There wasn't much in the pile from the good folks at Score. My recollections of Score come from the junk wax era. I decided, in the cheapness of my youth, that Upper Deck was much too expensive to collect. But this Score company seemed pretty decent, and they had pictures on both the front and back of the card, just like UD. Also, they actually had players' uniform numbers on their cards. For a numbers geek, that was pretty cool.

So I threw my support behind Score. I bought their debut '88 set. The1989 set wasn't too bad, still lots of primary colors. Then, the 1990 set happened.

U-G-L-Y! You ain't got no alibi.

That was it for me and Score. A year later, I was out of the hobby altogether. Was it Score's fault? I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to decide.

Here's the highlights from the Score cards in the Orioles lot:

Speaking of 1990, here's a card from the 1990 Super Stars set. I'm not sure if this is an insert series or a completely different set, but I like how the design parallels the '88 Score rather than its bastard cousin, 1990 Score.


And I've included the back of the card as photographic evidence that, at one time, Phil Bradley was indeed considered a superstar, at least by the folks at Score.


Skipping ahead two years, There were two 1992 Score cards included in the lot, and they were both former Red Sox players. Hitting from the left side of the plate, Sam Horn. And hitting from the right side, Dwight Evans in his final card (Dewey retired after the 1991 season).


Who's more gangsta than late '90s Skybox cards? Mark McLemore, that's who!


Behold the power of Harold Baines's beard! There were actually two Score cards in the pile that featured The Beard. This card showed it off the best.


Finally, we come to one of the worst insert series I have seen. 1996 Score included the "Radar Rating" set. First of all, the layout is, well, pretty crap. Secondly, why do we need another insert set about fast pitchers, the second-most celebrated group of baseball players behind home-run hitters? Thirdly, that radar gun graphic is cutting off the top of Mussina's head. Fourthly, the back of the card isn't any better than the front:


No, I can't make out what that black squiggly thing under the "Speed Statistic" is, either. And isn't it weird that, in a subset called "Radar Rating," you call attention to a guy's change-up? I like the wrap-around sunglasses, Mike. How very mid-90s.

aving dealt with the Reds, and (sort of) the Mariners, it's time I posted a Orioles card. But first...why the Orioles?
When you grow up, as I did, in North Carolina in the '80s, your choices were the O's on Home Team Sports (before the days of MASN, kids - ask your parents) or the Braves on TBS. I was firmly in the O's camp. First of all, I just watched more HTS because it showed, well, sports. I really didn't care about all the Andy Griffith re-runs that The Superstation showed throughout the day and during rain delays.

Secondly, let's face it - the Braves stunk. Remember this was the mid to late '80s, before the Braves pulled the worst to first trick and became the National League juggernaut that nobody saw coming. To be fair, the O's weren't that good, either - they hadn't been the same since Joe Altobelli won the World Series in '83 with Earl Weaver's team. But there was a sense that they were at least trying, and were on the cusp of something...until 0-21 happened.

I'm trying to think...how much hair was left under that hat? (You'll discover that I have an obsession with people's hairlines - probably because mine is in full-fledged retreat mode.) Then I thought...oh, how I loved the Oriole Bird. I should really get one of those throwback hats.

At any rate, it's good to see St. Cal of Aberdeen make an appearance in the blog, especially since I wasn't planning on it. I was looking straight down the barrel of a Tom Niedenfuer, for goodness' sake.

"One of the few bright spots for the lowly Orioles." Oh, how 1988 sucked.