Bad Wax

Player: Don Mattingly

Set: 1984 Topps, Fleer and Donruss

Card Number: 8, 131, and 248 respectively

Why is These Cards are Must Have?: In the mid 80s, Don Mattingly was THE CARD you had to own.  If you were lucky enough, you had the 1984 Donruss Mattingly.  In 1984 he was 5th in MVP voting,  in 1985 he won it outright and in 1986 he came in second.  His cards started spiralling out of control.  I remember the Donruss going for nearly $75 in late 1986.  Here was a guy on America’s team, who was hitting lights out and was extremely popular with the fans to boot.  The perfect storm in the card world.  Next take a set like 1984 Donruss, which was made in limited quantities and now you have the super rookie card.  Well Donny Baseball never made it to the Hall of Fame.  He may never get there.  His numbers are great, especially given the fact he was only in the league for 14 years.  I can’t help but think that if he had won a second MVP he might have gotten in. He had a career 0.307 batting average and nearly 2200 hits in about 1800 games.  He was definitely an offensive threat but he was not among the best in baseball for a decade, and I really think that has to be the criteria for getting in.  I would say for 6 years he was one of the best, but not 10 years.  Still to this day he remains one of the hottest names in the baseball world and I will always be a fan of his.

On a Scale of 1 to 10, How Must Have Are These Cards?: A 7, two decades ago this would have been a 10+ but the reality is that since he isn’t in the Hall a 7 is the highest rating I can give him.  If he ever got in I would bump it to an 8 but that’s about it.  His career was too short and in my mind that hurts his rating. You can find these cards for between $5 – $8 for the Fleer card and about $15-$20 for the Donruss on eBay (more if graded).