5 Baseball Cards that Can't Forget October
Even if some of them might like to
We made it!
After a long season (though never long enough for my tastes), we’re finally here at the first weekend of the World Series. Who knows if there will be a second?
To celebrate the occasion, here are five baseball cards that always bring back some of the most memorable World Series moments that I’ve ever witnessed (all on TV — maybe there will be an in-person Fall Classic moment or two before my bucket is officially kicked).
1983 Topps Garry Maddox (#615)
As I’ve documented ad nauseam, the 1983 baseball postseason was the very first one I ever followed. Thanks mostly to Ron Kittle and what I perceived to be their underdog status, the White Sox were “my” American League team.
In the National League, rooting for the Phillies was an easy call thanks to the heavy former-Reds composition of their roster (Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan), the presence of Mike Schmidt, and the fact that they were going up against the Cincy-bane Dodgers.
Another Phils standout, Garry Maddox, had won nine straight Gold Gloves coming into the 1983 season. And, though he played in just 97 games that summer, he was still a beloved member of the team who garnered plenty of verbal kudos from announcers as October baseball unfolded.
For me, though, Maddox will forever be the hero of Game 1 of the 1983 World Series — his leadoff home run in the top of the eighth inning against Scott McGregor put the Phils up, 2-1, which would turn out to be the final score.
It was also Philadelphia’s only victory in the Series.
And wouldn’t you know it? Maddox lined out to a young Cal Ripken, Jr., at shortstop — hitting against McGregor, no less — for the final out of Game 5 and of the Series.
And that’s the image of my first World Series that’s burned forever into my gray matter.
1985 Topps Darryl Motley (#561)
Yeah, I know the overarching, everlasting image from the 1985 World Series involved a play at first base late in Game 6, just as it would in 1986.
I was rooting for the Royals all the way that fall, and I remember being beyond thrilled that K.C. had come back to tie the series after falling behind three games to one.
But I also thought the Cardinals would be honked off, and were probably the better team. Seemed like the Royals might have a tough row to hoe in Game 7.
Instead, the Cards and their fans whined about Game 6 for 24 hours and, as it turned out, for the next four decades and counting. Made it all that much easier to flip my “severe dislike” switch for the team when they ended up in the newly-formed National League Central division with my Reds a decade or so later.
But back to Game 7…
I was pretty relieved when Darryl Motley took John Tudor deep in the bottom of the second inning, driving home Steve Balboni (who might still be circling the bases as I type) in the process.
Two runs was a lot for those grind-’em-out teams, after all, and it was awesome that it was the Cards who would have to play catch-up.
Never did I expect the explosion that followed, or the Cards’ implosion, even with wunderkind Bret Saberhagen on the mound.
Still and all, that 11-0 final tally all started with Motley’s motley at-bat that ran to a full count before dismantling St. Louis. And this card was right there beside me on the bedroom floor when I watched him unload on the Cardinals’ dreams.
1987 Fleer World Series Dave Henderson (#10)
Aside from the National League Championship Series lasting only six games, the 1986 postseason was absolutely epic. And, also aside from that NLCS, one name figured in just about every big moment you could think of that October: Dave Henderson.
Hendu is easily the first name — and smiling face — I think of whenever that golden month comes up. And, yes, that even goes for Game 6.
You probably remember this, but…
With the Red Sox up three games to two, the two teams played to a 3-3 tie after nine innings in that Game 6 at Shea Stadium. Henderson was the first Boston batter up in the top of the tenth, and he untied things in a hurry, taking Rick Aguilera deep on an 0-1 pitch.
The card up there, inserted into hobby sets of the 1987 Fleer issue, is all about that moment.
Suddenly, the Red Sox were three of their own outs and three Mets outs away from breaking “The Curse.” Things got even better when they scored another run before the Mets came to bat.
And the bottom of the tenth unfolded swimmingly as Calvin Schiraldi retired the first two Mets batters.
Of course, the rest of the tenth unfolded drowningly for Boston, but…
Do you remember which Red Sox fielder recorded the last putout before tears flooded the Harbor?
Yeah, it was centerfielder Dave Henderson, clamping down on a Keith Hernandez flyball.
1989 Score Brett Butler (#216)
The 1989 World Series was memorable in many ways, even if the games themselves were pretty blah.
After getting rolled by the Dodgers the year before, the Oakland A’s were out for revenge, and they would show no mercy to their Bay Area neighbors. In the four-game sweep, Oakland outscored the San Francisco Giants, 32-14.
Not only that, the Giants never led any game at any point.
So the baseball was pretty blah.
The big news from the 1989 World Series, of course, was the devastating earthquake that struck just before Game 3 in San Francisco. Candlestick Park was one of countless structures that sustained major damage, and dozens of people were killed, thousands injured.
Baseball rightly put the Fall Classic on the back burner.
Originally scheduled for October 17, Game 3 had to wait until the 27th. The Series wrapped up the next night, later than any Series I had watched up to that point.
This Series was also sort of personal to me, and it became even more so in the years that followed.
A senior in high school that fall, I was caught up in all sorts of “interests” other than baseball. The diamond, for the first time in years, was sliding down my list of priorities.
But I was there in front of the tube every night, watching the A’s put the hurt on the Giants. And, when Brett Butler grounded out to end Game 4, a little piece of my childhood died as he hustled down the line.
I would never watch another October baseball game at “home” again.
1990 Donruss Jose Rijo (#115)
Of course, my Reds came through the next year in a big way. If I was ever in danger of falling off the baseball cliff for good, the spring, summer, and fall of 1990 cured me of my ills.
A wire-to-wire division championship, followed by a hard-fought six-game victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed by owning the mighty Bash Brothers A’s in the World Series was just the sort of thing I had dreamed about all through the 1980s.
Now, by the time October rolled around, I was a freshman in college and more distracted than ever. But I managed to park myself in front of the shared TV in the dorm lobby when the Reds were on.
And no one was more “on” than Jose Rijo. By the time the bottom of the ninth inning rolled around in Game 4, Rijo had one NLCS win, one World Series win, and eight strikeouts on the night under his belt.
Oh, and a 2-1 lead on the board.
Manager Lou Piniella could have pulled Rijo to start the inning and put fate in the hands of his vaunted Nasty Boys bullpen. Instead, he handed the ball to his ace one more time.
Rijo came through by striking out leadoff batter — wait for it — Dave Henderson. Believe it or not.
With nine strikeouts in (less than) nine innings, Rijo left the game, and Randy Myers slammed the door on Jose Canseco and Carney Lansford to seal the deal. Rijo was World Series MVP, and his blood-red 1990 Donruss baseball card became an instant classic, for me, anyway.
Now, I realize that “Classic” and “1990 Donruss” seldom appear in the same universe together. It’s a terrible, overproduced, hideous set right? More or less the epitome of Junk Wax?
Maybe.
But there’s at least a little part of me — the same part that thinks it’s bad luck to watch the other team bat and that 4192 is a lucky number — believes the baseball gods had a hand in all this.
I mean, can it really be a coincidence that Donruss fell on their sword to paint the hobby red the same year my Reds finally clicked? Smells fishy to me.
Or at least Donruss chemical-y.
In either case, it was — and is — a winning combination for a “kid” who would today trade a whole box of 1988 Sportflics and my entire Benny Distefano collection for a chance to watch just one more game at Riverfront Stadium.
—
So how about you?
Which baseball cards bring back big October memories for you?
I’d love to hear your picks.
In the meantime, here’s hoping the 1994 Expos somehow get a recount this week and deliver us from Yankees-Dodgers XII.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
These cards hit my sweet spot. As a Royals fan, I love your assessment of the 85 WS. And I agree with your take on the 86 postseason. That's a topic I'd like to write about in the near future.