1988 Peoria Chiefs Greg Maddux
1988 Peoria Chiefs team issue of Greg Maddux — a regional minor-league/affiliate card from the Cubs' chain, issued in far smaller numbers than mainstream 1988 sets. Early oddball cardboard from the seasons when Maddux was establishing himself.
- Issue
- Greg Maddux — Early & Oddball Issues
- Year
- 1988
- Subject
- Greg Maddux
- Grade
- Raw (ungraded)
Greg Maddux — Early & Oddball Issues
Maddux did not appear in the mainstream 1987 Topps or Fleer base sets, so his earliest cardboard is scattered across minor-league team sets, a Venezuelan winter-league sticker album and the year-end Traded and Update sets. These short-run issues, like the 1986 ProCards Pittsfield Cubs card (his first) and the 240-sticker 1987 Venezuelan set, were made in far smaller numbers than his major-league rookies and are tough to find in any condition.
More on this issue →Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux, “The Professor,” was my childhood favorite player, which is why he has a place in this collection when almost no other modern player does. He won 355 games with command and guile rather than velocity, took four straight Cy Young Awards from 1992 to 1995 and a record 18 Gold Gloves, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014. I collect him the same way I collect the vintage: earliest and scarcest issues first, plus a little Atlanta game-worn gear that ties to the same story. The nickname fits a Shoeless Professor.
More on Greg Maddux →