I bet you were all wondering what the heck happened to me of late. Well, everything is OK but today I was on Jury Duty so this one is getting posted late. I was going to write it last night for a morning post, but my wife had off all day and I wanted to spend it with her. In any event, I am back and ready to conquer. My latest tally of the 1987 set through 25 packs is that I have 375 cards or about 47% of the set. Not too bad and the double rate is about 7% which is worlds lower than last years (1986). Since no one let me know about the new design of the review, I think I will stick with it, since I think it allows for a faster read. So let’s look at pack 26.
1. Joe Carter – OF/1B – Indians – 220 – 27 years old
1987 Stats – 0.264/32/106/31, this was his first 30/30 year and it would be one of five..
Awards – Amazingly enough, none
Card Notes – During the down time of at bats, Joe was known to practice craps.
Fun fact – Joe was the MVP of the US team in the 1981 Intercontinental Cup Series vs. Cuba
2. Bill Buckner – 1B – Red Sox – 764 – 37 years old
1987 Stats – 0.284/5/74 split between the Red Sox and the Angels
Awards – None
Player Notes – After the 1986 World Series, you knew the Sox were going to dump him, I’m just surprised it took as long as it did.
Fun fact – None listed.
3. Toby Harrah – 2B – Rangers – 152 – 38 years old
1987 Stats – Retired in 1986, no stats.
Awards – None
Player Notes – Toby walked away from the game after a sub par 1986 season. One of the more underated players in the league.
Fun fact – None.
4. Reggie Jackson – OF – Angels – 300 – 41 years old – LAST SEASON
1987 Stats – 0.220/15/43/2, 41 and still mashing them out, he stepped away at a good time.
Awards – None
Card Notes – After striking out yet again, Reggie bashes himself over the head with his bat.
Fun fact – None
5.Chili Davis – OF – Giants – 672 – 27 years old
1987 Stats – 0.250/24/76/16, this was his last season as a Giant.
Awards – None
Player Notes – Chili was another one of those super underated guys that you love having in the 5 or 6 slot in your lineup.
Fun fact – Chili likes to cook, swim, jog and travel. He is an all around Chili.
6. Jeff Hamilton – 3B – Dodgers – 266 – 23 years old
1987 Stats – 0.217/0/1, he only got 83 at bats in 1987.
Awards – None
Player Notes – Jeff was one of those seldom used guys that the Dodgers (who usually draft very well) couldn’t cash in on. He was a 29th round pick though and for him to get to the bigs was big enough.
Fun fact – One of Jeff’s favorite pastimes is bowling.
7. Darryl Strawberry – NL All Star – 601 – 25 years old
Category on the back – RBI Leaders
Leader – Mike Schmidt, Darryl was 7th with 93. This was his 4th All Star appearance.
8.Billy Jo Robidoux – 1B – Brewers – 401 – 23 years old
1987 Stats – 0.194/0/4, very seldom used infielder, but one of my all time favorite named players, right up there with Jayhawk Owens and Heathcliff Slocumb.
Awards – None
Player Notes – Hey what can I say, he didn’t play much so there isn’t much to say here.
Fun fact – None, damn I was hoping for something!
9.Butch Wynegar – C – Yankees – 464 – 31 years old – Played with the Angels
1987 Stats – 0.207/0/5 in 92 at bats.
Awards – None
Player Notes – One of his last seasons, he was strictly backup duty at this point and even that was hard to come by.
Fun fact – None, worst pack for fun facts by far.
10.Glenn Wilson – OF – Phillies – 97 – 28 years old
1987 Stats -0.264/14/54
Awards – None
Player Notes – Man did this guy want to be Don Johnson or what? I bet he even had the white linen jacket at home.
Fun fact – In high school, Glenn starred in baseball, basketball, track, and football. How Jockular is that?
11. John Mizerock – 408 – C – Astros – 26 years old
1987 Stats – Did not play in the majors.
Awards -None
Player Notes – He was the 8th overall selection in the 1979 draft, it’s pretty fair to say he didn’t live up to the billing. Since he only had 231 lifetime at bats.
Fun fact – John graduated from Punxsutawney High, yep that one, the one with the groundhog.
12. Tito Landrum – OF – Cardinals – 288 – 32 years old – Played for Dodgers as well
1987 Stats – 0.222/1/10/2 in 117 at bats.
Awards – None
Player Notes – Tito was a career backup and this was the second to last year of his career.
Fun fact – None.
13. Tom Henke – P – Blue Jays – 510 – 29 years old
1987 Stats – 0-6/2.49./0.93 and 34 saves.
Awards – All Star and 13th in MVP voting
Player Notes – This was his best season so far. Should have deserved some consideration for the Cy Young.
Fun fact – Tom has a degree in building construction from East Central Junio College (Missouri)
14. Ken Schrom – P – Indians – 635 – 32 years old
1987 Stats – 6-13/6.50/1.58
Awards – None
Player Notes – Ken was a late bloomer and an early decliner, in other words he had a pretty short career.
Fun fact – Ken is employed as Assitant GM of the Double A El Paso Diablos during the off season. How tough is that job in the off season?
15. Ozzie Smith – NL All Star – 598 – 7th All Star Appearance
Category on the back – On Base Percentage
Leader – Time Raines, Ozzie was 7th with a 0.376 OBP.
16. Charles Hudson – P – Phillies – 191 – Played for the Yankees
1987 Stats – 11-7/3.61/1.25
Awards – None
Player Notes – By far his best season, really thought he turned the corner this year, but never did.
Fun fact – He enjoys playing dominoes, backgammon and chess in his free time.
17. Mark McGwire – 3B – A’s – 366 – 23 years old
1987 Stats – 0.289/49/118, this was the year that started it all.
Awards – Rookie of the Year, 6th in MVP voting
Player Notes - Look how freaking skinny he was in this picture! FYI in 1986 he played all his games at 3rd base.
Fun fact – Mark batted 0.302 with 53 homers and 147 RBI in 3 seasons at USC. Played on the 1984 US Olympic Team.
Normally, I would consider this a rather ho hum pack, but it’s got the McGwire card and that card means a lot to me personally. So overall I’m gonna give this a 3.5 star rating. Thisngs that added to this one was the Jackson card and also the Strawberry AS card. That guy Glenn Wilson though gives me the Don Johnson creeps. Well until tomorrow my faithful readers.
Seriously, look at Big Mac there, and that’s the skinny kid that hit 49 HRs as a rookie. Unless it was to recover from injury, did he really NEED the andro? Whereas Jose, who was verly likely already juicing at that point only cranked out, what, 32 HR in 1987?