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C.A.: 1989 Topps Big Baseball Jim Poole

(Welcome. Today is "Have a Bad Day Day," brought to you by someone who was annoyed with store clerks constantly wishing them "have a good day" and encouraging people instead to "have a bad day." I would love to meet this person. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 265th in a series):


This is the most recent card off my Nebulous 9 list. It arrived from a recent newcomer to the blog, Jack, who said he's started reading my blog from the beginning (I apologize about those early posts, Jack).

This card is a Dodger card, although you can't tell unless you turn it over to the back where it says "Los Angeles Dodgers" directly under James Richard Poole's name.

It completes the Dodgers team set for me for 1989 Topps Big Baseball and also completes all of the Dodger needs from the Big sets from 1988 through 1990. That's a great Big relief. So never mind what I said on this post. Now, I'm done.

Poole is part of the U.S. national team subset, which I believe is part of the more-difficult-to-obtain third series from '89 Topps Big. I think there's an assumption that all the players featured in this subset made it to the 1988 Olympics. But Poole wasn't part of the Olympic roster.

Poole didn't last long with the Dodgers, although he went through the requisite rookie obsession in 1991.


1991 is where you can find all the card companies clamoring to add a card of Jim Poole to their sets after his 16 games pitched for L.A. in 1990. These are all of the cards in which you can find Poole featuring a genuine Dodger uniform. For whatever reason, Upper Deck didn't get in on the Jim Poole rookie craze (apparently too obsessed with Kiki Jones).

Poole was traded to the Rangers after 1990 and then hooked on to the Orioles. He's probably most well-known for pitching in the postseason for the Indians in 1995 and 1998. He now helps coach high school pitchers.

It's always a great day when I can complete a team set. It's even better when the last player in that team set isn't a superstar.

I find I learn a little more about people when that happens.

Comments

acrackedbat said…
Poole looks good swimming in all that blue on the Classic!
Fuji said…
The 1989 Topps Big Team USA subset is awesome! They were actually spread across the three different series, but I think you're right about the 3rd series. I've been trying to track that series down for my Topps Big binder.
Matt said…
I'm genuinely curious why Donruss was the only brand to go with "Jimmy"...
Jamie Meyers said…
Based on this sample of cards, he doesn't appear to be a guy who likes to pose for photos. His '93 Topps has a similarly "just get this damn thing done already" quality to it, though he is at least trying to muster a smile on that card. I was thinking that might be because he's not that friendly a fellow, but the article you linked to suggests otherwise and he is an excellent signer through the mail. Maybe he's just like me and doesn't like his picture taken.