1984 FLEER UPDATE DWIGHT GOODEN In 1990 I started a Dwight Gooden collection. Previously, my interest was all about collecting complete sets and that’s still very much my priority. But, given all of the various card manufacturers that were around then, it seemed reasonable to have a single-player corner in my collection. Gooden had already [...]
1988 TOPPS JOHN MITCHELL On the back of this card, we learn that John Mitchell was the International League Pitcher of the Year in 1986. It must have been a down year for pitching in the IL because nothing screams out awesome from his pitching line that year. Mitchell finished 12-9 with a 3.39 ERA [...]
1966 TOPPS KEN BOYER When I was in grade school, I read every sports biography I could get my hands on. Our school library had “Ken Boyer: Guardian of the Hot Corner,” and I became the third person in my house to check out the book from PS 1. Because their brothers seemingly had a [...]
1991 TOPPS SID FERNANDEZ This is a card from the junk wax era. But to me, this is the last great Topps set. The 1990 and 1991 sets aren’t thought much of by collectors and that’s a shame. The 1990 set was colorful without being garish and the follow-up was a modern take on the [...]
1982 TOPPS METS FUTURE STARS Perhaps the greatest rookie card in Topps’ history is the 1968 Jerry Koosman/Nolan Ryan card. And in Mets’ rookie card history there were plenty of examples of the card containing a player that went on to achieve great success. But to me, this rookie card is just bursting with potential. [...]
1971 TOPPS ART SHAMSKY After getting head shots with no cap while wearing a Reds jersey in both 1968 and 1969, Topps made it up to Art Shamsky the next two years. His 1970 card has him in full Mets uniform, mock swinging a bat. And the card has METS in yellow letters, which really [...]
1968 TOPPS BOB HENDLEY If Bob Hendley is remembered in baseball today, it’s for throwing a one-hitter in a game that Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game. The only run scored in the game was an unearned one, making it a perfect representation of the deadball 1960s. But what makes him a subject of the [...]