There wasn't a lot of "Tim Wallach" related news in 2022. No new cards were made of Wallach, and Topps even snubbed Chad Wallach from their 2022 sets, despite Chad once again spending a decent amount of time in the Majors with the Angels.
On a personal level, I finally made it to Dodger Stadium, taking in a pair of games during the Dodger's last home stand of the season on a Friday night and Saturday afternoon. For Friday night I was able to find seats in the first row on the right field wall. That's me above in the blue Expos jersey. Below are a pair of pictures from my seats, one from the Friday night game and one from the Saturday afternoon game, a few rows further back. Mookie Betts to his endless credit, tossed a ball to a kid between each inning Friday night (he took Saturday afternoon off). For a Red Sock, or former Red Sock (do you ever really live that down?), I guess he's not a bad guy.
Current cards in the Collection: 31,690
Cards acquired in 2022: 4,120
Collection grew by: 14.9%
Top Fifteen Most Abundant Cards in the Collection
1. 1984 Topps .................................. 1,255
2. 1982 Topps ...................................1,251
3. 1988 Donruss ...............................1,074
4. 1983 Fleer .....................................1,056
5. 1987 Topps ...................................1,045
6. 1989 Topps .............................. 960
7. 1988 Topps All-Star ....................... 931
8. 1988 Topps .............................. 874
9. 1986 Topps All-Star ....................... 772
10. 1990 Topps ................................... 704
11. 1990 Donruss ............................... 575
12. (tie) 1989 Donruss ....................... 549
12. (tie) 1990 Fleer ............................. 549
14. 1986 Topps ................................... 536
15. 1987 Donruss ............................... 510
For the first time since I started posting this list on annual basis back in 2015, 1982 Topps does not sit at the top of it. After adding over 800 copies of of 1984 Topps this year, it's fallen to the number two spot. 1983 Fleer was the other big riser this year jumping up to the four spot. As the numbers show, I now have over a 1,000 copies of five different Wallach cards, with a few more knocking on the door. Back in 2015, 273 copies of 1989 Donruss was enough to crack the top ten, it takes nearly triple that figure now. 12 year old me back in 1992 would be much more impressed by the site of this many Wallach cards than they would be by the iphone I post this blog on.
Top 10 most added cards in 2022
1. 1983 Fleer ..................................... 832
2. 1984 Topps ................................... 812
3. 1991 Upper Deck ......................... 141
4. 1988 Topps All-Star ..................... 105
5. 1988 Donruss ................................ 97
6. 1989 Topps .................................... 96
7. 1991 Donruss MVP ....................... 93
8. 1988 Topps .................................... 76
9. 1991 Score .................................... 74
10. 1986 Topps ................................. 68
10. 1992 Donruss ............................. 68
These are some of the biggest numbers to appear on this list since I started posting it. I can't say I ever expected 1983 Fleer to appear at the top of it, but I'm not complaining either.
Notable No-Shows, zero acquired
When over 4,000 cards get added in a single year, you're going to cover a lot of ground. Of the cards I didn't add any of this year, none of them are all the shocking. 1987 Leaf (with 58 copies in my collection) was the most abundant card not make an appearance in 2022. Other "notable" no-shows include 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best (54 copies), 1994 Leaf (48), 1994 Collector's Choice (48), and 1993 Flair. 1983 Donruss nearly became the most surprising card to ever this make list, barely avoiding it with only a single copy added this past year.
Welcome Back
The 2003 Donruss Expos card was actually sent by a reader and is only my 2nd copy of that card. I haven't added one since I picked up my first one back in 2003. The same goes for the 1995 Stadium Club 1st Day issue, though I know I see those pop up for sale from time to time. I suspect the production numbers on the 2003 Donruss Expos run were relatively low as I just never see them around
1st since 2013
1995 Stadium Club 1st Day Issue
2003 Donruss Expos
1st since 2014
1991 Fleer Canadian (Glossy)
1993 Panini
1st since 2015
1985 O-Pee-Chee Poster
1991 Petro
1991 O-Pee-Chee
Top 5 cards sent in 2022
1. 1991 Upper Deck ........................ 140
2. 1987 Topps ................................. 112
3. 1988 Donruss .............................. 97
4. 1988 Topps All-Star .................... 94
5. 1989 Topps .................................. 83
6. 1991 Donruss MVP ..................... 78
7. 1988 Topps ................................. 76
8. 1991 Score ................................... 74
9. 1992 Donruss .............................. 68
10. 1991 Donruss ............................ 66
Top 15 All-Time Most Sent Cards
This list remains my favorite out of all the numbers I track. I feel like it offers the best insights into the junk wax era and what people were buying, and to some extant the production numbers. It's obviously not perfect, or all that scientific (as evidenced by the 1987 Blue Sox card that a reader was nice enough to send me 325 copies of a few years ago), but I still find it to be a useful tool, or at least, an interesting list to track.
1. 1989 Topps .................................. 328
2. 1987 Indiana Blue Sox ............... 325
3. 1987 Topps .................................. 308
4. 1988 Topps All-Star .................... 290
5. 1990 Donruss .............................. 289
6. 1988 Donruss............................... 284
7. 1988 Topps .................................. 253
8. 1990 Topps .................................. 250
9. 1990 Fleer ...…….....................… 211
10. 1989 Donruss............................. 209
11. 1991 Donruss ............................ 191
12. 1986 Topps ................................ 190
13. 1986 Topps All-Star .................. 179
14. 1991 Donurss MVP ................... 176
15. 1991 Topps ................................ 175
Finally, thank you to everyone who continues to send cards, or even just continues to occasionally check in on this blog. It's lasted a longer than I expected.
