Mail In Glossy Sets Update

I have really enjoyed this set project with the different mail glossy sets from the 1980s, and the single 1990s set, that Topps put out annually.  The original post is here, and I did one update in November when I completed the 1983 set.  My goal to complete all of the mail-in sets in February, so I am in good shape considering that I generally need a small quantity of cards from each of the sets.  

I was only missing two cards out of the 1989 set when I started a few months back and they were both Reds cards.  Makes me kind of wonder if they were not traded away at some point back in the day, or I put them in a package as a few bonus cards.  

The 1989 set has a little bit different feel then the mail-in sets from earlier in the decade.  First off, it is a larger set with 60 cards instead of 40.  The number of cards in the mail-in sets jumped starting with the 1986 set.  While some of the expanded checklist was filled with more veteran players, Topps also started putting a few prospect type players in these sets.  

Here is 1989.  The scans are still sorta crooked, it is bothering me less this time....

Pretty solid start to the set with two Hall of Famers, Boggs and Puckett, along with some other very good players.  Carter, Davis, and Cone were already solidly entrenched as star players by the time this set rolled out, but this is amongst the first sets to give a nod to Andy Van Slyke as a star player.  He was good with the Cardinals, but his career really took off after he was traded to the Pirates.  

Buhner is the first of the "prospect" cards to appear in the set.  Easy to remember him as a member of the 1990s Mariners team where he was one of the home run mashers who batted behind Griffey Jr.  At this point in his career he had been traded around from the Pirates to the Yankees to the Mariners and had failed to hit much of anything in two cups of coffee with the Yankees and another one with the Mariners.  

There are no Hall of Famers in this group of cards, but the five cards outside of Buhner were all excellent, well-liked players during the late 1980s.  Canseco was coming off of his 40-40 season and the A's had been to the World Series in 1988.  Clark had finish in the top 5 MVP voting two seasons in a row and had been to a World Series in the first three years of his career.  Gant and Hrbek are not right next to each other in the set, but pretty close.  

Coincidence?  

Solid group here with three Hall of Famers.  Love the Eck card with him mid delivery.  He made some crazy faces while he was pitching.  

The Juan Samuel card feels a little bit off in this group.  He was a really good player with the Phillies through the mid 1980s, but towards the end of the decade his numbers really fell off.  At his peak in 1987, Samuel had 80 extra base hits which included 28 home runs, a league leading 15 triples, and 37 doubles.  Add in 35 stolen bases and 100 RBIs and you've got a pretty spectacular player.  His 1988 was a far cry from his 1987 numbers, and 1989 was even worse.  

Two Hall of Famers here with Winfield and Alomar, Clemens should be there too.  HoJo and Bonilla were both good players at this point.  Although, as a Cardinals fan I was highly suspicious of Howard Johnson's power.  If you've never seen his run in with Tony Pena....

Gibson was another "prospect" card.  He was actually in his late 20s by the time he reached the Majors in 1988, 10 years removed from being a 3rd round pick by the Reds, and had been in the Tigers system since 1981.  The Reds gave up on him and released him.  He had a 2.93 ERA for the 1988 Tigers and finished out 18 games for the team.  Gibson actually ended the year with zero saves and pitched almost 100 innings.  Guessing he was used as a long reliever.  Gibson ended up playing eight years with the Tigers, Mets, and Yankees.   Not bad for getting to the Majors close to 30.  

Alan Trammell is a nice Hall of Fame card.  George Bell was fairly underrated, great power hitter.  The rest of these guys are alright.  Grace was a nice player too with a .300 career average and over 500 doubles.  Not a great stretch of cards here with Belcher and Hurst.  

Nice group of cards here with Henderson and Sandberg on the bottom row along with Evans.  Evans is not a Hall of Famer, but sort of in that tier of players right below.  Heard some good arguments to put him in Cooperstown.  Not sure I have looked at it enough to give my opinion.  

Top group is better than it looks.  Gaetti was a really good power hitter for the Twins.  Not a star player by any means, but I spent a good chunk of his career batting around Kirby Puckett, always good for 25-30 home runs.  He was the first base coach for the Durham Bulls when I first moved to North Carolina.  Classy guy.  

Glenn Davis was a really good power hitter for the Astros.  Seemed to disappear after he went to the Orioles.  Greenwell had a stretch of three of four years where he was one of the better hitters in the game, but just could not stay healthy. 

Yount and Ozzie make up the Hall of Fame contingent in this group.  Gooden had started to slide at this point, still a very good pitcher.  Also have the "little" version of Mark McGwire.  Look at those forearms.  Berryhill and Sabo are in here as prospects.  Berryhill was a high draft pick, fourth overall in 1984, of the Cubs, and ended up being a serviceable catcher.  Sabo was sort of a quick flash.  He was a nice player for a few years with the Reds, then he seemed to disappear.  

Love the Galarraga Expos card.  Cal Ripken and Paul Molitor are nice too.  Hershiser was coming off his career year with the Dodgers in 1988.  Stewart had helped pitch the A's into the World Series the previous year, also helped them back in 1989.  Browning was a good player too, one of the cards I was missing out of the set.  I will always remember his perfect game and that time he left the Reds dugout and sat on one of the rooftops across the street from Wrigley.  

Let's keep this one short.  Running on fumes here.  I love the Rock Raines card.  Dave Gallagher?  Seriously?  I had to go look, he actually did hit over .300 with an on-base over .350 in 1988.  Zero power though.  

Last group of cards.  This post feels like a party foul, should have been a Part 1 and Part 2 type of pos.  Danny Jackson was the second card I needed for this set.  The airbrushing on the Jack Clark card is a hot mess.  Little has changed over the past 30 years.  

I'm out.  More glossy cards later this month.