DonRuss Odds and Ends

Blogging this year has settled into a routine for me. Cards arrive. I log them on Trading Card Database. I scan them and file the scans in folders on my computer arranged by manufacturer.  Then I file the cards in my binders, which are also arranged by manufacturer. I started with almost 200 scanned cards arranged this way, then back in June I added another 240 cards. So I have been working through them ever since, all the while adding to them.

However, I am now drawing near the end of my stash of unblogged card scans. I seem to be left with several unrelated cards that don't really go together. Today I'm going to close out my DonRuss folder with three cards that have yet to feature on here. Some of them have been waiting months for their chance to star on the blog, while all the cards around them in the folder have been picked. At last their day has arrived.

Starting with the oldest card, which arrived most recently.

Card Number 556: DonRuss Baseball's Best, 1988; #154

This is a from a 336-card 'factory set' that was released towards the end of the 1988 season. According to BaseballCardPedia, the orange and black borders mean it's sometimes referred to as the Halloween Edition.

The unremarkable photo on the front (which is channeling Topps's uncanny knack of using a photo that shows neither the player's face or name), is matched by the unremarkable back. It's different to the regular base cards, however as the stats box is portrait-oriented, rather than landscape.

Card Number 557: DonRuss, 2001; #24

Somehow, I hadn't blogged this base card before. It's from Tony's final season. The star patterns in the background are cool.

The back has another photo of Tony. This is his 'running the bases' expression and he's got one dipped shoulder, so I suspect this photo is a cropped action shot.

Card Number 558, DonRuss Leather & Lumber, 2004; #124

This was a relic-heavy set where DonRuss literally cut up anything to stick in cards - balls, gloves, bats, jerseys, you name it. The ordinary cards were just filler to pad out the packs in-between the relics. This card was sent to me by Rodney just after I launched the blog.

It's a nice photo of Tony tipping his batting helmet to the crowd on the front.

The back has a succinct write-up highlighting another aspect of Tony's game. In the first half of his career he was an extraordinary base-stealer.

The one line stats box makes perfect sense for a retired player.

So that's my DonRuss file empty for the time being. I'm sure there will be some more along at some point, maybe even some cards released in 2021!

Total: 558 cards