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Hearing the Strokes
My Favorite Cards: 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux
From the age of 9, when I opened my first pack of '86 Topps football (green borders), to 15, when I realized girls weren't turning handsprings over an '82 Topps Cal Ripken Jr., what I had on the brain was card collecting: baseball, football and basketball (in that order). I'd ride my Huffy for miles to local card shops A.J.'s and Bargain Den, which I now realize are just about the most depressing places in my hometown. Regardless, my entire collection is still well-organized and tucked away in my parents' basement, where time pauses and rewinds back to when Topps, Donruss and Fleer ruled the world. These are a few of my favorite cards.
The summer of '87 is when I really got addicted, which is fortunate because baseball had a bumper crop of sizzling rookie cards that year: Jose Canseco, Will Clark, Barry Bonds, Wally Joyner, Ruben Sierra, Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire, Cory freaking Snyder, etc., etc. One guy who got lost in all that shuffle was Greg Maddux, who didn't become truly great until '92 or even very good until '88 (as evidenced by the subpar condition of the card on the right). Of course, 20 years and 333 wins later, Mad Dog is one of the finest pitchers of all time, and here are five more reasons why this piece of cardboard is undeniably awesome:
1. The mustache. Who knew he was such a big John Waters fan?2. The uniform. I guess it was only 20 years ago that big leaguers wore elastic waistbands and stirrup socks. Even my JV high school team thought that was beneath us.
3. The '87 Donruss set. Baseball Card Blog named it the seventh-best of the decade, and the Donruss/Leaf design team deserves some type of lifetime achievement award for the work they did from '84-87.
4. The Rated Rookie logo. So hot, so iconic that No Mas made a t-shirt out of it.
5. The back of the card. Maddux's playing weight is listed at 150, so he's put on 30 pounds since then. Also, it lists being Mike Maddux's brother as a "career highlight," which, in hindsight, kills me.
That's all for this edition of My Favorite Cards. Stay tuned, because coming up is a gem from the '70s featuring both Wes Unseld and Dr. J and there may be a Bo Jackson Foot Locker Slam Fest lying around here somewhere.
Written by dcsportsguy Blog about this entry |
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I'm <a href="http://www.yurasko.net/wfy/">WFY</a>
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OK, it freaks me out that someone from my hometown is reading and commenting on my blog. Who are you, beltwaylandlion?
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30 pounds? Someone is definitely on the HGH.
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As of 2005, the old guy at Bargain Den was still running that store. I think he stopped selling the cards though.
3/23/07 3:36 PM