A Smorgasbord! 1979 Post Raisin Bran Steve Garvey's Baseball Tips

From the 1970s through the 1990s, it seemed like you could find your favorite baseball stars on food product packaging everywhere you looked: supermarkets, corner stores, restaurants, and beyond. This past year, in an effort to capture a little more nostalgia, I set a goal to expand my own collection of these "food-issue" cards. In this series I'll show the specific examples I've acquired, and share a little bit of history about the food or beverage sponsor as well. 

Previous entries can be found here.

 

 

It's a couple of months into Little League season, and your hard work has been paying off. Coach has moved you up from 8th to 6th in the batting order, and you're getting more playing time in the infield. 

 

Part of your improvement has come from paying more attention to broadcasters like Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek on NBC's Saturday Game of the Week. You know they're former professional players, so you listen closely when they find teachable moments during the game.

 

Now it's Sunday morning, and it's time for some cereal. Mom keeps it pretty healthy these days, so you reach for the new box of Raisin Bran. (Those raisins are more sugary than she thinks.)

 

You open the tab on top, tear open the plastic seal, pour a hefty amount into your bowl, and add the milk. That's when you sit down, spin the cereal box around to the back, and see this:

 

Steve Garvey's baseball tips! Life is good.

 

This particular example discusses hitting the ball to the opposite field.

 

In order to hit the opposite way, you must stride with your front foot toward the opposite field, with your toe pointing in that direction... If necessary, try to punch at the ball, but do not roll your wrists.

 

Good advice, Mr. Garvey.

 

It was especially good for right-handed batters of the 1980s, when hit-and-run plays were the norm. If the first baseman was holding the runner on, you'd have that big hole on the right side to drive the ball through. If that runner was even halfway speedy, your simple, selfless ground-ball single would get him around to third.

Atta boy, kid.

As you might have guessed, these cards were distributed one per box of Post Raisin Bran. The checklist is 12 panels deep, and includes tips on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, such as

• The Batting Stance
• Rounding First Base
• Throwing from the Outfield
• Mental Preparation for Each Play
  

Interestingly, cards 1–6 were printed on 15-oz boxes, while cards 7–12 were printed on 20-oz boxes. That means if you wanted the entire set, you'd have to eat a lot of Raisin Bran, and on top of that convince mom or dad to buy two different box sizes!

 

So let's discuss the cereal for a moment. Post introduced their raisin bran product in 1942, and it's still being produced today, almost 85 years later. However, Post wasn't the first to make a raisin bran product. And if you think it was Kellogg's (like I did), you're wrong there, too. They came out with their version of raisin bran that same year of 1942.

 

The distinction, instead, goes to Skinner's Manufacturing Company, which created a raisin bran cereal way back in 1925 (called "Skinner's Raisin Bran"). They had the monopoly on the product for about two decades before Post and Kellogg's swooped in. I hope Skinner's enjoyed those early days, when they were kings of raisin bran.

 

But now let's get to Mr. Steve Garvey. 

 

The 10x all-star had quite the career. Over 19 seasons, he totaled 2,599 hits, 272 home runs, 1,308 RBI, and a .294/.329/.426 slash line. Add to that the following accolades:

 

Gold Glove Winner, first base (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977)

NLCS MVP (1978, 1984)

All-Star MVP (1974, 1978)

NL MVP (1974)

World Series Champion (1981)

If that career batting average were just a few points higher, and if he got a little closer to 3,000 hits and 300 home runs, I think he'd be a lock for the Hall of Fame. Regardless, the guy was a stud. And he provided some great tips to cereal-loving kids back in the 1980s.

 

 

Do any of you readers and collectors have a Raisin Bran Steve Garvey card in your collection? Are you a fan of raisin bran?

 

Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!