A Not-So-Arbitrary Arbitrary Collection - Decade By Decade

So here we have the last page in this mini-collection - showing the zero year from each decade of Topps. I'll be adding another card to this page in a few months, but will I ever finish the page? Will there still be Topps cards in 2040? 2030?

A look at the backs, to give a clear idea of how printing and design has changed over the decades. I may opt to swap out card #70 at some point, as the backs of most 1970 Topps cards have a different look to them. The 1980 set is my favorite design of these 6, but I have to say that 1990 Topps has grown on me a little after repeated viewings. 1960 Topps is of course known as the last fully horizontal set (though my favorite cards from that set are the vertical Manager cards). What is your favorite zero year set?

A Not-So-Arbitrary Arbitrary Collection - 1990s

the journey so far . . .

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

My first round of collecting ended before the decade of the 90s came to a close. I did have the first 5 years accounted for already, and thanks to a more recent purchase of a box of 1998 Topps Series 1, I still had a Kurt Abbott card laying around. The rest I had to find online. Despite the sheer quantity of these cards in existence, the local shows tend to favor either the latest releases or vintage cards with very little available past 1976 or so.  I think the only card that Topps made a conscious effort to plan in advance for this entire set so far was the 1996 Cal Ripken Jr entry. Obviously, Ripken's passing of Lou Gehrig on the all-time consecutive games played list was a watershed moment in sports. At a time when baseball was hanging on by their collective fingernails to the game, this event was a rare sweet spot in a bitter era.

I also think that Topps purposely chose a Marlin for card #98 as the team won the 1997 World Series, but that also could have been a coincidence. They didn't repeat the pattern in any of their other 90s selections. Do you have a favorite 90s Topps set? 1991 has always been a favorite of mine - Topps stuck to their guns for one more year with the old cardstock, but took a big step into the present with the careful curation of the photos selected for the cards. 1996 seems to me to be fairly universally disliked, but if you are a fan, I'd love to hear someone defend it.

The Past is NOW the Future

This card ranks right up there with the Diamondbacks' Bullpen Car, or the Astros' funeral for Carlos Beltran's Glove. It's silly, and I love it!

I remember thinking that Turn Ahead the Clock was a fun promotion, but in Seattle there's genuine nostalgia for it. It does seem strange to me to have a 20th Anniversary celebration for a jersey, but I can't deny the fact that it's a welcome breath of fresh air.

Speaking of the 1990s - I took the opportunity to raid the COMC site for its late 90s and early 2000s treasures.

1997 SP looks fantastic, even today. I don't think I had anything from that set before. Bonds before Bonds was BONDS, though he was still getting intentionally walked at a crazy rate. Gonzalez had a ridiculous June in 1996 - 15 homers, 36 RBI, and a .407 batting average.

In the 90s, Inserts look amazing and base cards look almost like inserts.

Collector's Choice had a photofile's dream insert called "Big Shots" - this one of Ripken was my favorite.

And then there's Colon, who is still cruising along in the big leagues today!

This subset tried to predict where Colon would be in 2001 in the new Millenium. The 28 year old (Ahem, TSC couldn't predict that Colon's real birth year was 1973...) didn't find himself as a closer, though he did finish one game that season- he just happened to also be the starter. He would have his first 20 win season in 2002, and it was arguably better than his Cy Young year in 2005. In 2000, Colon was close to the predicted K rate, he fanned 212 batters in 188 innings.

The King of Topps Traded - Rick Cerone

I spent a little time looking through the Topps Traded sets of the 80s, and there are many familiar faces like Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield, Rookies of guys like Bonds, Bo Jackson, Greg Maddux, Fred McGriff, etc. But I noticed one player that kept popping up - Catcher Rick Cerone. The Card above is not from the Traded set - though he had already been traded twice by 1982. Cerone was a first round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians, but was coveted by the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto gave up Rico Carty to Cleveland in exchange for making Cerone the Opening Day starting catcher for the first game in Blue Jays history. When Thurman Munson was tragically killed, the Yankees made the move to acquire Cerone to be their everyday starter behind the plate.

Cerone's best season came in 1980, his first with the Yankees. He even earned enough recognition to finish 7th in the MVP voting for the season (He was 3rd among Yankees behind Reggie Jackson and Goose Gossage. He did get one writer's first place vote). After the 1980 season, his production declined and he gave way to Butch Wynegar. He continued as a back up for several years before being dealt to Atlanta in exchange for Rookie pitcher Brian Fisher.

Fisher had a few very good seasons for New York, but Rick would be on the move again after one season for the Braves, as Atlanta traded Cerone and two minor leaguers to Milwaukee for Ted Simmons. Cerone would once again play second fiddle, getting reps behind Charlie Moore in Milwaukee.

George Steinbrenner had his favorites, and among them was Rick Cerone. Following the '86 Season, Cerone was a free agent and the Yankees picked him up again, now to be the primary catcher in New York. He caught 113 games in 1987 for the Yankees and also appeared twice as a pitcher. He finished two games and gave up no runs, finishing his MLB pitching career with a 0.00 ERA.

During Spring Training of 1988, The Yankees decided that catching duties would be shared with Don Slaught and Joel Skinner, so Cerone was the odd man out. The Yankees released Cerone on April 4th, and the Red Sox picked him up about a week later to platoon with Rich Gedman in Boston. The Sox made the playoffs, though Cerone did not play in any of the ALCS games against Oakland.

"Italian Stallion" is quite the nickname for Rick, given to him by Phil Rizzuto of all people...

The 80s were busy for Cerone, and the 90s started out the same way. After 2 seasons in Boston, he would return a third time to New York, now sharing time with Bob Geren. He only appeared in 49 games in 1990, but had the highest batting average of his career, reaching a mark of .302 for the season. With Matt Nokes on the horizon, Cerone again found himself looking for a new job in the offseason.

He didn't have to travel far, as the Mets were looking for a back up behind Charlie O'Brien. He actually did the bulk of the work, appearing in 90 games for the Mets. This too, would end up as a temporary stop, and he would again head north of the border for work in 1992.

Cerone probably should have appeared in the 1992 Traded set, but he missed the cut. He played in just 33 games for Montreal, but was released in July. Gary Carter had returned to Montreal and Darrin Fletcher was taking up the slack as well. Cerone does appear on two cards as an Expo - the 1992 Leaf set and 1992 Topps Stadium Club.

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!