Wednesday, July 28, 2010

1983 Unwanted Cards


Unwanted Cards
This is where I am listing all of the cards I am not interested in keeping, mostly just to provide a service to those who may be interested in having a complete set of cards from all sets in 1983. These cards basically fall into two categories.

From Donruss, we get the 2nd installment of Diamond Kings. In 1983, Donruss wasn't quite digging for subjects for this subset yet, as it features a quality group of players. In fact it might even be a better checklist than in 1982. But of course, I personally was never a fan of the artwork on these cards and it always came across as something an advanced high school art student could've done. I suppose the problem is that if you think about the fact that there was a Diamond King for each team, it would require a painting be completed every two weeks, and that is not counting production time, so it may have been an even tighter time schedule. In the 1982 Donruss packs, three pieces of a Babe Ruth puzzle were given away with the cards. In 1983, Donruss gave out pieces to make up a puzzle of Ty Cobb. This was the first year they put a card in the set to show what the completed puzzle looked like.

From Fleer we got the second year of Super Star Specials. I also always hated these cards for some reason. I could really have cared less about getting a card with, for example, Bo Diaz and Gary Carter, on one card. Fleer also started getting cutesy with this subset in 1983, using a play on names and splitting the subject up over two cards. Essentially, it really is little more that getting a 2nd Bud Black or Vida Blue card, using the example I am picturing here. I am only using two of the Superstar Special cards in the ultimate set, the card commemorating Gaylord Perry's 300th win and the card commemorating Joel Youngblood playing on two teams in one day. I feel these are highlight cards.

Donruss Diamond Kings
__ DO 1 DK Fernando Valenzuela LAD
__ DO 2 DK Rollie Fingers MIL
__ DO 3 DK Reggie Jackson CAL
__ DO 4 DK Jim Palmer BAL
__ DO 5 DK Jack Morris DET
__ DO 6 DK George Foster NYM
__ DO 7 DK Jim Sundberg TEX
__ DO 8 DK Willie Stargell PIT
__ DO 9 DK Dave Stieb TOR
__ DO 10 DK Joe Niekro HOU
__ DO 11 DK Rickey Henderson OAK
__ DO 12 DK Dale Murphy ATL
__ DO 13 DK Toby Harrah CLE
__ DO 14 DK Bill Buckner CHC
__ DO 15 DK Willie Wilson KCR
__ DO 16 DK Steve Carlton PHI
__ DO 17 DK Ron Guidry NYY
__ DO 18 DK Steve Rogers MON
__ DO 19 DK Kent Hrbek MIN
__ DO 20 DK Keith Hernandez STL
__ DO 21 DK Floyd Bannister SEA
__ DO 22 DK Johnny Bench CIN
__ DO 23 DK Britt Burns CHW
__ DO 24 DK Joe Morgan SFG
__ DO 25 DK Carl Yastrzemski BOS
__ DO 26 DK Terry Kennedy SDP

Other Donruss Cards
__ DO 613 ST Niekro Brothers (Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro) XXX
__ DO 648 ST MVP's (Vida Blue, Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan) SFG
__ DO 653 ST Ty Cobb (Puzzle) DET

Fleer Superstar Specials
__ FL 629 ST Red Sox All-Stars (Dennis Eckersley, Carl Yastrzemski, Mark Clear) BOS
__ FL 631 ST Pride of Venezuela (Dave Concepcion, Manny Trillo) XXX
__ FL 632 ST All-Star Infielders (Robin Yount, Buddy Bell) XXX
__ FL 633 ST Mr. Vet & Mr. Rookie (Dave Winfield, Kent Hrbek) XXX
__ FL 634 ST Fountain of Youth (Willie Stargell, Pete Rose) XXX
__ FL 635 ST Big Chiefs (Toby Harrah, Andre Thornton) CLE
__ FL 636 ST Smith Bros. (Ozzie Smith, Lonnie Smith) STL
__ FL 637 ST Base Stealers' Threat (Bo Diaz, Gary Carter) XXX
__ FL 638 ST All-Star Catchers (Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter) XXX
__ FL 639 ST Rickey Henderson (The Silver Shoe) OAK
__ FL 640 ST Home Run Threats (Ben Oglivie, Reggie Jackson) XXX
__ FL 642 ST Last Perfect Game (Ron Hassey, Len Barker) CLE
__ FL 643 ST Black & Blue (Vida Blue) KCR
__ FL 644 ST Black & Blue (Bud Black) KCR
__ FL 645 ST Speed & Power (Reggie Jackson) CAL
__ FL 646 ST Speed & Power (Rickey Henderson) OAK

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Wrapping Up 1982, Previewing 1983

The complete checklist is done for 1982. If you know of any regional sets that were out in 1982, drop me a line, and I will continue to update the checklists. For 1982, after completing the Topps set and Topps Traded sets, you would still need 44 cards out of the Donruss set (not counting the 26 Diamond Kings, multi-player cards, or checklists), 24 cards out of the Fleer set (not counting 16/17 Super star specials), 6 players who appeared in both Donruss and Fleer sets, but not any Topps set, and as of right now, 6 players who were in a regional sets. These are all listed below.

I will be moving onto 1983 in the upcoming days. There really wasn't a whole lot of change between 1982 and 1983. Topps, Donruss, and Fleer all issued the same sized sets that they did in 1982. Topps was the only company that issued an update set in 1983. As for quality, Fleer improved greatly after a rough sophomore year, Topps got a little more interesting adding a 2nd photo to the front of the card, and if Donruss didn't put the year of the card in the front, it would be hard to tell the difference between the 1982 and 1983 set. Competition was making baseball card collecting and it started to show in 1983.

Listed below are the non-Topps cards from 1982, the team listed below is the team of the player on the card, not the team's checklist that I put the card into:
Donruss only
__ DO 27 MG Earl Weaver BAL
__ DO 29 MG Sparky Anderson DET
__ DO 110 MG Tom Lasorda LAD
__ DO 141 MG Gene Mauch CAL
__ DO 144 MG Bill Virdon HOU
__ DO 149 C Matt Sinatro ATL
__ DO 150 MG Chuck Tanner PIT
__ DO 190 MG Whitey Herzog STL
__ DO 195 MG Don Zimmer TEX
__ DO 232 MG Buck Rodgers MIL
__ DO 275 CF Brett Butler ATL
__ DO 319 MG Tony LaRussa CHW
__ DO 337 MG Dave Garcia CLE
__ DO 387 CO Yogi Berra NYY
__ DO 424 MG Frank Robinson SFG
__ DO 445 CO Vada Pinson CHW
__ DO 473 RP Randy Niemann PIT
__ DO 491 MG Billy Martin OAK
__ DO 492 MG Jim Fanning MON
__ DO 501 SP Ken Dayley ATL
__ DO 526 MG John McNamara CIN
__ DO 529 3B Pat Tabler CHC
__ DO 531 SS The Chicken XXX
__ DO 534 1B Kelvin Moore OAK
__ DO 549 C Tim Laudner MIN
__ DO 551 C Chris Bando CLE
__ DO 554 SS Scott Fletcher CHC
__ DO 560 UT Julio Valdez BOS
__ DO 566 CO Johnny Podres MIN
__ DO 567 IF Paul Serna SEA
__ DO 574 C Bob Brenly SFG
__ DO 578 MG Harvey Kuenn MIL
__ DO 579 CO Cal Ripken, Sr. BAL
__ DO 588 RP Luis DeLeon STL
__ DO 591 MG Billy Gardner MIN
__ DO 600 MG Rene Lachemann SEA
__ DO 610 SS Bobby Bonner BAL
__ DO 615 OF Gene Roof STL
__ DO 633 RP Dave Geisel CHC
__ DO 635 MG Bob Lemon NYY
__ DO 646 RP Jesse Orosco NYM
__ DO 648 RT Tommy Davis SEA
__ DO 650 MN Felipe Alou MON
__ DO 651 CO Harvey Haddix PIT

Fleer only
__ FL 14 CF Bobby Mitchell LAD
__ FL 16 RP Tom Niedenfuer LAD
__ FL 17 RP Ted Power LAD
__ FL 19 OF Ron Roenicke LAD
__ FL 47 RT Johnny Oates NYY
__ FL 60 RT Scott Brown CIN
__ FL 62 RT Geoff Combe CIN
__ FL 65 RP Joe Edelen CIN
__ FL 87 CL Dave Beard OAK
__ FL 140 RF Marshall Edwards MIL
__ FL 192 2B Wallace Johnson MON
__ FL 195 IF Jerry Manuel MON
__ FL 196 3B Brad Mills MON
__ FL 217 RF Danny Heep HOU
__ FL 265 C Marty Castillo DET
__ FL 297 SP Bruce Hurst BOS
__ FL 412 MN Mike Jones KCR
__ FL 420 PH Ken Phelps KCR
__ FL 435 RP Preston Hanna ATL
__ FL 469 SP Angel Moreno CAL
__ FL 515 MN Casey Parsons SEA
__ FL 532 RT Mike Marshall NYM
__ FL 607 UT Ty Waller CHC
__ FL 633 HL Carl Yastrzemski (3000th Game) BOS

Donruss or Fleer (check out team checklists for Fleer card number)
__ DO 314 RF Paul Householder CIN
__ DO 562 UT Mike Marshall LAD
__ DO 582 IF Vance Law PIT
__ DO 590 MN Darryl Motley KCR
__ DO 592 RT Sal Bando MIL
__ DO 627 LF Terry Francona MON

Cubs Red Lobster set
__ CR 0 CO Cubs Coaches (John Vukovich, Gordy MacKenzie, Billy Williams, Billy Connors, Tom Harmon) CHC
__ CR 0 TM Chicago Cubs CHC
__ CR 4 MG Lee Elia CHC
__ CR 18 OF Scot Thompson CHC
__ CR 23 3B Ryne Sandberg CHC
__ CR 29 LF Bob Molinaro CHC

Monday, July 26, 2010

1982 Minnesota Twins



Even though this was the worst team in the major leagues, the team was loaded with rookies that would lead them to the 1987 World Series title. Among the players who were seeing their first significant playing time were future all-stars Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky, Frank Viola, Tim Laudner, and Gary Gaetti. So brighter days were ahead for the Twins.

Also of note for the Twins in 1982, was that this was the first year playing in the Metrodome.

MVP
This was a tough call as Gary Ward and Kent Hrbek were ranked one and two in all major categories.

Let's see the team leaders:
BA - Hrbek (.301)
HR - Ward (28)
RBI - Hrbek (92, 1 more than Ward)
Runs Scored - Ward (85)
Stolen Bases - Ward (13)
Hits - Ward (165)
OBP - Brunansky (although Hrbek was 2nd, Ward 4th)
Slugging - Ward (.517)

Ward led in more categories, so I will give him the award for this team.

Cy Young
This was the worst team in the American League pitching wise. Only two pitchers had an ERA below 4.00 and only one of those would've qualified for the ERA title anyway, and that was Bobby Castillo. He also had a 13-11 record for this team that lost 102 games. Even though he was a solid pitcher in 1982, he was out of baseball after the 1985 season. 1982 was by far his best season in the majors. Castillo was also supposedly the pitcher that taught Fernando Valenzuela how to throw the screwball.

Rookie Card of the Year
This goes to the Twins only representative in the all-star game for 1982, Kent Hrbek. He went on to have a pretty solid career, playing for the Twins for his entire career, lasting through 1994. He was 2nd in MVP voting in 1984. But believe it or not, 1982 marked his only all-star game appearance.

Most Interesting Non-Topps Card
Before Joe Mauer, there was another all-star catcher with Minnesota roots playing at catcher, and that would be Tim Laudner. He also played his entire career through 1989 with the Twins. His solo rookie card is in this Donruss set.

Other Card Notes
Bobby Mitchell came over to the Twins in the same deal that brought over Bobby Castillo. His only card in any of the 1982 sets, he is shown as a member of the Dodgers in the Fleer set. Since he only played with the Twins in '82, I am putting his card on this team in the checklist.

In 1982, Larry Milbourne played in 14 games with the Yankees, was traded to the Twins in a May deal that sent Butch Wynegar to the Yankees, then he played in 29 games with the Twins. In early July he was traded to the Tribe and played in 82 games with them. Milbourne has a card in the regular Topps set showing him as a member of the Yankees, and a card in the traded set with bad airbrushing typical of the era showing him as an Indian.

What is interesting with Milbourne's traded card is that it marks the latest transaction made in 1982 that shows up in the traded set. The Twins-Indians trade was made on July 3, and no other trades after that show up in the traded set, which shows that the traded set came out sometime past July 3.

The card showing Milbourne as an Indian is listed under the Indians checklist, and his regular Topps card will be listed with this Twins team since he had more playing time as a Twin that as a Yankee in 1982.

Starters
__ DO 549 C Tim Laudner MIN
__ TT 44 1B Kent Hrbek MIN
__ TO 644 2B John Castino MIN
__

3B Gary Gaetti
__

SS Lenny Faedo
__ TO 612 LF Gary Ward MIN
__ FL 14 CF Bobby Mitchell LAD
__ TT 13 RF Tom Brunansky MIN
__ TT 51 DH Randy Johnson MIN
__ TT 124 MI Ron Washington MIN
__ TO 467 UT Mickey Hatcher MIN

Starting Pitchers
__ TT 17 SP Bobby Castillo MIN
__ TO 92 SP Brad Havens MIN
__ TO 69 SP Albert Williams MIN
__ TO 353 SP Jack O'Connor MIN
__

SP Frank Viola

Relief Pitchers
__ TT 25 CL Ron Davis MIN
__

RP Paul Boris
__

RP Terry Felton
__ TO 309 RP Pete Redfern MIN
__

RP John Pacella

Other Players
__

UT Jesus Vega
__ TO 738 UT Dave Engle MIN
__ TO 676 C Sal Butera MIN
__

DH Randy Bush
__

CF Jim Eisenreich
__ TO 669 2B Larry Milbourne NYY
__ TO 222 C Butch Wynegar MIN
__ TO 379 2B Rob Wilfong MIN
__

UT Greg Wells
__

C Ray Smith
__ TO 767 SS Roy Smalley MIN
__ TO 193 SP Darrell Jackson MIN
__ TO 153 SP Roger Erickson MIN
__

RP Jeff Little
__ TO 560 RP Doug Corbett MIN
__

RP Fernando Arroyo
__

SP Pete Filson
__ TO 409 RP Don Cooper MIN

Manager/Coaches
__ DO 591 MG Billy Gardner MIN
__ DO 566 CO Johnny Podres MIN