Blogging The 1982 Topps Baseball Card Set
When Jack Morris is the worst in your starting rotation, you know you’ve got a pretty good pitching staff. That’s exactly how it was for the ’82 Tigers. He beat who he should beat, and lost to the best. Good thing he pitched against weak teams more than strong ones.
Bert Blyleven is the greatest baseball player ever to come from the Netherlands, and possibly the greatest pitcher not in Cooperstown yet. Hopefully that Cooperstown thing changes very soon, ’cause he was truly great…
Ok, so you probably know a lot about Gary Carter already, but you probably don’t know that he might’ve won the NL MVP in ’82 if the Expos played more games on grass…
Pete Redfern is another guy whose major league career ended in ’82. Here, he looks like he lost something & isn’t sure he’ll ever get it back….which is actually pretty fitting.
Who’s idea was it to make all these hitters for the Blue Jays pose the same way for their 1982 cards? The expression on John Mayberry’s face says it all. He’s squinting in disbelief saying ” Uuuhh no. This is bad for my image. Why on earth are we all posing with a bat on our shoulder today? Huh? Eehhh I’m not feelin’ it Mr ToppsCameraman.” If this were a video clip, I bet we’d see he’s shaking his head “no”.
Dave Revering wasn’t a very good player by this point in his career, but the photo on his card is a nice action shot. Former Big Red Machine prospect, who never lived up to his potential. Sad, but hey, they can’t all turn out like we’d like them to.
The Memorable Mario Mendoza was infamous for being unable to get a hit or even draw a walk, and his major league career finished in May ’82 after 9 seasons. Little does anyone know though, that his career ended with great irony, thanks to a smart and daring manager, against a legendary closer.
First pitch in the majors he ever saw, and he smacks it for a home run. Nice job Alvis Woods. The back of his card exclaims that he’s the all-time Blue Jays batting leader, which isn’t a big deal since the Jays had only existed for 5 season to this point.
Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock looks happy here and he should. He’d just won his 3rd batting title with a .341 average and got on base at a .413 clip! Although, he started the ’82 season slowly, but then had a great August and September…ending the season with career highs in runs, runs created, homers, and RBI’s.
During Larry Biittner’s 14 season career he was involved in a trade with Steve Renko, was one of the few position players to get some time on the mound, & played in one of the highest scoring games in history.
Everybody’s featuring a Steve Renko card on their blog this month. First it was 1980 Topps. Then last week it was 1976 Steve Renko. Just yesterday the ’75 Topps Renko showed up. He’s the “in thing” right now for no explicable reason, so I’ve gotta get in on this too.
One of the best “in action” cards, featuring Tom terrific with the ball just released from his hand. You can just feel the effort put into hurling a hard fastball to the plate. It’s a pure classic shot. It’s also on a historic day. Plus, did you know his delivery was just like Christy Mathewson’s?
Not the best player in any card collection, but he managed to last 15 seasons, playing for 5 teams, and earned a trip to the All-Star game in 1977. Digging a little into his stats and his 1982 season, is actually rather interesting. Like any major leaguer who stuck around a while, Jerry Morales had his moments.
Clint Hurdle’s stretching, getting ready for the game. He looks happy, content, satisfied and relaxed with his life. Who wouldn’t be? You’re in the majors, on a perennial playoff contender, and 1981 was a good season for you even if your playing time was limited. Posting a batting line of .329/.427/.553 over 28 games was [...]
Here’s a guy who was on his way to a very good career, but got hit in the arm with a line drive. It fractured his arm. He was never quite the same and his playing days were cut very short.
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