Behold! The Historic 1981 Topps Dave Skaggs Baseball Card

How many catchers do the 1980 Angels need to limp through the summer?

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You’ve read the title up there and clicked in to see the 1981 Topps Dave Skaggs baseball card, but I know what you’re thinking.

You’re thinking I’m full of Belve Bean for suggesting this card is historic.

But I’m not.

The 1981 Topps Dave Skaggs card is historic. Here, take a look at it …

Notice anything about it?

Sure, the thick mustache is solid.

And the Angels’ halo logo is looking good.

But how about that nifty number eight on Skaggs’ sleeve? Nifty (like I said), huh?

Now, turn that card over, and you see the rest of the story. See?

Yeah, Skaggs spent the first three-plus seasons of his four-year Major League career with the Orioles, and he wore number eight there, too. Like, all through 1978 and 1979 and 1980, and part of 1977.

He managed to get into 181 games with the O’s during that time, all but one as a catcher, and he hit .241.

But the real thing is that number eight. Because, you know who the next guy to wear number eight in Baltimore was after the Orioles sold Skaggs to the Angels in May of 1980?

If you said Willie Royster, well … that’s close, but not quite right. It was actually Royster’s 1981 Orioles teammate and future man about town, Cal Ripken, Jr.

So, while Skaggs was off doing whatever retired players do in their first year after retiring, his 1981 Topps card was out there running around in his old number eight.

And, in Baltimore, so was Cal.

So, not only did the Dave Skaggs Family make the cut on an episode of Family Feud in the late 1980s, the man himself was the last man to wear number eight for the Orioles before Cal Ripken.

Like I said — historic.

Today is a historic moment in the Dave Skaggs saga, too. After all, a fella only turns 73 years old once in his life!

Angels Catcher? Donohue That Might Have Been

Those 1980 Angels took a huge step back from their 1979 division-winning form, and they used a lot of guys at catcher just to try and make it through the season.

Among those were Skaggs, Brian Downing, Dan Whitmer, and Stu Cliburn. But if you had to tag one receiver as their “regular” backstop, that honor would go to Tom Donohue, who finished his big league career one day after Skaggs finished his.

For more about Donohue and his baseball cards, check out this piece I wrote a while back.

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If you’ve had your fill of reading about 1980 Angels catchers, the good news is that this Hump Day helping of the baseball banalities is now finished.

The bad news is, we didn’t really say anything about Downing, Whitmer, or Cliburn — they’re still on the table for future rambling. You have been warned.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam

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