Supplemental Sunday - 1998 Opening Day Page 1

Some of the data I'm analyzing is collected straight from the cards while other stuff I have to go digging around for as I write each post. So to help fill the Sunday slot for posts while I compile, I've decided to make this blog an all-encompassing tribute to the Topps Opening Day brand. As this is the 20th edition of the set (debuted in 1998, but Topps skipped 2009), I will supplement the Sunday Stats with a binder page set from the original set. If I decide to continue the blog with next year's set, I will also move on to the 1999 set and so on.

The 1998 set was a bit smaller than this year's 200-card set. It contains 165 cards and no inserts. Similar to the current edition, the cards seem to generally be the same as the flagship set (I haven't compared every card).

According to the Trading Card Database page for this set, there are 24 Hall of Famers. However, due to the way they code their site, there are actually 23 MLB Hall of Famers and one NFL Hall of Famer.

This first page is a pretty impressive one in terms of a who's who in 1998.

Tony Gwynn is a Hall of Famer with a batting title award named after him. He was a 15x All-Star, 8x Batting champ, 7x Silver Slugger and 5x Gold Glover.

Larry Walker was the reigning MVP (1997), 5x All-Star, 7 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers and 3 batting titles.

Billy Wagner was 7x All-Star and Rolaids Relief award winner. Not to mention a snazzy photo of him with a fire extinguisher.

Denny Neagle was a 2x All-Star and a 20-game winner in 1997.

Vladimir Guerrero is one of the newest Hall of Famers and was the 2004 NL MVP, 9x All-Star and 8x Silver Slugger.

Kevin Brown won 21 games for the Rangers in 1992, was a 6x All-Star and twice led the NL in ERA. He was on the World Champion Florida Marlins in 1997 despite him going 0-2 with an 8.18 ERA in the series.

Mariano Rivera will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2019. The career Saves leader, Rivera was a 13x All-Star, 5x World Champion, World Series MVP, All-Star Game MVP, ALCS MVP and 5x Rolaids Relief award winner.

Tony Clark played for 6 teams over 15 seasons and was an All-Star in 2001. In 2013, Clark was elected the Executive Director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, the first former player to hold the position.

Wrapping up the page is NFL Hall of Famer Leon Sandcastle Deion Sanders. He was an 8x Pro Bowler but never made an MLB All-Star team. He is the only player to have appeared in both the Super Bowl and World Series.

Definitely not too shabby of a page!