Tuesday Twins - another Upper Deck retrospective

In 2009 Upper Deck released a massive 2,500-card set celebrating their 20th anniversary producing trading cards. It's a series of cards depicting sports stars and historical events. Tony actually had several cards in the set - I've blogged about two of them previously.

Card Number 634: Upper Deck 20th Anniversary, 2009; #641

This card is about Tony recording his MLB modern-day record batting average of .394. It uses a different photo of Tony to the other cards I've blogged, but the lay-out is the same.

The way Upper Deck structured this set was to use the same photo for a mini-run of cards, in this case there is a five card run (#641-645), so at some point there may well be some more cards that look like this on the blog!

Total: 634 cards

A league-leading record and a "what might have been"

Yesterday I blogged how the unanswered question about Tony Gwynn's modern record batting average will always be, would he have recorded the same average over a full season if the 1994 season had not been prematurely ended by the Major League Baseball Player's Association strike?  It was a question that the card compilers at Fleer asked as well - in their words "the saddest 'what could have been?'" of the 1994 season.

Card Number 393: Fleer Ultra, 1995 (League Leaders card); #6

The foilboard scans a bit like a refractor on this card.

The cardback sums up the situation.

Tony's 1994 hitting title was his first in a streak of four in a row in the 1990s. He would also lead the National League in hits in two more subsequent seasons. (Tony was overall leader in hits across both leagues four times!)

Total: 393/394

A Finest example of the .394 season

This week I will reach my target of blogging about 394 Tony Gwynn cards. As we edge closer to that 394th card, I thought it would be nice to look at a card from the season that is the inspiration for the project - the year that Tony Gwynn recorded a batting average of .394 and was literally just 3 hits shy of recording .400 for the season.

It was, of course, a bit of an anomalous season, as it ended in disarray in August. In a way that makes it a parallel to this year's Major League season which has been significantly restricted because of the global coronavirus pandemic. 

The San Diego Padres have had an excellent 2020 - their most winningest season ever! - and tomorrow night will be playing the Dodgers after having already won their first post-season series since 1998! All their achievements, however, will be noted as taking place in a truncated season. That doesn't make them less special or worthy, just that things are different this year.

The same was true of 1994. The unanswered question will always be, would Tony have scored .394 over a full season if it had run on into September? There is evidence both ways. His form was blistering at the point when the season was cancelled, but he may well have peaked then and not been able to maintain it. We will never know, and we have to accept the stats for what they are, from when they are.

Card Number 392: Topps Finest, 1994; #201

This is a rare "peeled" version of a Finest card.

The scan does not capture the vibrant nature of this card, when held in hand. It is shiny and colourful. The swirl pattern creates a  very mid-90s look.

The "Finest Moment" on the back relates to an event ten years previously. Tony's batting average the season this card was produced would become the achievement he was most known for. Up until that year though, Topps had decided that winning the National League pennant for the Padres was his moment of glory.

It is an achievement that perhaps gets overlooked now. But back in 1994 the 1984 post-season was the only one the Padres had qualified for in franchise history. Tony went on to be the sole player to feature in both the Padres' two World Series appearances to date, with a 14 season gap between appearances. 

After 1994 and the .394 batting average, Tony's achievements in the 1980s were eclipsed. This Finest card is a shiny memento of what will always be his finest season.

Total: 392/394 

Choosy collectors chose this collection

Upper Deck cards were originally marketed as 'The Collector's Choice'. But then in 1994 Upper Deck decided to launch a range called Collector's Choice. These were large card sets with numerous parallels and insert series, including Stick-Ums, push-out bobbleheads and confusing card games. As a result, Collector's Choice cards occupy a decent-sized portion of the Upper Deck part of my collection, even though the range ceased in 1998. 

Card Number 352: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1994; #344

This is the Team Checklist for the Padres in the set. I've previously blogged about Tony's base card and its parallel.

The back is notable for having the 1994 Opening Day roster list. There aren't many memorable members of the starting line up.

During the first few years of Collector's Choice, all the cards had parallel versions with 'silver signatures' in foil on them. Even the checklists.

Card Number 353: Upper Deck Collector's Choice - Silver Signature, 1994; #344

Unfortunately, the silver foil scans black.

This is one of the cards in my collection that I will hopefully upgrade one day as it has a little bit of damage on the right hand side. 

The back of the card is the same as the regular base version.

Just a note on that factoid. That .358 batting average that saw Tony achieve second place in the hitting tables in 1993 would have won him the National League batting title in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, as well as in 2001 (his final season) and 1983 (his rookie season), although he might not have made enough plate appearances in either of those seasons to qualify. (Since 2007, players have to make 502 plate appearances to be in contention for the title. However, I don't know what the rules were in the 80s and 90s.)

So, discounting the two years at either end of Tony's career, that batting average would have brought him a National League title in another five seasons and the overall Major League title in four of them. As it was, he was second in 1993 with that total.

Card Number 354: Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition, 1995; #160

This range was a supplementary set released towards the end of the season. It included a number of rookie cards and also noted who made the All Star team that year. Tony had an All Star card.

The cardback has a better photo. This is Tony being The Fonz.

Bit of a boring stats box with the record-breaking .394 batting average tucked away in tiny font underneath it. It was commemorated on another card in the set though.

Card Number 355: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1996; #290

Tony is bursting out of the card but the 3D effects would be better if his arm was over the Collector's Choice logo as well.

There's a quiz question on the back! That's about the best thing on the cardback.

Tony was also chosen as the player on the Team Checklist in the set too.

Card Number 356: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1996; #408

Visually, this card looks very similar to the 1994 card I kicked off the blog post with.

Comparing this checklist to the 1994 one, most of the team had been replaced.

The factoids are about the Padres season in 1995. Given that this year San Diego has been nicknamed Slam Diego, one of the factoids is surprisingly relevant.

The 1996 Collector's Choice series also had "You Make the Play" game cards - both versions are in this post.

Card Number 357: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1997; #210

When I do a blog post like this there is always one card that has a weird choice of photo on the front. This is the weird (collector's) choice photo card in this post.

The 1996 All Star game was played at Philadelphia. Tony was elected to the starting line-up but didn't actually play. The National League won 6-0 without his input, though.

The little cartoon chap who was asking the baseball quiz questions on the cardbacks in 1996 was back with a 'Did you know?' section. It's not the most interesting tidbit of knowledge.

And that's the end of the run-through of the cards that Upper Deck claimed collectors would choose.

Total: 357/394

Back to Base - the 1994 edition

A Back to Base post with a difference - three base cards from 1994.

Card Number 331: Topps, 1994; #620

1994 was a special year for Tony. It was the year he was a couple of hits away from recording a .400 batting average, and had to settle for the modern record of .394. 

1994 was also an infamous year for baseball, with the season cut short in August as the Player's Association called a general strike. The curtailed season meant there was no World Series. 

1994 was neither special nor infamous for the design of Topps baseball cards. This is bland. The photo of Tony running is well centred in the frame, though, and his face is visible, which elevates this above many other cards issued by Topps. 

There's a nice band of orange on the back. Very 1994.

The factoid notes that Tony was in illustrious company as one of only four players ever to have five hits in four games during a season. 

Card Number 332: Fleer, 1994; #665

A second card from 1994 that shows Tony running. Sometimes cards from particular years seem to have themes. At least these don't look like they were all from the same game, as three cards from 1995 do. Fleer earn themselves a bonus point for having the release year on the front, but otherwise this is another unremarkable card. 

The back mentions Tony's batting average in 1993 and how it was the highest he had posted since 1987. Brace yourself, lads!

Card Number 333: Leaf, 1994; #254

Leaf showed Tony at the plate on their card, although he is not in his batting stance.

The back is a collage.

The view of Jack Murphy Stadium is a great background. The designer has opted for a one line stats box with just the previous year's figures in. I'm OK with that. The faux ticket stub is a surprisingly uncommon design element on baseball cards, so that elevates this to a better than average base card.

Total: 333/394

Saturday or Stat-urday?

The other night I was half watching the game between the Mariners and the Angels and the camera panned across the squad numbers that have been retired by Seattle. There was number 42, same as everywhere else, then in a palindromic manner number 24, for Ken Griffey Jr, and than finally number 11 for Edgar Martinez. Seeing the big outline of a shirt with Martinez's name on it made me think of this card:

Card Number 250: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1996; #2

Edgar and Tony were the leaders in batting average in their respective leagues. This isn't the only card that Tony shared with Edgar - they were also paired on a Leaf checklist in 1996.

The back of the card lists the top ten hitters in each league. 

There are some great names in those lists including famous future hall of famers, and some other lesser well-known but highly memorable names. (My puerile Welsh sense of humour regards Chuck Knoblauch as a funny name.)

Edgar Martinez had a good season in 1995, including a tremendous performance in the divisional series as the Mariners made the post-season for the first time in their history. The success of the team in 1995, particularly centred on Edgar's game-winning double that took the Mariners past the Yankees to the Championship series, paved the way for a new baseball stadium in Seattle. That double has even been described as the hit that saved baseball in the city. 

Last year Edgar became the second player to enter the Hall of Fame as a Mariner, following Ken Griffey Jr.

A couple of years after this card was produced, Tony shared a similar card with another giant of the game who has also had his shirt number retired and been elected to the Hall of Fame. 

Card Number 251: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1998; #253

While the batting average leaders card isn't as colourful as the one in 1996, those are some nice photos. They have positioned Tony's portrait slightly higher than Frank Thomas's. His average was a bit higher too. 

Edgar Martinez is listed on the back of the card as he had the second best average in the American League. The only other National League player to make both lists was Mike Piazza. 

Frank Thomas was known as The Big Hurt and consistently batted over .300 during the 1990s. He also found time to be a movie star (a small but important role in the film Mr Baseball which starred Tom Selleck) and was the face of a computer game and a pinball machine. Having played most of his career with the Chicago White Sox he became the first White Sox player elected into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He also has a statue outside the stadium - another similarity he has with Tony Gwynn. 

Total: 251/394

Joining the 3000 Hit Club

It's the 6th August! 21 years ago, at the Stade Olympique in Montreal, Tony Gwynn recorded his 3000th hit. It was his first hit of four on the night, as the Padres beat the Expos 12-10. Here are a few cards issued that marked the occasion.

Card Number 244: Topps, 2000; #459 (Season Highlights)

This card gives some great background information about the lead up to hit number 3000. The night before the Padres played the Cardinals and Mark McGwire recorded his 500th home run. There was every possibility that Tony would hit his own milestone in the same game. Except, the pitching staff in St Louis hadn't read the script...

The card also notes that weirdly Tony achieved both the 2000 hit milestone and the 3000 hit milestone on his mother's birthday, six years apart. That's pretty cool scheduling. (Here's a write up from a couple of years ago about how reaching the milestone in Montreal was a bit of a let down for Tony.)

Card Number 245: Skybox Dominion, 2000; #19 (Season Highlights)

This is an orange card.

This card has a unique look with the orange wash background and Tony picked out in full colour. I hope the photo is of him acknowledging the crowd on the occasion of his 3000th hit. But if so, that's one casual guy with his arms crossed in the dug-out in the background.

The write up on the cardback goes with the 'Mom's birthday' angle, in that bizarre chatty style that Skybox seemed to use on some of their cards. (The Spring Training one is like this.) However, I can forgive them that because this is card number 19 in the set!

Card Number 246: Pacific Private Stock, 2000; #124

Hot damn! Pacific did some nice cards in their time.  

I honestly couldn't like this card more than I do!

The back is a nice faux newspaper story.

In the details on the back it's revealed that Tony was the 22nd player to reach 3,000 hits, and the first National League player since 1979, two decades prior!

Card Number 247: Upper Deck Hitter's Club, 2000; #67

Hitter's Club was a small set of 90 cards featuring players known for their batting skills. Within the set, Tony had a regular card and was part of the 22-card "Why3K?" series featuring all the players who had achieved 3000 hits. 

The "Why3K?" name for the subset was a riff on Y2K, the commonly applied moniker for the year 2000. Often linked with the Millennium Bug fears and the general changeover of the century. I recall the countdown to Y2K was a mixture of wanting to make the most of the occasion and hoping planes didn't fall out of the sky and my bank account wasn't deleted. (Not that I had any money back then!) It's funny what memories get triggered by baseball cards. 

The cardback features a solid portrait photo of Tony and mentions his .394 average in 1994 as well. 

The repetition of Tony's vital statistics three times down the right hand side of the card is decidedly odd. Upper Deck did this on all the "Why3K?" cards. They must have really wanted everyone to know that Tony was 5'11".

Total: 247/394

Six hit Tuesday

On 4th August 1993, Tony Gwynn recorded six hits in a single game against the San Francisco Giants, scoring two runs as the Padres won 11-10 after 12 innings. (Here's the box score!)

This was the only time in his career that Tony recorded six hits in one game. To commemorate the fact here are six cards that could be classed as 'hits' from the Fleer Ultra set in 1992. Fleer produced ten Tony Gwynn Commemorative Cards that season, which were inserted in random packs. There were also autographed versions of each card - Trading Card Database says there were 2,000 autographed ones, so I assume they were spread out with 200 of each card.

The ten cards roughly cover Tony's first ten seasons in Major League Baseball, during which time he had won four batting titles, five gold gloves and been an All Star seven times. I don't have all the cards in the set. But I have six, which links in with celebrating Tony's six hit game today.

Card Number 236: Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn Commemorative Series, 1992; #1

This is the first of the set that I acquired. (It arrived in a joblot off eBay and one of the corners is dinged.) The green marble effect border is a little bit overpowering when you look at several of the cards together. (Although recent commenter Adam K will be happy!)

I presume this photo was taken at Dodger Stadium as Tony is jumping in front of a huge 'Dodgers' sign. As a kid, Tony used to go to Dodger Stadium with his Dad. I wonder how he felt playing there.

For a commemorative series, the cardback opens with a very odd vignette about Tony Gwynn's knee injury. Even though this is only halfway through his career, that knee problem was beginning to affect his game. The mention there of his detractors is a rare glimpse into a side of the Tony Gwynn story that doesn't get talked about much. At this point in his career, he didn't get on with all his team-mates and he was accused by some of them of putting his own quest for personal glory ahead of the team's success. 

Card Number 237: Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn Commemorative Series, 1992; #4

This is another card where the write-up starts with a discussion of an injury! This time it was the wrist injury that affected him at the end of his rookie season. Even back in 1983, Tony had started to use video to analyse pitches and his own batting style. The reliance on video became something he was renowned for as a pioneer in the deployment of technology to improve. Today it would be unthinkable for a top athlete not to be reviewing videos of opponents to assess their strengths and weaknesses. 

It was certainly paying off for Tony in 1983 as he went on a 25 game hitting streak at one point.

Card Number 238: Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn Commemorative Series, 1992; #5

Tony seems caught in two minds here whether to run or not.

There's a posed portrait photo the back, and a comparison to Michael Jordan.

The cardback is all about Tony's 1984 season when the Padres won their first ever championship and played in their first World Series. I have thought about keeping a list of all the adjectives and descriptions that Tony was given on the backs of baseball cards. "Sparkplug" is a new one for the list!

Card Number 239: Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn Commemorative Series, 1992; #8

The perspective on this photo makes the end of the swinging bat look like a cartoon rubber bat.

The photo on the back looks like Tony has just clocked someone is taking photos of him. 

That's a great quote from Jeff Silverman on the cardback. Tony didn't write a gospel, but he did write his own hitting manual, in the style of his hero Ted Williams. The blurb also covers Tony's .370 season in 1987, and his follow-up batting title in 1988 - the season he also recorded his 1000th hit. He took between five and six seasons per 1000 hits during his career, reaching each 1000 hit milestone in 1988, 1993 and 1999.

Card Number 240: Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn Commemorative Series, 1992; #S1

In addition to the 10 commemorative cards inserted into random packs, people could also send off empty wrappers to claim two bonus 'Special' cards. Although I don't have the complete set of these cards, I do have the two bonus mailaway ones. 

"Special No. 1" is says on the back. It feels apt. 

Tony is called "Big T" on the cardback. That's another addition to the way Tony got referred to on the back of a baseball card.

Card Number 241: Fleer Ultra Tony Gwynn Commemorative Series, 1992; #S2

Tony is ready to make the catch! It amuses me how he has stuffed his batting gloves into his back pocket there. 

The back is a mini interview. I've said before how I like those. From this we learn that Nolan Ryan is the toughest pitcher he has ever faced - although he recorded his 1000th career hit off Ryan! He name checks his brother, Chris, as an up-and-coming star. There's a poignancy in the final question - how would you want to be remembered? I think those are all things he is remembered for. 

So those are the six hits to commemorate six hits! Tony also jointly holds the record for the most 5-hit games in a single season. The record is four games in a season and the only other player from the modern era to achieve that is Ichiro. Ty Cobb, Stan Musial and Willie Keeler all managed it too. 

Total: 241/394

Aztec Hero

Writing about my own university days in yesterday's blogpost reminded me of a few cards I own that feature Tony in his college playing days.

Tony earned a scholarship to San Diego State University, but to play basketball. He played Point Guard for the SDSU Aztecs for four seasons and still holds the following records for them:

• Career Assists
• Most Assists in a Season (with two other placings in the top ten)
• Most Assists in a Game - first, second, and third place on the all-time list

Despite his scholarship, eventually Tony was allowed to represent the Aztecs at baseball as well. He was drafted to the NBA San Diego Clippers and the MLB San Diego Padres after college, and opted for baseball because he felt that would offer him a longer career.

There are trading cards with pictures of Tony as a basketball player. However, the ones in this post show him playing college baseball.

Card Number 147: Panini Contenders, 2015; #91

It should come as no surprise that Panini, the masters of licensing loopholes, found a way to produce interesting baseball cards without a MLB licence. This card is an "Officially Licensed Collegiate Product". Well, it's a bit of money for the alma mater. I'm sure none of the players would mind.

I think this is quite an attractive card, but as we will see they made the most of that photo.

Here it is again on the back.

There are 99 cards in the base set featuring contemporary players like Aaron Judge who had been drafted just two years previously and hall-of-famers like Tony, Dave Winfield and Ozzie Smith.

There were also several insert series in the set, including the next card.

Card Number 148: Panini Contenders, 2015; #O-14

I told you that photo was doing a lot of work for Panini. Here it is on a second card. This verson is less cropped and shopped than on the base card, but is also less crisp.

Guess what photo they used on the back of the card.

Yes, there it is again. I don't know if this is a record for numbers of times the same photo has been used in a card set, but it's got to be in there somewhere. There were 47 cards in the "Old School Colours" insert series. 

Panini weren't the first card company to use photos of famous players in their college days to get round licensing restrictions. The year before this Panini set came out, Upper Deck included Tony in their 'Legends' section of their 'College Colors' range.

Card Number 149: Upper Deck College Colors, 2014; #7

I think the choice of a black and white photo is deliberate to invoke feelings of 'it was a long time ago...'

One thing about this photo is that at least you can make out most of the word 'Aztecs' on Tony's uniform.

Like the Panini cards, the photo is re-used on the back.

This is another "Officially Licensed Collegiate Product". That licensing stamp is a new one on this blog and makes a change from the MLBPA or the National Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame, which are two other organisations licensing photos to baseball card companies while MLB restricts their official licence to just the one company. 

Incidentally, this 26-card set is listed as a 'promo' set on Trading Card Database and is a multi-sport set, not a baseball card set, with 13 legends and 13 'rookies' from various sports. Other "legends" with cards in the set include Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods. 

The craft of baseball card companies to find new ways to print 'official' cards of players using innovative licensing makes me wonder if eventually we will get cards with Little League photos of Major Leaguers. Panini have gone a step in that direction already.

Card Number 150, Panini Century, 2010; #34

Before he went to university, Tony went to Long Beach Polytechnic High School. Given that he is wearing a sweatshirt saying 'Poly' on it, I think it's a reasonable assumption this is a photo of him in high school.

Yes, the grey square is a small scrap of cloth. This is a relic card. The weird chunk of white space is because there were autographed versions of this card. This is the unmarked version but the space for the auto is still there.

It's a pretty dull cardback, although it is serially numbered. The blurb about the cloth patch says it is from a game-worn item, but there isn't any detail about the game. I don't know why card companies  don't specify in which game, or games, the items were worn. It seems like that would be information they would know if the items are as authentic as they say they are. 

That feels like a nice way to reach the 150 card mark on this blog!

Total: 150/394