Earlier this week I showed off the last card I needed to finish the 1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier set. Completing a set is always a noteworthy occasion, so I thought it would be fun to show off some cards and give out some yearbook style superlatives.
Best Red Sox card: Wade Boggs
Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I'm trying to figure out in my head how the bat still points forward on a follow-through swing. This looks completely unnatural to me for some reason, but perfectly natural to Boggs.
Best Hall of Fame player: Rickey Henderson
The only card in the set that memorializes a season highlight. Even after almost 30 years, 1,000 stolen bases is insanely impressive and I doubt we'll ever see someone else reach it.
Best rookie card: Rod Beck
There's a very small number of rookies in this set, so I'll give the nod to the 3x All-Star.
Best card back: Mark McGwire
The look on his face is priceless! This is the most "WTF" look I've ever seen on a card!
Best smile: Kyle Abbott
If I'm going to hand out superlatives, I should give one out to the guy who genuinely looks like he's having a yearbook photo taken...
Best action shot: Mark Whiten
This set doesn't have a lot of action on it's cards. Whiten kicking up a dust cloud was a pretty easy choice.
Best background: Kenny Lofton
I love clear shots of the dugout, even if this particular card makes me think I'm looking at a frame from the movie "Major League".
Best facial hair: Doug Jones
There were some great cookie-dusters in 1992, but I'll give this esteemed reward to the recently departed Jones.
Best thing about the set
It's a Canadian set, which means you have a fun way to learn French!
Biggest surprise
As I was looking at the Hall of Fame players in this set, it dawned on me that Larry Walker is not represented. O-Pee-Chee (and Leaf) leaned heavily on it's Canadian roots, and often focused on the Expos and Blue Jays. It amazes me that they left off an up-and-coming superstar, who not only was a native of Canada himself, but played for a Canadian team. Walker should have been an easy addition!
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I bet there will be another 1000 stolen base player sometime. Because stolen bases are down so much, catcher's arms aren't valued as much so there a lot of catchers who just can't throw runners out. So if a great baserunner came along, he could steal 100+ bases. Kind of like Maury Wills.
ReplyDeleteThat totally looks like a scene from Major League! :)
ReplyDeleteThe KLofton card is very cool, and the omission of Larry Walker is an odd one. Nice write up and congrats on completing the set!
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