Another Brief Stroll Through Baseball History Via Kenner's Starting Lineups

Last summer I wrote about re-discovering my Starting Lineup collection during the pandemic. Since that time I've found some more that I acquired as a youth and used the power of the internet to continue to add to my collection.

Since we're still more than a month away from Opening Day, it seems like a good time to take another gander at these quaint little pieces from the 1980's and 90's. I know I'm biased, but this crop is chock full of good stuff with some pleasant surprises mixed in. There's no better way to whet your baseball appetite as we head into 2021. Enjoy!

1988

This one was one of my favorites growing up. In the batter's box Dave Winfield was an imposing figure with long arms and legs that could reach anything that came his way. That's captured pretty well here and the face is instantly recognizable as Winny.

The uniform deficiencies - especially early on - with Starting Lineups were covered pretty thoroughly in the last installment, but I'll add here that the number font is decidedly not what the Yankees wear. On the flip side, the lack of ear flaps on the helmet is accurate for Winfield. He went flapless for the duration of his career.

1989

In the late 80's the only Yankee pitcher worthy of star status was Dave Righetti. Kenner did a decent job of portraying the lefty closer. The color of his glove is consistent with what he used on the mound and the figure definitely has a babyface - a Righetti trademark.

Aside from the conspicuous lack of pinstripes - as with all Yankee Starting Lineups - there's another oddity here for the keen-eyed observer. Righetti appears to be using a Vulcan grip on the ball. An interesting choice given that it's a rarely used changeup grip for any pitcher and was certainly not in his repertoire.

1995

Few - if any - players in major league baseball history have beaten the odds better than Jim Abbott. Despite being born without a right hand, he was able to pitch effectively for ten years with four different teams. His stint with the Yankees was highlighted by a no-hitter in 1993, but by the time this figure was released, he was no longer with the team.

That's not the only thing Kenner botched, though. When Abbott pitched, he needed a righthanded thrower's glove (which is worn on the left hand) instead of a lefty glove and would place the pocket of it on the end of his right arm. That way, he could quickly slide it on to his left hand at the end of his delivery. While this Starting Lineup is customized enough to not include a right hand, the glove they put on the end of that arm would also have to be worn on the right hand, which would obviously not be possible for Abbott. The intentions here were good, but I think that's what us baseball fans would call a swing and a miss.

1996

By 1996 Don Mattingly was done playing baseball but he did get memorialized with a Starting Lineup one last time as a parting gift. The previous versions of Mattingly usually captured him in an action pose, but here he looks relaxed, stately even. If not for the eye black, he looks like the coach he would later become on Joe Torre's staff.

The number font has changed here when compared to the Winfield above, but it's still not an accurate depiction of the font the Yankees use. At least the name on the back of the jersey was removed by this point. All in all, not a bad figure for Mattingly to go out on.

1997

It was mentioned in the first set of Starting Lineups reviewed that a base-running pose often yielded the best results and this is no exception. Despite not being much of a base-stealer, Bernie Williams is looking mighty sharp in this one. Even if he resembles Matty Alou more than the real-life version of himself, an issue found in each version of a Bernie Williams Starting Lineup over the years.

That plus the navy blue cleats which should be black are but minor quibbles found on an otherwise superb effort here. The helmet has an earflap and the batting gloves are a nice touch. Best yet, the number font and outline on the jersey has been updated to match the Yankees' actual jerseys. In this pose, Bernie's safe by a mile.

Here's the crown jewel of this crop. No doubt inspired by the movie A League Of Their Own - which came out five years earlier - Kenner created their first of only two Starting Lineups of a female baseball player. The main character of that movie was Dottie Hinson, based on the real-life Dottie Kamenshek who is immortalized in this figure. The pose shows off the sweet southpaw swing of the two-time AAGPBL batting champ who was the superstar of the league.

Kamenshek played here entire career for the Rockford Peaches, but fans of the aforementioned movie can attest that the uniform she's in is certainly not that of a Peach. The only AAGPBL team that wore the black and white that she's donning was the Muskegon Belles, who existed for only one year. Let's not miss the forest for the trees, though. This was an excellent job by Kenner to represent a league and player that inspired millions of girls across the country to play baseball.

1999

By the late 90's Starting Lineups were beginning to capture personal touches in addition to more accurately depicting uniforms. Here they put David Cone in long sleeves under his jersey and slapped a jet black glove on his left hand. That was a common look for Cone when he pitched for the Yankees.

The only knock on Cone's uniform would be the navy blue cleats, but that can be easily disregarded. What's most interesting about this one is that the face doesn't make me think of David Cone at all. Rather, I think it's a dead ringer for Stan Laurel, one half of the world famous comedic duo known as Laurel and Hardy.

Derek Jeter was one of the biggest names in baseball when this figure came out, so the folks at Kenner kinda needed to nail this one, and they did. The uniform is looking as good as ever, the hat is looking much more like a hat than the universal flapless helmet of early Starting Lineups, and that face definitely looks like Jeter.

But how about that pose? Jeter had some pretty glaring shortcomings as a fielder, but one play he could handle with aplomb was the backhand in the hole at shortstop. Time and again he would make the clean stab, and with his momentum taking him toward third base, leap and throw a strike to first. They've captured him here on the verge of making that play, which is fantastic.

The figure above came in a "Classic Doubles" package with the previous one featured as part of a series that paired major league superstars with a minor league version of themselves. Here, they attempted to capture Derek Jeter in his days with the Columbus Clippers - the former Triple-A affiliate of the Yankees.

There are a bunch of inconsistencies with the uniform when you compare it to this set of photos from Jeter's days with the Clippers. To name a few, Jeter wore number 13 not 19, the shade of blue seems a bit too dark, and as all minor leaguers do he used a double-flapped helmet rather than the single-flap shown above. On top of all that, he looks like a steroid-induced slugger ready to murder a baseball when in reality Jeter was a scrawny 20-year old when he was with Columbus. Everything about this one just seems a bit off.

Bonus - 1989 Yankees Team Lineup

In 1989 Kenner created a "Team Lineup" package for a handful of teams that included the Yankees. That's interesting when considering that the Yankees were well on their way to sinking to the bottom of the AL when these were released. I was able to snag this last year for a price that was probably pretty close to what this retailed for in 1989. Without further ado, let's take a rapid fire look at this lineup.

Starting from the left (top photo) is center fielder and budding superstar Roberto Kelly, who's in the same stately pose as the 1996 Mattingly figure featured earlier in this post. To his left is third baseman Mike Pagliarulo whose red hair here seems out of place because it was not that color in real life. Kneeling beside him in a baseball card pose is shortstop Rafael Santana, who spent one abysmal season with the Yankees in 1988 and is shown here with a soul patch. Another curious choice given that I can't find any visual evidence of Santana sporting a soul patch during his career. Standing to his left is All-Star second baseman Steve Sax, going California casual with his hand on hip and holding his glove rather than wearing it.

The center of attention here is - hilariously - John Candelaria. The former All-Star pitched in just 35 games as a Yankee and had been traded to Montreal in the summer of 1989. That's a sweet jacket though. Next to Candelaria is some serious star power starting with Hall of Fame right fielder Dave Winfield in by far the coolest pose of this bunch with his foot up on the water cooler. Waiting next to him to use said water cooler is Don Slaught, who is also donning the tools of ignorance, which make him look pretty spiffy. Next up is another Hall of Famer, left fielder Rickey Henderson and his towel which is cocked and ready for action whenever it's needed. Rounding out the lineup is first baseman and fan favorite Don Mattingly in as bland a baseball card pose as you could find.

Speaking of bland, there's really nothing interesting about a bunch of guys standing around in a dugout, which is clearly what this is supposed to represent. Then I realized that if you adjust the arms on these guys, this goes from a boring pre-game snapshot, to a dugout celebration after a thrilling late-inning rally:

Either that, or they're just really happy that I'm finally done ranting about Starting Lineups. For now...

* Editor's note: The originally published post noted that Dottie Kamenshek was the only female Starting Lineup made by Kenner. It was later clarified by a reader that Kenner also released one for Pepper Davis in 1999. This post has been updated to correct this oversight.