Wednesday, February 20, 2008

1987 Broder Rookies - Ruben Sierra

This is a 1987 Rookies card put out by Rob Broder. Number six of 60. The corners came rounded and there are no stats on the back. I have several of this type of card of different player and I have always liked them. Clean shots, no borders. Just like the look.

Looking at Ruben here you can see hints of his trademark bad attitude. When he came up in 1986 he was a force to be reckoned with on the field. Hitting home runs from both sides of the plate at a pretty young age Sierra was the wave of the future. He had an attitude problem though. Surly with fans and not speaking English to reporters he quickly built a bad reputation.

Early in 1987 Ruben's star was still rising. I was a rabid Rangers fan and he was the hottest thing since sliced bread. I was as wild about Sierra as a lot of my friends were about Bo Jackson. Bo was local and Sierra was not so I had a never-ending outlet for any Jackson cards and an endless abundance of Sierra cardboard to pick up. Money was the problem. I worked and worked to put together a decent gathering of Sierra. Then I saw the Beckett article about sending cards off to be autographed. I sent a few and got them back. Wow! So close to the game! I worked up my nerve and finally sent off my prized 1987 Topps Ruben Sierra rookie card. The card was booking for around $6-$8 so I only had one. I waited for weeks as hope slowly dimmed. Months passed and I gave up the card for lost and set about trying to replace it. It took some time and a lot in trade but I finally landed one. A couple of years later I saw an article where Ruben talked about just throwing away the cards sent to him for autographs. I figure that is where the jewel of my collection ended up. I never saw it again and I never forgave Ruben Sierra. When he went to Oakland I was more upset that Texas got Canseco than that they got rid of Sierra.

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