Oversized in My Collection: 1987 Donruss All-Stars

In my Saturday series on oversized cards, I've previously featured the 1984 Donruss All-Stars and the 1985 Donruss All-Stars.  I'm skipping over 1986, and showing my 1987 Donruss All-Stars today.  The reason for skipping is that I actually have the entire set from 1986, and I plan to show them all in a sequence of posts.  For 1984 and 1985, I only had five cards from each set and showed them all; 1987 is like that for me -- I have ten of these (nine different), and am showing them all.

Tony Pena.

Dave Parker.

To start, we have two of my favorite players, Tony Pena (who would soon leave the Pirates for the Cardinals) and Dave Parker (who had recently left the Pirates for the Reds).  Pena didn't have a chance to be a part of a good Pirates team, but by trading him away, they got some talent from the Cards who led the Pirates postseason drive of the early 1990s.  Parker still had some good years ahead of him here, and went on to be part of the great late 80s/early 90s Oakland teams.

Dave Smith.

Keith Hernandez.

These two players, Dave Smith and Keith Hernandez, faced each other in the 1986 NLCS.  Smith was the losing pitcher in Game 3, blowing a save.  Hernandez went 2-for-4 in Game 3, en route to the Mets winning the World Series.  Hernandez didn't actually bat against Smith in that game; Smith gave up a single to Wally Backman, then Danny Heep flied out, then Lenny Dykstra hit a walk-off home run.

Brook Jacoby.

Mike Witt.

Moving to the AL, we have Brook Jacoby and Mike Witt.  I've mentioned Witt before on the blog; he also was in the 1986 playoffs, with the Angels losing to the Red Sox.  Witt is perhaps best known for a perfect game, and also for appearing in relief to combine with Mark Langston for a no-hitter.  Witt finished his career with a 117-116 record and a 3.83 ERA.  I honestly don't remember Brook Jacoby, but I see that he played in the majors from 1981-1992 with the Braves, Indians, and A's, and was a two-time All-Star. 

Chris Brown.

Whitey Herzog.

I've featured Chris Brown in one of my boxed set posts before; I'll say what I said then, that I don't remember him.  Brown was an All-Star in 1986 and retired after 1989.  According to Wikipedia, Brown died in 2006, "after he suffered burns in a fire at a vacant house he owned."

Then we have Whitey Herzog, who is featured here in this 1987 set because the Cardinals won the NL pennant in 1985.  I find the two-year time lag interesting, but that's how it is -- winning the pennant in 1985 made Herzog the NL All-Star manager in 1986, which leads to a card in 1987.

Rich Gedman.

Finally, I will close with Rich Gedman.  For some reason I have two of this card; I considered scanning them both and posting them side-by-side, but that seemed like overkill.  Gedman was the Red Sox catcher for their pennant-winning 1986 team.  After 1986, he stopped playing as many games, and retired after 1992.

I'm running out of oversized cards to show in my Saturday series, but I do still have some Phillies team-issued cards, and the complete set of the 1986 Donruss All-Stars.  I'm also interested in picking up more Topps Supers.  So the series will continue for a few more weeks, at least.