From the Favorites Box: Rickey Henderson, 1984 Topps #230

A series where I post some thoughts about favorite cards. Previous cards in the series are available here.

 

 

I always like it when trading card companies use a photograph that shows the player on the card doing what he does best. 

 

Enter Exhibit A.

 

 

In 1983, the year this photo was likely taken, Rickey Henderson piled up 108 stolen bases. (Unsurprisingly, that number was best in the majors.) Do you think one of those 108 swipes occurred shortly after that photo was taken? 

 

I think it's a good possibility. It almost looks like Rickey is taking a walking lead—sneakily—as the pitcher has perhaps zoned out or lost focus. But it's hard to imagine something like that happening to a pitcher at any point during the 1980s when a guy like Rickey, or Raines, or Coleman was on first base. Do you remember how exciting it was?

 

You'd watch those guys take a lead, and then expand it a little more. Then the pitcher would throw over to first to check that lead. Then that dance would happen again. And maybe again after that. But the whole time you'd be waiting on the edge of your seat for those speedsters to finally take off for second base. 

 

And how about that split-screen they'd put up during the broadcast, where the left side of your TV showed the pitcher, and the right side showed the runner on first base taking his lead?

 

There he goes!

 

Man, baseball was so fun back then. And Rickey Henderson, the Man of Steal, provided entertainment in more ways than one. Many consider him the greatest lead-off hitter of all time. 

 

Here's why:

 

He could lead off with a walk. (2,190 career walks: second-most of all time) 

He could lead off with a hit. (3,055 career hits: 27th all time)

He could even lead off with a home run. (81 career lead-off home runs: most of all time)

 

And if you think that's impressive, here's what happened on the basepaths after he led off the game:

 

Rickey Henderson is the all-time leader in runs scored (2,295), the all-time leader in stolen bases (1,406), and, interestingly, the all-time leader in times caught stealing (335). That's a career stolen base percentage of .8075.

 

He's also the all-time leader in stolen base attempts, with 1,741. Lou Brock is second with 1,245.

I guess you can't steal bases if you don't try, right? And at an 80% clip, I'll absolutely take those odds. Especially as a fan of the stolen base, and of risk/reward baseball.

And for giving millions of us fans an instant dose of excitement as soon as he led off first base, Rickey Henderson's 1984 Topps card #230 has a spot in my box of favorite cards. 

 

 

PS: If you'd like base stealing to make such a large comeback that network TV brings the split-screen back to baseball broadcasts, give me an "amen" in the comment section.

Completed Set: 1984 Topps Baseball

 

The 1984 Topps baseball set is a special one for me. It's the first set of cards I remember collecting. The first wax packs I opened. The first sticks of gum I chewed. Here's a related memory:

 

Back in 1984, my dad was living in Manhattan while my sister and I lived on Long Island with our mom. Every other Friday evening, dad would drive out to the island in a maroon Honda Civic hatchback to pick up his two kids for a weekend in the big city. The trip back to Manhattan took about an hour (without traffic), and during those rides, my sister and I would excitedly share events from the previous two weeks with dad: schoolwork, teachers, friends, Little League games, softball games.

And for the year of 1984 in particular, there was even more to look forward to on those rides: 

A small brown paper bag tucked between the seats of the car, filled with packs of Topps baseball cards. 

After we caught up with dad, my sister and I would divide the packs evenly and start opening them. We were still too young to have a favorite player or an allegiance to one New York team over the other, but we both loved baseball. I remember that whenever we found a hometown player in those packs we’d call out “Mets!” or “Yankees!”, and dad would ask us which player we got. What a great time.

 

And to this day, whenever I see the bright blue "Mets" or dark purple "Yankees" text running down the left-hand side of a 1984 Topps card, I think of those car rides.

 

Fortunately, even without the personal nostalgia, the set design is quite memorable. Along with the instantly recognizable font choice for the team name, there's also the picture-in-picture effect and plenty of good-looking photos.

 

Let's go through some of them together.

 

 

You've got your share of classic "sunny day at the ballpark" poses. Combine that with some powder blue uniforms and sweet team logos and fonts, and you've got a happy 1980s card collector.

 

 

 

There are plenty of batting stance poses as well. Here, Ozzie Smith and Lloyd Moseby show off the all-star card design, while Gibby is looking like a stud in the batting cage.

 

But there are also many intriguing shots in the '84 Topps set—cards that come together to really enhance the anticipation and potential excitement that is the story of baseball. Check out this progression:

 

 

The pitcher looks in for the signs...

 

 

 

 The batter takes his stance...

 

 

The fielders prepare themselves...

Here's the wind-up...

 

And the pitch...

 

It's a hit!

 

And that's the essence of baseball, isn't it? It's definitely what you'd want to capture on at least some of the cards in your set, and 1984 Topps did well here.

They also did well to get some catchers into the action.

 

 

Stars of the era got some good action shots, too.

As did the rookies.

Let's look at some of the subsets now.

 

On the left you'll see an example of a league leaders card, which was standard Topps procedure. (Tim Raines had 90 stolen bases in 1983, while Rickey swiped 108. Who else misses those days?) Topps also created a card for each team's batting and pitching leaders, as shown on the right. Nolan Ryan is almost smiling there, which is quite a departure from the typical stare-down you see on his cards.

 

 

Interestingly, Topps also added an "Active Career Leaders" subset. It's a great little snapshot into the star power of the era, don't you think? I like how the career totals up to that point are listed right on the front, too.

Next up, we've got a manager card, along with two different highlight card designs. The card in the middle documents Henderson stealing 100+ bases for the third time in his young career. On the right, Topps paid tribute to three legends who'd retired at the end of the previous season.

 

 

Here's an example of a card back:

The color combination works very well. I have no problem reading that dark text against the light background. In addition, there's a nice big red number at the top left, an equally big player name at top center, and then an even bigger team logo top right. Well done all around.

Next up is an example of a checklist card from the set:

And finally, here are a couple of sweepstakes cards, inserted one per wax pack.

 

 

 

And that's 1984 Topps. 

 

Personal nostalgia aside, I think the design and photography are very solid. Some of the card colors do match up with the team colors a bit better than others, but overall it's bright, attractive, and kid friendly. And while some of the photos are a bit grainy, blurry, or faded, most are certainly nice and crisp. That doesn't sound like much of a compliment, but for the era, it was a pretty good showing.

 

I've actually completed this set for a second time recently, and it's just as special as the first set.

What are your thoughts on 1984 Topps? Favorite cards?

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

Two Highlights, One Day

Thirty years ago today, a pretty remarkable thing happened in the world of Major League Baseball. Actually, two pretty remarkable things.

That afternoon in Oakland, California, Rickey Henderson stole his 939th base, topping Lou Brock's mark of 938 and setting the new all-time record.

Later that evening in Arlington, Texas, Nolan Ryan baffled the visiting Toronto Blue Jays, throwing his 7th career no-hitter, striking out 16 along the way.

These records didn't go unnoticed by trading card companies.

 

1991 Leaf managed to squeeze both players into one of their insert sets that very same year.

 

 

1991 Leaf Gold Rookies #BC25 Nolan Ryan and #BC26 Rickey Henderson

Smart decision. It also must have been a late decision, because this insert set is titled "Gold Rookies". It consists of 24 rookies, and at the end of the set, with the final two cards, you get Ryan and Rickey.

 

The following year is when both players received the rest of the recognition. 

 

 

1992 Donruss gave both players their individual "highlights" cards.

 

1992 Donruss #154 Nolan Ryan and #215 Rickey Henderson

 

1992 Fleer gave both players their individual "record setters" cards, back to back in the set, which was a nice touch.

 

1992 Fleer #681 Rickey Henderson and #682 Nolan Ryan

 

 

1992 Score gave Ryan a special "No Hit Club" card and Henderson a "Highlight" card. The image of Henderson is from the actual record-setting day, which is another nice touch.

 

1992 Score #425 Nolan Ryan and #430 Rickey Henderson

In the 1992 Topps set, Henderson got a record-breaker card for the 939 steals, again featuring an image from the record-setting stolen base. Ryan got a record-breaker card too, but it wasn't for the no-hitter. It was for 22 straight seasons with at least 100 strikeouts. (Side note: Wow.)
 

1992 Topps Record Breaker #2, Rickey Henderson

 

1992 Upper Deck missed the boat on Ryan, but gave Henderson a Diamond Skills card ("Best Baserunner") that showed him lifting third base in the air triumphantly after stealing #939, and mentioned the record in the write-up on the back.

1992 Upper Deck #648, Rickey Henderson

 

And don't get me wrong, it's all fine and good that so many baseball card companies recognized Ryan and Rickey for their accomplishments. But both players set their records on the same day, for goodness sake. How often does something like that happen? Hardly ever, I'd guess. And none of the card companies documented that aspect of it.

 

So, to commemorate such a great day in baseball, I thought it would be fun to give Rickey and Ryan a combination "Highlight" card like the ones featured in the 1984 Topps set. 

 

And here's the card back.

 

This has turned into a little series, as I've already used the 1984 Topps Highlight template for two other custom cards (Joel Youngblood's amazing feat and a Beastie Boys highlight). I think I might keep it going. Not only are the cards fun to do, but they give me a chance to write some press-style blurbs on the back.

Thanks for reading, everyone. 

 

No Sleep Till Custom

I'm going to guess that Fuji over at the Chronicles knew what was coming as soon as he saw the title of this post.

 

 

If the Beastie Boys were Major League baseball players, their rookie season would have fallen around 1981 or 1982. And if their opening campaign turned out well, Topps would have likely given them a Future Stars card like the 1982 version you see above.

I stayed true to the original design, using headshots of the young trio and listing them in alphabetical order. I also borrowed some spring training backgrounds from a couple of original Future Stars cards. For the fielding position, I used each member's stage name. (Although it's important to note that all three played musical instruments as well.)

As a 1980s kid growing up in lower New York, it seemed hard to avoid the Beastie Boys. Their names would come up in school, on the radio, and in the news. Early on I remember thinking they were just a novelty; three city kids trying a little too hard to be bad boys. Kind of a spoof. But they kept going, developed their talents, created a style and sound all their own, starred in some rather creative music videos, and my goodness did they ever build up a huge following and sell a lot of records. They also inspired quite a number of the next generation's musicians and performers.

If you want to continue with the baseball card theme, by the time the 1990s arrived you would have certainly found Mike D, Ad-Rock, and MCA on all-star cards and league-leader cards in addition to their base cards.

They even linked some lyrics to baseball, saying "I got more hits than Sadaharu Oh" in the song Hey Ladies.

That's a fun line, isn't it? 

It's so fun, in fact, that it inspired me to cook up another custom card.

 

 

The highlight card template is from the 1984 Topps baseball set. The song Hey Ladies wouldn't be released for another five years, and because of that the card doesn't make sense chronologically. But the opportunity was just too perfect. Three image frames, three Beastie Boys. And in the empty space, a blue text box to describe the highlight. So I went for it, and just switched the date on the front to 1989.

This was a fun mash-up, for sure. Thanks for reading, as always.