From the Favorites Box: Darryl Strawberry, 1987 Topps Kay-Bee Superstars of Baseball #31

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


Oh, the majesty of this follow-through:

Darryl Strawberry had one of the best-looking swings of his era. Some might even venture to say one of the best of all time.

And it wasn't just looks, of course. Darryl was utterly dominant for a few years there in the 1980s, and played a big part in leading the Mets to the World Championship in 1986, the year before this baseball card hit shelves at Kay-Bee toy stores everywhere.

Mr. Strawberry hit 27 home runs in that championship year, and it's quite possible that the very swing you're looking at resulted in one of those 27. Just look at his eye line. Seems like he's tracing the flight of the ball as it soars through the air, soon to be headed over the right-center field wall at Shea Stadium.

In 1987, while kids were sorting through the 33 cards in this boxed set, Darryl was busy adding up even more home runs and stolen bases, and would join the esteemed 30-30 club by the end of the season (39 HR, 36 SB).

Here's a scan of the card back:

The blurb about the majestic home run he hit in Game 7 of the World Series matches perfectly with the image on the card front, doesn't it?

And here's another perfect match:

He hit that home run 33 years ago today.

As for the man himself, he had a great career (1983 NL Rookie of the Year, 8 All-Star games, 2 Silver Slugger awards, 3 World Series rings, 335 home runs, 1,000 RBI). But some troubles off the field, injuries, and illnesses meant that career could have been even better. And if his career had panned out so completely, the image on the front of this baseball card could have very well been used as a study for the bronze statue the Mets would have made for him and placed outside of Citi Field. Just scroll up one more time and picture that image in bronze.

For celebrating the athlete's dominance, wondering what could have been, and most of all for that glorious follow-through, 1987 Kay-Bee Superstars of Baseball #31 has a spot in my box of favorite cards.

Have it Your Way (with Baseball Cards)

Until a few months ago, I didn't know that Burger King ever issued baseball cards in panels like this. And when I saw this particular version on a trade partner's list, I had to grab it. 

1987 Burger King All-Pro Panel, cards #13 and 14

Why? 

Well, I like oddball cards. But also, the guys you're looking at were two of my favorite players when I was a kid. I'll explain this way: 

The mitt I used for most of my Little League years was a Rawlings Ozzie Smith signature model. And my favorite bat? A Louisville Slugger Don Mattingly signature model. 

So, this Burger King panel spoke to me. It said, Have it your way. (With baseball cards. About 30 years later.)

Like many oddball sets, the quality of the design and photography can vary. However, I think this panel is better than average. Even with the team logos having been airbrushed from the player caps, I like it.

Here's the back:

Also better than average. Nice job on the write-ups, I say.

And here's the complete list of players in the 20-card set, by panel:

1-2  Wade Boggs / Gary Carter
3-4  Will Clark / Roger Clemens
5-6  Steve Garvey / Ron Darling
7-8  Pedro Guerrero / Von Hayes
9-10  Rickey Henderson / Keith Hernandez
11-12 Wally Joyner / Mike Krukow
13-14  Don Mattingly / Ozzie Smith
15-16  Tony Pena / Jim Rice
17-18  Ryne Sandberg / Mike Schmidt
19-20  Darryl Strawberry / Fernando Valenzuela

Mostly predictable choices, but some unexpected ones too. What I find interesting is that the cards almost run in alphabetical order. But not quite. If they had, Don Mattingly would have been paired with Tony Pena instead of Ozzie Smith. So, due to a clerical error it seems (or maybe removing a player at the 11th hour and replacing him with another?), two of my childhood favorites appear on the same panel. Bonus.

Now here are some questions for you:

(1) Which two players from your childhood would you want to appear side by side on a Burger King panel?

(2) Should I go with the Croissan'wich for 99 cents, or the free Whopper?


Oh, and if any of you are wondering about the "have it your way" reference, here you go:

Completed Set: 1987 Kay Bee Superstars of Baseball

Today's post features one of the many boxed sets of baseball cards that were released by retail outlets during the 1980s. (And featured by bloggers lately.)

Toys "R" Us, K-Mart, Woolworth, Hills, Eckerd Drug Stores, Kay Bee Toy Stores—and I'm sure I'm missing a few—all issued these small sets of 33 or 44 cards, featuring the stars of the game, complete in the box.

But I only acquired this 1987 Kay Bee set a couple of months ago, and it wasn't a "new in box" purchase. I picked up 25 of the 33 cards in a trade, and over the next few weeks I found a couple of other trade partners who had the remaining 8 cards available. Done. Neat and tidy.

Interesting thing is, I don't remember ever buying baseball cards at Kay Bee Toy Stores. I hardly remember even seeing any trading cards there.

What I do remember is that there was a Kay Bee location about 10 minutes from where I grew up. They had rows of toys, action figures, dolls, stuffed animals, and board games. And one particular row of their store was devoted to something else: model kits. There were cars, planes, boats, and other vehicles, along with a rack filled with tiny jars of Testors paint—every color you could imagine. I think that's the only thing I remember bringing home from Kay Bee. An occasional model airplane, and some olive drab paint.

In any case, compiling this set all these years later was pretty fun. And because there are only 33 cards, I'm going to show them all, three at a time. Here we go.

According to the back of Jesse Barfield's card, he led both leagues with 40 home runs in 1986. That surprised me.

The blurbs on the card backs in this set often contain great information. Did you know Wade Boggs won the A.L. batting title three times in his first five seasons? That's really impressive. His career batting average to this point? .352

That's a great shot of Jose Canseco taking batting practice with a couple of other players looking on. These Kay Bee cards are glossy, and have a heavy card stock similar to the glossy All-Star inserts that Topps put out during the 1980s.

There's Roger Clemens in the classic pitcher's pose, and Vince Coleman doing what he did best.

Dwight Gooden and the Mets were coming off their World Series victory. This is one of the Gooden cards that I really like, because it shows his terrific form and balance. (Not to mention a shot of the classic spring training uniforms.)

There's Rickey hitting a line drive somewhere, possibly at Wally Joyner, who looks like he might be at Yankee Stadium.

Don Mattingly looks like he may have just barely gotten under one, while Jack Morris is busy winding up. Let's allow Morris to show us what the card backs in this set look like:

Wow, a picture on the back! Good stuff, Kay Bee. Pretty impressive blurb there, too. It provides a nice reminder of Morris' 1984 playoff and World Series accomplishments.

Another note on the card backs: When I first began looking through these cards, something that surprised me was the lack of any Topps logo. I did find an image of the original box these cards were packaged in, which features the logo at the top left in small red letters. But other than that, nothing on the cards themselves. Even the tiny copyright line on the right-hand side of the card back doesn't contain the name "Topps". There's a Kay Bee copyright, followed by a second copyright for "T.I.L."

In any case, I certainly don't mind the lack of a Topps logo. The card fronts look great to me regardless. So let's get back to it.

In 1986 Kirby Puckett had a whopping 680 at-bats and 223 hits for a .328 average.

There's Tim Raines looking like he'd thought about a bunt, but then didn't like the pitch and pulled it back. Dave Righetti is one of only six pitchers featured in the set, and he earned it with 46 saves the prior season, at one point converting 24 consecutively.

The back of Mike Schmidt's card tells us that he's either led or tied for the N.L. lead in home runs eight times. The angle on Mike Scott's card makes it look like he's tossing that ball eight rows behind home plate.

Closing it out with two big hitters following through, and a pitcher who brought about mania in 1981. Fernando mania.

And that's it. A neat little set that couldn't have cost more than a few bucks back in 1987. Thanks for flipping through it with me. 

Do you have a favorite toy store/convenience store set of the 1980s? Leave a comment below.