This card, number 884, comes from the 1992 Score set. Score included a bunch of interesting subsets in its issues in the early ninties. One was the Dream Team subset, which most notably included the Bo Jackson and Jose Canseco cards, which featured both sluggers shirtless.
This later Dream Team incarnation featuring Cal portrays him in uniform standing in front of a early 20th century train locomotive. Im assuming the corelation between this steel locomotive (one that you would be likely to see in the Smithsonian) and Cal, is the fact that steel is an alloy mostly made up of iron and Cal's nickname, as everyone knows is the Iron Man. (Though the train metaphor might have worked better for Walter Johnson, whose nickname was the Big Train).
At the time this card was issued, Cal was coming off his MVP season in 1991 where he batted .323 with 34 home runs and 114 RBI. Despite Cal's production the Orioles finsished under .500 in 91' and would not make a playoff appearence until 1996. Cal's career coincided with the era of overproduction in the ninties, where thousands of cards were created of the top players in the game. I like this card because its unique and the subject matter is original, even if its a stretch picturing Cal with a locomotive, it is still a cool card. Amid all the excess, alot of nice cards were produced in the ninties and these cards can be added to your collection for very little cost today.
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