Thursday, August 26, 2010

Sorry about the lack of posts

Haven't had time in the last month to keep up....went to Las Vegas with my wife for a week and am now working two jobs. My teaching job is almost up for the quarter and I will be able to blog some more things soon.

I am not quitting this blog, as this really is helping me clean out my attic and the 1000's (maybe like 50,000) cards up there.

Monday, August 2, 2010

1983 Miscellaneous Cards

Subsets
1983 Topps had largely the same subsets as the 1982 Topps...there were All-Stars, Team Leaders, League Leaders, Record Breakers. Gone though were the team prospects cards and in action cards, but 1983 gave us a before and after photo of super veteran players. If you were a fan of Rickey Henderson, his image appears in all of the subsets in 1982, including a record breaker for a record that people cared about (not the typical most strikeouts by a 40 year old pitcher on a full-moon Sunday game).


Generational Theory

For my day job, I recently had to read a book on generational theory called The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. It was interesting in that it gave me a new way to think about how generations and their behaviors are cyclical and their attitudes shape history. Unfortunately we are now in what is called an unraveling, meaning things aren't well and are heading to a crisis.

According to the above mentioned book, the definition of the baby boom generation was anyone born between 1943-1960. Anyone who was from the Silent generation, the generation that grew up as children of the Great Depression and WWII were born between 1925-1942. Generation X is formed by the people born between 1961-1981. According to Strauss and Howe, each generation falls into one of four categories, each following right behind the other. I am definitely a Generation X, being born in 1974. My generation is a nomad type generation. Looking at this website which is a companion of the author's work, Gen X and other nomad generations (such as the Lost generation, people born between 1883-1900, think of Babe Ruth, Dwight Eisenhower, and the WWI generation, these are their characteristics (you can read about all 4 types by expanding archetypes on the left side):
  • As Nomads replace Prophets in childhood during an Awakening, they are left underprotected at a time of social convulsion and adult self-discovery.
  • As alienated Nomads replace Prophets in young adulthood during an Unraveling, they become brazen free agents, lending their pragmatism and independence to an era of growing social turmoil.
  • As pragmatic Nomads replace Prophets in midlife during a Crisis, they apply toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young.
  • As exhausted Nomads replace Prophets in elderhood during a High, they slow the pace of social change, shunning the old crusades in favor of simplicity and survivalism.
Anyway, the theory is interesting. To tie it back to baseball cards in 1983, Topps issued the Super Veteran cards in 1983. In 1984, Topps would issue a current active leaders subset, which I will review in a few months when I get to the 1984 sets. Something interesting was happening in 1982 in baseball. Using the the years above, the first player of Generation X (born in 1961) came up in 1981...Fred Manrique of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1982, several more came up including Scott Garrelts, Rafael Belliard, Don Mattingly, and Storm Davis. In 1983, the early Boomers (born between 1943-1951), were now at least 32 years old and moving past the prime years of their careers. They were now starting to make their presence on the all-time leader boards. In 1983 you also still had a handful of Silent generation players hanging around. The last one to leave baseball would be Phil Niekro, born in 1939, who played his last season in 1987.

To give an idea when this group, which I call the early boomers, made their mark in the game, check out the roster of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds...Pete Rose and Tony Perez were late silent and three players were born after 1951 (none of major significance). The rest (Joe Morgan, George Foster, Ken Griffey) were all born between 1943-1951. Looking at their World Series opponents that year, the Red Sox, they had 6 players born in the Silent Generation (Tim McCarver, Luis Tiant, Carl Yastrzemski) and 4 who were born after 1951 (Jim Rice, Fred Lynn). The majority of the team was born between 1943-1951 (Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans, Cecil Cooper, Tony Conigliaro). The worst team in the NL that year, the Astros, had more younger players and only one silent player, Tommy Helms. The majority (Cesar Cedeno, Jose Cruz, Bob Watson, Cliff Johnson, Mike Easler) were all born at this time.

The Super Veteran subset was a salute to these players who largely had their careers centered around the early to mid 1970s that were still around in 1982. The oldest player in the subset was Jim Kaat (born 1938), the youngest was Bruce Sutter (born 1953).

At the same time, this focus on baseball history gave Donruss the opportunity to make some excellent rookie cards. Many of the iconic rookie baseball cards from this point on would no longer be the player's Topps cards.

Highlights
__ TO 1 HL Tony Armas (11 Putouts in Right Field) OAK
__ TO 2 HL Rickey Henderson (Most Stolen Bases in a Season) OAK
__ TO 3 HL Greg Minton (Hurled 269 1/3 Consecutive Innings Allowing No Homers) SFG
__ TO 4 HL Lance Parrish (Threw out 3 runners in All-Star Game) DET
__ TO 5 HL Manny Trillo (479 Consecutive Errorless Chances) PHI
__ TO 6 HL John Wathan (Stolen Base Record by Catchers) KCR
__ FL 630 HL 300 Career Wins (Gaylord Perry, Bud Bulling) SEA
__ FL 641 HL Joel Youngblood (Two Teams - Same Day) XXX
Mascots
__ DO 645 ST The San Diego Chicken XXX
League Leaders
__ TO 701 LD 1982 Batting Leaders (Willie Wilson, Al Oliver) XXX
__ TO 702 LD 1982 Home Run Leaders (Reggie Jackson, Gorman Thomas, Dave Kingman) XXX
__ TO 703 LD 1982 Runs Batted In Leaders (Hal McRae, Dale Murphy) XXX
__ TO 704 LD 1982 Stolen Base Leaders (Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines) XXX
__ TO 705 LD 1982 Victory Leaders (LaMarr Hoyt, Steve Carlton) XXX
__ TO 706 LD 1982 Strikeout Leaders (Floyd Bannister, Steve Carlton) XXX
__ TO 707 LD 1982 Earned Run Average Leaders (Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Rogers) XXX
__ TO 708 LD 1982 Leading Firemen (Dan Quisenberry, Bruce Sutter) XXX
All-Stars
__ TO 386 AS Rod Carew CAL
__ TO 387 AS Bob Grich CAL
__ TO 388 AS George Brett KCR
__ TO 389 AS Robin Yount MIL
__ TO 390 AS Reggie Jackson CAL
__ TO 391 AS Rickey Henderson OAK
__ TO 392 AS Fred Lynn CAL
__ TO 393 AS Carlton Fisk CHW
__ TO 394 AS Pete Vuckovich MIL
__ TO 395 AS Larry Gura KCR
__ TO 396 AS Dan Quisenberry KCR
__ TO 397 AS Pete Rose PHI
__ TO 398 AS Manny Trillo PHI
__ TO 399 AS Mike Schmidt PHI
__ TO 400 AS Dave Concepcion CIN
__ TO 401 AS Dale Murphy ATL
__ TO 402 AS Andre Dawson MON
__ TO 403 AS Tim Raines MON
__ TO 404 AS Gary Carter MON
__ TO 405 AS Steve Rogers MON
__ TO 406 AS Steve Carlton PHI
__ TO 407 AS Bruce Sutter STL
Super Veterans
__ TO 61 SV Johnny Bench CIN
__ TO 201 SV Rod Carew CAL
__ TO 71 SV Steve Carlton PHI
__ TO 36 SV Rollie Fingers MIL
__ TO 256 SV Gene Garber ATL
__ TO 241 SV Rich Gossage NYY
__ TO 501 SV Reggie Jackson CAL
__ TO 231 SV Fergie Jenkins CHC
__ TO 736 SV Tommy John CAL
__ TO 673 SV Jim Kaat STL
__ TO 161 SV Dave Kingman NYM
__ TO 334 SV Dave LaRoche NYY
__ TO 694 SV Sparky Lyle CHW
__ TO 378 SV Lee May KCR
__ TO 511 SV Tug McGraw PHI
__ TO 604 SV Joe Morgan SFG
__ TO 783 SV Bobby Murcer NYY
__ TO 636 SV Graig Nettles NYY
__ TO 411 SV Phil Niekro ATL
__ TO 421 SV Al Oliver MON
__ TO 491 SV Jim Palmer BAL
__ TO 716 SV Tony Perez BOS
__ TO 464 SV Gaylord Perry SEA
__ TO 101 SV Pete Rose PHI
__ TO 361 SV Nolan Ryan HOU
__ TO 301 SV Mike Schmidt PHI
__ TO 581 SV Tom Seaver CIN
__ TO 451 SV Ted Simmons MIL
__ TO 283 SV Reggie Smith SFG
__ TO 741 SV Rusty Staub NYM
__ TO 151 SV Bruce Sutter STL
__ TO 146 SV Don Sutton MIL
__ TO 18 SV Kent Tekulve PIT
__ TO 179 SV Luis Tiant CAL
__ TO 551 SV Carl Yastrzemski BOS
Team Leaders
__ TO 502 TM Braves Team Leaders (Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro) ATL
__ TO 21 TM Orioles Team Leaders (Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer) BAL
__ TO 381 TM Red Sox Team Leaders (Jim Rice, Bob Stanley) BOS
__ TO 651 TM Angels Team Leaders (Rod Carew, Mike Witt) CAL
__ TO 51 TM Cubs Team Leaders (Leon Durham, Fergie Jenkins) CHC
__ TO 591 TM White Sox Team Leaders (Greg Luzinski, LaMarr Hoyt) CHW
__ TO 351 TM Reds Team Leaders (Cesar Cedeno, Mario Soto) CIN
__ TO 141 TM Indians Team Leaders (Toby Harrah, Rick Sutcliffe) CLE
__ TO 261 TM Tigers Team Leaders (Larry Herndon, Dan Petry) DET
__ TO 441 TM Astros Team Leaders (Ray Knight, Joe Niekro) HOU
__ TO 471 TM Royals Team Leaders (Willie Wilson, Vida Blue) KCR
__ TO 681 TM Dodgers Team Leaders (Pedro Guerrero, Fernando Valenzuela) LAD
__ TO 321 TM Brewers Team Leaders (Robin Yount, Pete Vuckovich) MIL
__ TO 771 TM Twins Team Leaders (Kent Hrbek, Bobby Castillo) MIN
__ TO 111 TM Expos Team Leaders (Al Oliver, Steve Rogers) MON
__ TO 621 TM Mets Team Leaders (Mookie Wilson, Craig Swan) NYM
__ TO 81 TM Yankees Team Leaders (Jerry Mumphrey, Dave Righetti) NYY
__ TO 531 TM Athletics Team Leaders (Rickey Henderson, Rick Langford) OAK
__ TO 229 TM Phillies Leaders (Bo Diaz, Steve Carlton) PHI
__ TO 291 TM Pirates Team Leaders (Bill Madlock, John Candelaria) PIT
__ TO 742 TM Padres Team Leaders (Terry Kennedy, Tim Lollar) SDP
__ TO 171 TM Giants Team Leaders (Joe Morgan, Bill Laskey) SFG
__ TO 711 TM Mariners Team Leaders (Bruce Bochte, Jim Beattie) SEA
__ TO 561 TM Cardinals Team Leaders (Lonnie Smith, Joaquin Andujar) STL
__ TO 412 TM Rangers Team Leaders (Buddy Bell, Charlie Hough) TEX
__ TO 202 TM Blue Jays Team Leaders (Damaso Garcia, Dave Stieb) TOR
Checklists
__ TO 129 CH Checklist 1-132 XXX
__ TO 249 CH Checklist 133-264 XXX
__ TO 349 CH Checklist 265-396 XXX
__ TO 526 CH Checklist 397-528 XXX
__ TO 642 CH Checklist 529-660 XXX
__ TO 769 CH Checklist 661-792 XXX
__ TT 132 CH Checklist 1-132 XXX