A 1980s Card Part 41 - 1988 Smokey Bear Ken Dayley

Back to the Smokey Bear stadium giveaway sets from the 1980s and 1990s.  I have featured a bunch of these cards on my blog, but not done much with my favorite set of Cardinal freebies, which came out in 1988.  Many people think simple designs are sometimes the best route to go when producing a baseball card, this set very much proves that point.  

Full color photos that run from edge to edge, with simple design elements that stay out of the way of the pictures on the card.  That's what makes the 1988 Smokey Bear set so great.  I have already posted my favorite card from this set awhile ago, so I will repost it before moving on to another card and player.  

My scanner was a little bit smudgy the day that I ran this card through.  Apologies.  Great action photo here of Ozzie Smith jumping over Gary Gaetti.  The two actually ended up being teammates during Ozzie's final season in 1996.  I guess you could simplify the card slightly by changing the location of the name, or getting rid of the white frame.  Both are fine in my opinion, neither really take away from the card.  

I have not put many Ken Dayley cards on the blog before, but he was a long running player on the 1980s Cardinals.  There were several different closers throughout the decade, but Dayley was a left-handed set up man for the most of the good Whitey Herzog teams, minus 1982.  He was actually on the Braves that season, who played the Cardinals in the National League Championship Series that year.  

Best part of Dayley's career was he work during the Postseason.  Flies under the radar a bit. 

People rave about Mariano Rivera have a 0.70 ERA in the Postseason, but Dayley had a better mark at 0.44.  The playoffs were shorter back then, and Dayley only appeared in the two different Postseasons.  That was good for a total of 16 games.  He gave up one run in the 1987 World Series.  That was it.  He wasn't a one out left handed pitcher either.  He pitched 20 innings in the 16 games, and picked up 5 saves in there too.

While Dayley was great in the Postseason for the Cardinals, he was a middle reliever, which meant that he was rarely included in baseball card sets.  His very first Cardinals card has to be one of the worst ever made.....

Topps did better later on when they gave him a second Cardinals card in 1986.  

Still nothing better than his Smokey Bear card.  

A 1980s Card Part 37 - 1988 Smokey Bear John Tudor

I think that I have mentioned my love for the Cardinals Smokey Bear giveaway sets on these 1980s Cardinals posts before.  They were the baseball card set giveaway during the mid to late 1980s.  I know that I have done a few of these before, just not from the 1988 set.  I like all the Smokey Bear sets, but this is my absolute favorite. There are some great photographs in the set, plenty of action shots, and the simple design really works for me.  

John Tudor had a really good 1988, so I thought I would use his card from this set.  Plus, I like this action shot of him pitching.  

He started out 1988 with the Cardinals, only managed to win 6 games, but that was more about a lack of run support than the quality of his pitching.  The Cardinals did not have a great offense in 1988, in part because they decided to sign Bob Horner to play first base.  He did not hit.  So, the Cardinals traded John Tudor to the Dodgers for Pedro Guerrero.  

How did Tudor's year turn out?  

He started Game 3 of the World Series, and the Dodgers closed out the A's in 5 games.  Shout out to the A's for playing the Golden Girls theme in the background when the Dodgers win.  It starts at 0:23 on the video.  

Pedro had some good years with the Cardinals, and managed to get a Smokey Bear Cardinals card the following year.  So, that was a good thing.  

If you collect Cardinals cards, and do not own some of these Smokey Bear cards, the sets and the singles are both pretty cheap to buy on places like Ebay.  The 1988 is seriously incredible.  As I said before, so many great pictures.  Just picking out a random card to scan as an example......