1985 Topps—Ode to Sweet Beginnings

Posted by Jeremy on October 6, 2008 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Baseball's Greatest-Looking Set

When I received word of this contest there was only one set that came to my mind….1985 Topps.  The ‘85 Topps set was my maiden voyage into the sports card world and who could pick a better year to begin collecting?

• In 1985, Michael Jackson was COOL (yes, I had a silver glove and did the moonwalk)
• In 1985, my favorite car was the Delorian (only if it came with a Flex Capacitor)
• In 1985, Pac Man, Pitfall, Frogger, and Asteroids represented the pinnacle of technological achievement in our time.

And in 1985, I worked my tail off picking dandilions, weeding gardens, mowing lawns, washing cars, and taking out the trash each week to earn a crisp dollar bill so I could walk five blocks to the local Food Town to buy 3 packs of wax paper-covered goodness.  Each pack contained 15 cards that sandwiched a bright pink, powdery stick of sweetness.

The Epicenter of Stat Geekdom

The cards were marvelous to behold with a sharp white border (that was often off-center) and bold multi-colored team names and logos that were easy to sort into the 26 (yes there were only 26 then) team sets.  The backs of the cards were a forest to kelly green (depending upon fading) accented with bold red to pink (once again fading contingent) ink outlining career stats, baseball history trivia, and often, a fast fact about the player featured on the front of the card.  For instance:

Did you know that Roger Clemens was offered a contract to play basketball for the Seattle Supersonics and Boston Celtics? (That one has won me a drink or two at the local watering hole)…or…former Cubbies OF Richie Hebner was a grave digger in the off season—I’m guessing he was not a Boras client.

Toast of the Twin Cities

These facts along with the cornucopia of baseball statistics ignited my passion for the game of baseball like nothing else.  The coveted RC’s of the set were of a 19 year old flame throwing phenom that went by the name of Dr. K.  From his stats, I could tell you that he struck out 300 batters for the Lynchburg Cats in 1983.  The A.L. featured a pudgy bowling-ball who hit like a wrecking ball and went by the name “Puck”.  This gregarious dynamo electrified the hearts of baseball fans young and old before glaucoma took his vision and a stroke took his life.

Odibe McDowell was the highlight of this set in '85

Sure other names popped into prominance later on down the road.  A strapping first baseman from USC  named Mark McSomething-or-Rather had a U.S. Olympic card in that set that once was selling for upwards of $500 during his infamous 1998 season, before conventional wisdom and a cowardly Senate deposition tempered its market.  A young barrel-chested pitcher for the Red Sox had a rookie card in that set that gained some popularity as he went on to win 7 tainted Cy Young Awards while striking out over 4,000 batters and receiving countless non-Botox injections in his sitting cheeks. 

Did you legitimately K 20 Mariners?

Nice cards both of them, though for a freckle-faced 10 year old they still pale in comparision to the two crowned jewels of that set, two cards that were too good to throw across the room into a cardboard box or to press between a thumbtack and my wall…Seattle Mariner rookies Alvin Davis and Mark Langston.

Thank you for the leg kick and swing

As an aspiring southpaw hurler, I spent hour upon hour in my back yard and my bedroom mirror perfecting the ear-high leg kick that Mark Langston utilized to generate his 90 MPH fastball.  For hours more, I drove imaginary moonshoots into the right field bleachers just like A.D.  The Mariner’s of the 80’s were much like the Mariners of 2008 (minus the $125 million payroll)—terrible.  But, to a young budding baseball fan, the front row seasons tickets (they were cheap back then) in the Kingdome offered me access to black sharpie autographs from many of my heroes, and the ‘85 Topps cards were my passes.

The card industry has changed, some for the better, some for not.  Dollar values have replaced sentimental ones and the hobby has forsaken younger generations.  For many of us though, the cards of our youth are still available in abundance and our memories of old can still be refreshed and indoctrinated into the minds and hearts of our young ones.

While a fresh box of 2008 Bowman Chrome is not assuredly in my future, a visit home to the dark corners of my mom’s attic is.  It is there that I hope I find an old box full of creased and frayed 1985 Topps cards waiting for me and my son.