1989 Topps:

1. #749 Rafael Ramirez
2. #372 Craig Lefferts
3. #250 Cal Ripken
4. #70 Mark McGwire
5. #178 Mark Grant
6. #320 Lou Whitaker
7. #632 Bryan Harvey
8. #548 Bobby Witt
9. #437 Andy Benes (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
10. #681 Jeff Robinson
11. #526 Wes Gardner
12. #402 Mike Greenwell (All-Star)
13. #747 Wil Tejada
14. #197 Neal Heaton
15. #362 Jack Lazorko

Last January, McGwire finally decided to move on with his life and admitted to taking steroids.  He then took a job as the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.

1989 Topps:

1. #329 Bob Melvin
2. #682 Rick Leach
3. #384 Mark Salas
4. #744 Roger Craig (Manager)
5. #50 George Bell
6. #646 Kevin Bass
7. #563 Bill Schroeder
8. #304 Joel Youngblood
9. #260 Dave Winfield
10. #57 Alejandro Pena
11. #737 Norm Charlton
12. #613 Gary Varsho
13. #448 Eric Plunk
14. #552 Greg Cadaret
15. #141 Cleveland Indians (Team Leaders)

George Bell played 7 full seasons and 2 partial seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays and excelled.  During his time in Toronto, he batted .286, hit 202 home runs, won 3 Silver Slugger awards, 2 All-Star selections, and an MVP award.  He is currently enshrined in the Rogers Centre Level of Excellence among other players who have made a big impact on the Blue Jays organization.

John Bateman is gonna love this pack break… 1989 Topps!

1. #706 Pete Incaviglia
2. #635 Willie Randolph
3. #457 Mackey Sasser
4. #289 Ernie Whitt
5. #216 Jack Howell
6. #416 Fred Lynn
7. #273 Jose Lind
8. #466 Chuck Crim
9. #46 Mark Portugal
10. #616 Steve Rosenberg (Rookie)
11. #5 Orel Hershiser (Record Breaker)
12. #20 Steve Bedrosian
13. #704 Carlos Quintana
14. #315 Greg Swindell
15. #393 Gary Carter (All-Star)

“He belted the 300th Home Run of career at Chicago, August 11, 1988.  The wallop helped Mets defeat Cubs by 9-6 score.”

Gary Carter hit 298 home runs as a catcher, ranking sixth all time among catchers.

1989 Topps:

1. #734 Jody Reed
2. #595 Teddy Higuera
3. #267 Jeff Robinson
4. #42 Jim Eppard
5. #249 Tim Leary
6. #279 Scott Bradley
7. #219 Jim Clancy
8. #597 Terry Taylor (Rookie)
9. #291 New York Mets (Team Leaders)
10. #194 Greg Harris (Rookie)
11. #282 Cris Carpenter (Rookie)
12. #445 Matt Nokes
13. #394 Orel Hershiser (All-Star)
14. #767 Mike Capel (Rookie)
15. #287 Alvin Davis

“Was NL Pitcher of Month for Sept., 1988.  Had 5-0 record with 0.00 ERA.  He fanned 34 batters in 55 innings pitched.”

Such horrible writing.  Let me re-phrase that.  Orel Hershiser broke the record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in 1988 with 59.

1989 Topps #620 Barry Bonds

1989 Topps archives, to be integrated with my main collection:

1. #540 Bo Jackson
2. #553 Luis Salazar
3. #550 Orel Hershiser
4. #554 Nick Esasky
5. #562 Danny Cox
6. #564 Russ Nixon (Manager)
7. #573 Jim Abbott (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
8. #575 Juan Samuel
9. #583 Paul Gibson (Rookie) (Topps All-Star Rookie)
10. #602 Devon White
11. #620 Barry Bonds
12. #621 Rick Mahler
13. #626 Jeff Reed
14. #633 Daryl Boston
15. #637 Carmen Castillo
16. #638 Floyd Bannister
17. #645 Jack Morris
18. #648 Sandy Alomar (Rookie) (Future Star)
19. #669 Los Angeles Dodgers (Team Leaders)
20. #675 Bruce Hurst
21. #698 Keith Atherton
22. #702 Jamie Quirk
23. #713 Ty Griffin (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
24. #725 Terry Steinbach
25. #758 Gene Walter
26. #759 Milwaukee Brewers (Team Leaders)
27. #784 Steve Avery (Draft Pick) (Rookie)

1989 Topps #382 John Smoltz (Rookie)

1989 Topps archives, to be integrated with my main collection:

1. #293 Glenn Wilson
2. #300 Darryl Strawberry
3. #303 Felix Fermin
4. #325 Jesse Barfield
5. #327 Mark Lemke (Rookie)
6. #338 Jim Adduci
7. #340 Kirk Gibson
8. #371 Manny Lee
9. #375 Terry Pendleton
10. #376 Steve Lombardozzi
11. #382 John Smoltz (Rookie)
12. #396 Kirk Gibson (All-Star)
13. #399 Wade Boggs (All-Star)
14. #401 Jose Canseco (All-Star)
15. #441 Jerry Reed
16. #442 Jose Oquendo
17. #447 Donell Nixon
18. #448 Eric Plunk
19. #471 Steve Curry (Rookie)
20. #478 Doug Drabek
21. #482 Steve Peters
22. #494 Shane Rawley
23. #500 Jose Canseco
24. #505 Pete Rose (Manager)
25. #506 Kirt Manwaring
26. #508 Wally Backman
27. #520 Rick Sutcliffe
28. #534 Doc Edwards (Manager) *x2

1989 Topps #30 Doc Gooden

1989 Topps archives, to be integrated into my main collection:

1. #13 Doug Sisk
2. #14 Tom Kelly (Manager)
3. #30 Doc Gooden
4. #34 Ken Williams
5. #44 Jim Snyder (Manager)
6. #45 Kal Daniels
7. #47 Carney Lansford
8. #51 California Angels (Team Leaders)
9. #69 Jeff Ballard
10. #71 Mike Boddicker
11. #81 Montreal Expos (Team Leaders)
12. #86 Al Nipper
13. #95 Gerald Young
14. #97 Greg Mathews
15. #99 Sherman Corbett (Rookie)
16. #108 Fred Manrique
17. #128 Milt Thompson
18. #137 Geno Petralli
19. #148 Bill Pecota
20. #172 Frank Williams


1989 Topps #260 Dave Winfield

21. #173 Mel Hall
22. #182 Bob McClure
23. #183 Oddibe McDowell
24. #193 Sparky Anderson (Manager)
25. #195 Ozzie Guillen
26. #203 Rob Ducey
27. #217 Joe Price
28. #221 Cecil Espy (Topps All-Star Rookie)
29. #226 Bill Doran
30. #237 Glenn Hubbard
31. #239 Tim Laudner
32. #242 Ed VandeBerg
33. #247 Shawn Hillegas
34. #248 Tony Phillips
35. #252 Billy Hatcher
36. #260 Dave Winfield
37. #262 Jeff Pico (Rookie)
38. #271 Jay Tibbs
39. #288 Pat Sheridan
40. #290 John Franco

1989 Topps #764 Robin Ventura (Draft Pick) (Rookie)

1989 Topps:

1. #274 Mark Eichhorn
2. #31 Terry Francona
3. #764 Robin Ventura (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
4. #559 Juan Agosto
5. #555 Bert Blyleven
6. #109 Hipolito Pena
7. #657 Joe Magrane
8. #444 Moose Stubing (Manager)
9. #17 Brian Downing
10. #666 Randy St. Claire
11. #101 Les Straker
12. #621 Rick Mahler
13. #645 Jack Morris
14. #637 Carmen Castillo
15. #108 Fred Manrique

The Robin Ventura rookie is probably the best card I got this week.  At least I didn’t get any doubles.

“Robin was selected as College Baseball’s Player of the Year for 1987 at Oklahoma State after setting an NCAA record with 58-game hitting streak.  A member of the 1987 USA Intercontinental Cup Team, he fell below the .400 mark for the first time in his career by batting .391 in 1988.  Robin was selected to 1988 USA Olympic Team.  He went 3-for-5 with 2 Doubles and 3-run Triple in 12-2 win vs. Australia, September 21 at Seoul, Korea.”

Robin Ventura, the guy who got a famous beating from a 46-year-old Nolan Ryan in 1993.  This was when Robin Ventura was 26 years old and in his prime, while Nolan Ryan was making his final appearances before retiring.  After the incident, Ryan stated that he used the same maneuver on Ventura that he used for branding cattle on his Texas ranch.  Watch the video on Youtube.

Another interesting note, Nolan Ryan was playing in the major leagues before Robin Ventura was even born!