Player: Ryne Sandberg “Ryno”
Set: 1983 Fleer, Donruss and Topps
Card Number: 507, 277, and 83 respectively
Why is These Cards are Must Have?: My friend Jeff is a huge Ryno fan, in college he always used to spell out how great he was. Personally, I always thought he was very good, but Hall of Fame worthy? I’m not so sure. He has a career 0.284 average, not quite 2400 hits, 282 home runs, and 344 stolen bases. When you look at his top 10 on Baseball Reference, only one player (Carlton Fisk) has gotten in, and one on the way in (Derek Jeter). To his credit, he does have one MVP award, 10 All Stars, and seven Silver Sluggers. Other people on his list are Barry Larkin, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Joe Torre, Pudge Rodriguez, Ray Durham, and Ken Boyer. Not exactly Hall of Fame names. Very good players indeed, but not Legendary players. I am not saying Ryno is a bad player, I’m just saying, he didn’t deserve entry, but because he is in there is a whole new level of player that now has an argument as to why they aren’t in.
On a Scale of 1 to 10, How Must Have Are These Cards?: A 7, all arguments aside, he is indeed a Hall of Famer and as such his card should be a 7 or higher. I just don’t place him in legendary status, so that’s why he is a 7. You can find these cards for between $3 – $7 dollars on eBay.
Wow, I didn’t realize that the Cubs were still wearing those “unique” powder blue pin-striped uniforms in 1982. Those are definitely one of a kind. I can’t think of another uniform after 1940 that even compares to those.
Thanks for stopping by my blog lately. I’ve been wondering who that was posting comments on there. No problem about the shout out. I give credit where credit is due.
I 100% agree with your assessment of him and his cards. I beleive his cards belong in collections, however, why the heck is he in the hall of fame?
I am tired of hearing about how Ryne Sandberg doesn’t belong in the Hall. You can’t compare stats of players at different positions. When Sandberg retired he set the career record for 2nd basemen in HRs and in had the second most HRs in a season by a 2nd baseman in 1990 (40). He still holds the record for career fielding percentage, which explains his 9 straight gold gloves. In fact, until Placido Polanco broke it a few years ago, Sandberg held the record for consecutive games without an error by a 2nd baseman. His .285 career BA was 14 points higher than Joe Morgan’s career mark.
On top of all that, he was far and away the best player at his position in that era.
Do his HR number match up to some of the stars from that era? Not across the board but there is no better 2nd baseman in the category (excpet now Kent). Do his hit totals match Robin Yount’s? No, but amongst 2nd baseman in his era there were few, if any, better. Do his fielding numbers match up? Well, yeah, to pretty much anyone’s – ever.
The biggest knock against Sandberg is his lack of postseason experience, however, he did hit .385 in October.
Sandberg is a Hall of Famer. He was one of the best players at his position of all time – not to mention his playing era.