1990 Topps League Leaders Mini

I was at a card shop tonight and found this in the two-for-a-dollar bin. The multiple card shops near the home of my youth probably didn't carry these, because I don't have any (except for Robin Yount, of course). I'm a little dubious about each of these cards being actual league leaders, but I realize that making it to the top ten in a stat is still a pretty big deal, so I'll include each player's best stat here.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
31 Mike Moore: #3 in ERA (2.61) and victories (19).

15 "The Girl Who Loved" Tom Gordon: #2 in batting average against (.210).
80 Tony Gwynn: #1 in batting average (.336) and hits (203). That's a monster season.

5 Nick Esasky: #3 in RBI (108)

45 Checklist: Led in no major categories in 1989, but landed just outside the top 10 in balks and hit batsmen.
17 Bret Saberhagen: #1 in victories (23), ERA (2.16), and mullet curliness (9.75 on the Jagr scale).

68 Juan Samuel: #2 in stoled bases (42, tie).
65 David Cone: #4 in strikeouts (190).

Grade: B
The Nick Esasky card surprised me the most. Getting the Saberhagen makes me hope the Royals can get into the playoffs soon. Their streak is now the longest absence from the playoffs (not counting the Expos/Nationals drought, which is only really suffered by Montreal natives who had to relocate because their corporations moved their jobs to D.C.) Royals fans have been suffering since 1985, plus I met some nice Royals fans when KC came to Milwaukee back in 2007. They've really had little to cheer for recently, aside from a baseball card with a huge hole punched in it.

Also, way to go Topps on the single color scheme and white-backed card stock, a nice break from the monstrosity that was its 1990 base set.

1986 Topps Leaders

This is another pack I got from Shane Diaz. Like last time, I'll post the categories that they led the league for them all.

42 Mario Soto

#1 AL Shutouts - 5
#6 (tie) NL Games Started - 36
#6 (tie) Complete Games - 9
#9 Innings Pitched - 256 2/3

An excellent pitcher for some bad teams. Arm problems wrecked his career, but he had a very solid five year run in the early '80s.

7 Gary Pettis

#2 NL Stolen bases - 56
#7 (tie) Triples - 8

Great speed, great defense, lousy hitter. Nobody's perfect.

38 Keith Moreland

#4 NL RBIs - 106
#7 NL Batting Average - .307
#9 (tie) NL Hits - 180
#10 NL On Base Percent - .374

I had no idea his nickname was Zonk. Thanks Wikipedia! 1985 was probably Keith's best year, although he hit a career high 27 homers in 1987. He must have been competing with Hawk.

10 Britt Burns

#2 (tie) AL Shutouts - 4
#3 (tie) AL Victories - 18
*#6 AL Strikeouts - 172

The back notes that Mike Witt was rated #5 in the AL in strikeouts, but he's not pictured. Witt would win 18 games in '86, so I'm sure he's featured in the 1987 version of this set. Britt developed a hip problem after this season and never pitched in the majors again.

27 Rickey Henderson

#1 AL Runs - 146
#1 AL Stolen Bases - 80
#4 AL Batting Average - .314
#4 AL On Base Percentage - .419
#4 AL Walks - 99

RICKEY!!! This card shows why he's the greatest lead off hitter of all time.

3 Wade Boggs

#1 AL Batting Average - .368
#1 AL On Base Percentage - .450
#1 AL Hits - 240
#3 AL Doubles - 42
#4 AL Total Bases - 312

Boggs right in the middle of his peak years. 240 hits is good for 13th all time for hits in a season.

1986 Topps League Leaders

Here's another pack from that Wal-Mart cube I busted open last week. This one I did not expect, just a little tiny pack wrapped up in cello lost amongst the others. The 25 cent price on the wrapper didn't do much for the box's claim of "$15 dollar value!" so I'm glad this pack was able to sneak in. I bought a ton of these packs back in '86 from the McCrory's at the mall. They always had the real oddball stuff you couldn't find at the grocery or drug stores. At 25 cents a pop you could buy a handful of the suckers too without going broke. Topps took the concept of a league leaders set, combined it with the 1986 team leaders subset cards from their base set, shrunk the cards down into a mini size they had been experimenting with for years and printed them on blindingly white cardboard with a glossy sheen that was dazzling at the time but now looks positively matte. Since there's only 6 cards in the pack and they're all good, I'll post them all with the categories they led the league in that got them into this set in the first place.

23 Burt Blyleven
#1 AL Shutouts - 5
#1 AL Strikeouts - 206
#1 AL Complete Games - 24
#1 AL Innings Pitched - 293 2/3
#5 AL Wins - 17

That's right, 24 complete games and only 17 wins. The 1985 Minnesota Twins only won 77 games total. Keep not voting for this guy in the Hall of Fame ballot guys, let that ignorance shine brightly for all to see.

33 Charlie Hough
#2 AL Complete Games - 14 (tie)
#8 AL ERA - 3.31
#9 AL Innings Pitched - 250 1/3

I have a soft spot for the knuckleballers. You gotta admit, they chew up innings really effectively.

37 Dale Murphy
#1 NL Home Runs - 37
#1 NL Runs - 118
#1 NL Walks - 90
#2 NL RBIs - 111
#5 NL On Base Percentage- .388

Murph! Showing off one of his finest seasons.

15 Lance Parrish

#3 AL Game Winning RBI - 16 (tie)

Topps had to fill out the set somehow. I think Game Winning RBI was a short lived gimmicky stat that never stuck.

18 George Brett
#2 AL Batting average - .335
#2 AL On Base Percentage- .436
#3 AL Game Winning RBI - 16 (tie)
#5 AL RBIs - 112
#5 AL Runs - 108

Helluva player. He tied Lance in GW-RBIs too.

2 Cal Ripken
#2 AL Runs - 116
#5 AL Game Winning RBI - 15 (tie)
#6 AL Runs - 110 (tie)
#6 AL Total Bases - 301 (tie)

Cal is in a contemplative mood. It's hard to ponder the difficult questions of life with a cartoon bird on your helmet.

Two Hall of Famers and two guys not in the Hall, but with a legion of followers who incessantly complain that they're not in. That was well worth 25 cents even back in '86 when a quarter would get you a game of Rampage at the Gold Mine arcade. It's a cool little set and you can pick one up for under 5 bucks pretty easily online. Hell, you could probably buy a case of the stuff for less than the price of a 2008 box if you're quick about it.