Thursday, February 18, 2016

1991 Topps #605: Jeff Reardon

In this series, I will look at my first team set: 1991 Topps. This was the set I started my baseball card collection with.
Jeff Reardon was coming off of his first season as the Red Sox closer.  I am not quite sure why they signed Reardon as a free agent when they already had Lee Smith installed as closer.  Smith had a couple of decent seasons as the closer and did not much care for the fact that Boston now had two closers, so he requested a trade.  Boston moved him to St. Louis in exchange for Tom Brunansky and Reardon was now the sole closer on the team.

Reardon finished the 1990 season with a 5-3 record, a 3.16 ERA, and 21 saves.  It was a decent season, but Smith had a terrific season after moving to St. Louis.  Reardon went on to more success over the next two seasons, saving 40 games and appearing in the All Star Game in 1991 and setting the all-time saves record in 1992.  

I liked Reardon right away because I really liked closers early on.  And Reardon was a pretty good one.  Unfortunately his life since baseball has not been nearly as positive.

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