Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Donruss the Rookies Johnny Ray #528

This is one sweet looking card. A nice tight shot of of Ray in his batting stance. He is wearing the old fashion Pirates cap and there is a lot of Wiz Khalifia Black and Yellow going on here. I disagree somewhat with Night Owl on the use of yellow on a card design. Yes, yellow did not work on 1991 Fleer (maybe because the photo was so small) but it works here on this set 1982 Donruss and it works to perfection on this card. Johnny Ray was the Sporting News rookie of the year but lost out to Steve Sax for the regular rookie of the year award. The Dodgers have dominated that awarded over the years and Ray was trying to become the first Pirate to win it. Jason Bay would win it 22 years later in 2004 becoming the first Pirate win. There have been like almost 15 Dodgers who have won it over the years. Topps and Fleer did not have a regular Ray rookie but Topps included him with 2 other players. Also, around 1982, there was a big song by and English group on MTV which played alot that had the lyrics "oh oh Johnny Ray", it was not about this guy but an English singer from the 1950s. I can't remember the name of that group.

2 comments:

  1. Dexy's Midnight Runners would sing about "poor old Johnny Ray" in their one hit song Come on Eileen. Thanks, now I'm feeling old today...

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  2. When I was a kid, I loved Com'on Eileen, 'cause I thought it was about the Pirates 2nd Baseman.

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