I think that I have mentioned my love for the Cardinals Smokey Bear giveaway sets on these 1980s Cardinals posts before. They were the baseball card set giveaway during the mid to late 1980s. I know that I have done a few of these before, just not from the 1988 set. I like all the Smokey Bear sets, but this is my absolute favorite. There are some great photographs in the set, plenty of action shots, and the simple design really works for me.
John Tudor had a really good 1988, so I thought I would use his card from this set. Plus, I like this action shot of him pitching.
He started out 1988 with the Cardinals, only managed to win 6 games, but that was more about a lack of run support than the quality of his pitching. The Cardinals did not have a great offense in 1988, in part because they decided to sign Bob Horner to play first base. He did not hit. So, the Cardinals traded John Tudor to the Dodgers for Pedro Guerrero.
How did Tudor's year turn out?
He started Game 3 of the World Series, and the Dodgers closed out the A's in 5 games. Shout out to the A's for playing the Golden Girls theme in the background when the Dodgers win. It starts at 0:23 on the video.
Pedro had some good years with the Cardinals, and managed to get a Smokey Bear Cardinals card the following year. So, that was a good thing.
If you collect Cardinals cards, and do not own some of these Smokey Bear cards, the sets and the singles are both pretty cheap to buy on places like Ebay. The 1988 is seriously incredible. As I said before, so many great pictures. Just picking out a random card to scan as an example......
Oh man... the 88 WS hurt. Anyways... I enjoy the Smokey Bear sets of the 80's. I think I only own one single... it's a Reggie Jackson when he was on the Angels.
ReplyDeleteIt was shocking. The A's were so good that season.
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