The 1989-90 OPC Hockey Sticker Album Project: Packs 1–6

 

A few weeks ago here on the blog, I shared the newly acquired sticker album you see above, along with a box of 48 packs of stickers from that same season. I also mentioned that I was going to gradually open the packs and place the stickers in the album, for the sake of nostalgia and good vibes. 

 

This post is the first in a series where I'll show which stickers I pulled, and start building up the album.

 

So let's go back to the 1989-90 hockey season. Young Gregory has been learning a lot about the sport of ice hockey. Now he's ready to tear open his first six packs of stickers. He's excited, yet focused, because he wants to place the stickers in their designated spots in the album as straight as possible.

 

He grabs the fist six packs from the top-left corner of the box. Let's get to it!

Pack 1

Remember those 4-panel action scenes that always appeared in sticker albums back then? You'd have to wait until you pulled all four stickers to see everything that was happening in the larger photo. I'm glad I got a couple of those out of the way right from the start.

 

Young Gregory pulled a few Calgary Flames stickers in this first pack, which helped his hockey knowledge greatly. The Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals the previous season, and that must have provided great retribution. The same two teams met in the finals just a few seasons earlier (1985-86), with Montreal taking the championship. 

 

(NOTE: From here on, I'm not going to share images of all six stickers from each pack, because that might get tiresome on the eyes. Instead, I'll just share the best stickers, along with some interesting information about the players and teams, where applicable.)

 

 

Pack 2

 

 

We've got a Joe Sakic "rookie" sticker! (I put that word in quotes because some folks don't consider stickers to be rookie cards, and because Sakic has a base sticker in the set as well.) Regardless, Joe had an excellent freshman season with the Nordiques, totaling 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points. Brian Leetch topped him (23 G, 48 A, 71 PTS) and took home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Patrick Roy made an appearance in this pack as well, along with his Jennings Trophy compatriot, Brian Hayward.

 

  

This pack also yielded a Jari Kurri sticker, and one of the special "future star" sticker backs. It's part of a 34-card set that includes some future stars and some all-stars. It's great to have the Sakic version in the collection so early on. I'm going to make it a separate goal to complete this sticker back set.

 

 

Pack 3

This pack didn't have much of interest by way of sticker fronts, but it gives me an opportunity to show off some of the super-awesome product offers on the sticker backs.

 

To receive your Team Puck, just send your name, address, postal code, and $3.95 plus 2 Sticker Wrappers for each Team Puck you desire.

 

Young Gregory is already trying to figure out a way to earn a couple of extra dollars around the house so he can send away for some of these products. 

Pack 4

 

 

Pack 4 didn't provide much excitement, either, but Al MacInnis would have been a fun pull for a young Flames fan. And there's another look at a rookie subset sticker, this time featuring Scott Young of the Whalers.

 

 

 

Pack 5 

 

 

Yeah! A Wayne Gretzky all-star subset sticker! Young Gregory saw clips from the press conference last year when Mr. Gretzky bid a tearful goodbye to the fans in Edmonton, and he's pretty psyched to see The Great One in his new Kings uniform. How did Wayne do in his first season with the Kings? 54 goals, 114 assists, 168 points, and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Pat LaFontaine and Peter Stastny were also excellent pulls from this pack. 

 

 

Pack 6 

 

There wasn't a whole lot in the final pack of this round, but the Steve Duchesne all-star sticker helps fill up that page in the album a little more. We also get our first look at the all-star sticker back, featuring Geoff Courtnall in that sweet Washington Capitals jersey. The previous season, Courtnall put up a career-high 42 goals, plus 38 assists. 16 of his goals were scored on the power play, which was also a career high.

 

Here's the best page after the first six packs:

 

 

 

That's 5 Oilers out of 14 total. Not bad!

 

And because I know many of you collectors enjoy poring over collection stats as much as I do, here's the rundown so far:

 

 

Main Set (182 total panels)

 

New panels: 36

New duplicates: 0

 

Total panels: 36

Total duplicates: 0

 

Panels needed: 146

Set completion: 20%

 

 

Future Star/All-Star Card Backs (34 total)

 

New backs: 9

New duplicates: 0

 

Total backs: 9

Total duplicates: 0

 

Backs needed: 25

Set completion: 26%

Best Stickers

Wayne Gretzky all-star, Joe Sakic rookie subset.

 

What's your favorite card of this first batch? Do you have any fun memories of sticker albums, be it hockey, baseball or any other sport?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for following along! 

More Sportscaster Cards, Just In Time for The Masters

A view of the green at hole #12, Augusta National.

Masters week starts tomorrow. 

Whether you enjoy playing golf, collecting golf cards or memorabilia, or just watching the pros on television, it's a fun time. 

The Masters tournament is the first major of the year, so it's the first chance you'll have to watch your favorite players contending for a big prize. And as always, they'll do it at Augusta National, one of the most beautiful, iconic, and perfectly manicured golf courses on the planet. The sights and sounds might even motivate you to hit some golf balls yourself.

With that little push to get you out there and swinging a golf club complete, I will remind myself that this is a trading card blog, and that I should feature the cards I set out to feature.

 

 

1977-79 Sportscaster #35-10 Ben Hogan and #45-16 Gary Player

 

You're looking at two absolute legends of the game, captured on cardboard by the popular Sportscaster brand of the 1970s.

Both men were Masters champions—Hogan in 1951 and 1953, and Player in 1961, 1974, and 1978.

Mr. Hogan's swing, in particular, was rock-solid. The instructional book he published in 1957, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, contains a wealth of information that's still applicable today. (I keep a copy in my golf library.)

These two cards add some serious clout to my Sportscaster golf card collection. They'll join Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. Quite the sextet.

And cards like these prove to be a great reminder of how much the game has changed, especially when it comes to equipment. Golf clubs back in Mr. Hogan and Mr. Player's time were so much less forgiving than today's clubs. The drivers were small, and made of wood. Their sweet spots were tiny—maybe just a nickel-sized circle, right in the middle of the clubface. The irons were even smaller and thinner, and boy, oh boy, did you ever have to catch the middle of the face. Otherwise, clang! Those nasty vibrations would rattle your hands. 

Ultimately, you just had to nail it every time. And the pros back then managed to do it just fine. 

 

It's reminded me that when I was much younger, I had a few old irons and a wooden driver that I'd try to hit every once in a while. And from what I remember, as unforgiving as they were, when you did hit the sweet spot . . .  man, what a sensation.

The whole thing made me want to see how I'd fare with a wooden driver now that I've gotten back into golf. So that's what I did. Just check this beauty out: 

 

It's a Sam Snead "Blue Ridge" driver, made by the Wilson company in the early 1960s. Today's price? Less than that of a blaster box. Can't beat it.

I had so much fun hitting some balls with it that I took things a step further: How exactly would it compare to my modern driver?

There it is, on the right: The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini (2024). You're looking at 60 years of technology, research, and development in that photo!

 

The size difference is more noticeable when viewed from the top.

 

 

Yep. Those are both drivers. And this might be hard to believe, but the one on the left is what's known as a mini driver. Yeah, that's right. Normal-sized drivers these days are even bigger than that.

Anyhow, there's a golf retail store about 30 minutes away from my home that has a few simulators in the back. These simulators allow you to hit golf balls into a screen, and then they churn out a bunch of data points for your benefit and analysis. You can book an hour in these simulators in advance, which comes in handy when the weather is poor, or when you're trying to chart some yardages with each of your clubs. Or in this case, if you want to compare two clubs: The Sam Snead Blue Ridge and the Callaway Paradym AI Smoke Mini.

For my purposes, I didn't really feel the need to go too far into the data. I only focused on carry distance, total distance, and a couple of other numbers.

I hit 10 balls with each driver, and averaged out the results. Here they are:

Driver Model	Ball Speed (mph)	Launch Angle (°)	Carry Distance (yds)	Total Distance (yds)
Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge	132.0	11.2	203.1	229.2
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini	141.1	10.3	225.9	251.5

Interesting. After 60 years of golf club design, plus all I've read and heard about modern golf technology, I really thought there would be more of a statistical difference between the two clubs. And don't get me wrong, I'll take that 22-yard average increase in distance that the modern driver provides all day, every day. But the wooden driver isn't really so archaic, is it?

Now, I did make some bad swings with each club during the test, and I removed those from the data. That does add to the story. The results of the bad swings with the wooden driver were worse than the results of the bad swings with the modern driver. (Total distance suffered more.) So that's important to note.

But overall, I enjoyed swinging the Blue Ridge driver. The steel shaft and solid wooden head made for a noticeably heavier feel, and changed the balance quite a bit. All of this suits my swing type, which has more of a smooth and classic tempo, as opposed to the super-torqued, "explosive" swings you see some players making these days.

But let's be honest. I'm not about to put the wooden driver in my bag. Just look at my best drive with each club:

Driver Model	Ball Speed (mph)	Launch Angle (°)	Carry Distance (yds)	Total Distance (yds)
Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge	133	11.7	211	239
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini	145	8.3	230	255

I would have loved to see the difference in clubhead speed between the two drivers as well, but unfortunately that feature wasn’t working on the simulator I was using. Neither was spin rate, which would have been another informative data point.

Ultimately, this was a great little exercise. And it's intrigued me enough to go back to the simulator with my modern driver, because the numbers indicate that I can coax more distance out of it. (My launch angle is a little on the low side, for example.)

For now, I'm going to enjoy all the golf action from Augusta National.

How about you readers and collectors? Any golf fans out there? Are you going to watch The Masters at all? Going to hit some golf balls this year?

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

Cruz Brothers

It's the early spring of 1973. 

 

You think back to six years ago, when at the age of 19 you started a solid climb through baseball's minor leagues—from Single-A Modesto to Double-A Arkansas to Triple-A Tulsa. Now you're about to start your third season in the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

 

You've also got two younger brothers, and they've been trying to take the same route through the Cardinals' organization.

 

Tommy, the next youngest, has been bouncing up and down from Single-A to Triple-A and back again.

 

And Héctor, the youngest of the three, has been catching up.

 

What a treat that the Cardinals have shown such faith in all three of you! Not only has it made it easier to keep in touch, but it's also helped you work with each other and spur each other on.

 

Now it's time for spring training. You've been focusing on your skills, and preparing for your upcoming season in the bigs. But the Cardinals have just made two announcements that cause you to temporarily lose your focus:

 

(1) They're calling up Tommy for some spring training games with the big club. 

(2) They're calling up Héctor for some spring training games with the big club.  

 

All three of you will be reunited! 

 

 

From left to right: Tommy, Héctor, and José Cruz

And on March 23, 1973, something even more amazing happens. Coach says the three of you will be starting today's game against the New York Mets.

 

Three Cruz brothers, all in the lineup, playing the outfield together! You walk over to the batting order. Manager Red Schoendienst has done the family another solid. You've got the first three spots in the order!

 

Well, you don't need any more motivation or inspiration. The three of you hit well, putting up 3 runs and 3 RBI in a 9–2 win. You've scored more runs than the entire Mets team! 

 

After the game, Schoendienst speaks to the media, saying, "...they're good ballplayers. I guess I batted them at the top for the effect. They have six older brothers back home and, if they come to town, I'll play them, too."

 

What a moment for the Cruz family. 

 

After that magical spring training, plenty of folks must have been excited at the prospect of seeing all three brothers playing full time for the Cardinals. 

 

However, baseball doesn't always give you the straight and simple road.

 

Here are the brothers on cardboard, just a few years later: 

 

 

1977 Topps #42 Jose Cruz, 1977 Topps #624 Hector Cruz, and 1978 TCMA #0109 Tommy Cruz

 

Héctor got some more work done in AAA from 1973 to 1974, and by 1975 he did make it to the show with the Cardinals. In 1976, his first full season in the big leagues, he would finish 3rd in N.L. Rookie of the Year voting.  

 

After 1973, Tommy went back down to AA and AAA and toiled for the next few seasons trying to crack a major league lineup, receiving just a brief cup of coffee with St. Louis in 1973 and the White Sox in 1977. 

 

And in 1975, José would go from St. Louis to Houston, where he put up solid numbers from the start and quickly became a fan favorite. Within a couple of years he became a perennial .300 hitter, good for around 30 doubles, 80 RBI, and 60 stolen bases a year.

  

By 1979, José was on the verge of some All-Star nominations and Silver Slugger awards, while Héctor had gone from the Cardinals to the Cubs to the Giants, putting up serviceable but not stunning numbers at the plate and in the field. 

 

And Tommy?

 

Well, he was still toiling in the minors. He posted good numbers, batting over .300 numerous times with some decent power, but it still wasn't enough to crack a major league lineup. Then, after the 1979 season, an opportunity came along from some distant shores.

 

Japan. 

 

And Tommy decided to go for it. The professional league in Japan was pretty darn good, after all, and the team he'd be playing for, the Nippon-Ham Fighters, had been showing some spunk lately. 

 

But you've got to wonder how Héctor and José felt when Tommy told them he accepted an offer to play overseas. It would have been tricky to follow Tommy's career, at least day to day or week to week. Were the brothers making long-distance phone calls? I mean, how did a ballplayer in America get sports news from Japan back in the early 1980s? There was no internet. And although satellite TV existed, I wonder how many NPB games would have been transmitted to the US. As for Japanese newspapers, it's possible that some big-city libraries in the US carried them. But even if they did, who would translate the articles and box scores?

 

Regardless, I'm sure all three brothers did what they could to keep in touch and cheer each other on.

Here are some stats for all three Cruz brothers. 

 

 

CAREER TOTALS

 

	JOSÉ (19 seasons MLB)	TOMMY (6 seasons NPB)	HÉCTOR (9 seasons MLB)
GAMES PLAYED	2353	712	624
AT-BATS	7917	2780	1607
RUNS	1036	345	186
HITS	2251	863	361
DOUBLES	391	155	71
TRIPLES	94	11	9
HOME RUNS	165	120	39
RBI	1077	466	200
STOLEN BASES	317	9	7
WALKS	898	178	176
STRIKEOUTS	1031	220	317
BATTING AVERAGE	.284	.310	.225
OBP	.354	.351	.301
SLG	.420	.504	.353

 

 

 

BEST SEASON (career highs in bold)

 

	JOSÉ (1983, HOU)	TOMMY (1984, Nippon-Ham Fighters)	HÉCTOR (1976, STL)
GAMES PLAYED	160	124	151
AT-BATS	594	489	526
RUNS	85	66	54
HITS	189	170	120
DOUBLES	28	36	17
TRIPLES	8	2	1
HOME RUNS	14	29	13
RBI	92	96	71
STOLEN BASES	30	0	1
WALKS	65	33	42
STRIKEOUTS	86	37	119
BATTING AVERAGE	.318	.348	.228
OBP	.385	.385	.286
SLG	.463	.607	.338

 

 

José played the outfield, and was a 2x All-Star and 2x Silver Slugger. Along with the year I chose for his best season in the table above (1983), the few seasons that surrounded it were essentially just as good. He finished in the top-10 in batting average in 1978, 1983, and 1984, and led the N.L. in hits in 1983 (189). Over his career, José played for the Cardinals, Astros, and very briefly for the Yankees. His son, José Cruz, Jr., had a very good professional career as well. (Over 1,000 hits, 200 doubles, 200 home runs, and 600 RBI.)

Héctor mostly played the outfield, along with some third base. He suited up for the Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, and Reds. Interestingly, he also played one year of Japan ball in 1983, with the Yomiuri Giants. Tommy had already been over there for a few years at that point. You'd have to think that he spent some time showing Héctor around!

Tommy was also an outfielder. He played a few games for the Cardinals and White Sox, then played for the Nippon-Ham Fighters in the NPB from 1980 through 1985. The Fighters won the Pacific League pennant in 1981, and Tommy must have played a good part in that. (Regular season: 116 games, 138 hits, 30 doubles, 2 triples, 18 home runs, 75 RBI, and a .297/.343/.486 slash line.) 

 

 

So here's to the Cruz brothers. Three pretty solid players (endorsed by Red Schoendienst!), and one magical spring training memory.