Catching up... four packs...

I really haven't been in the mood for writing lately, not sure why, just not feeling it I guess.

Here's four packs to get us caught up and I'll try to get back into the swing of things for the last five packs.

I'm going to skip pictures and a lot of text for this post just to get caught up, I promise more in the way of writing and pictures for the final five though.

Pack 28 +6
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
177 Ken Phelps
215 Alvin Davis
24 John Dopson
227 Jim Sundberg
268 Mike Aldrete
210 Harold Reynolds
298 Andre Dawson
216 Edgar Martinez
295 Jerome Walton
398 Pat Combs
451 Bruce Hurst
188 Dave Stewart

Pack 29 +12
241 Mike Flanagan
118 Mike Macfarlane
46 Dick Schofield
122 Frank White
200 Dave Henderson
315 Joel Youngblood
297 Dwight Smith
378 Dave Proctor
401 Ricky Jordon
290 Ryne Sandberg
231 Jeff Kunkel
128 Danny Tartabull

Pack 30 +7
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
353 Bryn Smith
437 Terry Pendleton
47 Wally Joyner
317 Dave Smith
108 Chet Lemon
70 Daryl Boston
52 Claudell Washington
71 Dave Gallagher
182 Bob Brower
377 Sid Fernandez
65 Robin Ventura
407 Ron Jones

A note of interest is a block of five instead of six. I'm thinking these cards are from one of the top or bottom corners of the sheet.

Pack 31 +12
375 David Cone
197 Mark McGwire
363 Spike Owen
321 Juan Agosto
357 Brian Holman
284 Greg Maddux
417 Ken Oberkfell
130 Don August
468 Wil Tejada
229 Buddy Bell
268 Steve Avery
165 Dave LaPoint

Great pack here. Maddux and McGwire. But most importantly, a second Steve Avery rookie so that I can have one in the '89 Bowman binder and one in my player collection.

And with five packs left, I'm very close to the goal of 70% completion. In fact, with a good pack tomorrow, I could hit 70%.

Pack Twenty-Seven

Pack 27 +6
(duplicates are indicated by bold text)
365 Andres Galarraga
30 Jody Reed
481 Checklist
159 Wally Backman
187 Rick Honeycutt
272 Andres Thomas
186 Bob Welch
345 Alfredo Griffin
107 Pat Sheridan
428 Ken Dayley
373 Wally Whitehurst
163 Danny Gladden

From this pack, I was able to fill my first nine card page. That always gives me some sense of accomplishment. Actually, those pages were a dilemma. I searched high and low for nine card pages that were oversized to fit these cards. No luck. There are eight card pages that are made for oversized cards like the early '50s Bowmans, but they orient the cards horizontally. I just coulnd't bring myself to use pages like that, so I dug up some old pages from my first round of collecting that are a little bit taller than usual.


They're not perfect. But they display the cards correctly, and the binder is tall enough that the tops of the cards are pretty well protected. I can live with it.


Wally Whitehurst was drafted by Oakland in the third round of the 1985 draft but was traded to the Mets as part of a huge three team deal. Because I don't like typing, I'll just copy and past from Baseball Reference:

December 11, 1987: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Oakland Athletics with Kevin Tapani to the New York Mets. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent Bob Welch and Matt Young to the Oakland Athletics. The Los Angeles Dodgers sent Jack Savage to the New York Mets. The Oakland Athletics sent Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The New York Mets sent Jesse Orosco to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lots of guys moving around in that one.

Wally had a very good 1990 season with the Mets where he pitched 65.2 innings, striking out 46 and walking only 9. The next year he went 7-12 in 36 games (20 starts) and 3-9 in 1992.

After the '92 season he was traded to the Padres where he pitched until the end of the '94 season. He spent the '95 season in Triple-A with the Red Sox, Giants and Blue Jays. The Jays released him at the end of the season and he signed with the Expos and began in '96 season at Triple-A Ottawa. He was selected off waivers by the Yankees and pitched in six games at Columbus before making his final two Major League stars with the Yankees on August 24 and 29.

Over all, he was 20-37/4.02 ERA in 163 games (66 starts).

Pack Twenty-Six

Pack 26 +12
103 Lou Whitaker
478 Candy Maldonado
112 Floyd Banniester
303 Ron Robinson
74 John Farrell
80 Tom Candiotti
60 Jeff Bittiger
350 Mike Marshall
409 Bob Walk
136 Chuck Crim
396 Floyd Youmans
484 Checklist

Nothing. Nothing at all to show today. I got the final checklist (and last card in the set). With this pack we're entering the home stretch, ten to go.

I have always been interested in Bob Walk. As a parent, with a son interested in baseball and a last name like Walk, wouldn't it be a great service to your child to persuade him to be anything but a pitcher?

Being a pitcher worked out ok for Mr. Walk, though he did to batters what his name implies more times than a manager would like. If I were Bob Walk though, I think I'd have chosen first base, or at least changed my name to Armando Strikeout on my 18th birthday.