1984 Donruss Rated Rookie Review: Valuable Hits, Surprising Misses
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After its inception as a baseball card brand in 1981, Donruss produced a wonderful 1984 set that signaled the brand had found its lane. With gorgeous photography and a crisp design, Donruss added one more thing to set off the 1984 set-- Rated Rookies. No, the iconic two-line blue design had to wait another year, but Donruss denoted 20 rookie prospects as special with a single line of type.
Now, the big picture, there were some misses here. Neither Don Mattingly nor Darryl Strawberry was categorized as "Rated Rookies." But setting that aside, for a new subset, Donruss did... well, okay. Here's a quick rundown of the highs and lows of the initial crop of Rated Rookies (and what they sell for now).
Hit: #41 Joe Carter, Chicago Cubs
A sunny day, the Wrigley Field bleachers, and one of the best right-handed power hitters of the 1980s and 1990s. No, Joe Carter isn't in the Hall of Fame. The five-time All-Star had 396 homers and was one of the best RBI men of the late 1980s and early 1990s. His walk-off 1993 World Series Game 6 homer is one of the most iconic moments in baseball history. And yes, as a Cubs fan, it stings to wonder how many bombs Carter would have hit playing 81 games a season in Wrigley Field.
Hit: #34 Kevin McReynolds, San Diego Padres
McReynolds was another good but not great player, but he did make his mark mostly with the New York Mets. Traded over after the 1986 World Series win, McReynolds was a productive if quiet part of some talented but underachieving teams. It wasn't his fault. A career .265 hitter with 211 homers, McReynolds' best year was 1988, when he finished third in the NFL MVP voting.
Hit: #30 Ron Darling, New York Mets
A solid contributor to the Mets' mini-dynasty, Darling was noted as handsome and witty, made an All-Star team, and won 136 games. The other uber-1980s moment is that Donruss managed to make an error on the Darling rookie-- some of the cards are missing the card number on the back. The error doesn't seem to have a massive impact on value, but it makes a collectible card even more collectible.
Miss: #46 Chris Smith, San Francisco Giants
The doubt that seems to be on Chris Smith's face might be him just chalking up the MLB experience. Smith had 76 at-bats over three three-cup of coffee stints. He had hit .328 in 67 of those at-bats in 1983, but Donruss would have had no way of knowing that he was finished with American baseball. Smith made friends on a collegiate baseball tour of Japan and signed with Nippon Professional Baseball, playing there in 1984 and 1985 before retiring. Wikipedia notes that Smith has lived in Japan since 1995, so the change was for good, although not so good for collectors. A PSA9 (above) can be had for $20, and a raw card likely for under $1.
Miss: #40 Mike Fuentes, Montreal Expos
Mike Fuentes played in nine MLB games. He was 1-for-4 in 1983, was called back up in 1984, and went 1-for-4 then. He was coming off seasons of massive minor league production, with 37 homers and 115 RBIs in AA in 1982 and 30 homers and 91 RBIs in AAA in 1983. Fuentes socked 150 homers over seven minor-league seasons, but apparently was just the prototype AAAA player. Just not quite good enough to shine in the big leagues. A PSA 8 of his rookie recently sold for $1, but a PSA 10 sold for $100, so the market is variable.
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Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.