G'day folks,
I've finally arranged my entire baseball card collection in alphabetical order, and even managed to store them in adequate housing. So now, I have a little bit of time to post about some of my favorite players of all time.
Firstly, I must apologize for the lack of clarity (focus) in some of the photos. The whole scanner situation still hasn't improved. Maybe I'm never supposed to own a fully functioning scanner? I don't know...
Over the next couple of posts, I'll be focusing on the great Dave Winfield. He of the 3110 hits, 465 HR's and 1833 RBI. Considering he also stole 223 bases, and was a highly-ranked pitcher in College, his numbers suggest he was an incredibly gifted athlete. We will count down all of the Winfield cards I own from his playing days, since they're the ones I consider 'actual' Winfield cards. It's still nice to get some reprints, or tribute cards from 1997 - 2013, but to me, they're just not the same.
The top photo contains all of my 'Sunset' (Thanks, Nick!) cards of Winfield, and my favorite one would have to be the Collectors Choice issue, at the middle of the bottom row. FULL career stats, the gold 'Tribute' logo and those great 1995 Blue Indians uniforms are outstanding. Best photo would have to be the Score card on the bottom right. Great follow-through of the great man in his last season. Score will always be one of my favorite brands of all time. Heaps of stats on the back, and most years included a color photo as well. 1988 Score was ahead of it's time!
This is the photo I really should have taken again. In fact, I should have taken it a third time, because this was Take 2. The lack of scanner strikes again!
All of these cards are from 1995, and although some show Winfield in Twins garb, each card lists him as being with the Indians. He was traded to the Indians in late August 1994, but wouldn't appear for them until 1995 because of that damned... well, we all know why! Topps did extremely well in late '94 or early '95 - they managed to track Winfield down at his own house, dressed him up in a Cleveland Uniform, and snapped a few photos of him. That's the unusual story behind his Topps card at the bottom on the right. Who needs airbrushing or Photoshop??? Surely the best card for Winfield in 1995 was the Stadium Club card. I love the fact Topps got him to show bunt. How often would he ever have been asked to do that in an actual game? I'm guessing never!
Change of scenery for this photo. Better lighting. Hope it worked out OK!
1994 was probably the year I bought more packs than any other year. There were just so many different sets out that year, and most of them were available in a large number of shops here in Australia. My favorite design for 1994 would have to be Leaf. I love the team-color-coded, marbleized, curved bar at the bottom of each card. I love the backs even more. More team-color-coded madness! The ticket stub. The team logo itself. PLUS : the holographic team logo in the top right corner. Almost a perfectly designed set in my opinion. One single problem : not enough stats! That Pinnacle card (2nd row, card 3) is my newest addition to the Winfield pile. I got it in a box of Pinnacle that I bought in Hawaii a couple months ago. Paula @ Paula's Sportscards, I tip my cap to you!
Man I love me some 1993 sets. I think everyone's pick of the bunch is the Upper Deck set, and I'd probably have to agree. Some incredible photos in that set, both on the front and the back of the cards. I also loved the Score set, primarily because it is probably the most team-color-oriented set I've ever seen. The backs sum it up perfectly. I should have taken a pic of one...
1992 was an amazing year for the 40-year old Winfield. .290/26/108??? I don't know of any un-roided player who has reached that level of production at that age. Amazing...
You may have noticed that all of the Twins cards are at the top. My O.C.D. causes me to sort all of the 'traded' or 'update' cards above the other cards that picture a player with his previous team. I just can't explain why. If you look closely at the Pinnacle card in the 3rd row, you'll notice a small pic of Dave in a Padres uniform. That's a preview for what will make up a lot of my next post. ;-)
Aaahh... 1992. This is the year that takes up the most space in my collection. Nearly every card you see in this pic is from a complete set. Upper Deck (Gold Hologram), Ultra, Bowman, Leaf, Stadium Club, Pinnacle, Fleer (+Update), Score (+Update), Topps (+Traded), Topps Gold (+Traded Gold) & O Pee Chee. They're all there. They're all complete. I will never be able to lift my 1992 collection. Ever!
Dave played pretty well in 1991, for a guy who turned 40(!) later that year. .262/28/86 is great for a guy that age.
I have to say, there were no absolute stand-out designs that year. Although I do love the Triple Play set. Sadly, I only have about 50 cards from that set, and no Winfield's...
This was a shock to me. I only have 10 Winfield cards from 1991. Yes. Ten.
Pathetic, isn't it? This was the most over-produced over-production-era year of all-time! How can I only have TEN?
It's probably because Dave stayed with the same team from mid-1990 thru the end of 1991.He still hit .267/21/78 between the Yanks and the Angels, so it wasn't such a bad year that he only deserved 10 cards, though! I really love that Stadium Club set. I remember seeing it on the Bay about 3 years ago, for around $30, and I just had to pounce. I'm forever grateful that I did. Now, Studio is the only non-oddball 1991 set that I don't own, and I don't really care for Studio. Nor does anyone else, it seems!
Well, that just about does it for Part 1, I hope you enjoyed reading, but mostly, I hope you saw some cards that you didn't know existed, and now are on your wantlists! That's 100 of the 162 Dave Winfield cards in my PC down, and 62 to go.
Can't wait to unleash some vintage Winfield tomorrow!
Nick J
Edit : Here's Dave's Website : http://davewinfieldhof.com
Nice post, Nick! I collect most of WInfield's later issues, you gave me a few more to chase.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you've heard the story of how Winfield was traded to the Indians, but it's a good one.
From what I remember, he was dealt to the Indians right before the strike happened. Once it ended in '95, the teams weren't sure if the trade was official, as the Twins had never gotten anything back for Winfield.
So, I guess the Indians brass took a few members of the Twins front office out to dinner and they called it an even trade.
One of my all-time favorite baseball stories.
Cheers, Nick!
ReplyDeleteI had actually never heard of that Dave Winfield story - that's really cool! I might have to scour the internet to read a bit more about it, it's intriguing, for sure.