As I mentioned two weeks ago, I'm revisiting the inaugural Opening Day set on the occasional Sunday to help supplement the Stats posts. This week we have binder page 2 of the 1998 set.
The names aren't very legible on some so here they are individually.
Matt Williams was a multi-time All-Star, Gold Glover and Silver Slugger over his career and went to the World Series with all three teams he played for (1989 Giants, 1997 Indians and 2001 Diamondbacks).
Carlos Baerga is sporting the "all-white" alternates, including a white cap that was only used in 1997. Their main home uniforms have pinstripes. They've also worn the all white uniforms with combinations of black, blue and orange caps. Baerga was a 3x All-Star and 2x Silver Slugger with the Clevelenad Indians.
Mo Vaughn was a 3x All-Star and earned MVP votes in six consecutive years from 1993-98, including winning the award in 1995.
I remember there was a fuss over Chan Ho Park in the collecting world just as I was exiting the hobby the first time in the mid-90's. I didn't realize he pitched all the way into until 2010, which was about a year or so before I came back. Weird to think I missed just about his entire career.
The only Hall of Famer on the page is the Big Hurt, Frank Thomas. A 5x All-Star, Thomas was also a back-to-back MVP winner in 1993-94. He smashed 521 home runs over 19 seasons despite never leading the league. Although it did help him lead the league in walks four times, probably a lot of intentionals. Or even the unintentional intentional.
The Brewers had three cards in the 1998 set and one of them went to John Jaha, who played just 46 games for the 1997 squad and 73 in 1998. Interesting choice with plenty of players who played in more games and were returning the next season.
Steve Trachsel was an All-Star in 1996, but continued to play for an awful Cubs team in 1997. His record reflected that, going 8-12 before bouncing back with 15 wins in 1998 as the Cubs went from worst in the National League to the Wild Card.
Never been a fan of Jeff Kent. No further commentary here.
How old is this set? Scott Rolen was a Topps All-Star Rookie here following his 1997 Rookie of the Year season and he's already been on the Hall of Fame ballot after being being a 7x All-Star and 8x Gold Glover. Unfortunately for him, he only received 10.8% of the votes which is a long way from the required 75% minimum.
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