#106T Todd Burns

Here's another great photo showing the back of a player, made OK by the headshot on the back of the card.

Best word on the back is clearly "Oral." You just have to go read the card back now, eh?

#102T Walt Weiss

Here's the other rookie of the year from 1988 although his photo on the back makes him look like he should have been your paperboy in 1988.

It says something about your game when the first thing they mention on the back is how good you are defensively and also that you were good enough for your team to trade the pretty sucky Alfredo Griffin.

I guess I'll call out "Pioneer" as the most interesting word on the back.

#58T Glenn Hubbard

This is simply an awesome photo. Here are the top 3 reasons why:

1) It's a superb action shot, with every inch of Hubbard's body off the ground.

2) It captures the nice A's logo in the background, which is great for an A's card.

3) It features one of the top rookies of the time, Kevin Seitzer, as a bonus!

#55T Don Baylor

Wow, here's another great photo! Baylor (number 12 in the photo but number 18 on the back) appears about to mash the ball, totally unfazed by the Angels batboy in the background playing fiddlesticks. On the back, they captured a headshot of Baylor right before he got smashed in the back of his head with a bat.

#50T Dave Parker

Here's our second straight Athletics card, and the photos were probably taken at the same game since they are both at Comiskey. I wonder if that's Carlton Fisk's glove coming in from the left.

The back of this card contains one of the most egregious errors I've ever seen. He did NOT top 30 HR or 100 RBI in 1987, and the back of the card is totally wrong in its description of his performance in 1987.

At least the part about his 6 RBIs in two July games is correct. Here is the list of all four of Parker's 6-RBI games.

Parker looks like an absolute beast on this card, just like most of his others.

#49T Dave Henderson

Two really cool things about this card. Henderson was photographed, unusually, in a check swing where we can see the ball (passing his back leg.) Plus, who's that on deck? Jose Canseco, just about the most popular player in baseball when this set came out after the 1988 season.

#33T Ron Hassey

So this is the fourth catcher card in a row. I think I'm sensing a trend. Only, peeking ahead, it doesn't hold up after this card.

Hassey has just about the longest face in baseball. Check out that photo on the back!

There is an error on the back of the card. Who can be first to spot it?

John from Johngy's Beat has this story about Hassey:

"The Cubs traded for Rick Sutcliffe, George Frazier and Ron Hassey on June 13, 1984. I am not sure when the trade was announced, but I was at the game on June 14 and a lot of people still did not know the trade happened.

We were sitting along the 3rd base line (Cubs dugout side) well before game time. My friend looked over and saw Ron Hassey come out of the dugout. We all yelled his name. I don't think he even had a jersey with a name on it (more like a windbreaker). Everyone around us looked at us like we were crazy (some had never even heard of Hassey, let alone know he was now a Cub).
Hassey looked over with a big smile and gave us an enthusiastic wave.
Later he came into the game and went 0-2. The people around us asked if we knew him. We said we didn't...we just knew baseball enough to recognize him."

#15T Bob Welch

CARD

Check out those sneakers Welch is wearing. I don't know what that style is called, but it's certainly dated to that era, with that extraneous flap of material coming out. I don't think that's just the tongue, pulled out.

More great copy on the back of this card, including mention of Welch's K of Reggie Jackson in the World Series.

STAT

I was shocked that Welch could rank as high as 6th in IP and G for the Dodgers, until I checked and realized my interpretation of the fact was wrong. He was 6th for LOS ANGELES only, not for the Dodgers franchise as a whole.

You can see the Dodgers all-time leaders here, and note that the leaders for G and IP all pitched pretty much before (or at the same time) Welch was with the team.

CAREER

Welch will be long-remembered for two things: that strikeout of Reggie Jackson, and winning 27 games in 1990. He also played in 4 World Series, winning just once. He missed out on the 1989 World Series due to injury when his team won it all.