Young Superstars #30 - Jose Canseco

Here we go. This is the biggest card in the set, at least in 1988 terms.

Canseco's got the rubber bat thing going on that Andy has mentioned several times on the 88 Score Rookies & Traded blog. And the ball is coming into the picture right along the righthand border. I wonder where that ball landed?

He's also got the field cap under the batting helmet look here, which is always nice to see.

What can you say about Jose Canseco's career that hasn't already been said? For all the things that he did wrong, I don't think there's a whole lot of us who grew up in the 80s who can honestly say we didn't like him (late 80s Dodger fans are .

Like I said months back when we were looking at the base release, I don't have a lot of respect left for Canseco, but I still like him. He was fun to watch in his prime, and he was almost painful and embarassing to watch as his career declined.

There are some who would argue that Canseco never really reached the potential he was capable of. In light of the steroid issue I don't know how valid of an argument that is. I'm sure side effects of the steroids played some role in the injuries he suffered later in his career.

But I'm not here to criticize him for what he did to baseball and what steroids have done to baseball. I'd like to, and I have a lot to say about it. But in the end, in 1988 there was no one in baseball that was more popular, larger than life and more fun to watch than Jose Canseco. And for that reason I'll always like him, even if I do know the truth about him.

Jose Canseco's career statistics

Young Superstars #22 - Luis Polonia

Luis Polonia was a pretty good contact hitter, posting a .293 lifetime average. He even played on two World Series winning teams (1995 Braves, 2000 Yankees). But what he will be most remembered for is a trade on June 21, 1989. He, along with Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk were sent to the New York Yankees for a 30 year old, future Hall of Fame outfielder. Seems kinda like Oakland got the better end of that deal.

This card gets some points for the field cap under the batting helmet look that you don't see too often these days. Actually, I can't think of anyone that I've seen do this recently... any ideas?

Luis Polonia's career statistics

Young Superstars #16 - Terry Steinbach

Terry Steinbach was a three time All Star in the late 80s, and MVP of the '88 Mid-Summer Classic. He was also a part of Oakland's 1989 World Series championship team.

I remember Terry Steinbach very well from his time with the A's in the late 80s and for some reason I seemed to have a lot of his cards. Every year during the World Series I'd go through my baseball cards and get out as many as I could of players on the two teams. When I got back into collecting in '08, a lot of my late 80s Dodgers and A's cards were still together.

The green in the border goes very well with his equipment and the card gets points for a catcher in full gear (it's be better if he had his mask on, but you don't always get what you want). The picture on the reverse of the card looks too much like a mugshot. This is also the first card showing a player doing something other than batting or pitching. However, it's not a very interesting picture.

Terry Steinbach's career statistics

Young Superstars #1 - Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire was a late season call up by the Oakland Atheletics in 1986, appearing in 18 games (.189/3HR/9RBI). But by 1988, Big Mac was one of the games premier players; winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1987. He would go on to play in 12 All Star games while winning a Gold Glove and three Silver Slugger awards, plus a World Series ring in 1989.

Even with his record 49 home runs as a rookie, I don't think any of us thought that this skinny fellow would turn into the cartoonish character he became by the late 1990s.

McGwire retired after 16 seasons at the end of the 2001 season. His home run totals are a bit misleading and his career numbers aren't what you'd think they were. His 583 home runs account for a third of his career hits. But one thing the numbers don't tell us is how exciting he was to watch. Even with the idea of steriods in the back of your mind, watching he and Sosa bash it out in 1998 was a lot of fun.

But I don't know how inviting Cooperstown will be. Thus far he's well below the needed votes to get in. Time will tell.

Looking at the card itself you see how vastly different this insert set is from the base release. These cards have a high gloss finish on the front and much of the back is taken up by a head shot. The cards have a quote by various front office execs about each player and a run down of some of their accomplishments. In terms of photography, these cards are every bit as good as the base release.

Mark McGwire's career statistics