

I've still yet to finish opening the 1987 Donruss packs, but the 1986 Topps cards are done.

I believe I've explained this before, but the reason I love the CMC set is its player selection. The set came out in the middle of the rookie boom. Collectors were all out going for rookie cards of their favorite player. What's better than a rookie? A Pre-Rookie, that's what.

Coming with the phrase was the promise that each of the players in the packs was in the minor leagues and, going forward, they would have a shot at the majors.

They broke up all those cards, put them in packs and people bought them to starry-eyed kids and adults looking for the next big things.

Even at the time in 1990, it was obvious that many of these players would never make it. Or, that their "Pre-Rookie" cards were no such thing. They already had rookie cards, major league rookie cards, years earlier.
And the fun of the CMC set is finding out what happened to the vast majority of players that never went anywhere, whose careers only exist in minds of only a few baseball diehards, Baseball-Reference's database and the Google News Archives.

Each of the cards on this post is of a player who went on to return to the minors and be included in the CMC set. There are a couple coaches here, like Johnny Grubb and Bob Bailor, players that retired and went on to coach or manage in the minors. But most of these are players, who worked to extend their career and get that next shot at the majors.
And these aren't even all the players in both the 1986 Topps and 1990 CMC sets. These are just the ones that came in my one box of Christmas cards.
Pankovits is also one of two members of both the 1986 Topps set and the 1990 CMC set whom I've interviewed for this site. The other is Dann Bilardello, whose card is further up.

By the way, that Glenn Brummer-Bobby Meacham photo was taken May 16, 1985 at Yankee Stadium, according to Baseball-Reference. Meacham was tagged out.
It went down in the box score as a failed steal of home, all five years before Meacham's 1990 pre-rookie campaign.
Players from the 1986 Topps I've featured:
13 - Dann Bilardello, Big Moment, 6/24/10, Interview
143 - Darryl Motley, Biggest Game, 8/26/10
165 - Ron Washington, Different Adversity, 3/21/10
269 - Jim Pankovits, This Is Fun, 7/14/10, Interview
278 - Johnny Grubb, Done Everything, 5/9/10
301 - Bryan Snyder, Going to Work, 10/17/10
318 - Greg Walker, Warm Ups, 4/21/10
536 - Greg Booker, Worst Year, 7/29/10
616 - Harry Spilman, Calling (Manny's) Mom, 6/18/10
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