My Top 50 Players On Cardboard #45-Smoltz/Glavine

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard
#45
John Smoltz/Tom Glavine

1990 Donruss MVP John Smoltz-Tom Glavine Error

Hobby Impact-
Before I moved to North Carolina I was not sure if there were any actual Glavine and Smoltz collectors.  Are there two better players who fly under the radar more than Glavine and Smoltz?  Their rookie cards are from the junk wax area, which means they are worth next to nothing, and their base cards are easy to find in the cheapy bins in card stores.  There are not a lot of inserts of the two and few autographs and relics too.  I've picked up an autograph of both players and surprisingly played less than $20 for both autographs.  The prices and availability of Glavine and Smoltz cards seems to suggest that there is little to no market for the two future Hall of Famers, but it's far from true.  Loyal and dedicated Braves fans are typically in on both players and really value their cards greatly.

On The Field Impact-
The combination of Glavine and Smoltz, teamed with ace Greg Maddux allowed the Braves to dominate the National League for all of the 90s and the first part of the 2000s.  They only won the World Series once, in 1995 against Cleveland, but they were a force to be reckoned with every single year.  My worst memory of the duo, I guess this is good from their perspective, came in the 1996 National League Championship Series when the Cardinals had the Braves down 3 games to 1 with the trio of Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine taking the hill for the final three games.  The Cardinals scored 1 run against the trio and lost the series (The Braves scored 32 runs the finals three games by the way).  Smoltz started the comeback in Game 5 with a seven strong innings and Glavine capped the series off in Game 7 with seven shutout innings.

Glavine ended up with more than 300 wins.  Smoltz ended up with more than 200 wins, but also spent a few years as a closer where he accumulated more than 150 saves, paired with more than 3000 strikeouts.  Both will end up in Cooperstown in the not too distant future.

Favorite Card (s)-
I am not sure that I really have a favorite Smoltz card.  Maybe the 1990 Donruss card.  I also kind of dig his Upper Deck rookie.  Smoltz has a lot of base cards, a few inserts, but nothing that ever really caught my eye.  If I HAD to list a card, I would go with his 2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball autograph.

2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball John Smoltz Autograph 

At some point back in the day, I decided it would be a good idea to own a Smoltz auto.  He's a good player and does not sign a lot of stuff.  I wish it weren't a sticker autograph, but still a nice card to own. Smoltz has become a good signer since his retirement, so maybe I will have to check out adding another autograph of his to my collection.  The Gypsy Queen one looked nice last year.

My Glavine card speaks for itself:

1988 Topps Tom Glavine

Pretty much the coolest looking Glavine card ever printed.  There are so many things that are going on in this picture...so many.  One last cool bonus card.  If you are a fan of the 90s/2000s Braves you must pick up the incredibly cool Smoltz/Glavine dual bat card from Topps Fusion.  Pretty cheap and easy to find.

2001 Topps Fusion Double Features John Smoltz/Tom Glavine Dual Bat 

30 Year Top 50- 1989 Upper Deck

#1- The most important set of the past fifty years is the 1989 Upper Deck set.  At the time of the set's release there were three companies producing baseball cards, the biggest of which was Topps.  Most of the card manufacturers used thin cheap card stock, little or no gloss on the cards, and serious lacked quality control.   Upper Deck's entry into the baseball card marketplace greatly changed the appearance and quality of baseball cards for the better.

1988 Upper Deck Promo Wally Joyner

The work on the Upper Deck set began before 1989 and in a strange twist, the company actually issued their promotional cards for the set in 1988.  The two card promotional set featured two Angels players, Wally Joyner and Dwayne Buice.  The Joyner card is not very difficult to find and can usually be had for around $20.  The Buice is rare and will cost several hundred to add to your collection.  I picked up this Joyner promo card a few years ago for a great price and really have enjoyed having it in my collection.  

1989 Topps Bo Jackson

The innovations on the Upper Deck card were numerous, but the most important features that distinguished these cards from brands like Topps were the glossy finish on all cards, the full color pictures on both sides of the card, and the use of holograms to prevent fraud.  The cards were instantly a huge hit amongst collectors which brings me to the lone flaw of the 1989 Upper Deck set.  Originally, the Upper Deck company had set a cap for the production run of cards around 1,000,000 per card.  That number disappeared once the cards started selling quickly.  

1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.

The first card in the 1989 Upper Deck set is one of the most important baseball cards ever.  If you look at a checklist on a set of Topps baseball cards you will notice that they tend to load the front half of sets with star players.  Upper Deck decided to take the opposite approach and use the first part of their sets on rookies.  The trend of making the first thirty to fifty cards "Star Rookies" ran all the through the company's last baseball card set which was released in 2010 without a license from Major League Baseball.  Upper Deck gave the first spot in their first set to Seattle Mariners prospect Ken Griffey Jr.  At the time of the cards release, Griffey Jr. was playing for the San Bernadino Spirits and had yet to actually play in a Major League game.  Upper Deck ended up actually taking a picture of Griffey in his minor league uniform and then doctored the photo slightly to make it have the appearance of a Mariners jersey.  The "S" on the hat is slighty off from the 1989 Mariners cap.  

1989 Upper Deck Craig Biggio

While the Ken Griffey Jr. card is regarded as the iconic card of the 1989 Upper Deck, there are at least five other Hall of Famers in the set.  I guess I should say, in my opinion, but in this case I think they are all on solid ground.  Biggio is my favorite non-Griffey rookie card since he is wearing the cool rainbow Astros jersey.  Biggio is also the only important rookie card which is not in the Star Rookies subset at the beginning of the set.  Instead, Biggio is in with the regular Astros cards.  The other three Hall of Famers are pictured below.  

1989 Upper Deck John Smoltz

1989 Upper Deck Gary Sheffield 

1989 Upper Deck Gary Sheffield

Card collecting changed dramatically after the release of the 1989 Upper Deck set.  While Upper Deck set the bar higher for Topps, Fleer, and Donruss, they continued to push the envelope during their twenty-one years in the baseball card business.  At the time of the sets release the Upper Deck cards were considered premium cards.  Soon after the other three card companies would follow suit with their own premier card brands.  Basically, the 1989 Upper Deck set helped all baseball card collectors.  The set put a strong emphasis on innovation and quality which is still pushing card companies to this day to constantly improve their cards and strive for them to be a quality product.  

 

30 Year Top 50: 2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball

#32-There have been a few large autograph sets released over the past 30 years.  I already posted one in my Top 50 countdown with the 1999 SP Signature Set.  Today's post also features a mega autograph set released by Upper Deck.  Most people associate the USA Baseball cards with Topps, but it was actually held by Upper Deck from 2002 until 2009.  During that time Upper Deck put out quite a few USA Baseball cards, but I feel like this set was their best effort.

The 2004 USA Baseball set was issued as a box set with three autographs in each box.  The sets are still pretty readily available today and aren't very expensive given the potential for a really good autograph.  One of my favorite autographs I pulled out of a USA Baseball box was this John Smoltz autograph.

2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball John Smoltz Autograph

This card launched my interest in this set of cards.  It's a really good card, but it's also one of the few cards that Smoltz had signed during his playing career.  Choose your favorite secondary card site and you will find plenty of 2012, 2011, 2010 Smoltz autographs.  During his career he signed very few cards and often at low print runs.  This card is not too difficult to find and is a great way for an average collector to add a Hall of Fame pitcher's autograph to their collection without breaking the bank.  

In fact, there are lots of people that signed for this set.  As a Cardinals fan I was able to easily find a few former Cardinals to add to my collection from the set.  Even Mark McGwire signed for this set.  There are only 20 cards, but it's McGwire.  

2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball Andy Benes Autograph

2004 Upper Deck Baseball Matt Morris Autograph

These two cards above are perfect examples of cards in this set.  Both Matt Morris and Andy Benes were above average pitchers for multiple seasons for my Cardinals.  Both made All-Star games and both appeared on playoff teams.  They both have autographs in a few other sets, but there aren't tons of Andy Benes and Matt Morris autographs floating around.  The fact that Upper Deck gave Andy Benes an autograph four years after he retired and Matt Morris an autograph towards the end of his career is pretty cool.  As a person who loves the game, and not just the cardboard, I always like finding unique autographs of players I watched.  Which brings me to my final point about this set.

I love the Cardinals.  I love autographs.  I try to find all the certified autographs I can of Cardinals players.  Sometimes that's easy.  Sometimes that's not.  For example, I have enjoyed watching Kyle Lohse pitch the past five years as a Cardinal, but the man does not have an autograph or even a relic card.  Nothing.  There are other players like him too. 

The USA Baseball set has a slew full of players who are first time signers, or extremely limited, who signed for this set.  I would love to get my hands on a Braden Looper autograph.  He does have one of those minor league, Best, autographs.  It's not really pretty, but he does have an autograph in this set and was on a World Series winner in 2006 with the Cardinals.  I will get around to one someday.  

Like the 2004 Upper Deck USA Baseball Set?  Not in my Top 50 is the USA Baseball releases in the 2011 Topps sets.  Topps placed USA Baseball products in several sets last year.  While it's not clear what impact the players included in the set will have in the Majors, the card products were really nicely made.  Here's a looking using the cards of my favorite Duke baseball player: Marcus Stroman.

2011 Topps Chrome Marcus Stroman Autograph

This card would be my favorite on the list if Topps hadn't used sticker autographs on the card.  Most of the Topps Chrome autographs from the 2011 set are on card, so I can't imagine that getting a few more cards signed would be that big of a deal.  

2011 Bowman Sterling Marcus Stroman/Erich Weiss Dual Autograph 

2011 Bowman Sterling Marcus Stroman Jersey

2011 Topps USA Baseball Marcus Stroman Red Autograph

2011 Topps USA Baseball Marcus Stroman Triple Relic Auto