I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 72 - Vince Coleman

I think of Coleman as being a 1980s Cardinal, but he did appear with the team in 1990.  I have done several other players from the 1990 team, which was one of the worst in the history of the franchise, who were similar in that they just spent the single season with the team.  Just looking at the names on the roster, you would think that they would have at least been decent, but there were too many players who underachieved.  It has been a long held opinion of many, including former manager Whitey Herzog, that half the team was playing for a paycheck in 1991, rather than playing the team oriented style that made the 1980s team successful.   

Some big names on that team were free agents to be.  There were players like Terry Pendleton, who hit .230 with a .277 on base percentage, and had a career worst season.  Then there were players like Vince Coleman.  He set career highs in almost every offensive category with the exception of stolen bases.  

While the quantity of stolen bases on Coleman's stat sheet declined, he became more efficient during his later years with the Cardinals.  

 

From the middle of September of 1988 through the end of July in 1989, Coleman was not caught stealing once.  In all, Coleman stole 50 consecutive bases during that stretch, which is a Major League record.  Given the lack of stolen bases in the game at the moment, it's a record that is likely to last awhile.  

On to the baseball cards.  Coleman is a name player, but only one season means that there is a limited amount of cards.  Just going with four 1990s cards for this post.  

My favorite.  

His 1990 Topps Record Breaker card.  This was a card for his consecutive stolen base record which was set in 1989.  The 1989 Topps Traded set had no record breaker cards, or highlights like some years do, so this was it.  The 1990 design seems to be hit or miss.  People either love it, or hate it.  I am fine with it, not high on my list though.  Just like that a stolen base record got a highlights card.  

If I had to go with a plain, regular base card from 1990, I would have to choose his Leaf card.  These are basically a white frame card, with that little grey thing in the corner.  I like the picture of Coleman batting.  In sitting down and flipping through his cards, it seems like there are not a lot of cards with him batting for whatever reason.  Stands out from the rest of his cards.  

This is the Cardinals checklist from the 1990 Upper Deck set.  I like it better than Coleman's actual 1990 Upper Deck card.  When I was a kid, everyone used to love the Donruss Diamond Kings drawings, but I think these were better done.  Plus the artist was Vernon Wells, father of Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells.  

One more.  

The last Cardinals card of Vince Coleman on a Topps card was in 1991 with his 1990 stats.  The majority of his cards that year were as a Met, which is where he signed after leaving the Cardinals.  Vince got a nice contract, but did not do well in New York. Interesting that his last Cardinals card has a picture in Shea Stadium, not sure if it was a coincidence, or done intentionally.  He played until 1997, and retired after a very brief stint with the Tigers.  

Since retiring Coleman has worked as a coach for several teams.  He was also elected to the Cardinals team Hall of Fame.  

Coleman has occasional appeared on baseball cards since his retirement.  His autographs are affordable, and he's got a nice signature.  Definitely a high priority for me when they pop up.  

Plus, while Coleman ended up playing for a bunch of different teams during the second half of his career, all of his post retirement cards have been in a Cardinals uniform.  This one above is nice, but my favorite is actually a Panini.  I know, no logos.  

Beautiful.  I was always surprised someone took the time to make this card.