• Home
  • First Bowman
  • Blog
  • Podcast
    • Thad Bosley
    • Norman Smiley
    • Tyrone Nesby
    • Online Sites
    • NFL Team Addresses
    • MLB Team Addresses
    • NHL Team Addresses
    • NBA Team Addresses
    • WNBA Team Addresses
    • NWSL Team Addresses
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy
Menu

WaxPackHero

  • Home
  • First Bowman
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Player Collections
    • Thad Bosley
    • Norman Smiley
    • Tyrone Nesby
  • Resources
    • Online Sites
    • NFL Team Addresses
    • MLB Team Addresses
    • NHL Team Addresses
    • NBA Team Addresses
    • WNBA Team Addresses
    • NWSL Team Addresses
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy
×

Tony Bernazard: The All-Star Who Never Was

Michael Sommer March 1, 2024

Please note, When you click on links to various merchants on this site, like eBay, and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission.


There are cards from my youth which are burned into my brain.

I can name the player by seeing even a sliver of the photo.

All the childhood sorting, resorting, binder page flipping, and trading permanently embedded the names of hundreds of players from the junk wax era into my memory.

But every once in a while I stumble across a card or player I only have a vague recollection of. Tony Bernazard is one of those players.

While sorting a recent collection I purchaed, I found a stack of 1987 Topps All-Star cards and the Tony Bernazard All-Star Card #607 stood out to me. I recognize the card, but I can’t remember one time in my life ever hearing Tony’s name referenced. I don’t remember a highlight clip of him. I can’t remember him being mentioned in any statistical groupings, and I sure couldn’t remember him being an member of the 1986 All-Star team.

I fired up the Google machine, did a search, and low and behold, I didn’t remember him being on the 1986 All-Star team because he wasn’t on the team. In fact, he was never on any MLB All-Star team in the course of his 10 year MLB career!

For some reason, Topps made the executive decision to make him an All-Star in the 1987 set.

The Playing Days

We might as well spend a few minutes learning about Tony’s career.

1984 Fleer Tony Bernazard #606

The Puerto Rican born infielder made his MLB debut in 1979 with the Montreal Expos. In 1984, he had an 0-44 stretch at the plate which tied a major league record of number of at bats without a hit for non-pitchers. He ended up improving his performance in 1985 and while he didn’t make the All-Star Team in 1986, he did have the best year of his career. He batted .301 with 17 homers that season for the Indians.

After a mediocre 1987 season which was split between the Indians and the A’s, he went to Japan where he played three seasons for the Nankai/Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. He had a good enough performance from 1988-1990 to earn a spot on the Detroit Tigers roster to start the 1991 season. However, after starting the first six games 2-12 from the plate, his career was over.

In his 10 year MLB career, he played in 1,071 games and hit .262 with 75 home runs.

Post Playing Days

Bernazard spent several years working in front office roles for the New York Mets. An odd incident in the 2009 season saw Tony reportedly take off his shirt and challenge some Mets minor leaguers to a fight. After some additional incidents that season, Bernazard was fired on July 27, 2009.

Wrapping it up

Random screw ups on cards are fun to me. Why did Topps include Tony in their All-Star subset in 1987? We may never know what they were thinking, but we do know this wasn’t the first time this happened. According to this post from the WaxPackGods blog, there were 11 cards in the 1980s where Topps incorrectly granted All-Star status to a player.


Shop for Tony Bernazard Cards via the eBay links below

1980 Topps Tony Bernazard RC

1987 Topps Tony Bernazard All-Star #607

1988 Calbee Tony Bernazard Japanese Card

In Industry, Memories Tags Tony Bernazard, Topps Errors
← Building Vintage Sets: What is the Best Way?2023-24 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey →

Autographed Collectibles and Memorabilia

Search Posts

COMCSPONSOR.jpg
Featured
Apr 24, 2025
The Diamond King
Apr 24, 2025
Apr 24, 2025
Apr 5, 2025
I Tried Live Selling?
Apr 5, 2025
Apr 5, 2025
Mar 1, 2025
Barry Sanders: Then and Now
Mar 1, 2025
Mar 1, 2025

Index and Recent Posts

  • Set Review 171
  • Checklist 83
  • Breaks 76
  • Memories 63
  • Industry 58
  • Making Money 23
  • site review 8
  • Book Review 2
  • 1
Featured
Jun 9, 2020
Topps Living Set Stats
Jun 9, 2020
Jun 9, 2020
Featured
Apr 17, 2025
2024 Cryptozoic A Christmas Story
Apr 17, 2025
Apr 17, 2025
Mar 16, 2025
2025 Topps Hobby Rip Night Set Review and Checklist
Mar 16, 2025
Mar 16, 2025
Jan 25, 2025
20 Most Expensive Barry Sanders Cards: 1998 vs 2025
Jan 25, 2025
Jan 25, 2025
Jan 15, 2025
Collecting College Cards?
Jan 15, 2025
Jan 15, 2025
Jan 8, 2025
1993 Nabisco All-Star Autographs
Jan 8, 2025
Jan 8, 2025
Nov 14, 2024
1980-81 Arby’s University of Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Card Team Set
Nov 14, 2024
Nov 14, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
2022-23 O-Pee-Chee Platinum Hockey Cards
Oct 30, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
Oct 23, 2024
Harold Miner: A Look Back at the 90s Fan Favorite
Oct 23, 2024
Oct 23, 2024
Oct 14, 2024
1965 Donruss Spec Sheet Auto Racing Set
Oct 14, 2024
Oct 14, 2024
Oct 10, 2024
5 Awesome Aaron Judge Cards
Oct 10, 2024
Oct 10, 2024
COMC is a proud sponsor of WaxPackHero.com!

COMC is a proud sponsor of WaxPackHero.com!

 
Sidebarebay.jpg
 
  • December 2017 3
  • January 2018 9
  • February 2018 8
  • March 2018 9
  • April 2018 6
  • May 2018 4
  • June 2018 3
  • July 2018 2
  • August 2018 1
  • October 2018 2
  • November 2018 1
  • December 2018 1
  • January 2019 6
  • February 2019 5
  • March 2019 6
  • April 2019 7
  • May 2019 5
  • June 2019 3
  • July 2019 6
  • August 2019 7
  • September 2019 5
  • October 2019 4
  • November 2019 5
  • December 2019 5
  • January 2020 6
  • February 2020 5
  • March 2020 5
  • April 2020 5
  • May 2020 5
  • June 2020 3
  • July 2020 2
  • August 2020 4
  • September 2020 5
  • October 2020 3
  • November 2020 3
  • December 2020 3
  • January 2021 4
  • February 2021 3
  • March 2021 4
  • April 2021 2
  • May 2021 2
  • June 2021 4
  • July 2021 1
  • August 2021 1
  • September 2021 2
  • October 2021 2
  • November 2021 3
  • December 2021 1
  • January 2022 2
  • February 2022 4
  • March 2022 2
  • April 2022 1
  • May 2022 2
  • July 2022 1
  • August 2022 1
  • September 2022 1
  • October 2022 1
  • December 2022 4
  • January 2023 2
  • February 2023 1
  • March 2023 1
  • April 2023 1
  • June 2023 2
  • August 2023 1
  • September 2023 1
  • October 2023 2
  • November 2023 2
  • December 2023 6
  • January 2024 7
  • February 2024 4
  • March 2024 2
  • April 2024 2
  • June 2024 1
  • September 2024 4
  • October 2024 5
  • November 2024 1
  • January 2025 3
  • March 2025 1
  • April 2025 1

Join Our Community!

Subscribe today to make sure you don't miss a post as we celebrate this hobby we love!

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

Affiliate Links

Some posts may include affiliate links, which share a commission with the blog at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I believe in; if they have an affiliate program, I add it, and if they don't I recommend them anyway. 

Privacy and Affiliate Notice

© Copyright 2024 WaxPackHero - All rights reserved