This week I am going with a position player, former first baseman and outfield prospect Jim Lindeman. I also wanted to post a Donruss card this week. So many places to go with the Donruss sets from the 1980s. The 1988 set is an all or nothing design. I know people who love these cards, I know people who hate them. Not sure I have ever heard anyone say something neutral about this design.
Strong opinions.
I personally place it towards the bottom of the Donruss base set designs from the 1980s. I have heard some people call the 1988 set the "Flannel" or "Plaid" set, but I do not think it's quite right. Maybe it's just the blue color though, which seems very institutional.
It reminds me a lot of the walls in the old Busch Stadium during the 1980s.
Not their best effort, but then again, it's not like 1988 was a banner year for the vast majority of card companies. It's still better than the Fleer design. Yawn.
Back of the card and a little bit about Lindeman.
The Cardinals used their first round pick in 1983 to take Lindeman out of Bradley, which is not too far from St. Louis in central Illinois. While he was in college he played wit Kirby Puckett. Lindeman hit in the Minors, but never really did much in the Majors save for one month, which should get him a little more notoriety with Cardinals fans.
Lindeman only played 11 postseason games in his career. All for the Cardinals, all in 1987 replacing Jack Clark in their lineup.
He hit over .300 in both the NLCS and World Series that fall. In Game 3 of the NLCS, the Cardinals were trailing the Giants 4-0 early in the game. Lindeman hit a 2 run home run off of Atlee Hammaker to cut the lead in half, and then later hit a sac fly which gave the Cardinals the lead. While his career never panned out for the Cardinals, he was a big part of one World Series run.
Lindeman hung around the Majors and upper Minors until the mid 1990s when his career ended. A few years back a newspaper in Peoria did a "Where Are They Now?" article about the former Bradley baseball player. Lindeman is currently working at a high school outside of Chicago where he teaches and coaches baseball.
1988 was a rough year (in my opinion) in regards to baseball card designs. I personally feel like 1988 Donruss, Fleer, and Topps are below average designs compared to other years in the decade. And 1988 Score and Sportflics were average at best. That being said... I love the 1988 Kenner SLU cards. It's my all-time favorite Kenner SLU design. I also enjoy the 1988-89 Topps hockey and 1988 Topps football base card designs.
ReplyDeleteI never did much with the SLU figures or cards. I will have to go check them out.
Delete