the last of the all star seasons - gcrl in 1985

in a sort of inverted version of 1984 events, 1985 saw just one member of the infield play for a team that reached the post season, and it wasn't steve garvey.

even so, garvey put together a pretty solid season.
he played in all 162 games, hit .281 with 17 home runs and had 184 hits.  garvey didn't hit two home runs in a game in 1985, but his last home run of the season was also the 250th of his career.  he was also selected to start at first base for the national league in the all star game, and even participated in the inagural home run derby at the metrodome as part of the all star festivities.  in the midsummer classic, garvey went 1 for 3 with an rbi single off of jack morris in the 3rd inning that broke a 1-1 tie.  that turned out to be the game winning rbi as the nl beat the al 6-1.  garvey was replaced at first base by jack clark (note to topps - keith hernandez wasn't even on the nl's squad).  it would be the final all star appearance by any member of the infield.

topps did give garvey a second card in the set - a record breaker recognizing his perfect fielding in 1984

despite his 1.000 fielding percentage, garvey didn't win the gold glove in 1984.  that honor had gone to keith hernandez who had only 45 or so more chances than the garv, but made 8 errors for a .994 fielding percentage.  he did have a fair number more assists than garvey, but i will claim east coast bias over garvey's aversion to throwing the ball or a recognition in 1984 of range factor. 

ron cey surpassed 20 home runs for the 10th and final time in his career in 1985 for the cubs.

his numbers (145 games played, 22 home runs, 64 runs, .232 batting average) were all down just slightly from 1984, but his rbi plummeted to 63 - down from almost 100 the previous year.  his 22 home runs included hitting two in a game twice, his final home run at dodger stadium (against orel hershiser), and his last home run of the season was the 299th home run of his career.

it was the dean of the dodgers, bill russell who missed out on the postseason in 1984 while garvey, cey and lopes played on, and so it was only fair that the dodgers made their return to the playoffs in 1985.
unfortunately for russell, he did not appear for the dodgers in the postseason, as tommy lasorda opted to go with mariano duncan, bob bailor and dave anderson as the shortstop/utility guys.  in the regular season, russell filled in at second, short, third and left field, playing in 76 games and batting .260.  he even stole 4 bases without getting caught!

davey lopes' 1985 season wasn't nearly as much of a mess as his topps card

lopes did, in fact, play for the cubs in 1985.  if you recall, he was acquired by the cubbies late in the 1984 season, but apparently topps didn't bother to get a picture of him in his new uniform.  at any rate, lopes rediscovered his legs at age 40, stealing 47 bases (and getting caught just 4 times) for his highest total since 1977.  he also set a career high with a .284 batting average, while hitting 11 home runs and scoring 52 runs in 99 games.  like the penguin, lopes hit the last dodger stadium home run of his career in 1985, a two-run shot off of dennis powell.

so, there would be no more all star games for any of the infielders, but there was one more postseason appearance, and it happened in 1986...