Since we have reached the 30 pack mark, we are at 510 cards so far. As far as I can tell we only had ~25 doubles. Which puts us way ahead of schedule for completing this set. I am hoping since the 1986 set was such a bust (missing more than 100 cards) that this set would redeem the Topps name. Sorry there was not review yesterday, things at work are hectic and I don’t see any slow down in the near future. I probably won’t be posting Sat. or Sun. But who knows. My puppy is getting fixed today so I have quite a few things going on in the background, but hopefully I can focus to get everything I want to get done completed. Here is pack number 30.
1. Aurelio “Senior Smoke” Lopez – P – Astros – 659 – 38 years old – Final Season
1987 Stats – 2-1/4.50/1.32 in 26 games
Awards – None
Player Notes – Aurelio might have the last profile shot in baseball history that compares to Homer Simpson. Of course we haven’t gotten to David Wells yet.
Fun Fact – His nickname came from his hard throwing pitching style, also cause he was from Mexico.
2. Bruce Sutter – P – Braves – 435 – 34 years old
1987 Stats – None
Awards – None
Player Notes -Bruce missed the complete 1987 season because of arm surgury. He did return in 1988. The above picture is a rather tame version of his beard.
Fun Fact – He is an avid fisherman and hunter (judging from the beard alone I have no prblem believing that). Also he and his wife have 3 sons.
3. Domingo Ramos – SS/2B – Mariners – 641 – 29 years old
1987 Stats – 0.311/2/11 in 103 at bats
Awards – None
Player Notes -Classic good hitting back up from that era. Not talented to play everyday but when he did play he made the most of it.
Fun Fact – He and his wife have 2 sons.
4. Cory Snyder – OF/SS – Indians – 192 – 24 years old – Topps All Star Rookie Team
1987 Stats – 0.236/33/82
Awards – None
Player Notes -Man I was so high on him, I thought this guy had superstar written all over him, especially after his breakout 1986 season where he went 0.272/24/69 in 416 at bats. I went out and bought a ton of his 1985 Topp USA Team cards. I still have those cards if anyone wants one.
Fun Fact – He hit a homer in each of his first 3 at bats in the 1982 season. He hold career records in 7 categories at BYU.
5. Tracy Jones – OF – Reds – 146 – 26 years old
1987 Stats -0.290/10/44/31
Awards – None
Player Notes – Another one of those rookies of the 1987 season who I thought was going to do spectacular and never really panned out. It was a big year for Reds rookies in 1987 topped with Larkin.
Fun Fact – His father, Jim, played in the Red Sox chain.
6. Duane Ward – P – Blue Jays – 153 – 23 years old
1987 Stats – 1-0/6.94/2.23 in 12 games
Awards – None
Player Notes -Still technically a rookie even after this (his second stint in the majors). He was way to young to be up in the majors at this point in his career. As evidence by his attempt to look older with a mustache.
Fun Fact – He was an All-State, Tournament, District, and American while he was in high school (that’s a lot of alls).
7. Mario Soto – P – Reds – 517 – 30 years old
1987 Stats – 3-2/5.12/1.45
Awards – None
Player Notes -Unfortunately for Mario, his best years were on some pretty horrible teams. At this point in his career his arm was starting to have serious issues and he would be out of baseball in 2 years.
Fun Fact – He and his wife have 2 daughters.
8. Mike Heath – C – Tigers – 492 – 32 years old
1987 Stats – 0.281/8/33
Awards – None
Player Notes – Couldn’t beat out Matt Nokes in spring training and ended up being his backup the whole season. Not a bad backup, but never really had starting material.
Fun Fact – He was a Reds fan growing up. You’d figure with free agency, he would try and get on the Reds at somepoint during his career.
9. Gary Pettis – OF – Angels – 278 – 28 years old
1987 Stats – 0.208/1/17/24
Awards – None
Player Notes -One of the faster guys in the league at the time but unfortunately not good enough numbers to keep him in Anahiem. He was shipped off to the Tigers where he had some success but never past the 50 SB mark again in his career.
Fun Fact – He was on of 4 brothers and was the Angel’s representative for the American Cancer Society.
10. Shane Rawley – P – Phillies – 771 – 31 years old
1987 Stats – 17-11/4.39/1.43
Awards – None
Player Notes -This would be his last good season. After years of 10-12 win ball, he put up this gem, a solid season.
Fun Fact – He earned a pilots license in 1980. One of his many interests is writing and flying.
11. Jeff Russell – P – Rangers – 444 – 25 years old
1987 Stats – 5-4/4.44/1.65
Awards – None
Player Notes – Someone forgot to tell Jeff that it was picture day at the park. Jeff was stuck in middle relief hell back in 1987, it would be a few more years before he would start closing.
Fun Fact – None
12. Darrell Miller – C/OF – Angels – 337 - Double, reviewed in pack 15.
13. Mark Thurmond – P – Tigers – 361 - Double, reviewed in pack 15.
14. Larry McWilliams – P – Pirates – 564 - Double, reviewed in pack 12.
15. Floyd Youmans – P – Expos – 105 – Double, reviewed in pack 7.
16. Orlando Mercado – C – Rangers – 514 – Double, reviewed in pack 24.
17. Walt Terrell – P – Tigers – 72 - Double, reviewed in pack 24.
Damn here is another dead pack. This one is worse because 6 of the cards were doubles. Overall I am going to give this one a 1.5 rating, we did have a Hall of Famer, but everyone else was so pedestrian. The majority of that rating goes directly to Bruce Sutter and that hysterical picture of senior “Homer Simpson” smoke. I will try and do a game used review tomorrow, maybe even a Operation Topps, if the time permits. Until then . .
Tracy Jones is now a radio talk show host in Cincinnati. I loved his ’87 Topps card and remember keeping it at the top of the rubber-banded stack that I carried with me, back when I had only a few dozen cards.