The Trading Post #110: Summer of '74

If you're not following Summer of '74, a newcomer to the blog community, head on over and take a look. Matt and I have already swapped cards once, and a 1994 Topps-focused post he did in October caught my eye. He showed a bunch of base cards from an unopened box of Series 2, and offered the one-per-pack Topps Gold parallels, which I happily claimed. It and its 1993 predecessor were the first parallel sets I chased, and I enjoy them just as much today.

There's lots of mid-1990s Topps goodness to be found over on Matt's blog, including Tuesday's post about 1995 Topps. There were lots of clouds involved. But in 1994, before the strike, Topps was still sticking with pretty traditional photographs. They dabbled with images on the back in 1992 and 1993, with stadiums and headshots, respectively. But in 1994, they finally followed Upper Deck's lead and gave us action shots on the back, too.

1994 Topps Gold #669 Tim Wakefield

Tim Wakefield's front image in 1994 Topps is more interesting than the back. Before he began his long tenure with the Red Sox, he spent two seasons on the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's an unfamiliar uniform, because Wakefield was getting lots of national exposure when the Red Sox were regularly appearing in high-profile playoff series, often against the Yankees. And he's known for more than just giving up the Aaron Boone home run. He took the victory in Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, a 14-inning marathon that kept the Red Sox alive and enabled them to finally break their curse.

I've been watching a lot of sports documentaries this off-season, including many episodes of ESPN's 30 for 30. The other night, I saw the Four Days in October episode, chronicling that improbable comeback that the Red Sox made while being down 3-0 to the defending pennant winners. Wakefield didn't have a huge role to play that year, but he won his ring nonetheless. He is, on the other hand, a prime figure in the Knuckleball documentary, his signature pitch. I feel that Topps' photography on this card is appropriate, the slow shutter speed blurring Wakefield's hand and the ball, adding to the mystery and unpredictability of the knuckleball pitch.

1994 Topps Gold #625 Charlie Hough

Charlie Hough threw it too, and we can see the grip much more clearly. It's another unfamiliar uniform, as he spent most of his career with the Dodgers and Rangers, squeezed onto the back in the tiniest of fonts. But he was a Marlin in 1993 and 1994, their equivalent of Bryn Smith, another veteran hurler who kicked off the Rockies' inaugural home opener. As I've said before, I know many other fans never knew of this period in Hough's career, but given when I started collecting, seeing him in the Marlins' early turquoise colors looks a lot more normal to me than to longtime Dodgers and Rangers fans.

Sadly, this was Hough's final Topps card. The shrunken 1995 set didn't have room for him, let alone another line in his career that spanned a quarter-century. It's a sunset card and an unfamiliar uniform all wrapped up in one, along with a highly unusual pitch that only two current players use.

1994 Topps Gold #460 Orel Hershiser

Orel Hershiser had a much more conventional pitching style, and thanks to 1989 Donruss, we know he can juggle. He could actually hit, too, earning the elusive pitcher's Silver Slugger award in 1993. The sentence on the back tells us he was near the .404 Major League record for batting average by a pitcher before settling at a still-impressive .356. His 1988 season has a lot of red on it, the same year he pitched a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings. That helped his season statistics climb as high as 23 wins, 15 complete games, and 8 shutouts, on his way to the NL Cy Young award, not to mention a World Series ring. Surprisingly, none of these players are in the Hall of Fame, but Hough and Hershiser had a decent shot.

By the way, if Topps did then what they do now, just giving us five years of stats, Hershiser's amazing 1988 season would have scrolled off the screen by the time his 1994 card was printed.

1994 Topps Gold #470 Rafael Palmeiro

Rafael Palmeiro holds the dubious distinction of being the first All-Star MLB player suspended for using steroids. Yet, at 53, he's talking about making a comeback. If it does happen, I hope it ends up being more than just a publicity stunt. But it would be interesting to see such a giant gap in his statistics if he gets a 2019 Topps card.

As you can see, these Topps Gold cards didn't survive almost 25 years in a pack unscathed. Most are fine, but a handful, like this one, show clear signs of being stuck together. It's not too bad, and Matt told me as much when we were talking specifics. It's clear enough that it's possible to see the number 22 on his right batting glove, meaning he might have borrowed it from teammate Will Clark. But it looks like he's wearing the same one on the card back in a home jersey, and I doubt he made a regular thing of it. The Cuban superstar could surely afford his own batting accessories.

1994 Topps Gold #612 Jim Thome

About the only sure-fire Hall of Famer in this illustrious group so far is Jim Thome. His 612 home runs are likely to buy him a ticket into Cooperstown any day now. But in 1994, he had yet to play a full season, and was just getting his career going. The back of this moderately damaged card still has minor league stats going back to 1989, and mentions his 1993 MVP award in the Triple-A International League. 

Coincidentally, just like Palmeiro, Jim Thome wore #25 for most of his career. And his batting gloves match.

1994 Topps Gold #690 Mo Vaughn

I can't think of Mo Vaughn without remembering him tackling George Bell as he charged Aaron Sele on the mound. Sele was clearly throwing at Bell, who was having none of it. But as he, um, went to the mound to have a word with the opposing pitcher, in comes Mo Vaughn like a Mack truck and body slams Bell like a bowling pin.

Tempers were hot in 1993. That clip took place just a month or so after the legendary Nolan Ryan / Robin Ventura brawl, and I clearly remember the benches clearing not once, but twice at my first Major League game on June 15th, 1993 between the Rockies and Dodgers.

Years later, during another Dodgers visit to Denver, none other than Jeff Kent was hit by a pitch and both teams rapidly ended up on the field. That game, July 4th, 2005 was a fireworks game, and I'm sure that many fans in attendance just wanted the extra-innings affair to conclude so their kids could see the pyrotechnics. I enjoyed that part, sure, but I'm sure I was in the minority of fans who were excited about those final two nail-biting innings.

1994 Topps Gold #397 Tim Salmon

I haven't said much about the design. 1994 Topps never climbs very high on the Topps set countdowns, but it always holds a special place in my heart. Lots of people seem not to like the home plate shape that makes up the photo frame, but it reminds me of the baseline frames that UD frequently used in their first few sets. And it gives us that lovely patch of green at the bottom, set behind the player's name in a script font. In Topps Gold, that's much easier to read in 1994 than in 1993. And once in a while, the Topps Rookie Cup graces a card with its presence.

Tim Salmon was the 1993 American League Rookie of the Year, sharing the honor with Mike Piazza on the NL side. The first fishy Angels star hit a couple more home runs in 1993 than noted slugger Mo Vaughn. And one fateful day that year, he'd play a game in Baltimore.

1994 Topps Gold #477 Arthur Rhodes

Arthur Rhodes was the starter for the Baltimore Orioles on April 17, 1993. The Rockies and Marlins were just infants, but elsewhere in the league, Rhodes had faced the Angels before, early in his 20-year career that lasted until 2011. Tim Salmon was getting his first taste of the Big Leagues, nearly being nabbed by the lefty on a pickoff attempt, but making it to second on an error. He'd walk twice that day, first in the third, and again in the ninth by the late Todd Frohwirth. Following the Orioles' third error of that day, Salmon made it to third base, which brought up the the Angels' own third baseman, Rene Gonzalez.

With Salmon at third and Gary Gaetti at second, Rene Gonzales hit one weakly toward the third base side.

1994 Topps Gold #664 Jeff Tackett

And that resulted in a play at the plate. Salmon was out, but the Angels still had the lead, and they'd hold on in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

Gary Gaetti was on third base when all this was happening, and he had his own play at the plate card in 1993 Topps. The Angels were playing lots of small ball in this era, apparently. There were seven stolen bases in this game, over half by Chad Curtis. They were then known as the California Angels, but they had a brand new logo for the 1993 season. Also visible on Jeff Tackett's left sleeve is a small commemorative patch, marking the year the Orioles hosted the All-Star Game in their shiny new retro park, Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Topps must have been really proud of this card. In the 1993 factory set, they included a 9-card pack of 1994 preproduction cards. The colors were a little different, and as I recall they changed one photograph selection, but it's more or less accurate. In that set, you could find major stars like Nolan Ryan, Kenny Lofton, Juan Gonzalez, and also this Jeff Tackett card. The official version added his 1993 stats, and removed the Studio-like paragraph about Jeff's hobbies and family, replacing it with the inning he pitched in Detroit on August 11th, 1993, and his cameo in the movie Dave, which Topps tells us was a TV show.

TV shows and movies have been elevated to a similar plane in 2018, but in 1993, not so much.

Also, Tackett seems to have grown an inch in the 1993-94 offseason. His preproduction card had him at only 6'1".

1994 Topps Gold #586 Brent Gates

There were a few other cards that caught my eye, like this one showing a post-hustle Brent Gates giving a forearm bump to a fellow teammate. There's a tiny Minnesota Twins cameo in the lower right, but I can't tell who that is, nor the recipient of said forearm bump. That might be a coach or batboy on the left, and Gates may have just slid into home, which could identify the unknown Twin as catcher Brian Harper.

The green patch that's already on 1994 Topps goes particularly well with the A's color coding. Some of the color choices are a little odd, like yellow for the Red Sox lettering. But the green and yellow works well, even if the shades are ever so slightly different from the actual photo.

1994 Topps Gold #784 Gabe White / Rondell White

I often had a tough time deciding where to put these two-player cards when alphabetizing them by team. Would I use the player on the right or left? Was that consistent with the top or bottom on the card back? What if the right and left varied from front to back? Would a featured Rockie take precedence even if he was in a less-preferred location? Four-player cards were even harder. These were all very important decisions to make when organizing my first-ever factory set.

These cards are now quite rare, so it doesn't come up as much. And every so often, I go through my old factory sets and organize them by the players who ended up making more of an impact. Rey Ordonez over three guys you've never heard of. That sort of thing.

But I always appreciated this Expos card for giving me two guys with the last name "White". Either way, it would fit. Gabe White had an 11-year career, including two as a Rockie, and his only postseason appearance was with the 2003 Yankees. Rondell White had an even longer career at 15 years, making it to the postseason twice, and the All-Star Game once, in 2003. During that Midsummer Classic on the South Side of Chicago, he pinch hit for Barry Bonds and promptly grounded into a double play on the first pitch he saw from Mark Mulder.

1994 Topps Gold #155 Todd Stottlemyre

Last up is Todd Stottlemyre, a Blue Jays pitcher that was one of the first American League players I saw on TV. There was no interleague play in 1993, my first year watching the sport. So other than that All-Star Game in Baltimore, where the announcers bantered about nothing while Andres Galarraga had the first-ever Rockies All-Star at bat (and was flirting with a .400 average), I didn't really see any American League play until the postseason. A couple names stick out in particular, Wilson Alvarez and Todd Stottlemyre. Their two teams battled it out for the AL pennant that year, with the Blue Jays beating the White Sox. I probably didn't see Game 1 or Game 2, as Game 1 was on a school night, and Game 2 was a Wednesday day game. Early in 4th grade, I was unlikely to see either of those.

But Wilson Alvarez started Friday night's Game 3, and Stottlemyre in Game 4 the next day. It was likely my first taste of AL baseball, the Designated Hitter, and names I'd only seen on the occasional card instead of on TV regularly. It was also the only World Series I'd see until 1995 for obvious reasons. Todd Stottlemyre started Game 4 of the 1993 World Series, but thanks to a 15-14 roller coaster, did not remain the pitcher of record for long. By now, though, we all know that Joe Carter came through with a historic home run in Game 6, helping Stottlemyre and the rest of his Blue Jay teammates earn their second ring in as many years.

Thanks to Matt for sharing these 1994 parallels! Clearly this set is a special one to me. To a card collector, there's nothing quite like your first factory set, and more broadly, to a baseball fan, there's nothing quite like your first season.

Crate o' Cards

Last holiday season was pretty heavy for me on the card front. There were a few generous trades, the Moon Mars set from my mom that I just posted about, as well as a subscription box from Collector Crate.

I saw a few Collector Crate posts in the blogosphere many months ago, and after watching a few unboxing videos of non-baseball subscription boxes with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, I thought I'd finally document the loot from a Bronze baseball Collector Crate. I also considered starting up the subscription again, but it turns out that they're no longer in operation. Their Facebook page hasn't been updated in months, and their website doesn't exist any longer. Given that my geekdom is not limited to baseball, I did end up ordering 3 months of the 1Up Box, and am thinking about making a debut on YouTube. Chris and Daniel both have card content on their YouTube channels, I wonder how their experience has been.

2014 Collector Crate #BU-MT Mike Trout

The big draw for some of these subscription boxes are the exclusives, commonly t-shirts. Collector Crate did this as well, and I wonder how many there are out there besides this soon-to-be oddball Mike Trout, as I have no idea how long they were in business.

In addition to packs, there were a few other baseball goodies, like a Yankees mini pennant that I gave to my dad, a little baseball Christmas ornament with a Santa hat on it, and a hard plastic mini baseball with the Angels logo that I think I sent to The Angels, In Order. They let you pick up to three teams for the non-pack goodies, and the "hits" matched that selection too.

2002 Bowman Autographs #BA-GA Garrett Atkins (AU)

My Rockies autograph collection continues to grow, and this is the treasured on-card variety with a hologram Topps sticker on the back. Atkins hadn't yet made it to the Majors when this card was printed, making it a somewhat unusual Bowman card of a guy we've all heard of. Atkins ended up having a solid career with the Rockies, being part of their two most recent playoff appearances.

2002 Bowman Heritage Relics #BH-TS Tim Salmon Uni C (MEM)

Here's another Bowman hit, a relic of Tim Salmon. The 1993 AL Rookie of the Year was nearing the end of his career by this point, but a pinstripe is a pinstripe!

For me, the draw of these boxes were the unopened packs. and this one came with nine, including a few from products I'd barely seen before.

Pack 1: 1999 Bowman

1999 Bowman #148 Russell Branyan

This has been a Bowman-heavy post so far, and it's never been one of my favorite brands, especially from the everything-has-a-black-border era. At least this one has an actual numeral for the card number. I remember Branyan as a Cincinnati Red, but it turns out that he only spent a couple seasons with them during his journeyman career.

1999 Bowman International #183 Calvin Pickering

Calvin Pickering played for a few Major League teams too, but I must admit that I've never heard of him. You might notice that he's not pictured inside a baseball stadium, meaning that this is a one-per-pack International parallel. Usually the background is the flag from the player's country of birth, but for 1999, Bowman took a page from Metal Universe and instead used a bit of local photography.

Pack 2: 2010 Topps Update

2010 Topps Update #US-178 Jim Edmonds

If you're into unfamiliar uniforms, Update is the place to be. I have zero recollection of Jim Edmonds on the Reds, which makes sense, since he only played thirteen games with them before hanging 'em up.

That looks like Chase Field to me, which would put this game on August 18th, 2010, the only game in which Edmonds scored in Arizona while playing for the Reds.

2010 Topps Vintage Legends Collection #VLC-26 Johnny Mize

The presence of all these packs means inserts and parallel will pop up with zero warning! Topps inverted the Heritage formula for the Vintage Legends insert set, placing old-time players on recent designs, like New York legend Johnny Mize on 1992 Topps. You'll recall that Mize appeared on a recent vintage pickup, but then as a Yankee.

This was an interesting insert set, as they didn't just use 1992's design and leave it at that. They compare how his real-life stats from 1947 would have stacked up in 1992, and he would have been a Triple Crown contender, falling a bit short on batting average. Not surprising for a man with five consecutive World Series rings.

Pack 3: 2014 Topps Update

2014 Topps Update Gold #US-146 Neftali Soto /2014

Neftali Soto has yet to make much of an impact in the Majors, but a gold parallel out of a single pack is pretty cool. He hit a couple home runs in AAA this year, but I don't know whether we'll see more of him.

2014 Topps Update Fond Farewells #FF-MR Mariano Rivera

Rivera, on the other hand, is an absolute legend, and like other Yankee greats in recent years, received plenty of attention as he made his final stops in various Major League cities. I'd love to see this set become a regular thing, especially since the well-loved legends don't always get the recognition they deserve on a card. Jeter and Konerko, yes, but Tim Hudson? Chipper Jones?  No wonder Nick is so into Sunset cards.

Pack 4: 2012 Panini Prizm

2012 Panini Prizm Prizms Green #195 Hector Santiago

I don't get it. I really don't. Why does everyone seem to hate Panini Prizm? They're shiny, feature good photography considering they can't use logos, and come in nice, colorful colors like green. And in my experience, they lack that godawful curl that plagues many of Topps' premium products. Even that RC logo is pretty unique. It's no Stadium Club, sure, but does it really deserve its reputation?

Pack 5: 1994 Flair

1994 Flair #373 Andres Galarraga

For a brand produced at the height of the baseball card bubble, 1994 Flair is downright scarce. One pack doubled its representation in my collection. The packaging was quite impressive, as it came in a shrink-wrapped paperboard mini-box. Up until then, I'd only ever opened wax or foil.

1994 Flair #447 William Van Landingham

The design is a bit busy and ostentatious, which isn't helped by Van Landingham's exceptionally long last name. It has as much trouble fitting on this card as it did on his uniform. But hey, 1994.

Pack 6: 2013 Gypsy Queen

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen #29 Cole Hamels

I am mostly indifferent about this brand, though I do like this year's "onion dome" design. Like Bowman, I just can't seem to get into a brand that looks the same year after year. Even Topps Flagship was getting a bit repetitive before the splash of color we saw this year.

Cole Hamels has looked impressive in the playoffs thus far, raining on the Blue Jays parade and giving the Rangers 2015's first opportunity to advance to the Championship Series, although Toronto lived to fight another day, thanks in part to Tulowitzki's three-run home run.

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini #344 Tim Hudson

As advertised, a one-per-pack mini fell out, and it's of recently-retired pitcher Tim Hudson. I don't have many of these, but I ought to invest in a few 15-pocket mini pages, since they look a heck of a lot better when they're not swimming in a holder five times too big.

Pack 7: 2008 Upper Deck X

2008 Upper Deck X Die Cut #17 Carlos Zambrano

Most cards in this pack were a standard rectangle, but a brand like Upper Deck X just begs for a die-cut variety. This one's from the previous time the Cubs made the playoffs, though Big Z didn't get it done that year.

2008 Upper Deck X Xponential #X-KG Ken Griffey Jr.

Of course, a World Series win isn't the only indicator of a great career. Griffey never even appeared in a World Series, but he still had countless awesome cards, arguably becoming a modern Mickey Mantle in that sense. Xponential cards came in four...powers(?) of increasing scarcity, this being the base Xponential (to the power of 1), which, like in math, isn't noted.

Pack 8: 2010 Upper Deck

2010 Upper Deck #570 Washington Nationals BP

Upper Deck's baseball card business was in dire straits by this point, and taking a picture of a stadium was about the only way they could get a team's name on a card that year. The back of the card mentions the presidential foot race, but the front just shows the stadium facade, pretty much what you see in the House of Cards intro.

2010 Upper Deck Supreme Green #S-90 Adrian Gonzalez

Adrian Gonzalez is elsewhere in the NL West this season, but had a resurgent year and helped the Dodgers reach the playoffs. Upper Deck put him on one of my favorites, a green card, and didn't really take efforts to hide the SD logo on his helmet like they were legally supposed to do that year. See Topps' 2010 design above for how proud they were to display team logos.

Pack 9: 1995 Select Certified

1995 Select Certified Mirror Gold #115 Mark Grudzielanek

This is only the second time I've run across 1995 Select Certified in my collecting career, which is a shame, since it's right up there with Flair as a super-premium set. Grudzielanek's card is a Mirror Gold parallel, which has a refractor background, and is seeded 1:5 packs. Clearly, he was competing with William Van Landingham for the longest surname in the Majors.

1995 Select Certified #32 Eddie Murray 3000th Hit

Eddie Murray's base card got some special treatment, as is warranted when you reach 3,000 career hits. It's a highly exclusive club, with slightly more members than the 300-win club. Ichiro is likely to reach it next year, and if he does, he'll also pass Pete Rose for most career hits, assuming you count the thousand-plus he got during his Japanese career.

Not a bad haul for $30, right? I'm always up for a surprise look at brands I've rarely seen before. It's unfortunate that Collector Crate folded, since I'd totally get another one of these.

The 1Up Box is unlikely to contain baseball cards. There might be Magic: The Gathering or Heroes of the Storm in there or something, but it's just not the same. Of course, the subscription box industry is hot right now, so maybe someone else will fill the vacuum. If they do, don't keep it a secret!