Hi folks. I want to start off this week’s blog entry with a note that this summer is setting up to be crazy. I know I will not have posts the next few weeks, and not sure about the frequency for later in the summer. It’s my intent to keep my series going, but it’s just harder to find the time at this point.

I just said in my last blog post (about 1988 Topps) I like simple, clean, crisp designs in baseball cards. The 1989 Topps design fits that theme. The 1989 set is above average for me; I’d give it an A-. I am a fan of the simple front with the team’s name in script form plus then the player’s name on a wavy banner. The Twins cards feature the team’s name and player name banner in a light shade of blue. The player’s name is black and capitalized within the banner. The front of the card has a white border. The back features a black border and red background. The player’s name, position, and biographic information are at the top with the card number. The middle of the back has the player’s statistics, and the bottom features a fact about the player. These factoids are better within this 1989 set, at least in my judgment, when compared to other years. Maybe that’s just because the team had recently won a World Series and there were more good facts from which to choose.

The 1989 Topps base set has 792 cards. The Topps Traded set has 132 cards. There are 29 Twins cards in the base set. The Topps Traded set has three Twins cards. The base set has a rookie card of Hall of Fame starting pitcher Randy Johnson. The traded set is highlighted by a rookie card of the kid, Ken Griffey, Jr. There are no prominent Twins rookie cards in either the base set or the traded set.

MOST OBSCURE PLAYER

As I said above, there really are not any rookie cards of Twins players in 1989 Topps. And many of the players were around in 1987, so not a lot of new players. Generally, that’s who ends up as my choice for most obscure player – rookies or players new to the organization. I ended up choosing relief pitcher Germán González (#746) as the most obscure Twins player in 1989 Topps. There were not a lot of other options.

Germán González, from Venezuela, was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1986 when he was already 24 years old. He played for Class A Kenosha in 1987 and started the 1988 season with Class AA Orlando. He showed enough to skip AAA and get called to Major League Baseball. He debuted on August 5, 1988. He gave up no runs in his first seven appearances. Through 14 games he still had a phenomenal ERA of 0.96. However, he was hit hard in his 15th game but was still able to end the season with an ERA of 3.38. González finished 1998 with one save and no decisions. In 1989, he pitched in April and May, then only a little in July and September. He never reappeared in Major League Baseball. He finished his career with a 3-2 record, 4.11 ERA, and 44 strikeouts in 50.1 career innings. His career WAR was 0.2.  

THE BEST

For my choice for best Twins card for any given year, I start by looking at values. I don’t always pick the most valuable; I like to find an additional reason or two to justify why I select a card as the best Twins card in a set. In 1989, one of the most valuable was the Kirby Puckett All-Star card (#403).

Puckett’s picture on this All-Star card is better than his picture on his base card. But the note on the back was what clinched it for me as best Twins card in 1989 Topps. Puckett’s 234 hits in 1988 were the most by a right-handed batter in either league since 1937 and the most in the American League since 1925. According to my research, both facts are still accurate through the 2023 season. So, yes, if no AL hitter surpasses 234 hits in 2024, we will be able to say Puckett has the most hits by a right-handed AL player in the last 100 years.

PERSONAL FAVORITE

My favorite Twins card of 1989 was of a Twins player who was not active at that point. 1989 Topps contains a subset of five Turn Back the Clock cards, one of which features Hall of Famer, and Twins great, Tony Oliva (#665).

Like the Puckett card above, one of the contributing factors to my choosing this as my favorite Twins card of 1989 Topps is because of the informational notes on the back of the card. The Turn Back the Clock concept looks back 25 seasons. In 1964, Oliva had 217 hits, which was the most in either major league. It also set a rookie record. He was the AL batting champion in his first season (and will be again in his second season). He also had a rookie record 374 total bases which broke a record set by Joe DiMaggio. Wow, what a great start!

But another reason Oliva’s 1989 Turn Back the Clock card is a favorite is that the picture on the card implies he had a 1964 Topps base card. He did, but he shared it with Jay Ward. Oliva did not have a 1964 stand-alone card. Although Topps did use the same picture from 1964 for the 1989 Turn Back the Clock card (see the 1964 shared card below for comparison).

What are your favorite Topps cards from 1989? What memories do you have of Germán González? I’d love to see your opinions, thoughts, or comments below.

Go Twins!