First, go here and grab a team in the June CCC/SMG Break. Seriously. The May break was swimming and we're looking for more solid pulls next month.
Back in the day when I was young my guy was Dwight Gooden. We're talking the meat of the junk era, and I have binders full of Gooden junk back in the SC. Of all my Gooden cards, though, this remains my favorite.
I was never able to make it to Shea (this is Shea, right?) but this card put me there. We've got a young Doc who is literally larger than the game itself. Usually stadium shots emphasize the player's diminutive stature within a broader context but here the diamond and the stadium are a backdrop to the amazingness that was the mid-late 80s Gooden. And this shot was taken on the heels of '84. '85 was damn near immortal.
What I'll never get about this card, though, is that it's not the base. It's one of those box bottom cards that were a staple of 80s junk glory.
No idea why this wasn't in the set. The shot is FAR superior to the base offerings in Topps, Donruss, or Fleer. It even conjures up the '72 Clemente with the exception that Gooden's looking up, like toward the heavens, while Clemente focuses on juggling the ball. I guess there was a time before the cocaine and the legal trouble when the game cam that easy to him.
Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!
That is Shea, and that is an awesome card. I was a huge Doc fan as a kid too.
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