I love the 80s : The 1981 San Diego Padres

Just a quick refresher - this is a series of posts on a 1980's Frankenset. Each page features a different team, with 9 of my personal favorite cards from that year's team. You might find players repeated, you'll definitely see brands repeated, but hopefully you'll agree that there are some interesting selections from the 1980s!

The Blog once again travels to Sunny California, here are the cards of the 1981 San Diego Padres. The Padres finished 6th in the NL West in 1980, and did not fare much better in 1981. They managed to slump in the first half with a pre-strike record ten games below .500, only to fall even further after the break with an 18 - 36 record to close the season. 

You might be tempted to ask- how could the Padres have such a tough time with 3 Hall of Famers on their roster? Well, those three - Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith, and Rollie Fingers - were playing at a Hall of Fame level. Winfield led the team in homers and RBI in 1980, and was top 10 in the NL in several offensive categories, and also was a Gold Glove winner in the outfield. He would leave San Diego for the New York Yankees beginning with the 1981 season. Ozzie Smith did not hit for average with Padres, but he did actually reach base at a respectable clip given his contact struggles. Once on base, he terrorized opposing defenses, stealing  57 bags in 1980, and 22 in the strike shortened 81 Season. Smith would also win his first of 13 straight Gold Gloves at SS in 1980. Rollie Fingers was a tremendous closer on a team that did not have many leads.

The Cards:
Topps #254 Ozzie Smith - The Wizard of Oz was brilliant again for the Padres in 1980, with speed on the basepaths and sterling defense up the middle. In 1981, Smith led the NL in games, at bats, plate appearances. On defense, he was the NL leader in Range Factor, fielding pct., and assists. He is the All-time MLB leader in defensive WAR among shortstops.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his 1st year of eligibility with 91.7% of the vote.

Topps #72 Barry Evans - There were fewer cards for the Padres than for any other MLB team in 1981, so the pickings were slim. Most of the Topps photos of the hitters were shot from the first base camera well. Evans is swinging hard, but it looks like he might have just rolled over on one. Evans was a utility infielder for San Diego in 1980 and 1981. His batting average climbed nearly 100 points from 80 to 81. In 1979, he refused a demotion to the minors by announcing that he was retiring from baseball to play pro tennis. 

Topps #370 Dave Winfield -  Winfield's San Diego career ended in 1980, after peaking in 1979. He finished 3rd in the NL MVP vote, trailing the co-winners Keith Hernandez and Willie Stargell. He was the NL leader in RBI, Total bases, intentional walks and OPS+. His free agency move to New York proved to be a mixed blessing - while he was a perennial All-Star and went from last place to a World Series team, Winfield had a tumultuous relationship with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. 

Donruss #121 Dave Cash - The 3-time All-Star concluded his MLB career in 1980 with the Padres, hitting just .227 as the team's everyday second baseman. He was a instrumental part of the late 70s Phillies teams, and led the NL in base hits in 1975. He was also the 1970 Topps All-Star Rookie at 2B during his tenure with the Pirates.  

Donruss #2 Rollie Fingers - Fingers converted 23 of 29 save chances in 1980, and sported a 2.80 ERA. He would be traded to Saint Louis, then flipped to Milwaukee before the 1981 season, where he would continue to dominate the back end of games. Fingers led the AL in saves in 1981 with the Brewers with a miniscule 1.04 ERA. 

Donruss #1 Ozzie Smith - The famous knock on Ozzie Smith was that he was all glove and no hit. It is true that he did not hit well early in his career, but he did work and refine and improve as a hitter over the years. His average as a Padre was just .233, but as a Cardinal he hit .272. Add in his clutch post-season homer in the NLCS, and you get a more forgiving story.

Fleer #494 Jerry Mumphrey - The 1980 everyday Center Fielder for the Padres joined Dave Winfield in New York, coming to the Yankees in a a big trade. Mumphrey hit .298 and stole 52 bases in 1980 for the Padres, having come to them via trade that off-season from Cleveland. Mumphrey was traded 5 times between December 1979 and 1985, finally landing in Chicago with the Cubs for 3 seasons. He would make the NL All-Star squad in 1984 as a member of the Houston Astros. 

Fleer Star Stickers #17 Gene Richards - So, Mumphrey stole 52 bases, Ozzie stole 57 . . . and neither one led the team that year. Instead, it was Gene Richards, who swiped 61. He was also the only regular Padres hitter to crack .300 on the season. In 1981 he stole 20 more bags, and led the NL in triples with 12. He'd finish his big league career in 1984 with a season in San Francisco.

Fleer #499 Barry Evans - Evans would also move to the Yankees to join Winfield, arriving a year later. Evans would accept a minor league assignment this time, and would spend a few years in the Yankees, then the Cleveland minor league system. Evans is shown here, possibly wishing he stuck with tennis?  

Any requests for the next team to cover? 

Saturday is Card Show Day (for the first time in 2020)

I like going to card shows without a real agenda, like I did today. I was thinking about needs for the 1959 set build, and wanted to look at some 1970s cards to try to pick my new set build for 2020.

But beyond that, it was going to be anyone's game. I actually only spent money at 2 tables today, but each had their share of fun and surprises. The modern stuff all came from one table, and the vendor also had a stack of vintage which was a very rare occurrence for him.

The other vendor was the regular vintage / oddball guy and he did not disappoint. I picked up a Wheaties Minneapolis Laker . . .

And added some Yogi for a balanced breakfast of champions.

You'd think I was over the Moon by then, but that was not the case.

In fact, I found 2 Moons, all part of my quest to build the 1959 Topps set.

The vintage guy also brings a large stack of in person and/or through the mail autographs to the shows, and I don't know, am I going to start collecting Autographed Rookie Cup Cards? Seems pretty ridiculous to even attempt that. Why did I get the Donn Pall? So glad you asked. He's in Vancouver, at the home of Vancouver's AAA team, a stadium called B.C. Place. This stadium was designed by the same group that built the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, and I thought it was a quirky trip down memory lane to see another Teflon roof.

Back to the first vendor - I scored a small stack of 1970 Topps. I don't think this will be the set I build, but I got a decent deal on these, so why not?

He also had this. I had no intention of adding a Mickey Mantle to my collection today (unless it was that 1959 All-Star card), so both of us were surprised when I asked what he wanted for it. I won't bore you with the details, but the price was so low that even if I wasn't planning on ever owning this card, I still had to pull the trigger on it today. Yeah, it's creased to hell and back, off-center with rounded corners, but it's Mickey Mantle!

Mickey Mantle: good at baseball.

If I had made a plan, I would have skipped his table altogether because he didn't have anything from any sets or collections I am working on right now... but that's the beauty of not making plans!

Stay Cool - Keep In Touch - Have A Great Summer - Blog Bat Around

Matt from Diamond Jesters says "Consider your standard 9-pocket binder page. Nine places to summarize 2019 in baseball card form. Which 9 would you choose? Which sets would you choose?"

Oh, I am considering it! This was actually much harder than I thought it would be, as I had several cards swapped in and out of each spot on the list. I some tough decisions, but ultimately something had to give. I don't call this blog Highly Subjective lightly - I could probably make a new list tomorrow and every day next week and still change my mind again later. But Matt was right, this was fun to put together a 2019 Yearbook page.

1 - 2019 Topps Yoan Moncada  Right away I had a really hard time picking just one card from the 2019 Topps flagship offerings. I would be lying if I said I was a White Sox "fan" but even I can't deny that they are a fun team to watch. Moncada came to Chicago in a trade with Boston for Chris Sale. Moncada, along with Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson, and Luis Robert form a youthful and dynamic nucleus. I really loved this card as soon as I pulled it from a pack. Throwback uni, base running action, helmet flying off. . . what better way to kick things off?

2 - Topps NOW Ichiro - 2019 was the year of the rookie, to be certain. But the first major memorable moment of the season came in March, as the Mariners and A's kicked off the season in Japan. It was thought by many that Ichiro was already done, but he made one last stand in his home country, playing for his first MLB team. This, to me, is what Topps NOW is really best suited to capture. I don't need a card of every game winner, but there are always those moments in a season that deserves extra attention.

3 - 2019 Donruss Willians Astudillo  - Poor Panini! Thank goodness for catchers, right? The "other" baseball card company had another year stuck as an afterthought to the Topps juggernaut. I felt like throwing them a bone, as they did produce a large volume of cards in 2019. I hope one day they will regain the license from MLB. In the mean time, I think Panini should try to find more ways to stand out. Astudillo was the pick because his card was among the few that looked interesting. The lack of logos is not as bad on catcher cards, especially once the cap and mask has been tossed aside.

4 - Stadium Club - Jose Berrios This set never fails to find great photos. This image is actually from 2018, taken before the game started by Berrios in Puerto Rico at Hiram Bithorn Stadium against Cleveland. One of the things I always look for in my cardboard is context. I don't necessarily mean identifying the exact second a photo was taken, but an image that tells a story is so much more compelling to me than a generic batter at the plate or pitcher in the windup. As this card illustrates, however, even a seemingly mundane action (a pitcher in the windup) can make for a fantastic shot.  

5 - Topps Heritage Pat Neshek - Nick already covered a lot of what I want to say about this card in his "Cards of the Year" post. I'm going to repeat it anyway. Pat is well known among collectors for his quirky delivery on the mound, and his unique signature that incorporates a baseball (with stitches). But most of all, Neshek is a fellow cardboard enthusiast! The pose chosen for this card was a nod to one of the greatest cards of the original 1970 set, and of course Pat hits it out of the park. 

6 - Topps Archives Javy Baez - Not much to say about this one, Javy is one of my favorite players, the 1958 Topps All-Star subset has long been one of my favorite vintage designs. I am not a big fan of The Living Set, or Gypsy Queen, or A&G (though this year's design was my favorite so far). There were lots of sets to choose from, but I wasn't really into any of them ... oh well!

7 - BBM Chiba Lotte Marines: PUMP UP Kennys Vargas - Oh, you thought that just because he's no longer in the states that I would leave out the great Kennys Vargas?!?! Incorrect, I say! Vargas spent 2019 in Japan playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines and their minor league affiliate. Maybe not the plan he had in mind for the year, but I have to admit that I'm very glad it resulted in this bright and bold insert from the Chiba Lotte Marines' Team Issue set. 

8 - TOPPS X LINDOR: Puerto Rican Heritage Eddie Rosario - Seeing as I primarily collect Twins among current releases, I think it's pretty remarkable that this is only the 3rd Twins card in this Yearbook Page. Topps has been working hard to cover every possible niche from vintage to modern, sets on demand and pre-packaged complete sets of their traditional flagship design. Starting with Bryce Harper last year, Topps has called in some of the bigger names in MLB to help design an exclusive set of cards. Eddie is a big-time fan favorite in Minnesota, and I'm sure he's a hit in Puerto Rico as well.

9 - Topps Throwback Thursday 1995 Crystal Ball Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.  - As I mentioned in the beginning, 2019 was the year of the rookie. Vlad was the player with the biggest hype, but there was also Tatis, Pete Alonso, Yordan Alvarez, Aristedes Aquino, Luis Arraez, and on and on! There was no shortage of cards to choose from for this wild card spot, but I had to go with this one. The on demand, extremely online version of Topps can be annoying at times, but I have to say that the variety can make everyone happy some of the time. I suspect that's the point!

Never change! Friends Forever! Class of '19 RULEZ!

Thursday Tradin' Post

Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown sent me a festive PWE just ahead of Christmas. Included was this custom "SANT A" ornament for the tree!  

I am a proud member of Generation X-Treme! Just Kidding, I'm an OLD Millenial/Generation Y. 

The envelope concluded with a Quintet of Twins, all parallels!

Johan was numbered to just 45 copies! Thanks Gavin, that ornament will be a family heirloom!

Shifting gears, here's something that should appeal to Gavin, as it is tangentially related to his "Baseball cards on film" project.

I recently added a 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD/Blu-Ray of the fantastic movie "A League Of Their Own," which included, you guessed it, commemorative baseball cards!

Geena Davis as the power hitting and defensive stalwart Catcher, Dottie Hinson. The cards remind me a little of the Topps All-Star Rookie Team test issue from 1971.

Next up was Tom Hanks, as boozing slugger and reluctant Rockford Peaches manager, Jimmy Dugan. There was a custom made card of Hanks / Dugan in the film, eagle eyed viewers will see that the card he rips in half is based loosely on the 1934 Goudey Jimmy Foxx.

The last card in the box was of Music and Film icon Madonna as speedy center fielder Mae Mordabito. The 3 cards had no wrapping around them and were just floating loosely in the box, so all three have dented corners. A bit of a bummer, but these were throw-ins so I can't complain too much.

The backs all have a quote from the movie and some very basic league-wide stats from the AAGPBL. I wish Lori Petty had a card, too. Kit was favorite character in the movie.

The box also had this booklet "The History of Women's Baseball," which contains a short essay on the development of the AAGPBL and some background on what came after. 

Good-Bye, 2019! Hello 2020! (contest in post)

Happy New Year everyone! 

2019 had its ups and downs collecting-wise, I wanted to get 2020 started with a quick review of my 2019 Collecting Goals. How did I do? Well, we grade on a curve here at the ol' Arbitrary, so everything is Highly Subjective.

My first goal was to organize my wantlists, player collections, and mini collections.... HAHAHAHA! Well, I definitely did not achieve this goal, and if anything, I'm in worse shape now than I was last year. Some things I did in 2019 did help my collection get more organized - I added some new Hockey and Basketball binders, and I updated my want lists on this site at least once each... Hoo boy, that's a low bar. But I cleared it! 

I made a 2019 commitment to my bat rack mini collection, and now I have a fairly healthy stack of cards to place in pages. At the beginning of 2019, there were just 2 pages of bat rack cards in my bat rack frankenset. Now I have posted up to page six, and there are more pages on the way in 2020. This was a goal achieved without any argument from me. 

I added a new mini collection in 2019 for cards featuring phone calls, and made a modest stack of these as well. They are much less abundant than bat rack cards, they seemed to be most likely found on NFL sidelines in the late 80s, and then again in the mid to late 90s Fleer and Upper Deck sets. It technically started in December 2018 with this Secret Santa post, but it wasn't until 2019 that I started adding phone cards intentionally. I look to continue this mini collection and add a new one for 2020, which will come in a future January post. Any suggestions?

2019 was going to be the year I finally finished the 1959 Topps set build. I am very very close now, with a small checklist remaining of mostly high numbers, including the very pricey Bob Gibson rookie card. If I can find a good deal on Bob (and Willie and Warren and Mickey), then I should have this set completed in the next few months. I'll be looking to do a similar weekly review of each team's set in 2020 once I complete the darn thing!

What else for 2020? I've let my "I Love the 80s" posts wither on the vine a bit in 2019, I will be looking to pick those back up again and start moving from 1981 Team Reviews to 1982. 

I also want to start another set build, and since I've worked on 1956 and 1959 after completing the oddball 1965 O-Pee-Chee set, I thought I would go with a 1970s edition next. 
Hey, here's a random contest with a very long fuse. I haven't decided which set I'm going to try for next, but maybe you can guess which one it will be in the comments below?
Let's say up to 5 people can win this contest, so if you wanted to pick a year that someone else picked, go ahead.
Winners will receive a custom-made-by-me re-pack of those 100 card (+1 pack) boxes you find at, say, Walgreens. Each box will have a "hit," and I'll add some 1970s vintage singles in there, too.
Winner(s) will be announced when I finally pick a new set, probably in February or March.

 Last but not least . . . Support The Minor Leagues!