Not long ago, I ordered something -- a t-shirt or two, probably -- and the package included an unopened pack of 1989 Donruss baseball cards.
Admission: I actually collected these, back in the day. This was when everybody thought there was big money in baseball cards, and everybody was doing it. As you can see here, here, and here, the '89 Donruss was sort of a freaky design, utterly conventional except with an oddly hued twist.
Earlier this afternoon, I gave nearly all of those cards away.
But then I got home, came across this unopened pack, and thought I'd dispose of those, too. First, though, some impressions of the 15 cards in the pack. WARNING: This is an analysis-free zone!
Claudell Washington - In the '80s, old hitters didn't die; they went to play for George Steinbrenner.
Kevin Gross - I got nothing, man.
Steve Lombardozzi - Sr.
Shawn Abner - Famous draft bust, 1/1 in '84
Walt Weiss - bad uniform, bad form
Larry McWilliams - fungible
Scott May - obscure
Ed Whitson - back home with Padres, the Bronx just a nightmare
Tom Lampkin - catcher
Gene Larkin - Series hero-for-a-moment
Fred McGriff - Emanski
Rich Yett - fungible
Mike Scioscia - so young! so thin!
Joe Magrane - if he coulda stayed healthy...
Pat Borders - the best little mustache north of the border
Apologies for the lack of profundity. But if you didn't already, now you might have an idea for why it's so hard to let these little pieces of cardboard go...
