1985 Fleer Super Star Special – ‘NL Pitcher’s Nightmare’ – Starring Mike Schmidt & Ryne Sandberg

1985 Fleer Super Star Special – ‘NL Pitcher’s Nightmare’ – Starring Mike Schmidt & Ryne Sandberg

Fleer did a great job of pairing up players with their ‘Superstar Special’ sets from the mid-1980′s.

And this card from the 1985 Fleer set is no exception.

The card tagged as ‘NL Pitcher’s Nightmare’ features two future Hall of Famers, and two great sluggers – Mike Schmidt and Ryne Sandberg.

Of the pair, I would have to think that at the time this shot was snapped that Schmidt was the more feared hitter.  He was a veteran by the time the 1985 baseball season rolled around while Sandberg was still getting his feet wet.  Still, Ryno mashed a ton of homers early in his career and this is a magnificent pairing.

A great addition to my Mike Schmidt player collection!!!

Mike Schmidt 1983 Topps Super Veterans

Mike Schmidt 1983 Topps Super Veterans

When I got back into the hobby of baseball card collecting, the very first subset of cards that I put together was the 1983 Topps Super Veteran set.  It was a nice way to honor the players from my youth – and it remains my favorite subset in my collection.

As time has gone by, I have had to grab a few extras from this set for my evolving player collections.

I’ve had to do it for Fergie Jenkins, Jim Palmer, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew, Johnny Bench, and now Michael Jack Schmidt!

 

And trust me when I tell you that I am not complaining about this – I love this set!!!

I really wish Topps would issue another one.  It is a perfect fit for their Archives brand!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – Lot Of Two Mike Schmidt 2010 Topps Vintage Legends Cards

Baseball Card Show Purchase #5 – Lot Of Two Mike Schmidt 2010 Topps Vintage Legends Cards

Surrounding that Willie McCovey card that I showed off earlier this morning was a nice assortment of cards from the 2010 Topps Vintage Legends set.

Some of the cards that I found were of players that I don’t collect.  Some were of cards that I already have in my collection.  And some fell into the ‘Have to Have’ category.

These two cards of Mike Schmidt make that list!!!

Two very cool designs for Schmidt to be added too – this set is really starting to leave a very good impression on me.

Mike Schmidt 1983 Donruss – NICE!!!

Mike Schmidt 1983 Donruss

Mike Schmidt’s 1981 Donruss baseball card is fair.

Mike Schmidt’s 1982 Donruss baseball card is ok.

Mike Schmidt’s 1983 Donruss baseball card is NICE!!!

Check it out:

My favorite number from Schmidt’s 1983 baseball campaign?

128.

Schmidt was walked 128 times during that baseball season, leading the league.  17 of the walks were intentional.

1981 Topps – 1980 Major League RBI Leaders Featuring Cecil Cooper & Mike Schmidt

1981 Topps – 1980 Major League RBI Leaders Featuring Cecil Cooper & Mike Schmidt

Always a fan of League Leader baseball cards, Mike Schmidt appeared on a lot of them during his major league career.

This card comes from the 1981 Topps baseball card set and celebrates the RBI Leaders from the American League and National League from the 1980 baseball season.

The AL leader was Cecil Cooper who led the league with 122 RBI and Schmidt who paced the NL with 121.

1987 HEADLINE: Schmidt Connects For Home Run #500!!!

1987 HEADLINE: Schmidt Connects For Home Run #500!!!

On this day in 1987 Michael Jack Schmidt hit the 500th home run of is incredible career!!

I remember watching the highlights of this game. The joy that Schmidt shared with us as he rounded the bases while pumping his fists is one of the greatest memories I have of baseball from 1980′s. Rarely do you see a player emit so much joy during a game, but Schmidt did not hold back and I am thankful that I was able to enjoy his moment with him.

Schmidt finished his career with 548 home runs placing him in 13th place on the all-time list.

Congratulations Mike and Happy Anniversary!!!

Mike Schmidt 1986 Donruss Highlights

Mike Schmidt 1986 Donruss Highlights

While still not a great choice of color, the 1986 Donruss Highlights set offers a much lighter and brighter border color that the base set of Donruss from that year.

This is the card of Mike Schmidt from that set:

The card celebrates Mike Schmidt’s passing of Joe DiMaggio with his 882nd career extra base hit.

Schmidt would end his career with 1,015 career extra base hits, leaving him in 30th on the all-time list.

Mike Schmidt 1989 Bowman – WOW! Bowman Actually Used An Action Photo In 1989?!?!?!

Mike Schmidt 1989 Bowman

Well, well, well, as it turns out, the 1989 Bowman baseball card set did feature a little action photography.

Here some proof:

 

This is Mike Schmidt’s card from the 1989 Bowman set.

And as you can plainly see, this is an action photo of Schmidt.  It’s a poorly cropped image, but it is action-filled.

Back in ’89, Bowman loaded us up with posed, portait-style photography.  This card is a far cry from that.  And from what I can tell, there were not many that mimicked this one.

I need to find a pictorial essay of the whole set so I could calculate just how many cards used posed images versus action photos.

Off to the web!!!

Mike Schmidt 1986 Fleer – What A Waste Of A Card!!!

Mike Schmidt 1986 Fleer

Seriously, how in the world did this choice of photo ever get past the editor at Fleer?

What you have is a shot of Schmidt warming up his throwing arm prior to the start of a game.  This is somewhat of a baseball tradition – used to get the shoulders loose, get the guys on the field, and get the guys warmed up for the game.

The problem is that this particular image shows Schmidt in the midst of doing nothing at all.  He looks to be waiting on the throw from his partner, just kind of standing there…

Have a look:

Fleer, I expect better than this!!!

Mike Schmidt 1988 Fleer – Sad!

Mike Schmidt 1988 Fleer

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, the 1988 Fleer baseball card design is a true ‘Hit Or Miss’ look.

If your team colors are Red or Royal Blue, you have a very nice looking, and color coordinated baseball card.

If your colors are Powder-Blue and Maroon, sadly, you are just not that lucky…

Proof of this is Mike Schmidt’s card from the 1988 Fleer set.

Take a peek:

See what I mean??

If the Red was replaced by Maroon, we would be okay.  But it is not, so for me, it just does not work…

In the backgorund of the card, you see the backstop of beautiful Wrigley Field.  You can also catch a glimpse of the bat-girl and the Cubs’ catcher.  The ’88 Fleer design actually works better for them than it does for the main subject, Mike Schmidt.

Sad…