The cards themselves sported nice, big player photos that were flanked on either side by a black border. The tops and bottoms of the fronts were done up in varying color gradients that really had nothing to do with the team's colors at all (purple to light purple for Yankees, green to blue for Boston - though I suppose a stretch argument could be made that it stood for the 'green monster,' orange to yellow for Brewers, and so on). The player's name is shown at the top in white with the position following the name. In one corner of the card (seems to be randomly selected) is the team logo and in another corner (again, seemingly randomly placed) is the Donruss-89 'logo'. The back of the cards featured a hunter-orange color with black text covering most of the back. The only white on the back was reserved for stats. The card numbers were placed in a baseball icon, and the backs showed the player's full, given names with 'nicknames' listed in parenthesis (such as Christopher (Chris) Louis Bosio). There is also bio info, contract status info (did anyone ever really care what the contract status of the players was??), and some career highlights (if any). Let's open the pack, shall we?
Here, we see the wrapper and the first two cards: Richard (Rick) Alan Rhoden (Yankees) and Bruce Vee Hurst (Red Sox). I was a Rhoden fan as a kid while he played with the Pirates, though I will say that is quite the furry caterpillar he's got under his nose. Hurst opted to let his two fuzzies play above his eyes instead...
Next, we have Patrick (Pat) Arthur Sheridan (Tigers), Michael (Mike) Lewis Grenwell (Red Sox), and Christopher (Chris) Louis Bosio (Brewers). Sheridan was just hoping that he could gain the same notoriety as Billy Ripken by taking this pose, but someone forgot the Sharpie that day... The Greenwell card is BC-13, an MVP insert. Not sure why any grown man would pose with his hands on top of each other in the "mama's Angel" pose, but there it is... Poor Bosio nearly lost his entire face to shadow in this photo!
Richard (Rick) Spencer Schu (Orioles), Jeff Robinson (Tigers) Diamond Kings, and a checklist round out the next three cards. Evidently, Rick's mother was concerned about him losing his glove, so she wrote his name on it. It's a pretty sad day when your baseball card features a whopping seven people in the background stands... Perez-Steele is the "king" of the Diamond King prints, for sure. Though, in Jeff's case, I think Robinson sneezed or something, as his moustache and upper lip seem a bit out of whack here (not to mention his ear seems a bit on the dominant side of sizing)... And, there's nothing like a good old checklist to make your day, huh? When I was a kid, my friends and I would actually trade cards based on the names listed on a checklist - if you had Schmidt or Rose on your checklist, it was 'worth' more in a trade... Ah, to be young an naive again...
The next guys out of the pack are Michael (Mike) Darren Young (Brewers), Billy Mike Smithson (Red Sox), and Miguel Angel Garcia (Pirates). Young, who was 29 in this photo, appears much older than his age. At least he is smiling though, and would make excellent fodder for the girls at Dinged Corners! Smithson is about to fire in a shot, making for a decent picture, though how many Red Sox players can Donruss put in one pack!? Garcia had his picture taken out behind Three Rivers, where no one could see him...
Francis (Andy) Andrew Nezelek (Braves), Jay Canfield Howell (Dodgers), and Alexander (Alex) Madrid, Jr (Phillies) make up the next trio to see daylight. This card represents Nezelek's rookie card (as far as Donruss goes), and it sure has the look of a young kid just happy to have his face on a card at all! Howell is caught hurling (or about to anyway). Notice how your eye is drawn from the logo, down to his shoulder, out to the glove and back to the lowered hand with the ball? Nice piece of photography. Madrid should have taken up acting in an 80's cop show or sitcom where he has to take care of a daughter while living in the same house as her single mother... Oh wait... Nevermind...
And, rounding out the pack, we have Jerald Dwayne Clark (Padres) and the eyes of Warren Spahn. To me, Clark's pose is reminiscent of the old-school (50's-60's) poses. I mean, if this card were ratty and had a different border on it, he could be playing with Mays, Robinson, et al. In fact, the picture almost has a Goudey "Big League" card look to it...Spahn's puzzle includes pieces 22, 23, and 24, which feature menacing eyes looking straight at you. Oh yes, there will be a strike out....
My friends bro had an entire 5000 count box filled with 89 Donruss and I remember how colorful it looked just being able to see the tops of all the cards because of that color gradient. 89 Donruss was a good set.
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