Bad Wax

Pack number three from box number two coming right up. So I was wondering, how many people used to pack search back in the 80’s? You may or may not remember, but when rack packs were out, you could thumb through each pack and see who you got in the whole rack. I must admit, I was definitely guilty of this. In fact I have several rack packs from back then that have major stars in them (even a Jose Canseco one Mario). I don’t feel bad for doing this because as I remember, everyone was doing it. I remember sitting at the bin in Kay Bee Toys and thumbing through pack after pack with about 5 other kids doing the same thing. The manager just looked on. He didn’t care as long as we didn’t open them and we ended up buy one or two. Like I said I’m just curious how many of you guys out there did this. Here is pack 39:

1. Cubs Leader – 636 – Of course the Dean of the Cubs is none other than Lee Smith, who without a doubt deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Cub’s offensive leader was Ryno and pitching was Eckersley (as a starter) and Smith (closing). I find that oddly interesting that they were both on the same team. I forgot about that. If the Cubbie management would have gotten the Eck sober faster, could you think of a more dominant bullpen?

2. Ron Guidry – P – Yankees – 610 – If you were a Yankees fan in the mid 80’s you were a Gator fan. In fact I had a Louisiana Lightning T-Shirt when I was younger. I bet my wife even thinks I might still have it, but alas I have another golden boy. You have no idea how important Guidry was to the Yankees back then. They might have had some lean years in the 80s but you knew when you handed the ball over to Gator you were going to get a great game. I personally got to see him pitch 2 times. Once against the Royals (he won) and against the Blue Jays (lost that one). Every time we went to a Yankee game I always asked my dad if he was the pitcher. I never realized how similar he looked to Don Mattingly.

3. Tom Lawless 2B/3B – Cardinals – 228 – Just call him back up Tom, because that is all he did with his pro career. In 8 seasons the only time he ever cracked 100 at bats was his rookie year (165) never again. In 1986 he played in more games than had at bats, that is one sad fact. I think even Tom is crying about that one!

4. Mickey Tettleton – C – A’s – 457 – Before Stienbach there was Tettleton. What I liked most about Mickey was his ridiculous batting stance, where he flexed his muscle before every pitch:

I even remember RBI baseball incorporated his stance into one of their later games. Mickey was a pretty dangerous hitter power wise, he was always a candidate to go long on you, even in his older years. He may never have had the best average as in 1986 when he went 0.206/10/35 in 211 at bats, but could he ever hit a moon shot and it was just fun to see that stance.

5. Len Matuszek – 1B/OF – Dodgers – 109 – Another Hall of Scrub candidate, with only 800 at bats in 7 seasons. Oddly though I do remember him playing and I’m not sure why. In 1986 he only had 199 at bats (nearly a quarter of all his at bats in the pros) and hit 0.261/9/28. Actually looking ast those numbers, it wasn’t all that bad.

6. Bill Krueger – P – A’s – 58 – Can anyone ever have that last name without being compared to Freddy? What’s funny is if you look at the picture below, and see that evil smile you could imagine those long yellow sleeved arms coming after you in your dreams. Overall Bill was a starter, not a very good one, but at least he was a starter. In 1986 he went 1-2/6.03/1.544, true it was an injury plagued year, but that is about his average stats.

7. Brian Dayett – OF – Cubs – 284 – Brian was another one of those guys that was a seldom used career backup. He never cracked 100 at bats for any season and in 1986 with the Cubs he went 0.269/4/11. Not awful numbers but he never was a big part of any team he was on.

8. Len Barker – P – Braves – 24 – Len either had one very small face or one very large glove. Also this was obviously taken during spring training because look at that sun burn on his face! Len was involved in probably one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history, where he went to the Braves for Rick Behenna, Brook Jacoby and Brett Butler. Len was a good pitcher but flamed out way too early in his career. Actually in 1986 he was out all season with an arm injury, which he sustained in 1985.

9. Ken Schrom – P – Twins – 71 – Ken was a starter for the Twins until 1985 when he was traded to the Indians early in 1986. He was actually a pretty good pitcher amassing 45 wins through 1986 (6 seasons). But he broke into the majors later than normal and actually 1987 would be his last year. He went 14-7/4.54/1.291 and had his only All Star appearance. To me it seems strange that even with a down year in 1987 he would retire after that season.

10. Britt Burns – P – White Sox – 679 – The White Sox really got shafted by the fine folks at Topps in 1986 yet another terrible picture (as seen below). Brit seems to be wondering what the heck is going on with that crazy photographer. Kind of makes you wonder what the guy is saying to Britt to make have that sourpuss on. Britt was actually an excellent pitcher over his first 8 seasons picking up 70 wins over that time period. Including 4 consecutive 10+ win seasons and 5 out of 6 10+ win seasons. After winning 18 games in 1985 he was traded to the Yankees, but as fate would have it, he developed chronic hip problems and would never play another game, retired at 26.

11. Jim Presley – 3B – Mariners – 598 – Double, first reviewed in pack 32.

12. Rich Thompson – P – Indians – 242 – Double, first reviewed in pack 8.

13. Tony Perez – 1B – Reds – 85 – Double, first reviewed in pack 16.

14. Charlie Lea – P – Expos – 526 – Double, first reviewed in pack 32.

15. Dave Collins – OF – A’s – 271 – Double, first reviewed in pack 12.

Really the stars of this pack were Gator, Tettleton, and Presley so not an overwhelming bunch. It did have some funny cards so, that was a plus, but I think overall I would have to rate this one a 1.5 star rating. It did give me 10 more non-doubles so that was very nice. I think this box is going to turn out to be real good. I definitely was afraid that this box would be a copy cat of the first box, but so far, that doesn’t seem to be the case.