1985 MLB All-Star Game Ballot

Above is a 1985 All-Star Game ballot sent by a reader.  I haven't posted on the package she sent yet, but due to the game being tonight, I wanted to post this today.  In hand, the ballot itself is actually cooler than I thought it would be.  I probably need to make a point to track down ballots for the other games Wallach was in, if not everyone he appears on.

1985 was the All-Star game in which Lou Whitaker forgot his jersey (hard to believe it was his responsibility), and had to buy a souvenier jersey and write his number with a sharpie.  He wore borrowed pants, and Twins socks. (The bottom video explains all of this)

Tim Wallach didn't win the fan vote in 1985.  That honor went to Graig Nettles.  Wallach was however named to the team for the 2nd time in his career.  He also hit more homeruns, had more hits, more RBI's and fewer errors than Nettles.  That's probably why he won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards in 1985.  But the fans wanted Nettles.

Much like the season as a whole, Wallach out played Nettles in the game as well.  Nettles went 0 for 2. Wallach scored a run, and smoked a ground rule double.  The fact it was a ground rule double, prevented Darryl Strawberry from scoring on the hit.  It likely cost Wallach a chance at the games MVP award.  Wallach also drew a walk for good measure.

I've yet to find a photo of Wallach from the '85 All-Star Game.  If anyone knows of a good source to find photos from All-Star games, I'd love to hear about it.  I've tried every place I can think of and have come up more or less empty.  I did however find a video of Goose Gossage recording the final out, and it features a good amount of Wallach.

1985 was the 2nd year in a row that Gossage recorded the final out in the All-Star Game with Wallach on the field and Tony Pena catching.  The photo below is from the 1984 All-Star Game.  I thought it was the same game until I realized everyone was in home white's.

At the end of the video below is Lou Whitaker batting in his home-made jersey:

1985 O-Pee-Chee Stickers

Card Review: 4.0  I don't have any preference between this and it's Topps counterpart.  It's an interesting picture though.  One Topps probably could have found a way to use for a base card.  From 1983-1986 Topps more or less used the same style of photo for it's Wallach card in the base set.  While '83 and '85 may be my two favorite cards ever made, the '84 and '86 are kind of bland.  This photo would have looked much better in place of the one's used on either of those cards.



Number of this card in my collection:  2

Off-Centered 1985 Topps

As of this posting I have roughly 1,700 Topps base cards from 1982-91 (the gray back era) of Wallach.  This one is far and away the most off-centered.  That really speaks volumes for Topps and the care they put into their production runs.

I'm a fan of off-centered cards.  Growing up before the days of inserts, these things always demanded a premium on the trading block.  I also remember them being unique to Topps, I don't recall any Donruss/Fleer off-centered cards to this degree.  That could be wrong, but if it is the case, how'd they manage that?  Did they use a different cutting process?

I count this as an '85 Topps.  If I ever come across one that's less than 50% Wallach, I'm not sure how I'll count it.

1985 Cadaco Disk

Card Review: N/A  Awhile back a gentleman sold me a decent number of odd-ball Wallach cards.  From the not so strange, Topps Tiffany, to the very strange, All-Star Game Program inserts.  He was kind of stiff with his prices, so I left a good amount of the "not so strange" on the table.  One thing I went for was this 1985 Cadaco Disk.  I had no idea what it was, and his card listings were all on a spread sheet without pictures.  Needless to say, I was disappointed when this arrived, and won't be counting this as a "card" or even a "collectible."  It's just getting the "odd-ball" label.  $1.00 I'd kind of like to have back.

1985 Frito Lay Pepsi Pennant

Here's another odd-ball item that's not being counted toward the card total.  I didn't really know what to call it.  It's a decent size pennant that must have come packaged in bags of chips or 12 packs of soda.  I'd guess primarily in Cananda or even just Quebec.

The material is nearly identical to those sort of "paper" priority mail envelope/bags they have at the post office.  I'm not certain (ok I'm like 99% certain), but I think that's water damage on the left side of Wallach's hat, and not done by design.  These pop up on ebay once in awhile but they're usually way over-priced, like in the $10 range.  I can live with one water damaged copy at that price.

1985 All-Star Game Program Insert

Card Review: 3.2 Same photo as the previous two year's inserts.

Fun Facts: *Wallach went 1 for 2 with a run scored, a ground rule double, and intentional walk in the 1985 All-Star Game.

Number of this card in my collection: 6

1985 O-Pee-Chee Posters #6

"Card" Review: 5.1 These "posters" are way too big to be called cards, and not really big enough to be considered a poster.  It's on white paper with a bit of a newsprint feel, a little bit more flimsy than typical printer paper but not as flimsy as actual newsprint.  They came folded up, you can see the folds in the scan, and have nothing on the back.  When folded up (one horizontal fold, one vertical) they are slightly smaller than a standard sized baseball card.  I'm not sure how they were sold.

Number of this "card" in my collection: 2
2015 update: 3

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 4

*Update*

These came packaged inside 1985 O-Pee-Chee wax packs, with each pack containing a stick of gum and either an Expos or Blue Jays poster.

1985 Topps Stickers #87

"Card" Review: 4.0 I'm not sure this should really count as a card, since it's a sticker, and if it does, if it should count as a full card or just half a card.  For purposes of the on-going tally, I'm going to count it as a card.  It's actually a pretty good photo, that would have made for a very nice 1985 Topps base card.  There was a book that went along with these that you were supposed to stick them in.  I know I tried to fill up a few at various points in my life, though they've long since disappeared.

Number of this "card" in my collection: 4

2014 update: 6

1985 O-Pee-Chee #3

Card Review: 9.8 I rank this just a notch below the '85 Topps base card.  In a lot of ways I like it better.  But ultimately I prefer the color scheme on the back of the Topps a little bit more, and though I like the yellow "o-pee-chee" logo, it's just a little too much.

A big advantage for this card over it's Topps counterpart, however, is the number.  I believe #3 is the lowest number any Wallach card was given in a widely issued base set.  Perhaps, large set is a better qualifer than widely issued, by you get the gist.  In fairness to Topps, they issued a lot of cards to Wallach that ended in "0" or "5," which were reserved for the stars.  Nonetheless, I like seeing the #3, and the idea that this is on the first page of binders full of '85 OPC, or at least, for the handful of people that put the '85 OPC set in a binder.

Fun Facts: Wallach won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove in 1985
Number of this card in my collection: 2
2012 update: 4
2013 update: 7
2014 update: 14
2015 update: 20
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: 21
2018 update: 23
2019 update: 26

2020 update: 27

2021 update: 28

2022 update: 29

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: 32

2026 update: 33

1985 Donruss #87

Card Review: 8.3 I score this Donruss a little higher than it's Leaf counterpart. I find the green leaf logo to be a little goofy, and prefer the Donruss "d."  This set has some of the lowest quality photo's you'll ever find on a major release.  There are some fine photo's mixed in, but there are also a lot like this Wallach, which looks almost airbrushed.  I know a lot of people really liked this set, but I'm not one of them.  I prefer the '85 Fleer over this, and '85 Topps is one of my all-time favorite designs (even if there are too many boring pictures of pitchers).

Fun Facts:
*This is the 1st Donruss card of Wallach not to feature a photo taken at Wrigley Field.

Number of this card in my collection: 14
2012 update: 23
2013 update: 68
2014 update: 70
2015 update: 72
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: 78
2018 update: 117
2019 update: 129

2020 update: 136

2021 update: 142

2022 update: 151

2023 update: 157

2024 update: 163

2025 update: 165

2026 update: 166

1985 Topps Tiffany #473

Card Review: 9.9  The '85 Topps design is one of my all-time favorites.  I gave the base set card a 10 when I listed that one.  The Tiffany's great too, the back really pops, but it smells neither like wax nor gum.  So I dinged it down to a 9.9.  The color on the front of this card looks a little off to me, but it's my only one, so I don't know if it's just a bad example, or if they're all like this.

Allegedly this set is "very scarce."  As such, sellers often demand a premium for it.  I don't buy it.  I don't find it any more difficult to locate cards from this set, than it is to locate cards from other Tiffany sets.  The reason I don't have a lot has a lot more to do with the excessive price sellers ask for it, than it does an inability to locate copies.

*Update* It is believed that there were 5,000 factory sets produced of this product

Number of this card in my collection: 1 and am always looking for more.

6/5/12 Update: 2 (the color on the front is a little bit better but still has that weird tinge to it.
2013 update: n/a
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: 9
2018 update: 11 

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: 12

2021 update: 13

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 14


*Update*
Picked up some more of these, most all with the yellow/orange color, but one was a clean white.

1985 Fleer #412

Card Review: 9.7  I have a soft spot for this set.  I remember walking to the grocery store with my mother and younger brother in 1985, and I'd get a cello-pack of '85 Fleer and my brother would usually get a candy or ice-cream bar.  It was the first year I was really buying cards of my on volition and not having them given to me.  I still think this set has held up well, and the colors contrast nicely with the gray borders.

As for this card itself, it's really a nice photo, something different from the standard batting or fielding shot.  It's one of the better action shots of Wallach to ever show up on a card.


Fun Facts:  I'm 95% sure this was the 3rd Tim Wallach card I ever had, after the '83 Topps and '85 Topps.  I may of had the '84 Fleer prior to this one, but I don't recall for certain.

Number of this card in my collection: 8
2011 update: 15
2012 update: 27
2013 update: 45
2014 update: 48
2015 update: 64
2016 update: 68
2017 update: 69
2018 update: 106
2019 update: 121
2020 update: 131

2021 update: 141

2022 update: 151

2023 update: 155

2024 update: 168

2025 update: n/a

2026 update: 169

1985 Leaf #199

Card Review: 7.2  A very 80's design.  Terrible photo quality, looks like an old airbrush job.
Fun Facts: *Leaf was the parent company for Donruss.  Identical sets were put out in Canada with the Leaf on the front and french writing on the back.
*In the early 90's Leaf began putting out a set with a unique design of its own.
*O-Pee-Chee is a much cooler name than Leaf

Number of this card in my collection: 5
2012 update: 11
2013 update: 23
2014 update: 27 
2015 update: 30
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 31
2019 update: 45

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 50

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 51

2025 update: n/a

2026 update: 52

1985 Topps #473

Card Review: 10.0  A near perfect card, great design, great colors, on the short list for my all-time favorite Wallach.  Too bad it wasn't in the home whites, but then it may not have been an outdoor photo.  The '85 Topps set will always have some sentimental value for me.  While not the first set I collected, it was the first set I was old enough to trade with other kids.  It was also when I learned the valuable lesson that while marking cards with a "C" or "T" to differentiate between my cards and my brothers cards made at sense at home, it was not helpful for trading with other kids.  I nearly brought a an older Brewers fan to tears with my Young marked with a large, poorly written, red magic marker "C" in the corner.

Fun Facts: *Tim made his first All-Star Team in '84, but was not included '85 Topps All-Star subset. Which sucks, and riles me up, because it was a great looking All-Star card in '85.
*Tim won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in '85.
* Tim was named to the NL All-Star team for the 2nd time in 1985
* This was the 2nd Tim Wallach in my collection, added to a wrinkled '83 Topps in a bin of G.I. Joe's and He-Men.

Number of this card in my collection: 42.75  (one is badly off-centered on the top/bottom)
2012 update: 159
2013 update: 219
2014 update: 229
2015 update: 256 
2016 update: 281
2017 update: 284
2018 update: 300
2019 update: 359
2020 update: 382

2021 update: 474
2022 update: 496

2023 update: 511

2024 update: 536