Operation Topps – Topps 1986 (Pack 5)

We finally saw our fist doubles come in pack 4. Which was surprising to me but for many other people, it was later than they thought. I just figure if you buy a box, there should be a decent enough mix so that doubles could be kept to a minimum. I didn’t think I would see them until pack 10. Boy was I wrong! So we are at 58 cards and counting. I bought a 800 card count box, but I don’t think I’ll consider using it until we hit the 100 card mark. I was briefly considering filming the collection each day as it grows then linking them together in a movie. Then I decided, that was lame and I should be denounced as a serious geek for ever thinking of such ideas. So instead let’s just get to the 5th pack review:

1. Randy Hunt – C – Cardinals – 218 – Check out the specs on Randy. Do you think we will ever live in a day and age where a catcher would wear those kinds of glasses under his helmet? He should have opted for the Chris Sabo style so popular back then. Randy’s career in the majors was 2 years and 67 at bats. Hey at least he played in 1986 unlike some other players I have reviewed.

2. Lou Whitaker – 2B – Tigers – 20 – I remember sweet Lou as being one of those players you just had to have on your fantasy team, he was just so damn consistent and one of the better hitting 2nd basemen in the league. Every year you could pencil him in for 17 homers 0.280 even steal some bases. Plus since he was considered a “boring” draft pick, you could always steal him in the later rounds.

3. Glenn Wilson – OF – Phillies – 736 – From the picture below, I think that Glenn took Miami Vice very seriously and when the games were over and he was freshly showered, he donned the pink t shirt and white linen jacket / pants combo and went out on the town. I bet the ladies couldn’t get enough of his perma-scruff. 1985 and 1986 were his best season, but he never drew a walk and struck out constantly.

4. Ron Oester – 2B – Reds – 627 – I remember Ron being a starter for many Reds teams, but what I wonder as I read his stats is wh? He wasn’t even a one tool player. How did these guys end up playing for so long. He hit 42 homers in 4200 at bats, his batting average was 0.265 and the worst part is that I have 4 more years of his cards to look forward to.

5. Howard Johnson – 3B/SS – Mets – 751 – He was a Diamond Kings! How did that happen. I mean he was certainly very popular, and I’ll admit from 1987 to 1991 he had a bunch of solid seasons. However, his strikeout totals killed him. He was yesterday’s Eric Chavez, the guy you were waiting to break out of his slump when he was past his prime years and it never happened. Just like with Eric Chavez.

6. Jerry Mumphery – OF – Astros – 282 – He’s another guy who bounced around as a starter for a few different teams. Definitely had at least one tool, he could hit, but early in his career he was a speed threat on the bases. He hung around for quite sometimes (15 years), but once again Topps didn’t make the change on his card as he played for the Cubs that year.

7. Doug DeCinces – 3B – 257 – Doug was good for 20 homers 60 RBIs and 0.280 batting average year in and year out. I remember him as another one of those unflattering picks that could be had in the later rounds because he just wasn’t as sexy as the other players. Was great for you statistically though!

8. Dennis Lamp – P – Blue Jays – 219 – You know on the back of Topps cards they would make certain stats italicized if you were the league leader? Well Dennis has 2 stats like that, in 1980 while pitching for the Cubs he let up 123 runs and 117 earned runs, strangely enough his 5.12 ERA didn’t lead the league. Do you think when the players saw their cards, they didn’t want to see those two categories italicized?

9. Garry Maddox – OF – 585 – Growing up in New Jersey, I heard a lot about the Phillies and I always remembered hearing about Garry Maddox. He played for 15 seasons with San Francisco and Philly. Always hit for average and had some speed early in his career, he played a good chunk of years on the down side of his career when he probably should have bailed.

10. Jeff Burroughs – DH – Blue Jays – 168 – Best known for his son Sean and the little league world series. Actually played for the Senators, very rare to see that team name on a card in 1986. Jeff actually won the MVP award in 1974 as a 23 year old. Could you imagine what his rookie cards would have gone for if that was done in today’s age? He hit 41 homers in 77 second only to Foster’s 52. I would say after the 78 season he lived off his previous stats and actually retired after the 1985 season. So I guess we should wonder why he is even in this set?

11. Mariano Duncan – 2B/SS – Dodgers – 602 - Double pack 2.

12. Urbano Lugo – P – Angels – 373 – Double pack 2.

13. Rick Honeycutt – P – Dodgers – 439 – Double pack 2.

14. Terry Leach – P – Mets – 774 – Double pack 2.

15. Floyd Bannister – P – White Sox – 64 – Woohoo not another double. How annoying was that streak? It seems that Topps hassome seating issues in their packs. He is the father of current Royal Brian Bannister. He had a career record of 134-144 so we aren’t talking about a superstar here. He played for a while, enduring 15 years on 6 teams. He did have a nice WHIP which would usually mean that he was a consistent pitcher. I guess that’s why he was around the majors for so long. I would have said it was because he was a Royal, but the Royals had a really good team back then and it’s not fair to pick on them until the mid 90′s.

Finding 4 doubles, seated in almost the same order as pack 2, this pack was not the best I’ve reviewed. In fact, no future Hall of Famers, and maybe 3 stars in Whitaker, Johnson and BurroughsI just can’t rate this pack at more than 0.5 stars the 4 doubles at the end of the pack killed it for me, without those we could have rated it a 1 but 4 in a row!?!? in the 5th pack? Thats just crazy. Well until tomorrow, I hope you enjoyed my review!