Flyover Guys

Episode 32: Baseball Cards

• Seth • Season 2 • Episode 32

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On this episode of the the Flyover Guys, Seth and Joel discuss collecting baseball cards when they were growing up in the 80s. Thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to the Flyover Guys, a show by two middle-aged Midwestern fellows who are just trying to figure out what was, what is, and what will be about aspects of American culture from our little plot of soil here in the Heartland. So jump on board with this week's episode. We are talking baseball card collection. So um diving back into our childhood, I think. How uh how extensive is your baseball card collection?

SPEAKER_02

You're not gonna believe this, but I sold pretty much like two storage bins of stuff that I had uh from my like my childhood collection. All my sets that were just kind of worthless. I got rid of them like two months ago. I sold them on marketplace.

SPEAKER_01

So are these how much do you have left then?

SPEAKER_02

So I have binders that are 80s only, all three major sports. Um so I have baseball, basketball, football, binder, I have a Michael Jordan binder, and then I have uh like I got into the whole graded stuff. So I have a bunch of probably about a hundred graded cards, and then I have a lot of wax boxes, unopened wax boxes. So that's my that's kind of my unique part. So so I got rid of just a bunch of sets and all the kind of worthless what they call junk wax stuff that we had when we grew up, and then I just kept my Hall of Famers, like my rookie cards, and my and then I yeah, and then slowly I've kind of picked up wax boxes, unopened wax boxes.

SPEAKER_01

So I think the only thing unopened is I bought it immediately after the Cubs won in 2016, and there's a whole team set um from them throughout the year and the playoffs in the World Series, and I'm like, I'm just gonna keep this and not not open it. Um that's the only thing. Everything else I was too weak uh when I was a kid not to open.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I okay, so I was trying to find this right before I jumped on the call with you, but um in one of the yearbooks from my uh from grade school, they asked everybody, it may have been like fifth grade, they asked everybody what they want to be when they grow up, and we had to write it down, and it was on the page that our classroom pictures are. Uh in in fifth grade, I wanted to own my own baseball card store. That's what it that's what it had in the yearbook. Everybody else wanted to be like a doctor and professional athletes and stuff. I was like, no, I just want to own a baseball card shop.

SPEAKER_01

So somewhere rock is smiling down on you.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so that's kind of my collection. I have you know, some autograph stuff, and and I I kept one set from my childhood, which was the very first set that I got, which's 1987 tops. The wood, if you guys are listening and you the wood the wood grain border set, that's that's like my only set from growing up that I kept. Everything else I just kind of got rid of.

SPEAKER_01

Two of my cards today that we discussed will have that wood grain uh on it. Yeah. So yeah, let's get into it. So this is what we're gonna do today. Um, when you put cards in a binder, they come in sleeves of nine. And so that's what we're gonna do is we're gonna make a sleeve of nine for each of us. And so that way, for those of you who who don't know, uh, or maybe you're just trying to remember baseball cards, this is what we're trying to do is create our sleeve with with some different categories, of course. It's not our nine favorite cards or anything like that. Um, but you came up with some really fun categories. So I'll I'll have you uh break it down one at a time. Um before we get that though, I do have to ask. We're you're you're inching towards 50. You're not quite there yet. I've I've eclipsed that. And here I am still like, what is it about collecting cards? What what was this in our childhood? It's not like we're the first generation to do it, but what is the appeal?

SPEAKER_02

So my my dad collected, but his were just like everybody else's were thrown out uh when he went off to college. Uh, that whole same sob story. Um so so I got into it, and what I appreciated most is we grew up in an era where we were still living on, we've talked about this, the box scores from the Sunday paper, but on the back, on the back of baseball cards growing up, that was like a gold mine of statistics and information.

SPEAKER_01

So statistics and biography.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so you learned, you know, where they where they grow up, where where were they born, where'd they go to college, their their best. I used to always look at um, you know, if you don't know this, they tops especially, and a lot of these uh brands would list year-by-year statistics. So you could get a player and see what year did they have the most home runs, and and it usually told information about them, like if they ever won an MVP or a Cy Young Award. So you learned a lot about just players in general. That's what I liked about collecting growing up. Plus, cards were like a currency for us. We could trade and and hold on to them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Uh so they actually had value. Now, we grew up in an era where they thought they had a lot more. We'll talk about that a little bit later, but we thought they were gonna have a lot more value than they actually do today.

SPEAKER_01

Um but you know, and I and I don't think I ever thought about the value of a card when I was collecting. Because I th I bet I stopped collecting by the early 1990s. And I always kind of felt like cards were snapshots into gods. Like these guys are heroes, these are bigger than life, and then certain cards um would be a a window into a moment uh of of something. And and so for me, I I guess I just I bypass the economics of it, where kind of bums me. My son is has a better collection than I do already, but he is also intrinsically tied it to the economics of it, of how much a card's worth or how much he thinks he can sell it for. And and I don't blame him because I mean I get it, but mine was it was just pure unadulterated love of these players and who I thought was cool. And so when you're 10 years old, who you think is cool is is kind of dumb. I I guess maybe as I get a little older you did want to get certain cards because you thought, oh, this could be worth something someday. And I know some of our categories will address that, but I guess that probably would have started closer to my teenage years as opposed to age five to ten.

SPEAKER_02

And the the value thing was a big driver by the Beckett Monthly magazine that came out. And I didn't have a subscription, but I would pick like gas stations and the baseball card shops would sell those, and I would pick one up every like maybe every other month when I was really collecting. And that's where you would look up the value. That's where it started to drive, like, hey, these things might be worth a couple dollars, you know. And and so that I guess when I say value, it was more in the value of trading because I would trade a lot. Yeah, so so you would say, Hey, I'm not gonna trade a five-dollar card for a 50 cent card. So you'd kind of have to throw in more good point, yeah. More cards if you wanted a bigger card. So that's that's I I wasn't thinking like, hey, we're gonna all get rich. I was thinking about the value that you could trade or swap or whatever.

SPEAKER_01

Uh it's like your first step on your way to being a fantasy manager. Fantasy seems like it's gonna take the next step in that. Well, let's do this. I'm pumped. Um why don't why don't we go through the categories real quickly and then uh we'll kind of share ours one at a time. Do you want to walk everybody through what are the nine categories you got?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so if you think the the sheet uh the binder sheet, there's it's a three by three rectangle. So uh we'll do like most nostalgic card, and then we'll talk about the funniest card that that we had in our collection or that was out there. Uh a card that you got sick of getting in a pack when you opened them, a card that you'll never trade, a card that you wish you got in a pack but never did. And then we'll work our way into card that promised to put us through college but's basically worthless today. And then card from our childhood that people will recognize for generations. So there I automatically think of like the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle from my dad's childhood. That's a very iconic card or something that everybody recognizes still kind of the gold standard today. So, what is potentially a card from our childhood that two two generations from now will uh will recognize? Uh what was the most underrated card in your collection or during the era that we collected? And then what is and then the middle spot we're gonna reserve for our favorite card of all time. Right. So let's kick it off. All right. Most nostalgic. Yeah. What do you have?

SPEAKER_01

All right. All right, so here you go. I have to go back to when I first remember collecting cards in 1980 Topps AL Championship, where the Royals defeated the Yankees. You knew I had to start with this since you're a Yankees fan. And it has George Brett swinging in his perfect Charlie Lau swing where the Royals sweep the Yankees. I remember getting this, and you know, the just the feeling of your team is in the World Series, you're five years old, this is when I fall in love with it. Uh, I remember not the if we want to speak of economics, not the wisest economic move is that when they lost the World Series to Pete Rose, Tug McGraw, and Mike Schmidt, I tore up all of my uh Philadelphia cards because I was so mad that Pete Rose and I I just remember Tug McGraw in particular defeating the Royals and I was crushed. So I I choose to remember the good moment, which was the Royals defeating the Yankees, and I'm five years old in 1980, so this is when memories are starting to form. And so I just have that flash of a feeling or memory of being five and just thinking this is the coolest thing, and it sent me on my journey to start collecting cards. So that's mine. What about yours?

SPEAKER_02

It's good because I for some reason I've always been a fan of teams that my friends or family and stuff don't really like. So you mentioned the you mentioned the Yankees, and I think I was trying to think this morning when and why did I become a Yankees fan? And one of the very first things I remember getting was from Dairy Queen the little plastic helmets that you can get in ice cream. Oh, yeah. I remember the first one I got was a Yankees helmet, and I used to love the little New York symbol or logo that they had, and I would just sit there and look at that logo and think, somebody did a good job on that, you know. Uh but as far as cards go, the very first Wait a second.

SPEAKER_01

So you're telling me if the first Dairy Queen helmet you got was a Montreal Expos, that would have been your favorite team? Maybe.

SPEAKER_02

It very well could have been. Gary Carter and some of those Gary Carter and Andre Dawson.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. All right, go ahead. Sorry. You're no nostalgic card.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so in the town of Valley Center that I grew up in, we had an Amico gas station. Shout out to the Neals who used to own it. But underneath the the desk or the front counter, they had some candy, but also they would always have like that year's box of cards. So I opened up a 1988 Tops pack and I got a Don Mattingley All-Star card. This is not it. It's long gone, but I did I did get this in a pack that I opened because I I opened a whole box of '88 Tops. They're basically worthless, but I wanted to pull this card again. And so this is like the card that my dad looked over my shoulder and said, hey, he's good. Even though my dad didn't like the Yankees, because he was a Royals fan.

SPEAKER_01

Um Don Donnie baseball was good.

SPEAKER_02

In 1988, I don't think there was anybody bigger. I mean, there may have been other guys that were approaching his statistics, but he had about a five-year run right there in the mid-80s to late 80s that he was top two or three guys in the league, I would say. So so that card is nostalgic because it just it's kind of started my fandom towards the Yankees and my favorite player. So that's it for me.

SPEAKER_01

It's funny when I look at the cards I've I've kept, I have three guys who I have more cards than anything. Obviously, George Brett's number one, but Wade Boggs and Don Mattingley are my other two. It's like I have sleeve after sleeve after sleeve of those three guys, and and yeah. Uh Don Mattingley will come up again in in our talk. Uh funniest. Uh our funniest. Now, I don't have the card, but I remember the Chicago White Sox 1982 tops, Rusty Koontz. Yeah. Um, and as kids, you just thought that was the greatest thing ever. Um good name. But yeah, Rusty Koontz. But I have to go back to 1981 and Fleer. I swear, is Fleer a brand new company in 1981? Yeah. Because Fleer and Don Russ. These cards are all misprints. Um, and there's more. I just pulled three. So I have Daryl Porter wearing a Royals uniform, but it says Cardinals, Cliff Johnson in a Cubs uniform, but A's. And I'm sure this probably had to do with trades. And then Ray Burris picture wearing a Cubs uniform, but it says Mets. And I'm not smart enough when I'm six years old to know about the financial wheelings and dealings of clubs, but I can tell that the Mets sure doesn't match up with the Cubs, and I just giggled and giggled and thought I had stumbled upon like, what? Adults make mistakes? This is a huge mistake. And there's just tons of them in the 1981 Fleer pack. So for me, again, I go back to when I was little. That was such a memory of getting all these misprints. So that's my funniest. Although there's Bob Horner. There's another one with uh oh, who was the twins second baseman with the huge glove on it? I don't know. I bet you I bet you'd have one of these. There it is. Is it Roy Smalley? It's Mickey Hatcher.

SPEAKER_02

There it is. That was one of my cards that I was gonna talk about. Um Mickey Hatcher. That's fantastic. That's the 1986 Fleer card, and Mickey Hatcher just has I don't know the story. I wrote about this at one point. I think it was like a promotional thing when they were taking photos and and they had him wear an it's a very oversized glove. And yeah, and you see people sometimes at games in the outfield that take a big glove, and it's kind of funny they're trying to catch foul balls or home runs with it. Uh, but to have a card where a player had a glove that that that was that big, it was always funny. And and there's some other ones that I wanted to mention. Um, probably the most famous error card of the period was the the Billy Ripkin F-face. And you have, don't you at least have one? I don't have any. Yeah, I never got that card. Um it was 1989 Fleer, and uh on the bottom of his baseball bat, it it was they had to blur it out.

SPEAKER_01

On the handle of the bat, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So F-face. Yeah, so that made it through, but then there were like three or four other variations that they tried to correct it when they printed the cards. So it's always funny to get and see if you have his card. Was it the uncorrected or how did they scribble it out or put a black box over it? So that was always a fun um pack to open if you got one of those cards.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was that that's when you felt like you were going to the black market to try to find the Billy Ripkin card. Yeah, that was that was legendary stuff. Um sick of pulling. Next one. So to finishing our top row of our sleeve here. Uh, what card were you sick of pulling from packs of baseball cards?

SPEAKER_02

See, I didn't like the Red Sox, so for some reason, Mike Greenwell cards to me, I couldn't stand getting yeah. I think okay, so that was 80. You just pulled out as 87 tops and 87 Don Russ, but it was more specifically, I think it was the 88 tops because that was the first year that I really opened packs, and it had his gold cup on on it. Uh so the year after they were rookie tops would always put a gold cup if they were the best at the position or something. And I always got that, and I I hated getting his card. So that would be mine, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Mike Greenwell. Okay, I'm gonna give a list, and here's an example. Sean Abner. Um, this is one I have a list of names, and maybe this goes even under another category, but Greg Jeffries, Chris Sabo, Corey Snyder, Wally Joyner, Matt Noakes, Sean Abner, and Ellis Burks. I pulled those cards and constantly, and in a way, we were told these guys are going to be great. So when you got a Greg Jeffries Mets card, you're like, oh, this is the next great hitter. Um, but I swear I got them in every pack, and so I had stacks and stacks of Wally joiners and Greg Jeffries and Chris Sabos with his stupid goggles. Um but there's just a handful of names that when I traded card with my friends, we would just start cracking up because it's like, oh, we got another one of those, oh, we got another one of those. And it and those are the names that I just tried to jot down from my memory of uh, oh Corey Snyder, you got the Indians Corey Snyder again, and oh, he's gonna be great. Um so that that's probably that's probably Cory Snyder.

SPEAKER_02

He had a he had an Olympic card out of 85 tops. So we we remembered him from 85, but then a couple years later he got his professional cards, and yeah, there were a lot of promises for him, but didn't pan out.

SPEAKER_01

No kidding. Um, all right. Um never trade. What's a card you're never gonna?

SPEAKER_02

I told you I sold basically all of my cards, which there weren't a lot of valuable ones in there, but um I this is the only card that I besides the 87 Top set. This is the only individual card that I still have. I even sold all my other Don Mattingley cards. I don't know at a garage sale. Don't ask me why. That was a long time ago. But this is the original card, and and it's still in the screw-down case that you used to have. And I know why they told us not to do that, because they would slip and damage them, and this one slid down, so it's pinned in there with screws. Uh, but it's the 1984 Topps Don Mattingley rookie card. Yeah, and that's it's my it's the card that it'll always be in my collection. It it survived, basically, all the other ones. So that's the one that it's not the most valuable card I have by any means, especially in the condition it's in, but it just means so much, so I'll never trade it or sell it. Alright, how about you?

SPEAKER_01

I was trying to see if I had that card. Um, I don't think I have that one. Man, I have all sorts of Don Mattingleys, but of course I wouldn't have the best one. That's that's pretty typical of my uh collection. Um okay, mine is Ricky Henderson rookie. And this had to do with the trade, and so if he he's not listening, but if he was, Aaron Crispin, uh older brother of a good friend of mine, he traded me uh the Ricky Henderson rookie for a Pete Rose monitor. Montreal Expo's manager card. And days later he was mad about it. And I am now on air saying, Aaron Crispin, if you're out there, I will give it back to you if I can have the Pete Rose back. Because I don't want ill feelings lingering out in the world. It was the all-time greatest trade where you walked away from it just walking on air, going home, going, I can't believe I got a Ricky Henderson rookie. And so I would I I I would never trade it, but my caveat is I would trade it in a second to Aaron Crispin. Because from all intents and purposes, he's a good man, I assume. And I know his I know his brother is a great person.

SPEAKER_02

So uh so what year what year would that trade have taken place?

SPEAKER_01

That would have probably happened in the late 80s, early 90s.

SPEAKER_02

That card was valuable. I mean, it that card is one of the biggest cards from the 80s. My friend had it on his dresser, and it, you know, you used to always put your prized possessions, you'd display them on your dresser, at least I did. And he had like a little card stand, and that card was in there. And every time I would walk into his room, I would just stop and stare at that card. It's beautiful because it's his only rookie card. There was only tops in 1980. There were no no other competing cards, and it was an action photo. You didn't you didn't get a lot of if you think about all the rookie cards of Hall of Famers, not a lot of them are action shots. So it's a beautiful card, and that's yeah, that's a trade that's gonna go down in history right there.

SPEAKER_01

I know it. And I and I feel I felt great in the moment, and here I am 30 years later, going, I don't want to feel like I ripped somebody off completely. So if he's out there, just just let me know. Um, okay, next one. So we're at the we're um well, this isn't the middle because I guess the middle we save for our favorite card. We're about to finish our second row, not quite, but what card do you wish you pulled when you were little?

SPEAKER_02

Probably the hottest card when I was collecting. It it's the 1986 rated rookie of Jose Conseco. All right, Jose Conseco. So this is an example of a card that I bought as an adult. Um, this was so I got back into collecting probably in 2012 range. In that twenty twelve to like twenty fifteen, I started buying cards again, especially when I was up in Chicago because they would have the national convention, sports collectors convention. The national show. And I went to that a couple times. So I started buying cards again, and and I never had that Jose Conseco. It's the one where he's kind of got that little mustache that he's trying to fill in that looks pathetic. Uh but nobody was hotter in the late 80s than Jose Conseco and Mark McGuire, the Bash brothers. So that's the card.

SPEAKER_01

Couldn't that also qualify as your card that thought you could pay for college, but it's probably not worth the worth? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

It's definitely not gonna pay for your college, but it's worth a heck, it's still worth a heck of a lot more than a lot of these other ones that I have. So there's still it it's one of those cards that holds its value. He's not a Hall of Famer, obviously, with the steroids, but for some reason people still want to buy that card just because of it. It was like me. People never had it growing up, so they they still buy it.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and I think that might get into mine uh a little bit in that, and tell me if I'm wrong, because you're you're better with cards on than I am on this. Topps and Fleer were for the common man. Donruss was a little bit more pricey, yeah. And I just remember to get a Donriss pack of cards was a luxury that I often could not afford. Most I mean, I have some Donruss, but few and far between. And so for me, I still don't have it today. Um, the 1985 Don Mattingley Donrus. Uh 1985 is where it's a black card and has red on the sides of it. And I always it was his second-year card. And so I have probably 40 Don Mattingleys. And I think I have a couple Donress from 1985, but they were too expensive. I just there was no way I was gonna afford that. And so that for me was the one that I wish I would have pulled because it was like you said, Don Mattingley was such a hot card in the mid-80s that I to this day I still don't have it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and you know there was a big controversy with him and George Steinbrenner about his hair, cutting his hair and his mustache and all that. They really wanted you to be clean cut. And that 1985 Don Russ card, he is kind of shaggy looking in that. But yeah, you're right. He was kind of at the height of his powers, and Don Russ was kind of exotic. I don't know about you, but I didn't have a card store in my small town, so it was it was Quick Shop, Amoco, and the drugstore. Those were the three places that had packs that you could buy, and they never had Don Russ until they became like until like 1990 when they were worthless. Uh but 85. I have an unopened box of 85 Don Russ over there on my shelf. And it's not a cheap box. I mean, it's it's not like 84. 84 Don Russ is the most expensive because of the Mattingley, but the 85 has Clemens and Puckett and a couple other ones um that are pretty valuable.

SPEAKER_01

I think I I have a Don Mattingley and Dave Winfield, two for the title, uh, from 1985 Donruss. So it's where both their pictures are in it. And that one I love. Uh the the Donriss look from like 84 to about 88 is fantastic. Um but again, I just couldn't afford them. And so that that for me was uh that's my white whale, apparently. I'll I'll get I like that.

SPEAKER_02

I I think I have that card somewhere. Um I don't know where it is, but it is. It's it's a tough card to get. Tougher, I guess.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Uh so next up, what's this category?

SPEAKER_02

Um card that promised to put us through college that's not worth a lot. So this is we've kind of mentioned this and touched on this, but uh this could go, like you said, there's probably a laundry list of cards that were rated rookies and hot prospects and future stars and all that that they would always flash on the bottom of the card. But I'll go first. Here's mine. This is from 1989, and this is a guy being a Wichita State fan, this is a guy just south and down in still Stillwill, Oklahoma State. Robin Ventura. Oh, yeah, Robin Ventura. So I have his 89 tops, number one draft pick. Great logo that they have on that. And uh he's in his college uniform. I don't know if they if they beat us. Well, we won the national championship in 89, but I think the year before, maybe they I don't know. There was some bad blood between Wichita State and Oklahoma State, and Robin Ventura was one of those guys and Pete Incavilia. But his cards, I remember, he was gonna be the the next biggest thing. He ended up getting his butt kicked by Noel and Ryan, though, so that kind of made up for it. Where Noah Ryan got him in a headlock.

SPEAKER_01

That's kind of his legacy now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02

So that's that that's that's Noan Ryan getting him back for all those cards that we all had that were gonna be so valuable.

SPEAKER_01

Screwed over Robin Ventura. Wish he would have done it to Greg Jeffries, too.

SPEAKER_02

Probably did.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna pick. I had to choose one card from what I find to be a criminally underrated set, and I think this is 1986 Fleer. Um, I love the 1986 Fleer, and so it was Doc Gooden and Gooden in action. They also had one from Mattingley with him swinging, which is poetic. But I thought my Doc Gooden cards were gonna make me uh a ton of money in '86 because that's the peak for the Mets.

SPEAKER_02

That year.

SPEAKER_01

Him and Daryl Strawberry. And I love this car. I love these cards. They have so many good photos in 1986 Fleer from Vince Coleman stealing bases. They have a Wade Boggs and George Brett with their arms around each other, um, like Boggs and Hero. So I get to see the word hero next to George Brett. Like I said, the Mattingley swing. I just love uh oh, they have the Rod Crew 3,000 career hits. I love that set, the 86 Fleer. And so I thought the good the Doc Gooden cards were were gonna put me over the top.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, Fred McGriff and Cecil Fielder and Joe Carter's rated rookie. They're in that set, I believe. So it it has that blue border, that nate that dark blue border that yeah, dark blue. Yeah, I like it.

SPEAKER_01

That's by the way, that's a great name, Fred McGriff. We all thought Fred McGriff was gonna get us that that's the that's the perfect candidate for somebody that you'd get a Fred McGriff card, and you're like, oh yeah, I got a McGriff. This is big. And yeah, well, I it didn't matter.

SPEAKER_02

Actually, I gotta make correction because there might be one or two listeners. I'm thinking of Don Russ, but same year, Fleer. Don Russ was the same, it it was dark blue, but it had those black lines through it. I I like that one. Oh yeah. I kind of liked it. It was kind of a max headrum style look. Um they they did much edgier. Don Russ and Fleer had better um their design, I thought, was better than Topps in that mid mid 80s. I like this better.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's uh uh topps uh they start going downhill for me after 85, I think. Yeah, I agree. Okay. Uh recognizable card.

SPEAKER_02

Alright, so this is the one that it's the 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. upper deck rookie. This is probably the most it's my this is my most valuable card in my collection. And I have I have a bunch I have guys from the 50s and I have Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle cards and Willie Mays. And this is because it's graded at a 10, it it's valuable. Um don't ask me why they printed a lot, but I think it just it's so iconic that everybody still wants one. And being a Jim Mant card, it's it's up there. So that's but it's not a rookie card, is it? Yeah, yeah. That's 89 upper deck.

SPEAKER_01

Is it really? I'm trying to think of what Griffey I have where it says like rated rookie on it.

SPEAKER_02

That would be Don Russ. 89 Don Russ would say rated rookie. Is that what it is? He was in tops traded. Topps didn't have him in their regular set. Uh, but Flear, Upper Deck, Don Russ did. Um, Score was in the traded, and Topps was in the traded set that year.

SPEAKER_01

Score, the garbage can of cards right there. Okay. Um mine I decided just to do. Um, it's not my most valuable by any means, but what we were talking about earlier. Um the 1987 Bo Jackson Future Stars. It's just because of what a phenomenon Bo Jackson was. And so just he's wearing kind of the the royal blue uh for Kansas City in the outfield. And I just remember we all wanted Bo Jackson cards. And yeah, yeah, there it is. So I I just thought that that was kind of an iconic card in the late 80s, and in a way, this is probably right at the point where baseball cards are becoming overproduced. Maybe it's even a little bit before this, but it feels like to me around 87 or 88. And so that Bo Jackson, it's just so recognizable from the 1980s. Uh, and in a way, he he personifies that time period. So that's and again, I'm probably a little royal-centric, but that's just that's hey, we're in the heartland. What can I say? That's the point. All right. Okay. So most under what do we got most underrated card?

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

What do you got for underrated?

SPEAKER_02

So I have I have a card of just like somebody that you well, it's somebody you just got done talking about. Bo Jackson. But go back the year before and it's his traded card. So the 1986 Topps traded it.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

And trade if you're not aware of this topps. They they at the end of the season they had put out this little box. It's a set of about probably 120 cards, maybe, maybe not even that many, of guys that were traded or rookies that didn't make it in their regular set. And and so it was kind of an extended rookie that they would call it, an XRC. And that's what I have. I think I think that set, I I have that tops traded set. And this one might even be one too. I the Will Clark in that year. The Will Clark, yeah. I think that is a beautiful card. It's just a headshot of him, but he's got a smile and just the colors with the black and the orange. I love that set. Uh that also has Barry Bonds and uh, you know, Bo Jackson and Barry Bonds are the big ones in there.

SPEAKER_01

What makes that Bo Jackson so unique? Because there's said I I read something that there's like a Tiffany one of that, that exact card. And my son, because I have that card, but what is it that makes one a part of the really minute collection? So the because they say it's like $20,000.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so the Topps Tiffany, they only made like 10,000 sets or 7,000 sets, and it's glossy. And on the back, if if I don't have a Topps Tiffany card, I don't even know if I have a Tops Tiffany card. But on the back, it's very bright. And they'll either have like uh it it almost looks like it's neon kind of. Yeah. Um and you would be able to tell if you if you had the the regular tops traded in the Tiffany side by side, you'd be able to see that the back the back is the dead giveaway and the front has a glossy finish. Um and they only made a limited run. So so they did that with yeah, Tops Tiffany, Fleer had their Fleer glossy. I mean, they they kind of had those specialty sets where they made they tried to really limit the amount of production that they had. So yeah, if you have a Tiffany If you have Tops Tiffany rookie cards that are in a high grade, meaning like a nine or a ten mint or Jim Mint, they fetch a pretty high dollar.

SPEAKER_01

So my underrated card, and I don't know if it's underrated or I just don't feel like people ever talk about them, and it doesn't seem much, is Tony Gwynn. I just I don't know, and maybe it's it's a 1983 tops, and it just seems like that's a year for whatever reason that gets kind of overlooked, and maybe that's just me growing up and I'm completely blank on what happened in 1983. But uh I don't know. I I feel like his cards don't carry as much value as I thought they would for who I would consider to be one of the best hitters in the last 50 years. And yet maybe it's the San Diego market, maybe it's just that he hit a ton of singles. But I don't know. I just thought I I always liked having that Tony Gwynn, just because I always thought he was really likable, and I and I I know it sounds weird, but non-threatening because it's like he's Tony Gwen, he's out in San Diego. But as just a pure fan of the game and a hitter, Tony Gwen is unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02

So that for me I think when it comes to like value of cards, you're always gonna the big hitters are always gonna have the most money. Um there are that's where the value is if you look at it, really. I think over time, it's Babe Roots and Mickey Mannels and Hank Ahrens and Willie Mays, these guys that have over 500 home runs. But you have mentioned two from the 80s, Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn now on this podcast. They were probably the best hitters in the 80s for each league, uh, but they just weren't.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, slow down. George Brett. Come on. Yeah. No, you're probably right. Wade Boggs probably is.

SPEAKER_02

But if you look at batting titles, Wade Boggs had more than George Brett did in the 80s, and Tony Gwynn had more in the National League. So now, overall, yeah, if you look at the span of their career, George Brett was a better player, in my opinion. Um, a lot of people may argue that, but um, yeah, Tony Gwen, great player, just didn't wasn't a power hitter, so but very very underrated set. 83 had Boggs and Gwen and Sandberg. So good good Hall of Fame class there for those rookie cards.

SPEAKER_01

All right. How many batting titles? Um guy, he had five batting titles, Wade Boggs. Yeah, great hitter. Yeah. 83, 85, 86, 87, 88. And the worst in that year would have been 357, which is incredible.

SPEAKER_02

Man. Guys, guys just used to hit for contact. That's the big difference between then and now. Now they're all about this launch angle and just hitting home runs and getting on base and or not getting on base, just well, I guess if you walk or it's it's feast or famine, I feel like it's all or nothing now. They either swing and I don't know, try to hit it at the end.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it it it it is something also to look at today, like how different statistics are. Like, for example, if we go look to the um American League today, how many guys are batting over 300 in the American League right now? Do you give me a guess? How many in the American League?

SPEAKER_02

It's probably right around nine nine or ten, is my guess.

SPEAKER_01

The answer is three. Oh. In the National League, the answer is more. I mean, I think it's about that that one looks like to be one, two, three, four, five, six. That looks to be like ten. Yeah, that's what I was probably. But in the American League, it's three.

SPEAKER_02

That's pathetic.

SPEAKER_01

It is pathetic. Golly, that's something. And the and the top batting right now is three twenty-six in the American League. So, yeah, you're right. Baseball's changed so much.

SPEAKER_02

But one of my favorite players right now, the a guy that I like that goes back to the Cub days. And when I used to live up there is Kyle Schwarber, who plays for the Phillies now. He has 29 home runs right now. He hit three the other night. And that guy, he bats like 225, but he he can hit the ball a mile. So you got to stick him in right in the middle of your lineup.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm glad the Cubs got rid of him years ago. Come on.

SPEAKER_02

I love that guy. Schwarber is one of those players that I can root for no matter who he plays for. I don't care what team he's on.

SPEAKER_01

I think I think the 1980s version of Kyle Schwarber would have been Dave Kingman on the Brewers. That's kind of the same thing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Uh all right, here we go. Favorite card. Let's hear it. What is your favorite card?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, this isn't going to be a surprise. I have some honorable mentions. You've already mentioned the Ricky Henderson rookie. Uh that's that's one of my favorites, but you could take your pick between the three Don Mattingley rookies, but the 84 Don Russ, Don Mattingley. It was one of those, it was so exotic, and it was almost like a I I don't know if it was endangered species or what. You never saw it in Kansas in a small town. No one had that card in their collection.

SPEAKER_01

Nobody four Donruss cards, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so that so I I got it late, you know. I got this when I was an early adult and had the money to buy it. And I I love that just because it was always one of those cards that you just never saw in anybody's collection, even though it was during an era where cards were plentiful. So, what about you?

SPEAKER_01

Well, again, mine will be obvious because I felt like I should choose a different player for everyone, but then I'm like, well, that's stupid, that's not how it was when you were little. Um, and so I go back to I love the 1980 Tops. Yeah, I think the 1980 Tops is my all-time favorite set, and that was George Brett AL All-Star card, and he just looks like a badass at it. And when I'm five years old, and I'm just like, that is my guy, and it had the little banner up top and pink and purple AL All-Star. And it's kind of like you you go to certain sets of cards, and if I could have any set of card, I think I would get the 1980 top set just because I love the look of almost every card I see, and every card I have from 1980 uh tops, I just love the look of it. And so that's mine. That's I'd have to put George Bretton on it.

SPEAKER_02

I love that set because it has the little facsimile signatures on it, so you can you can kind of look and see what their signature looks like. But it's also 1980, it's kind of uh the start of a new era, but there's still there's like Carly Strymski card, you know. 1980 still has some of those still has some of those older guys that you know, Johnny Bench and some players from the 60s and 70s that dominated that are still still around in 1980.

SPEAKER_01

So hanging on.

SPEAKER_02

I like that set. Beautiful set.

SPEAKER_01

Well, man, I'm glad you suggested this. My son pulled out his cards and he and I started going back and forth, and I came to the realization that he already has better cards than I do, and he's not even 18 years old. But at the same time, it's so fun to kind of I I I bet I pull my cards out every few years, and it it really is. It's more like walking back to your childhood than anything else. And I I I I enjoy it so much. Yeah, it was fun. All right, yeah, thanks. All right, everybody. Well, thanks for tuning in and uh have a I hope your summer is going well, and we will be talking at you soon. Thank you.