One card only - on the Dream Team

Card Number 212: Score, 1992; #887
Score selected a "dream team" towards the end of their 893-card set in 1992. Tony was on it.

That's a great posed photo, even if the baseball is clearly glued to the bat!

The back mentions that Tony wielded the smallest bat among active Major League players. Although 1992 is around about when Ted Williams insulted his bat saying it was the sort of thing you'd use to pick your teeth. Tony started using a bigger bat and bagged four batting titles in a row starting in 1993. The cardback also talks about Tony's propensity for stealing bases and his fielding awards, but those aspects of his play became less important during the middle era of his career. He picked up his last gold glove in 1991 and the base-stealing dried up with only 11 steals after 1997.

Total: 212/394

Omega Ovation

Most 'ball' sports have their own, distinctive version of a 'ball'. Baseballs are instantly recognisable because of the stitching along the seam. It stands out.

It also makes a very good design motif for baseball cards. Today I've chosen two examples where the distinctive look of baseballs has been used by card designers.

Card Number 94: Upper Deck Ovation, 2000; #38

Not only is this card bordered by the seams of a baseball, there's also a baseball in the picture that looks like it's just about to get hit!

The back is fairly minimal, perhaps to make up for how nice the design is on the front. The blurb mentions Tony's 3,000 hits and his Gold Glove Awards.

Two years before this card was produced a different card company used a similar design.

Card Number 95: Pacific Omega, 1998; #205
There are three photos separated by seams on the front.

I am intrigued about the identity of the guy in the Padres uniform standing behind Tony in the central photo. In 1998 the next guy on deck after Tony was almost always either Ken Caminiti or Greg Vaughn. It's weird, but even before I checked I thought to myself, 'that looks like Greg Vaughn'. I think this is likely to be a photo from 1998 as the cardback talks about his early season form.

Also, I may have to try and track down a hobby box of this set, because Tony's card was the one featured on the top!

The cardback is the epitome of Pacific cardbacks in the very late 90s, even down to the drop shadow being used on Tony's name.

The crossed bats are quite a cool watermark image on the back. It reminds me slightly of the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger.

Total: 95/394 - less than 300 to go!

Know the Score

Score is another baseball card manufacturer lost to mergers, acquisitions, and the vagaries of the hobby. Score cards almost always feature in random job lots or repacks. They have one very specific feature that is consistent across almost every card - their backs are more interesting than their fronts. I'll show you what I mean...

Card Number 52: Score, 1988; #385

You see? Look at that card back. It has a colour headshot, stats, an epic-length write up (it's so big it has paragraphs!) and lots of colour. This was 1988! People rave about how Upper Deck shook up the card hobby, but Score got there first. I mean, this is what Topps card backs looked like in 1988.

In comparison to the back, the front of the score card is a meh action shot in a dull border, a look that Score used for several years. You know what, for the rest of these cards, I'm going to show the backs first.

Card Number 53: Score, 1989; #90

Tony looks distracted in this photo. There's something definitely more interesting to look at than the photographer. In the blurb, he's called a "defensive whiz". If I'd been proofreading this I would have corrected that to 'whizz'. Or possibly 'wiz' as in short for wizard. 'Whiz' with one z means, well, taking a whiz.

When looking through cards I tend to struggle telling Score cards from 1988 and 1989 apart. The front are more similar than the backs.

Card Number 54: Score, 1990; #255

For three years in a row, Tony is wearing a brown cap with an orange logo. He was always on brand. In the blurb he gets a nice endorsement from his team-mate Marvell Wynne.

Score made it easier for me in 1990 by putting the year on their cards. You can also tell this is from 1990 because they have italicised the font for the player's name.

Card Number 55: Score, 1991; #500

Score went landscape with the card back in 1991. I don't approve of this change. There's that brown cap again. (I gotta get me one of those caps!) He gets two endorsements in the write up this time, from the GM and from a team-mate.

This is the best card front so far - the moment of IMPACT! That 's a hit right there. (Or maybe not, but he has hit it!) Also another card with the year helpfully included on the front.

Card Number 56: Score, 1992; #625

Back to portrait orientation on the card back for 1992. Tony looks slightly quizzical in this picture and that looks like a blue hat!

I like the use of a mild yellow colour as it makes the card easier to read. Of note in the blurb is the factoid that he uses the smallest bat in the major leagues - something that would actually change around about this point in his career after his famous encounter with hitting legend Ted Williams who called Tony's bat a "toothpick". Also, the endorsement this time around is a quote from then Cardinals manager Joe Torre, rather than one of his San Diego team-mates.

The front has another bat-on-ball shot! The design has changed here at last. The big chunky borders have gone. We are entering the 90s design frenzy, with the bat breaking the edge of the photo and into the large gutter margin.

Card Number 57: Score, 1993; #24

This is the end of my run of Score base cards.

What a smile! His headgear looks really odd. I think it's his sunglasses perched on a batting helmet. It's a shorter write up, livened up by the word "inexorably".

And the front marks a radical design change. This actually looks like it could be a mid-90s Topps card.

I have some more Score cards which are good examples of how they seemed to get things back-to-front, but I'm going to save them for another post.

Total: 57/394