Thanks to Ben for allowing another new contributor to this fine site. I'll do my best to further the great cardboard spirit invoked by the likes of Thorzul, David, and maybe even dayf if I'm really on a roll...
The beauty of Topps' 80s sticker campaigns is this -- You won't find a Rickey Keeton. Or a Denny Lewallyn. Or, heaven forbid, a Mark Budaska.
Who?
Exactly.
Topps would go on to include several "rookie card year" players in the '83 sticker set, but the glorious year of 1982 was all about the veteran starters.
So with no further ado, let's get nasty with two packs of '82 Topps baseball stickers (what the heck, we're only talking 'bout a total of ten stickers here...)
Pack One
Larry Parrish, Expos -- a solid player for fifteen years, and a two-time All-Star as well. Right off the bat, Larry shows what this set has to offer.
Ron LeFlore, White Sox -- an up and down mix of quality playing time versus personal problems helped shorten poor Ron's career. A Tigers cult figure to this very day.
Paul Molitor, Brewers -- greatness has arrived! And it's resting on a bat and one knee!
Carlton Fisk, White Sox -- okay, now we're really talking... Two Hall of Famers in a row -- and this one lives on a plane of golden foil!
Rickey Henderson, A's -- we know this set focused on starters, but Paul, Carlton AND Rickey? Who knew that so much talent could fit between two aging wrapper halves?Pack Two
Ray Knight, Reds -- like Larry Parrish, Knight played in the bigs from 1974 - 1988, and also made the All-Star Team twice. Looking good so far...
Johnny Bench, Reds -- Wooooooohoooooo! Everyone should feel what it's like to pull a J.B. out of a 26 year old pack.
Steve Trout, White Sox -- the third White Sock in eight tries. Steve lasted 12 years and logged just over 1,500 innings for four different teams.
Jose Cruz, Astros -- a Houston fan favorite, as I should know. Now batting: Jose CRUUUUUUuuuuuzzzzzzz!!!
Chris Speier, Expos -- so the last three stickers are commons. But ya know, I like these guys. I'm ten years old again. And best of all, everyone except Rickey Henderson and Jose Cruz seems thrilled to be here.
7 comments:
Nice. Great to see some old Expos.
Welcome to the blog bud.
Wow, look at that picture of Steve Trout. Just... wow.
Welcome to the club! Two excellent packs of stickers right there.
Man, if that Trout would have been in Thorzul's 80's brackets, there is no telling how far he would have gone!
Interesting stickers for sure. The Bench would've been a particularly nice pull for me!
PS: Nice blog!
Great post and 2 fun packs to bust.
If you're interested in seeing the unpublished artwork for the Wacky Package sticker "Boozeball" that was created to parody this release, check out my post
http://fleersticker.blogspot.com/2008/09/wacky-packages-coffee-table-book-lost.html
Looks like Trout's on the lookout for any sign of the A-Team while his buddies empty out a warehouse.
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