Operation Topps – Topps 1986 (Pack 11)

We are cruising right along now. Still with about half the pack full of doubles, my hopes are starting to diminish with respect to sealing up this set with two boxes. I originally felt that I could finish the entire set in a little over a box and a half. Now with so many doubles coming at me I have serious reservations that I can knock this out in 2 boxes. I know there are a lot of I told you so out there, but hey, I didn’t expect a horrible seating like this one. We are at 129 cards so far and have 20 doubles. That is about 20% doubles or over 2 per pack on average. Well let’s have a look at pack number 11. If this one has a ton of doubles, look for me to start pack 12 today as well.

1. Jaimie Cocanower – P – Brewers – 277 – Really bad pitcher for the Brewers for 4 season, but only relevant in 2. This should have been his last card. Of course knowing Topps, they probably threw one in the 1987 set as well.

2. Keith Hernandez – 1B – Mets – 520 – Man I really remember Hernandez being the bomb in 1986. I remember that when the Mets got him, it was quite the coup. So you can understand my state of confusion when I went to look at his stats. His average yearly output was 0.296 batting average, 13 home runs, 83 RBIs, and 8 stolen bases. Does that sound like a cornerstone to a franchise to you? Now I’m not saying he was awful, I’m saying he was a very good hitter, but definitely not worth the attention he was grabbing in 1986.

3. Jim Pankovits – 2B/3B – Astros – 618 – He was a backup forHouston between 1984 and 1988. Never really parlayed any statistics, and I barely remember hearing the name. My guess is that I remember his name simply because of baseball cards.

4. Larry Herdon – OF – Tigers – 688 – Mark Kotsay is used as a comparison on Baseball-Reference. Looking at his stats, I can tell you he was probably a third or fourth outfielder on the teams he was on. Never really a star but a good hitter with some pop. One of those guys that “does the little things”, He stuck around the majors for a while but 1986 would be the beginning of the end for him, only getting 250 at bats and assuming a backup role.

5. LaMarr Hoyt – P – Padres – 380 – As Steve can attest, LaMarr for a couple of years in the mid eighties was a great pitcher. He won the Cy Young award in 1983 and it was by far his greatest season. 1985 was an excellent season for him with the Pads as he went 16-8, but 1986 would be his last year in pro baseball as injuries took him down. His comparisons in baseball reference are Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter.

6. Warren Brusstar – P – Cubs – 564 – He was a middle reliever from 1977 to 1985. He never played in 1986 but thanks to the Topps gurus needing 792 cards, we get a Brusstar 1986 card. I’m guessing there won’t be a 1987 since he was finished after the 1985 season, but you never know.

7. Larry Sorensen – P – Cubs – 744 – Another no-show from 1986. He did however play in 1987 and 1988, but not quite the same pitcher as he was in 1979 when he won 18 games. He was a below 0.500 pitcher who was basically irrelevant after the 1983 season.

8. Dickie Noles – P – Rangers – 388 – I love this card from 1986 mainly because of the presence of chewing tobacco. Do you think something like this could be printed in today’s sets? A player with a huge wad of chew in his mouth? I’m not naive enough to think that players don’t use chew anymore but I know parents would be up in arms to see a player with chew on a card. It just goes to show you how un-PC we were in the 80s. Wasn’t it great? Speaking of un-PC wonder how Dickie’s throat cancer is doing?

9. Billy Sample – OF – Yankees – 533 -Previously reviewed in pack 9.

10. Ken Griffey – OF/1B – Yankees – 40 – Previously reviewed in pack 9.

11. Rick Sutcliffe – P – Cubs – 330 – Previously reviewed in pack 6.

12. Ernie Camacho – P – Indians – 509 – Previously reviewed in pack 6.

13. Steve Henderson – OF – A’s – 748 – Previously reviewed in pack 6.

14. RJ Reynolds – OF – Pirates – 417 – Previously reviewed in pack 6.

15. Carlton Fisk – AL All Star – 719 – Previously reviewed in pack 6.

Looks like I’m gonna do two packs today. This one sucked. I give it a 1.0 star rating. If you don’t count the doubles then you’re just looking at a lone Keith Hernandez staring in this pack. Too bad, I had such hig hopes for this one. Figured we dodged the double bullet with the last pack. Turns out it was just starting. Well enjoy this one as I start hammering out the next one.