Sampler Album Week: 1987 Topps

I mentioned yesterday that 1987 Topps is a set I get nostalgic for, along with 1986 Topps.  1987 was the first year I started anticipating the design of a set.  Previously, I didn't care at all.   Of course, back then we didn't (or I didn't at least) have means of previewing the look of the cards before they came out. 

So I didn't have a sense of the wood-grained magic of 1987 Topps until I actually saw them in the store and bought a pack.  1987 was a fun year for baseball cards in my opinion.  Fleer and Donruss also had some neat designs, and there were several exciting players to chase.

See if you can detect the loose theme in my 1987 Sampler Album Page:

I haven't been trying to "theme" my sampler album pages, but this one turned out pretty cool, with all of the players having a career in baseball outside their playing days.  All of these guys are or were executives or managers/coaches at some point.  Of course I'm partial to the current Ranger trio of CEO/Owner Nolan Ryan, Manager Ron Washington and hitting coach Dave Magadan.  Magadan needs to get on the stick though 'cause the Rangers aren't hitting squat these days.