there should have been managerial cards in 1994 topps because there were members of the 1978 topps dodgers managing

for the first time since 1982, topps did not include managers in a flagship set when the 1994 cards were released.  that was unfortunate, because three members of the 1978 topps dodgers were managing that year.  here are some 1994 topps cards that should have been.

tom lasorda

lasorda had the dodgers at 58-56, 3.5 games ahead of the second place giants in the national league west, when the player's strike hit.   technically, i guess, the dodgers were the division champs which would have been lasorda's 7th title as the dodger manager.  even though they were just two games over .500, it was a vast improvement from the 63-99 record the team posted just two seasons earlier.

johnny oates

oates also had his team playing well when the strike hit.  the orioles were 63-49 at the season's premature end, although that was just good enough for second place in the american league east, 6.5 games behind buck showalter's new york yankees.  oddly, oates was fired following the season and wound up taking the rangers' job for the 1995 season.

dusty baker

baker's giants were, as i mentioned above, in second place behind the dodgers when the strike struck, but they were also under .500 at 55-60.  still, the giants' management had faith in dusty (more than peter angelos had in johnny oates), and that faith would be rewarded in a few seasons.

these cards that should have been are not my favorite.  i couldn't get the right font for the names, and i am guessing that had topps put the managers in the set, they would have opted for a multi-manager card like they used in 1993.  so, i also took a shot at one of those.  using a 'prospects' style card from the set (hello dodger prospect eddie davis and future dodger shawn green)

i came up with this:

i like it much more than the individual cards.  angels' manager marcel lachemann rounds out the quartet largely because he had a mother's cookies card issued in 1994 (the lasorda and baker images come from their respective 1994 mother's cookies cards).  had topps gone this route, there would have been seven managerial cards in the set as there were now 28 teams in the majors following the addition of the rockies and marlins in 1993.

there are going to be a few more cards that should have been related to the 1978 topps dodgers before we get back to some cards that really were.