'88 baseball cards: Still the most fun, least valuable
Descriptions: "Leiter's got some nice flying gold chain action on the front of the card. … The back of this card is one of the cheesiest in this set, and the oddest word is quite clearly 'elan.' … Usher on the front, sweet chain around his neck on the back. What more could you want? … Not much to say about this card except for how sweaty he is on the back of the card. … Also interesting is the implication by Score that getting his college degree was better than playing minor league baseball. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree, just that it's sort of odd that Score would choose to make a value judgement on that."
Yes, the man who brought us the late, great 88 Topps Cards blog — working through the entire set, one '88-riffic card at a time (such as, "Those of you who aren't familiar with David Wells will look at the above photo and think, 'Gee, that guy is a little chubby,' while those of us who are familiar with Wells look at the same photo and think, 'Gee, I can't believe he was ever that skinny!'") – has returned to action.
The follow-up project, 78 Topps Cards, was done in by boredom, the blogger explains, so he's moved onto 88 Score Rookie and Traded Set. Don't know the set? Neither does the blogger! Nor me. Nor most folks. But with the sub-Topps photography of 1988 athletes and copywriters gone wild on the mini-essay-ish card backs, how can you go wrong?
Other good stuff linked from the new '88 blog: Orioles Card "O" The Day. Recent highlights include mockery of an old-style Cracker Jack Sidney Ponson, the belief that Harold Baines who just turned 50 could still hit .300 (I agree) and maybe the greatest photo gallery ever of the 1979 Orioles. I am entirely serious about the last one. It is awesome. (Also, I'd forgotten about how Brady Anderson played after a bus hit him as he rollerbladed to the game.) And here's the Mussina archive.
