Josh helped me out with some of the best names of the Team 2000 checklist. Here's a quiz for you: Which of these players had the best WAR from 1990-1999? The answer will be at the end.
I received a pair of cards for my ROY collection. Bagwell was the NL ROY in 1991, while Knoblauch took home the award for the AL in the same year.
I got a random assortment of junk wax Cubbies. I believe this is Gary Woods's first representation in my Cubs collection. I love the image of Rick Wilkins holding up the ball after the tag. I wish I could see who else was involved in the play, but I hope he was called out.
I think the oddballs here are the highlight of the trade. The Mark Grace is a 1990 Starline Long John Silver issue and the bottom three are 1993 Hostess. I remember eating more Hostess baseballs that summer than I ever have before or since.
The second trade was football. It hit my All-Decade collection and gave me some set help.
From 1990 Pro Set Super Bowl, I got some Supermen who also played their way onto the All 80s team. I have a special affinity for the guys in the trenches, so when I see one of the original Hogs, Joe Jacoby, pulling to get out and block in open space, that card is a winner.
No, I'm not collecting the 1989 Topps set, but all of these cards belong in my collection. Growing up, I always thought these cards were boring. Now I really think they're good-looking cards. My only issue is the random color schemes on the helmet stripes on the side. 1989 was a good year for football sets. I like all three major releases: Topps and the iconic inaugural sets of Score and Pro Set. They were all very good looking sets with one of the greatest rookies classes of all-time. Of course, these players were all well-established by 1989, not the rookies, but it is a good set.
Much like 1989 Topps, I never appreciated 1991 Pro Set Platinum as a kid. It was kind of Pro Set's "premium" offering, but I always disliked it and tended to view it as not a real set. It was probably due to the lack of names on the front of the cards. Now when I look at it, I'm wholly impressed with the action photography and clean look of the logo. Look at the shot of Jerry Rice's celebration, for example. Or great Bill Fralic battling another great John Randle, with two more outstanding players--Chris Doleman and Mike Kenn--on the ground in the background. What a card! For those who need a refresher, the players featured are Art Monk and Jerry Rice on the top row, and Mike Munchak, Bill Fralic, and Anthony Munoz on the bottom row.
I got some '88 Topps for my set as well. My build is going quite nicely. It seems like a lot of people are just dying to get rid of their extras, and I've been quite happy to take them. There are some good names here.
I'll end with a couple of individual cards of All 80s players. First, we have safety Nolan Cromwell in the form of a Topps Sticker. And as a finale, one of the most interesting cards in my collection. This Jerry Rice came from 1999 Sports Illustrated for Kids and proudly features its perforations. But check out the path of the football. Apparently it is circling Jerry's head until he's ready to catch it. Or it bounced off his shoulder, paused--in mid-air, mind you--made a left turn, and landed in Rice's hands. I haven't seen any other cards from that year's SI for Kids. Do they all have the same type of photo on them?
Well, that does it for those two trades, one baseball, one football. For those who actually tested themselves on the trivia question, the WAR ranking in the 1990s for the three players above goes as follows:
3. Juan Gonzalez--30.2
2. David Justice--33.2
and, our winner
1. Bernie Williams--34.4
As you can see, all were pretty good players, and all had similar success. Thanks for reading!
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