The 1988 Project – Day Nine – Jay Buhner

And on we roll. Jay Buhner was a late-season call-up in 1987. In fact, he was called up at the same time as Roberto Kelly and Al Leiter, so he appeared in at least one 88 set (Donruss). Of course, it was the start of a good career, so Buhner is definitely worth covering in his own entry.

1988 Donruss Rookies

Jay looked like a friend of ours growing up, and this card ESPECIALLY looked like Kevin. We teased him mercilessly, but hell, I’d be proud. Buhner was a pretty damn good player, and when he joined the team at age 22 he was coming off of a 1987 AAA season in which he knocked 31 homers and had a .514 slugging percentage. Pretty damn good! Man, did that guy have some yellow teeth in this shot, though, heh. Not one of my favorite Buhner shots, but I do like how it captures the Spring Training 1988 vibe; I think Spring Training has changed some since those days. I don’t get the same intimate, thrown-together vibe from today’s Spring Training shots that I do from these old ones, but that may just be me.

1988 Score Rookies and Traded

Here’s the oddball, and really lets you know when this set was issued. Speaking of which, does anyone know the release date for this set? Google seems to be failing me on this. And now that I think about it, why is this such hard information to come by? It seems like it would be relevant for some collector to document. Maybe I’ll start my own database of current releases. Anyway. Bone was traded toward the end of July in a deal for Ken Phelps, so that gives you some idea of the time frame they started this set. Oh and by the way, this picture is from the old Comiskey Park, so that puts the time frame sometime between July 25, 1988 and July 27, 1988. Kind of hard to nail it down past that point, but that pushes the set out a littler farther. I’m thinking this came out in September now. Regardless, Buhner was pretty good in Seattle, putting up a 2.4 WAR in 223 plate appearances, despite a low batting average. It would presage his time with the time nicely.

1988 Topps Traded

Finally, the 88 Topps Traded. This was a big deal amongst us for some reason that I can’t possibly fathom, because it’s generic as anything, not to mention who on Earth decided the Yankees colors were purple, red, and yellow? What a nightmare. Oh, and the Yankees definitely gave up on Buhner too early, but they were 53-38 at the time they dealt him, so I can see them thinking Phelps would give them the push they needed to get past the Red Sox. Unfortunately, he was not the answer, and neither was firing Billy Martin (again). Yeah, I remember when the Yankees were lovable losers for like a decade there. Oh, for those times again. In the meantime, we can appreciate Buhner’s 1273 career hits, 310 homers, and .852 career OPS. Go Bone!