Sets in My Collection: 1982 K-Mart 20th Anniversary MVPs

Box of 1982 K-Mart set.

I have a lot of boxed sets in my collection.  I went in for novelties in general, and I would tend to buy any of these boxed sets that I saw.  This is the oldest one I have, dating from 1982, commemorating K-Mart's 20th anniversary.  It has a certain logic to it, in that K-mart was 20 years old at the time, and the cards review events from that 20-year timespan.  Future boxed sets didn't have such a compelling narative.

1962 NL MVP Maury Wills, again featuring the card that never existed.

1979 AL MVP Don Baylor, may he rest in peace.

The cards feature the MVPs from both the NL and the AL for each year in the given timeframe.  I must have bought this at a show; it would have already been at least 5 years old when I bought it.  The cards were well-preserved in their box, and all have nice, sharp corners.

I'll take this opportunity to comment on Don Baylor's passing.  I hadn't heard the news that he died until a few days after, when I saw a tribute on another baseball card blog.  As I've mentioned before, I've always been a fan of the near-Hall-of-Famers, and I think Baylor fits neatly into that category.  I thought of him earlier this year when Pirates infielder Josh Harrison was hit by pitches in four consecutive at-bats; I heard many years ago that Baylor was one of baseball's all-time leaders in being hit by pitches.  I don't think I had any of his cards set aside in my binder of favorite cards, so I'm glad that I came across this card from the K-Mart set to post.