Day Thirteen - 1994 Topps Stadium Club Dugout Dirt Dave Winfield #2 of 12

Day 13: A Favorite Card From the 1990s

Taking the lead from Tony at Off-Hiatus Baseball Cards this will be the thirteenth of 30 posts, using the prompts provided. I won't necessarily post one every day, but I will do one for each card, toss in a few "insights" (as insightful as I can be, anyway), and usually include an honorable mention or two, just because I'm like that.

Here's my pick - I could probably repeat this day for a whole month and have a different card every day- This was the sweet spot of my collecting days - old enough to appreciate design and understand the significance of certain moments captured on cardboard. The flashing 3,000 was not the Twins' home attendance (though you could be forgiven for thinking that) - it was in recognition of Dave Winfield getting his 3,000 major league hit, a single off Dennis Eckersley. Dave and Dennis share a birthday, and both are Hall of Famers. This card was one of my favorites when I first pulled it from a pack in 1994, and it has stood the test of time in my eyes. I wasn't at this particular game at the Metrodome, but I did spend many summer days and nights under the roof in the mid nineties, and the crowd size shown on the card is about right for the place in the lean years.

Since these are basically one card posts, why not show the backs as well? The Dugout Dirt insert set had crazy 90s artwork on the back. This one shows "the road to 3,000" looping from the University of Minnesota where Dave was an ace pitcher and outfielder as well as a basketball star. Stops in San Diego, New York (with big bad George Steinbrenner looming), the seagull that Winfield pegged with a throw between innings at Exhibition Stadium, a hospital representing the lost season of 1989 due to a back injury, Anaheim, and Toronto. 

Here are some honorable mentions:

Like I said earlier, I could probably name 30 favorites from the 90s - Stadium Club was born, Upper Deck came into its own, and the companies all competed to make unique and appealing offerings for collectors.

Just a handful of the iconic players and cards of the 1990s. Tough to choose just one for this exercise! Tomorrow will be "easier" in that I really didn't collect at all in the 2000s, so I have a lot less to choose from in my collection!