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1988 Topps Wax Pack - Live Unboxing Thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Eephus
- Start date
Eephus
Footballguy
Eleventh card: R.J. Reynolds OF Pirates #27
Picture: Since TRE is going to get all truthy with these, I'm going with Reynolds and Dave Stewart in the back of a limo with some transvestite hookers.
Fun fact: Led California League OF with 6 DP in 1980 (this is a 1988 set BTW
)
Reynolds had a famous squeeze bunt that helped the Dodgers win the 83 NL West but was traded to Pittsburgh in a deadline deal in 1985. The Pirates got Reynolds, Sid Bream and Cecil Espy as PTBNL in exchange for an aging Bill Madlock. Madlock hit well in September and helped the Dodgers to another divisional crown. The Dodgers released him in May 1987 and he was signed as a free agent by Detroit. Madlock hit .279/.351/.460 for the Tigers helping them to win the division in the epic battle vs the Blue Jays. Nobody signed him in the off-season and he went to Japan for a year to finish his career. His on-field and clubhouse temper probably didn't help his job hunt and neither did getting named in the Pittsburgh cocaine trial a few years earlier. Madlock is 65 now and can probably still hit. I don't have much to say about Reynolds.
Picture: Since TRE is going to get all truthy with these, I'm going with Reynolds and Dave Stewart in the back of a limo with some transvestite hookers.
Fun fact: Led California League OF with 6 DP in 1980 (this is a 1988 set BTW
)Reynolds had a famous squeeze bunt that helped the Dodgers win the 83 NL West but was traded to Pittsburgh in a deadline deal in 1985. The Pirates got Reynolds, Sid Bream and Cecil Espy as PTBNL in exchange for an aging Bill Madlock. Madlock hit well in September and helped the Dodgers to another divisional crown. The Dodgers released him in May 1987 and he was signed as a free agent by Detroit. Madlock hit .279/.351/.460 for the Tigers helping them to win the division in the epic battle vs the Blue Jays. Nobody signed him in the off-season and he went to Japan for a year to finish his career. His on-field and clubhouse temper probably didn't help his job hunt and neither did getting named in the Pittsburgh cocaine trial a few years earlier. Madlock is 65 now and can probably still hit. I don't have much to say about Reynolds.
Eephus
Footballguy
Twelfth card - Bill Wegman P Brewers #538
Picture: mid-shot of Wegman looking really lanky
This way to the clubhouse: Signed as a 5th round draft selection 6/11/81 by Gerry Craft and Nelson Burbrink. He was drafted one spot ahead of John Franco (picks 125 & 126).
Wegman is wearing a 1986 Brewers jersey in his photo for his 88 card. You can tell because he has the "Sully" memorial patch on his left shoulder in honor of Milwaukee equipment manager Bob Sullivan.
Picture: mid-shot of Wegman looking really lanky
This way to the clubhouse: Signed as a 5th round draft selection 6/11/81 by Gerry Craft and Nelson Burbrink. He was drafted one spot ahead of John Franco (picks 125 & 126).
Wegman is wearing a 1986 Brewers jersey in his photo for his 88 card. You can tell because he has the "Sully" memorial patch on his left shoulder in honor of Milwaukee equipment manager Bob Sullivan.
Eephus
Footballguy
Thirteenth card - Dave Stewart P Athletics #476
Picture: I honestly had no idea that Stewart was in the deck when I made the joke at his expense in the RJ Reynolds post. I'm taking this as a sign that God wants me to continue schtick about Stewart's 1985 arrest for lewd conduct with a transvestite prostitute named Lucille. The 88 card shows Stewart wearing a hideous yellow warmup jacket. He's down on one knee like he's about to return the favor for Lucille.
Fun fact: Led the Midwest League with 17 wins in 1977.
I think Stewart was Dave Duncan's first renowned reclamation project. None of the guys who performed well for Duncan at his previous coaching stops in Cleveland or Comiskey made a big turnaround like Stewart did. Stewart had 4.7 rWAR in parts of nine MLB seasons before Oakland picked him off the scrap heap. He exceeded that in his first year and a half with the A's. He was one of the best SP in baseball from ages 30-34 before aging and fading.
Picture: I honestly had no idea that Stewart was in the deck when I made the joke at his expense in the RJ Reynolds post. I'm taking this as a sign that God wants me to continue schtick about Stewart's 1985 arrest for lewd conduct with a transvestite prostitute named Lucille. The 88 card shows Stewart wearing a hideous yellow warmup jacket. He's down on one knee like he's about to return the favor for Lucille.
Fun fact: Led the Midwest League with 17 wins in 1977.
I think Stewart was Dave Duncan's first renowned reclamation project. None of the guys who performed well for Duncan at his previous coaching stops in Cleveland or Comiskey made a big turnaround like Stewart did. Stewart had 4.7 rWAR in parts of nine MLB seasons before Oakland picked him off the scrap heap. He exceeded that in his first year and a half with the A's. He was one of the best SP in baseball from ages 30-34 before aging and fading.
Limp Ditka
Footballguy
Eephus
Footballguy
Fourteenth card - Brian Dayett OF Cubs #136
Picture: Pre-swing. The perspective is compressed which makes his bat look comically short.
This way to the clubhouse: Traded with Ray Fontenot by the Yankees to Chicago for Porfirio Altamiriano, Rich Bordi, Henry Cotto and Ron Hassey on 12/4/84.
Dayett was a Yankee farmhand who was blocked by the Boss' annual free agent acquisitions. He hit 34 and 35 HRs in successive years in AA and AAA (1982-83) but that wasn't enough to win him a spot on the big club's roster in 1984. Even after getting traded to the Cubs, he wasn't able to escape AAA. The Cubs barely played him in 1985 although he did hit a game-winning grand slam off of Tom Browning on 5/22/85. Browning supposedly placed a baseball card of Dayett in his locker to remind him to never take a major league batter for granted.
This was Dayett's last card. After again failing to make the Cubs roster as a 31 year old in 1988, he went to Japan where he played for four seasons.
Picture: Pre-swing. The perspective is compressed which makes his bat look comically short.
This way to the clubhouse: Traded with Ray Fontenot by the Yankees to Chicago for Porfirio Altamiriano, Rich Bordi, Henry Cotto and Ron Hassey on 12/4/84.
Dayett was a Yankee farmhand who was blocked by the Boss' annual free agent acquisitions. He hit 34 and 35 HRs in successive years in AA and AAA (1982-83) but that wasn't enough to win him a spot on the big club's roster in 1984. Even after getting traded to the Cubs, he wasn't able to escape AAA. The Cubs barely played him in 1985 although he did hit a game-winning grand slam off of Tom Browning on 5/22/85. Browning supposedly placed a baseball card of Dayett in his locker to remind him to never take a major league batter for granted.
This was Dayett's last card. After again failing to make the Cubs roster as a 31 year old in 1988, he went to Japan where he played for four seasons.
Encyclopedia Brown
Footballguy
In Cubs fifth outfielder lore, Dayett was no Gary Woods.
Eephus
Footballguy
Fifteenth card: Jesse Orosco P Mets #105
Picture: A relatively young Orosco going into or coming out of the stretch. It's a pretty nice looking card with balanced geometry. His feet are positioned in the bottom corners with his head exactly in the center at the top and both arms relatively close to his body. It's like a rectangular Mercedes Benz logo with a LOOGY in the middle.
This way to the clubhouse: traded by the Twins to the Mets 2/7/79 as a PTBNL along with Greg Field in exchange for Jerry Koosman. Orosco and Koosman went on to pitch until they were 46 and 42 respectively. Field never made it to the Majors.
Orosco was traded to the Dodgers in December 1987 so this was his last card in a Mets uniform. There was also a traded card (#77T) in the 88 set. That huge 3 team deal also involved the Athletics. They gave up a ton of talent but the acquisition of Welch helped them to three straight World Series.
Orosco sent from the New York Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 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 Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the New York Mets.
Picture: A relatively young Orosco going into or coming out of the stretch. It's a pretty nice looking card with balanced geometry. His feet are positioned in the bottom corners with his head exactly in the center at the top and both arms relatively close to his body. It's like a rectangular Mercedes Benz logo with a LOOGY in the middle.
This way to the clubhouse: traded by the Twins to the Mets 2/7/79 as a PTBNL along with Greg Field in exchange for Jerry Koosman. Orosco and Koosman went on to pitch until they were 46 and 42 respectively. Field never made it to the Majors.
Orosco was traded to the Dodgers in December 1987 so this was his last card in a Mets uniform. There was also a traded card (#77T) in the 88 set. That huge 3 team deal also involved the Athletics. They gave up a ton of talent but the acquisition of Welch helped them to three straight World Series.
Orosco sent from the New York Mets to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 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 Oakland Athletics sent Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the New York Mets.
Eephus
Footballguy
Sixteenth and final card - Mark McLemore 2B Angels #162
Picture: Odd low-angle head shot looking up McLemore's nostrils. He does not look amused.
This way to the clubhouse: signed as a 9th round draft pick 6/12/82 by scout Lou Cohenour. I think it's kind of cool that Topp's mentions the scouts' name in this set. It's a little better bit of immortality than Cohenour's B-R page.
1988 was after McLemore's first full MLB season. It's not a rookie card which makes me a Hyun-Soo Kimmish 0-16 in this regard. After appearing in 138 games for the Anaheims in his age 22 season in 1987, McLemore shuttled between the bigs and the minors for three different organizations for the next four years. He finally broke through in 1992 with the Orioles at age 27 and one year later started to put up a string of above average OBP seasons with good speed and versatile defense. He contributed to some good Orioles and Mariners ballclubs and even managed a late-career SLG spike in the height of the steroids era. His last MLB appearance game on the day before his 40th birthday.
Picture: Odd low-angle head shot looking up McLemore's nostrils. He does not look amused.
This way to the clubhouse: signed as a 9th round draft pick 6/12/82 by scout Lou Cohenour. I think it's kind of cool that Topp's mentions the scouts' name in this set. It's a little better bit of immortality than Cohenour's B-R page.
1988 was after McLemore's first full MLB season. It's not a rookie card which makes me a Hyun-Soo Kimmish 0-16 in this regard. After appearing in 138 games for the Anaheims in his age 22 season in 1987, McLemore shuttled between the bigs and the minors for three different organizations for the next four years. He finally broke through in 1992 with the Orioles at age 27 and one year later started to put up a string of above average OBP seasons with good speed and versatile defense. He contributed to some good Orioles and Mariners ballclubs and even managed a late-career SLG spike in the height of the steroids era. His last MLB appearance game on the day before his 40th birthday.
Eephus
Footballguy
The gum is three postage stamp sized slabs of 80s goodness. The fourth sliver mysteriously vanished during my ride home. They're odorless at this stage of their lifecycle. There's very little elasticity left; the piece I tested flexed for a few mm before snapping in two.
<it happened>
The first sensation was crunchiness followed by a vague sweetness. The four pieces never congealed into a single chewy piece, instead fragmenting into tiny grains mixed with saliva. I chewed for about 10 sec before spitting out what looked like a really dilute solution of Pepto Bismol.
Half a beer has mostly washed the taste away.
<it happened>
The first sensation was crunchiness followed by a vague sweetness. The four pieces never congealed into a single chewy piece, instead fragmenting into tiny grains mixed with saliva. I chewed for about 10 sec before spitting out what looked like a really dilute solution of Pepto Bismol.
Half a beer has mostly washed the taste away.
heckmanm
Footballguy
Be sure to post your gum review on the Unchewd app and/or GumAdvocate.com and/or RateGum.com
Eephus
Footballguy
I've never been a big baseball card guy. I grew up before the big card boom and always figured the economic bubble was unsustainable. I've always preferred the randomness of opening a wax pack to a box set, although I've never owned the latter.
I've been to one card show in my life at Moscone Center in the late 80s. Mrs Eephus sat that one out for some reason. I ended up buying one card: a Topps 1970 Danny Walton commons. Walton had a huge April during the Brewers first season in Milwaukee and never did squat after that.
I've been to one card show in my life at Moscone Center in the late 80s. Mrs Eephus sat that one out for some reason. I ended up buying one card: a Topps 1970 Danny Walton commons. Walton had a huge April during the Brewers first season in Milwaukee and never did squat after that.
