1990 Team Mets Tropicana

Apparently Tropicana sponsored cards, too. This Darryl Strawberry is from 1990. It's the Team Mets Club issue featuring a checklist of nine players. Cone, Elster, Fernandez, Gooden, Jeffries, Johnson, Miller, Strawberry, and Viola.  It's an attractive card, I really like the orange and blue curvy border. 

This card was clearly cut from a sheet or some other product but I don't mind.

Not that orange juice is weird... But, what's the weirdest food product you can think of that issued baseball cards?

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1991 Classic I: Friendly Foes

This is a card I got back in September; part of a little spree to get mail to me at my new address. It's from the 1991 Classic set. It features former teammates Dwight Gooden (left wearing the Mets uniform) and Darryl Strawberry (right wearing some atrocious jersey with some heinous unintelligible word on it). I know the directions and descriptions I've listed are helpful. You're welcome.

In 1991, there was the Classic Game (200 cards) and then three additional series (numbered I [99 cards], II [100 cards], and III [100 cards]). Strawberry was in the Game, I, and II series.

Classic was a "game" apparently but I don't remember playing it. I don't remember how to play it. Do you?

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Custom Nick

Nick V (website) made some custom cards which highlights his remarkable talent and creativity. He sent me two from the batch that he made of my two PCs: John Kruk and Darryl Strawberry. Both in my wheelhouse; and both welcome additions. I have some hand drawn customs of both from Mark M, too. So I guess at this point I'm happily building a subset of customs. 

The first is a screen shot from a film called The Fan which starred Kruk along side some no name actors called Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes. I don't think I ever knew about the film, but how Kruk was snubbed the Best Actor in the Oscars that year is offensive, frankly.

Goodness is that man beautiful!

Next we get a very happy looking Darryl Strawberry. This card & design is so attractive I could scream.

The white outline around the head & shoulders shot in the bottom right corner is exquisite. It makes the card pop. This is simple, elegant, beautiful, and is pants down finer than most designs I've seen in recent years by the big card makers.

The card back is brilliant too as it shows complete career stats---which I really like. An absolute joy of a baseball card.

Thanks Nick!

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Two 1989 Baseball's Best Two

I got these two Broder-like cards a while ago but never pimped them on the blog. They are from 1989. They are unlicensed. There seems to have been a lot of unlicensed cards in this era. They look and feel rather cheap; and the information on the cards is minimalist. There is very little effort put into it, but perhaps I'm just spoiled by the hand-drawn and thoughtfully creative customs I've received of late?

Sometimes I really see Curtis Granderson in Strawberry and this card of him in the batting cage really kind of reminds me of the Grandyman.

Do you collect unlicensed cards? I go back and forth between coveting them and being angry at going after them (mostly because it seems I cannot get a handle on which ones I have, how many there are. They all look the freakin' same).

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The Kindness of Night Owl

Several weeks ago, everyone's favorite nocturnal owl sent me the below two Darryl Strawberry items. Both are very awesome additions to my PC. 

The first is a 1992 Scholastic Sport Shots Collector's Book. Never knew this kind of thing existed? Did you? Other books included Barry Bonds, John Olerud, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken, Jr., Don Mattingly, Nolan Ryan, Bobby Bonilla, and Ken Griffey, Jr., to name several. They did older, retired people too like Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson. Neat. They also made them for other sports. But, who cares about them?

Probably one of the few books I can safely say I read in less than one day. It's cute, too. At 44 pages it matches Strawberry's number for the Dodgers. I wonder if Ripken, Jr.'s, was only 8 pages?

The card Greg included was the base Stadium Club card for 2019. Another generous collector previously sent me the red parallel. But having the base was kind of something I really wanted. And, voila, Night Owl read my mind!

Thanks Night Owl!

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1989 Action Superstars

Contrary to the words on the back of the card, Darryl Strawberry does not look like much of an Action Superstar in this 1989 baseball bard. He's just hanging around with a stick and a donut.

They don't really make wrist sweatbands like that anymore! (Though I see Under Armour makes them.) Maybe I should say, they don't wear wrist sweatbands like that anymore. Which might account for all the batting glove adjustments that these guys make which adds minutes to games.

Rounded corner cards are good but they suck to crop.

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B.S.

Stands for Bull Signing...

At every home Phillies game this year, Greg "The Bull" Luzinski is there signing stuff for nothing. Though technically it's not for nothing since one has paid to get into the ball park. But he signs as much as you feel like putting in front of his face.

So I set out acquiring a lot of his 1971 to 1981 baseball cards with him in Phillies gear. In March 1981, after the 1980 World Series win,  Luzinski was "purchased" by the Chicago White Sox. As a White Sox is how I remember him since my interest in baseball and baseball cards bloomed around 1982-1984. After 1984, Luzinski was granted free agency from Chicago and was done with baseball. His 1985 Topps card is rather memorable as by then I was really big into collecting.

I got to a point where I decided to get the year issue for O-Pee-Chee and Topps and that's how they are presented below. A couple token representative cards are in there like the 1975 Topps Mini and 1976 Hostess. And the last three cards are the 1981 Donruss, Fleer, and Fleer Star Sticker. I did not attempt to get any of the other cards issued in this time period which I might regret one day and also none of the leader or other representations in cards, either.

I have a spot open for the 1974 O-Pee-Chee which I cannot find.

Enjoy!

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