What a card: So begins the most notable subset in the 1985 Topps set and one of the most notable subsets of any card set issued in the 1980s. The series recognizes the 1984 U.S. Olympic baseball team, which was the first baseball team to play in the Olympics in the United States. For the first time in 1984, baseball was included as a demonstration sport in the Olympics.
My observation on the front: Those USA caps worn in 1984 are very 1980s. I can see any trucker worth his rig wearing one of those.
More opinion from me: Beckett magazine, in its typical rookie frenzy, lists all of the cards in this 16-card subset as rookie cards, including Rod Dedeaux here. Granted, it's his first appearance in a major pro baseball set, but Dedeaux was 70 at this point, had been coaching for over 40 years, and made his last major league playing appearance in 1935. Rookie, my ass.
Something you might know: Dedeaux is known as the greatest college baseball coach of all-time and one of the greatest coaches ever. He retired from USC with 1,332 victories.
Something you might not know: Dedeaux worked as in extra in the movie "The Babe Ruth Story" in 1948.
My observation on the back: A couple of notable players Dedeaux coached that are not on this list because they were virtual unknowns at the time: Mark McGwire and Randy Johnson.
The blog wants to speak now: The News category is updated.
1 comment:
It should be noted that baseball was also a demonstration sport at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Team USA's Manager then, Rod Dedeaux
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