1987 Fleer/Fleer Glossy #4

Man, Tim Raines was amazing in 1986 and 1987. I never understood just how amazing. In 86, he led the league in BA and in OBP, and also stole 70 bases. Hell, he had a 5.3 WAR. Career-wise, he was worth 64.6 wins above replacement, which puts him in the same strata as players like Ozzie Smith and Ernie Banks. Put Rock in the hall already!

Jeff Reardon saved 31 games in 1987, but his ERA was 4.48. Imagine how many inherited runners he must have allowed to score if his ERA was that high. Not his finest moment, for sure.

I never understood why Luis Rivera was in the 88 Topps Traded set when he had 1987 cards. Fun fact, though: he had a 5 OPS+ in 1987. Yikes. Oh, and since that’s the Padres in the background, we can pinpoint this game to sometime between August 19th and 21st, 1986, when the Expos played at Jack Murphy. Big shocker, he went hitless in that series.

Finally, Bob Sebra. Bob was a lot better than I thought he was. He may have lost 15 games in 1987, but the Expos were pretty damn abysmal back then, having lost the Hawk. He had a 96 ERA+, just below league average. Not bad for a back-of-the-rotation starter. He sucked after that, but for 87, he was enough.

Back to the Land of the Living / Trade with the Middle Child

Well I’m finally starting to feel better after two solid days of hell. I’ll spare you the details, and just give you two words: food poisoning. I think today was my recovery day, but it may have been worse than yesterday.

Still, today was redeemed when i went to check the mail. Guess what I found?

Some recipes from a friend. Awesome, but not the subject of this entry.

Nope. I’m talkin’ ’bout Giant Jeff Reardon.

Or is that Giant, Jeff Reardon?

Look at that freaking thing! Now, when you don’t have a want list and you pull off a trade, you run the risk of getting doubles (which, frankly, I’m okay with), but I have to admit I have never been graced by Giant Jeff Reardon.

Giant Jeff arrived as part of a package from Rockies card blogger extraordinaire The Middle Child. And I have to say, she nailed it. I’m definitely going to be adding a lot of new cards to my Nats and Olerud albums.

Something like my first 2010 Topps card of the year (I just haven’t had much interest in the set this year, but I may go back and get the team set now):

This guy's been around so long it's odd to see an "RC".

And my first 2010 Upper Deck:

I totally can't tell what team this is. For reals!

AND my first 2010 Bowman (geez, do I look behind the ball or what):

And it's a gold, too!

Know what else?

Giant Jeff Reardon.

mm-hmm

But speaking of Expos, they weren’t left out, either. Check out the 96 Ultra Izzy Alcantara card:

This is my first Alcantara card. No idea why, but I'm stoked.

There were a lot of other Expos, but I’m going to be greedy and save them for some future posts, where they’ll be relevant. Now, on to the Oleruds!

I have a pretty sizable Olerud collection (800+ cards), so I’m always curious to see what people will send me and how it fits into my collection. Amazingly, she hooked me up with five Oleruds I didn’t have from the mid-to-late 90s, including:

1998 Stadium Club. Looks like Sweet Spot, doesn't it?

1997 Donruss

And three more, including a super-sweet 98 Pinnacle. Thanks, Shellie! I hope you like the cards I sent your way. Oh, yeah, and:

That's right.

1987 Kraft Home Run Heroes

These were apparently on the outside of Kraft packages back in 1987. Ahhh, those old airbrushed caps. No idea if this is the complete set.

1982 Fleer #6

Roberto (Bobby) Ramos

1982 Fleer #203
Category: Failed Prospect
Position: C
Bio/Summary: I’ve covered Bobby Ramos on this site before, when he was on the Tim Raines rookie card, but this is the first time we’ve had a “pure” card of him. What to make of him? Not much. He never played a full season in the majors, and only appeared in four games in 1982 with the Yankees, going .091/.091/.364. If you’re playing along at home, that’s a .455 OPS.
Rating: 4/10 – Tilted photo? Check. Awful astroturf? Check. Bad hair? Check. It’s a capsule of the early 80s.

Jeff Reardon

1982 Fleer #204
Category: Expos Lynchpin
Position: RP
Bio/Summary: For awhile there, The Terminator was the career record holder for saves, even leading the league with 41 in 1985. 1982 was the beginning of his reign as a closer, when he scored 26 in 75 games and had a 177 ERA+. The most interesting thing is that he finished 53 games, which means he was closing out games even in losses – something you’d never see of a closer these days.

Rating: 4/10 – Dude looks like a trucker here, and the picture has the same issue with the darkness and flash.

Steve Rogers

1982 Fleer #205
Category: Expos Star
Position: SP
Bio/Summary: Wow, I had no idea Steve Rogers was a five-time All Star. Why is this guy never mentioned? I mean, come on, the guy lost 22 games and was still an all-star. That counts for something! Probably for how bad the Expos were at the time. But dude pitched out of his mind most of his career, staying over 100 ERA+ for 9 years and even leading the league in it one year. What’s a guy gotta do to get attention?
Rating: 3/10 – Yikes, what an ugly dude! And an ugly card.

Scott Sanderson

1982 Fleer #206
Category: Expos Lynchpin
Position: P
Bio/Summary: Wow, look how young Sanderson is here. I always associate him with his Yankees update and traded cards, so seeing him as a kid here was weird. It’s not that he’s that young, 24, it’s just that I’m so used to seeing him old. Anyway. In 1982, Scott went 12-12 with a 3.46 ERA, for a 105 ERA+. Just right around league average…about what I would think of Sanderson (and he had a career 102 ERA+, so that’s about right).
Rating: 4/10 – Again, not a great photo…tough thing about this set.