#87 Mike Mason

Why this card is awesome: Before I tell you why this card is awesome, can you figure it out? Look really carefully at the card.

Give up? It's awesome because HOFer Ryne Sandberg is in the background. Am I adding him to the HOF count for this set? You'd better believe it.

Cool stat: Mason had one excellent year as a starting pitcher: 1984. He had 24 starts (36 appearances total), pitching 184.3 innings, allowing just 159 hits and 51 walks, with 113 K's. His ERA of 3.61 was good for an ERA+ of 115. But, he earned just a 9-13 record. If you neutralize his stats (go to this link and then click 'neutralize') with just average run support he would have gone 11-9 that year.

Hall of Fame count: 12

#86 Ron Karkovice

Why this card is awesome: Firstly, I am not sure if that purple blob on Karkovice's crotch is a printing error or what. Click on the card to see what I mean. Anyway, this card is awesome because Karkovice played in Hawaii in 1987. That's baseball + Hawaii, folks. I call it paradise. Read more about the Hawaii Islanders franchise right here. I'll also add that Karkovice has the most similar skin and mustache color I've ever seen.

Cool stat: Karkovice had 16 game-ending plate appearances, and they were all losses. He also had 77 go-ahead plate appearances, including 3 different games where he had 2 go-ahead jobs in the same game. One of those games was this crazy one, where he had two go-ahead plate appearances that were both reaches-on-error!

#85 Howard Johnson

Why this card is awesome: Because for all the color schemes Topps chose for its 1988 set, the Mets' was absolutely the best, perfectly matching the blue and orange of their uniforms. This HoJo is one of a series of 1988 Topps Mets cards that have great coloring. These days, when teams have 17 different jerseys they use during the year, HoJo's blue pullover doesn't look weird. Back then, though, it would mean that this photo was taken for sure during either batting practice or spring training.

Cool stat: Johnson didn't have a great or long career, but he is still one of just 4 guys with at least 3 seasons with 30+ HR and 30+ steals. Also, one time I saw him sitting on the team bus after a game, waved to him, and he nodded his head back at me.

#84 Cecilio Guante

Why this card is awesome: Because of the big "G" on his glove. Awesome!

Cool stat: Guante was a very good reliever, and I wonder why his career ended so early. Since 1950, he's one of just 6 relievers to pitch at least 500 innings, allow fewer than 550 hits, strike out at least 500, and have an ERA+ of 110 or better. (Active players excluded.)

#83 Jose Oquendo

Why this card is awesome: Because I swear it looks like Oquendo is standing on a farm.

Cool stat: Lots of interesting things about Oquendo's playing career. Firstly, he went to the Dave Magadan school of slugging, which teaches you NOT to slug. In fact, Oquendo's career OBP of .346 is nearly 30 points higher than his career SLG of .317. Wowsers. In fact, check this out: since 1901, for players with at least 3500 career PAs, Oquendo has the 10th lowest figure for total bases. And of the 9 guys ahead of him, all but 3 played at least part of their career no later than 1910.

#82 Darrel Akerfelds

Why this card is awesome: Because nobody told Akerfelds that when you only wear your warmup jacket for running and not for tossing, so everybody realizes that this is a staged shot.

Cool stat: Akerfelds was a hot prospect who didn't pan out, but he did have an amazing year in 1990, pitching 93 innings and allowing only 65 hits. That's a low enough rate to make the top 25 seasons in hits/9 in the last 20 years. Of course, he also walked 54 that year while striking out just 42. OK, so maybe it wasn't quite an "amazing" year. This reminds me of a problem the Phillies are likely to have with J.C. Romero in 2008. In 2007, he allowed just 15 hits in 36.3 innings with the Phillies, helping him to compile a 1.24 ERA. But he'll never be able to maintain that low hit rate, and I bet he gets hit hard this year. Shout out to Tim at MLBtraderumors.com for being the one to make me aware of that.

#81 Reds Leaders

Why this card is awesome: Because of the hilarious Happy Clown / Sad Clown action. Ron Robinson looks like somebody just gave him a puppy, while John Franco looks like somebody just killed his puppy. Of course, nobody in the entire 1988 Topps set looks more like a clown than Robinson.

Cool stat: Who do you think the highest-paid player was on the 1988 Reds? Check it out here, toward the bottom of the page. Not Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, Dave Concepcion, Kal Daniels, Paul O'Neill, Nick Esasky, Buddy Bell, Tom Browning, John Franco, or Rob Murphy. Nope, it was Leon Durham.

Franco's got a small (and I do mean small) chance at the HOF.

#80 Mark Langston

We're 10% of the way done with the set!



Why this card is awesome: Because it's such a great photo. Like the Clemens photo on card #70, I love that they got Langston's entire body in the shot, but he's also in such an interesting pose. I also like being able to see the warning track and the far wall. To me, this is a classic baseball photo.

Cool stat: Langston had a very nice career, although he's best remembered for two things that weren't his fault: being traded away by the Mariners to acquire a package including Randy Johnson, and for giving up a grand slam to Tino Martinez in the 1998 World Series, one pitch after he struck out Martinez but the umpire missed the call. A little love for Langston: he owned a lot of hitters. Check out the low OPS and crooked strikeout numbers among players with at least 50 career PAs against him.

#79 Ernie Whitt

Why this card is awesome: Because of all those game-winning RBI, 51. For those who don't know, GWRBI was an official stat for a relatively short period of time, until MLB finally realized that it was pretty stupid. But 51 is a very nice total for a part-timer like Whitt.

Cool stat: Whitt, one of the original expansion Toronto Blue Jays, was a remarkably consistent player from 1982 to 1989. His OPS was between .757 and .805 every year. In fact, for the 1980s, Whitt has the most seasons with an OPS between .750 and .810. He wasn't spectacular, but he was very dependable (especially in an era when catcher was not emphasized for offensive prowess.)

#78 Dan Petry

Why this card is awesome: Because is it just me, or does Petry look like a right-handed version of Jim Abbott in that photo? (If any readers don't know Jim Abbott, we'll be coming to him in about another 800 cards, in the traded set. And Petry does in fact have a left hand.)

Cool stat: Petry was an elite pitcher from 1982 to 1985. Over that period, he had the 4th-highest winning percentage among pitchers with at least 800 IP, and he pitched more innings than all three guys ahead of him on the list. Unfortunately, after 1985, he never again approached having a league-average ERA and he was finished in the majors after 1991 at age 32.

#77 Tom O'Malley

Why this card is awesome: Because of that unbelievably huge guy sitting in the first row wearing white. He kind of looks like a modern-day Tony Gwynn to me.

Cool stat: O'Malley has the 6th most-recent season batting over .500 with at least 10 at-bats.

Also, I didn't know this until just now, but after leaving the major leagues, O'Malley had a very productive playing-career in Japan.

#76 Denny Martinez

Why this card is awesome: Because this is the only card I can think of that features ACTUAL REAL wood paneling, unlike the 1968 and 1987 sets, which feature fake wood paneling.

Cool stat: Two interesting stats about El Presidente: Firstly, he finished 1 out shy of 4000 IP. Secondly, he went through a really weird period from 1983 to 1986, where he pitched very consistently, but also very poorly. Check it out: 4 straight years with an ERA+ between 72 and 79. Luckily for the Expos, they picked him up at the end of that streak, and he ripped off10 years with an ERA+ over 100 after that (though not all for Montreal.)

Next giveaway

Having reached card #75, you might expect me to give away cards 51 to 75. However, I've decided to increase the number of cards per giveaway to 50, so the next giveaway will be cards 51 to 100. I am also going to post more cards per day, though, so we might reach 100 by the end of this week.

#75 Joe Carter

Why this card is awesome: Because Louisville Slugger obviously paid a chunk of change to Topps to get prominent placement on this card. By the way, I always thought that if Joe Carter had a great sense of humor and told jokes all the time, we could call him "Joke Arter."

Cool stat: Joe Carter was tremendously overrated. Let's mine some of the content over at the SOTD blog. For starters, Carter has 2 out of just 25 seasons in history where a guy who hit 20+ HRs managed to slug under .400. He also had the worst OPS of all-time for a season with 100+ RBIs. There are lots of other lowlights as well. Of course, Carter will be best-remembered for his game-winning homer in the 1993 World Series, as well he should be.

#74 Tom Lasorda

Why this card is awesome: Because of the utterly hilarious photo. We all know Lasorda was a SlimFast representative, but he seems to be going out of his way here to look heavy and out of shape.

Cool stat: Well what more can be said about the 1988 Dodgers? We know that Hershiser had an amazing career year. But the two Tims, Leary and Belcher, also had career years. For Leary, 1988 saw his career high in wins, IP, Ks, ERA+, and WHIP (the last two ignoring his 1-game season in 1981.) For Belcher, his 1988 carried his best W-L%, and among his best in ERA+, K/BB ratio, and other stats too.

Hall of Fame count: 11 (for Tommy Lasorda, inducted as a manager in 1997.)

Reminder: 1988 Topps Gallery of Champions giveaway

Here's your final reminder of our 1988 Topps Gallery of Champions giveaway.

Click this link for directions on how to enter.

The contest closes this Wednesday.

#73 Randy Bush

Why this card is awesome: STIRRUPS!

Cool stat: Bush wasn't spectacular, but he was good and consistent. In fact, Bush is tied for fourth in all-time seasons with 35 to 55 RBIs and 10 to 14 homers. Interestingly, a lot of the guys on that list are catchers, which is to be expected.

#72 Dennis Eckersley

Why this card is awesome: This card might be the most awesome card of the 1980s. Seriously. Here's why: Eckersley had two careers. From 1975 to 1986, he was a starting pitcher, and often a very good one. He won 20 games for the Red Sox in 1978, and that came after he pitched a no-hitter for the Indians in 1977. By the end of 1986, though, he had lost his effectiveness and developed dependence on alcohol. Cast off, he joined Oakland to try to reclaim his career. The above photo was taken in 1987, when Eckersely's career seemed to be teetering on a knife edge and he was struggling with addiction. He looks very tentative in the photo, perhaps an accurate reflection of how he was feeling.

In 1987, Tony LaRussa experimented with Eckersley. He got a couple of game starts in 1987, but also finished 33 games and registered 16 saves. He had a beautiful WHIP of 1.00 and an ERA+ of 137. Encouraged, LaRussa converted Eckersley to a full-time closer in 1988, and all Eckersley did was become the prototype dominant reliever of the current era. By 1989, LaRussa developed the model that all managers use today: the closer is a 9th-inning only guy, except in emergencies where he comes in with 1 or 2 outs left in the 8th. Eckersley excelled in the role, and we all became accustomed to seeing his massive fist-pumps when he closed out big wins for Oakland.

Eckersley gets high marks in my book. He went through a ton of difficulties, worked extremely hard, took responsibility for himself, and achieved great things on the baseball field. To me, this card represents hope and determination, and reminds me that all of our lives hang in the balance of pivotal decisions we make and actions we take.

Check out a 1978 Topps Eckersley card here.

Cool stat: Check out this list of most career saves for pitchers who also had at least 100 complete games. Guess who's way out in the lead?

Hall of Fame count: 10

#71 Gary Pettis

Why this card is awesome: Because of the mention of a baseball lifer, scout Loyd Christopher. He played in the 1940s for the Red Sox, Cubs, and White Sox, and later became a scout. Plus, Pettis is less than 30 in this photo but looks about 50 to me.

Cool stat: Pettis was a great base-stealer. In fact, he's one of just 5 guys with fewer than 1200 games played but at least 350 stolen bases. And Juan Pierre will drop off the list in 2008.

#70 Roger Clemens

Why this card is awesome: Because it's the second-best card in this set. It's just an awesome photo of Clemens from head to toe, beautifully cropped with a great background. I'm not sure if the photo was taken at Fenway, but that green certainly feels like Fenway and he's wearing home whites. Simply fantastic and the way all cards should be. My only beef is that Topps gave him just number 70...I mean the guy was coming off back-to-back Cy Young awards and was 2 years removed from winning an MVP. Would a number like 100 or 250 be too much to ask?

Cool stat: Clemens has so many great statistical achievements. Here's one I borrowed from an old post I made at the SOTD blog: Clemens has the highest post-season game score of all time, with the Yankees in 2000 against Seattle. And you know how he loves pitching against Seattle. For more Clemens content, just search on his name on that SOTD page and you'll find all sorts of stuff.

#69 Mike Hart

Why this card is awesome: Because of all the time in the minor leagues. Just look at the back of his card! Other than a cup of coffee with the Twins in 1984, he was all over the minor leagues from 1979 to 1987. In the end, what you see below is Hart's complete professional baseball record, as he never played another game (majors or minors) after 1987. His last name should have been spelled "Heart."

Cool stat: Hart hit 4 career homers (in just 105 career at-bats) and three of them were off good pitchers: Jim Clancy, Mike Morgan, and Mike Witt. (The fourth guy, Bill Wilkinson, put up good numbers too but had a very short career. We'll come to him later.) And although Hart's career was short, it wasn't the shortest by a player named Mike Hart.