Sets in My Collection: 1986 Topps Kay-Bee Young Superstars of Baseball

I've been featuring my 1980s boxed sets for months now, one per week on Sunday, and I'm down to the last two that I own.  In today's installment we have the 1986 Topps Kay-Bee Young Superstars of Baseball.  This is very similar to the 1988 set I previously posted, except by 1988 they had dropped the "young" designation and were just going for superstars; I don't own the 1987 version, but 1987 were also apparently just superstars, not young superstars.

Andy Van Slyke and Shawon Dunston.

By the time I had heard of Andy Van Slyke, he was on my Pirates, eventually helping to lead them to three straight NL East titles from 1990-1992.  That was a good trade the Bucs made with the Cardinals.  Shawon Dunston was a notable shortstop of the era, playing with the Cubs the whole time I was watching baseball back then, and making two All-Star appearances.

Shawon Dunston card back.

Like the 1988 set, the card backs appear to be inspired by the 1971 Topps design.  You see Dunston's 1985 and lifetime stats are identical, as he was young at the time.  He went on to play from 1985-2002, with the Cubs, Giants, Pirates, Indians, Cardinals, and Mets.

Kirby Puckett and Tony Gwynn.

A couple of these young superstars were going on to be some of baseball's biggest stars.  In 1986, Kirby Puckett had both his World Series wins ahead of him.  At that point, Tony Gwynn had won only 1 of his 8 NL batting titles.

Mariano Duncan and Julio Franco.

Mariano Duncan, pictured here with the Dodgers, was part of the 1990 Reds World Series Championship team, being their starting second baseman.  He batted .300 in the playoffs against the Pirates and .143 in the World Series against Oakland.  After I stopped watching baseball, he went on to win another World Series with the Yankees in 1996.  Julio Franco got away from the Phillies in the early 80s, and went on to be a great second baseman (and shortstop) mainly with the Indians and Rangers, but also with several other teams.  Franco was a three-time All-Star and a five-time Silver Slugger winner, and ended his career with 2586 hits, 1194 RBI, and the record for being the oldest position player in MLB history.

Juan Samuel and Jeff Stone.

Juan Samuel may not have been a superstar, but he was the everyday second baseman for the Phillies for several years.  Samuel was a three-time All-Star and won one Silver Slugger, but is perhaps better known for being traded to the Mets for Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell.  That trade worked well for the Phillies, as Dykstra and McDowell helped the Phillies win the 1993 NL pennant, while Samuel only played one year with the Mets.  Jeff Stone I don't remember -- he played from 1983 through 1990 with the Phillies, Orioles, Rangers and Red Sox, with a career average of .277 and 72 career RBI.

Dan Pasqua and Sid Fernandez.

I'll close the post out with Dan Pasqua and Sid Fernandez, two New York players.  Pasqua played with the Yankees from 1985 through 1987, and then with the White Sox until 1994.  He had a career .244 average with 390 career RBI.  Fernandez is well-known as part of the starting rotation on the 1986 world champion Mets team.  Other than 1986, Fernandez had a good year in 1989 with a 14-5 record and 2.83 ERA; otherwise, though, he stayed around the majors until 1997 with so-so results.