Player: Matt Williams
Set: 1987 Topps Traded, Fleer Update, and Donruss The Rookies
Card Number: 129T,129U, and 45 respectively
Why are These Cards a Must Have?: Right off the bat, so you know where I’m coming from I want to say that Matt Williams is not Hall of Fame material. Now that’s over with, I can tell you what a spectacular player he was. I got my first glimpse of Matt while he played for the Phoenix Firebirds in 1986. I could tell from his 4 at bats I saw that he was going to be a solid major leaguer. Over the course of his 17 year career, he hit 0.268/378/1218. In 1994 he was on pace to break Roger Maris’s home run record, before the season was stopped. He had 43 homers that year. He never won an MVP award but finished in the top 10 4 times. He was a5 time All Star and a 4 time Silver Slugger award winner. He will forever be associated with 2 of the 3 franchises he played on. He was an Indian for one season in 1997. Both the Diamondback and Giants fans embraced him as a favorite son. Unfortunately for him it takes more than popularity to get into the Hall of Fame. He has enough popularity, it’s the stats he lacks in to get there.
On a Scale of 1 to 10, How Must Have Are These Cards?: A 3, let’s not fool ourselves, although he is very popular and his cards should be in any collection, I can’t put him at more than a 3 since he’ll never make the Hall and his numbers are so much further away from the Hall than most people think. You can find these card for no more than $1 on eBay.
