5 Baseball Cards I'm Thankful for TODAY

Better than that turkey-and-pumpkin-pie sandwich you're planning to eat for lunch!

Yeah, yeah, Thanksgiving is a few days in the rearview mirror now, and everyone is already drunk on the Kristmas Kool-Aid. Bah humbug.

But as I was perusing the baseball birthdays for today, I realized that the wax-pack era is really well-represented. Seems the members of the Future Parents of Baseball Babies like to spend late February all cozied up.

Heck, I could probably spend months dribbling on about all the guys who were born on November 26 and who appeared on a bubble gum card or 12 once upon a time.

For now, though, I’ll limit myself to these guys, who directly impacted my game enjoyment and collectorhood.

1978 Topps Jeff Torborg (#351)

I didn’t know much about Torborg until he picked up the gauntlet of guiding the White Sox in 1989. It was a bad team that he turned around with a little help from a Big Hurt.

Before that, I think I had run into this card once or twice. Manager cards were never all that cool in my circles (though my circles were tiny). Still, it was an “old” card to me, and it was amazing to think that Torborg was not only still breathing but actually managing in the big leagues considering that the pic of his playing days appeared to hail from the time of the original nativity.

Plus that old Indians patch on that old Indians jacket makes the whole card something to behold, don’t you think?

1979 Topps Larry Gura (#19)

At some point in the first few years of my collecting “career,” I was able to get hold of a shoebox full of 1979 Topps baseball cards. Not all of the stars were in there, but some of them were, including those (for me) mind-blowing all-time record holder cards that showed Hack Wilson and Walter Johnson right alongside Hank Aaron and Nolan Ryan.

One other thing that struck me about the 1979s, and that still strikes me about them, was just how sunny and bright they were/are.

Larry Gura fits the bill, even if he doesn’t seem all that thrilled about his situation in this pic. By then, though, I already knew that Gura was something of an ace for the Kansas City Royals, who were perennial contenders.

That made this card a real winner in my book, even if he did lose 18 games in 1983.

1981 Topps Bob Walk (#494)

Bob Walk was one of those constant companions of my wax pack exploits from 1981 on through the end of the true wax pack era — he pitched until 1993, when most cards came to our grubby little hands wrapped in something other than wax paper.

In between, I pulled dozens of Walk cards…maybe even hundreds. So I wasn’t all that fond of the dude considering all the space he took up in my collection.

Now, of course, any mention or sighting of Walk reminds me of the good old days, and I’m thankful for that.

These days, I can also appreciate the irony of a pitcher with the last name of “Walk,” which is something akin to a hitter named Wiffey, or a wide receiver named Bobble.

1985 Topps Mike Moore (#279)

I’ve lost count of how many Mike Moores I’ve known, or known of, over the course of my life. A handful, at least. Maybe a couple handsful.

“Mike Moore” is second only to “Mike Brown” in terms of duplicate names in the brittle yellow flipcards of my brain’s Rolodex.

Even so, I’m always happy to see this particular MikeMoore because he was another face of my wax-pack youth and because he always showed up, even if the results weren’t always spectacular.

To wit, Moore led the American League in starts four different times, in hits allowed twice, and in losses twice, including a gaudy 19 in 1987.

All of this from a former overall Number 1 draft pick who helped make the 1985 Topps set even more interesting than it already was.

1986 Topps Rich Hebner (#19)

It’s a rookie mistake that I still make — confusing Richie Hebner for Richie Zisk.

I mean, they’re clearly different players. Hebner stands 6’1” and weighed 195 pounds during his playing career. Zisk, meanwhile, weighed in at 6’1”, 200 pounds.

And Hebner played more years for the Pirates than for any other club. On the other hand, the plurality of Zisk’s playing time was spent with Pittsburgh.

For his career, Hebner hit .276 with 203 home runs and 890 RBI, while Zisk checked in at .287, 207 HR, 792 RBI.

Night and day.

Then there’s this…

Thanks to The Wax Pack, I learned that Hebner kept his baseball figure by digging graves in the offseason.

And there’s also this — the 1986 Topps Hebner card is a career capper, showing his entire career batting record. It’s also the second #19 on our list, which has to count for something.

Or 38 somethings.

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There are at least a couple other baseball blessings like these, courtesy of November 26, but I’ll leave something in reserve for you to discover on your own.

So…

What baseball cards are you most thankful for? I’d love to hear your picks.

Thanks for reading, and I hope your holiday season is off to a rip-roaring good time.

—Adam