A large percentage of my life has been spent sitting around collecting and organizing cards. That's why it is thoroughly embedded into my personal history. It also explains my preference to read card blogs and watch videos about collectors building 70's baseball card sets, reminiscing about 80's rookie cards, and discussing 90's inserts they once pulled.
So it shouldn't shock anyone that I also enjoy flipping through old issues of sports card magazines. In fact, I've been thinking about starting a blog series where I take a trip back in time and take a quick peek into some of these issues.
My collection of old Beckett Baseball Monthly consists of twenty to thirty issues, but only two were June issues. I decided to go with the older of the two for this post. Let's go back to 1993...
Beckett Baseball Monthly
June 1993
Twenty-nine years ago, Beckett decided to put Jim Abbott on the cover of their price guide. I figured they were capitalizing off of his amazing no-hitter, but that didn't take place until several months after the publication of this issue.
I'm guessing this issue was produced in April or May and the editors wanted to capitalize on Abbott's arrival in New York. Bo Jackson was featured on the back cover:
He was returning from a hip replacement surgery and collectors were eager to see him back in the batter's box. On April 9th, 1993 he returned to the diamond and in the bottom of the 6th against the New York Yankees, he pinch hit for Dan Pasqua. The second pitch he saw, he launched over the right field wall.
Let's take a peek in between the covers. Instead of walking you through it page by page (sorry, I don't have the time or patience to scan 132 pages), I decided to feature specific things that caught my eye and organize them by topic.
First up... a pair of advertisements:
I don't remember buying or eating Hostess Baseballs, but I've managed to add a few of these oddballs to my collection. Here's a closer look at the Rickey:
1993 Hostess #23
The front design is kind of boring, but the back of the card isn't too shabby.
1993 Upper Deck is one of my favorite sets of the decade...
It's kind of a shame that they focused so much attention on the Mays Heroes inserts, instead of the set's greatest strength: photography.
Back in the late 80's to mid 90's, I picked up the current issue on a regular basis. One of the first things I'd flip to was their Hot and Cold lists:
According to the readers, Frank Thomas was the hottest name in the hobby and Jose Canseco was the coldest. In 1993, I was on a break from the hobby... so I avoided hoarding cards of David Nied and Cal Eldred. Sadly this break also kept me from purchasing any 1992 Bowman either. Which leads me to the price guide portion of the issue...
Just look at all of those "up" arrows. And if you look a little closer, you can see that the iconic Mariano Rivera rookie card once booked for only "25¢". Twenty-nine years later, I still don't own that card.
On the opposite end of the spectrum...
Oh man... I'm sure glad I wasn't one of those collectors who dished out that kind of cash for a Brien Taylor autograph.
1992 Topps Gold #793
I picked up my copy in 2019 for $10 on COMC... which still seems a little overpriced.
Let's take a look at the values of the hottest and coldest player's key rookie card values...
I never would have guessed that Canseco's famous rookie card would still book for $60 by the time 1993 rolled around.
1986 Donruss #39
Then again... it trips me out to see current completed sales on eBay going for $10 to $20. Pre-pandemic, I found a copy at the flea market for $2. A year earlier, I picked up a copy for less than a buck at the Tristar Show.
The Big Hurt's key rookie also booked for $60:
This price makes much more sense as Thomas had become one of the hottest players in baseball. In fact, he'd go on to win the AL MVP Award at the end of the season... and again in 1994.
1990 Leaf #300
These days, raw copies sell in the $10 to $20 range too which is a pretty steep discount from the mid 90's. But there's one card of his that has soared in value over the past three decades...
Usually collectors shake their heads when they hear the words "collecting" and "Junk Wax Era", but if you were fortunate enough to target these No Name rookie cards (or Mariano rookies) back in 1993... then you hit the jackpot.
Let's switch gears and focus on a pair of articles. These were the two I was most interested in:
When I took a break from the hobby after building a master set of 1992 Fleer Ultra baseball, Insert Mania was partially to blame. The funny thing is... these days I enjoy collecting all of those 90's inserts. Maybe thirty years from now I'll be collecting all of the silly inserts Topps and Panini produced these days.
My favorite article is about Dave Parker...
In a nutshell, this article highlights Parker's career while covering his "forced" retirement. Although he had been working out and felt like he still had something to offer, no teams signed him. As a result he failed to make the 3,000 Hit Club or eclipse 1,500 RBIs.
1974 Topps #252
And sadly, he's still waiting for his call from Cooperstown.
At least he has some company...
Not sure if the comic was a monthly thing, but this issue had one honoring Roger Clemens and his twenty strikeout campaign against the Seattle Mariners on April 29, 1986.
1986 Donruss #172
1986 Fleer #345
1986 Topps #98
It was the first time in MLB history that a pitcher struck out that many batters in a nine-inning game. A decade later, Clemens would repeat the feat. Since then Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have also joined the club. Randy Johnson also struck out twenty batters in nine innings, but depending on who you talk to... it may or may not count... since the game went eleven innings (Johnson didn't pitch in the 10th or 11th).
Another one of my favorite segments in Beckett Baseball Monthly was Readers Write. Each month Beckett would publish a bunch of letters from readers and collectors.
Here's one that I found interesting:
The author has a pretty cool first name, but that's not what got my attention.
1986 Topps #690
I can't believe it took me thirty-six years to discover that Ryne Sandberg's 1986 Topps card is missing the Topps logo.
This issue of Beckett also opened my eyes to this little tidbit about Vida Blue:
According to the article, Blue had a lucky hat that he wore in 1974, 1975, and 1976.
1975 Topps #510
1976 Topps #140
1977 Topps #230
That means there's a chance his lucky hat is pictured on all three of his baseball cards from 1975 to 1977. Sadly on April 16th, 1977... he was forced to change hats due to discoloration. Not sure if the hat had anything to do with it, but he did lead the American League in losses that season.
In the spirit of Father's Day, which is just around the corner, here's a cartoon that was included in the issue:
Seeing this inspired a special Father's Day post that I'll be publishing this weekend.
The main article in this issue was dedicated to the College World Series. Unfortunately, I was too lazy to scan all nine pages. However if you're interested, here's a list of MLB players (back in 1993) who were College World Series alumni:
I'll go ahead and wrap up this copy of Beckett with a pair of ads for two West Coast cards shows that took place that summer:
If I could turn back time, I'd definitely suffer the long lines for a chance to meet iconic legends like Y.A. Tittle, George Mikan, Muhammad Ali, Sandy Koufax, and Roy Campanella.
Here is today's question of the day:
Were you collecting back in 1993?
Any favorite memories from that year?
Like I mentioned earlier... I was on a hiatus from the hobby that year. The card shop I had worked at in had closed down in 1992 and was a little burnt out after Fleer Ultra master set build. Plus I had just transferred to San Jose State and was focusing on getting my degree.
Sadly... there aren't any specific memories that stand out from that year. I did attend a Beastie Boys concert held at a small venue, but can't remember if it was that year.
Well that wraps up another post. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it
Happy Wednesday and sayonara!
