Random Wax: Donruss Baseball 1991

1991 Donruss: What else can you say about Rickey Henderson?  He is the only player in the 3,000-hit club who never recorded a 200-hit season.  He holds the record for the most unintentional walks in baseball history with 2,129.  And Henderson stole three or more bases in a game 71 times in his career, including four steals 19 times, and five steals once, and on July 29, 1989, he scored four runs without registering a hit (four walks in four plate appearances) against the Mariners in Oakland.  Thank you interwebs and MLB.com.  And I love these All-Star cards from Donruss with great league logos on them.

Juan Gonzalez would have a breakout year in 1991 with 27 home runs and go on to lead the league in home runs in '92 and '93 with 43 and 46, respectively.  He also averaged .295 for his career which is great for a power hitter.  He had 434 career dingers and was a 2X MVP.

And we get actual game stats.  <clapping>

Always enjoyed the Diamond Kings from this era.  Hall of Fame Edgar Martinez ended his career with a .312 batting average, .418 on base percentage and 309 home runs.  Solid Rated Rookie pull as well.

Gene Nelson?  Yep.  A teammate of Rickey who helped the A's win the 1989 World Series though his 54 ERA in the Series belies his solid career in the MLB.  He was also a base stealer in his own right as evidenced by his career highlights writeup.

Steve Finley was a 5X Gold Glove outfielder, won a championship with the D-Backs, and was named to 2 All-Star teams.  He had 2,548 hits in his career.  That really surprised me.  Why didn't he get the honor of being the final card?  Fun pack with lots of fun memories.

BREAKDOWN:

16 – Total Cards

2 – Diamond Kings

1 - Puzzle

1 – All-Star

1 – Rated Rookie

 

Donruss Baseball 1991

1991 Donruss:  Dwight Gooden had issues early in his career but still managed 16 seasons.  His 11 with the Mets were very productive pitching to a 157-85 record with a 3.10 ERA.  He didn't have an ERA under 4.67 with any other team.  He won one Cy Young and won a championship with the Mets and the Yankees.

Pretty good pull in this pack including World Series MVP and Hall of Famer, Alan Trammel. Parker is also in the Hall and Dwight Evans had a 20-year career including 19 with the Red Sox.

After 1991, Sammy Sosa would be traded to the Chicago Cubs with Ken Patterson for George Bell.

These backs don't have all the stats we want but it's solid including stats from the last 5 seasons and career highlights.

This design isn't bad but not my favorite Donruss look.  11X Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel early in his career with the Mariners.  He had 2,877 hits for his career.

The backs of the All-Star cards are nice giving us actual All-Star Game stats as well as career highlights.  I always like All-Star cards, and I especially liked when Donruss put the American League and National League logos on them.  Great look.

BREAKDOWN:
16 – Total Cards
1 – All-Star
1 – Rated Rookie