1992 Topps #978 Sweet Swingin’ Tony Gwynn

 Today’s missing 1992 Topps card is #978 Sweet Swingin’ Tony Gwynn.

I figured I would make a special card for each team in the 1992 Topps set. Some cards feature multiple players, some feature guys with fun nicknames, and others feature star players. This card is the latter. Tony Gwynn was a key cog in the Padres offense in the ‘90’s as the card says, and after a few years in the bottom of the standings, the Padres made it to the World Series in 1998. While Trevor Hoffman became a relief star for the Padres, saving 53 in that ‘98 NL title year, one could play the ‘what if?’ game and imagine if the Padres had kept Gary Sheffield after the ‘92 season. Perhaps they would’ve resigned Randy Myers as closer (he played with the Padres in 1992, and himself saved 53 games in 1993 for the Cubs). He was still a star closer in ‘97, saving 45, and he had 28 saves for the Blue Jays in 1998 before coming back to the Padres as a waiver claim in August of 1998. Maybe Myers would’ve stuck it with the Padres through the lean years, they would’ve had a decent Randy Bones as a #4 or 5 Starter, Matt Mieske as a 4th outfielder, and Myers would’ve been about 3/4ths of what Hoffman would’ve been and perhaps Donne Wall, Dan Miceli, and Don Wengert would’ve made up the difference of not having Hoffman. Perhaps they would’ve acquired someone at the trade deadline. Jeff Shaw, Greg McMichael, Doug Jones, and Eric Plunk were available, maybe one of them could’ve stepped in at closer or middle relief. All that plus the addition of Sheffield to go with Greg Vaughn, Ken Caminiti, and guys like Gwynn, Steve Finley, and Wally Joyner could’ve maybe pushed the Padres over the top in the series. As it stands, they were obviously the weaker team, but that doesn’t hide the fact that they were NL champs by beating a better Braves team, and they still had Gwynn in his prime. 

On these cards, I have written a blurb on the back about the player(s) on the front of the card and how they hope they will lead them to the playoffs. Expect to see more of these cards towards the end of the set. 

In other news, I have finished the 1995 Topps main set. The page still looks like a mess. Let me explain. I chose to include replacement players in the main part of the 1995 Topps set. While the pictures of the completed 1995 set are up, I still have the checklist of all of the replacement players, as well as the ‘95 Traded checklist. When the Traded set is completed, I will probably still have the replacement player checklist up on the page as well as the completed cards. With so many replacement guys needing photoshop jobs, it is going to be a bear to complete the set, and with other sets being a priority, the checklist will probably remain on the page for a number of years. I may try to do 1 or 2 replacement cards every time I work on customs, and maybe that will help get the checklist finished. With that said, here is the 1995 Topps page where you can view the completed regular set (minus the replacement players). 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy