mike schmidt was final tribute worthy

as a collector in 1988, i was disappointed with the lack of final tributes - cards issued the year following a player's last season - for my beloved infielders steve garvey, ron cey, and davey lopes who had each played their final game in 1987. bill russell, who finished his playing career in 1986, was properly included in the three major 1987 releases, while garvey and lopes both appeared in 1988 score. only lopes received a card in 1988 topps, and cey was shut out altogether. 

come 1989, i was specifically looking for don sutton final tributes (a big thanks to score and a 'you were so close, why didn't you do it correctly' to topps). as cool as i thought these cards were, i had not recalled seeing cards specifically identified as final tributes until mike schmidt retired (i don't count the 1988 score reggie jackson subset - that was more of a career retrospective, and yes i think that there is a difference between the two). in fact, fleer included their mike schmidt final tribute in their 1989 update set.

here's the back

schmidt famously called it quits in midseason after deciding that he was unable to play at the high level he expected of himself. i recall that it was an emotional press conference for schmidt as he announced his retirement. the following year, donruss included schmidt in their checklist

and we received his full career stats on the back

here's upper deck's entry - more of a season highlight themed card

here's the back

now, you know that i was a ron cey fan, and the penguin always got my all-star vote(s), but schmidt eventually replaced pete rose (who had replaced cey) as the league's all-star representative at third base, and deservedly so. schmidt was so highly thought of that he was voted in as the league's starting third baseman for the 1989 all-star game, which was played 6 weeks following his retirement (he did not play in the game). 

i was even a sort of schmidt fan (except for 1983 when his phillies finally beat the dodgers in the nlcs) because my very first glove was a rawlings michael jack schmidt model. speaking of rawlings, schmidt won the gold glove award for national league third basemen 10 times. back to the cards. topps, as it is wont to do, fell short. they had a card of schmidt in their 1990 set

but it was a 'turn back the clock' card rather than a tribute, and failed to even mention his retirement

schmidt was a 3-time nl mvp who led the league in home runs 8 times. he was also the 1980 world series mvp, and his 548 career home runs rank 15th all-time today, and were good enough for 7th all-time when he retired. i suppose that's why he warranted special attention from the card companies, three of which really delivered solid cards for my mini-collection.

upper deck also included schmidt in their 1995 flagship set with a designated final tribute card

that coincided with schmidt's enshrinement in the hall of fame. 

this was the same set that featured belated final tributes for george brett, nolan ryan, and robin yount. i appreciated the effort, but much prefer the real time final tributes that upper deck provided in the following years.