Love the Drake’s!
For decades, baseball cards had been packaged as a promotional item in food products. Gum, candy, and cereal were the mainstays, but in 1981 the folks at Drake’s Bakery decided to try and leverage the success Hostess saw with baseball cards and baked goods.
Actually, Drake’s Bakeries produced a card set in 1950 which was titled the “TV Baseball Series”. They had a TV set design and were a 2.5” x 2.5” square. There were 36 cards in this set. Many collector’s overlook this early set when discussing the history of Drake’s baseball cards.
1981-85
In 1981, Drake’s partnered with Topps to produce a set of 33 “Big Hitters”. Pete Rose, George Brett, Mike Schmidt, and Reggie Jackson were found inside. The sets continued for the next several years, but in 1985 the addition of 11 pitchers changed things up a bit. The front of the cards had a unique design with the player and team name, and the Drake’s logo having prominent placement. On the back of the cards, the partnership with Topps was very evident. In each of these years the Topps flagship card back design was used with a few small modifications for the Drakes logo and a description of what makes a “Big Hitter”.
1986-88
Drake’s continued to make promotional card sets from 1986-88, but they did not have the Topps partnership at this point. Each year brought a new design for the front of the card, but all three of these years use practically the same design for the card back which is very, very similar to the 1985 Topps back. It’s almost like they just took the back of their last Topps produced set and told their new partner to “just do it like this”.
Like many of these food issue sets, the cards aren’t hard to find online, but you can’t exactly find them everywhere. Singles are consistently available for $.25 - $1 on eBay, Sportlots, and COMC, and the Topps produced sets can be purchased for $5-$10 delivered. The 1986-88 sets seem to be a little harder to find and sell closer to $15 each.
I really like these, and they make a nice addition to my oddball binder. The annual set sizes of 33-44 cards fit nicely into three pages, and there is enough consistency in design to identify them without seeing the logo, but enough difference to keep it interesting.
If you like oddballs, then you’ll like these sets!
You might like some of my other oddball write-ups like the Definitive Guide to 7-11 Discs, 1988 Bazooka, or 1975 Hostess!
Also, if you haven’t heard, I started a new Podcast called the WaxPackHero Sports Card Minute! It’s available here directly on the site at the Podcast link at the top of the page, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and TuneIn! Check it out, let me know what you think, and tell your friends!
Checklists
1950 Drake’s
1. Preacher Roe
2. Clint Hartung
3. Earl Torgeson
4. Lou Brissie
5. Duke Snider
6. Roy Campanella
7. Sheldon Jones
8. Whitey Lockman
9. Bobby Thomson
10. Dick Sisler
11. Gil Hodges
12. Eddie Waitkus
13. Bobby Doerr
14. Warren Spahn
15. Bud Kerr
16. Sid Gordon
17. Willard Marshall
18. Carl Furillo
19. Pee Wee Reese
20. Alvin Dark
21. Del Ennis
22. Eddie Stanky
23. Tommy Henrich
24. Yogi Berra
25. Phil Rizzuto
26. Jerry Coleman
27. Joe Page
28. Allie Reynolds
29. Ray Scarborough
30. Birdie Tebbets
31. Maurice McDermott
32. Johnny Pesky
33. Dom DiMaggio
34. Vern Stephens
35. Bob Elliott
36. Enos Slaughter
1983 Drake’s
1. Don Baylor
2. Bill Buckner
3. Rod Carew
4. Gary Carter
5. Jack Clark
6. Cecil Cooper
7. Dwight Evans
8. George Foster
9. Pedro Guerrero
10. George Hendrick
11. Bob Horner
12. Reggie Jackson
13. Steve Kemp
14. Dave Kingman
15. Bill Madlock
16. Gary Matthews
17. Hal McRae
18. Dale Murphy
19. Eddie Murray
20. Ben Oglivie
21. Al Oliver
22. Jim Rice
23. Cal Ripken, Jr.
24. Pete Rose
25. Mike Schmidt
26. Ken Singleton
27. Gorman Thomas
28. Jason Thompson
29. Mookie Wilson
30. Willie Wilson
31. Dave Winfield
32. Carl Yastrzemski
33. Robin Yount
1986 Drake’s
1 Gary Carter
2 Dwight Evans
3 Reggie Jackson
4 Dave Parker
5 Rickey Henderson
6 Pedro Guerrero
7 Don Mattingly
8 Mike Marshall
9 Keith Moreland
10 Keith Hernandez
11 Cal Ripken, Jr.
12 Dale Murphy
13 Jim Rice
14 George Brett
15 Tim Raines
16 Darryl Strawberry
17 Bill Buckner
18 Dave Winfield
19 Ryne Sandberg
20 Steve Balboni
21 Tom Herr
22 Pete Rose
23 Willie McGee
24 Harold Baines
25 Eddie Murray
26 Mike Schmidt
27 Wade Boggs
28 Kirk Gibson
29 Bret Saberhagen
30 John Tudor
31 Orel Hershiser
32 Ron Guidry
33 Nolan Ryan
34 Dave Stieb
35 Dwight Gooden
36 Fernando Valenzuela
37 Tom Browning
1981 Drake’s
1 . Carl Yastrzemski
2. Rod Carew
3. Pete Rose
4. Dave Parker
5. George Brett
6. Eddie Murray
7. Mike Schmidt
8. Jim Rice
9. Fred Lynn
10. Reggie Jackson
11. Steve Garvey
12. Ken Singleton
13. Bill Buckner
14. Dave Winfield
15. Jack Clark
16. Cecil Cooper
17. Bob Horner
18. George Foster
19. Dave Kingman
20. Cesar Cedeno
21. Joe Charboneau
22. George Hendrick
23. Gary Carter
24. Al Oliver
25. Bruce Bochte
26. Jerry Mumphrey
27. Steve Kemp
28. Bob Watson
29. John Castino
30. Tony Armas
31. John Mayberry
32. Carlton Fisk
33. Lee Mazzilli
1984 Drake’s
1. Don Baylor
2. Wade Boggs
3. George Brett
4. Bill Buckner
5. Rod Carew
6. Gary Carter
7. Ron Cey
8. Cecil Cooper
9. Andre Dawson
10. Steve Garvey
11. Pedro Guerrero
12. George Hendrick
13. Keith Hernandez
14. Bob Horner
15. Reggie Jackson
16. Steve Kemp
17. Ron Kittle
18. Greg Luzinski
19. Fred Lynn
20. Bill Madlock
21. Gary Matthews
22. Dale Murphy
23. Eddie Murray
24. Al Oliver
25. Jim Rice
26. Cal Ripken, Jr.
27. Pete Rose
28. Mike Schmidt
29. Darryl Strawberry
30. Alan Trammell
31. Mookie Wilson
32. Dave Winfield
33. Robin Yount
1987 Drake’s
1 Darryl Strawberry
2 Wally Joyner
3 Von Hayes
4 Jose Canseco
5 Dave Winfield
6 Cal Ripken, Jr.
7 Keith Moreland
8 Don Mattingly
9 Willie McGee
10 Keith Hernandez
11 Tony Gwynn
12 Rickey Henderson
13 Dale Murphy
14 George Brett
15 Jim Rice
16 Wade Boggs
17 Kevin Bass
18 Dave Parker
19 Kirby Puckett
20 Gary Carter
21 Ryne Sandberg
22 Harold Baines
23 Mike Schmidt
24 Eddie Murray
25 Steve Sax
26 Dwight Gooden
27 Jack Morris
28 Ron Darling
29 Fernando Valenzuela
30 John Tudor
31 Roger Clemens
32 Nolan Ryan
33 Mike Scott
1982 Drake’s
1. Tony Armas
2. Buddy Bell
3. Johnny Bench
4. George Brett
5. Bill Buckner
6. Rod Carew
7. Gary Carter
8. Jack Clark
9. Cecil Cooper
10. Jose Cruz
11. Dwight Evans
12. Carlton Fisk
13. George Foster
14. Steve Garvey
15. Kirk Gibson
16. Mike Hargrove
17. George Hendrick
18. Bob Horner
19. Reggie Jackson
20. Ted Kennedy
21. Dave Kingman
22. Greg Luzinski
23. Bill Madlock
24. John Mayberry
25. Eddie Murray
26. Graig Nettles
27. Jim Rice
28. Pete Rose
29. Mike Schmidt
30. Ken Singleton
31. Dave Winfield
32. Butch Wynegar
33. Richie Zisk
1985 Drake’s
1 Tony Armas
2 Harold Baines
3 Don Baylor
4 George Brett
5 Gary Carter
6 Ron Cey
7 Jose Cruz
8 Alvin Davis
9 Chili Davis
10 Dwight Evans
11 Steve Garvey
12 Kirk Gibson
13 Pedro Guerrero
14 Tony Gwynn
15 Keith Hernandez
16 Kent Hrbek
17 Reggie Jackson
18 Gary Matthews
19 Don Mattingly
20 Dale Murphy
21 Eddie Murray
22 Dave Parker
23 Lance Parrish
24 Tim Raines
25 Jim Rice
26 Cal Ripken, Jr.
27 Juan Samuel
28 Ryne Sandberg
29 Mike Schmidt
30 Darryl Strawberry
31 Alan Trammell
32 Dave Winfield
33 Robin Yount
34 Mike Boddicker
35 Steve Carlton
36 Dwight Gooden
37 Willie Hernandez
38 Mark Langston
39 Dan Quisenberry
40 Dave Righetti
41 Tom Seaver
42 Bob Stanley
43 Rick Sutcliffe
44 Bruce Sutter
1988 Drake’s
1 Don Mattingly
2 Tim Raines
3 Darryl Strawberry
4 Wade Boggs
5 Keith Hernandez
6 Mark McGwire
7 Rickey Henderson
8 Mike Schmidt
9 Dwight Evans
10 Gary Carter
11 Paul Molitor
12 Dave Winfield
13 Alan Trammell
14 Tony Gwynn
15 Dale Murphy
16 Andre Dawson
17 Von Hayes
18 Willie Randolph
19 Kirby Puckett
20 Juan Samuel
21 Eddie Murray
22 George Bell
23 Larry Sheets
24 Eric Davis
25 Cal Ripken, Jr.
26 Pedro Guerrero
27 Will Clark
28 Dwight Gooden
29 Frank Viola
30 Roger Clemens
31 Rick Sutcliffe
32 Jack Morris
33 John Tudor