Greg Olson on baseball cards

Catcher Greg Olson played five seasons for the Twins and Braves. He was a National League All Star in 1990. Now the General Manager of the Bearpath Golf & Country Club in Eden Prairie, MN, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"My favorite card is the one where I am riding the Philly Phanatic's four wheeler. I took it for a ride, and boy was he pissed off.

I do not actively collect baseball cards, but I have a box of them in my storage area that showed up in my spring training locker each year."

Thanks!

1990 Harrisburg Senators (ProCards)

Pretty simple set from ProCards, nothing really notable about the photos. Harrisburg was a Pirates minor league team.

 One big name in the set was Moises Alou, who made his major league debut for the Pirates in 1990, and was quickly traded to the Expos, where he became a star.

 "Spin and Mindy" sounds like it would be a good TV show. This set is brought to you by "The Hitting Machine" and WCMB 1460 AM. Harrisburg Senators games are still broadcast on 1460, but the station is now known as WTKT.

Robbie Kamerschen on baseball cards

Robbie Kamerschen pitched in the Phillies organization in 1990, going 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA in 20 games. After the season, he became Deputy Press Secretary to US Senator Richard Shelby, and has gone on to a successful career in law and business, currently as the Chief Compliance Officer at Equifax. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I collected cards when I was younger—and my favorite card was a Hank Aaron card. I moved to Georgia just after he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record—so he seemed like the perfect player to pull for and idolize."

Thanks!

1990 Tulsa Drillers (ProCards)

The Tulsa Drillers were a Texas Rangers farm team. The design is very similar to the second half of the 1990 CMC set.

 

Mike Taylor, pitcher with a bat (and a glove).

 

So is Wayne Rosenthal.

 

Rosenthal is from Canarsie, Brooklyn. He went to the same high school as my wife (though a decade and a half earlier). These cards are brought to you by Tulsa's Baseball Card Store.

  Former Yankee Walt Williams shows why he was called "No Neck."

1989 Billings Mustangs (ProCards)

I've already shown a few cards from this set recently. Here's the trainer, rocking the Reds sweater.

 At 22 years old, he was younger than most of the players. This set was brought to you by First Interstate Bank.

  I wonder how Harry Henderson IV felt when the movie Harry and the Hendersons came out. I also wonder if the is now a Harry Henderson V.

1989 Iowa Cubs (ProCards)

Lots of great photos in this set.

 Doug Dascenzo is one of those guys who always seemed to get good card photos.

 It's Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey!

 Yet another pitcher-with-a-bat card. Fun to see a junk-wax staple like Ed VandeBerg in an unfamiliar uniform.

Daniel Nava on baseball cards

Red Sox Outfielder Daniel Nava is best known for hitting a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues. This season, he hit .243 with 6 HR and 33 RBI. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"When I was as kid trading baseball cards was huge and I was a huge collector.

I collected Will Clark, Will Clark and Will Clark. I was a HUGE fan of his. I had every single Will Clark card ever made up until he went to the Rangers.

I'd head over to my friend's house and we'd trade cards for hours on end. Nintendo was just coming out so the video game boom hadn't really happened so baseball cards was where it was at.

As of now I don't collect baseball cards but definitely love seeing rookie cards of other guys I play with or coaches and managers. They are always a good laugh."

Thanks!

1988 ProCards Auburn Astros

I got one set from 1988 ProCards. It's a really nice design, with the gold-colored borders.

It's Pat!

 Their GM has one hell of a chin.

 Their Assistant GM looks like John Candy.

 This card, like every other one in the set, was brought to you by Domino's Pizza.

1987 Wytheville Cubs (ProCards)

One more 1987 ProCards set, one of the most interesting in terms of names and poses. Almost all players were taken in front of the Cubs logo in the outfield, and almost all of these pictures managed to include the Mets logo as well.

Nunex would be an awesome name, but it's actually just a misspelling of Nelson Nunez's name.

 Braz is a real name, though.

 As is Canino.

 Canino wouldn't even turn seventeen until after the 1987 season.

 Pitching coach Rick Kranitz shows off his bunting form.

This is the only 1987 ProCards set that I got which included a team photo.

1987 Salem Angels (ProCards

Another 1987 ProCards set.

As this was a rookie-league set, the players in this set had no professional experience.

One notable name - Tony Rasmsus, the meddling father of Blue Jays outfielder Colby Rasmus.