Al from SoDak

Hello, fellow humans! My name is William Malone IV. Son of William Malone III. And I come with great news! The Minnesota Twins had a wonderful game this week featuring only prospects. Many of these prospects were acquired through a magical process wildly known as the MLB Draft.
The MLB Draft is only 20 round these days, but it used to have an infinite number of rounds. Teams would keep picking for as long as they wanted, and then drop out once they were happy with who they had. The Minnesota Twins have stuck around in this process for as many as 60 rounds, getting that deep in 1993. Their second longest draft was 59 rounds in 1989.
So who are the best players taken in each of these 60 rounds? Here is your answer! In years where none of the players reached the Majors, it is left blank.
1st round Joe Mauer
It's hard to beat a first ballot Hall of Fame player who you take with the first overall pick. Mauer won three batting titles, to go along with five Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves at catcher.
2nd Round Frank Viola
The 1987 World Series MVP followed that up by winning AL Cy Young in 1988. He was a three time All-Star, who had nice tenures with both the Twins and New York Mets.
3rd Round Bert Blyleven
Minnesota also used a third round pick on 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau, but you can't go wrong with the Hall of Fame pitcher. It took awhile for Blyleven to get induced, but the resume was always obvious. He ranks fifth all-time in strikeouts, and ninth in shutouts.
4th Round Graig Nettles
Sadly, almost all of his big league success came away from the Twin Cities. He was traded to Cleveland just 121 games into his big league career, and blossomed into a six time All-Star. Nettles won the World Series in 1977 and 1978 with the New York Yankees, also winning ALCS MVP in 1981.
5th Round Dave Goltz
Goltz was a solid starting pitcher in the league for a decade, and was a 20 game winner for the Twins in 1977. He won a World Series with the Dodgers in 1981.
6th Round Pat Neshek
The electric sidearm reliever had some great seasons with the Twins early in his career, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2009 and struggled upon returning in 2010. It took him a few years, and a few stops with other clubs, to find his form again. But he eventually began to dominate again, making All-Star appearances in 2014 and 2017.
7th Round LaTroy Hawkins
He certainly had a long career, and it came with many great years too. Hawkins was a bullpen staple for the Twins in the early Ron Gardenhire years, often setting up closer Eddie Guardado. He played for 11 teams in his 21 Major League seasons.
8th Round Brad Radke
One of Tom Kelly or Ron Gardenhire handed the ball to Radke on Opening Day nine times, which is the most Opening Day starts in Twins history. He finished third in the 1997 AL Cy Young voting.
9th Round Mitch Garver
The Bomba Squad wouldn't have been complete without Garver, who hit 31 home runs in 2019 and won a Silver Slugger. His career has been filled with many ups and downs. Some good stretches, some bad stretches, and some stretches where he's the best hitting catcher in baseball.
10th Round Marty Cordova
Steve Braun and Jeff Reboulet were ten round picks of the Twins who had longer careers, but Marty Cordova had a solid peak. He won AL Rookie of the Year in 1996, and followed that up with a 111 RBI season in 1997. There were a few other solid seasons sprinkled in after that.
11th Round Taylor Rogers
Rogers had a 3.15 ERA across six seasons as bullpen mainstay for the Twins. They traded him to San Diego for Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan, where he had a nightmare season. Things have gotten a little better for him since moving onto San Francisco.
12th Round Jason Kubel
Bailey Ober might have this spot soon. You could even argue he should have it now, as his career WAR has already surpassed Kubel. But we'll give respect to the man who hit a billion clutch grand slams for the Twins.
13th Round Matt Lawton
He was a very good right fielder for several bad Twins teams in the late 90's, but he was never able to enjoy their early 2000's success after getting traded to the New York Mets for Rick Reed at the 2001 deadline.
14th Round Mike Trombley
After struggling as a starter early in his career, Trombley became a reliable middle reliever who had a nice 11-year big league career.
15th Round Rick Dempsey
Remember Graig Nettles from earlier in this list? Dempsey is another guy who had a lot of success after getting traded away from Minnesota. He was World Series MVP with the Orioles in 1983.
16th Round Kolten Wong
Wong is the first of several players on this list who never played for the Twins. Minnesota drafted him out of high school, but he didn't sign and chose to play at the University of Hawaii. After a stellar college career, St. Louis drafted Wong in the first round.
17th Round Kent Hrbek
It's always cool to draft a franchise legend in round 17. It's even cooler when he's a Minnesota native.
18th Round Edouard Julien
The Twins are hoping that Julien can become a mainstay for the club. He got off to a great start in 2023, before undergoing a rough sophomore season in the bigs.
19th Round Danny Valencia
Fans might've been hoping for more after Valencia finished third in the 2010 AL Rookie of the Year voting, but he still had a respectable nine year career. Most of it was spent as a platoon bat.
20th Round Damian Miller
Arizona swiped Miller from the Twins in the 1998 expansion draft. He was their starting catcher when they won the World Series in 2001, and an All-Star in 2002.
21st Round Eddie Guardado
Round 21 helped the Twins build a huge chunk of their early 2000's bullpen, given them Eddie Guardado and J.C. Romero. Guardado did have the better overall career, and is in the Twins Hall of Fame.
22nd Round Trevor Hildenberger
The sidearm slinging righty had a great rookie season for the Twins in 2017, giving them big relief appearances during a tight playoff race. But he was never able to repeat that season.
23rd Round Willie Eyre
We're reaching a point where some of these rounds don't have much to choose from. Eyre made 42 relief appearances for the Twins in 2006, and 69 others for the Orioles and Rangers after that.
24th Round Juan Padilla
Padilla was the player to be named later sent to the New York Yankees for Jesse Orosco in an August wavier trade during the 2003 season. He made 42 career relief appearances for the Yankees, Mets and Reds.
25th Round Taylor Hearn
Hearn never signed with the Twins after getting drafted in the 25th round, and he was taken by the Nationals in the fifth round one year later. He's made 101 big league pitching appearances for the Rangers, Royals and Braves.
26th Round Corey Koskie
The newest Twins Hall of Fame member began his professional baseball career by getting taken in round 26.
27th Round Scott Stahoviak
Minnesota took Stahoviak out of Creighton with their first round choice in 1991. They had previously drafted him out of high school in round 25, but he obviously chose to play in college.
28th Round Bret Boone
He chose to attend USC instead of signing with the Twins as a 28th round pick. Boone wound up having an excellent career, winning four Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. While he opted against starting his professional career with the Twins, he did end things in Minnesota with a 14 game stint in 2005,
29th Round Nick Blackburn
"Big Game Blackburn" often showed up for the Twins when they needed him most. He had a stellar performance in the 2008 AL Central Tiebreaker Game, only to have his offense provide no run support. His final three starts of 2009 were all seven inning gems, allowing three total runs in those appearances. Each one of these was vital to the Twins forcing a second straight game 163.
30th Round Michael Tonkin
15 years later and he's still on the Twins. There have been a lot of stops in the middle though.
31st Round Mike Lamb
Lamb is another late round pick who the Twins didn't sign. He was a seventh round pick of the Rangers a few years later, and eventually made it back to the Twins for a brief stint as their third baseman in 2008. Lamb was the Astros starting first baseman in the 2005 World Series.
32nd Round Matt Wallner
Minnesota selected Matt Wallner in 2016 out of Forest Lake High School, and listed him as a pitcher on their draft card. While he continued to play two ways in college, they drafted him out of Southern Mississippi a few years later as an outfielder.
33rd Round Nick Punto
We've seen it a few times already, but these late round picks who don't sign have a funny way of making it back to the Twins. Punto was re-drafted by the Phillies a year after declining to sign in Minnesota, only to become a fan favorite at the Metrodome.
34th Round Tim Davis
Davis didn't sign with the Twins, and was later re-drafted by Seattle. He pitched 122.2 innings for the Mariners, posting 4.62 career ERA.
35th Round Josh Bard
For the first time, we have a "by default" winner. Josh Bard is the only 35th round pick in Twins history to reach the Majors. He never spent a day in the Twins organization though, getting re-drafted by the Rockies later on.
36th Round J.D. Martinez
When he was re-drafted by the Houston Astros three years later out of Division II Nova Southeastern, it was only in round 20. Martinez went onto become a six time All-Star and three time Silver Slugger winner, helping Boston win the World Series in 2018.
37th Round Aaron Sele
Do you want to know how awesome steroids were? Sele finished fifth in the 1999 AL Cy Young voting with a 4.79 ERA. Just think about how much offense there was back in the steroid era.
38th Round Gary Matthews Jr.
After not signing with the Twins and later getting re-drafted, Matthews Jr had a very nice career. He played 12 years for seven different teams, and was an All-Star in 2006.
39th Round Brain Lawrence
He pitched five years for the Padres in the early-2000's, owning a 4.19 ERA across 152 big league starts.
40th Round Chase Anderson
Chase Anderson was re-drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth round two years later, and has played 11 years in the big leagues for nine different teams.
41st Round Brian Raabe
The University of Minnesota product played 17 big league games for the Twins, Rockies and Mariners.
42nd Round Chase Anderson
Yes, he was drafted by the Twins twice. They also failed to sign him both times.
43rd Round Jason Vargas
Vargas was an All-Star in 2017, and pitched for six teams in a 14-year career. None of those teams were the Twins.
44th Round Bob Gebhard
He made 30 relief appearances for the Twins over parts of two seasons. His ERA was 6.00.
45th Round Steve Pearce
The 2018 World Series MVP did not sign after Minnesota used a 45th round pick on him. He was briefly in the Twins organization on a minor league contracts during spring training in 2012, but he was released after not breaking camp with the club.
46th Round A.J. Achter
Minnesota signed Achter as a 45th round pick in 2010, and he reached the Majors with them in 2014. His big league career was 45 relief appearances with the Twins and Angels, boasting a 3.92 ERA.
47th Round Chris Heston
His career didn't start with the Twins, because he didn't sign with them as a 47th round pick. But his career ended in 2017 with a single relief appearance for the Twins. In between all of this, he did throw a no-hitter for the Giants.
48th Round George Springer
Another late round future World Series MVP who was drafted by the Twins, but did not sign. The New Britain native often went to Rock Cats games growing up, watching many future Twins as prospects. Springer opted to play college ball at UConn, and became a first round pick. 
49th Round Brock Peterson
The Twins actually did sign Peterson, but he never reached the Majors with them. He stayed in their system from 2003 until 2010, reaching Triple-A. Peterson then played a few years of independent ball, finally reaching the Majors in 2013 with the St. Louis Cardinals. 
50th Round Tyler Anderson
A 50th round pick of the Twins out of high school, Anderson went to Oregon and became a first round pick Rockies three years later. He is a two time All-Star, and currently pitches for the Angels.
51st Round
52nd Round Denny Hocking
Hell of a career for a catcher drafted out of a JUCO school. He spent 13-years in the big leagues playing almost everything but catcher. 11 of those seasons came with the Twins. He is the lowest drafted Twins player, signed or unsigned by the club, to reach the Majors.
53rd Round
54th Round
55th Round
56th Round
57th Round
58th Round
59th Round
60th Round

This is a comparison I’ve been wanting to tackle for a long time. In part due to the legendary status of Johan Santana amongst Twins fans. Santana was the greatest pitcher in MLB for a very short time, and a lot of Twins fans look back with a fascination focused on a Twins starter who was a legitimate ace posting up historically impressive ERAs for years in a row. A pitcher who was nationally recognized as peerless. What about Frank Viola, though? While fans recognize the name and revere the World Series Championship Viola brought the team in 1987, often Viola is considered a far cry from the dominant rotation arm Santana was. How does Viola really stack up vs. the legend of Johan?

Peaks
It's not open for legitimate debate. Johan Santana was the greatest pitcher in baseball for the years 2004-2006. Santana led the AL all three years in WAR, ERA+, Strikeouts and WHIP. His dominance on the mound was rewarded with a 55-19 record over the span, never winning fewer than 16 games. In Santana’s most dominant season of 2004, Santana put up a colossal 8.7 bWAR across 228 innings with a record of 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA and an ERA+ 182. Surely Viola can’t compare, right? Probably a lot closer than you think. Viola’s 1987 and 1998 were also insane. 8.1 bWAR in 251 innings followed by 7.7 bWAR in 255 innings, a record of 17-10 followed by 24-7 with ERA’s of 2.90 and 2.64 adjusting to still gaudy ERA+ number of 159 and 154, respectively. Viola took home the 1988 Cy Young Award for his efforts, and though he was not the triple crown winner like Santana, Viola’s results were comparable to the best using today’s metrics.

Ultimately, Santana and Viola were comparable in terms of value during their peaks. Santana’s peak was higher and more obvious, but the two pitchers mirror each other pretty closely in terms of value as you stretch that peak out. Viola’s best years stretched 10 years starting with 1984’s 4.5 bWAR 3.21 ERA (ERA+ 131) season through his final great season at age 33 with the Red Sox where he pitched to a 3.14 ERA (ERA+ 148) and another 4.3 bWAR. Santana’s stretch into his transition years from 2003’s 4.1 bWAR, 3.07 ERA (ERA+ 148) start until his age 31 season where he put up 4.7 bWAR effort during the 2.98 ERA (ERA+ 131) with the Mets. In terms of value: Best single year? Santana. Best 2 years? Viola. Best 3 years? Santana. You get the picture. Isolating Santana’s 8yr peak gets you to 6.0 annual bWAR and an astonishing ERA+ 150. Isolating Viola’s 7yr that way gets him to 5.6 annual bWAR an ERA of 3.19 and an impressive ERA+ 128 dragged down by 2 mediocre seasons being clumped in there.


Career Performance
Johan Santana finished his career as a 2x Cy Young, and 4x All Star. He accumulated 51.1 bWAR and 2,025 innings pitched across 12 seasons with a stellar 3.20 ERA and a truly epic ERA+ 136. In fact, Santana’s career ERA+ 136 ties him for 26th in MLB history. The only mark against Santana is how short his career really was. That said, Santana benefitted greatly from starting off as a reliever while learning how to throw his signature changeup protecting him from pre-peak innings dragging his career results down while his shoulder injury put the kibosh on his career after his age 31 season. The truncation protected his career stats from imminent decline which was already being foreshadowed by the beginnings of up and down results and a declining K rate. Still, it’s undeniable that Santana was a rock never having a hiccup year from 2002-2010. Frank Viola’s career ended as a 1x Cy Young, 3x All Star, 1x World Series Championship, 1x World Series MVP. Viola’s 47.1 career bWAR across 2,836 innings and 15 years only slightly trails Santana. His 3.73 ERA and career ERA+ of 112 reflected his rough start, the futile attempted comebacks through age 36 totaling 4 years of negative WAR. Unlike Santana who was shielded and carefully developed, an immature Frank Viola was thrown into the fire by a desperate Twins organization in 1982, and the results reflected Viola’s fiery emotional immaturity and lack of polish. The career WAR makes it clear Viola was a true ace over a long span of years in his own right.

Post season performances
This one is all Viola. Viola pitched the Twins into the World Series and then took home the World Series MVP as the Twins won it all in 1987. Viola was 3-1 used only as a starter in the only year he saw postseason action. The Twins were 4-1 in games Viola pitched. Viola’s Game 1 vs. the Tigers was good with 7 innings and 3 ER before putting runners on in the 8th and being lifted for Reardon who made a mess. The Twins won anyway thanks to the hitters. Game 2 was a 5 inning 2 ER performance where one ER was once again the gift of the Twins’ bullpen. Viola earned the World Series MVP by pitching 3 of the 7 games, taking the mound for games 1 and game 7 allowing 1 run in 8.0 innings of work in both instances. Johan Santana got 4 separate years of chances to pitch in the post season with a consistently great Twins team and more teams making the playoffs. His record was 1-3, with the Twins often paying the price when Santana stepped onto the mound; directly being credited with losses from bullpen meltdowns. Santana’s lone win came out of the bullpen where he nearly gave up the only 2 runs the A’s scored before the Twins hitters saved the day to reverse fate. Later, in 2004 and again in 2006 as a starter, Santana pitched excellently. Unfortunately, he was out-dueled in 2 of 3 starts, and Santana was lifted from games earlier than Viola giving Gardy’s bullpen instincts too many opportunities.

Career Ends
When it comes to the end of their careers, the two pitchers are again, similar. Santana’s well documented career ending shoulder capsule tear at age 31 failed to heal properly, even after an additional surgery and attempted comeback with the Blue Jays following his disastrous 6 years with the Mets. Viola’s career was also ended by injury. In mid-September of 1993 while just 33 years old and sporting a sparkly 3.14 ERA, Viola was shut down with elbow issues leading to Tommy John surgery in an era where the surgery was much less successful. Perhaps some of the high failure rates were from what would be considered utter medical malpractice today. Viola was back on the mound to open 1994. Yes. You read that right. 6 months after TJ, Viola was starting games in MLB. I can only imagine the rehab process involved rubbing dirt on the elbow and ignoring the pain. Astonishingly, Viola’s body was unable to heal in 6 months what needs 18 months on average these days with far more advanced practices. The ligament replacement obviously failed, and on top of that, muscles had been torn as well. Viola never returned to form though he continued to attempt comebacks with an arm that had been MacGyver’d back together a couple times.

Parting Ways
Again, both players are extremely similar being ace pitchers traded from the Twins to the Mets. Viola was traded mid-season after contract negotiations broke down thanks in no part to the front office rescinding the offer they agreed to, but unlike Santana who was beloved and supported by fans railing against the “cheap Pohlads” most fans took the side of the owners in Viola’s case. Twins fans were furious Viola would push for top dollar or test free agency after coming off a WS MVP and Cy Young in back to back years. The difference in fan support is possibly a major factor in how well Viola is remembered as Viola was essentially given the “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” treatment. Undoubtedly the pain of the loss of Viola was buffered by the acquisition of core players for the 1991 Twins World Series Championship team. As part of the Viola trade, the Twins got back 1991 ace Kevin Tapani and elite closer Rick Aguilera. Conversely, Santana brought back Carlos Gomez, who was flipped for JJ Hardy who was flipped for what was AAAA relief pitching.

Summary
Viola and Santana are highly similar in many ways. Having similar slow starts to their careers, both being acquired from other teams, both turning into elite Cy Young winners for the Twins, both leaving the Twins for the Mets, and both having their careers ended many years early by injury. Johan Santana was better, but not nearly as much as many people seem to think, and Viola brought the Twins the 1987 World Series Championship where Santana often brought playoff hand wringing. Santana is especially appreciated by fans here possibly because of his Twins-heavy career with nearly 80% of his career WAR coming while in a Twins uniform, and Santana had the advantage of playing with the Twins during a period where they were consistently making the playoffs. Frank Viola was truly dominant on the mound for many years putting together Cy Young caliber 6+ WAR campaigns for the Twins, Mets and the Red Sox, but unlike Santana, Viola stacked just over 50% of his career WAR together in a Twins uniform while surprisingly appearing in more All Star games in a Mets uniform than with Minnesota. Both pitchers were true, legitimate aces who gave Twins fans the expectation a game would be won versus the hope a game would be won, and it's quite possible both could be in the Hall of Fame today if it weren't for the career ending injury bug.

If you have seen my previous posts in this series, you may have noticed a trend. I like simple, clean crisp designs in baseball cards. And the 1988 Topps design certainly fits my preference. However, I would say it’s good not great. Above average is what I would say about 1988 Topps. (Someday I need to define my rankings better. I feel like I say good or bad and like or dislike too often.)
The 1988 Topps design shows the team’s name in capital letters centered at the top and behind the player image. In the case of the Twins players, the team lettering is yellow. The Twins cards feature the player’s name in an orange diagonal banner in the lower right of the card. That’s it for the fronts. Quite simple. The backs have an orange background with card number, player name, position, and biographical information at the top. The central part of the back has the player’s career statistics. The bottom of the back has some player trivia unless the player statistics cover too many years.
The 1988 Topps base set has the same number of cards as 1986 and 1987 – 792 cards. The Topps Traded set has 132 cards, also the same as 1986 and 1987. There are 32 Twins cards in the base set. While the 1987 Topps Traded set had nine Twins cards, the 1988 Traded set has only one, that of the player who shall not be named. The base set has a rookie card of Hall of Fame starting pitcher Tom Glavine. Gene Larkin is probably the best Twins rookie card. The traded set has more key rookie cards than the base set with the best being that of Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar.
I feel like this set has fewer plain old head shots and a greater number of action pictures. I prefer it that way.
Please keep in mind that this article frequently mentions and provides details of the 1987 season. This is because 1988 baseball cards are mostly of 1987 players.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
In 1988, the Twins were, of course, coming off the 1987 World Series victory. Therefore, I don’t think there are many players in the 1988 Topps baseball card sets that qualify as obscure. I really only gave serious consideration for most obscure Twins player in 1988 Topps to back up catcher Tom Nieto and back up outfielder Mark Davidson. As you can see below, I chose Davidson (#19).


In 1987, bullpens were much smaller – many times only five pitchers deep. This allowed teams to employ more positional backups than they do today. For instance, the Twins carried three catchers for much of 1987, including Nieto. There was also enough room on the roster for two or three extra outfielders. In 1987, Davidson was one of those. Rosters today have only four bench players, so things in 1987 were much different. Anyway, Mark Davison was drafted in the 11th round of the 1982 Major League Baseball June Draft. He played three seasons for the Twins. In 1987 and 1988 he played 102 and 100 games, respectively. Those appearances were often as a defensive replacement late in games. He was a particularly good defensive outfielder. His statistics in three seasons with the Twins were .219/.283/.287. He hit two home runs and had 26 RBI. He also stole 14 bases. His WAR was -0.5 and his OPS+ was a paltry 54. The Twins traded Davidson to Houston during the 1989 season for Greg Johnson, who never panned out. Davidson played three nondescript seasons with the Astros.
In the 1987 postseason, Davidson got into three games with only one plate appearance. In game 3 of the American League Championship series, he appeared as a pinch runner for Sal Butera in the 7th inning and was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. That was the Twins lone loss in that series. He later appeared as a defensive replacement in game 1 of the World Series, a 10-1 Twins win. His last game action of the 1987 postseason was a game 4 loss at St. Louis. He pinch hit in the 9th inning for the pitcher. He flew out to center field in a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals.
THE BEST
I don’t always select the most valuable Twins card in any set as the best, but in the 1988 Topps set I just like the Kirby Puckett base card (#120). He shows a stance where he is ready and poised to do something awesome.

In 1988, Kirby would go on to the lead the American League in hits with 234. He was 3rd in voting for the Most Valuable Player behind José Canseco and Mike Greenwell.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For the 1988 Topps set, I am going to cheat and select two cards as my personal co-favorite cards. I love card number 609, the Twins Team Leader card because it shows a couple of my favorite players, Gary Gaetti and Ken Hrbek. But better yet, the back has records some of the important statistics of the 1987 World Series winners. Every name, a Twins legend.


My second co-favorite card of 1988 is the unique record breaker card featuring Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and Joe Niekro commemorating the pair breaking the record for pitching wins for a set of brothers. It is noteworthy that the Niekro brothers broke a record held by another former Twin, Jim Perry, and his Hall of Fame brother, Gaylord Perry.


These sets of brothers ended up with remarkably similar statistics. One of each set up brothers made the Hall of Fame (Phil and Gaylord). The Hall of Famers ended up within four wins of each other and their brothers finished separated by only six wins. The Niekros career win total was 539 versus 529 for the Perrys.
Phil Niekro         318 wins Joe Niekro          221 wins Gaylord Perry   314 wins Jim Perry             215 wins The Perrys each won a Cy Young Award (Gaylord won two but Jim’s came with the Twins in 1970). Having said all that, Joe Niekro was the only one to win a World Series and that was with the Twins in 1987!
What are your favorite Topps cards from 1988? I’d love to see your opinions, thoughts, or comments below.
Go Twins!

If you have seen my previous posts in this series, you may have noticed a trend. I like simple, clean crisp designs in baseball cards. And the 1988 Topps design certainly fits my preference. However, I would say it’s good not great. Above average is what I would say about 1988 Topps. (Someday I need to define my rankings better. I feel like I say good or bad and like or dislike too often.)
The 1988 Topps design shows the team’s name in capital letters centered at the top and behind the player image. In the case of the Twins players, the team lettering is yellow. The Twins cards feature the player’s name in an orange diagonal banner in the lower right of the card. That’s it for the fronts. Quite simple. The backs have an orange background with card number, player name, position, and biographical information at the top. The central part of the back has the player’s career statistics. The bottom of the back has some player trivia unless the player statistics cover too many years.
The 1988 Topps base set has the same number of cards as 1986 and 1987 – 792 cards. The Topps Traded set has 132 cards, also the same as 1986 and 1987. There are 32 Twins cards in the base set. While the 1987 Topps Traded set had nine Twins cards, the 1988 Traded set has only one, that of the player who shall not be named. The base set has a rookie card of Hall of Fame starting pitcher Tom Glavine. Gene Larkin is probably the best Twins rookie card. The traded set has more key rookie cards than the base set with the best being that of Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar.
I feel like this set has fewer plain old head shots and a greater number of action pictures. I prefer it that way.
Please keep in mind that this article frequently mentions and provides details of the 1987 season. This is because 1988 baseball cards are mostly of 1987 players.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
In 1988, the Twins were, of course, coming off the 1987 World Series victory. Therefore, I don’t think there are many players in the 1988 Topps baseball card sets that qualify as obscure. I really only gave serious consideration for most obscure Twins player in 1988 Topps to back up catcher Tom Nieto and back up outfielder Mark Davidson. As you can see below, I chose Davidson (#19).


In 1987, bullpens were much smaller – many times only five pitchers deep. This allowed teams to employ more positional backups than they do today. For instance, the Twins carried three catchers for much of 1987, including Nieto. There was also enough room on the roster for two or three extra outfielders. In 1987, Davidson was one of those. Rosters today have only four bench players, so things in 1987 were much different. Anyway, Mark Davison was drafted in the 11th round of the 1982 Major League Baseball June Draft. He played three seasons for the Twins. In 1987 and 1988 he played 102 and 100 games, respectively. Those appearances were often as a defensive replacement late in games. He was a particularly good defensive outfielder. His statistics in three seasons with the Twins were .219/.283/.287. He hit two home runs and had 26 RBI. He also stole 14 bases. His WAR was -0.5 and his OPS+ was a paltry 54. The Twins traded Davidson to Houston during the 1989 season for Greg Johnson, who never panned out. Davidson played three nondescript seasons with the Astros.
In the 1987 postseason, Davidson got into three games with only one plate appearance. In game 3 of the American League Championship series, he appeared as a pinch runner for Sal Butera in the 7th inning and was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. That was the Twins lone loss in that series. He later appeared as a defensive replacement in game 1 of the World Series, a 10-1 Twins win. His last game action of the 1987 postseason was a game 4 loss at St. Louis. He pinch hit in the 9th inning for the pitcher. He flew out to center field in a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals.
THE BEST
I don’t always select the most valuable Twins card in any set as the best, but in the 1988 Topps set I just like the Kirby Puckett base card (#120). He shows a stance where he is ready and poised to do something awesome.

In 1988, Kirby would go on to the lead the American League in hits with 234. He was 3rd in voting for the Most Valuable Player behind José Canseco and Mike Greenwell.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For the 1988 Topps set, I am going to cheat and select two cards as my personal co-favorite cards. I love card number 609, the Twins Team Leader card because it shows a couple of my favorite players, Gary Gaetti and Ken Hrbek. But better yet, the back has records some of the important statistics of the 1987 World Series winners. Every name, a Twins legend.


My second co-favorite card of 1988 is the unique record breaker card featuring Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and Joe Niekro commemorating the pair breaking the record for pitching wins for a set of brothers. It is noteworthy that the Niekro brothers broke a record held by another former Twin, Jim Perry, and his Hall of Fame brother, Gaylord Perry.


These sets of brothers ended up with remarkably similar statistics. One of each set up brothers made the Hall of Fame (Phil and Gaylord). The Hall of Famers ended up within four wins of each other and their brothers finished separated by only six wins. The Niekros career win total was 539 versus 529 for the Perrys.
Phil Niekro         318 wins Joe Niekro          221 wins Gaylord Perry   314 wins Jim Perry             215 wins The Perrys each won a Cy Young Award (Gaylord won two but Jim’s came with the Twins in 1970). Having said all that, Joe Niekro was the only one to win a World Series and that was with the Twins in 1987!
What are your favorite Topps cards from 1988? I’d love to see your opinions, thoughts, or comments below.
Go Twins!

If you have seen my previous posts in this series, you may have noticed a trend. I like simple, clean crisp designs in baseball cards. And the 1988 Topps design certainly fits my preference. However, I would say it’s good not great. Above average is what I would say about 1988 Topps. (Someday I need to define my rankings better. I feel like I say good or bad and like or dislike too often.)
The 1988 Topps design shows the team’s name in capital letters centered at the top and behind the player image. In the case of the Twins players, the team lettering is yellow. The Twins cards feature the player’s name in an orange diagonal banner in the lower right of the card. That’s it for the fronts. Quite simple. The backs have an orange background with card number, player name, position, and biographical information at the top. The central part of the back has the player’s career statistics. The bottom of the back has some player trivia unless the player statistics cover too many years.
The 1988 Topps base set has the same number of cards as 1986 and 1987 – 792 cards. The Topps Traded set has 132 cards, also the same as 1986 and 1987. There are 32 Twins cards in the base set. While the 1987 Topps Traded set had nine Twins cards, the 1988 Traded set has only one, that of the player who shall not be named. The base set has a rookie card of Hall of Fame starting pitcher Tom Glavine. Gene Larkin is probably the best Twins rookie card. The traded set has more key rookie cards than the base set with the best being that of Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar.
I feel like this set has fewer plain old head shots and a greater number of action pictures. I prefer it that way.
Please keep in mind that this article frequently mentions and provides details of the 1987 season. This is because 1988 baseball cards are mostly of 1987 players.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
In 1988, the Twins were, of course, coming off the 1987 World Series victory. Therefore, I don’t think there are many players in the 1988 Topps baseball card sets that qualify as obscure. I really only gave serious consideration for most obscure Twins player in 1988 Topps to back up catcher Tom Nieto and back up outfielder Mark Davidson. As you can see below, I chose Davidson (#19).


In 1987, bullpens were much smaller – many times only five pitchers deep. This allowed teams to employ more positional backups than they do today. For instance, the Twins carried three catchers for much of 1987, including Nieto. There was also enough room on the roster for two or three extra outfielders. In 1987, Davidson was one of those. Rosters today have only four bench players, so things in 1987 were much different. Anyway, Mark Davison was drafted in the 11th round of the 1982 Major League Baseball June Draft. He played three seasons for the Twins. In 1987 and 1988 he played 102 and 100 games, respectively. Those appearances were often as a defensive replacement late in games. He was a particularly good defensive outfielder. His statistics in three seasons with the Twins were .219/.283/.287. He hit two home runs and had 26 RBI. He also stole 14 bases. His WAR was -0.5 and his OPS+ was a paltry 54. The Twins traded Davidson to Houston during the 1989 season for Greg Johnson, who never panned out. Davidson played three nondescript seasons with the Astros.
In the 1987 postseason, Davidson got into three games with only one plate appearance. In game 3 of the American League Championship series, he appeared as a pinch runner for Sal Butera in the 7th inning and was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. That was the Twins lone loss in that series. He later appeared as a defensive replacement in game 1 of the World Series, a 10-1 Twins win. His last game action of the 1987 postseason was a game 4 loss at St. Louis. He pinch hit in the 9th inning for the pitcher. He flew out to center field in a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals.
THE BEST
I don’t always select the most valuable Twins card in any set as the best, but in the 1988 Topps set I just like the Kirby Puckett base card (#120). He shows a stance where he is ready and poised to do something awesome.

In 1988, Kirby would go on to the lead the American League in hits with 234. He was 3rd in voting for the Most Valuable Player behind José Canseco and Mike Greenwell.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For the 1988 Topps set, I am going to cheat and select two cards as my personal co-favorite cards. I love card number 609, the Twins Team Leader card because it shows a couple of my favorite players, Gary Gaetti and Ken Hrbek. But better yet, the back has records some of the important statistics of the 1987 World Series winners. Every name, a Twins legend.


My second co-favorite card of 1988 is the unique record breaker card featuring Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and Joe Niekro commemorating the pair breaking the record for pitching wins for a set of brothers. It is noteworthy that the Niekro brothers broke a record held by another former Twin, Jim Perry, and his Hall of Fame brother, Gaylord Perry.


These sets of brothers ended up with remarkably similar statistics. One of each set up brothers made the Hall of Fame (Phil and Gaylord). The Hall of Famers ended up within four wins of each other and their brothers finished separated by only six wins. The Niekros career win total was 539 versus 529 for the Perrys.
Phil Niekro         318 wins Joe Niekro          221 wins Gaylord Perry   314 wins Jim Perry             215 wins The Perrys each won a Cy Young Award (Gaylord won two but Jim’s came with the Twins in 1970). Having said all that, Joe Niekro was the only one to win a World Series and that was with the Twins in 1987!
What are your favorite Topps cards from 1988? I’d love to see your opinions, thoughts, or comments below.
Go Twins!

If you have seen my previous posts in this series, you may have noticed a trend. I like simple, clean crisp designs in baseball cards. And the 1988 Topps design certainly fits my preference. However, I would say it’s good not great. Above average is what I would say about 1988 Topps. (Someday I need to define my rankings better. I feel like I say good or bad and like or dislike too often.)
The 1988 Topps design shows the team’s name in capital letters centered at the top and behind the player image. In the case of the Twins players, the team lettering is yellow. The Twins cards feature the player’s name in an orange diagonal banner in the lower right of the card. That’s it for the fronts. Quite simple. The backs have an orange background with card number, player name, position, and biographical information at the top. The central part of the back has the player’s career statistics. The bottom of the back has some player trivia unless the player statistics cover too many years.
The 1988 Topps base set has the same number of cards as 1986 and 1987 – 792 cards. The Topps Traded set has 132 cards, also the same as 1986 and 1987. There are 32 Twins cards in the base set. While the 1987 Topps Traded set had nine Twins cards, the 1988 Traded set has only one, that of the player who shall not be named. The base set has a rookie card of Hall of Fame starting pitcher Tom Glavine. Gene Larkin is probably the best Twins rookie card. The traded set has more key rookie cards than the base set with the best being that of Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar.
I feel like this set has fewer plain old head shots and a greater number of action pictures. I prefer it that way.
Please keep in mind that this article frequently mentions and provides details of the 1987 season. This is because 1988 baseball cards are mostly of 1987 players.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
In 1988, the Twins were, of course, coming off the 1987 World Series victory. Therefore, I don’t think there are many players in the 1988 Topps baseball card sets that qualify as obscure. I really only gave serious consideration for most obscure Twins player in 1988 Topps to back up catcher Tom Nieto and back up outfielder Mark Davidson. As you can see below, I chose Davidson (#19).


In 1987, bullpens were much smaller – many times only five pitchers deep. This allowed teams to employ more positional backups than they do today. For instance, the Twins carried three catchers for much of 1987, including Nieto. There was also enough room on the roster for two or three extra outfielders. In 1987, Davidson was one of those. Rosters today have only four bench players, so things in 1987 were much different. Anyway, Mark Davison was drafted in the 11th round of the 1982 Major League Baseball June Draft. He played three seasons for the Twins. In 1987 and 1988 he played 102 and 100 games, respectively. Those appearances were often as a defensive replacement late in games. He was a particularly good defensive outfielder. His statistics in three seasons with the Twins were .219/.283/.287. He hit two home runs and had 26 RBI. He also stole 14 bases. His WAR was -0.5 and his OPS+ was a paltry 54. The Twins traded Davidson to Houston during the 1989 season for Greg Johnson, who never panned out. Davidson played three nondescript seasons with the Astros.
In the 1987 postseason, Davidson got into three games with only one plate appearance. In game 3 of the American League Championship series, he appeared as a pinch runner for Sal Butera in the 7th inning and was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. That was the Twins lone loss in that series. He later appeared as a defensive replacement in game 1 of the World Series, a 10-1 Twins win. His last game action of the 1987 postseason was a game 4 loss at St. Louis. He pinch hit in the 9th inning for the pitcher. He flew out to center field in a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals.
THE BEST
I don’t always select the most valuable Twins card in any set as the best, but in the 1988 Topps set I just like the Kirby Puckett base card (#120). He shows a stance where he is ready and poised to do something awesome.

In 1988, Kirby would go on to the lead the American League in hits with 234. He was 3rd in voting for the Most Valuable Player behind José Canseco and Mike Greenwell.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For the 1988 Topps set, I am going to cheat and select two cards as my personal co-favorite cards. I love card number 609, the Twins Team Leader card because it shows a couple of my favorite players, Gary Gaetti and Ken Hrbek. But better yet, the back has records some of the important statistics of the 1987 World Series winners. Every name, a Twins legend.


My second co-favorite card of 1988 is the unique record breaker card featuring Hall of Famer Phil Niekro and Joe Niekro commemorating the pair breaking the record for pitching wins for a set of brothers. It is noteworthy that the Niekro brothers broke a record held by another former Twin, Jim Perry, and his Hall of Fame brother, Gaylord Perry.


These sets of brothers ended up with remarkably similar statistics. One of each set up brothers made the Hall of Fame (Phil and Gaylord). The Hall of Famers ended up within four wins of each other and their brothers finished separated by only six wins. The Niekros career win total was 539 versus 529 for the Perrys.
Phil Niekro         318 wins Joe Niekro          221 wins Gaylord Perry   314 wins Jim Perry             215 wins The Perrys each won a Cy Young Award (Gaylord won two but Jim’s came with the Twins in 1970). Having said all that, Joe Niekro was the only one to win a World Series and that was with the Twins in 1987!
What are your favorite Topps cards from 1988? I’d love to see your opinions, thoughts, or comments below.
Go Twins!

I recommend this book for any baseball history lover. I listened to the audio version and I’d say that’s the best way to go because you get to hear the actual voices of these players from eras gone by. The stories are fantastic. Buy the book using this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0061994715/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7fjk1HXRssxp4xminq-cCeHyuyzhT53tyot69f6-cdGSydFSdD0Gik_Q8ApPIiQxbc-wL3cc_9J7vnUltVCUfUHtKSvccVYMKPeH1pWwJwzQ4_bpnWP96H4Yr_r5hhMqi3BFF0qSxmKQ0xYof48AUxlTOISOJhR4clV_kyqU57x7eX0_JDk4-cKUkD_hAcVRqIV0C3J0veFBsUbpxhJJiQ.roC7PnJNZfg8p9SVEBV4kCX-U8MBoSIqztxjGUHewBU&qid=1710875447&sr=8-1

Too many Topps sets lack character and are rather bland, hard to differentiate year over year. That’s my problem with the sets from the late 1970s. At least to me, those designs are difficult to set apart in my head, and I have a tough time remembering which design is which year. Let’s take a closer look at the distinct, easily recognizable 1986 Topps and Topps Traded sets.
The top of the 1986 cards features a black box background and the team’s name in block lettering. In the case of the Twins, the team’s name has a red font. The bottom and side borders are white. The player’s name is in capital letters at the bottom and there is a small circle in the lower left with the player’s position. The color of the circle matches the color of the team’s name. Exceptionally clean and concise. The backs (I will include one example below upon the recommendation of IndianaTwin) have the player name in block lettering at the top, the biographical information just below the name, then the player’s statistics, then some player highlights or “Talkin’ Baseball” team trivia at the bottom. All of this is against a red background.
There are a whopping 792 cards in the 1986 Topps baseball card set plus an additional 132 cards in the Topps Traded. There are 27 Twins cards in the two sets. The Traded set has rookie cards of Hall of Famer Barry Bonds, as well as others who looked like they might make the Hall – Jose Canseco and Bo Jackson. Neither made the Hall for different reasons. Rookie cards for Twins player in the main Topps set are Frank Eufemia and a player to be discussed later. The pictures in this set have plenty of action shots and a few straight-up head shots.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
After researching the players in this set, I considered five who might be called the most obscure Twins player in the set, including Frank Pastore (who had a very prophetic death), Frank Eufemia, Pete Filson, and Mike Stenhouse. In the end, I selected a player for whom I simply have no memory, Mr. Mark Brown (#451).
  

Mark Brown was a 6th round draft pick in 1980 for the Baltimore Orioles. He made it to the majors for the Orioles in 1984 pitching in nine games, winning one. Brown was traded to the Twins after the 1984 season for Brad Havens. For the Twins, Brown had no decisions, pitched only 15.2 innings in six games in relief, had an ERA of 6.89, and a WHIP of 1.878. His career WAR was -0.1. He wasn’t particularly good, but he also wasn’t given a very extensive chance and was unable to stick in MLB after his age 25 season.
THE BEST
The best and apparently most valuable Twins card in the 1986 Topps set is that of Hall of Famer, and longtime broadcaster, Bert Blyleven (#445).

I like that it’s an action shot, a look of determination on his clean-shaven face. For many years, the Twins had a no beard policy including when Blyleven returned to the Twins in the August 1985 trade from Cleveland. Bert complied with policy and shaved his beard and appeared without a beard for at least the rest of the 1985 season. Then in 1986 he played with a beard and was fined $50 per game. Bert preferred the beard, so he simply paid the team fine. In am unable to verify when, but at some point, the policy was rescinded. My memory says the fines did not exist in the World Series year of 1987.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For my personal favorite Twins 1986 Topps, I choose the Twins Hall of Famer Kent Hrbek (#430).

To me there’s a certain air of confidence or swagger or arrogance that makes it look like a home run is sure to follow. It’s a semi-action shot that really captures a potential moment. Who really knows what happened next, but I’m confident it was something good for the Twins.
I like the 1986 Topps set design. It’s a plain design that somehow gets your attention. I think that might be because of the black background at the top, the team’s name in block lettering, and the all caps player name at the bottom. It’s super basic but it just works for me.
I’d love to see any of your thoughts and comments below.
Go Twins!

Too many Topps sets lack character and are rather bland, hard to differentiate year over year. That’s my problem with the sets from the late 1970s. At least to me, those designs are difficult to set apart in my head, and I have a tough time remembering which design is which year. Let’s take a closer look at the distinct, easily recognizable 1986 Topps and Topps Traded sets.
The top of the 1986 cards features a black box background and the team’s name in block lettering. In the case of the Twins, the team’s name has a red font. The bottom and side borders are white. The player’s name is in capital letters at the bottom and there is a small circle in the lower left with the player’s position. The color of the circle matches the color of the team’s name. Exceptionally clean and concise. The backs (I will include one example below upon the recommendation of IndianaTwin) have the player name in block lettering at the top, the biographical information just below the name, then the player’s statistics, then some player highlights or “Talkin’ Baseball” team trivia at the bottom. All of this is against a red background.
There are a whopping 792 cards in the 1986 Topps baseball card set plus an additional 132 cards in the Topps Traded. There are 27 Twins cards in the two sets. The Traded set has rookie cards of Hall of Famer Barry Bonds, as well as others who looked like they might make the Hall – Jose Canseco and Bo Jackson. Neither made the Hall for different reasons. Rookie cards for Twins player in the main Topps set are Frank Eufemia and a player to be discussed later. The pictures in this set have plenty of action shots and a few straight-up head shots.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
After researching the players in this set, I considered five who might be called the most obscure Twins player in the set, including Frank Pastore (who had a very prophetic death), Frank Eufemia, Pete Filson, and Mike Stenhouse. In the end, I selected a player for whom I simply have no memory, Mr. Mark Brown (#451).
  

Mark Brown was a 6th round draft pick in 1980 for the Baltimore Orioles. He made it to the majors for the Orioles in 1984 pitching in nine games, winning one. Brown was traded to the Twins after the 1984 season for Brad Havens. For the Twins, Brown had no decisions, pitched only 15.2 innings in six games in relief, had an ERA of 6.89, and a WHIP of 1.878. His career WAR was -0.1. He wasn’t particularly good, but he also wasn’t given a very extensive chance and was unable to stick in MLB after his age 25 season.
THE BEST
The best and apparently most valuable Twins card in the 1986 Topps set is that of Hall of Famer, and longtime broadcaster, Bert Blyleven (#445).

I like that it’s an action shot, a look of determination on his clean-shaven face. For many years, the Twins had a no beard policy including when Blyleven returned to the Twins in the August 1985 trade from Cleveland. Bert complied with policy and shaved his beard and appeared without a beard for at least the rest of the 1985 season. Then in 1986 he played with a beard and was fined $50 per game. Bert preferred the beard, so he simply paid the team fine. In am unable to verify when, but at some point, the policy was rescinded. My memory says the fines did not exist in the World Series year of 1987.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For my personal favorite Twins 1986 Topps, I choose the Twins Hall of Famer Kent Hrbek (#430).

To me there’s a certain air of confidence or swagger or arrogance that makes it look like a home run is sure to follow. It’s a semi-action shot that really captures a potential moment. Who really knows what happened next, but I’m confident it was something good for the Twins.
I like the 1986 Topps set design. It’s a plain design that somehow gets your attention. I think that might be because of the black background at the top, the team’s name in block lettering, and the all caps player name at the bottom. It’s super basic but it just works for me.
I’d love to see any of your thoughts and comments below.
Go Twins!

Today I’m talking about the first non-Topps set in my blog series about baseball cards. Topps had a baseball card monopoly from 1956 to 1980. In the early 80s competitors were allowed into the baseball card world and Donruss and Fleer were the first two to jump in. This post is about a set I originally dismissed but have come to appreciate – 1983 Fleer.
The design of 1983 Fleer baseball is better than I originally thought in 1983. I have come to like the gray borders, the straightforward design, and the colorful team logo in the lower left corner. To the right of the logo, still on the bottom of the card are the player’s name and position. It’s an uncomplicated design that works for me. I also feel like the pictures are better than the late 70s Topps cards. I suppose that should be the case. The middle back of the card contains the player’s career statistics set against a white background. The top of the card has a brownish orange background with the player’s name, position, card number, and small head shot of the player. The back’s bottom has the same brown/orange background with the player’s biographical information and a “did you know” nugget of trivia.
There are 660 cards in the 1983 Fleer baseball card set including 24 Twins cards. The set has rookie cards of Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Wade Boggs, and Tony Gwynn plus Twins greats Gary Gaetti and Frank Viola. The pictures are almost all portrait or head shots with very few action shots. The checklist organizes all teams in order of prior year finish then alphabetically by player. The St. Louis Cardinals, who won the prior year’s World Series are the first group, then their opponent in the fall classic, the Milwaukee Brewers, are the second team. The Twins players are the last regular cards in the set because of their horrendous 102-loss season in 1982. The only cards after the #628 for Al Williams are some SuperStar Specials cards and team checklists.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
After looking at all the cards in the set, I legitimately produced nine cards where I thought the player had an argument for the most obscure player in the set. I eventually narrowed that to one player, but three others are worth a quick mention.
#624 Jesus Vega. Vega played three seasons, all with the Twins, and was not a particularly good ballplayer. The back up 1B/DH/corner outfielder had only 236 at bats in three seasons. He finished with a WAR of -1.1 and an OPS+ of 65. #619 Jeff Little. He played one of his two MLB seasons with the Twins. His statistics are not that terrible – 0.0 WAR, 3 wins in 55 innings, 101 ERA+. But he was done after his age 27 season, and I could not find a reason. Seems like he deserved a longer leash, but maybe he simply chose to move on with his life. #611 Lenny Faedo. Maybe Faedo wasn’t as obscure or bad as the others, but the 1978 first round draft pick finished his career with only 529 at bats and produced a WAR of -0.2 and 64 OPS+. He had only one year with more than 200 at bats. Despite those three honorable mentions and their qualifications, I chose the #612 card of Terry Felton.

I just felt like I could not go through this period of Minnesota Twins history and not mention Mr. Felton. He owns a dubious Major League Baseball record. His 0-16 pitching record happens to be the most losses in MLB history without achieving a win. His ERA+ was 78 over parts of 4 seasons, all with the Twins. His career WAR was -1.9 and he pitched 138.1 innings. Felton’s BR Bullpen page on Baseball Reference indicates his big problems were a lack of control and too many home runs; that seems like a bad combination.
THE BEST
The best Twins card in the 1983 Fleer set is a combo card of a local Hall of Famer and a local youngster who would have his jersey number retired by the Twins years later. I nominate the #633 SuperStar Specials card – Mr. Vet and Mr. Rookie. It’s St. Paul’s Dave Winfield and Bloomgton’s Kent Hrbek.

I’ve said it before in this blog series and it applies here again – I really like combo cards. The completed careers of Winfield and Hrbek add up to 4,859 hits, 758 home runs, and 2,919 runs batted in. Those are impressive numbers from two local boys.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For my personal favorite 1983 Fleer card, I’m going with two rookie cards from two fan favorites who contributed mightily to the 1987 World Series championship. The picture of one of those cards is gritty with pine tar and a 1980s mustache; the other is more pretty than gritty.
               
Yes, it’s the 1987 ALCS MVP (#613 Gary Gaetti) and the 1987 World Series MVP (#625 Frank Viola). We couldn’t have won it without these guys who were mere youngsters in 1983.
Does anyone know why Gaetti is shown wearing number 2? His Baseball Reference page confirms he never wore 2 at least in the regular season. It must have been in spring training, but I can’t find proof of that. Baseball Reference says John Castino wore #2 from 1979-84. It also says Glenn Adams wore #8 from 1977-81. So, I can understand that Gaetti might not have worn #8, in the minor leagues or spring training, until after 1981, but the card is from 1983. Even if we can find a reason he didn’t wear #8 in those years, Castino still had #2 until 1984. What’s the deal?
All these years later I look at the design and my opinion has changed. The design is better than I remember. I like it – both the front and the back. Just a nice, basic design. I originally disliked the design primarily because of the gray border, but it doesn’t seem to bother me today.
I’d love to see any of your thoughts and comments below.
Go Twins!

Today I’m talking about the first non-Topps set in my blog series about baseball cards. Topps had a baseball card monopoly from 1956 to 1980. In the early 80s competitors were allowed into the baseball card world and Donruss and Fleer were the first two to jump in. This post is about a set I originally dismissed but have come to appreciate – 1983 Fleer.
The design of 1983 Fleer baseball is better than I originally thought in 1983. I have come to like the gray borders, the straightforward design, and the colorful team logo in the lower left corner. To the right of the logo, still on the bottom of the card are the player’s name and position. It’s an uncomplicated design that works for me. I also feel like the pictures are better than the late 70s Topps cards. I suppose that should be the case. The middle back of the card contains the player’s career statistics set against a white background. The top of the card has a brownish orange background with the player’s name, position, card number, and small head shot of the player. The back’s bottom has the same brown/orange background with the player’s biographical information and a “did you know” nugget of trivia.
There are 660 cards in the 1983 Fleer baseball card set including 24 Twins cards. The set has rookie cards of Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Wade Boggs, and Tony Gwynn plus Twins greats Gary Gaetti and Frank Viola. The pictures are almost all portrait or head shots with very few action shots. The checklist organizes all teams in order of prior year finish then alphabetically by player. The St. Louis Cardinals, who won the prior year’s World Series are the first group, then their opponent in the fall classic, the Milwaukee Brewers, are the second team. The Twins players are the last regular cards in the set because of their horrendous 102-loss season in 1982. The only cards after the #628 for Al Williams are some SuperStar Specials cards and team checklists.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
After looking at all the cards in the set, I legitimately produced nine cards where I thought the player had an argument for the most obscure player in the set. I eventually narrowed that to one player, but three others are worth a quick mention.
#624 Jesus Vega. Vega played three seasons, all with the Twins, and was not a particularly good ballplayer. The back up 1B/DH/corner outfielder had only 236 at bats in three seasons. He finished with a WAR of -1.1 and an OPS+ of 65. #619 Jeff Little. He played one of his two MLB seasons with the Twins. His statistics are not that terrible – 0.0 WAR, 3 wins in 55 innings, 101 ERA+. But he was done after his age 27 season, and I could not find a reason. Seems like he deserved a longer leash, but maybe he simply chose to move on with his life. #611 Lenny Faedo. Maybe Faedo wasn’t as obscure or bad as the others, but the 1978 first round draft pick finished his career with only 529 at bats and produced a WAR of -0.2 and 64 OPS+. He had only one year with more than 200 at bats. Despite those three honorable mentions and their qualifications, I chose the #612 card of Terry Felton.

I just felt like I could not go through this period of Minnesota Twins history and not mention Mr. Felton. He owns a dubious Major League Baseball record. His 0-16 pitching record happens to be the most losses in MLB history without achieving a win. His ERA+ was 78 over parts of 4 seasons, all with the Twins. His career WAR was -1.9 and he pitched 138.1 innings. Felton’s BR Bullpen page on Baseball Reference indicates his big problems were a lack of control and too many home runs; that seems like a bad combination.
THE BEST
The best Twins card in the 1983 Fleer set is a combo card of a local Hall of Famer and a local youngster who would have his jersey number retired by the Twins years later. I nominate the #633 SuperStar Specials card – Mr. Vet and Mr. Rookie. It’s St. Paul’s Dave Winfield and Bloomgton’s Kent Hrbek.

I’ve said it before in this blog series and it applies here again – I really like combo cards. The completed careers of Winfield and Hrbek add up to 4,859 hits, 758 home runs, and 2,919 runs batted in. Those are impressive numbers from two local boys.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
For my personal favorite 1983 Fleer card, I’m going with two rookie cards from two fan favorites who contributed mightily to the 1987 World Series championship. The picture of one of those cards is gritty with pine tar and a 1980s mustache; the other is more pretty than gritty.
               
Yes, it’s the 1987 ALCS MVP (#613 Gary Gaetti) and the 1987 World Series MVP (#625 Frank Viola). We couldn’t have won it without these guys who were mere youngsters in 1983.
Does anyone know why Gaetti is shown wearing number 2? His Baseball Reference page confirms he never wore 2 at least in the regular season. It must have been in spring training, but I can’t find proof of that. Baseball Reference says John Castino wore #2 from 1979-84. It also says Glenn Adams wore #8 from 1977-81. So, I can understand that Gaetti might not have worn #8, in the minor leagues or spring training, until after 1981, but the card is from 1983. Even if we can find a reason he didn’t wear #8 in those years, Castino still had #2 until 1984. What’s the deal?
All these years later I look at the design and my opinion has changed. The design is better than I remember. I like it – both the front and the back. Just a nice, basic design. I originally disliked the design primarily because of the gray border, but it doesn’t seem to bother me today.
I’d love to see any of your thoughts and comments below.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the 1982 Topps and Topps Traded baseball card sets. Some of you who have been following my blog series may wonder, why did he skip 1981. The reason is that I set a rule for myself and said if I do not have all Twins cards in a particular set, I would not write about it until I complete that set. So, 1981 will have to wait for a future blog post. On another note, this week you’re getting the bonus of the 1982 Topps Traded set. I simply thought this small set completes the 1982 Topps package and that they should stand together.
I am fan of the 1982 Topps design. The design is the same for the standard set as well as the Traded set. The team’s name is listed near the bottom of the card with the player’s name under the team name. There are two colored stripes down the left side of the card which round the lower left corner and go partially across the bottom until they run into the team and player names. The outside line color coincides with the player’s name and the inside line is the same color as the team name. Additionally, the outside line includes the player’s position on the bottom after it rounds the corner. While I like that design, I do not like that the color seems random and unconnected to the team’s color scheme. In the case of the Twins cards, the colors are orange and brown. I would have chosen blue and red, but many other teams also have questionable color choices. Despite that critique, I still like the design.  
There are 792 cards in the 1982 Topps baseball card set including 26 Twins cards. The set has the rookie card of Cal Ripken, Jr., as well as future Twin Tom Brunansky. Ripken’s rookie is with two others and labeled as Orioles Futures Stars. The set contains a similar Twins card which we will highlight below. The Traded set has 132 cards featuring six Twins players. The pictures are almost all portrait shots of the players, but the quality of the pictures is getting a little better as years go by and in judgment these portrait shots have improved since the sets of the prior decade.
This week I was indecisive and have some ties for most obscure player and best card.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My selections for the most obscure Twins players in the 1982 Topps baseball sets are Chuck Baker (#253) and Randy Johnson (#51T)
               
This is Chuck Baker’s lone Topps card as a Twin. He was a backup infielder who played only one of his three MLB seasons with the Twins. For the Twins, he had only 66 at bats and 12 hits. Noteworthy is that three of those 12 hits were triples. Baker only played an entire game nine times that season. Most of his action looks like a late game defensive replacement. Baker was drafted four times by four organizations, the first by the Twins in the 36th round of the 1971 draft but did not sign. He signed in 1975 after being drafted in the second round by the Padres. Baker came to the Twins in December of 1980 in a trade for outfield Dave Edwards.
Randy Johnson, who played only one season with the Twins (and one with the White Sox), is an obscure player who many probably don’t remember. But he has always stuck in my brain. The first year the Twins played at the Metrodome, 1982, I was young and impressionable and Johnson, a designated hitter, started scorching hot in that his age 23 season. Johnson’s great April must have been a time I was paying attention and for some reason that month was etched into my memory. Baseball Reference games logs show he hit 10 home runs in his career, all with the Twins in 1982. But more to the point, five of those home runs came in April. At the end of April, he had an exceptional slash line of .393/.449/.738. His OPS was 1.187. For many years after 1982 and before the internet, I would occasionally remember Johnson and wonder what ever happened to him. Turns out he just wasn’t very good, the Twins let him go, and he never reappeared in MLB.  He was out of minor league baseball after the 1985 season when he was only 26 years of age.
THE BEST
Alright, the best card of 1982 is an easy one for me, well easy two. It’s Kent Hrbek’s official rookie card (#766) and other rookie year card (#44T). Like probably most everyone, my favorite would be his first stand-alone card (#44T). However, that one is in the Traded set, so it’s not considered his true rookie card. The true rookie card is the #766 Future Stars card which also features long-time catcher Tim Laudner and short-time shortstop Lenny Faedo. I hope to get Hrbek’s autograph someday on the Future Stars card along with Laudner’s.


PERSONAL FAVORITE
I love the picture and stance of Butch Wynegar (#222). It’s of the style of the 1971 Roberto Clemente (which is a favorite of many collectors) and the 1972 card of Twins superstar Harmon Killebrew. Wynegar is kind of mid swing with the bat aimed at the camera. I guess I just think it’s a cool pose which is the single reason it’s my favorite Twins card in the 1982 set.

               
I think the 1982 Topps cards are a pretty good design. As a group I can say I definitely like the early 80s designs better than the late 70s. We’ll see if this trend continues.
Does anybody out there have a player to them like Randy Johnson was to me, someone who made a distinct impression upon you that made you think he was better than he actually was? Do you like the Clemente/Killebrew/Wynegar bat pose? I would appreciate any comments or opinions below. Thanks for reading.
Go Twins!

The 1980 Topps baseball card set is better than the average set of that era. To me it’s not great, but better than average. The design consists of a banner in the upper left corner with the player’s position. The upper right corner has the player’s name. The bottom right has another, larger banner with the team’s name. Each card also has a facsimile autograph of the player. The pictures are rather bland in my opinion with a mix of portraits and action shots. Some of the action shots are not well done. See the Mike Cubbage card (#503).

There are 726 cards in the 1980 Topps baseball card set including 27 Twins cards.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
My choice for most obscure Twins player in the 1980 Topps baseball set pitched for five seasons in Major League Baseball with two of those coming with the Twins. His son also played Major League Baseball and is a trivia answer/footnote in history. Mike Bacsik (#453) is my choice for most obscure Twin in this year’s set.

Right-handed pitcher Michael James Bacsik was drafted in the 55th round of the 1970 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He debuted with the Texas Rangers in June of 1975. He started three games in 1975, then never started another. He pitched only 73 games over five seasons with a career high of 31 games with the Twins in 1979. His career record was 8-6 with an ERA of 4.43. He pitched 172.2 innings and finished with a career WAR of -0.9.
Bacsik’s story gets interesting when we introduce his son, Michael Joseph Bacsik. Michael Jospeh also pitched in Major League Baseball. He was a left-handed pitcher with similar numbers to his father. He had a 10-13 career record over five seasons. He had a 5.46 ERA over 216.0 innings during the steroid era. His career WAR was -0.5. The younger Bacsik’s claim to fame is that he gave up the record-breaking 756th home run of Barry Bonds’s career. Wikipedia has a great note about this. While the son did give up number 756 to Bonds, the father was one of 30 pitchers to pitch to Hank Aaron after Aaron had achieved 755 home runs. The younger Bacsik would comment in 2007, "If my dad had been gracious enough to let Hank Aaron hit a home run, we both would have given up 756.”
Mike Bacsik the Twin, last pitched in Major League Baseball in 1980. He went to spring training in 1981 with Seattle but was released in late March.
THE BEST
Well Rod Carew was now gone to the Angels. The Twins were going downhill before bottoming out in 1982. There are just not a lot of great players or cards during that point in Twins History. There are no 1980 Topps Twins cards of any value. So, my choice for the best Twins card of this year is going to be that of Ken Landreaux in what was to be his lone All-Star season.

During 1980, Landreaux hit .281/.334/.417. He had 7 home runs and 62 RBIs. For the 1980 Twins, that performance was enough to be selected to the All-Star game. Unbelievably, his WAR was actually ninth among Twins batters who played more than 100 games that season. For those wondering, no, his first half numbers were not far superior to his second half. So why was he selected to the All-Star game? I suspect the notoriety of having a 31-game hitting streak in April and May was the main reason for his being named the Twins All-Star representative that season.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
My favorite 1980 Twins card in the Topps set is probably an unusual choice. It’s not a superstar or even a long-tenured Twin. It’s a card where I just simply like the picture. Behold the #218 card of Jose Morales.

Above we talked about the father and son Mike Bacsik tandem who both pitched in Major League Baseball. Here we have catcher Jose Manuel Morales who played for the Twins from 1978-1980, but he is not related to catcher Jose Guillermo Morales who played for the Twins from 2007-2010.
Anyway, the Morales 1980 Topps card. Love the picture. Red Hat. Two Bats. Collared shirt over a tee shirt under a jersey. Mustache, eyebrows, sideburns. There’s a lot to take in.
So that’s my review of the Minnesota Twins in the 1980 Topps baseball card set. There’s not a lot of big names for the Twins in this set. But I do think the design and style of 1980 cards may be the best since 1975.
What do you all think? I would love to see your opinions and comments below.
Go Twins.

Welcome to my review of the 1979 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins player cards in that set. Once again, Rod Carew is the Twins lone superstar from that era. Mr. Carew will make an appearance later in this post.
When it comes to my review of any of the late 1970s Topps cards, I have come to the realization that I am not a fan of the design of most years. Some years are better than others, of course. But I have also come to recognize that my opinion is probably clouded by two things. I am a little too young to have been fully invested in those Twins teams of the late 1970s. Secondly, the teams were just not that great. And those two things might have been a chicken and egg thing. Was I not that interested because they were bad, or was I just too young?
For me, this design fits the “just OK” category. I find the design and pictures to be simple, some might say boring. The bottom of the card lists the player’s name and position. Under that is a banner with the player’s team. There are 726 cards in the set with 29 Twins cards.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Throughout my blog series of Topps baseball cards and Twins players, I hope I have not offended anyone by using the phrase “most obscure.” Obviously, these guys I select as the most obscure are far more accomplished than I. But reviewing each year’s players is captivating to me in that some players appear only briefly then fade from our memories. I try to do somewhat of an internet dive and try to figure out what happened to that player and where they went. When I select the most obscure, if I have a few choices, I tend to go with the player who has an interesting story. My choice as the most obscure Twins Player in the 1979 set is local, so if anyone who knows him reads this, I mean no disrespect. For 1979, I chose Gery Serum’s card (#627) as the most obscure Twins player in the Topps set.

As an aside, where the heck is that field in the background of the picture? That looks worse than any rec league field that I played on or that my son plays on nowadays. Sandlots are fine, but shouldn’t a professional be playing on a better field?
Gary Serum is an Upper Midwesterner. He was born in Fargo, ND. He graduated high school in Alexandria, MN. For college, he first attended Moorhead State University then St. Cloud State University. The Twins signed Serum after college as an amateur free agent.
Despite being a free agent, Serum quickly worked his way through the Twins’ minor league system and by 1977 he was called up to the Twins and first appeared on July 22. He played the full season in 1978 for the Twins pitching 184.1 innings with a record of 9-9 including six complete games and one shutout. He pitched part of 1979 for the Twins then never played Major League Baseball again.
After his playing career, Serum opened a restaurant in Anoka, MN, so go check it out. I’m sure many of you have.
THE BEST
Once again, the most valuable Twins card in the 1979 Topps set is a Rod Carew card, the #1 Batting Leaders card with Dave Parker. I do like combo cards. But let’s also acknowledge Mr. Carew’s other last card as a Twin. His base card (#300) is an all-star card. And it’s the end of an era. Carew was traded to the Angels in February of 1979.


The all-star card has a simple difference from the regular base card in that it has another banner on the card labeling the player as an all-star. For some reason, for me personally, that upgrades the card quite a bit over the plain 1979 Topps base card. It seems like a small thing that would not affect my opinion, but for me it makes the card much more compelling than a regular base card and simply better overall.
So, those two Carew cards kind of tie for me as the best of 1979.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I know I mentioned an autographed Dave Goltz in my 1978 blog entry. Here I am again. But wait, there’s a good reason. As I looked at this card (#27), I thought the player’s face/picture/stance/something was familiar to me. I thought he looked like another player from another era.

After not too long I realized a likeness to Mr. Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh from my favorite baseball movie Bull Durham. I’m sure most of you will think I’m nuts. But let me know, is there any resemblance? Is it the way he wears the hat, the striping on the sleeves, or the blue long-sleeved undershirt? Maybe the V-neck?

While I was digging for a picture for Nuke, I came across a USA Today article about the real-life inspiration for the Nuke character – Steve Dalkowski. It’s worth a read. His numbers were crazy.
So, I’m going with my signed 1979 Dave Goltz card as my favorite Twin in the 1979 Topps set exclusively because of my probably incorrect perception that he looks like the fictional character Nuke LaLoosh and that I loved that movie and have seen it too many times.
What do you all think? Does anyone know Gary Serum or his restaurant? What do you all think of Nuke LaLoosh and Bull Durham? I would love to see your opinions, comments, or stories below.
Go Twins.

Welcome to my review of the 1979 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins player cards in that set. Once again, Rod Carew is the Twins lone superstar from that era. Mr. Carew will make an appearance later in this post.
When it comes to my review of any of the late 1970s Topps cards, I have come to the realization that I am not a fan of the design of most years. Some years are better than others, of course. But I have also come to recognize that my opinion is probably clouded by two things. I am a little too young to have been fully invested in those Twins teams of the late 1970s. Secondly, the teams were just not that great. And those two things might have been a chicken and egg thing. Was I not that interested because they were bad, or was I just too young?
For me, this design fits the “just OK” category. I find the design and pictures to be simple, some might say boring. The bottom of the card lists the player’s name and position. Under that is a banner with the player’s team. There are 726 cards in the set with 29 Twins cards.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Throughout my blog series of Topps baseball cards and Twins players, I hope I have not offended anyone by using the phrase “most obscure.” Obviously, these guys I select as the most obscure are far more accomplished than I. But reviewing each year’s players is captivating to me in that some players appear only briefly then fade from our memories. I try to do somewhat of an internet dive and try to figure out what happened to that player and where they went. When I select the most obscure, if I have a few choices, I tend to go with the player who has an interesting story. My choice as the most obscure Twins Player in the 1979 set is local, so if anyone who knows him reads this, I mean no disrespect. For 1979, I chose Gery Serum’s card (#627) as the most obscure Twins player in the Topps set.

As an aside, where the heck is that field in the background of the picture? That looks worse than any rec league field that I played on or that my son plays on nowadays. Sandlots are fine, but shouldn’t a professional be playing on a better field?
Gary Serum is an Upper Midwesterner. He was born in Fargo, ND. He graduated high school in Alexandria, MN. For college, he first attended Moorhead State University then St. Cloud State University. The Twins signed Serum after college as an amateur free agent.
Despite being a free agent, Serum quickly worked his way through the Twins’ minor league system and by 1977 he was called up to the Twins and first appeared on July 22. He played the full season in 1978 for the Twins pitching 184.1 innings with a record of 9-9 including six complete games and one shutout. He pitched part of 1979 for the Twins then never played Major League Baseball again.
After his playing career, Serum opened a restaurant in Anoka, MN, so go check it out. I’m sure many of you have.
THE BEST
Once again, the most valuable Twins card in the 1979 Topps set is a Rod Carew card, the #1 Batting Leaders card with Dave Parker. I do like combo cards. But let’s also acknowledge Mr. Carew’s other last card as a Twin. His base card (#300) is an all-star card. And it’s the end of an era. Carew was traded to the Angels in February of 1979.


The all-star card has a simple difference from the regular base card in that it has another banner on the card labeling the player as an all-star. For some reason, for me personally, that upgrades the card quite a bit over the plain 1979 Topps base card. It seems like a small thing that would not affect my opinion, but for me it makes the card much more compelling than a regular base card and simply better overall.
So, those two Carew cards kind of tie for me as the best of 1979.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I know I mentioned an autographed Dave Goltz in my 1978 blog entry. Here I am again. But wait, there’s a good reason. As I looked at this card (#27), I thought the player’s face/picture/stance/something was familiar to me. I thought he looked like another player from another era.

After not too long I realized a likeness to Mr. Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh from my favorite baseball movie Bull Durham. I’m sure most of you will think I’m nuts. But let me know, is there any resemblance? Is it the way he wears the hat, the striping on the sleeves, or the blue long-sleeved undershirt? Maybe the V-neck?

While I was digging for a picture for Nuke, I came across a USA Today article about the real-life inspiration for the Nuke character – Steve Dalkowski. It’s worth a read. His numbers were crazy.
So, I’m going with my signed 1979 Dave Goltz card as my favorite Twin in the 1979 Topps set exclusively because of my probably incorrect perception that he looks like the fictional character Nuke LaLoosh and that I loved that movie and have seen it too many times.
What do you all think? Does anyone know Gary Serum or his restaurant? What do you all think of Nuke LaLoosh and Bull Durham? I would love to see your opinions, comments, or stories below.
Go Twins.

Welcome to my review of the 1979 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins player cards in that set. Once again, Rod Carew is the Twins lone superstar from that era. Mr. Carew will make an appearance later in this post.
When it comes to my review of any of the late 1970s Topps cards, I have come to the realization that I am not a fan of the design of most years. Some years are better than others, of course. But I have also come to recognize that my opinion is probably clouded by two things. I am a little too young to have been fully invested in those Twins teams of the late 1970s. Secondly, the teams were just not that great. And those two things might have been a chicken and egg thing. Was I not that interested because they were bad, or was I just too young?
For me, this design fits the “just OK” category. I find the design and pictures to be simple, some might say boring. The bottom of the card lists the player’s name and position. Under that is a banner with the player’s team. There are 726 cards in the set with 29 Twins cards.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Throughout my blog series of Topps baseball cards and Twins players, I hope I have not offended anyone by using the phrase “most obscure.” Obviously, these guys I select as the most obscure are far more accomplished than I. But reviewing each year’s players is captivating to me in that some players appear only briefly then fade from our memories. I try to do somewhat of an internet dive and try to figure out what happened to that player and where they went. When I select the most obscure, if I have a few choices, I tend to go with the player who has an interesting story. My choice as the most obscure Twins Player in the 1979 set is local, so if anyone who knows him reads this, I mean no disrespect. For 1979, I chose Gery Serum’s card (#627) as the most obscure Twins player in the Topps set.

As an aside, where the heck is that field in the background of the picture? That looks worse than any rec league field that I played on or that my son plays on nowadays. Sandlots are fine, but shouldn’t a professional be playing on a better field?
Gary Serum is an Upper Midwesterner. He was born in Fargo, ND. He graduated high school in Alexandria, MN. For college, he first attended Moorhead State University then St. Cloud State University. The Twins signed Serum after college as an amateur free agent.
Despite being a free agent, Serum quickly worked his way through the Twins’ minor league system and by 1977 he was called up to the Twins and first appeared on July 22. He played the full season in 1978 for the Twins pitching 184.1 innings with a record of 9-9 including six complete games and one shutout. He pitched part of 1979 for the Twins then never played Major League Baseball again.
After his playing career, Serum opened a restaurant in Anoka, MN, so go check it out. I’m sure many of you have.
THE BEST
Once again, the most valuable Twins card in the 1979 Topps set is a Rod Carew card, the #1 Batting Leaders card with Dave Parker. I do like combo cards. But let’s also acknowledge Mr. Carew’s other last card as a Twin. His base card (#300) is an all-star card. And it’s the end of an era. Carew was traded to the Angels in February of 1979.


The all-star card has a simple difference from the regular base card in that it has another banner on the card labeling the player as an all-star. For some reason, for me personally, that upgrades the card quite a bit over the plain 1979 Topps base card. It seems like a small thing that would not affect my opinion, but for me it makes the card much more compelling than a regular base card and simply better overall.
So, those two Carew cards kind of tie for me as the best of 1979.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I know I mentioned an autographed Dave Goltz in my 1978 blog entry. Here I am again. But wait, there’s a good reason. As I looked at this card (#27), I thought the player’s face/picture/stance/something was familiar to me. I thought he looked like another player from another era.

After not too long I realized a likeness to Mr. Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh from my favorite baseball movie Bull Durham. I’m sure most of you will think I’m nuts. But let me know, is there any resemblance? Is it the way he wears the hat, the striping on the sleeves, or the blue long-sleeved undershirt? Maybe the V-neck?

While I was digging for a picture for Nuke, I came across a USA Today article about the real-life inspiration for the Nuke character – Steve Dalkowski. It’s worth a read. His numbers were crazy.
So, I’m going with my signed 1979 Dave Goltz card as my favorite Twin in the 1979 Topps set exclusively because of my probably incorrect perception that he looks like the fictional character Nuke LaLoosh and that I loved that movie and have seen it too many times.
What do you all think? Does anyone know Gary Serum or his restaurant? What do you all think of Nuke LaLoosh and Bull Durham? I would love to see your opinions, comments, or stories below.
Go Twins.

Welcome to my review of the 1978 Topps baseball card set and the Minnesota Twins. There really are not any Twins superstars in this set other than Rod Carew. It’s easy to see how the Twins weren’t world beaters in the late 1970s.
In my judgment, the 1978 Topps baseball card design is one of their better designs during the late 1970s. I like the script team name in the lower left corner, the small baseball in the upper right corner listing the player’s position, and the player’s name at the bottom of the card in plain black. It’s a straightforward design that works well in my opinion. It’s not busy and the result is a focus on the player picture. There are 726 cards in the set with 28 Twins cards.
My focus here is on Twins cards, but I will mention the set has the rookie cards of two local boys who later played for the Twins, each of whom were inducted in the Hall of Fame – Jack Morris and Paul Molitor. Each shares their rookie cards with three other players. The Molitor card famously includes a second Hall of Famer, Alan Trammell.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
During a preliminary review, I narrowed it to five options of who could be the most obscure Twin in 1978 Topps set, but four of those players played four years or more. While not great or even good, those four did manage to play at least four years in Major League Baseball. Bob Gorinski only played one season and he has only one Topps card, so he seems the obvious choice as the most obscure Twins player represented in the 1978 Topps set.

Gorinski was a first-round pick of the Twins in the 1970 draft out of high school in Pennsylvania. He was picked 22nd ahead of a couple relief pitching Hall of Famers – Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter – who were each chosen a round later.
Gorinski slowly worked his way up the Twins’ minor league system. Baseball Reference shows he played part of the 1975 for the White Sox AAA affiliate, but I cannot find details on how he got there. In 1976 he was back with the Twins AAA affiliate in Tacoma. According to Wikipedia, Gorinski led his league in home runs in 1970, 1972, 1974, and 1976. Seven years after being drafted, Gorinski finally debuted with the Twins on April 10, 1977. He played 54 games that season as a backup corner outfielder. He batted an underwhelming .195/.226/.322 and hit three home runs. He never appeared in Major League Baseball after that season.
THE BEST
Here we go again with the obvious choice of Rod Carew as the best card in this set. There just are not a lot of Twins stars in this era.

But is Carew’s card really the choice as best Twins card in the set? What if there is a 1978 Topps Twins card showing a rookie who might make and probably should make the Hall of Fame? Shouldn’t that card be the best Twins card of the 1978 set? Well, I believe Lou Whitaker should and will make the Hall of Fame someday. Yes, he never played for the Twins, but he does share his rookie card with Sam Perlozzo of the Twins and two others. Anytime you have a rookie card of a Hall of Famer or potential Hall of Famer, you have to say that’s a special card. We’ll see if Mr. Whitaker is ever selected.

The Perlozzo/Whitaker rookie card is my choice for best Twins card of the set.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
I have two options for my personal favorite Twins cards in the 1978 Topps set.
I have an autographed Dave Goltz card in my collection. Anytime I have a signed card, it’s got to be in the running for a personal favorite card of mine in any particular set.

However, I’m going in a different direction for my 1978 selection as my personal favorite card. Gene Mauch was a backup infielder for nine MLB seasons and six franchises. He later had an extensive managerial career of 26 years. His 1978 Topps card shows pictures of him as a player and many years later as the manager of the Twins. I love that the back of the card has his statistics as a player. I can’t say with certainty, but suspect this will be the only time in my blog series about baseball cards where I will select a manager as my favorite Twins card of that year.


I would say the 1978 Topps set is better than 1977, which I deemed better than 1976. What do you all think? Does anyone have any memories of Bob Gorinski? I would love to see your opinions and comments below.
Go Twins.

Hello again Twins fans! This is another post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. Please share your opinions, stories, comments, and memories below.
1977 Topps
Overall, I think it’s safe to say the mid to late 70s cards are not my favorite. But 1977 might be little better than the other sets of this era. Again, the Twins do not have a plethora of stars in the 1977 set. The 1977 Topps baseball card design is, I would say, good. I like the large team name, italicized, and outlined in black. In the case of Twins cards, the player names are in red and there is a yellow banner with the player’s position. I just don’t love it, maybe because of the photography. I don’t find many of the pictures interesting. There are 660 standard-sized cards in the set with 25 Twins cards including the Butch Wynegar rookie card. The images below are courtesy of www.tcdb.com.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Similar to prior sets, I found about half a dozen possibilities for the most obscure Twins player in the this set. After extensive research, Jim Gideon is my choice for most obscure player in the 1977 Topps baseball card set.

This is Gideon’s one and only Topps card and he only gets a quarter of it. He’s not even the player on the card who ended up with the most significant Twins career – Dave Johnson pitched in 36 games for the Twins in 1977 and 1978 after being picked up from the Mariners part way through the 1977 season. Gideon never pitched for the Twins. In fact, his only MLB action was a single start with the Texas Rangers in 1975.
Gideon was born and raised in Texas. He went to the University of Texas where he was part of the 1975 team that won the College World Series. He was co-captain that season and was outstanding, finishing with a record of 17-0. No college pitcher has ever had more wins in a season when they had zero losses. He ultimately finished his college career with 40 wins. In 2000 he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
To continue the Texas theme, the Rangers used their first-round draft pick to select Gideon in the 1975 draft. He made 13 AAA starts before starting that one MLB game on September 14, 1975. He pitched 5.2 innings giving up 7 hits, 5 walks, and 6 runs.
In the middle of the 1976 season, he was traded to the Twins. The details on that trade are summarized later in this blog entry. Because Gideon had been a first-round draft pick just the summer before, I would imagine he was seen as an integral part of the trade.
Gideon played in the Twins minor league system until 1979. He went back to the Rangers in 1982 playing for their AA team before retiring.
THE BEST
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Rod Carew #120 is the most valuable Twins card in the 1977 set. I also considered the Butch Wynegar rookie card #175. It’s got the rookie cup. Wynegar was a great player early in his career. He started out strong with all-star selections in his first two years, finishing second in rookie of the year voting in 1976. In 1977 he was only 21 years old, but the picture to me looks like he’s 15. Love that card, but I’m going with the Carew all-star card as the best Twins card of the year.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
The Roy Smalley card (#66) is my personal favorite Twins card in the 1977 set.

For the 1976 set, I selected the Dan Ford as my favorite Twins card in large part because of the facial hair. Was Smalley selected here based solely on the mustache? I have other reasons.
Growing up when I did, Smalley was my favorite player. He filled a void after Carew was traded before the 1979 season. Another reason I selected this as my favorite card for this series is related to memories of his trades. He was included in three trades involving the Twins and I think they won them all including the first one which was a big one.
1976: Traded by the Texas Rangers to the Twins with our friend Jim Gideon above, Mike Cubbage, and Bill Singer, for the disgruntled Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. The Twins received 25.8 WAR from that trade while the Rangers got 10.5. 1982: Traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Paul Boris, Ron Davis, and Greg Gagne. Smalley was worth 6.1 WAR with the Yankees. Despite Ron Davis sucking for his Twins career, the Twins still won that trade because Mr. Gagne became a key piece of their 1987 and 1991 World Series championship teams. Gagne was a great fielder. If he could have laid off the low and away curve/slider maybe he would have been a good hitter as well. He did have some pop, hitting 111 home runs in his career. He achieved a 17.9 WAR with the Twins. 1985: Traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Twins for Ron Scheer and Randy Johnson. The Twins won this trade too. While Smalley was winding down his career, he still provided 2.1 of WAR. He was a valuable backup infielder, DH, and pinch hitter on the 1987 World Series team. Scheer never made it to MLB. Randy Johnson, who I for some reason loved in 1982, also never made it back to the major league level. There you go fans. In my judgment the 1977 design is better than the 1976 design. To me, a lot of these late 70s sets run together. We’ll see shortly how the 1978 and 1979 sets stack up.
As always, I would love to see your opinions and comments below. And Go Twins.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
• Happy Birthday, Tom Johnson and Denny Hocking
• Twins Trade Ramos for Power and Stigman
• First MLB Game at Target Field 
April 2
Happy Birthday, Tom Johnson
Happy birthday to former Twins pitcher Tom Johnson, born in St. Paul in 1951. He had a stellar season out of the Twins bullpen in 1977, earning 16 wins (all in relief) and 15 saves. Those 16 wins were ninth-most in the American League, and 15 saves were seventh-most. I wonder how many guys have finished top-10 in both wins and saves in the same season. His 71 appearances were second in the AL only to the Yankees’ Sparky Lyle. Johnson even received MVP votes.

Johnson graduated from St. Paul’s Murray High School (now a middle school) in 1969, the same year Dave Winfield graduated from St. Paul Central. Both players accepted scholarships to play for coaches Dick Siebert and Jerry Kindall at the University of Minnesota, but Johnson backed out at the last minute and signed a professional contract with the Twins.
Johnson’s MLB debut is an interesting story. It came at Met Stadium on September 10, 1974 (age 23), starting the top of the 14th in relief of 1961 St. Cloud Cathedral graduate Tom Burgmeier. The Twins had a 4-1 lead entering the ninth when White Sox catcher Brian Downing hit a three-run homer off Bill Campbell to tie it up. Each team scored in the 11th and 13th innings for a 6-6 tie going into the top of the 14th.
Johnson struck out the first batter he faced, Eddie Leon. He gave up a single to the second batter, Jorge Orta. During the next at-bat, Johnson had Orta picked off first but made a throwing error, allowing Orta to advance to second. Orta later came around to score, with the run being unearned, despite the error being on Johnson himself.
Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the inning, Eric Soderholm reached on a two-out single, and scored the tying run on a Tony Oliva double. Johnson came back out to pitch a 1-2-3 top of the 15th.
With one out in the bottom of the inning, Goose Gossage walked Rod Carew, who stole second, and scored on a Larry Hisle walk-off single, giving Johnson the win over future Hall of Famer Goose Gossage in his major league debut.
Johnson also earned the win in his second appearance three days later (September 13), again with Carew scoring the walk-off run, this time with a home run leading off the 10th.
He pitched in both halves of a doubleheader on September 14, earning a save in Game 1. That was it for Johnson in 1974. In four major league appearances he earned two wins and a save. He pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and a walk for a 0.571 WHIP.
In 1975 and ’76, he split time between triple-A Tacoma and the Twins.
1977 was his lone standout season (as noted above).
He struggled during 18 appearances in 1978, his final major league season. Perhaps he been too much of a workhorse the previous season.
Read Jim McKernon‘s SABR BioProject essay on Johnson.
April 2
Happy Birthday, Denny Hocking
Happy birthday to Twins fan-favorite Denny Hocking, born in Southern California on this date in 1953. He played 11 seasons in a Twins uniform, from 1993 to 2003.
Fun Fact: When the Twins drafted him in the 52nd round out of El Camino College in his hometown of Torrance, CA after his freshman year in 1989, Hocking was a right-handed hitting catcher, but they told him he had a better chance of making it to the majors if he became a switch-hitting infielder. 
He had five consecutive three-hit games at single-A Visalia in 1992. (His .331 average was second-best on the Oaks that season behind Marty Cordova‘s .341.) 
Hocking had two five-hit games with the Twins:
• 5-for-6 with three doubles in Detroit on June 27, 1999
• 5-for-6 with two doubles in Oakland on May 18, 2000
The Twins retired number 7 in 2019. 

 
April 2, 1962
Twins Trade Ramos For Power and Stigman
It what is commonly considered the first major trade in team history, the Twins traded Pedro Ramos to Cleveland for four-time All-Star Vic Power and Nimrod, MN native and 1960 All-Star Dick Stigman on this date in 1962.
Ramos started the first regular season game in Twins history, pitching a three-hit shutout opposing Whitey Ford at Yankee Stadium on April 11, 1961. Ramos, himself, knocked Whitey out of that game, with a two-run single in the seventh. 
Ramos was involved in an interesting piece of Twins history on May 12, 1961, as he and Angels pitcher Eli Grba traded homers off each other. Grba homered off Ramos in the top of the fifth to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Ramos returned the favor in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. He added a two-run single in the sixth, and the Twins held on to win 5-4, with the pitcher Ramos driving in the final three runs.
Minnesota native Dick Stigman went 12-5 in 40 appearances (15 starts) in his first season with the Twins.

1963 was his best season. He pitched a three-hit shutout in his second start of the season on April 18, and went on to post a 15-15 record in 33 starts. That’s just three no-decisions! He posted career-bests with a 3.25 ERA, 1.207 WHIP, 15 complete games, and 193 strikeouts, finishing third in the American League in the latter two categories. (Camilo Pascual led the league in both. Pedro Ramos, incidentally, was second in the AL with a 1.067 WHIP, and 8.237 strikeouts per nine innings with Cleveland that season.)
Vic Power won the Gold Glove at first base in each of his three seasons with the Twins, bringing his career total to seven. 
April 2, 2010
First MLB Game at Target Field
The Twins and Cardinals played an exhibition game at Target Field—the first major league game at the new ballpark—on this date in 2010. Center fielder Denard Span had himself a day, collecting the stadium’s first hit (a triple, of course), first home run, and first run scored.
Jacque Jones, attempting a comeback with the club, made a pinch-hitting appearance. Who remembers the standing ovation he received? I still get goosebumps thinking about it. 

Hello again Twins fans! This is another post in my series about Minnesota Twins baseball cards. Please share your opinions, stories, comments, and memories below.
1977 Topps
Overall, I think it’s safe to say the mid to late 70s cards are not my favorite. But 1977 might be little better than the other sets of this era. Again, the Twins do not have a plethora of stars in the 1977 set. The 1977 Topps baseball card design is, I would say, good. I like the large team name, italicized, and outlined in black. In the case of Twins cards, the player names are in red and there is a yellow banner with the player’s position. I just don’t love it, maybe because of the photography. I don’t find many of the pictures interesting. There are 660 standard-sized cards in the set with 25 Twins cards including the Butch Wynegar rookie card. The images below are courtesy of www.tcdb.com.
MOST OBSCURE PLAYER
Similar to prior sets, I found about half a dozen possibilities for the most obscure Twins player in the this set. After extensive research, Jim Gideon is my choice for most obscure player in the 1977 Topps baseball card set.

This is Gideon’s one and only Topps card and he only gets a quarter of it. He’s not even the player on the card who ended up with the most significant Twins career – Dave Johnson pitched in 36 games for the Twins in 1977 and 1978 after being picked up from the Mariners part way through the 1977 season. Gideon never pitched for the Twins. In fact, his only MLB action was a single start with the Texas Rangers in 1975.
Gideon was born and raised in Texas. He went to the University of Texas where he was part of the 1975 team that won the College World Series. He was co-captain that season and was outstanding, finishing with a record of 17-0. No college pitcher has ever had more wins in a season when they had zero losses. He ultimately finished his college career with 40 wins. In 2000 he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
To continue the Texas theme, the Rangers used their first-round draft pick to select Gideon in the 1975 draft. He made 13 AAA starts before starting that one MLB game on September 14, 1975. He pitched 5.2 innings giving up 7 hits, 5 walks, and 6 runs.
In the middle of the 1976 season, he was traded to the Twins. The details on that trade are summarized later in this blog entry. Because Gideon had been a first-round draft pick just the summer before, I would imagine he was seen as an integral part of the trade.
Gideon played in the Twins minor league system until 1979. He went back to the Rangers in 1982 playing for their AA team before retiring.
THE BEST
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Rod Carew #120 is the most valuable Twins card in the 1977 set. I also considered the Butch Wynegar rookie card #175. It’s got the rookie cup. Wynegar was a great player early in his career. He started out strong with all-star selections in his first two years, finishing second in rookie of the year voting in 1976. In 1977 he was only 21 years old, but the picture to me looks like he’s 15. Love that card, but I’m going with the Carew all-star card as the best Twins card of the year.

PERSONAL FAVORITE
The Roy Smalley card (#66) is my personal favorite Twins card in the 1977 set.

For the 1976 set, I selected the Dan Ford as my favorite Twins card in large part because of the facial hair. Was Smalley selected here based solely on the mustache? I have other reasons.
Growing up when I did, Smalley was my favorite player. He filled a void after Carew was traded before the 1979 season. Another reason I selected this as my favorite card for this series is related to memories of his trades. He was included in three trades involving the Twins and I think they won them all including the first one which was a big one.
1976: Traded by the Texas Rangers to the Twins with our friend Jim Gideon above, Mike Cubbage, and Bill Singer, for the disgruntled Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson. The Twins received 25.8 WAR from that trade while the Rangers got 10.5. 1982: Traded by the Twins to the New York Yankees for Paul Boris, Ron Davis, and Greg Gagne. Smalley was worth 6.1 WAR with the Yankees. Despite Ron Davis sucking for his Twins career, the Twins still won that trade because Mr. Gagne became a key piece of their 1987 and 1991 World Series championship teams. Gagne was a great fielder. If he could have laid off the low and away curve/slider maybe he would have been a good hitter as well. He did have some pop, hitting 111 home runs in his career. He achieved a 17.9 WAR with the Twins. 1985: Traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Twins for Ron Scheer and Randy Johnson. The Twins won this trade too. While Smalley was winding down his career, he still provided 2.1 of WAR. He was a valuable backup infielder, DH, and pinch hitter on the 1987 World Series team. Scheer never made it to MLB. Randy Johnson, who I for some reason loved in 1982, also never made it back to the major league level. There you go fans. In my judgment the 1977 design is better than the 1976 design. To me, a lot of these late 70s sets run together. We’ll see shortly how the 1978 and 1979 sets stack up.
As always, I would love to see your opinions and comments below. And Go Twins.