Pack Two

Pack 2 +14
(bold blue text indicates upgraded card)
191 Reid Nichols
611 Tommy Hinzo
460 Wade Rowdon
400 Donnie Hill
527 Franklin Stubbs
626 All Star Righties (Bret Saberhagen, Mike Witt, Jack Morris)
546 David Palmer
572 Larry Sheets
449 Billy Hatcher
386 Rey Quinones
641 Rookie Prospects (Mark Grace, Darrin Jackson)
67 Dan Petry
502 Johnny Ray
478 Jeff Russell
99 Jose Uribe

Despite having never bought a pack of this stuff when it was new, I had managed to accumulate twenty cards somewhere (most likely through repack boxes I bought in the early 90s).

In my other box breaks, most notably '88 Score, I didn't make note of upgraded cards. I'm not going to count them as doubles, as such, but I do want to keep a running count of what cards get replaced. Hence marking upgrades.

So we'll see if I can replace all twenty of the cards I have or not. They're not in terrible shape, aside from a dinged corner here and there, so if I had a choice, I'd vote not to replace them. But I don't have a whole lot of say in the matter, do I?

While we're on the topic of that upgraded card, if Billy Hatcher loses his job today, I am truly sorry.

And now it's time to look at some cards.



This card reminds me a lot of the Super Shortstops from 1988 Score. In fact, they were taken in nearly identical locations. The Fleer card was shot a bit to the left of the Score card, and probably right around the same time, as you can see batting cages on the field in both shots.

I wonder if more than one photograph was being taken at the same time. Jack Morris is clearly not looking at the same cameraman.

The front of the card looks miscut, but I don't think it is. Even in the horizontal orientation, the photograph is set in the same place it would be on a vertical card. But by looking at the back, the card is actually miscut just a bit, but it doesn't affect the placement of the photograph. It looks like they used the same template for all the cards and didn't try to center the horizontal photographs. It doesn't show well in the scan because of the white behind the card, but in hand you really notice how off center the photographs are.


Major League Prospects. I had to do some checking, but it looks like this is the true rookie card for both Mark Grace and Darrin Jackson. Grace made his debut in May 1988, but Jackson had played a few games at the Major League level in both 1985 and 1987 (16 at bats, five hits), but looking around I didn't find any earlier cards. I guess I'm finally getting used to the idea that today "rookie card" means a photograph taken seconds after birth of a potential future baseball player.

Both of these guys had respectable careers, with Grace being one of the more consistent hitters of the 1990s. His 1,754 hits between 1990 and 1999 are the most by any player during that decade, he also hit the most doubles and sac flies of the 90s.

For some reason I always think Grace had been around before 1988. Maybe because for some reason I get he and Ryne Sandberg mixed up. I don't know, but I always have to stop and think when I see a Mark Grace rookie card from 1988.

The sticker for today is a good one:


That is the best logo in the history of baseball. Period. The Expos of the '80s had the best uniform and cap ever, but the Brewers had the best logo.