Wood vs. Wood #80

Last time '87 took six out of nine votes. We've got a good matchup this time.

Vada Pinson was one of the best hitters of his era; some people believe he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, in one of the great all-time seasons for rookies, the one who made the biggest initial splash was Wally Joyner; this card was a big deal at the time.

Vada Pinson is wearing the Reds' sleeveless jersey and white cap, certainly some relics of older baseball fashion. At the time of this card he was one of the great young hitters in the National League. In four of his first seven seasons (1959-1965) he topped 200 hits four times, twice leading the league. He also led the league in doubles twice. A speedy center fielder, as Pinson got older he had a hard time holding on to his elite form, and was merely an average player in the late 60's and early '70s. Still he retired in 1975 with a .286 career averaage, 2,757 hits, 485 doubles, 256 HR and 305 SB. He died of a stroke in 1995.

Wally Joyner also had a fast start to his career. "Wally World" took the baseball world by storm as the rookie first baseman helped the Angels to a surprise NL West championship, hitting .290 with 22 HR and 100 RBI. He also was famously hit by a knife thrown by a fan at Yankee Stadium that year. (That was a night game; the photo on this card would have been at one of the three day games the Angels played that year.) He had even better numbers in homer-happy 1987 (.285, 34 HR, 117 RBI), but was basically just an average player after that. In 16 seasons he was a high average player with below-average power for a first basemen, still finishing his career with a very respectable .289 career average with 2,060 hits, 409 2B and 204 HR. After his playing career he coached for a while and is now involved in a variety of business interests. He has also done some acting; appearing in a few movies produced by the LDS Church (Joyner was one of the most prominent Mormon ballplayers).