1992 Padres Stadium Club Team set

 There seem to be a lot more action shots in the 92 set and fewer posed shots.  

There are 33 cards in this set, which is up 9 cards from 1991. With 33 cards that is several more than would be on the roster at any one time.  

I had all kinds of ideas for this series, but I don't seem to be able to muster the same enthusiasm for writing that I did when I started the blog back in 2008.  I still enjoy collecting and reading other blogs and trading, but the writing not so much, so you may see more picture filled posts from me.

1991 Stadium Club Skydome Padres

The Skydome set was produced in conjunction with the All-Star Game, which was played at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Padres team set contains two All Stars and three draft picks.

Greg Anthony was drafted as compensation for the Padres having lost Jack Clark in 1991.  He played for three seasons, getting no higher than A ball.  

Jon Barnes was also drafted by the Padres in the second round of the 1991 draft.  He got up to AA and played through 1995 in organized baseball and in 1997 he played for the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks in an independent league.

Sean Mulligan was drafted in the fourth round in 1991.  He made his major league debut in 1996 for the Padres.  He played a total of 2 major league games.  In 1997 he played in the Cleveland System, in 98 he played in Mexico, then for a couple of years in the Montreal and Baltimore systems.

Also in the set were All Star team cards of Tony Gwynn and Benito Santiago.

 

mini collection, City Connect uniforms

 In 2021 Nike and MLB started another cash grab, I mean a new program for team stalwarts.  City Connect uniforms are supposedly designed to reflect the cultural aspecet of each teams home city.  So far twenty teams have City Connect uniforms.  Eight more teams are scheduled to get them in 2024 and the Dodgers are expected to debut a new City Connect uniform this year.  The A's and Yankees are the only teams without a City Connect uniform.  The Yankees have said they do not want one and who knows where the A's will end up.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were one of the teams to get City Connect uniforms in 2021.  The color is called sand and Arizona does have a lot of that.  The uniforms feature the team "name" Serpientes on the front in black with a the players number in red.  

Serpeintes is an homage to Arizona's Hispanic Community.

So far I just have these three cards to represent the D'backs in my mini collection.

Up Next-The Boston Red Sox

Mini Collection, National Anthem

I found these two cards in the Topps Update that I opened. They struck a chord with me.  I had an ancestor who fought for the Union during the civil war.  My grandfather was in the National Guard during WWII.  My Dad served in the US Navy during Korea and Vietnam during his twenty one year Naval Career.  I served four years in the US Navy from 1975-1979.  I have lots of friends that served in the military. I have never seen any cards like these before.  I am aware of one other which was also in the Update set.  I ordered one of it.  

If you know of any others please let me know.  

 

1991 Stadium Club backs

 To me one of the coolest things about the first year of Stadium Club was the backs.  Not so much the stats but the rookie card of each player on the back.

Garry Templeton has the oldest rookie card in this set, 1977.  Every year through 1985 except for 1980 is represented in this bunch.  I hadn't realized that Whitson had broken in with the Pirates.

There are 4 rookie cards from the 1985 set.  Hobby legend Bip Roberts represents 1986.  Phil Stephenson is part of a set that came out for a few years that featured players with their major league Debut.

Many instances of the debut set in this bunch.  

1991 Padres Stadium Club team set.

24 cards, 2 Hall of Fame members and 2 players who are no longer with us.

Stadium Club

When I was opening my blaster of 2023 Stadium Club I was reminded how much I liked the photography and the look of the cards.  I was working in the LCS when they first came out.  I remember the Topps rep telling us about them and showing us the promo cards.  Once they were out everyone working there ordered multiple sets of the members only and the gold Nolan Ryan.  

I tracked down all the Padres team sets since 1991 and going to take a look at them here.

1991 Stadium Club was 600 cards issued in two sets of 300. There were 22 members of the Padres in the set.

The only two horizontal cards in the team are Dennis Rasmussen and future HOFer Fred McGriff.  These two photos demonstrate what you got in that first year, either an action photo or a posed candid shot.  Once in a while you would get an unposed candid shot.  

One of the Clark brothers appears in the set, his brother Phil will join the Padres later.  Oscar Azocars' nephew Jose plays for the Padres now.

10 of the 24 players in the set are pitchers, 2 catchers and the rest are position players.   

Tony Gwynn and Benito Santiago were the stars of the team in 1991.

Two of the members of the 1991 Padres team are now members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  

Customs of 2024

So far I have made 5 custom cards.  The Mike Shildt card was for me and is at Spring Training to get signed for my Padres Manager collection.  The Puig and Qualls cards were made for an autograph dealer I work with.  Rich Puig played four games for the Mets in September of 1974 and that was the extent of his major league career.

Jim Qualls played for the Cubs, Expos and White Sox between 1969 and 1972.  63 games in all and 11 for the White Sox in 1972.

This card is also for the autograph dealer I work with.  Gary Alexander had a 7 year major league career between 1975-1981.  He played in 58 games for the A's in 1978,splitting that season with the Indians. He came to the A's as part of the trade that sent Vida Blue to the Giants.

John "Blue Moon" Odom had a legendary career with the A's from 1964-1975.  In 1975 he played with the A's, Indians, Braves and White Sox.  He finished his career with two games for the White Sox.  This was also made for the autograph dealer I work with.