From the Studio

Studio was a range put out by Leaf for a few years in the early 90s. The format was simple - proper portraits of players, as if they had visited a photographer's studio, and cardbacks that were more than just stats. They were Leaf's attempt to enter the 'premium market' similar to Topps launching Stadium Club. I think they were better personally.

Card Number 73: Studio '91; #245

This series of Studio cards are the ones most likely to appear in job lots of 'junk wax'. The purple borders and yellow set name contrast nicely with the black and white photo.

Loads of detail on the back, including details of his family. There's quite a bit of the standard statting beloved of baseball cardback factoid compilers.

The 'hobbies' bit is more interesting. Jerald Clark, his team-mate at the Padres for a couple of years noted that Tony was annoyingly good at both tennis and fishing, although his casting was a bit wayward and he lost at least one lure that he hadn't tied on properly.

Although it says on this cardback that Tony liked to watch the Lakers and San Diego State Basketball, the team he had a season ticket for were the Indiana Pacers because he and his wife used to stay in Indianapolis during the winter. He never lost his love for basketball and he used to enjoy watching the Pacers because very few people there knew who he was.

Card Number 74: Studio '92; #104

I'm not as keen on the gold frame and the action shot background makes the card look a bit messy (to my eyes, anyway).

Not much difference in the family details, or the baseball stats. His record against different pitchers is new though. Looks like he had figured out John Smoltz. I hadn't heard of Frank Dipino, but Baseball Reference reveals he had a 12 year career with six different teams, the main three being the Astros, the Cubs and the Cardinals. It doesn't look like Tony came up against him very often, only 19 innings, and that might explain his low average against him. Tony pioneered the use of video replays to analyse his own performance and no doubt would have looked at his at bats aginst DiPino and worked out how to hit his pitches before long.

In the 'Up Close' section it notes that Tony's favourite book was The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams. Tony apparently re-read this book several times a year. Shortly after this card was printed, Tony got to meet Ted and get some advice that turned around his batting figures and powered him to a further four batting titles. (His fondness for Mel Gibson hasn't aged well, considering Gibson's later antics.)

Card Number 75: Studio '93; #100

This is a much better backdrop for the photo. The signature is printed as part of the card design. (I don't have an autographed card in the collection yet.)

On the back we get a photo for the first time in the Studio range. we also learn who his favourite sports commentators are, who his favourite player as a kid was, and that his most prized possession was a signed basketball.

Tony says his alternative career would have been teaching. He used to visit a lot of schools and talk to kids about life and baseball in an 'inspirational speaker' role. Several people who knew him commented on how he used to love talking to young people and finding out what they thought about things.

I'm not so sure about the 'loves to face' / 'hates to face' section - these are just the teams he did best and worst against. Even then his average against the worst team was just a smidge below .300. It's not as if any club's pitching staff had got him figured out.

That's the rundown of the Studio cards in my collection.

Total: 75/394