittsburgh Pirates (36 triples in 1912, Card 41).

 

 

Many on-line sources attribute the 1986 Champion Superstars set as a Woolworth product though it doesn’t carry a Woolworth brand.  Priced at a standard $1.99, it employs the soon-to-be standard 33 high-gloss photo card format and consists of batting, home run and RBI leaders in the two major leagues for the ten years between 1976 and 1985.  Visually, it is not an exciting set.  Except for a handful of cards, the photographs are all posed—ordinary bat-on-shoulder fare or stock portraits.  All the expected names are in the set—Wade Boggs, George Brett, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt as examples.  The surprise is Bobby Grich, who had his career year in the strike-shortened 1981 campaign and tied for the home run lead in the American League with 22.   Gorman Thomas pictured in Seattle Mariners garb on card 30 is just plain wrong.  In The Bible of Baseball, that blue-collar Wallbanger is now and always and forever a Milwaukee Brewer.

 

 

Topps issued its first Baseball Highlights set in 1987.  Sources again list it as Woolworth set, again in the absence of a brand.  A diagonal Collectors’ Series banner cuts across the top left, balanced by a parallel card title in the lower left.  On-field, live-action photographs give the set a colorful immediacy.   There are exceptions, notably the first card in the set, a retro portrait of Steve Carlton posed against a cloudless blue sky that commemorates the pitcher’s 4,000th strikeout.  The next five cards chronicle other 1986 regular season milestones including Rickey Henderson’s 600th stolen base, Jim Rice’s 2000th hit and Don Sutton’s 300th win.   

 

Then, ten cards feature the season’s batting and pitching leaders and rookies of the year.  The rest of the set is devoted to the post-season.  Marty Barrett is pictured midway through his 11-hit ALCS MVP series on card 17 and the NLCS MVP Mike Scott is shown on card 18, though the card is titled for his Cy Young award.  The remaining 15 cards focus on the back and forth of the classic seven-game World Series duel between the Red Sox and the Mets.  Mercifully for Bill Buckner, his 10th inning error in Game Six is not shown.  Instead, Ray Knight’s earlier hit in the inning is given top billing.

 

1986 Season Batting Leaders (Left:  Wade Boggs, AL, .357 Average, Card 10.  Right:  Tim Raines, NL, .334 Average, Card 11.)

 

Woolworth began distributing a branded Highlights set in 1988.  It followed the same order as the original set—the first cards consisting of 1987 season milestones, followed by the league leaders and award winners. Dave Righetti gets his own card as AL Fireman of the Year, but the award for his NL counterpart Steve Bedrosian is excluded in favor of Bedrosian’s Cy Young award on card 10.  The balance of the box is devoted to the league championship playoffs and the World Series. 

 

The 1988 set also introduced a new card design.  A red banner across the top of the card carries the Woolworth imprint in white lettering.  Beneath, the Baseball Highlights title of the set is printed in red against a yellow text box.  A blue border frames a photograph of on-field action.  There are two exceptions.  Card 11 shows a sour-faced Roger Clemens slouched against the back wall of a dugout, and Wade Boggs is shown pre-game in a batting cage on card 13.   With changes in the color combinations, this design will last through the end of the Highlights production in 1991.

 

1987 Highlights (Left:  Eddie Murray, Switch Hit HRs in 2 Consecutive Games, Card 5.  Right:  Mike Schmidt, Sets HR Mark at 3^rd Base, Card 7.)

 

 

Topps applied a new organization to the 1989 set.  Awards begin the set and are limited to six cards—the 1988 AL and NL MVPS, the Cy Young winners, and the Rookies of the Year for leach league.  Regular season highlights follow and include George Bell’s three Opening Day home runs, Tom Browning’s perfect game, and Randy Johnson’s September debut as the tallest player ever to take the field in a major league game.

 

Pat Tabler of the Kansas City Royals also gets a card, number 18, for his remarkable 7th hit in 8 bases-loaded at-bats in 1988.  A clutch hitter without compare, Tabler batted just under .500 with the bases loaded in his career, adding 11 walks and 9 sacrifice flies to his production.  He also reached base twice on errors and once by being hit by a pitch.  

 

The next four cards recount the league championship series.  The throttling of the Oakland A’s in five games by Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson and the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers is documented on cards 23 through 33.  Gibson’s dramatic game-winning home run in Game One is pictured on card 24.  Mark McGwire’s Game Three winner is pictured on card 27.

 

 

The 1990 set follows the new pattern.  Awards again begin the set and are limited to six cards—the 1989 AL and NL MVPS (Robin Yount and Kevin Mitchell), the Cy Young winners (Brett Saberhagen and Mark Davis, and the Rookies of the Year for leach league (Gregg Olson and Jerome Walton).  The bridge to the post-season cards is built on season highlights.  It’s a longer bridge than normal and includes Vince Coleman’s 50 consecutive stolen bases on card 10, Dale Murphy’s pair of three-run homeruns in the same inning on card 15, and Ryne Sandberg’s single-season record of 90 games at second base without an error on card 21. 

 

Only 11 cards (numbers 23 through 33) are needed to cover the postseason and four-game sweep of the Giants by the Oakland A’s in 1989.   A portrait of Dave Stewart marks his World Series MVP award on card 33.  The card shows the pitcher refusing to look at the camera.  Instead, Stewart looks off to the left, with the beginnings of a sneer, as if daring the Devil himself to come to the plate and take a swing or two.  Stewart gives the same look on Card 449 of the Bowman set that year.

 

 

The 1991 Highlights set is the final and the most attractive of the series.  The red banner of the 1988 set returns along with the white Woolworth lettering.  A yellow border replaces the 1988 blue, and the two colors also trade places for the title background.  The color schemes make good bookends. 

 

For the last time, the first six cards are reserved for award winners with regular season highlights leading up the post-season half of the set.   A collegiate Alex Fernandez in a suit and tie collecting the Golden Spikes award is pictured on card 11. 

 

 

Bobby Thigpen’s 57 saves on card 21 is also featured.  Highlights also include Dave Parker hitting the 500th double of his career on card 16, but Parker in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform is just plain wrong.  In The Bible of Baseball, the one and only Cobra is now and always and forever a Pittsburgh Pirate. 

 

 

Post-season cards begin on number 23, where Rob Dibble and Randy Myers of the Cincinnati Reds share the space as co-MVPs of the 1990 NLCS. 

 

 

The Reds disposed of the A’s in four games in the World Series that year, and the cards for the Fall Classic mirror the lopsided nature of the contest.  Of the nine cards devoted to the Series, only one shows an A’s highlight—Rickey Henderson’s single and two doubles in Game One on card 26.  Everything else is all Queen City—Eric Davis’s first pitch home run in Game One, Billy Hatcher’s seven consecutive hits in Games One and Two, Chris Sabo’s pair of home runs in Game Three, and Jose Rijo’s wins on the mound in Games One and Four.

 

 

The World Series Celebration cards in the sets evoke the World Series Thrills cards Topps produced in the 1950s and 1960s.  Upper: Mets Celebrate Amazin’ Comeback, card 32, 1986 Baseball Highlights.  Lower:  Reds Celebrate after Sweeping A’s in Four, card 32, 1990 Baseball Highlights.

 

Woolworth founder Frank Winfield Woolworth built the world’s tallest building in the early 1910s, paying much of the cost for the Manhattan skyscraper in cash out of pocket.  The good times lasted sixty years.  Eventually, beset by competitors, suburban malls, and bad marketing strategies, Woolworth fell from its pedestal, out of customers and out of chances to recover.  In 1997, the company was delisted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the once formidable market symbol Z disappeared from the financial pages soon afterwards.  Today, the legal successor Foot Locker and the “Cathedral of Commerce” at 233 Broadway are the only reminders of past glory.

 

 

It’s debatable whether Main Street is better off with or without the Woolworth store on the corner. It’s debatable whether baseball card collecting is better off with or without these small box sets.  But don’t debate whether to try the bubble gum that somehow survived intact the decades stuck to the back of the Gorman Thomas card in the Champion Superstars box.   Just don’t give into the temptation.  That desiccated confection from 1986 will instantly dissolve in your mouth, and you’ll need some Listerine to clear out an unpleasant aftertaste.  Thomas would recommend a frothier beverage, something with barley and hops.

 

---Russell Streur

Thank you, Russell!

NEXT FRIDAY: 2022 Topps Archives...a decision not to buy.