1990 Topps Minis #54: John Franco

We're back today with another of the 1990 Topps mini league leaders, this time John Franco.  Franco is pictured with the Reds but left them to spend 1990 with the Mets.  Too bad, of course, since those 1990 Reds did ok.

#54, John Franco

Franco had a long career, 22 years, with only three teams: the Reds, the Mets, and then briefly with the Astros.  He was a premier reliever of the day, leading the NL in saves in 1988, 1990, and 1994.  With his long relief career all in the National League, he's the NL all-time leader in games pitched.
Currently fifth on the all-time saves list with 424, he was in second place when he retired.  Franco is in the Mets Hall of Fame.

John Franco card back.

To get into this league leaders set, Franco placed third in the NL in saves in 1989 with 32, and also was 7th in the NL in games finished with 50.

Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #53: Eric Davis

Today we have our next installment of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set, with card #53, Eric Davis of the Reds.

#53, Eric Davis.

Eric Davis was a huge star at the time, and I was always very happy to have one of his rookie cards in my collection.  It was off-center, but that was ok -- it may have been out of my price range otherwise.  There was a story once that Davis was having drug problems and he always denied it.  His potential was limited, though, by injuries/illnesses, most dramatically the kidney laceration he got in the 1990 World Series and the colon cancer that interrupted his 1997 season.

Eric Davis card back.

In 1989, Davis tied for third in home runs with 34 and tied for 4th in RBI with 101.  He also placed 4th in the NL in slugging with .541.  He was an All-Star and won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger.

Thanks for reading!  Next up is John Franco of the Reds, and then a couple of Astros.

1990 Topps Minis #52: Mitch Williams

We have another installment today of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set, with card #52, Mitch Williams of the Chicago Cubs.

#52, Mitch Williams.

Williams was a premier reliever for a while, starting with the Rangers from 1986-1988, then with the Cubs from 1989-1990.  He then was with the Phillies 1991-1993.  In Philadelphia he became a scapegoat for the Phillies' 1993 World Series loss to the Blue Jays, famously giving up Joe Carter's series-ending home run.  He then played a bit more, with the Astros, Angels, and Royals.

Mitch Williams card back.

Williams made his way into the League Leaders set by placing second in saves in 1989 with 36.  He would finish his career with 192 saves.

Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #51: Ryne Sandberg

We have another of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders today, which is also another single-card Ryne Sandberg post after yesterday's 1992 Slurpee disc.

#51, Ryne Sandberg.

Speaking as someone who is more or less a Phillies fan, Ryne Sandberg always feels like the "one who got away."  The late 80s Phillies were terrible, so if they had Sandberg maybe they would have just been terrible but with a good second baseman.

Ryne Sandberg card back.

Sandberg (and the Cubs) had a good year in 1989.  He made his way into this league leaders set by tying for first in runs with 104, and placing fifth in both hits and home runs.

Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #50: Greg Maddux

We now resume our series of blogging the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set, today with Greg Maddux of the Cubs.  We're at card #50 out of 88, so we've started I think we've made some substantial progress through the set.

#50, Greg Maddux.

I was watching the Bucs lose yet another game on TV the other day, and Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux came out at one point.  I used to see Mike Maddux play at the Vet, when he was on the Phillies from 1986-1989.  Turned out Mike had a more-talented younger brother.

Greg Maddux card back.

Greg Maddux made it into this set by placing second in wins in the NL in 1989 with 19.  Maddux would lead the NL in wins for the first time in 1992, still with the Cubs, and twice later with the Braves.  That's all en route to his career 355-227 record.

Thanks for reading!  A couple more Cubs are next in this series.

1990 Topps Minis #49: Mark Grace

We have another of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders today, with #49 Mark Grace.  Grace is the second of five Cubs in the set; as P-Town Tom pointed out on Monday's post of Mike Bielecki, the 1989 Cubs had a good year, winning the NL East.  It would be until 2003 that they won their division again.

#49, Mark Grace.

Mark Grace was in his second season, and was a big deal in the baseball card world.  He was a 1988 Donruss Rated Rookie and made the 1989 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.  He was featured in all sorts of boxed sets and rookie sets at the time.  Grace finished second in the 1988 NL Rookie of the Year voting to Chris Sabo.  Since I stopped watching baseball in 1994, I didn't know what happened to him, but I see now that he went on to be part of the 2001 champion Diamondbacks team. 

Mark Grace card back.

Grace made his way into this league leaders set by finishing 4th in the NL in batting average and 4th in on-base percentage, while also placing seventh in walks.

More Cubbies for the next few installments.  Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #48: Mike Bielecki

We have another of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders today, now in Chicago with the Cubs.  Today's leader is pitcher Mike Bielecki.

#48, Mike Bielecki.

Bielecki started out with the Pirates in 1984, and moved to the Cubs in 1988.  He later played with the Braves, Indians, Braves again, Angels, and Braves again.  He put together a career 70-73 record with a 4.18 ERA.

Mike Bielecki card back.

In 1989, Bielecki got some Cy Young votes, tying for third in the NL with 18 wins.  This was clearly his best season.

Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #47: John Smoltz

We have another of our 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders today, with the second card from the NL, still with the Atlanta Braves after Monday's Lonnie Smith, John Smoltz.

#47, John Smoltz.

In 1989, the Braves weren't so great.  They were in the NL West back then, and finished in last place with a 63-97 record.  They finished last again in 1990 with a 65-97 record.  It wasn't until 1991 that they started to take off, but John Smoltz, one of the cornerstones of their dynastic rotation, started with the Braves in 1988.

John Smoltz card back.

Smoltz made his way into this league leaders set by placing third in the NL in batting average against, as hitters only hit .212 against him in 1989.

That's all for today; next up we go to Chicago (NL) and Mike Bielecki.  Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #46: Lonnie Smith

Today we start the NL half of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set.  Since the cards go alphabetically by geographic location, we start off the NL in Atlanta with Lonnie Smith.

#46, Lonnie Smith.

Lonnie Smith is a personal favorite since he was a rookie with the 1980 World Series champion Phillies.  He did well after leaving the Phillies, winning the World Series again with the Cardinals and the Royals, and he was also with two pennant-winning Atlanta teams in the early 90s.  Smith was a base-stealer although he never led the league in that, but he did lead the NL in runs with 120 in 1982.  He was caught up in baseball's drug scandals of the 1980s, and you have to what kind of career he might have had without all that.

Lonnie Smith card back.

Smith earned his way into this league leaders set by placing first in the NL in on-base percentage in 1989 with .415, and placing third in batting average with 315.    He also was fifth in slugging in tied for seventh in doubles. 

Thanks for reading!  Next in the series, Smith's teammate John Smoltz.

1990 Topps Minis #45: Checklist

We have another installment of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set today, marking the halfway point with card #45, the checklist.

#45, Checklist.

Not sure how much there is to say about this checklist.  But of the 88 cards, you see they fit the first 42 on the front.  The first 44 were the AL cards, so the NL mainly makes up the back.

Checklist card back.

And here's the back.  We'll pick up in our next installment with the Atlanta Braves, starting with Lonnie Smith.  Smith is a personal favorite since he was part of those 1980 Phillies that won the World Series when I was just about to turn 5 years old.

Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #44: Dave Stieb

We have another of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders today, #44 Dave Stieb of Toronto.

#44, Dave Stieb.

Stieb was a premier pitcher of the day and one of many excellent Blue Jays of the late 80s and early 90s.  Wikipedia tells me that Stieb is second only to Jack Morris in wins during the 1980s.  He was with the Jays in 1992 but unfortunately didn't appear in the postseason, and was released in October.

Dave Stieb card back.

The reason Stieb is in the set appears to be just placing 4th in the AL in batting average against.  I'm surprised they used this as a stat for this set, since I don't recall this being something that people talked about back in the day.  Of course people talk about way more stats, and whole new categories of stats, today. 

That is it for the first half of this 88-card set!  We have shown all the AL players.  Up next is the checklist, and then we have the NL players, starting with Atlanta.  Thanks for reading!

1990 Topps Minis #43: Fred McGriff

We continue to march through the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set, almost through the first half, with #43 Fred McGriff of the Blue Jays today.  This is the next-to-last AL card, and then will be the checklist, and then on to the NL players.

#43, Fred McGriff.

McGriff is known today for his near-miss at the 500-home run club, and for his frequently discussed but ultimately unsuccessful (so far at least) Hall of Fame candidacy.  I remember McGriff on the Blue Jays and the Padres, and he led the league in home runs once with each of them.  Of course his career went on long after I stopped watching baseball at the time of the 1994 strike, and he played for a number of other teams, winning the World Series in 1995 with the Braves.

Fred McGriff card back.

To get into this league leaders set, McGriff led the AL in homers with 36, and placed second in walks, fourth in on-base percentage, and fifth in runs.

Thanks for reading!  Next up is the last AL player in the set, McGriff's teammate Dave Stieb.

1990 Topps Minis #42: Tony Fernandez

I say somewhere on this blog that I post cards from the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set on Mondays and Wednesdays.  That doesn't mean I do it every Monday and every Wednesday, but if I post one, then it is on a Monday or Wednesday.  I'm traveling now but where I am, it's still Wednesday for another 20 minutes.  So here we are, with card #42, Tony Fernandez of Toronto.

#42, Tony Fernandez.

The Blue Jays had a lot of talent back then, which I guess is why they eventually won back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993.  Fernandez left Toronto after 1990, and played two years with the Padres.  He then started 1993 with the Mets but returned to the Jays in time to help them repeat as champions, with 9 RBI in the 1993 Series.  Fernandez was excellent defensively, winning four Gold Gloves at shortstop.  He amassed 2,276 hits in his career.

Tony Fernandez card back.

To earn his way into this league leaders set, Fernandez tied for fourth in the AL in triples with 9.

Thanks for reading!  We're almost through the AL, and we're almost halfway through the set.

1990 Topps Minis #41: George Bell

We have another of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set, today with #41, George Bell.  The teams are alphabetical by geographic location, with the AL teams first, then the checklist, then the NL teams.  So today we begin the last of the AL teams, Toronto.  Soon we'll move on to Atlanta.

#41, George Bell.

George Bell was in the AL, so I didn't know too much about him, other than that he was the 1987 AL MVP.  The Blue Jays had a lot of talent back then but it seemed hard for them to put it all together for a few years.  Bell was with the Jays until 1990, and it wasn't until 1992 that they had the first of their back-to-back World Series wins.  Bell played with the Cubs in 1991, and then with the White Sox in 1992 and 1993 before retiring.  Bell is a member of the Carribean Baseball Hall of Fame and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

George Bell card back.

Bell earned his way into this set by finishing 4th in the AL in doubles in 1989, with 41.  His home run production had declined significantly from his 1987 AL MVP year, but his RBI numbers were still solid, finishing sixth in the AL with 104.  He also tied for sixth in runs and placed tenth in hits.

Thanks for reading!  Next up are a few more Blue Jays.

1990 Topps Minis #40: Ruben Sierra

We have another from the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set, today with card #40, Ruben Sierra of the Texas Rangers.

#40, Ruben Sierra.

I liked Sierra back in the day, largely because he was one of the many great rookies from the 1987 Topps set.  And he didn't just have his rookie card there, he also had a Record Breaker, as youngest player to switch-hit home runs in a game.  I never saw much of the Rangers, though, being an NL fan and living on the east coast.

Ruben Sierra card back.

Sierra had a solid 1989 to earn his way into this league leaders set, leading the AL in RBI with 119 and in triples with 14.  He also tied for 3rd in runs and tied for 5th in hits.  The small print says that he finished 6th in home runs with 29.  It was a different time; last year and in 2017, it took 38 home runs to be tied for 6th place in the AL, and the two years before that it was 40.

Thanks for reading!  Next cards in the set are Toronto Blue Jays, and then we're done with the AL.

1990 Topps Minis #39: Nolan Ryan

Having broken my recent hiatus from cardblogging, I am now back and ready to resume my usual feature of blogging through the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set.  We last featured card #38, Rangers pitcher Jeff Russell.  That puts us at card #39 (of 88) today, Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan.

#39, Nolan Ryan.

I've said several times on this blog that I was never a big Nolan Ryan fan.  His longevity and ability to strike batters out and throw no-hitters were of course very impressive.  But it never seemed to translate very well to winning baseball games.  Of course as far as the wins statistic goes he has a lot (324) but he also has a lot on the losing side (292).  And the Miracle Mets were ancient history to me in the 80s, so I never saw him do much in the postseason.  Anyway, he is of course a legend, even if he isn't my personal favorite.

Nolan Ryan card back.

Ryan earned his way into this league leaders set doing what he did, striking out batters, leading the AL in 1989 with 301.  He also led in batting average against, with .187. 

Thanks for reading!  We're almost done with the AL and almost halfway through the set.

1990 Topps Minis #38: Jeff Russell

We have another of the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set today, #38, Jeff Russell.  We're almost through the AL half of the set, but have a few left, including several Texas Rangers.  After that we just have the Toronto Blue Jays, then it's on to the NL.

#38, Jeff Russell.

I can't say that I remember Jeff Russell, but he pitched in the majors from 1983 through 1996.  He started out as a starter with the Reds, and led the league with 18 losses in 1984.  He moved to Texas as became primarily a reliever, and became a two-time All-Star and got some Cy Young votes.  He then played with the A's, Red Sox, and Indians, before closing out his career with a reprise with Texas.  His career numbers are a 56-73 record, a 3.75 ERA, and 186 saves.

Jeff Russell card back.

Russell was the AL Rolaids Relief Man for 1989, and earned his way into this league leaders set with a league-leading 38 saves.  He led the AL with 66 games finished and was 4th in the league in games pitched with 71.

Thanks for reading!  Next up, Nolan Ryan.

1990 Topps Minis #37: Julio Franco

We are back again with the next card in the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set.  Last time we started the Texas Rangers with Cecil Espy.  The next Ranger up alphabetically is Julio Franco.

#37, Julio Franco

As I mentioned last time, this set makes Rangers seem exceptional with their inclusion of 5 players as league leaders; they finished, though, 4th in the AL West with an 83-79 record.  Franco, of course, was known as an All-Star middle infielder back in the day, but then became known for his longevity, with a career spanning 1982 through 2007.  He was just over 49 years old at the time of his last game.  Franco made good use of the time, racking up 2586 hits in his career.

Julio Franco card back.

Franco earned his way into this league leaders set by placing 5th in the AL with a .316 batting average.  He also placed 9th in on-base percentage with .386.

Thanks for reading!  There are three more Rangers in the set, so next up is their closer, Jeff Russell.

1990 Topps Minis #36: Cecil Espy

We have another installment today of our look at the 1990 Topps mini league leaders set.  Today has us at card #36, and we're almost through the AL but need to make an extended visit with the Texas Rangers.  While the 1989 Rangers finished 4th in the AL West with a winning 83-79 record, they managed to send 5 players to this Topps mini league leaders set.

#36, Cecil Espy

The first of our five Rangers is centerf ielder Cecil Espy.  I don't really remember Espy even though he spent 1991 and 1992 on the Pirates division-winners that I loved.  Espy debuted in 1983 with the Dodgers, then didn't return to the majors until 1987 with the Rangers.  He was in Texas until the aformentioned stint with the Bucs, and then closed his career with the Reds in 1993.

Cecil Espy card back.

Espy is in this set for placing second in the AL in stolen bases in 1989 with 45.  The card back doesn't mention that he led the league in being caught stealing, with 20 times.  He also tied for 10th place in triples with 7.  Rickey Henderson, of course, was the league leader in steals in 1989 with 77.

Thanks for reading!  Next up is Texas Ranger teammate Julio Franco.

1990 Topps Minis #35: Mike Schooler

We have another installment today of our look at the 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set.  We're almost through with the AL, and we're at the end of the Seattle Mariners today, with relief pitcher Mike Schooler.

#35, Mike Schooler.

Schooler pitched with Seattle from 1988 through 1992, and then finished his career with Texas in 1993.  He was always a relief pitcher, appearing in 260 career games, none of them starts.  He finished 7th in the 1988 AL Rookie of the Year voting, behind winner Walt Weiss and Bryan Harvey, Jody Reed, Don August, Dave Gallagher, and Melido Perez.

Mike Schooler card back.

Schooler hit the ground running, becoming a leading reliever with 33 saves in 1989, tied for 3rd in the AL.  He also placed third in games finished and seventh in games pitched.

Thanks for reading!  Next installment is Cecil Espy of the Rangers, who placed 8th in the 1989 AL Rookie of the Year voting.