Random Ray - 1993 Upper Deck Home Run Heroes

I am a huge fan of the 1993 Upper Deck set. Simple design, great photography, it might be my favorite Upper Deck product of all-time. If you have not checked out the 1993 Upper Deck set blog written by Night Owl, you are missing out.  

Here is the front of the card........

Wrigley always makes a great background for baseball cards. The ivy wall is the obvious answer, but the short brick wall behind home plate is also a classic landmark for those of us who are old enough to have watched day Cubs games on WGN in the summers. 

Beyond the background, I love the action shot of Ray Lankford hitting. He had a great left-handed swing and always hit well against the Cubbies. In fact, in 158 career games against the Cubs, Lankford had 23 home runs, 7 triples, 30 doubles, and 26 stolen bases. 

I loved the blue Cardinal hats in the 1993 card sets. The team stopped wearing them in the late 1960s and brought them back as their road hat in 1992 as part of their 100th Anniversary. The patch on Lankford's sleeve is also part of the 100th Anniversary. 

A closer look at the patch......

Back of the card.  

This is a really good write-up about Lankford, his skill as a player, and his potential to be a star when he was a younger player. The Cardinals were not very competitive during the early 1990s, so it's nice that someone at Upper Deck was aware of a good player on a team that was a perennial mediocre team at best.