Player: Greg Maddux
Set: 1987 Donruss
Card Number: 36
Why is This Card a Must Have?: It’s fitting that I review this card today as he retired on Monday. He will be remembered as one of the greatest pitchers ever. It’s not every decade that you come across a player like Maddux. He won 4 Cy Young awards, 8 time All Star and 18 time gold gloves in 23 seasons. He’ll finish with 355 wins and 3371 strikeouts. He was the master of deception, not killing you with fastballs, just precise pitching. His 3.16 career ERA and 1.14 career WHIP are just ridiculous and if he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame on 100% of the ballots it would be completely unjust. This card is an absolute must of a Legend if there ever was one.
On a Scale of 1 to 10, How Must Have Are These Cards?: A 10, there is no way this card shouldn’t be in your collection. Even if you hate the Braves he is one of the top 5 pitchers to ever play the game. You can find these card for about $5 – $10 on eBay (much more if graded).
Why not include the 87 Topps Traded or the 87 Fleer Update in the ultimate collection? I think the 87 FU design is striking…though it doesn’t have the same mustache…
I have been reading your series and blog with interest. It seems the majority of cards are rookies. While I understand, rookies are important to a collection (as my shoebox full of them shows), there are other cards which can round it out. Have you considered first cards of a player on their signature team? For example, as a Phillies fan, I would consider the Carlton 1973 Topps card to be a key card to acquire for my collection. Or have you considered players with key seasons? This is why the Maris ’62 Topps is desirable. When you reach the ’90s, are you going to include signature insert series at the time, like ’93 Finest refractors or even’92 Fleer Team Leaders. I would be interested in seeing your comments about your thought process for this series. It has been interesting so far. Keep it up!
I have to agree with you on that. It’s something that I didn’t even consider. Actually I was planning on riding out the rookie cards, but now I see I have to rethink this list and maybe even go back to 1970 and re-work in the non rookie important cards.