1988 new york mets

this post covers the 1988 new york mets and cards numbered 282 to 290 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

nine cards for the metropolitans who won the national league east in 1988, but ran into a bulldog in the playoffs.

what team is this?: the 1988 national league east division champion new york mets

why this team?:  this team wasn't too different from the 1986 world champions, winning 100 games for the second (and to date, last) time in franchise history.  the '86 squad won 108 games while this team hit the century mark on the nose.  they won the east by 15 games over the pirates and were 10-1 in the regular season against the nl west champion dodgers.  as a result, they were heavy favorites going into the nlcs, but were defeated by orel hershiser and company in 7 games.

which players are featured?:  the same folks we saw in the 1986 team post, except for jesse orosco (now with the dodgers) and ray knight - darryl strawberry, dwight gooden, gary carter, howard johnson, keith hernandez, lenny dykstra, mookie wilson, wally backman, and sid fernandez.

why these players?:  well, we've got the runner up in the mvp vote, the all-star game starting pitcher, and most of the team's starting lineup.  let's break it down.

darryl strawberry, the mets' right fielder, led the national league in home runs and ops in 1988, but lost the mvp to kirk gibson. it was not his last great season (that came in 1990), but he did score over 100 runs for the second and final time in his career that year.  come playoff time, strawberry did well, hitting .300 in the seven game series against the dodgers with a home run, 6 rbi and an ops of .810.

dwight gooden was the national league's starting pitcher at the midsummer classic who wound up 18-9 on the year with a 3.19 era.  his 6.3 k/9 ratio was the lowest of his career at that point, and he didn't post a lower ratio until 1997 with the yankees.  in the nlcs, gooden started games 1 and 4, and relieved in game 7.  he got a no-decision in the mets' game 1 victory, striking out 10 in 7 innings, and then went 8 and a third innings in game 4, but was pulled two batters after allowing mike scioscia's huge game-tying home run.  in game 7, gooden pitched 3 innings in relief of starter ron darling, who was charged with 6 runs in one inning of work although gooden allowed a couple of inherited runners to score.

gary carter was the mets' primary catcher for the last time in 1988.  he appeared in 130 games, 119 of them while donning the tools of ignorance.  he hit .242 on the season with just 11 home runs and a paltry 46 rbi - a function of hitting 7th in the lineup for parts of the season i would guess.  in the nlcs, carter hit just .222 with a couple of extra base hits, one of which was a triple.

howard johnson had a bret saberhagen thing going on in the mid to late 1980's.  in the odd years, hojo was a 30/30 machine with a decent average, surpassing 30 homers and 30 steals in 1985, 1987, and 1989.  in the even years, however, he didn't so as well.  in 1988 for example, he hit only .230 and was a 20/20 player (24 homers and 23 steals).  he spent most of the season as the mets' third baseman, but was used primarily at shortstop in the nlcs.  in that series, he was just 1 for 18.  he got his lone hit in his second at bat of game 5, which meant that he had extended his postseason hitless streak which began in the 1984 world series and continued in the 1986 postseason to 22 at bats.  ouch.

keith hernandez won his last career gold glove in 1988, even though he only made 90 starts at first base during the season.  he hit just .276 - his lowest average since 1978 - and shared time with dave magadan in the field.  he hit .279 in the nlcs with a home run and 5 rbi.

lenny dykstra spent his last full season with the mets in 1988, as he was dealt to the phillies during the 1989 campaign.  in '88, he patrolled center field and hit .429 in the nlcs, although he started only 4 of the 7 games.

mookie wilson hit .296 in 1988 (also his final full season with the mets), playing all three outfield positions and appearing in 112 regular season games.  he started 3 of the first 4 games of the nlcs in center field, but gave way to dykstra for the final 3 games of the series.

wally backman hit .303 in 99 games for the 1988 mets, playing at second base as part of a platoon with tim teufel for davey johnson's squad. he hit .273 in the nlcs with a double and a stolen base to his credit, getting 6 of the 7 starts against the dodgers.

sid fernandez was 12-10 despite a 3.03 era in 1988.  he had his traditionally low whip as well, but i didn't see too many losses that he didn't deserve after a quick look at his game log.  there were some no-decisions that he deserved to win, however.  he finished the season on a high note, as his last 6 decisions were victories, and he won his last four starts.  he didn't appear in the nlcs until game 5, however, as he got the start in the day game that followed the game 4 12-inning affair.  he lasted just four-plus innings, giving up 6 runs including a 3-run home run to kirk gibson in the fifth which was the knock out blow for fernandez and the mets in that game.

the stadium on the back is…?:  shea stadium.  i mentioned in the 1986 team post that the photo is from a game in 1983.

did upper deck get it right?: like i said in the 1988 dodger team post, the 1988 a's should have been included in the set.  having said that, the mets also have a place on the checklist, even if there are no new players featured beyond the 1986 subset.  the player selection is solid, however, as upper deck gave us 7 of the 9 regulars (kevin elster and kevin mcreynolds are missing) along with two-fifths of the starting rotaion.  a case could be made for mcreynolds, as well as david cone (20-3), ron darling, roger mcdowell, randy myers, and even manager davey johnson and late season call-up sensation gregg jefferies as other folks deserving of inclusion.  cone especially would have made sense, since he then could have also been included as part of the 1995 yankees (yet to be featured on the blog), and johnson had already been featured in the set with the 1969 and 1970 baltimore orioles, so it would have been easy to fit him in here as well.

as for the photos, they all look good based on the uniforms except for keith hernandez (his photo comes from sometime between 1983 and 1986 based on the script 'mets' on the away jersey) and wally backman (his photo looks to be from anywhere between 1982 and 1984 based on the blue jersey).  gary carter's photo is inconclusive because of the chest protector, but i'll give upper deck the benefit of the doubt for a change.

is this team timeless?:  nope.  the 1986 team that won the world series certainly is, but this team became an afterthought once they lost the nlcs to the dodgers.

1987 detroit tigers

this post covers the 1987 detroit tigers and cards numbered 265 to 271 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

this may be the first team subset without a black and white photo on the front.  i'll have to check.  i'm back.  nope, the 1979 cincinnati reds lacked a black and white photo, too.

what team is this:  the american league east champion detroit tigers, who won 98 games in 1987.  they swept the toronto blue jays in the final series of the season to tie and overtake the jays and win the division, but lost to the twins in the alcs.

why this team?: good question. the team featured many of the same players that helped to win the world series in 1984.  i recall when the '87 tigers lost to the twins in the playoffs that there was a sense of underachievement regarding this team.

which players are featured?:  alan trammell, dan petry, chet lemon, sparky anderson, jack morris, kirk gibson, and lou whitaker.

why these players?:  this is a pretty good representation of the team, but let's break it down.

alan trammell finished second behind george bell in the 1987 american league mvp voting.  he hit .343 on the season (third behind wade boggs and paul molitor).  he also hit 28 home runs and drove in a career high 105 runs while scoring 109 times, also a career best.  his single in the bottom of the 12th inning of game 161 beat the blue jays and put the tigers one game up with one to play.  unfortunately, trammell hit just .200 with only a couple of rbi in the tigers' 5-game loss to the twins in the alcs.

dan petry went 9-7 for the 1987 tigers with a 5.61 era.  primarily a starter, petry was moved to the bullpen in august.  in the alcs, he made one appearance giving up an unearned run in 3.1 innings of work in game 4.

chet lemon hit .277 with 20 homers and 75 rbi in 1987.  it was his last year as the tigers' center fielder, as he moved to right field in 1988.  lemon hit 2 home runs with 4 rbi in the alcs.

sparky anderson was the manager of the 1987 tigers, obviously, and they were the 7th team that he had led to the postseason.  they were also his last, even though he managed the team through the 1995 season.  he won the 1987 al manager of the year award, the second time he was so honored.

jack morris was the ace of the staff.  he won 18 games and his 3.34 era was good for 5th in the league.  he threw 13 complete games during the regular season, and then threw one more in the alcs.  unfortunately, it was of the 8-inning variety as the twins scored 6 runs off of him en route to a game 2 victory.

kirk gibson moved to left field from right in 1987, hitting .277 with 24 home runs and 79 rbi.  gibby was one of the few bright spots for the tigers in the alcs, hitting .286 with a home run, four rbi, and 3 steals against the twins.

lou whitaker scored a career high 110 runs in 149 games for the tigers in 1987.  he hit .265 with 16 homers and 59 rbi as well.  he had 4 lead-off home runs during the season, including the 100th homer of his career, and had two walk-off bombs as well.  in the alcs, he hit just .176 with a solo home run and a stolen base.

the stadium on the back is…?:  tiger stadium.

did upper deck get it right?:  aside from the checklist conveniences, there is really no reason to feature this team instead of the 1987 saint louis cardinals.  upper deck could have added bill madlock to this subset (he was already featured in the set with the 1979 pittsburgh pirates), and matt nokes or frank tanana would have made sense, too (moreso than dan petry, especially since tanana's shutout (along with larry herndon's home run) in game 162 won the division for the team) but for the most part this is a decent player selection.

the photos are mostly from the correct era, but hard to pinpoint the exact year.  i don't know when the tigers wore the navy bp jerseys (so morris's photo may or may not be timely), but the 1987 team wore button up jerseys at home (like petry's) and button up away jerseys on the road (like whitaker's).  the other players (trammell, lemon, and gibson) and their manager are sporting pullovers that were last worn in 1984.

is this team timeless?:  no.  i would say that the team is too similar to the 1984 squad which is much more memorable.

1986 california angels

this post covers the 1986 california angels and cards number 248 to 254 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

we see seven players for the halos, including a memorable moment card.

what team is this?: the 1986 american league western division champion california angels.

why this team?: the halos returned to the postseason for the third time in club history after winning 92 games and the al west by 5 games over the texas rangers.  plus, they should have won the alcs over the red sox.  they were up 3 games to 1 when the red sox rallied to win game 5 thanks in part to a 9th inning home run by dave henderson off of donnie moore.  the red sox won games 6 and 7 but lost the world series due to some misfortune of their own.

which players are featured:  bob boone, bobby grich, brian downing, don sutton, terry forster, rick burleson, and wally joyner

why these players?:  all of these players, except for terry forster (much to my disappointment) have already appeared in the set, so the economy of scale applies.  still, boone, downing, joyner, and sutton were regulars on the squad. let's break it down.

bob boone enjoyed a career resurgence in anaheim.  the angels purchashed his contract from the phillies after boone hit just .211 in 1981, and he immediately paid dividends.  he returned to being a full-time catcher, and caught more games than anyone else in each season from 1982 through 1986.  in 1986, the 38-year old was behind the plate for 144 games.  he hit just .222 but won his fourth career gold glove.  in the alcs, boone was the catcher for all 7 games, and as a bonus, he hit .455 with a home run and 2 rbi.

bobby grich, like forster, played his last big league game in 1986.  he appeared in only 98 games during the regular season, hitting .268 with 9 homers and 30 rbi.  he hit .208 in the alcs with a home run and 3 rbi.  i am going from memory here, but i recall reading an article the day after game 5 against the red sox, wherein grich relayed that he had spoken with former teammate don baylor while on the bases late in that game.  'greatest game i've ever played in' was the quote.  i really felt badly for grich that he didn't get a chance to play in the fall classic.

brian downing was the angels' left fielder since the early '80's when he was converted from catcher.  as it turned out, 1986 would be his last season spent primarily in the field as he became a full time dh the following season. for the angels, downing enjoyed some good power seasons, and set a personal high in 1986 with 95 rbi.  in the alcs, he hit just .222, but did have a home run and 7 rbi.

don sutton was 15-11 in his first full season for the angels.  one of those victories, a complete game win, counted for the 300th of his career.  sutton made two appearances in the alcs, including a start.  he had an era of 1.86 in those appearances, having allowed 2 earned runs in 9.2 innings of work, but had no record in the series - the last postseason appearance of his career.

terry forster had been released by the braves right before the start of the 1986 season.  the angels signed him to a free agent deal soonafter, and the 'fat tub of goo' went on to pitch in 41 games for the halos, compiling an era of 3.51 and a record of 4-1 with 5 saves. forster did not pitch for the angels in the postseason, and became a free agent after the season ended.  although he signed on with the twins, he did not pitch in another major league game.

rick burleson returned from injury to play in 93 games for the angels in 1986.  he served mostly as a dh and shortstop, hitting 5 homers with 29 rbi and a .286 average.  in the postseason, rooster was 3 for 11 with a sacrifice in the four alcs games in which he appeared.

wally joyner exploded on the socal scene in 1986.  he was the reason that rod carew was essentially kicked out of town by the halos, and angels fans quickly forgave gene autry and buzzie bavasi.  'wally world' was open all season, with the rookie of the year hitting 22 homers, driving in 100 runs, and hitting .290 over 154 regular season games.  in the alcs, joyner played in only 3 of the 7 games due to injury, but he hit .455 with two doubles and a home run in those games.

the stadium on the back is...?: anaheim stadium.  it's the right stadium, but the photo is pre-rams expansion so not as it was in 1986.

did upper deck get it right?:  from a player standpoint, doug decinces is probably the biggest omission along with staff ace mike witt, while reggie jackson (once again) could have been featured.  as much as i appreciated having a terry forster card in the set, i would have preferred, and it would have made more sense, for him to have been featured as a dodger in the 1980 or 1981 subset.

the photos all look pretty good, although i am not sure when the angels started to wear the blue bp jerseys.  at any rate, 1986 was grich's last season, so the photo can't be from any later.  the others, with the possible exception of the rick burleson photo, have the left sleeve state logo inside the baseball, which was new in 1986.  forster's photo is for sure from 1986 as that was his only season with the angels.


is this team timeless?:  for angel fans, yes.  however, there was too much drama in the 1986 postseason for this team to resonate too far beyond southern california, so i will say no. what do you think?

1981 milwaukee brewers

this post covers the 1981 milwaukee brewers and cards numbered 208 to 213 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

it's been a while since a new franchise was introduced to the set, even though two of the players have been featured before (cecil cooper and rollie fingers).  three of the six players here are hall of famers, which makes for a good checklist.  and can we agree that the 'mb' glove is one the greatest logo of its time?

what team is this?:  this is the 1981 milwaukee brewers, who won the american league east in the 'second half' of the season.

why this team?:  this is the first milwaukee brewer team to reach the postseason.  they wound up with the second best overall record in the american league in 1981 (62-47) behind the oakland a's, but lost to the yankees in the divisional playoff round in 5 games.  i will still categorize them as division champions, just so i don't have to go and create some special label.

which players are featured?: cecil cooper, gorman thomas, paul molitor, robin yount, rollie fingers, and don money.

why these players?:  this is a pretty good representation of the 1981 brewers squad, for the most part.  let's break it down.

cecil cooper led the brew crew with a .320 batting average in 1981, good for 4th in the league.  the first baseman also led the league in doubles (35), won the silver slugger award, and finished 8th in the league mvp voting.  in the playoffs against the yankees, cooper hit .222 with 3 rbi.

gorman thomas, usually the brewers' center fielder, split the 1981 season between center and right field.  he hit 21 home runs (5th in the league) and drove in 65 (8th) in 103 games.  he made the all-star team for the first (and only) time, but was 0-1 in the game with a pinch hit pop out.  in the postseason, thomas hit a home run in the brewers' decisive game 5 loss, but managed just one other hit during the series.

hall of famer paul molitor moved from the infield to the outfield in 1981, spending most of his time in center field for the brewers that year.  unfortunately, he appeared in only 64 games during the regular season and hit only .267.  molly hit just .250 in the alds, but had a big solo home run in the 8th inning of game 4 to break a 3-3 tie and force the series to a fifth game.

robin yount was the only brewer regular to hit over .300 in the postseason.  he hit .316 over the five games, but had only one extra base hit and one rbi in doing so.  he had hit .273 during the regular season with 30 extra base hits and 49 rbi - a down year for sure.  he bounced back in a big way in 1982, however, as we will see in a few posts down the line.

rollie fingers had been traded from the padres to the cardinals after the 1980 season, and four days after that trade was completed, he was shipped to the brewers.  the hall of famer did well during his first season in milwaukee, winning the cy young award thanks to a 1.04 era, 6-3 record, and 28 saves in 47 appearances.  not only that, but fingers also won the mvp award, becoming the first american league reliever to have done so.  the future hall of famer appeared in three of the five alds games, earning the win in game 3 and a save in game 4.

don money is the one player who probably doesn't fit here.  he had played in only 60 games during the regular season, and hit just .216 as the brewers' primary third baseman.  in the postseason, the former all-star saw action in two of the games, going 0 for 3 at the plate.

the stadium on the back is...?:  milwaukee county stadium, home to the brewers from 1970 through 2000.  it had hosted the milwaukee braves prior to that, from 1953 through 1965 after which the braves left for atlanta.  county stadium even hosted a handful of white sox games in 1968 and 1969.

did upper deck get it right?: there are no issues with featuring this team since it was the first brewer team to reach the postseason, and it featured a lot of good players.  and, upper deck did well with the player selection outside of don money.  ted simmons, jim gantner, ben oglivie, or pete vuckovich would have been better choices based on their 1981 seasons.  sal bando (who was already on the set checklist) would have even made more sense, as he was the team's third baseman in the playoffs, and his .294 average in the series was second to only yount's .316.

as for the photos, they all look about right for the period (based on the uniforms, hats, and thomas' batting helmet), but i would say that money's photo is from the mid 1970's.  overall, not a bad effort by the folks in carlsbad.

is this team timeless?:  i would say no.  it is overshadowed by the 1982 brewer team that made it to the world series and included basically the same players.

1980 new york yankees

this post covers the 1980 new york yankees and cards numbered 184 to 190 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

no memorable moments, just one player new to the set (rudy may), and a bunch of crafty veterans.

what team is this?:  the 1980 new york yankees, winners of 103 games and free of billy martin for a full season for the first time since 1974.

why this team?:  the yankees won the american league east in 1980 after a one-year hiatus.  they returned to the american league championship series for the fourth time in five years, but lost to the kansas city royals (the team they had beat in their three previous alcs appearances) in three games.

which players are featured?:  rudy may, brian doyle, bucky dent, jim kaat, lou piniella, luis tiant, and tommy john.

why these players?:  aside from the fact that they work with the set checklist, these guys accounted for 45 of the team's wins and 8 of their 189 home runs.  so, yeah - why these players?  let's break it down.

rudy may returned to the yankees in 1980 after three-plus seasons away.  he split his time between the bullpen and the starting rotation (41 appearances, 17 starts) and wound up leading the american league in earned run average (2.46).  he was 15-5 on the regular season and got the start in game 2 of the alcs. he pitched a complete game (of the 8 inning variety) but was done in by a 3-run 3rd inning for the royals.

brian doyle was unable to parlay his 1978 world series success into success during the regular season.  he appeared in only 34 games for the yankees in 1980, and did not play in the alcs at all.  he did hit his lone career home run in 1980, however; a solo shot off of the indians' len barker.  while including doyle with the 1978 team made sense, he is only included here as easy checklist fodder.

bucky dent was the starting shortstop for the american league in the 1980 all-star game at dodger stadium (he was 1 for 2 in the game).  he hit .262 during the regular season with 5 home runs and 57 runs scored.  he was just 2 for 11 with no runs scored or extra base hits in the 1980 postseason, however.

jim kaat makes even less sense here than doyle.  he appeared in 4 games for the yankees in 1980, going 0-1 in five innings of work.  his contract was purchased by the cardinals at the end of april, and his brief yankee career which began less than a year earlier was finished.

lou piniella hit .287 in 116 games for the yankees in 1980.  he hit only 2 home runs with just 27 rbi, however.  in the alcs, he started in left field in games 1 and 3 against southpaws larry gura and paul spilttorff, but did not play in game 2 against dennis leonard.  he hit a home run in his first at bat in game 1 (the second in a back-to-back sequence with rick cerone) but was held hitless for the remainder of the series.

luis tiant joined the yankees for the 1979 season, and went 13-8 with a 3.91 era.  in 1980, his era rose by almost a full run (4.89) and his win-loss record was 8-9.  with the yankees being swept in the playoffs, tiant did not get a start in the series.

tommy john did get a start in the alcs - game 3 to be exact (ron guidry started the first game of the series).  he left with two outs in the 7th inning with the  yankees leading 2-1 and the tying run on base.  a couple batters later, goose gossage gave up a 3-run homer to george brett, and the yankees' season was all but over.  during the regular season, john won a career high 22 games to lead the team.  he finished 4th in the cy young voting, and was named to the all-star team for the third straight year and the fourth time in his career.  that was the year he gave up the home run to ken griffey at dodger stadium for which tommy lasorda takes all the credit.

the stadium on the back is...?:  yankee stadium, but that's not a photo from 1980.

did upper deck get it right?: this might be the worst roster representation in the set.  upper deck completely missed the boat with brian doyle and jim kaat, especially.  i am a kaat fan, but it is pretty obvious that he was included because he previously appeared in the set with the 1965 minnesota twins.  reggie jackson (41 homers and a .300 average in 1980!) is probably the most obvious miss (again, wasn't he an upper deck employee? how hard would it have been to get him in this set?) along with ron guidry and goose gossage.  rick cerone, willie randolph, and bob watson would have made sense, too.  heck, even eric soderholm would have made more sense than kitty kaat.  

let's take a look at the photos.  the yankees wore a black armband for the entire 1980 season in honor of thurman munson who died in 1979.  that means that the doyle, dent, and piniella photos are definitely not from 1980.  tommy john is the only one with a visible armband, so his photo may be from 1980, or it could be from 1979 or 1981 (for elston howard) or even 1986 (roger maris).  rudy may's photo looks like it could be from his first stint with the yankees, and the photos for tiant and kaat would both be from either 1979 or 1980 - the only seasons they were with the yankees.

as for the team itself, it would have been nice to have the royals in the set, especially since this was the year that they finally beat the yankees in the playoffs.  but again, the checklist dictates that the yankees and these players make the set.

is this team timeless?:  no.  it's way overshadowed by the 1977 and 1978 teams, and probably even the 1981 yankee team.

1979 cincinnati reds

this post covers the 1979 cincinnati reds and cards numbered 166 to 170 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

this is the first subset to not feature at least one black and white photo.  and, out of the five players featured, only one is new to the set.

what team is this?: this is the national league west champion 1979 cincinnati reds.

why this team?:  these reds won the division by 1.5 games over the houston astros.  they went 90-71 in the regular season, but were swept by the pittsburgh pirates in the national league championship series.

which players are featured?:  there is a fairly good representation of the 1979 version (if there were such a thing) of the big red machine here, meaning the version wihout pete rose and tony perez but with tom seaver.  we get dave concepcion, george foster, johnny bench, ray knight, and tom seaver.

why these players?:   let's break it down and see.

dave concepcion set career highs in runs, home runs, and rbi in 1979.  he won his fifth (and final) gold glove, and finished in the top ten of the league mvp voting.  he went 6 for 14 with a double in the nlcs against the pirates, making the final postseason appearance of his career.

george foster was coming off of back-to-back league leading home run seasons in 1979, but wound up finishing sixth with 30 roundtrippers that year.  he played in only 121 games, however, and he still managed to lead the team in home runs and rbi (98).  as with concepcion, 1979 was foster's last time in the postseason, but unlike the reds' shortstop, foster hit only .200 in the series against pittsburgh.

johnny bench hit .276 in 130 games for the reds in 1979.  he hit 22 homers with 80 rbi, and was named to the all-star team for the 12th consecutive year.  he also appeared in the postseason for the final time in 1979, hitting .250 with a triple and a home run in the nlcs.

ray knight took over at third base for the reds in 1979, replacing hometown hero pete rose.  knight wound up leading the team with a .318 average and 37 doubles.  he was 4 for 14 with a double in the playoffs - his first foray into the postseason.  this is the first time we see knight in this set, but it won't be the last, thanks to his role on the 1986 mets.

speaking of mets, we last saw tom seaver in the 1969 mets subset.  he joined the reds in 1977, and made it to the postseason with them in 1979.  he was 16-6 in the regular season with a league leading 5 shutouts.  seaver started game 1 of the playoffs, and left the game tied after throwing 8 innings and allowing two runs.  the reds eventually lost the game in extra innings, and seaver never pitched in the postseason again.

the stadium on the back is...?:  riverfront stadium, where the reds played from 1970 through 2002.

did upper deck get it right?:  upper deck did pretty well with only five players.  of the regulars not featured (dan driessen, joe morgan, cesar geronimo, ken griffey/dave collins) only griffey might have warranted inclusion.  his absence is more glaring when you consider the fact that he appears in the set later on, as a member of the yankees.  as far as pitchers go, the 1979 reds had tom seaver and then a group of serviceable arms.  tom hume would have been a decent choice for the set, had upper deck chosen to include more pitchers from this team.

as far as the photos go, we know for sure that the bench photo predates 1979 by several years, thanks to the uniform he is wearing.  the reds switched to the pullover jerseys with the striped arms in 1972.  we also know that the concepcion photo is from before 1977, since that was the year that the pirates started wearing the striped home jerseys.  and, because the pirates player sliding in to second on concepcion's card is not wearing the national league centennial patch, i will suggest that the image comes from no later than 1975.  the other photos don't have any way that i know of to correctly determine the year that they were taken.

is this team timeless?:  no, not to me.  it is overshadowed by the reds teams from earlier in the decade.

1979 california angels

this post covers the 1979 california angels and cards numbered 162 to 165 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this?:  the 1979 california angels - the first angels team to qualify for the postseason.

why this team?:  the angels won the american league west for owner gene autry in 1979 with a record of 88-74.  although they fell to the baltimore orioles in the alcs 3 games to 1, the team boasted the american league mvp in don baylor and the league leader in strikeouts in nolan ryan.

which players are featured?:  only four are included in the set for this team - bobby grich, brian downing, dan ford, and nolan ryan.

why these players?:  as the backs of the cards attest, all four of these players had big years in 1979.  let's break it down.

bobby grich set career highs in rbi (101) and home runs (30) in 1979, although he might have surpassed that home run total in 1981 had the strike not disrupted the season (he had 22 home runs in 100 games that year to lead the american league). he also hit .294 and returned to the all-star game for the first time since leaving baltimore after the 1976 season.  grich hit just .154 in the alcs against his former team with a double and two rbi.

brian downing spent most of 1979 behind the plate - the last season in which he would be primarily used as a catcher.  he hit 12 home runs, and more surprisingly hit .326 in 148 games.  downing made the all-star team for the only time in his career that year, and is best remembered from that game as being the guy dave parker threw out at the plate in the bottom of the 8th to preserve the 6-6 tie.  downing also had one of the most copied batting stances in my neighborhood.  in the alcs, he hit .200 with just 3 hits in the 4 games.

dan ford joined the angels via a trade with the twins after the 1978 season.  he took over in right field for the late lyman bostock, just as he had replaced bostock in center field for the twins the previous season.  in addition to his 21 home runs and 101 rbi mentioned on his card back, ford hit .290 and scored 100 runs for the only time in his career.  he also led the league with 13 sacrifice flies.  ford hit .294 in the alcs with a couple of home runs and a double while driving in a team high 4 runs.

nolan ryan led the league in strikeouts for the fourth straight year in 1979, and for the seventh time overall.  he had 223 k's to go along with 16 wins, 5 shutouts, and a 3.60 era.  he didn't throw a no-hitter in 1979, but he did have a one-hitter (the hit came when reggie jackson singled one out in the 9th inning) and two two-hitters.  he had a 12-7 record with a sub-3.00 era in late july when he injured his elbow (the same week he was on the cover of sports illustrated) and missed a couple of weeks.  he returned to finish the season, but was not the same pitcher he had been prior to the injury, going 4-7 with a 5.47 era in his last 12 starts.  ryan started game 1 of the alcs, and held the orioles to one earned run in seven innings, but the angels lost 6-3.  it turned out to be the last game ryan pitched for the angels as he opted to sign with the houston astros prior to the 1980 season.

the stadium on the back is...?: anaheim stadium, as it was known in 1979.  nicknamed 'the big a', the stadium opened in 1966 and was renovated (disneyfied) in 1998.  the photo used is pre-disney - in fact, it may well be from 1979 as it is certainly not more recent than that.  the la rams moved in to anaheim stadium in 1980, and as a result, the field was modified to accommodate football games.  in doing so, bleachers were added in left field with retractable seats in right, and the big a itself was moved way out into the parking lot.

did upper deck get it right?:  don baylor  is missing, and that's not right.  all he did was lead the league in runs scored (120) and rbi (139) while hitting 39 home runs and playing in all 162 games.  he is a well known ttm signer, so it's not like he's a recluse.  i think he should have been included, especially since he could have also been included later on in the set with the 1986 red sox and 1987 twins.  on the other hand, kudos to upper deck for not going for the checklist filler and featuring the likes of bert campaneris, joe rudi, or merv rettenmund, all of whom had been previously featured in the set and were a part of the 1979 angels, but were no longer everyday players.

grich, downing, ford, and ryan were all good choices for this team, and aside from baylor, maybe rod carew is the only other player that would have made sense.  i say that even though i really think it would have been cool to have a willie davis card featuring him as an angel despite he was a minor player on this team, and upper deck was right not to include him.  i do find it odd, however, that upper deck did not include the 1979 baltimore orioles in the set.  while i am thankful for the angels, i wonder why upper deck ignored the american league champions, especially when it was a franchise that had been in the set previously.

they did a good job with the stadium, as mentioned above, and the photos on the fronts aren't too bad either.  we know that nolan ryan's photo comes from 1972 due to the button down jersey and the lowercase 'a', but the other three could be from 1979.  the angels switched to pullover jerseys with the 'a' capitalized in 1973.  they kept that look through 1988 (although they changed the patch sleeve from the california shape to a circular patch in 1986).  disco dan was only with the team from 1979-1981, so his photo is from one of those years.  the other two guys joined the angels in 1977 and 1978, respectively, and were there well in to the 1980's so who knows what year the photos are from.

is this team timeless?:  when i think of angels teams from this era, i think of the 1982 team first, even though i was a big don baylor fan in 1979.  i have to say that, no, i don't think this team is timeless.  what do you think?

1975 oakland a's

this post covers the 1975 oakland a's and cards numbered 123 to 126 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

what team is this:  the defending world champions (for the third straight year) and the 1975 american league west division winning oakland a's

why this team?:  they won the american league west for the fourth straight year and were heading towards a chance to defend their three consecutive world series titles until they met the red sox in the playoffs.

which players are featured?:  just four for this team - billy williams, gene tenace, jim perry, and vida blue.

why these players?:  well, billy williams and jim perry have appeared in the set before, although it was with different teams. williams was part of the 1969 cubs team, and perry checked in with the 1965 minnesota twins.  both blue and tenace have appeared as part of the a's dynasty - blue in 1974 and tenace in 1973.  to me, this team seems to be a bit of a checklist filler.

let's break it down.

billy williams joined the a's after the 1974 season, having spent his entire career to that point with the cubs.  he hit only .244 for the a's in '75, but did play in 155 games (mostly as their designated hitter) and hit 23 homers with 81 rbi.  one of those homers happened to be the 400th of his career, to boot.  in his first taste of the postseason, williams started two of the three alcs games, and appeared as a pinch-hitter in the other.  in all, he was 0 for 7 with a walk.

gene tenace tied his career high in runs scored (83) in 1975, and set personal bests in home runs (29) and rbi (87).  he hit .255 and was an all-star for the only time in his career.  oddly enough, he started the midsummer classic for the american league at first base, even though he spent most of his time in 1975 behind the plate.  in the alcs against the red sox, tenace was 0 for 9 with 3 walks.

jim perry arrived in oakland in may of 1975 via the trade that sent blue moon odom to cleveland.  perry appeared in 15 games (11 starts) for the a's, and had a record of 3-4.  he threw two complete games, one of which was a one-hit shutout against the baltimore orioles.  perry was released by the a's in august of 1975, meaning he did not get a chance to pitch in the postseason.

vida blue was 22-11 in 1975.  he appeared in 39 games, 38 of which were starts.  in his lone relief appearance, he earned a save.  to go along with his 13 complete games and 2 shutouts, blue also struck out 189 batters - the most he had k'd since his rookie year when he fanned 301.  blue was named the starting pitcher in the all-star game and finished 6th in the league cy young voting.  blue got the start in game 2 of the alcs, but lasted only 3+ innings, allowing 3 runs without recording an out in the 4th inning.

the stadium on the back is...?:  once again, the oakland alameda county stadium.  home to the a's since 1968.

did upper deck get it right?: as i said earlier, this seems to be a bit of a checklist grab.  the team made the playoffs but was swept by the red sox, so it's not even a league champion team.  all four players featured have previously appeared in the set, and one (perry) wasn't even with the team for the entire season.  although i will say that it is nice to have a card showing perry as an athletic.  given that, i am actually surprised that phil garner (who will show up with the 1979 pittsburgh pirates) wasn't given a a card.  other players that would have made sense include joe rudi, rollie fingers, and ken holtzman - all of whom have appeared in the set already.  i am going to say that this team should not have been in the set.

as for the photos, we know that the billy williams photo is either from 1975 or 1976, since those are the only years he played in oakland.  the tenace photo is from the same time because, thanks to the guy in the dugout with his feet up, it looks like it is from the same game or maybe even inning as the williams image.  jim perry's photo is certainly from 1975 as he was only with the team from may until august of that year.  the vida blue photo, however, is from no later than 1971 due to the uniform he is wearing.  three out of four isn't too bad for this set.

is this team timeless?:  not to me.  the 1972-74 a's are certainly 'timeless teams', but the 1975 team, although comprised of essentially the same players, is not considered to be part of the oakland dynasty of the early 1970's.

1972 detroit tigers

this post covers the 1972 detroit tigers and cards numbered 71 to 79 in the set. here are the fronts:

and backs:

so, upper deck skipped 1971, saving us from yet another grouping of that great orioles team but also denying us our first look at the pirates (how cool would it have been to see the likes of dock ellis, al oliver, manny sanguillen, and vic davalillo in this set? the answer is very very cool).  alas, we'll have to wait a few years to see pittsburgh in the set.  other possibilities from 1971 would have been the a's (we will see plenty of them) and the giants (thankfully they are completely omitted from the set).

what team is this?:  1972 detroit tigers

why this team?:  the tigers won the american league east in 1972 with an 86-80 record.  they finished a half-game ahead of the boston red sox thanks to the fact that they played one more game as a result of the player strike that delayed the start of the season and wiped out a different number of games for different teams.  if you look at the final standings that year, you'll see that not every team played the same number of games.  that's pretty fundamental, one would think.  the tigers wound up losing the 1972 american league championship series to the a's in 5 games.

which players are featured?:  it's a repeat cast from the 1968 detroit tigers team (which makes sense from a set checklist point of view) sans denny mclain who was out of detroit by the time 1972 rolled around.  that means we get al kaline, bill freehand, dick mcauliffe, jim northrup, john hiller, mickey lolich, mickey stanley, and willie horton.

why these players?:  in addition to from ed brinkman, these were the surviving everyday players from the 1972 tigers team.  mickey lolich was the ace, and john hiller a key bullpen cog, although chuck seelbach would have made sense to have been included.

al kaline was 37 during the 1972 season.  he played in 106 games and hit .313 in just over 300 plate appearances.  he managed to hit 10 homers, the last of which started the scoring in the first game of the crucial season ending three game set against the second place red sox.  kaline finished 24th in the league mvp voting and hit .263 with a solo home run in the alcs against the a's.  that solo shot came in the top of the 11th inning of game 1 to give the tigers a lead.  unfortunately, they were unable to hang on and lost the game in the bottom of the inning.

bill freehan was named to the american league all-star team for the 9th straight year in 1972.  in the game, he started at catcher and was 0 for 1 with a walk and a run before being replaced by carlton fisk.  during the regular season, freehan hit .262 and slugged 10 homers in 111 games played.  behind the plate, he threw out 37% of the would-be base stealers who ran against him, but made an uncharacteristic 8 errors in  105 games as a catcher.  freehan hit .250 with a homer and three rbi in the alcs.

dick mcauliffe hit .240 with 8 homers and 30 rbi in 1972.  his home run total was the lowest since his rookie season of 1961. the tigers' primary second baseman also hit a solo shot in the alcs.

jim northrup also saw his home run total drop to 8 in 1972.  northrup actually had his power numbers drop across the board, slugging just .362 with just 25 extra base hits in 134 games played.  he hit .357 in the alcs, but had no extra base hits and just one rbi in the 5 game series.

john hiller triumphantly returned to the big leagues in 1972 after sitting out the 1971 season due to the health concerns.  he pitched in just 24 games but had 3 saves and a 2.03 era.  all three of his decisions came in his only three starts of the season - two losses and a complete game 5-hitter for the win.  hiller pitched in 3 games of the alcs, earning the win in game 4 and posting a perfect 0.00 era in 3.1 innings of work.

mickey lolich went 22-14 for detroit in 1972.  his 2.50 era was almost half a run lower than his era from the previous year when he won 25 games.  although his strikeout numbers were down, he still k'd 250 batters, good for second in the league behind nolan ryan.  as an aside, if mickey lolich didn't retire and miss the 1977 season before returning to the big leagues in 1978, would he have tallied the 168 strikeouts he ultimately needed to reach 3000? and, if so, is mickey lolich in the hall of fame?  back to 1972 - lolich made the all-star team that year and pitched 2 innings of scoreless ball in relief of the game's starter, jim palmer.  he also finished fourth in the league cy young voting and made 2 starts in the alcs.  in game 1, he pitched 10 innings and allowed just one run before he was sent out for the 11th inning with a one run lead.  he gave up back to back hits to start the inning and was relieved.  the a's scored twice and lolich got the loss.  he returned in game 4 and held the a's to a single run in 9 innings of work, but was replaced as the game went to extra innings and didn't get the win when the tigers eventually won in 11.

mickey stanley played center field for the tigers in 142 games during the 1972 season.  he hit .234 with 14 homers and 55 rbi.  he made only one start in the alcs, but appeared in four of the five games, hitting .333 with 2 singles in 6 at bats.

willie horton appeared in 108 games for detroit in 1972 as the tigers continued to work three players (horton, kaline, and northrup) across two positions (right and left field).  like the rest, horton's numbers dipped (11/36/.231) although i don't know if that was due to playing time or the strike or just some fine 1972 pitching.  in the alcs, horton was held to just one hit in 10 official at bats.

the stadium on the back is...?:  "the corner", also known as "old" tiger stadium.  it opened in 1912 (as navin stadium) and was the home to the tigers through the 1999 season.

did upper deck get it right?:  well, they tried i suppose.  i think that this is the first instance of a team being featured simply because of the checklist.  all of these players were part of the 1968 tiger team (definitely timeless) and so were already in the set.  so, it was easy for upper deck to have them sign some more cards.

as for the players, i think these are the right guys to be featured although hiller wasn't with the team the full season, and joe coleman and chuck seelbach would have been worthy additions to the set.

the photos are a mixed bag.  kaline is too young in his photo for it to have been from 1972, and freehan is sporting the anniversary patch that was worn in 1969, as is horton.  john hiller is also sporting the away grays that were last worn in 1971.  as for the rest, they are wearing the away jersey that was first donned by tiger players in 1972, so they could be legit, although i would guess that the northrup and stanley images are from later in the 70's.  not helping is the guy lurking in the background of northrup's photo.  that's long time tiger coach (and former dodger) dick tracewski.  he coached for the tigers from 1972-1995, so we can't narrow the timing of the photo down that way.

is this team timeless?:  although 1972 was the final postseason appearance for each of these players, i don't see much of a reason to include them in the set.  not timeless.