The Five Essential Donruss Diamond Kings of 1987

Collectors should have seen it coming. After all, the writing was on the wall. Maybe some teams had enough stars to supply a fresh crop of Diamond Kings each year, but ultimately the formula--at least league-wide--was unsustainable. Five seasons and 130 honorees into the Diamond King era, the franchise took a turn, opting to repeat players from earlier years. Ultimately, the move was not only a hit with collectors, who always prefer superstars to semi-stars, but necessary for the long-term continuity of the franchise. That said, one can only wonder if Dick Perez might have scanned the checklist and thought to himself more than once, "Wait a minute, Donruss. Didn't I just paint this guy!"

With theApril 25 release of the Dick Perez biopic, "The Diamond King," nearly upon us, Collectibles on SI has been counting down the essential Diamond Kings of the 1980s and 90s. In this latest installment, the year is 1987, the game is entering one of its most exciting but darkest eras, and five of baseball's immortals achieve a Hobby first in earning their second selections as Donruss Diamond Kings.

1987 Donruss Roger Clemens DK #2

Just a year earlier it would have been unfathomable that the hot young pitcher everyone was talking about was anyone but Dwight Gooden. However, the Rocket's 1986 season was nearly every bit as Doc the year before. If the 24 wins weren't jaw-dropping enough, how about 20 strikeouts in a single nine-inning game, a feat never even matched by the Ryan Express!

1987 Donruss Darryl Strawberry DK #4

Fresh off a World Series title and what looked to be the start of a dynasty, Darryl Strawberry remained scorching hot in the Hobby in 1987. A rare blend of youth, power, and speed, the ceiling on what Straw might accomplish in the game seemed nearly unlimited. Though baseball didn't entertain such questions in 1987, the Reds dugout notwithstanding, one might assume an over/under on Darryl's career homer total might have been 540 or so. Darrryl, Doc, and Donnie Baseball. It wasn't quite Willie, Mickey, and the Duke, but New York baseball once again had it all.

1987 Donruss Ozzie Smith DK #5

Ozzie Smith was one of five second-time Diamond Kings in 1987 but the only one to earn the "Essential" nod in this countdown. Strictly speaking, Smith was already a Cardinal when his 1982 Diamond King came out. However, as Perez had begun the card's artwork in late 1981, the Wizard was portrayed as a San Diego Padre. (In truth, this was no different from Smith's base cards in the Topps, Fleer, and Donruss sets that year.) The Smith reboot in 1987, therefore, gave Cardinals fans a card they'd waited years for and potentially thought they'd never see: the team's biggest star, in a Cardinal uniform, under the Diamond King banner.

1987 Donruss Jose Canseco DK #6

Though not all collectors were enamored with this card artistically, a rare statement to make about anything off the brush of Dick Perez, the truth is that in 1987 a stick figure of Jose Canseco on a piece of cardboard would have garnered "must have" status in the Hobby. This man was a specimen and seemingly on a trajectory to accomplish feats on the baseball diamond that no others had. The baseball world would eventually learn Canseco was less a freak of nature than freak of science. Nonetheless, this was hardly common knowledge outside the A's locker room in 1987, and it certainly wasn't talked about in the world of collecting.

1987 Donruss Eric Davis DK #22

With apologies to the fans in Minnesota and an extremely deserving Kirby Puckett card, the final selection belongs to Eric the Red. Though injuries hampered his career early, he may well have been the most talented all-around player to step on the diamond since the great Willie Mays. One year he steals nearly 100 bases. The next year he comes tantalizingly close to baseball's first 40-40 season. As the kids used to say, "Check the YouTube." This man was a problem!

Did you know? The three biggest stars on the Los Angeles high school baseball scene in the early 1980s were Eric Davis, Darryl Strawberry, and Chris Brown. All three were 1987 Donruss Diamond Kings!