Operation Topps – Topps 1986 (Pack 20)

Just so you all know, any double I get is up for grabs (or for donation on Naxcom), so if you want it let me know. While I was walking my dogs last night I was trying to figure out how many packs it took to get to 100 cards (w/ no doubles) I determined that it was approximately 9 packs. If that’s the case, the box should yield 400 cards twoard the set. Obviously the big problem would come if the next box was from the same production run or not. If it is then this might prove futile. I’m hoping that won’t be the case. Maybe tomorrow I will open a pack from the other box and see what I get. For now though, let’s focus on pack 20.

1. Carney Lansford – 3B – A’s – 134 – Somewhere in my vast collection I do have his rookie card (1978 I believe). I didn’t become a fan of him until he landed in Oakland. I always liked him on my fantasy team because he had some pop, some speed and hit around 0.280, plus you could get him in the later rounds. In 1985 he had a couple of injuries which limited him to only 96 games so no one knew what to expect from him in 1986. He turned in one of his best seasons with a 0.284, 19, 72 and 15 stolen bases to boot! I hope there are a few more Lansford fans out there, he was fun to watch play.

2. Bob Knepper – P – Astros – 590 – Bob had back to back 15 win seasons in 1984 and 85 so when he finished 1986 with 17 wins no one was surprised. In 1986 he had one of the best seasons of his career, 17-12, 31.4 ERA and a WHIP of 1.140. That was a good year for pitching and the Astros. They had 4 pitchers with 12 or more wins (Knepper, Ryan, Scott, and Deshaise), some of them even had thier best seasons that year, just like Knepper.

3. Denny Martinez – P – Orioles – 416 – I always remembered Denny being a very consistent pitcher. The truth was, when I looked at his stats, he didn’t become that until after the 1986 season. It’s as if he suddenly learned how to pitch more effectively. In 1986 Baltimore gave up on him and sent him of to the Expos (with a player to be named later for a player to be named later) so basically they just wanted to get rid of him. Something happened though, like a switch went off in his head and he became one of the most effective pitcher in baseball. Speaking of off the head, usually photographer have you look into the wind, what happened here.

4. Ray Fonttenot – P – Cubs – 308 – Ray had a dismal year starting for the Cubs in 1985. He continued that bad streak into 1986 and midwway through the season he was traded to Minnesota. He didn’t fare much better there and was later released. He tried to comeback for 2 more teams on 2 more occasions, but it never worked out. This would be his last year in the majors.

5. Brett Butler – OF – Indians – 149 – Brett may have been one of the best lead off men in Indian history. He was also part of one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history. He went to the Indians along with Brook Jacoby and another minor leaguer for Len Barker. In 1986 he was doing what he did best, soring a lot of runs, getting on base often and stealing when he could. He always seemed to be around the 100 run mark, steal 35-45 bases, hit around 0.290, and drive in about 50 runs. Just a solid player!

6. Scott Fletcher – SS/3B – White Sox – 187 – I do remember Scott but for the life of I’m trying to figure out why his name stuck out in my head. I remember him from the Ranger days, this was fairly early in his career. He played for a while but really has no distinguishing stats in his career. Interestingly enough he was 17th in MVP voting in the AL in 1986. He hit a whopping 3 homers, 50 RBIS, and hit 0.300. How does that put you as 17th best player in the AL. Would he even be a blip on the radar in this day and age?

7. Joaquin Andujar – P – Cardinals – 150 – from 1982 to 1985 he won 62 games, including back to back 20 win seasons in 1984 and 85. So what happened in 1986? He turned 33 and started his down slide from his peak. He actually played in Oakland that year and went 12 and 7 he missed about 10 starts through the year and never really got ontrack. This would be the best of his final years. What’s crazy is He was the man when I started getting into collecting in 1984. So I went and got as many of his cards as I could. It was a fast slide for him because by the end 1988 he was done as a major leaguer.

8. Lee Lacay – OF – Orioles – 226 – Something very strange happened with Lee something I have not seen on any baseball cards since I have been reviewing them. Lee started playing in the bigs in 1972. However after he turned 30 he turned into a stolen base threat. He stole almost as many bases when he was 30 as he did in his 20s combined. Usually you see it the other way. You usually see lots of stolen bases at the beginning of a career and then slowly those go away by the time you’re 30. For Lee is was the other way around. In fact when he was 34 he stole his career best 40 bases. Kind of crazy if you think about it.

9. Walt Terrell – P – Tigers – 461 – He was an inconsistent sub 0.500 pitcher when the Mets traded him to the Tigers in 1985, but then something clicked for Walt as he rolled off a 15 win season. Still not the most consistent pitcher, but at least he was winning games. In 1986 he would go on to post another 15 win season, again not the most consistent but he did help his team. I remember him simply because he was good for wins in fantasy baseball. Unfortunately for me he wasn’t good for much else.

10. Bob Bailor – 3B/SS – Dodgers – 522 – Almost no difference in his stats than Scott Fletcher, except Fletcher got a few more hits. However, no one remembers Bailor, and rightfully so since his last big league season was in 1985. He was the reason Sid Fernandez ended up with the Mets (part of that trade). He was released from the Dodgers in 1986 almost making it to opening day.

11. Joe Beckwith – P – Royals – 562 – To continue on with the mid eighties reliever marathon that Topps seemed happy to parade out in these sets. We come to Joe. He is your typical 80′s middle reliever, an ERA around 3.50, WHIP at about 1.25, ecept something went horribly wrong with in 1986. Through 15 games his ERA skyrocketed to over 6 and his WHIP went to over 1.8. In other words, oh well, your career is done. And just like that, poof, no more Joe in the bigs.

12. Pete Vukovich – P – Brewers – 737 – Look at his card below, that is one mean SOB. He pitched like he looked too. He came at you with some great stuff. Culminating in 1982 when he won the Cy Young award. He pitched hurt that year and his arm never recovered. He re-injured it in 1983 and missed a year and a half because of the injury. His comeback attempt in 1985 didn’t go as planned and he re-injured himself again. In 1986 he tried one more time, but he didn’t have anything left in the tank so he retired. An interesting side note though, he played Clue Haywood the Yankees slugger in the original Major League movie.

13. Graig Nettles – 3B – Padres – 450 – Man it hurts seeing Nettles in a Padres uniform. He was one of my favorite Yankees growing up (right next to Thurman Munson). Cleveland thought he was done in 1972 so they traded him to NY. Where he became a cornerstone in the Yankees infield for 11 years. He did more damage statistically than most people do after they turn 27 and he really didn’t start to curl off until he was 38. I understand why the Yankees let him go. He was turning 39, his best years were behind him, it didn’t look like he had much left in the tank, but I wish he could have gone out as a Yankee. Instead he pulled a Steve Carlton, he had 3 decent years with the Padres, 1986 being his last of them. Hey at 41 can you really argue 16 homers and 55 RBIs? He still stayed in the league for 2 more years. I wonder if they will have his cards for those years?

14. Storm Davis – P – Orioles – 469 – In the early part of the eighties, it seemed like Storm was going to be the anchor of that Orioles staff for a long time. Then 1986 came around, he had won 37 games before he even turned 24, he had a rough seasons went 9-12, which when you think about it, for a 24 year old that isn’t bad. Well the Orioles traded Storm after that season to the Padres. Thinking back, I think if I were with the Padres organization I would have been ecstatic about this. Getting a 25 year old who had won 46 games already, instead they turned around and traded him again to the A’s who were smart enough to keep him and he rewarded them with 16 wins in 1987.

15. Willie Randolph – 2B – Yankees – 455 – Double, reviewed in pack 19.

This was a pretty nice pack. Not only did I dodge the doubles bullet, but I got 14 more cards to add to the set! I’m going to give this one a rating of 4.5 stars. Any time you can post 7 cards out of a pack is pretty damn good! The Lansford, Nettles, Butler and Martinez cards were always favorites of mine. So they were nice to see in this pack. Remember if you want the double from this pack of cards just send me an email. Pack 21 coming up maybe later today or tomorrow morning.