Die-cuts part deux

After discussing some classic die-cuts just last week, what arrives in the mail this week but a modern take on the technology? Welcome to my collection multi-MVP and lifetime "I Had to Work for Ted Turner" award winner Dale Murphy, resplendent in 1980s blue-on-blue-on-blue. The card places him (and his 1987 Donruss All-Star Pop-ups brethren) under the Astrodome roof in Houston. He made the team despite a relative lull in production, with an OPS+ of "only" 121. (This was sandwiched between OPS+ years of over 150.)

Some think almost 400 homers, back-to-back MVPs, and six different seasons slugging over .500 make a case for the Hall of Fame. Murphy certainly scared pitchers more than most hitters in the 1980s, even given a penchant for striking out. This photo clearly happens after contact, perhaps with Dale shooting another double into the left-center gap.

As good as card photography gets these days, it was sub-par during the 1980s and well-timed shots like this were few and far between. The same company's regular issue from that year went with a is-he-hunky-or-dreamy shot and even his 1987 Diamond King looks distracted. At least the pop-up puts us into the game.

Once you punch out the card and stand Dale up, I can't help but notice the copious Astrodome advertising just past his shoulders. Around the outfield, it's the Marlboro man, Budweiser, Coke, and FirstCity Bank. OK, Coke is acceptable for kids, but ciggies and beer? Did we learn nothing from the airbrush arteests of the late 1970s? I imagine a Friday-night-working editor seeing the ads in the background, scratching the crown of his thinning scalp, and saying "screw it, it's just a gimmicky pop-up set."

1991 Donruss #744 Dr. Dirt & Mr. Clean

I remember Lenny Dykstra and Dale Murphy being huge deals in the 80's and early 90's. I do remember both as being on the Phillies. I associate them with different teams though. Dale will always be a Brave to me and Dykstra will always be a Met. I can never shake that.

This card is odd. This was also when anyone who sniffed a baseball ended up on a card. This was the time of filler cards. Not that two players of this caliber didn't deserve a card together. It's just overkill though. On the other hand, it is nice to see.

This card feels like a free promo for a Philadelphia area dry cleaner. Dr. Dirt is kinda dirty looking, but in a clean kind of way. Sort of like Dennis the Menace. Mr. Clean lost the earring, grew some hair and traded in his floor cleaner for a Phillies uniform.

This is where gimmick cards got their start. Not with this specific card, but cards like it in this era. Could this be the inspiration for the Studio line that Donruss put out in 1991? Maybe. This reminds me of two buddies in their softball uniforms. After many beers, they decide to go to Sears and get a portrait done in their uniforms. It didn't matter that one played all day and the other sat on the bench watching. They had the uniforms that looked like real major league uniforms.

I hope Lenny and Dale got some good money for that dry cleaners spot. I'll bet they had no idea that it would end up on a card. That should be a lesson to all players. Don't take show up to Sears in your uniform. They will get you to pose in front of a cheesy background. It will end up on a card.