I bring you the sixth and final pack of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards that I ripped through this morning…

Notable – Harold Reynolds, Kevin Mitchell, Fernando Valenzuela, Mark Langston, and a ‘1917 Revisited’ Chicago White Sox team card.

Pick Of The Pack – Bert Blyleven – easily the happiset baseball card I have ever seen!!!

I bring you the fifth of six packs of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards that I ripped through this morning…

Notable – Jose Oquendo, Darren Daulton, Mike LaValliere, Gary Sheffield, Charlie Hayes, Jack Morris – Team Checklist

Pick Of The Pack – Barry Bonds – Team checklist

I bring you the fourth of six packs of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards that I ripped through this morning…

Notable – Tom Browning, Ellis Burks, Ozzie Guillen, Robby Thompson, Sandy Alomar Jr.

Pick Of The Pack – Rafael Palmeiro – Team checklist

I bring you the third of six packs of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards that I ripped through this morning…

Notable – Willie McGee, Tim Raines, Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

Pick Of The Pack – It’s a 3-way tie:  Mike Mussina rookie card, Luis Gonzalez rookie card, and a Frank Thomas 2nd year card!!!

I bring you the second of six packs of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards that I ripped through this morning…

Notable – BJ Surhoff, David Wells, Bret Saberhagen – Team Checklist, Jamie Moyer

Pick Of The Pack – Darryl Strawberry.  Just Look at that smile - Straw must have just signed his contract with the Dodgers!!!

I bring you the first of six packs of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards that I ripped through this morning…

Notable – Todd Hundley, Mark Lemke, Todd Benzinger, Gary Gaetti – Twins Checklist, Dennis Martinez.

Pick Of The Pack – This was a toss-up between Cecil Fielder and Tony Gwynn.  The vote has to go to Gwynn for his HOF resume, but ‘Big Daddy’ was awesome in the early 90’s!!

You may recall that at the baseball card show I attended almost two weeks ago I walked away with a box of 1991 Upper Deck baseball cards for just $5.00.  If not, you can re-live that glorious purchase here.

That box sat on the desk in my home office in its original seal until this morning when I got the urge to rip open a few packs.

I have to say that 18 years later Upper Deck is still impressive.  I remember as a kid when I collected these that the cards were the best quality I had seen.  And now 18 years after their release, the quality of the cardboard and photography still holds up very well.

As a vintage collector, I do enjoy the wax pack versus UD’s foil wrapper.  But other than that, the 1991 Upper Deck product is superb.

I have to say that there are some cards in these packs that would look great signed – I may have to use a bunch of these for some TTM request…

And wait until you see what pack #3 unveils – this is easily the best pack of cards I have busted in 15 years(Ok, so I was out of the hobby for 14 years)!!!!  Still, it’s awesome by today’s standards so I imagine that in 1991 it was like winning the lottery!!!

Stay tuned to ‘30-YOC’ all day today as I will bring you the results of each and every pack I tore through.  And if you see something you like, ask for it!!  You may just get it!!!

… Dave R  from the blog ‘Dinks And Dunks’!!!!

Here is how the scoring broke down:

Tim - Andrew Bailey, Andrew McCutchen, Zack Greinke, Chris Carpenter, Joe Mauer, Derek Jeter(2nd), Albert Pujols, Chase Utley(2nd)  8

WickedOrtega - Matt Wieters, Chris Coghlan, Zack Greinke, Chris Carpenter, Joe Mauer, Ben Zobrist(2nd), Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez(2nd)  9

Jordan - Matt Wieters, JA Happ, Zack Grienke, Chris Carpenter, Joe Mauer, Derek Jeter(2nd), Albert Pujols, Raul Ibanez(2nd)  6

Dan - Andrew Bailey, JA Happ, Zack Greinke, Adam Wainwright, Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira(2nd), Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard(2nd)  9

Charles Beatley - Andrew Bailey, Chris Coghlan, Felix Hernandez, Adam Wainright, Derek Jeter, Joe Mauer(2nd), Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard(2nd)  6

unclemoe - Andrew Bailey, Chris Coghlan, Felix Hernandez, Tim Lincecum, Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira(2nd), Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard(2nd)   11

Dave R - Andrew Bailey, Chris Coghlan, Zack Greinke, Tim Lincecum, Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira(2nd), Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard(2nd)    13

BroadStreetBully - Gordon Beckham, JA Happ, Zack Greinke, Chris Carpenter, Joe Mauer, Mark Teixeira(2nd),  Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder(2nd)  7

Congratulations Dave!!!  With a score of 13 out of a possible 14 points you aced this years ‘Pick the Award Winners’ contest!!!

Please send me your mailing address so I can get your prize out to you.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I did very well predicting the Award winners too.  A perfect 14 our of 14 for ‘30-YOC’!!!!  Too Sweet!!!!

‘Same Card, Different Paths’ – Card #19

1970 Topps - Card #189 – AKA – ‘The Thurman Munson Rookie Card’

Thurman Munson - An 11-year veteran and 7-time All-star, Munson’s life and career were tragically cut short when he passed away at the age of just 32.  A Rookie of the Year and MVP Award winner, Munson was a fan favorite for the New York Yankees.  He was a solid all-around player that had a knack for making key defensive plays while also driving in runs and hitting home runs.  Munson was a member of the Yankees championship teams of 1977 and 1978.

Dave McDonald – McDonald played in just 33 games between 1969-1971.  McDonald has 6 career hits, 1 of which is a home run.  He also drove in 6 runs while scoring 3 himself.

1981 Fleer Jim Palmer

Not a great, but not a terrible card for Fleer’s debut set.

While the photography lacks detail, it is a decent posed photo of Palmer.  Judging by the background of the picture, I think it would be safe to guess that this picture was taken during Spring Training.

1981 was Palmer’s 16th season in the majors.  For the year he 7-8 while starting just 22 games for ‘The Birds’.

Another card to scratch off of my needs list – YES!!!