What a card: Darryl Strawberry had completed his sophomore season when this card was issued. He boosted most of his totals over his Rookie of the Year performance in 1983.
My observation on the front: Strawberry's Topps cards were already getting repetitive at this point -- this is his third straight card of him swinging at the plate. Topps changed it up in 1986.
More opinion from me: I first became aware of Strawberry from, I believe, a Baseball Quarterly cover story not long after he was drafted No. 1 by the Mets. The reason I say "I believe" is because I can't find evidence of the story or cover photo. The internet is notoriously dismissive of Baseball Quarterly/Baseball Magazine, which was founded by future longtime Yankees publicist Rick Cerrone, and was my go-to colorful sports magazine at the time because it was all about baseball and Sports Illustrated wasn't. I had a subscription and everything. It's possible the Strawberry article was actually in Sport magazine. Anyway, I thought it odd that there was a player named "Strawberry" and was pretty sure it was made up.
Something you might know: The 1983 National League Rookie of the Year, Strawberry was the main slugger on the mid-to-late 1980s Mets teams, helped New York win a World Series -- despite the "DAR-ryl" chants -- and saw his career spiral due to substance abuse shortly after arriving with his hometown Dodgers.
Something you might not know: Strawberry and former Mets teammate Dwight Gooden wear the same shoe size. Size 13.
My observation on the back: Michael Strawberry played for two years in the Dodgers' organization, reaching Class A Lodi in 1981. I can't find a mention of Ronnie playing professionally.
The blog wants to speak now: The TV category is updated. It's back-dated to Oct. 15. Sorry about that.
2 comments:
That's a good looking card.
Straw had a very nice run of Topps base cards.
His son DJ played basketball for Gary Williams at Maryland.
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