Mets Card of the Week: 1992 Howard Johnson

1992 TOPPS MAGAZINE HOWARD JOHNSON

Back in the early ’90s, Topps took the booming baseball-card market as their cue to develop a slick full-color magazine.

They named the publication “Topps Magazine”– no doubt after months of intense and costly market research…

The editorial lineup was a medley of Topps history, baseball lore, current/past player profiles, and product pimpery.

As a bonus, each issue contained two perforated sheets of exclusive cards. Often, one of the sheets was dedicated to the winner of a recurring design-a-card contest. The prevailing aesthetic of the chosen designs was early ’90s in extremis– think the opening credits of Saved By the Bell, and you’re halfway there.

The second sheet in each magazine was made up of a slate of “official” Topps Magazine cards. The Howard Johnson card shown here was included in the Spring 1992 issue, which featured Hojo on the cover.

Some other highlights of this particular issue:

• An ad for the “Big League Baseball Encyclopedia” by Franklin. This was an electronic version of the baseball encyclopedia, roughly the size/profile of a pocket calculator, which gave you “Instant Access to Over 1 Million Stats!” It looks like it was probably a cold-sweat nightmare to navigate, and would run you a stiff $99.95 at RadioShack. I swear I can hear my iPhone laughing in the other room…

• Brien Taylor, Phil Plantier, and Chuck Knoblauch are listed among the “sizzling” players in the hobby.

• There is a long preview of the 1992 season, and the Mets are picked to finish first in the NL East, thanks in part to the addition of Bobby Bonilla. (Of course, the team finished the year 72-90, two games ahead of the last-place Phillies, thanks in part to the addition of Bobby Bonilla.)

• Topps also broke out the crystal ball and endeavored to identify the top long-range prospect for each MLB team. And thus, all these years later, a contest is born…

Due to what is perhaps a combination of OCD and having been dropped on my head one too many times as a boy, I happen to have two copies of this issue of Topps Magazine.

And a sealed subscriber version– containing all of the inserted cards– will be yours if you can answer the following question: Which player did Topps identify in this issue as the Mets top long-range prospect?

Here’s a hint: This player ended his big-league career with a total of 1 hit.

What’s more, his lone hit came in the 10th inning of a game. And I defy you to find me another player who logged his only career hit in extra innings…

Happy contesting, y’all!