Adventures in cardboard

I dug up a poster checklist of the 1990 Bowman set the other day, and while I saw a ton of spring training head shots, the notable part of the set were special portraits of the stars of the day (a sort of takeoff of the Donruss Diamond Kings). And I stress, of the day. Take a look at the 11 special card subjects (highlighted nicely on the Topps Magazine checklist) and what happened to their careers:
-- Bo Jackson: The hip injury would come a couple of years later, or else he might've been a legendary superstar. Of course, you could've believed that about everyone else with the portrait card, but well, you'll see.
-- Mark Davis: He was coming off his 44-save, Cy Young Award campaign with the Padres the season before when he got the portrait treatment. He also got a then-shocking, four-year, $14 million deal with the Royals and then his career went south. He did get one Hall of Fame vote in 2003.
-- Doc Gooden: He was limited to just 19 games in 1989, after winning at least 15 in his first five seasons. But in 1990, he did go 19-7 in what would be his final great season (although he did throw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1996). After such an amazing start to his career, he would end up getting just 17 Hall of Fame votes in 2006 and dropped from the ballot.
-- Bret Saberhagen: The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner got his own portrait after going 23-6 for his second award in his career. He got hurt in 1990 (and finished just 5-9), continuing his run of greatness in odd-numbered years and struggles in even-numbered ones. Then he battled injuries throughout the '90s but had a few good seasons here and there with the Mets and Red Sox. He got seven Hall of Fame votes this year -- a surprisingly high number in current hindsight but a shocker when this card came out.
-- Don Mattingly: You could almost say being on this portrait card in 1990 was the downfall of his career. Still at his peak in 1989 (.303-23-113), he played just 102 games in 1990. And he never had more than 86 RBIs after that. He may be like Steve Garvey and Tommy John in that he'll stay on the ballot for the 15 years but never getting in.
-- Jerome Walton: A pretty lackluster selection as 1989 NL Rookie of the Year, Walton barely hung around as a spare outfielder throughout the '90s.
-- Nolan Ryan: Finally, our first Hall of Famer in the bunch. He sealed his Cooperstown credentials in his final years with the Rangers. In 1989, he earned his 5,000th strikeout. In 1990, he won 300th game and earned his sixth no-hitter. The seventh no-hitter came a year later.
-- Will Clark: He was the NL MVP runner-up in 1989 and won NLCS MVP honors as well. He had a bunch of solid seasons after that, but in the end he finished with 23 Hall of Fame votes in 2006, just barely missing the cut to return for another year.
-- Gregg Olson: The AL Rookie of the Year in 1989 after saving 27 games, he had three straight 30-save seasons for the Orioles after that. He finished his career with 217 saves but was not part of this year's All-Star ballot despite playing parts of 14 seasons.
-- Kevin Mitchell: He ran away with the 1989 NL MVP award after hitting 47 homers and 125 RBIs. He did have 35 homers and 93 RBIs in 1990, but never played more than 113 games in a season after that because of an array of injuries, weight problems, etc. He did get two Hall of Fame votes in 2004.
-- Robin Yount: Our second Hall of Famer in the mix and second member of the Class of 1999, along with Ryan. He was coming off his second AL MVP award when he got the portrait treatment. He eventually got to 3,000 hits, making his election a no-brainer.

So in the end, we got two future Hall of Famers in the set, one perennial HOF also-ran, five one-and-done HOF candidates, both 1989 Rookies of the Year who eventually fizzled out and the curious case of Bo Jackson. Not necessarily the greatest of percentages for the arty inserts.