1985 Topps

I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to buy this pack. Back when I was in middle school, one of the neighborhood kids traded me the entire 1985 Topps set, minus the "good cards" which at the time seemed to include the usual rookies (Clemens, Puckett, even Gooden) and the entire Olympic subset. Along with one of those snazzy Topps binders, I got all those cards for virtually nothing, and to this day I have at least the entire Cardinals team set and plenty of extras. So there was no real reason for me to buy this, yet I bought it anyway, perhaps being caught up in Olympic fever and thinking I might finally get a McGwire rookie card (or at least a Cory Snyder or Shawn Abner.)


So let's check the results here. I have to warn you- it's pretty blah.

639 - Ed Hodge
624 - Benny Ayala
325 - John Denny
786 - Enos Cabell (yeah, nothing even scan-worthy so far...)
369 - R.J. Reynolds

133 - Ray Boone / Bob Boone Father - Son (a fine baseball family that would go on to include Bret and Aaron)
470 - Steve Sax
576 - Jamie Cocanower (if you had asked me a simple true/false question as to whether "Jamie Cocanower" was the name of an actual major league player, I would have responded with a resounding "no!")

-Instant Win insert (woo! 4 runs!)

40 - Phil Niekro (here's where the gettin's finally good. a Knuckle Brother!)


80 - Keith Hernandez ("Mex" in the pre-Just For Men days)
239 - Tim Teufel
596 - Jerry Hairston (original version)
774 - Dennis Lamp (truly a target for literally-interpreted altered cards, like they used to have pictures of in old Beckett magazines. I'm picturing a table lamp throwing a heater.)
684 - Bill Doran (I hate all things Astros right now)

611 - Ozzie Virgil (the requisite vintage gum stain)


Ah yes, and don't forget the main attraction: 1 STICK BUBBLE GUM. 23 years old, broken, but still not beaten... refusing to die.