13 packs left, 195 cards and I am over 200 down. So now it’s just how short will I come from completing the set. I’m just hoping to get under the 100 card mark. As for what’s going on in my life right now, we got a card from Beckett and I am trying to figure out which way I want to go. Do I want the sports card monthly or do I want Baseball only? Does anyone know why there are only 10 issues in a year for the Sports Card Monthly magazine? Well I am leaning towards the sports card monthly, but I seem to have focused my collection on two areas. Game used cards (specifically jerseys) and mid 80s cards. So that’s why I would want to go with Baseball, and really I don’t care about Hockey / Basketball cards at all. Oh well, let’s peak at pack 59.
1. Tigers Leaders – 36 – The Dean of the Tigers is Lance Parrish. The offensive leaders were Sweet Lou Whitaker and Darell Evans, while the pitching leaders were Jack Morris and Willie Hernandez.
2. John Butcher – P – Twins – 638 – John had been in the league since 1980, but didn’t get cooking until 1984, his first year on the Twins. Then he started putting up 10+ wins back to back. The 1986 came around and he put up a 1-8/6.56/1.70 stinker and was never heard from again.
3. Keith Hernandez – NL All Star – 701 – Keith and Gary Carter were the two anchors on that 1986 Mets team. In 1985 he put up 0.309/10/91 and that’s why he was voted onto the All Star team. I guess it helped that he was very popular and played in the New York area.
4. Ed Lynch – P – Mets – 68 – Ed was a not so integral part of that 1986 team. In fact only one game into the season he was traded to the Cubs. Again on the how bad am I scale, it’s just moderate since he was traded in league and not division. Of course it was to the Cubs and that’s like trading him to another league since they weren’t a real threat that year. He went 7-5/3.73/1.26 that year.
5. Jeff Leonard – OF – Giants – 490 – Jeff was my come out of nowhere guy in 1983. He was a backup for so long in the league that when he finally became a starter, no one noticed or cared. Then in 1983 he went 0.279/21/87/26 and people cared. By 1986 he was a routine starter for the Giants and hit in the meaty part of their lineup. He went 0.279/6/42/16 in what would be the first of a few sliding years.
6. David Green – 1B – Giants – 727 – He was a back up player for the Giants in 1985 but missed the entire 1986 season due to being stuck in the minors. He played one more year in 1987 but that was mediocre as well.
7. Bobby Cox – MGR – Blue Jays – 471 – In 1985 he won the AL East with the Blue Jays, but lost to the Royals in the NLCS. He decided to take a break from being a manager and sat on the sidelines for the next 5 years until he ended up with the Braves in 1990, I guess the rest is history. While with the Jays, he went from 6th to 4th to 2nd to 1st, getting them better every year. I guess that’s what made him so appealing to the Braves.
8. Reid Nichols – OF – White Sox – 364 – Another back up outfielder for the White Sox, haven’t we seen a ton of these already? Reid hit 0.228/2/18/3 in 136 at bats for the White Sox. They released him after the season.
9. Tom Seaver – Turn Back the Clock – 402 – He had 9 top ten Cy Young finishes and 3 wins. In 1985 he broke the 300 win mark and this card celebrates one of his best seasons. On the front of the card we see what is his 1976 card. Seaver was big news in 1986 as it was to be his last season. He went 7-13/4.03/1.34 between the White Sox and the Red Sox.
10. Sammy Stewart – P – Orioles – 597 – Sammy was a half decent middle reliever who pitched in the early to mid eighties. He was decent until the 1986 season which was spent in Boston and he went 4-1/4.38/1.76. He got one more shot in 1987 but the numbers would be about the same and he would end his career on that note.
11. Steve Lyons – 3B/OF – Red Sox – 233 – Pyscho! Who didn’t love this guy. He did and said the strangest things. It wasn’t as if he was a great player. Actually he was moderately bad at best, but a good announcer. At least he does something good. In 1986 he started with Boston then got traded to the White Sox. He hit a combined 0.227/1/20/4 in what would be one of his better years.
12. Dave Palmer – P – Expos – 421 – Dave was a good, not great pitcher for the Expos since 1978. Basically he was good enough to be the 4th or 5th pitcher in the rotation. In 1986 he went 11-10/3.65/1.35 and that is a very good example of what he did year in and year out for the Expos.
13. Dave Dravecky – P – Padres – 735 – Double, first reviewed in pack 17.
14. Jeff Dedmon – P – Braves – 129 – Double, first reviewed in pack 1.
15. Ron Oester – 2B – Reds – 627 – Double, first reviewed in pack 5.
Overall I would rate this pack pretty good as far as non doubles. But big name guys, other than Seaver and possibly Leonard, it was pretty thin. Let’s give this one a 1.5 star rating based on the fact it generated 12 new cards for me. Anyone have any predictions as to how many cards I’ll be short yet? I’d be curious to get your guesses. Maybe I could set up a contest on this one. I have to think about that.
Those TBC cards were some of my favorite subset cards.