Pack Two

Pack 2 +12
265 Paul Assenmacher
92 Frank Tanana
23 Wes Gardner
142 Gary Sheffield
68 Ivan Calderon
185 Gene Nelson
244 Tony Castillo
411 Jim Gott
195 Stan Royer
152 Juan Berenguer
308 Manny Trillo
110 Mel Stottlemyer, Jr.

I hadn't realized that there were different sweepstakes cards. I say this because I distinctly remember the sweepstakes card I got from my one pack in 1989 was also Duke Snider (pictured yesterday). When I opened today's pack and flipped the top half over, there was Yogi Berra's awkward, goofy, but lovable face looking up at me.


It's a nice touch and makes these cards much better than the standard WIN A TRIP TO SPRING TRAINING cards Topps threw in with their base set. Kinda reminds me of this year's ToppsTown cards, pretty useless, but nice to see something different every pack.

I'm curious how many different sweepstakes cards there are. I wonder if emailling Topps would get me anywhere.


Here's our first player who's still active. There won't be many in this set, but there are a few. We saw Bonds yesterday and while he's not officially retired, I doubt we'll ever see him in a major league uniform again.

I like this shot of a young Sheffield playing the infield. It's a much better picture than his awkward looking '89 Topps Future Star card. I wonder if his well known difficult personality had manifested itself at this point in his career?

He's another known steroid user and was named in the Mitchell Report.


Stan Royer. Who?

According to Baseball-Reference, he was drafted by the Braves in '85 but didn't sign. He was drafted again, and signed, with Oakland in '88. Though pictured here as an Athletic, Royer never saw a big league pitch as an A.

Near the trade deadline in 1990, Royer was part of a package that sent Felix Jose to St. Louis in exchange for Willie McGee.

Royer made his major league debut as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning of a 3-1 loss against the Pirates on September 11, 1990. His first start came on September 22.

As a member of the Boston Red Sox, Royer played his final major league game on July 22, 1994.

Pack three coming up tomorrow, and be sure to stay tuned to 1988 Score as we run through the 1988 Score Young Superstars set.