Congratulations Mike Piazza

Congratulations to Mike Piazza on his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Piazza is just the fifth teammate of Wallach's to be inducted into Cooperstown.  I find this number to be surprisingly low given that Wallach played seventeen Major League seasons, but I haven't really looked around for any comparisons.

Of the now five Cooperstown teammates of Wallach, Piazza appeared in the third most games with Wallach, trailing Andre Dawson and Gary Carter, and finishing well ahead of Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez (with the Dodgers, not Expos).

Piazza and Wallach were teammates on the Dodgers from '93 to '96, and spent a good amount of that time batting 3/4 in the line-up.  They reached the post-season twice ('95 and '96) during their time as teammates.

Had the wildly deserving Tim Raines been inducted, he would have led the list of games played with Wallach among Hall of Fame teammates, as they spent parts of 11 seasons together in Montreal.

1985 Kraft T-Shirt Offer

This was an insert inside packages of Kraft Cheese Singles in Canada.  It measures 3.5'' x 6'' and opens along the edge to measure 3.5'' x 12''.  The paper stock is extremely thin.  I'm not sure what I would compare it to, a magazine page is the closest thing I can come up with, but it's definitely a different material.  You could choose from 10 different players, and needed to send in 4 UPC's and $8, or 6 UPC's and $4.

I've never seen the actual Wallach T-shirt.  In fact the only shirt I've ever seen show up is a Steve Rogers shirt, and he's not listed as an option.  So I'm guessing this offer was an annual thing for awhile, with a rotating selection of players.  I'd be curious to see other fliers, and if the shirts changed pictures from year to year, or if it was completely different players each year.  The absence of George Bell and Andre Dawson makes me suspect they didn't use players more than once.

Below are the pictures from the ebay listing for the Steve Rogers shirt.  I can't say for certain it's one of these Kraft shirts, but it certainly appears to be.  When I put stuff on ebay, I try to use a clean, solid background for my photos, such as a piece of poster board, or clean table top.  This seller didn't go that route, and it's tacky enough that I hesitate to even post the photos.  I cropped out an absurd amount of bedspread.  If your curious, the seller wants $39.99 for the shirt.

1991 Homerun Kings Page

Card Review: N/A I'm not calling this thing a card.  I've seen it listed on a lot of online databases for awhile and when one popped up on ebay I went ahead and pulled the trigger.  It appears to be a page cut out from a sticker book.  I think originally these may have been punched for a 3-ring binder, but that portion of the page didn't make the "cut."  I could be wrong though.  There's also an accompanying sticker to go in the upper left that I'll be posting next.  I'll list the sticker as a "card" but will not be counting this as a "card."  I don't think I'm being unreasonable.  It's not nicest paper stock I've ever seen, but it's far from the worst either.  Andre Dawson is on the flip side and pictured below.

I'm pretty sure that this company is the same company that made Red Foley Stickers and I'll explain why when I post the accompanying sticker in a couple of days.  The bio information on this card is littered with errors.  For one Wallach wasn't drafted out of Cal-St. Fullerton by the Expos in 1975.  He was drafted in 1979.  '79 was also the year he won the Golden Spike Award as the top amateur player in the Country and led Fullerton to a National Championship in Omaha.  He was also drafted in '78 but opted to remain in school.  But either case, he was not drafted in 1975.  I also take a little issue with calling '89 a "sub-par" season.  In '89 Wallach again led the National League in doubles and was named an All-Star.  It wasn't his best season, but calling it "sub-par" is a bit much.

1988 Leaf #255 "Canadian Greats"

Card Review: 9.4  Every year growing up as a kid, I would eagerly tear into new packs of Donruss hoping to find that Tim Wallach had been chosen as Montreal's "Diamond King."  Wallach was never selected, and there were some very questionable selections on the part of Donruss over the years (Bryn Smith!?!).  Years later thanks to ebay and the internet, I discovered this card had been put out by Leaf.  It felt like a bit of a victory.

Fun Facts: *The following is list of Montreal's Diamond Kings chosen instead of Wallach
1982: Gary Carter
1983: Steve Rogers
1984: Al Oliver
1985: Charlie Lea
1986: Andre Dawson
1987: Hubie Brooks
1988: Tim Raines
1989: Andres Galarraga
1990: Bryn Smith
1991: Delino DeSheilds
*1983, 1988, and 1990 were particularly disappointing selections

Number of this card in my collection: 2
2013 update: 22
2015 update: 26 
2016 update: 27
2017 update: 28
2018 update: 31
2019 update: 35

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 37

2025 update: 46 

2026 update: 47