I started collecting baseball cards as a young child in
1983. Initially, I purchased packs of
baseball cards at grocery and convenience stores. As my interest in the hobby expanded, I began
going to baseball card shops and collectible shows. My favorite player to collect cards of was
left-handed pitcher Jimmy Key. Despite
being the winning pitcher of a pair of World Series-clinching games, a two-time
recipient of The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year Award, and twice the
runner-up in the AL Cy Young Award vote, Key is largely forgotten. Key’s career spanned from 1984 to 1998 and
was split between three teams, the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and
Baltimore Orioles. For the first nine
years of his career, Key pitched for the Blue Jays. Key’s time in Toronto coincided with my prime
years as a baseball card collector. With
this in mind, I decided to take a look at my favorite cards of Key during his
nine seasons with the Blue Jays and explore some of his career highlights.
One of my most avid years as a collector was 1986. After enthusiastically collecting Fleer and
Topps in 1983 and 1984, I found the designs of the 1985 sets underwhelming and my
interest in the hobby waned. However,
when I opened my first pack of 1986 Topps, I fully jumped back into collecting,
buying cards every chance I got. Just as
in 1983 and 1984, I collected packs of Fleer in addition to Topps.
 |
| Jimmy Key's 1986 Fleer and his phantom mustache |
Key made his initial card appearances on the 1984 Fleer
Update and Topps Traded sets followed by rookie issues in each of the 1985 base
sets. Nevertheless, I didn’t get my
first cards of Key until I started buying packs again in 1986. Although I preferred the design of the Topps
set from that year, it was actually Key’s Fleer which served as the catalyst
for the left-hander becoming my favorite player. Key’s Fleer featured the young hurler in
Toronto’s practice jersey rearing back to throw a pitch. What drew me to the card was Key's tucked in
upper lip which had created enough of a shadowy look that I couldn't tell whether
or not he had a mustache. As my
collection of Key cards grew, I noticed the southpaw often had stubble above
his lip but never a fully grown mustache.
Thus, I eventually came to the conclusion that the combination of Key's
stubble, his lip being tucked in, and the shadowy lighting of the shot created the illusion of a phantom mustache. In fact, none of the one-hundred plus cards I
own of Key or any of the countless photographs I have seen of the pitcher show
him sporting a mustache during his career.
Aside from the mystery of Key’s phantom mustache, the colors and design
of the card also made it stand out to me.
Between 1983 and 1990, Fleer included the logo of player’s team on their
cards. Toronto's logo which featured a
blue jay in front of a baseball with the red maple leaf of the Canadian flag in
the top right corner was charming enough to appeal to children while being
sophisticated and creative enough for adults to identify with as well. Fleer used a navy blue border for their 1986
design which was a bad fit for some teams but looked great for clubs like
Toronto that incorporated lots of blue in their jerseys. For the lower portion of their 1986 card,
Fleer featured a color which matched one of the colors of the player’s team. In Key’s case the light blue on the lower
portion of the card is a perfect complement to the bottom half of the young
pitcher’s uniform. Moreover, even the
blue background of the shot and the white outline around the photo blends well
with the colors of Key’s uniform. Since
I spent so much time examining Key’s Fleer, flip-flopping back and forth on
whether or not I thought he had mustache, it caused me spend more time looking
at other cards and collectibles I owned of the lefty which included his 1986
Topps as well as his Topps Stickers from both 1986 and 1987. These cards and stickers along with Key’s
Fleer served as the foundation on which the southpaw became my favorite player.
 |
| Key's 1986 and 1987 Topps cards and stickers |
By the time I came into possession of Key's 1986 Fleer, the
young hurler had already completed his 1984 rookie season out of Toronto's
bullpen and followed it up by breaking into the club's starting rotation in
1985 and putting up an impressive 14-6 record with a 3.00 ERA. Although Key lacked an overpowering fastball,
he quickly became known as one of the best control pitchers in the game. Key had the craftiness and ability to
effectively throw an array of pitches which included a change up, sinker,
curve, and slider. Al Widmar, Key’s
pitching coach for the first six seasons of his career said of the southpaw, "He's
a pitcher, not a thrower. He has an
average fastball, a good sinker and curve, and knows how to change speed on his
pitches. He also throws a cut fastball
with good movement on it. And, his
control is outstanding."
Key got his first taste of the postseason during his solid
sophomore campaign, playing a crucial role in helping the team win the AL East
and advance to the ALCS where he made two starts against the Kansas City
Royals. After staff ace Dave Stieb won
Game 1, Key got the ball for Game 2 but struggled and was chased from the mound
in the top of the 4th with the Jays down 3-0.
However, Toronto's offense saved Key from the loss by roaring back to win
the game in extra innings. Four nights
later, Key had the chance to pitch Toronto into the World Series with his club
up 3 games to 1 over Kansas City. Key
pitched decently, surrendering two runs over 5.1 innings but was no match for
Royals lefty Danny Jackson who shutout the Blue Jays. Kansas City did not allow Toronto to take
another lead for the rest of the ALCS and advanced to the World Series where
they beat the St. Louis Cardinals. The
following season, Key took a small step backward but still put together a
decent campaign, going 14-11 with a respectable 3.57 ERA to further solidify
himself as one of the finest young pitchers in the game.
 |
| Key's 1988 and 1989 Topps each feature colors that complement the southpaw's hat and jersey |
I immediately was a big fan of the 1988 and 1989 Topps
designs, the larger white borders gave these cards a bright look that reminded
me of the Topps 1983 and 1984 sets which had served as my introduction to the
hobby. Key's Topps from 1988 and 1989
each do a wonderful job of using colors that complement the southpaw's hat and
jersey. The red box which outlines Key's
1988 card along with the blue lettering for the team name bring out the colors
from the Blue Jays logo. Although the
yellow strip with black lettering going across the bottom right corner doesn’t
quite fit with the rest of the colors, overall Key’s 1988 Topps is an excellent
card. For Key’s 1989 card, Topps found
the perfect harmony of colors. The
combination of the light and dark shades of blue that spell out Blue Jays
blends well with Key’s jersey colors while the red lettering for his name matches
the maple leaf on his hat. In addition,
the white border, blue sky background, and faint dusting of clouds correspond
well with the colors of Key’s home jersey and the shades of blue used for the
outline and writing on the card.
After staff ace Stieb's disastrous 1986 campaign in which
the veteran went 7-12 with an uncharacteristically high 4.74 ERA, Key was given
his first Opening Day starting assignment to begin the 1987 season. Key won his Opening Day start and did a
fabulous job anchoring Toronto’s rotation throughout the season, going 17-8
with an MLB-leading 2.76 ERA. Key’s
excellent campaign won him The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year Award. In addition, Key finished second to Boston
Red Sox righty Roger Clemens in the AL Cy Young Award vote. Clemens, the defending AL Cy Young winner,
went 20-9 with a 2.97 ERA and garnered 21 of 28 first place votes. Key collected four first place votes while
the remaining three tallies were split among Oakland Athletics righty Dave Stewart and Detroit Tigers righty Doyle Alexander. Key and Clemens had similar win/loss
percentages but the Toronto hurler pitched in more meaningful games than his
Boston counterpart as his Blue Jays finished a close second to the Tigers in
the AL East while the Red Sox struggled to a sub-.500 record. However, Clemens’ status as the defending AL
Cy Young winner and his reaching of the 20-win plateau undoubtedly helped the
Boston righty draw the majority of first place votes. In addition, Clemens threw more innings than
Key while also leading the league in strikeouts, complete games, and shutouts. Nevertheless, for Key there was no shame in
being edged out by Clemens who was already establishing himself as the dominant
pitcher of his generation.
Aside from the white border and clean designs, another
similarity between Key’s 1988 and 1989 Topps is the easy-going, calm look on
the face of the southpaw. Key’s
mild-mannered expression on each card captures his personality as he was known
as one of the most even-tempered players of his day. Most articles written about Key reference his
unassuming looks and quiet nature. Yet,
underneath Key’s calm exterior was an intense competitor with a strong desire
to win. Pitcher David Wells, who was
teammates with Key from 1987 to 1992—and in many ways the polar opposite of the
mild-mannered lefty personality-wise, wrote this about Key in his autobiography
“Perfect I'm Not: Boomer On Beer, Brawls, Backaches, and Baseball”: “He’s soft-spoken. He’s buttoned-down. He’s one pocket protector away from
full-blown nerd status, but don’t let any of that fool you. The guy takes no shit on the mound or
off. Let’s put it this way; on the one
occasion I made the mistake of seriously goofing on this guy, he shoved my face
into a team bus window. You’ve gotta love
that.” In the book, Wells named Key to
the starting pitching staff of his dream line up “Got-Balls-Star” Team and also
praised the quiet hurler for taking the time to give him advice and helping him
develop as a young pitcher.
 |
| Key posted an MLB-leading 2.76 ERA in 1987 |
As a result of his excellent 1987 campaign, Key started
being included in more special limited edition box sets. One of the box sets Key appeared in was the
1988 Topps Revco League Leaders, a 33-card set which highlighted players who
led their respective league in select categories. Though Revco is now defunct—having been
acquired by CVS in 1997—the company’s memorable logo is forever immortalized on
the card. I have always been fond of
Key’s 1988 Revco and what I believe drew me to the card was its similarity to
the hurler’s 1988 and 1989 Topps. Like
his 1989 Topps, the Revco card features a close up shot of the young lefty set
against a blue sky background dotted with clouds. On Key’s Revco card, the southpaw is clad in
the same style road practice jersey he is wearing on his 1988 Topps. Also, the Revco set uses similar colors to
Key’s 1988 Topps for their design with a clean white border, red outline, and
blue lettering—along with the inexplicable use of yellow. The Revco design features a slightly darker
shade blue which looks good on Key’s card since it matches the color of his
jersey. Key was included in the Revco
set for leading the AL with a 2.76 ERA. Coincidentally,
the NL’s ERA leader, Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan, finished the 1987
season with the same 2.76 mark as Key. However,
Key was the overall MLB ERA leader as his 2.759 ERA rounded up to 2.76 and was
slightly lower than Ryan’s 2.764 mark. Key
won the ERA title during the year of the “rabbit ball” in which home runs were
hit at a never before seen rate and average runs scored per game rose to their
highest since 1950.
Key followed up his excellent 1987 campaign with a solid
1988. The crafty lefty posted a 3.29 ERA
and went 12-5 despite missing two and half months of the season after having
surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.
Unfortunately, injuries continued to plague Key over the next two
seasons. Key won his third straight
Opening Day start to begin the 1989 season.
By late May, Key was 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA and in the process of putting
together another excellent campaign when he was beleaguered by a 13 start
stretch in which he went an unfathomable 1-11 with a 5.29 ERA. At the end of this horrid run, Key was placed
on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation of the rotator cuff in his
pitching shoulder. A drop in velocity
caused by these shoulder issues was at the root of Key’s struggles. After returning from the DL, the hurler
rebounded to a 6-1 record with a 3.40 ERA in his final 9 starts to finish the
year 13-14 with a 3.88 ERA. Toronto won
their second AL East crown and faced the Oakland Athletics in the 1989
ALCS. Key had a mediocre performance in
his one ALCS start, giving up 3 runs over 6 innings. Nevertheless, Key managed to pick up
Toronto’s only ALCS win as they were defeated by Oakland in five games. During the offseason, Key had surgery to
repair his partially torn rotator cuff. Key
struggled to return to form after the surgery, averaging fewer than 5 innings
through his first 8 starts of 1990 while posting an ugly 6.56 ERA before going
on the DL for a month due to a hamstring injury. The time away seemed to help Key who averaged
over 6 innings per start with a 3.55 ERA for the remainder of the season. Key finished 1990 with a 13-7 record, marking
his sixth straight season with at least a dozen wins. However, for the third consecutive year, Key
saw his ERA rise, this time to 4.25.
 |
| Toronto's uniform changes are visible on Key's cards |
Since the Blue Jays first took the field in 1977, the club
had made very few alterations to their uniforms. Nevertheless, Toronto decided to make major
changes to the team’s appearance for the 1989 season. Gone were the pullover jerseys that had been
synonymous with most clubs in the 1970s and 1980s as the Blue Jays switched to
the button down look that several other teams had begun to adopt. In addition, Toronto drastically altered the
look of their road uniform, going with gray for both their jerseys and
pants—moving away from powder blue which had been the staple of many teams
during the 1970s and 1980s. Another big
change to the road uniform was the return of Toronto being printed across the
chest—something featured on the away jerseys during the initial two years of
the franchise. With the move to the
button down style, the team slightly decreased the size of their logo and
shifted it from the center to the left side of the jersey. The Blue Jays also switched their road hat to
a solid blue style, replacing the white front with blue bill and blue back
style which had been used by the team for all games but now would only be used
for home games. Looking through my
collection of Key cards, I’m able to see the hurler in the different variations
of Toronto’s uniforms. What also becomes
apparent is the large number of cards which feature the southpaw in a Spring
Training or practice jersey.
 |
| Many of Key's cards feature him in a Spring Training or practice jersey |
After dealing with injuries during the previous three
seasons, Key was able to stay off the DL in 1991 and put together a solid
campaign, going 16-12 with a 3.05 ERA. The
Blue Jays easily won the AL East and faced the Minnesota Twins in the
ALCS. Despite Key’s strong season and
veteran status, Toronto slid the lefty back to third in the playoff rotation
and opted to go with mid-season acquisition Tom Candiotti and rookie phenom
Juan Guzman—each of whom had zero postseason experience—to start the first two
games of the ALCS. Candiotti lasted 2.2
innings and got rocked for 5 runs in a 5-4, Game 1 loss while Guzman earned the
win in Game 2–going 5.2 innings and giving up 2 runs in Toronto’s 5-2
victory. With the series tied, Key took
the hill at home for Game 3. The Blue
Jays raced out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning but Minnesota was able to
score a run a piece in the 5th and 6th to draw even. Key pitched strong enough to give his team a
chance to win—putting up a similar line to Guzman’s with 2 runs allowed in 6
innings—but because he was taken out of the game with the score tied, he did
not factor into the decision. Toronto’s
bullpen ultimately surrendered the lead in the 10th and lost Game 3 by a score
of 3-2. After Minnesota roughed up Toronto
starter Todd Stottlemyre and won Game 4, Candiotti returned for Game 5 with the
Blue Jays on the brink of elimination. Candiotti
delivered a shaky 5-inning performance in which he gave up 4 runs—two of which
were unearned—yet departed the game with a three-run lead. However, Toronto’s bullpen failed to hold the
lead and the Twins won the game, 8-5, to take the AL Pennant.
In 1992, the Blue Jays once again won the AL East and
returned to the playoffs, this time taking on the Oakland Athletics. Despite posting a respectable 3.53 ERA, Key’s
record was an even 13-13. Though Key’s
win/loss record was middling, this marked the lefty’s eighth straight season
with 12 or more victories. Following
their ALCS loss to Minnesota, Toronto allowed free agent Candiotti to
leave—choosing instead to spend their money on a higher-profile pitcher with a
better postseason track record in Jack Morris, who was fresh off a stellar
World Series-clinching Game 7 victory for the Twins. At the end of August, the Blue Jays made
another big move, acquiring hurler David Cone just before the trade
deadline. These moves pushed Key further
back in the rotation. In fact, when the
Blue Jays set their rotation for the ALCS they opted to go with just three
starters—Morris, Cone, and Guzman—while sending Key to the bullpen. Key was called upon only once during the
ALCS, pitching three innings of mop-up duty with his club down five runs in the
bottom of the 5th of Game 5. Key held
the A’s scoreless but the Blue Jays were unable to mount a comeback and lost
the game 6-2. Nevertheless, the Blue
Jays clinched the AL Pennant with a Game 6 win two days later to advance to the
franchise’s first World Series to face the Atlanta Braves. Key’s solid relief appearance in the ALCS
proved to be an important one for the veteran southpaw as Toronto decided to
use a four-man rotation for the World Series and tapped him to start Game
4. Matching up against the Braves in the
World Series gave Key the chance to pitch against one of the teams he rooted
for during his childhood. Key grew up in
Huntsville, Alabama which is just a few hours’ drive from Atlanta. Though Key considered the New York Yankees
his favorite team, he also was a fan of the Braves and regularly attended games
at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with his father during his childhood.
After dropping the Series opener with an uncharacteristic
postseason loss by Morris, set-up man Duane Ward won Games 2 and 3 in relief
for the Blue Jays. Eligible for free
agency in the offseason, Key took the ball for Game 4 knowing it could be the
final time he pitched in a Blue Jays uniform in front of the Toronto home
crowd. Atlanta countered with Game 1
winner Tom Glavine, who had also been the 1991 NL Cy Young recipient and was
fresh off his second-straight 20-victory campaign. Key and Glavine matched each other
pitch-for-pitch in what became a duel between two crafty lefties. Toronto drew first blood with a solo home run
by catcher Pat Borders in the bottom of the 3rd and made it 2-0 with an RBI-single
by Devon White in the bottom of the 7th.
After pitching masterfully through seven innings, Key finally ran into
trouble in the top of the 8th. After
allowing Atlanta to cut the lead in half, Key was lifted from the game for
set-up man Duane Ward with a runner on second and two out. Key received a warm reception from the
Toronto faithful as he tipped his cap while leaving the mound. Ward worked out of the jam to preserve the
lead and closer Tom Henke picked up the save with a scoreless 9th to give Key
and Toronto the 2-1 victory. Key put up
an excellent pitching line in Game 4, allowing just 5 hits and 1 run through
7.2 innings. In addition, Key struck out
6 and lived up to his reputation as one of baseball’s premier control pitchers,
issuing no free passes to Braves hitters.
Glavine went the distance for Atlanta but was saddled with the loss
despite giving up just 2 runs through 8 innings. Key’s Game 4 victory put the Blue Jays up 3
games to 1 over the Braves and a single win away from the World
Championship. With Morris set to pitch
Game 5 and Cone and Guzman slated to start Games 6 and 7, Key returned to the
bullpen for the rest of the Series.
Following the Braves 7-2, Game 5 rout of the Blue Jays, the
Series shifted back to Atlanta for Game 6.
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 10th, Toronto called upon
Key to enter the game with one out. After
Key got David Justice and Sid Bream to ground out to complete the 10th, the
Blue Jays rallied in the top of the 11th, taking the lead on a two-out, two-run
double by veteran slugger Dave Winfield.
Atlanta threatened in the bottom half of the 11th with a leadoff single
by Jeff Blauser followed by Damon Berryhill reaching on shortstop Alfredo
Griffin’s error. After Rafael Belliard’s
sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, Brian Hunter pinch hit
for pitcher Charlie Leibrandt with one out.
Key was able to retire Hunter on a grounder to first base for out number
two but, in the process, Blauser scored while pinch runner John Smoltz advanced
to third base. With leadoff hitter Otis
Nixon due up, Toronto manager Cito Gaston walked out to the mound. Nixon had hit Key well in Game 4, going 2 for
3 against the southpaw. With Gaston and
Key both aware of Nixon’s success against the lefty, they agreed it would be
better to bring in reliever Mike Timlin to face Nixon. Well known for his speed, Nixon attempted a
bunt on Timlin who threw to Joe Carter at first base to get the final out and
secure the World Championship for the Blue Jays. For his inning and a third of relief work,
Key was credited as the winning pitcher for Game 6.
 |
| Key picked off Otis Nixon in the 1st inning of Game 4 of the 1992 World Series |
Following Toronto’s World Series victory, a handful of cards
were released which showcased Key’s success in the Fall Classic. Despite being an avid collector of Key’s
memorabilia and generally buying every reasonably priced card I could find of
the southpaw, I never managed to get ahold of any of his World Series
cards. Nevertheless, the card I
associate most with Key’s World Series triumph is his 1993 Upper Deck which
captures the veteran hurler in mid-wind up during a pregame warm up. In addition to his pinpoint control and
ability to change speeds, another one of Key’s strengths was his deceptive
pickoff move to first base. During his
Game 4 World Series start, Key opened the contest by giving up a single to
Atlanta’s speedy leadoff hitter Otis Nixon.
As one of the game’s most prolific base stealers, Nixon threatened to
put himself into scoring position by swiping second before Key had even
registered an out. However, Key quickly
nullified the threat by picking Nixon off at first. This proved to be a crucial play because Key
gave up a single to number two hitter Jeff Blauser before settling down and working
his way out of the inning. Though it was
not taken during the Fall Classic, Upper Deck’s shot of Key in mid-wind up
reminds me of his picking off of Nixon. Despite
being the victim of Key’s deceptive pickoff move, in some ways, Nixon was the
hurler’s main antagonist during the Series as the speedster not only hit the
southpaw well but was also the on-deck hitter in both Game 4 and Game 6 when
Gaston lifted Key. Although he was more
known for his speed on the basepaths than his hitting prowess, Nixon swung a
particularly hot bat during the final three games of the Fall Classic: Aside from his base knock to leadoff Game 4,
Nixon scratched out another single in the 6th inning, making him Atlanta’s only
batter to get multiple hits against Key during the lefty’s masterful performance. Nixon continued to be a menace in the
batter’s box and on the basepaths in Game 5 as the speedster got a trio of
hits, swiped a pair of bags, and scored twice—including the go-ahead run in
Atlanta’s 7-2 win. Nixon had his third
straight multi-hit game, stroking a pair of singles in Game 6—the second of
which temporarily staved off Atlanta’s elimination as it drove in the tying-run
off Toronto closer Tom Henke with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. Considering Nixon’s success against Key and
Toronto pitching in general over the final three games of the Series, Gaston
was wise to bring in Timlin to face the hot-hitting speedster in the 11th
inning of Game 6.
Despite playing a pivotal role in their World Series
victory, the Blue Jays did not place a great emphasis on re-signing the 31-year
old Key and allowed the veteran hurler to test the free agent market. On December 10, Key officially brought an end
to his time with the Blue Jays when the southpaw agreed to a four-year deal
with the New York Yankees, the lefty’s favorite team during his childhood. In his nine seasons with Toronto, Key put
together a 116-81 record with a 3.42 ERA.
Key ranks fourth overall on the Blue Jays all-time win list and first
among left-handed pitchers.
Though Key’s mild-mannered personality seemed like an odd
fit for New York, the crafty lefty excelled in the Big Apple— becoming the ace
of the staff while going a combined 35-10 over his first two seasons with the
Yankees. During the second of those
initial campaigns in New York, Key repeated his achievements of 1987 by being
named The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year and also finishing runner-up in
the AL Cy Young Award vote—on this occasion being edged out by former
rotation-mate David Cone who was now pitching for the Kansas City Royals. Unfortunately, Key was felled by injuries
during the next two seasons and by the time the Yankees reached the Fall
Classic in 1996 to face the defending World Champion Atlanta Braves, the
southpaw had slid down to the middle of the rotation. Nevertheless, just as he had in 1992, Key
made a big impact in the World Series. After
New York dropped the Series opener, Key was tabbed to start Game 2 against the
winner of the last four NL Cy Young Awards, Greg Maddux. Key delivered a shaky performance in Game 2
and took the loss, allowing 4 runs across 6 innings while Maddux held the
Yankees scoreless through 8 frames as Atlanta won 4-0. Despite losing the first two games in New
York, the Bombers turned the Series around by winning all three games on the
road in Atlanta. With the Series back in
the Bronx and the Yankees one win away from the World Championship, Key took
the ball for Game 6 where he was, once again, matched up against the dominant
Maddux. However this time around, Key
out-pitched Maddux—giving up just a single run before departing the game in the
6th inning with a 3-1 lead. New York’s
bullpen preserved Key’s lead to secure the victory and the World Championship
for the Yankees. Key was credited with
the win, marking the second time in his career the hurler picked up the victory
in a Series-clinching Game 6.
Following New York’s World Series triumph, Key became eligible
for free agency. With New York wary of
signing Key to more than a one-year contact due to his recent injuries, the
lefty opted to take a two-year offer to join the Baltimore Orioles. In his first season with the O’s, Key helped
lead the club to the playoffs with a solid 16-10 record supported by a 3.43 ERA
that, in the high-scoring environment of the late 1990s, ranked 8th lowest in
the AL. However, after an injury-riddled
1998 season, the 37-year old Key decided to call it a career. The Yankees showed interest in bringing Key
back for the 1999 season but were unable to lure the veteran out of retirement. Key walked away from the game with an overall
record of 186-117 and a 3.51 career ERA.
Key was one of baseball’s winningest pitchers during his career, posting
an impressive .614 win/loss percentage. In
fact, in the three seasons Key had a below .500 record, each time he lost only
one more game than he won. Key was also
one of the most consistent hurlers of his generation, winning a dozen or more
games in 12 of his 15 big league seasons including a consecutive ten-year
stretch from 1985 to 1994.
 |
| Key also pitched for the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles |
During Key’s first couple of seasons in New York, I started
moving away from buying packs of cards and began making most of my purchases at
baseball card shops and collectible shows.
As the hobby grew more popular in the late 1980s and into the 1990s, the
photography on the cards became crisper, the designs more extravagant, and
manufacturers released additional sets to keep up with the competition and also
as a reaction to the increase in consumer demand. However, with these improvements came
downsides: the card packs increased in price, the market became over-saturated,
and—while the designs were bolder and more impressive—they didn’t appeal to me
the way the cards of my youth had. As a
result of Key’s success in 1993 and 1994, the southpaw was included on several
specialized sets as well as the All-Star and league leader cards. Although Key played in New York less than
half as long as he did in Toronto, because such a large number of cards of the
lefty were released during his time in the Big Apple, I own nearly as many
cards of Key from his four seasons with the Yankees as I do from his nine
campaigns with the Blue Jays. Towards
the end of Key’s tenure with the Bronx Bombers, my interested in the hobby
began to decline and by the time the veteran signed with Baltimore, I had
nearly stopped collecting all together. In
fact, I only own seven cards which feature Key in an Orioles jersey—barely a
tenth of what I have of the hurler in either a Blue Jays or Yankees
jersey. Even though it has been over two
decades since I regularly collected, my cards of Key will always hold a special
place in my baseball memories—particularly the ones of the underrated pitcher
in his colorful Blue Jays uniform.
----by John Tuberty
Follow my blog on Twitter @BloggerTubbs
Sources: Baseball Reference, Baseball Reference Play Index, New York Times (Murray Chass 1987 article),
Baseball Prospectus, The Toronto Star, Baseball Almanac, David Wells with Chris Kreski-Perfect I’m Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches, and Baseball (Harper Collins), Times Daily via Google News Archive, Washington Post (David Segal article), New York Times (Murray Chass 1996 article), Los Angeles Times, Washington Post (Mark Maske article),
CBS News, New York Post, Hartford Courant via Newspapers.com
Jimmy Key cards: 1986
Fleer, 1986 Topps, 1986 Topps Sticker, 1987 Topps, 1987 Topps Sticker, 1988
Topps, 1989 Topps, 1988 Topps Revco League Leaders, 1988 Donruss, 1988 Score,
1993 Donruss, 1993 Topps, 1989 Upper Deck, 1990 Topps, 1991 Bowman, 1992 Topps,
1994 Flair, 1994 Topps Stadium Club, 1993 Topps Finest, 1997 Skybox Circa, 1993
Upper Deck, also Otis Nixon 1993 Upper Deck
Other Articles by
Tubbs Baseball Blog:
