We’ve been witness to a lot of interesting concepts in The Hobby in the last twenty five years. One of those that is perhaps in the top three worst ideas has to be T & M Sports’ 1988 Umpire set. Yes, a full set of trading cards featuring baseball’s umpires.
The original 64-card set featured a basic, black-bordered design. Apparently it was popular enough to warrant two more releases up until 1990 when the set was finally laid to rest. I mean really, just how many different Eric Gregg cards do you need in your collection?
As for the John McSherry pictured below, it comes with a tragic story. John was in his 25th year of Major League service when he suffered a heart attack during the Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos. He was pronounced dead an hour later at University of Cincinnati Hospital.
T & M Sports’ other big release was the doomed ’89 Senior League.
this is a bad idea, but its close to a good idea.
a dual auto insert set of ejections.
the pic on the card is of the ump tossing the manager, and it has on card autos of both of them (if the manager agrees to make the card, lol.
I would love to see an auto of lou pinella throwing a base or a hat
It was a bad idea 20 years ago, and it’s a bad idea now. Aussie rules has had umpires sets put out for the last 4 years, although they’re not really marketed to the public and they only make enough to cover costs.
It was actually a good idea (I purchased the set at the time they came out). I like umpires as they keep order on the field and can be personable (some have flair in calling strike three, yelling strike so loud that you can hear it in the upper deck, or how they call someone out at second base on a stolen base attempt or at first base on a close play).
Since you hate this set, I take it you hate it when some umpire cards are mixed in with some recent MLB issues (I think heritage in the early to mid 2000s had some umpire cards mixed in since the set it mimicked (tv set design) also had umpire cards).
The senior league was a good idea, too. It allowed players who played before players were commonplace millionaires a chance to get on a field, exercise, keep some semblance of fame, and earn a few more bucks they could stash away for retirement or for their kids/grandkids.
I have the Senior League set, thinking it would be worth something, as well as both USFL sets from the mid 1980′s. Tony Perez in his 50′s never appreciated in value, but Steve Young and Jim Kelly did, although I still like the novelty of the Senior League set.
Robert,
I didn’t collect in the early 2000′s. I absolutely hate umpires. I’ve been on the side of way too many bad calls to have any kind of respect for them.
The Senior League was a good idea but it was so short lived and lacked star power that a trading card set was doomed, I think.
Is it just me, or does that card bear a striking resemblance to 1989 Upper Deck? Border color is different of course. Aside from that, they look pretty similar.
I think that umpire cards are only cool once they become really old. They’re not that interesting right now (but still better and more relevant than including autoed “Rip Master” cards in packs), but they become more curious as time goes on. After all, there are eight umpires in the HOF, a card or two of them is not a bad thing.
The 1955 Bowman umpires are fun from an oddball / historical point of view, and there were even some old-timey Deadball Era blue crew in the 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets, like Billy Evans. However, I totally can see an Opie Taylor in the mid-50s excitedly opening up a pack of Bowman hoping for an Ernie Banks and ending up with a Frank Umont or Albert Barlick. Or two.