Usually before I start talking about my next pack I drone on about the number of doubles I have gotten over the course of the box. I’m not going to do this today. Instead I will focus on why I chose 1986 as the starting point for my project. 1986 was a strange year for baseball, and I am starting to see that in the cards I review. For one thing, the baseball card industry exploded in 1986. There were more cards produced from 1986 – 1991 than most of the other years sets combined. Of course we were all dumb back then, we stupidly thought if we held these boxes for 2 decades then tried to sell them, they would be worth a mint. Boy were we wrong. We failed to take into account the reason the cards from the 60s were so valuable was because there were so few left. The older the card got the more it was worth, because the rarer it got. By the way I purchased these two boxes for a combined $9.00. More on my reasons tomorrow, so with that let’s rip into number 21.
1. Aurelio Lopez – P – Tigers – 367 – Aureilo for most of the 80s was a damn fine closer. Closers were different back then. They could work 2-3 innings if needed. He saved 21 games in a time when 32 was the most. 1985 was a rough year for him he wasn’t the primary Tiger’s closer, had an ERA of 4.80 and a WHIP of 1.43 which is not good for a reliever. He was 37 in 1986 and I would have though coming off that bad year he was through, but he cobbled together a very nice season with a 3.5 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP.
2. Julio Franco – SS – Indians – 391 – He was a young buck of 25 at this point in his career. It’s so weird to see him playing now and to look at this card and think of all the players that would make it to 2008 it was Franco. He is kin of like Willie Randolph but with more speed.While Willie was bagging 20 stolen bases, Julio was getting 30 or more. He had some pop, but not enough to be dangerous. His best weapons were his speed and average. Overall he is not close to being aHall of Famer, but falls into the same catagory as guys like Alan Trammell, BJ Surhoff, and Barry Larkin. Good players for certain but not game changing guys.
3. Jim Frey – Manager – Cubs – 231 – He coached the Cubbies right in the middle of the decade, but unfortunately this would be his final season as a manager. He was 23-33 and sitting in 5th place before the Cubs pulled the plug on his career. Gene Michaels took over for him that season and he guided them to a the 5th place finish. They were no better than they were with Frey.
4. Manny Lee – Blue Jays – SS – 23 – This was Manny’s rookie card, however he didn’t get hardly any at bats (78) and with those at bats he hit only 0.205. Part of the reason he didn’t play much was because he was really bad. But the other reason was that the Blue Jays had Tony Fernendez and you don’t need a Manny Lee when you have a Tony Fernandez.
5. Joe Orsulak – OF – Pirates – 102 – So he was supposed to be the next in line to become a Pirate’s outfielder superstar. He never did live up to that moniker. Sadly I have quite a few of his cards and I think I paid about 15 cents a piece. He had one of his signature bombs in 1986, 0.249 average 2 homers 19 RBIs and stole 21 bases. Not exactly setting the league on fire. But I would like to set my doubles on fire!
6. Terry Kennedy – P – Padres – 230 – Terry always had the good battingaverage but he never had much power, that was until 1982 when he hit 0.292 and 21 homers. In 1983 he hit 17 but did get a silver slugger award. In 1985 he made his third All Star appearance but his power numbers were dipping. In 1986 the numbers went up a little and he was still a relevant player in the National League.
7. Wayne Tolleson – 2B – Rangers – 641 – Definitely should be a member of the Hall of Scrubs. Although he did bad 0.315 and 0.381 with limited action in 1983 and 1985 respectively (which might detract from his Hall of Scrubs credentials), he made up for it with his time in New York as a Yankee. In 1986 he started off in Chicago with the Sox, but after torching the AL pitching for a 0.250 batting average he was traded to NY, where he would put up a 0.284 average to finish off the 1986 campaign. That my friends was one of his best years.
8 . Pete Rose 1967-1970 card – 3 – This was a retrospective set on Pete Rose, back when he was the darling of baseball and a Topps coverboy. This card charts his progress in the 1967 – 1970 seasons. It is a cool card that you get to see a very young Pete in his first four years in the majors. I do like Rose, but I hope he never makes it to the Hall of Fame. I cringe to think how many games he personally thew while he was managing or playing.
9. Pat Corrales – Manager – Indians – 699 – Boy Pat has been around forever. He guided the Indians to a 5 th place finish in 1986. His best finish while managing the Indians. He is still currently in coaching not as a head coach, but as any coach he can find a job as.
10.Rich Gossage – Padres – P – 530 – It’s funny a lot of people remember him as a Yankee (except maybe Steve from WS cards), but he was a White Sox for 5 years and a Padre for 4 years. He only spent 6 years as a Yankee. But in those 6 years, he led the AL in saves twice and never had an ERA of 2.64. He was one of those guys, that when he came in he rarely made a mistake. I think though if he didn’t make it in baseball, he had the face of a trucker. Look at that 80′s fumanchu, it’s borderline scary (especially with the aviator sunglasses) come on, just throw on a foam and mesh Mack Truck cap and it’s a complete transformation.
11. Steve Buechele – 3B – Rangers – 397 – Double, reviewed back in pack 18.
12. Ronn Reynolds – C – Mets – 649 – Double, reviewed back in pack 18.
13. Candy Moldonado – OF – Dodgers – 87 – Double, reviewed back in pack 18.
14. Bo Diaz – C – Reds – 639 – Double, reviewed back in pack 18.
15. Bill Laskey – P – Expos – 603 – Double, reviewed back in pack 18.
Overall a fairly good pack, especially since I pulled this year’s Hall of Famer in Rich Gossage. Other wise the pack was average, but with the Gossage card it gets pushed into 3.0 stars status. The Rose card was pretty cool and brought me back to a time when I enjoyed watching Rose play, much like Clemens cards will when I finally get them. Look for another review this afternoon from a pack of 2007 Artifacts, that I got last night in a trip to the Sportscard Zone in Cary. If you haven’t tried them out for cards, please give them a call, ask for Stacey and mention my blog.
