From My Collection: Sports Illustrated for Kids Perforated Cards

I have three Sports Illustrated for Kids cards, although I guess this depends how you count.  I actually have 9 cards, but only 3 are baseball players.  The others are from other sports, such as Ivan Lendl the tennis player.  And I actually have two copies of each -- the magazine was a freebie at a Phillies game that Dad and I went to, so Dad and I each got one, which meant that I got two.  Nine cards come on a perforated sheet, and I kept one sheet intact and took one apart.

Will Clark.

Will Clark card back.

I've said before that I think Will Clark is over-represented in my collection.  He was a big deal for a few years, I guess, and although I didn't especially care about collecting him, it was unavoidable.  Since he was a big deal, many of the cards of him which I acquired ended up in either my primary or secondary binder.  Since I stopped watching baseball because of the 1994 strike, it's interesting to me to find out what became of some of the stars of the 1987-1994 period.  Will Clark was an All-Star several times, and won a Gold Glove and a couple of Silver Sluggers, but none of that occurred after 1994.  He stayed in the majors until 2000, and was on the Hall of Fame ballot only one year, getting fewer than the necessary 5% of votes to remain on the ballot.

John Franco.

John Franco card back.

I remember John Franco as a good relief pitcher.  He left the Reds just before they won the World Series, and spent 1990-2004 with the Mets (although he was out with injuries all year in 2002).  Similarly to Will Clark, Franco appeared only once on the Hall of Fame ballot, scoring less than the 5% threshold to remain.

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Cal Ripken, Jr. card back.

Cal Ripken, Jr. was a local hero, since we weren't too far from Baltimore.  It was really something to watch him become a national hero, though, when he broke baseball's Iron Man record for consecutive games played.

Overall, these are fun cards.  The trivia questions on the card backs are ridiculously easy, but I guess they're for little kids.  I won't go out of my way to get any more of the Sports Illustrated for Kids cards, but I'm glad there are a few in my collection.