The 1984 baseball season was a magical one for your average 12-year-old fan just discovering the joys of the game.
From all-time great teams to lovable underdogs, from breakout youngsters to record-setting graybeards, from learning to love a bad team to gasping at the wonders of in-person baseball…1984 had it all.
And all that came rushing back this week when we ran down some baseball cards from 1984 that just happened to sell well recently…
But the 1984 baseball cards that really matter?
They’re these ones. The ones that tell the story of a season through the wide eyes of a boy falling in love with a game…and a hobby.
1984 Topps Traded Barbaro Garbey (#41T)
As the Tigers reeled off eight straight wins to start the season and streaked to 35-5 to basically win the American League East by June, Garbey tore off on a streak of his own.
Batting .400 through the first week of May while helping propel the hottest team in the land does wonders for a rookie’s profile, and checking Garbey’s line in the Sunday paper quickly became a ritual.
Barbaro fell off that pace, of course, but his end-of-season cards were still must-haves because you never knew when he might Ted Williams us for a full campaign.
1984 Topps Tony Gwynn (#251)
Gwynn, on the other hand, was steady as she goes. And, by the time the Padres rolled into Riverfront for my first-ever in-person game, the Padres right fielder was hitting .360+.
All his cards were on fire, and this one was still popping out of packs across the land.
1984 Donruss Don Mattingly (#248)
Also popping out of packs across the land were the rookie cards of another upstart, this one toiling under the hero-melting spotlight of Yankee Stadium.
Young Don Mattingly was unflapped, though, and engaged in a summer-long head-to-head battle with teammate Dave Winfield for the American League batting crown.
Donnie Baseball would prevail, and his 1984 Donruss rookie card would change the way we looked at new issues forever. Think it’s impossible to pull a $3 card right out of a pack? How about $5? Or 10?
The 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly begs to differ.
1984 Topps Dan Driessen (#585)
Driessen was the first big league player I ever saw in person, taking fielding practice at first when Mom, Dad, and I popped out from the bowels of the Riverfront concourse and into the evening sun at that June game.
*POP*
It sounded like his mitt exploded every time he fielded a ball, and he didn’t even flinch. Just whipped the rock back across the diamond as easy as taking a breath.
“That guys is good!” Dad said.
And so he was.
And so, the Driessen card that was in the box of a couple hundred Reds cards, that had made the trip to the Stadium with me because I was going to get them all autographed (I got zero of them signed), was gold.
Still is.
1984 Topps Traded Rick Sutcliffe (#115T)
The Cubs and Mets started out the 1984 season jockeying for first place in the old National League East division. Everybody knew it couldn’t last.
But, come June, when they were both still hanging around, the Cubs made their move, trading for Rick Sutcliffe.
It really didn’t seem like that big of a deal to 12-year-old me, seeing as how the Red Baron was 4-5 with a 5.15 ERA for the Indians. After a 16-1 mark that helped the Cubs land a division title and Sutcliffe a Cy Young, I and everyone else were thrilled to get our paws on his first Wrigley cards.
1984 Topps Traded Pete Rose (#103T)
Meanwhile, Rose, who had helped the Phillies to an unexpected East title and National League pennant in 1983, had landed his free agent ship north of the border.
4000 hits followed and then, thankfully, a trade back to the Cincinnati Reds, in August.
It didn’t save us from seeing Rose in an Expos uniform that fall, though (and on some 1985 cards, too).
1984 Fleer Update Dwight Gooden (#U43)
The Mets didn’t win any crowns in 1984, but they did field the most mythical young pitcher many of us had ever seen.
Except…it wasn’t at all easy to actually see Dwight Gooden.
No cards, few television appearances, just an occasional blurry, black-and-white newspaper photo.
But the stories and stats told us everything — 19-year-old Gooden was a phenom for the ages, a young man destined for greatness.
He got there, if all too briefly, and helped establish 1984 Fleer Update as a hobby force along the way.
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What are your memories of 1984? Or any other season, for that matter?
And what baseball cards take you right back?
I’d love to hear your picks!
Until next time, keep an eye out for the moments and images and cards of this summer — 2022 — that will someday form the tapestry of your memories.
You know, when these are the good ol’ days.
Thanks for reading!
Adam
I enjoy your articles and wanted to tell you there isn't much joy left in today's game or any pro sport for that matter. I'm 59. I started coming of age in the glorious 70s. In a nutshell, if I had absolute power the game would instantly revert to pre-DH baseball. MLB since the Bud Selig era has constantly been watered down and dumbed down. Inter-league play ruins the pennant race, Brewers and Astros switched league, 4 pitch intentional walk done away with (ever see a wild pitch on an intentional walk allowing a runner to score or runners advance? I have), DH is an abomination, play call reviews, there going to have robo umps soon, analytics,there going to have larger bases, Gabe Kapler, auto runner on 2nd start of each extra inning, pitch counts, sloppy fitting uniforms, players "expressing themselves w/ their preferred shoes, Chase Utley Rule, Buster Posey Rule, relievers have to face a certain amount of batters, ridiculous MLB mandated generic 4th of July unis, Military apprec unis on and on...
Sincerely,
Rick Pizzo