Card Spotlight: 1-18-08

1988 Topps #321 - White Sox Team Leaders (Baines & Fisk)

Sure, this is just a team leaders card from 1988 Topps. There are several things that make this a great card. First of all, this card came into my collection on Monday. Yes, it's been in my collection for five days total. It was included in a massive trade with Kevin.

Second, it features one Hall of Famer and one potential Hall of Famer, that I'm heavily campaigning for. I won't go into my whole rant about it. I've written several articles about the subject.

Thirdly, both of these players have retired numbers with the White Sox. Baines' number has been retired three times. They had to un-retire his number each time he came back to the Sox. It really says something about a player when your first team retires your number twelve years before you actually retire.

Fourth, this is a rarely seen shot of both of these players standing next to each other. It's very refreshing to see that. It almost looks like they hang out all the time. Who knows, maybe they do. It's just nice to see the two faces of the franchise for the 80's together on one card, before that sort of thing was commonplace.

Last, but not least, it features two of my favorite players from my childhood. If I had gotten this card as a kid, I would have probably felt the onset of puberty as soon as the card hit my hands. It was just that cool and these two meant the world to me back then. They still do, just to a lesser degree.

The only thing that would make this card better, is if it was autographed by Harold Baines and Carlton Fisk. If I had known of this card's existence in 1988, I would only have two waves of card collecting. This card would have pulled me through the tough times between 1988 and early 1990, when I stopped collecting.