From My Collection: A Few Food-Issue Cards

I have one binder of my favorite cards, a secondary binder focusing on certain years from what we now know as the junk wax era, and a bunch of plastic boxes for my thousands of other cards.  I like my main binder to showcase not only my favorite players, but also all sorts of novelties and different sets.  These are a few food-issue cards that I don't have in my binder -- they're not favorite players, and some things just don't fit.

1988 Chef Boyardee Mike Scott and Frank Viola.

Two major pitchers in the second half of the 80s were Mike Scott and Frank Viola.  In reading The Bad Guys Won! about the 1986 Mets, I learned that they really feared facing Scott, and they believed he was scuffing the ball.  Years later, he admitted to scuffing the ball.  It's disappointing, but I guess it explains why he suddenly got so much better -- his early career numbers aren't great.  Frank Viola I remember as being one of the key players on the 1987 Twins championship team.  He was later traded to the Mets, and his best years were behind him, although he had a good year in 1990, it looks.

1987 Ralston Purina Gary Carter.

I posted about Gary Carter before, focusing on his cards with the Expos until 1980.  To recap, mainly, I didn't like the Mets, as they were divisional rivals to our local Phillies and my favorite Pirates.  I didn't like Gary Carter, but my only reason is that he was on the Mets.  Nothing personal.

Drake's Cakes John Mayberry.

I think I have had this John Mayberry card for a long time.  Perhaps we actually pulled it from a box of Drake's.  I don't know much about Mayberry, but I see that his career ran from 1968-1982, with the Astros, Royals, Blue Jays, and Yankees.  He was a two-time All-Star and finished high in the MVP vote a few times.  In 1973 with the Royals, he led the league in walks and in on-base percentage.