5 on the 5: 2002 Upper Deck World Series Heroes

Two posts in one day! What kind of crazy world do we live in, anyway? Here are some packs that I bought at a card shop recently. I try to pick these up whenever I see them because they're usually cheap and are full of great and/or notable players from the past. All of these cards are up for trade if you happen to be interested.

Pack 1:

54 - Jesse Orosco (Orosco made 4 scoreless appearances for the Mets in the '86 Series, giving up just two hits and walking nobody with 2 saves to show for it. He also pitched until he was something like 80 years old, or at least it seemed like it.)

26 - Randy Johnson

78 - Roger Maris

7 - John Olerud (Olerud was the first serious threat in what I'll call my era to break .400. He fell way short in the end, which only proved that George Brett's .390 season was all that more remarkable.)

83 - Derek Jeter

Pack 2:

24 - Frankie Frisch

29 - Steve Finley (To me, the 2001 World Series was about as good as they get, although the team I wanted to win did not.)

2 - Jimmie Foxx

76 - Don Larsen

157 - Cliff Floyd Future World Series Heroes (This a short print with a 1:10 seed ratio. After winning a ring in 1997, Floyd did not return to the World Series until 2008 when he was a hobbled pinch hitter on the losing side with the Rays.)

Pack 3:

22 - Robin Yount (Most of the cards honor players who actually won the World Series, but as we all know, the ring eluded the 1982 AL MVP.)

77 - Thurman Munson

53 - Mike Hampton

80 - Babe Ruth

25 - Stan Musial (Nice!)

Pack 4:

44 - Moises Alou

15 - Andruw Jones (Jones is another player who ended up on the wrong side of the World Series matchup. He was one year too late to enjoy Atlanta's title in 1995.)

66 - Joe Morgan

10 - Devon White

87 - Mariano Rivera

Pack 5:

55 - Cal Ripken Jr. (Ripken was 3 for 18 with just one RBI in the 1983 World Series, but his noteworthy status in the game of baseball gave him the nod in this set because there was a shortage of Ripken cards printed.)

59 - Curt Schilling (This was pre-"bloody" sock.)

32 - Kirk Gibson (His stat line for the Series tells the story: BA 1.000, G 1, AB 1, R 1, H 1, HR 1, RBI 2)

5 - Rickey Henderson (How was Rickey so fast with those metal shoes?)

150 - Vladimir Guerrero Future World Series Heroes (Vlad finally made it to the World Series last year with the Rangers, but we all know how that turned out. He's probably going to need to find a new team if he plans on making it back.)