looking ahead.& Do You Remember?

I know there hasn't been much to say the last two days, but hopefully the next packs will get me back on track. I'd hoped to be able to complete the set with this box, but with the last three or four packs I've only been able to add between ten and twelve new cards to the set. So I'm not so sure now. I do have every intention of completing this set though, however I have to do it.

Up next is a second wax box of 1987 Topps. I'm itchin' to get into that one because I'm relatively close to finishing the set. But I'm going to wait until this box of Score is finished.

I'd also like to see what I can do wit 1989 Topps, because I've got a good start on that set with cards I bought 20 years ago. So that may be coming up after the second box of '87 Topps.

Lately though, I've been thinking really hard about trying to put together a set of 1981 Topps, the year I was born. Could be a challenge, but I'd like to give it a shot. After these two boxes of course.

-- Do You Remember? --

Do you? I didn't. I'd forgotten all about those little Magic Motion Trivia Card things that came in every pack of '88 Score. It was a 56 card set, meaning there's no way to complete a set out of one box. They're gimicky, but kinda fun. They're actually more fun now than they were 20 years ago. There's a lot of words on the back and I never wanted to read all of that back then, but looking at them now is interesting.



Yep, eight of them. I got a double of my Magic Motion Trivia Card. Oh well.

Pack IX

Pack 9
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
28 Jose Cruz
32 Juan Samuel
48 Tony Pena
173 Lee Lacy
187 Tim Burke
229 Jim Dwyer
231 Andre Thornton
249 John Mitchel
382 Mark Thurmond
398 Danny Jackson
402 Chuck Crim
493 Chris Speier
507 Willie Hernandez
513 Juan Nieves
657 Mike Schmidt – 1987 Highlights
654 Benny Santiago – 1987 Highlights
651 Super Shortstops

Another pack not really worthy of much comment. Better than pack eight yes, but nothing special. Three doubles, but in the end I was only able to add 10 cards to the set.

The two '87 Highlights cards are nice though.



This one is for Schmidt's 500th homerun. Remember, that was a big deal.

Eight.

Pack 8
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
38 Chris Bosio
42 Fred Lynn
58 Ken Gerhart
152 Mark McLemore
168 Ernie Whitt
172 Chris Bando
285 Ted Simmons
300 Bob Stanley
305 Hubie Brooks
393 Mike Young
407 Jeff Kunkel
413 Frank DiPino
482 Gary Roenicke
498 Jeff Dedmon
502 Reggie Jackson – New York
627 Kirt Manwarnig – Rookie Prospect
622 Floyd Bannister

Not a lot to say about this one. Four doubles and a few that I already had before. I did add 11 new cards to the set, so that's not too bad over all.

Maybe there will be something to say tomorrow.

Pack seven, oops, and a link

We'll start with the link first. Please, if you haven't seen it before, check out Mario Alejandro's Wax Heaven. It'll have a permenant spot on links list here as well.

Oops, because I mentioned several days ago that I was going to open the series 2 rack pack of '08 Upper Deck. I found them on the floor under the bed when I went to retreive today's pack of '88 Score which the cat batted off the desk and onto the floor. I'll assume she's also responsible for the UD cards taking a floorward journey.

Nothing too special in the pack. I pulled a Kelly Johnson, one of my favorite current Braves, so not too bad overall.

Now to the topic at hand.

Pack 7
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
37 Alan Trammell
43 Kent Hrbek
176 Greg Minton
184 Danny Darwin
196 Dan Pasqua
239 Doug DeCinces
241 Rich Gedman
259 Ed Romero
393 Mike Young
407 Jeff Kunkel
413 Frank DiPino
502 Reggie Jackson – New York
518 Don Aase
522 Jay Howell
646 Jeff Treadway – Rookie Propect
649 Speed and Power (Eric Davis, Tim Raines)
659 Mark McGwire - 1987 Highlights

This is the best pack so far.

There's not much to say about Alan Trammell that isn't already out there. He had a great career, all of it in once city which by the 1980s was becoming a rarity. Should he be in the Hall of Fame? By his numbers yes. But as much of a celebration of talent as it is, the HoF is also a popularity contest. Unfortunately, Trammell played on a small market team and didn't get the exposure as his counterparts in New York, Chicago and LA.

I'm confident that he'll make it though. He was just too good not to be there.



Next we have Kent Hrbek. As a Braves fan it's taken me seventeen years to get over game 2 of the 1991 World Series. But I'll admit, grudgingly as it may be, that he had a pretty good career. Beyond his career he's done a lot of charity work and is all in all an upstanding citizen.

But come on Kent, we all know you pulled Gant off the bag.



I lack one more card of completing the Reggie Jackson subset (of five cards, woo). This is the Reggie that everyone remembers.

And finally, we have this. See yesterday's post for comments on steroids and the like.



Like I said about Canseco, Mark McGwire was one of the biggest things in baseball in 1988 and he deserves to be here, highlighted for what he did 20 years ago, not what he did in 1998.

In 1987 McGwire hit 49 homeruns as a rookie. That's impressive. Especially considering how skinny he was back then.

Pack six & Where have you gone Julio Franco?

Pack 6
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
40 Willie McGee
45 Jose Canseco
60 Julio Franco
155 Marty Barrett
170 Mike Pagliarula
277 Harold Reynolds
283 Mark Wasinger
297 Terry Francona
381 Bob McClure
399 Cecil Fielder
401 Don Carmen
480 Richard Dotson
485 Pete Incaviglia
500 Reggie Jackson – Oakland
591 Bill Buckner
601 Dennis Martinez
604 Tony Bernazard



I don't want to, but I'm going to have to say a few things here about Mr. Canseco before we get on with anything else. Regardless of what he did or didn't do, Jose
Canseco was just about the biggest thing in baseball in 1988; and pulling this card 20 years ago would have made me ecstatic, today it just makes me rather contemplative.

I liked Jose as a kid, I think all of us growing up in the 80s did. I was really starting to get into baseball around the time Jose appeared on the national map, 86-87, sometime around there, and he was so much fun to watch.

He was a big guy in a bright green uniform. He looked like a superhero, with a big smile on his face. Then we all got a little older and something just didn't seem right. I don't want to get into the steroid issue here, it's a problem that hopefully baseball can figure out and deal with.

I will say this though. I was never a fan of Barry Bonds, so I don't care what happens to him. I wish for the sake of baseball and those of us who love it, that he'll come clean and say "yes I did," or "no I didn't." But as a person, I don't care what happens. But Canseco, I don't know, I don't have a lot of respect left for the man, but I still like him, in the way that you'll always like your first car. No matter how many times it blew up or broke down, you'll always have a special place for that car.

I got to see him play once, May 2, 1997, Oakland vs. Baltimore. My 16th birthday actually. Jose was back with Oakland, just before they traded away McGwire to St. Louis so I got to seem them both together for the last time.

Canseco went 1 for 4 with an RBI, McGwire went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts.

By that point I didn't care about either one of them much anymore. I was excited at the chance to see Cal Ripken Jr. play and he didn't disappoint, going 2 for 4 and scoring two runs.

Here's the box score.

Jose... you let us all down.

Moving right along.



What makes this pack a good one is Julio Franco. It looks like he's finally decided to hang up the spikes after a 673 year career. His wasn't one of those rarely used off the bench 25 year careers either. The man was impressive. He was a lifetime .298 hitter pushing 50 years old.

Hall of Fame? I don't know. He never reached the 3,000 hit mark and didn't really put up a lot of power numbers, but he could hit. Three time All Star (MVP of the 1990 game) and 1991 AL Batting Champion. Yes, he deserves to be in the Hall, just for his longevity alone (he never really showed weakness in his late 40s either), but time will tell.


I doubt he's done with baseball either. He'll probably show up as a manager somewhere before too long.

Pack Five

Pack 5 (6/16/08)
61 Charlie Leibrandt
71 Keith Moreland
171 Pat Sheridan
189 Gary Templeton
191 Larry Parish
324 Dan Gladden
221 Kurt Stillwell
239 Doug DeCinces
338 Eric Show
335 Mike Scott
340 Paul Molitor
472 Ellis Burks
480 Richard Dotson
475 Frank Viola
601 Dennis Martinez
619 Don Robinson
621 Nelson Liriano

Not a bad pack. No doubles which is always nice. Only two doubles in five packs isn't half bad. That means out of 85 possible cards thus far, I have 83 unique cards. If the rest of the box is this good, I may be able to complete the set. So far, adding in what I already had, I have 178 of 660 cards. Pretty good with 31 packs left to open.

It's always nice to pull a Paul Molitor. As far as I'm concerned, pulling any Hall of Famer, no matter what the monetary value of the card is always nice.

Sad note in this pack, Eric Show (1956-1994). A very outspoken player, and a good career until the drugs got him.

Pack Four

Pack 4 (6/15/08)
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
12 Ozzie Smith
28 Jose Cruz
32 Juan Samuel
162 Bob Walk
178 Mike Kingery
254 Johnny Ray
266 Willie Randolph
274 Dick Schofield
369 Mike Birkbeck
371 Dave Collins
389 Pat Clements
447 Greg Booker
453 Rafael Belliard
467 Jerry Mumphrey
588 Gene Nelson
583 Jeff DeWillis
586 Andy Allanson

GMIB
42 Ebbets Field, 4/15/47

Four packs in and the doubles start to show up. For now it doesn't look like doubles in this box will be as irritating as in my last box of '87 Topps. In the Topps box, if you pulled a double, you knew there was a good chance that the next two to four cards would also be doubles.

There's nothing in this pack to get excited about. No rookies, nothing special at all. I did always like Rafael Belliard though, gotta pull for the underdog.