Bad Wax

Player: Andres Galarraga

Set: 1986 Fleer and Donruss

Card Number: 647 and 33 respectively

Why is These Cards are Must Have?: It’s interesting that out of all the great rookies that played in 1986 and 1987, Galarraga was the least remembered.  Talk about a totally underrated player. Did you know that he once had back to back to back 40+ home run seasons? Just to prove it wasn’t a fluke (the first two were in Colorado), he also hit over 40 in Atlanta.  Although he never won any post season awards, he was on five All Star teams and won a Silver Slugger award.  He has 2333 hits and 399 home runs, but sadly he is passed over in name recognition by all of his fellow compatibility guys:

1. Orlando Cepeda *
2. Jim Rice
3. Joe Carter
4. Willie Stargel *
5. Chili Davis
6. Fred McGriff
7. Dale Murphy
8. Jeff Bagwell
9. Will Clark
10. Carlos Delgado

Now I’m not saying that he deserves entry into the Hall but of this list only Chili Davis doesn’t have a shot at getting in.  Toss in the fact that twice in his playing career he developed cancer, and you realize that he would have had more than 400 homers and close to 2500 hits.  I don’t think he belongs in the Hall, but I do think he should get more recognition that he gets.  He was one of the better hitters of the late 80s and 90s, but will never get the accolades that someone like Will Clark or Jeff Bagwell would get even if they did have similar stats.

On a Scale of 1 to 10, How Must Have Are These Cards?: A 3, I wish I could give these cards more, but in the end he was not as popular as some of the other guys from that era.  He will never get into the Hall but he should be in your collection, because he put up similar numbers to guys that are already on the List. You can find this card for about $1on eBay, more if graded.