Who is your definition of a common man?

[knoxcat1983]

Doug Rau

[Vintagevault13]

Doug Drabek. Seems like he was in every pack I opened in the early 80's.

[HRBAKER]

ED,

Are you a UGA alum?

[Cliff Bowman]

These two in '78.

[Sean]

Gary Bell in the 1965 Topps set.

[glynparson]

Early 80's Doug Drabek? He is in the 1986 traded sets but i believe 1987 is the first time he was in packs, also a cy young winner is not really my definition of common. I also saw Greg Jeffries mentioned, while his career was not up to the expectations he was a multiple All star and put up some impressive numbers for a few years. When i think dead dirt common I think of guys like Mario Mendoza, Warren Brustar, Marvell Wynne, Bill Almon, Buddy Bianancalana and these types of guys.

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by glynparson

Early 80's Doug Drabek? He is in the 1986 traded sets but i believe 1987 is the first time he was in packs, also a cy young winner is not really my definition of common.

Mea culpa for my Doug Drabek post. I stand corrected on the years. 1981 and 1982 were the last years I collected as a kid as I was 16/17 yrs old and becoming interested in other pursuits. I responded to this post purely from memory (obviously flawed). FWIW, Doug Rau is the player I had in mind.

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

These two in '78.

That Warren Brusstar card could be used in some "Don't use drugs" Public Service Announcements. Scary eyes, and a mouth of chew.

[mrmopar]

That Brusstar is a solid second dud card for me. Because 78 Topps was the first year I busted packs, most of those card images are burned into my memory. I could probably block the names out and get a majority of the cards named correctly just from poses.

I'd also add that my intention with this thread, and I may not have explained it well enough, it that not only are these cards commons, but they are TERRIBLE commons for one personal reason or another. It's that card you own or buy only because you absolutely must have to complete a set or something like that, otherwise a card like this would never have a home in your collection.

For me, those large close up portrait cards will often fit that bill more so than any other cards. The kind of photos that made you glad that football and hockey players wore helmets! However, if the Apodaca card looked like the 77 Tanana, then it would be a different story for me.

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

These two in '78.

[familytoad]

It took me 0.3 nanoseconds to think of George Alusik in 1963 Topps.
While that predates my pack opening (I was only 1 yr old), he's my poster man for common. Perhaps someone might do us a favor and post a pic?

For my pack opening years in the 70's, I must have gathered several dozen 1972 Cleo James cards. At least some of them turned out to have the color variation in the Cubs banner across the top and now I am rich beyond all imagination.

Great topic!

I also enjoyed the discussion about the pricing of near stars or memorable players from our youth. When I was a kid, I wanted Bernie Carbo and Bob Tolan and Garry Maddox cards. I wanted to get all the Bake McBrides and you can have Jim Ray Hart or Roy White all day. Lucky for us , (if we are still interested) common baseball cards are cheap and easy to acquire. For numerous reasons of course.

When I go thumbing through my set binders (I am close to a set run from 1953 to 1980, all in binders ) I enjoy reading the backs of the common cards or just remembering a player from back in the day as much as I want to see what page the Mantle, Mays, Bench or Ryan cards are on.

[mrmopar]

Originally Posted by familytoad

It took me 0.3 nanoseconds to think of George Alusik in 1963 Topps.
While that predates my pack opening (I was only 1 yr old), he's my poster man for common. Perhaps someone might do us a favor and post a pic?

For my pack opening years in the 70's, I must have gathered several dozen 1972 Cleo James cards. At least some of them turned out to have the color variation in the Cubs banner across the top and now I am rich beyond all imagination.

Great topic!

I also enjoyed the discussion about the pricing of near stars or memorable players from our youth. When I was a kid, I wanted Bernie Carbo and Bob Tolan and Garry Maddox cards. I wanted to get all the Bake McBrides and you can have Jim Ray Hart or Roy White all day. Lucky for us , (if we are still interested) common baseball cards are cheap and easy to acquire. For numerous reasons of course.

When I go thumbing through my set binders (I am close to a set run from 1953 to 1980, all in binders ) I enjoy reading the backs of the common cards or just remembering a player from back in the day as much as I want to see what page the Mantle, Mays, Bench or Ryan cards are on.

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

ED,

Are you a UGA alum?

Yes, I received both my bachelor and master degrees from UGA.

[Tomman1961]

1973 Fred Kendall

[quitcrab]

Mark Belanger fits the bill

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by quitcrab

Mark Belanger fits the bill

Be careful with Belanger. You are likely to get a dissertation on why Belanger should be in the Hall of Fame from a fellow board member!

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

Be careful with Belanger. You are likely to get a dissertation on why Belanger should be in the Hall of Fame from a fellow board member!

While not Hall of Fame, I was thinking the same thing with Doug Rau, he went 15-9, 16-12, 14-8, and 15-9 for the Dodgers from 1975 to 1978 until he blew out his arm (rotator cuff?) in 1979.

[jschris]

My brother and I could not open a pack of '81 Topps without a Mike Cubbage spilling out of it.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by jschris

My brother and I could not open a pack of '81 Topps without a Mike Cubbage spilling out of it.

+1

[bcbgcbrcb]

It's unfortunate that so many collectors of late '70's through 1980's baseball are just interested in the HOF'ers and anyone not in the HOF gets lumped together as "commons". There is a BIG difference between guys like Ruben Sierra, Gary Gaetti, Terry Kennedy, etc. and guys like Brian Dayett, Daryl Boston, Luis DeLeon, etc. When it comes to selling their rookie cards though, interest is almost the same for both groups (practically non-existent).

[stlcardsfan]

I remember buying packs in 1976 with a friend and I swear there was a Pat Dobson - Traded card in every pack. That was our common.

[sago]

1978 Tommy Boggs. Must have been buy a pack, get a Tommy Boggs card free secret campaign by Topps.

[TAVG]

gary thurman

have so many dups of him...like at least 15 1992 topps cards.
i had so many of his cards i started a mini collection of his lmao!

i even traded for an ip auto of him to go with the collection

he always has that goofey smile in most of his cards, always though it was funny

[David W]

I remember opening 1978 packs in Central Illinois, and getting lots of Yankees. Munson, Reggie, et al.

No one wanted Yankees in Central Illinois. I wanted Mumphrey, Brock, and John Denny and kept getting Reggie and Guidry.

I don't know if the distribution was erratic or what, but I know my Yankee section of my shoe boxes was 2x as full as any other team that year.

[Rich Klein]

Guidry was a 1978 double print and there were three different Reggie's in 1978

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Guidry was a 1978 double print and there were three different Reggie's in 1978

Same thing with the 1978 Topps Tommy Boggs and the 1981 Topps Mike Cubbage, both double prints.

[Section103]

Doug Rau comments are making me laugh. I collect Rau and purposely have every vintage card listed for him in the Guide. That's the odd thing about collecting - dig deep enough and you can find so many different perspectives and preferences.

[smrtn240]

Candy Maldonado
oh that name...