Celebrating the Upper Dec(k)ade

To celebrate their tenth anniversary, Upper Deck released some special baseball cards that have one of my favourite things on the back - pictures of other baseball cards!

Card Number 990: Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Preview, 1998; #55

These shiny inserts appeared in the 1998 Upper Deck flagship set. Design-wise, they ape the design of Upper Deck's first set released in 1989.

On the back is a write-up about what a great batter Tony is, linked to a card that Upper Deck released in 1992, which was notable for being the first Upper Deck insert card with a full-bleed photo design. 

The card was in an insert series supposedly curated by Ted Williams - I blogged about it here.

Card Number 991: Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Team (Double), 1999; #X8

I received this card back in January from Riley in Nashville - thanks Riley! The X in the card numbering is the Roman Numeral for 10!

This insert series featured players who were active during the Upper Deck era, and the team selection was made through a popular ballot.

Upper Deck produced four different versions of their 10th Anniversary Team insert cards - there was a regular version, this version that was called a 'double' and numbered to 4,000, a 'triple' version numbered to 100 and a 'home run' version that had a print run of 1! All the versions are numbered X8 and it's only the serial numbering that really differentiates this from the vanilla version. The triples have silver foil stamps on the front. There are no reference pictures on Trading Card Database, but I imagine the home run versions had gold stamps on the front.

On the back is one of my favourite Upper Deck cards, featuring Tony fishing!

I blogged about that card showing Tony fishing way back in August 2020! The serial number is big and bold. I can't think of a meaningful link between Tony and the number 497.

Upper Deck had a hobby-changing impact when the first cards landed in 1989. I've written a bit about how the "UD asteroid" wiped out the cardboard dinosaurs that had ruled the hobby in the 1980s. By the end of the 1990s, the other card companies were no longer playing catch up. Almost all of Upper Deck's innovations became standard across the industry - from foil stamps, to parallels, to relic cards, to autographed cards inserted in packs. Even now, a couple of decades later, it feels really fitting to celebrate the decade of innovation that Upper Deck brought to the world of baseball cards. 

Total: 991 cards

One Card Only - Run Producer!

In between the two big parcels that arrived last month, was a single card in a plain white envelope that I bought from Jay, who is a member of a Facebook group dedicated to insert cards from the 1990s.

Card Number 786: Upper Deck, 1996; #RP-8

These die-cut inserts of "Run Producers" were inserted at a rate of 1 in every 72 packs in the second series of the Upper Deck flagship set. That makes them reaonably rare. 

The red top and bottom of the card are foiled, and as you can see from the scan, prone to getting dinged up. The Upper Deck Company is emblazoned in a cursive font along the red top of the card. 

The way 'Upper Deck Showcase' is written on the back made me think it was the name of the set initially. 

Every so often I point out which other players get mentioned on a cardback. Here Tony is compared with Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Stan Musial, Ted Williams and Rod Carew. That's an impressive line-up of baseball players!

Total cards: 786

Sweetness (and a sour taste)

This was the card that tipped my hand into buying a recent joblot of cards from 2001, but I was very disappointed with it when I had it 'in hand'.

Card Number 711: Topps Combos insert, 2001; TC-15

The Combos were a 20-card insert series featuring stars of the past and current big names. Tony was paired with Ted Williams, one of his heroes.

The photo composition is a little bit odd, but that's not what was disappointing about this card. There is some surface damage with a large area of speckling across Tony's face. I have a feeling this card is from some recently opened packs where the cards have stuck together over time. I have seen this a lot in pack-ripping videos where older packs are opened and cards get damaged as they are pulled apart. 

The damage wasn't noticeable in the picture on eBay. I use my phone to look at eBay and that might be why I didn't see it. The damage wasn't mentioned in the listing description either, so it was very disappointing to only discover it when I opened the box of cards. 

I messaged the seller, and received a small refund for this and the handful of other cards affected. But as this was the one card I really wanted from the lot, it's not really about the money.

Despite the damage (which is also visible on the back of the card, below), this is a nice concept for a card. The "Sweetness" refers to Tony and Ted's sweet swings as they batted their way to greatness.

The state of this Sweetness card has left a sour taste in my mouth, and puts me off buying from that seller again. At the moment this is just a place-holder in my collection and hopefully I will find a nicer copy one day.

Total: 711 cards

The beginning of the new era of Diamond Kings

After writing yesterday about how Panini have sort of kept the DonRuss brand going, today's post features cards from the Diamond Kings range. Panini now issue this as a brand in its own right, but "Diamond Kings" started out in the DonRuss base sets of the 1980s. The first 26 cards in the DonRuss flagship sets were illustrated portraits of baseball stars - one from each team. I have previously blogged several of these that feature Tony.

When Panini were trying to find a winning formula for their unlicensed baseball cards, they gave the Pinnacle brand a go in 2013, but that seemed to fall a bit flat. Panini released cards under the DonRuss brand in 2014 and that must have worked well enough for Panini to continue releasing "DonRuss" cards. In 2015, they built on the cachet of DonRuss and launched Diamond Kings as a standalone set. It has been released every year since.

Card Number 646: Panini Diamond Kings, 2015; #133

This is from the first year of the Diamond Kings. There isn't an artist credited with this picture, so I imagine it's been done by a Panini staff designer using photoshop rather than creating art from scratch.

The back has a great entry for my collection of descriptions off cardbacks: "San Diego's beloved batting wizard."

The uncredited broadcaster quoted on the back as saying that Tony "could hit .320 with a broom" is Sean Salisbury, the former NFL quarterback turned journalist who was working for Yahoo Sports at the time of Tony's death. (He is quoted in this article on the NBC San Diego website.) It seems strange that the cardback compiler would use the quote with such a vague accreditation. 

Like Gwynn, Sean Salisbury was born in Long Beach, although he grew up in Escondido near San Diego. He is three years younger than Tony, having been born in 1963, and played for the San Diego Chargers among other teams. His career would have overlapped with Tony's quite a bit and he obviously knew Tony as in the rest of that quote he says Tony made an impact on his family. 

Another interesting fact about Sean Salisbury is that he was an advisor on Adam Sandler's remake of the movie Mean Machine, and taught Sandler what he needed to do to portray a quarterback. However, despite all that, Sean missed out his chance to have his name appear on the back of this baseball card, which would have added to the very small number of trading cards he appeared on during his career. Trading Card Database only lists 37 cards for him.

Card Number 647: Panini Diamond Kings DK Originals, 2017; #DO-24

What's more fun than an unlicensed base card? An unlicensed insert card.

The portrait photo on this has scary eyes!

There isn't really much to say about this card. It's one of those ones to have in the collection because it's a Tony Gwynn card, rather than because it had any particularly exciting features. 

Tony's scary eyes are on the back too, along with a quote from Tony where he credits Ted Williams with helping him improve his batting. The flowery description is reserved for Ted who is described as "another sweet-swinging Californian." 

Otherwise, this card is almost the pictorial definition of unremarkable. 

Total: 647 cards

Beyond the Base - Upper Deck 1992

Here are three cards produced by Upper Deck in 1992 that were more than just regular base cards. 

Card Number 313: Upper Deck, 1992; #717

This was one of the many cards that arrived in my collection from Gawain several weeks ago.

Upper Deck proclaimed Tony the Best Hitter in 1992. Not gonna argue.

The ball is either making its way onto the bat or streaking off the bat in the photo on the front. The Upper Deck Diamond Skills logo looks a bit like the logo for a heavy metal band. And also like how the Diamondbacks have sometimes arranged the letters in their name.

There is a big write up on the back. These mid-career summaries are illuminating - Tony was yet to win his second quadruple of batting titles, score .394, or star in his second World Series. 

Card Number 314: Upper Deck - Ted Williams' Best insert, 1992; #T6

This was another of the cards sent to me by Jeff as part of his Wax Pack Wonders giveaway.

Ted Williams picked 20 players he regarded as the best and they had their own insert series. Tony was 6th on the list.

There is a quote on the back from Ted himself.

Tony was in awe of Ted Williams. It was on Ted's advice that he started using a bigger bat at the start of the 90s, which was one of the reasons for his highly successful second decade. He also helped Ted throw out the first pitch in the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park. Tony apparently re-read Ted's book about hitting two or three times every year. If Tony saw this card then it must have given him a bit of a thrill.

Card Number 315: Upper Deck All Star Fan Fest, 1992; #25

This card was sold as part of a complete 54-card set, which appears to have been linked to the All-Star Game. (I acquired it in an eBay lot recently.)

The front has a sliding action shot. I like photos of Tony sliding.

The grey background with pin-stripes is very Fleer-esque.

The write-up includes a new description for my list of different ways Tony gets described on cardbacks. This time I can add "splendid ballplayer". There's a lot of detail in the summary with an emphasis on Tony's excellent fielding that led to him winning his fifth Gold Glove in 1991.

Total: 315/394

Tuesday Twins - the silver signature series

In 1994 through 1996 Upper Deck decided to release every single card in their sets with 'silver signature' versions that included printed signatures in foil. Here are the 1994 versions of Tony's base card. 

In today's post, here are some more 'twins'

Card Number 255: Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition, 1995; #27

Card Number 256: Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition - Silver Signature, 1995; #27

I've scanned these together as they came in the same bulk lot. The silver foil signature doesn't show up well.

The backs are completely identical, and explain how close Tony came to scoring .400 in 1994. They also compare his statistics with Ted Williams's record-setting season in 1941. It's noticeable how Tony had fewer at bats than Ted when those seasons are compared head-to-head. Tony was coming into form in July and early August before the player's strike ended the season prematurely. Whether he could have topped .400 for the season is one of those great 'might have been' questions.

Card Number 257: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1996; #760

Card Number 258: Upper Deck Collector's Choice - Silver Signature, 1996; #760

I didn't scan these cards together, which is one reason why I have literally only just noticed that the Silver Signature card has a silver border as well.

Tony was still only on 6 batting titles back in 1996. He got his seventh that year.

There is no difference between the cardbacks, although the one I have without a signature has a slight dirty smudge on it.

There's a concise summary of Gwynn's career to date on the cardback as well. At least it makes the checklist more worthwhile to collect.

So far, this is the first Tony Gwynn card in my collection to be the final card in a set. He's been #1 a few times, but not the ultimate card!

Total: 258/394

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