The Five Essential Baseball Cards of 1984 Donruss

The 1984 Donruss set was something of a breakthrough for the fourth-year card maker who to this point had largely played third fiddle to Topps and Fleer. Improved photos, a simple but attractive design, and (most importantly) relative scarcity propelled Donruss to the top of the Hobby. The continuing popularity of "Diamond Kings" and the front-of-card debut of the now iconic "Rated Rookies" subset didn't hurt either. Neither did the first two cards on the Essentials list, a pair of scorching hot rookie cards of New York's finest.

1984 Donruss Don Mattingly

RELATED: Donnie Baseball and the Quest for the Greatest Rack Pack of All-Time

Plain and simple, this was the biggest card in the Hobby in 1984, at least until the Traded sets came out. In fact the card was so big that something previously unthinkable began to happen at card shows: counterfeits began to appear. In truth, the history of counterfeits in the Hobby pre-dates 1984 by quite a bit. However, past counterfeits had focused on older cards such as the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams #68 or 1963 Topps Pete Rose rookie. Who could have imagined counterfeits of a card you could still pull from that season's packs, and that it would come from Donruss no less!

1984 Donruss Darryl Strawberry

Unlike Mattingly, whose breakout season was happening in real time, Darryl Strawberry was already a superstar by the time packs hit the streets. For collectors who had already sprung for his 1983 Topps Traded card, it was a little murky whether the 1984 issues would also take on rookie card status. (The concepts of XRC vs. RC weren't well developed back then.) What was known was that Darryl was THE card collectors wanted the second new packs hit the shelves in early 1984. Early in the season, when cards from all three brands were seemingly everywhere, the Topps card was king. Quickly, however, as Donruss packs became harder to find, this Donruss Darrryl rose to the top of the pecking order.

1984 Donruss "The Famous Chicken"

RELATED: The Five Essential Diamond Kings of 1984 Donruss

While there's no doubt that by 1984 the Hobby had tipped full tilt into the rookie card craze, there was still plenty of room in the Hobby for fun. Though this was the third straight season Donruss had issued a card of baseball's most beloved mascot, there was something about the 1984 version that made it seem more special than its predecessors. Though perhaps age factored heavily here, this is a card that at the time was a top three pull for many collectors. Plus, who could refuse the special deal offered on the back, in which the Chicken would autograph the card for any collector taking the time to mail it in.

1984 Donruss Jim Palmer

RELATED: The Five Essential Baseball Cards of 1981 Donruss

The great Jim Palmer made his cardboard exit in 1984, earning cards from each of the Big Three. However, it was his Donruss card that was the most attractive of the three, not to mention the toughest. Though Palmer's popularity in the Hobby trails that of his contemporaries Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver substantially, his accomplishments stack up just fine:

20-win seasons: 8 (Seaver had 5; Ryan had 2)
Cy Young Awards: 3 (Seaver had 3; Ryan had 0)
World Series titles: 3 (Seaver had 1; Ryan had 1)
All-Star appearances: 6 (Seaver had 12; Ryan had 8)

Plus, the Orioles ace, who doubled as a Jockey pitchman, had the one card in the set your mom would never dream of tossing.

1984 Donruss Ryne Sandberg

Ryno's rookie cards came in the 1983 sets, but his cards may have been even hotter in 1984, thanks to the absolutely monster season the former Spokane quarterbacking legend was putting together, not to mention his team's first trip to the postseason in nearly four decades.

With the possible exception of Motown, there was no better place to be a baseball fan than on Chicago's North Side in 1984, skipping school or work to take in a day game (and they were all day games!) and believing the impossible might finally happen. (And if it weren't for that darn Steve Garvey, it just might have!)