1996 Pinnacle Conclusion

Alright, folks, it's time to conclude this mid-'90s parade of baseball cards. If I have learned anything from this venture, it's that if I was actually serious about putting together a set like this that I should have stopped after 2/3 of a box. The doubles begin appearing in droves from here on out.

Pack 17:

274 - Matt Williams Hardball Heroes

299 - Ray Durham

231 - Kevin Seitzer (I guess I don't give post-1987 Kevin Seitzer enough credit. He actually put together a pretty respectable 1995 season with Milwaukee, batting .311 with an OPS north of .800.)

265 - Mike Piazza Hardball Heroes

247 - Roger Clemens

343 - Charlie Hayes

372 - Livan Hernandez Rookie (As the sands of time have passed, Livan Hernandez has somehow become the de facto "The" Rookie Card of this set.)

337 - Sean Berry

382 - Osvaldo Fernandez Rookie

335 - Paul Molitor

Pack 18:

275 - Alex Rodriguez Hardball Heroes (Here's A-Rod when he was somewhat less repugnant.)

201 - Frank Thomas

309 - Butch Huskey

241 - Harold Baines

271 - Gary Sheffield Hardball Heroes

373 - George Arias Rookie

315 - John Smoltz

344 - Andy Benes

399 - Chase Checklist (For the record, pictured on this card are Griffey, Thomas, Ripken, Maddux, Chipper and Piazza. And it's still not a good look.)

311 - Erik Hanson

Pack 19:

225 - John Olerud (I think someone out there is a John Olerud collector. I just can't remember at the moment. I have a ton of his cards from the junky era.)

269 - Wade Boggs Hardball Heroes

251 - Bret Saberhagen (Saberhagen is actually the founder of Sabermetrics.)

191 of 200 - Mark Grace .300 Series Starburst (Okay, these doofy dufex cards are starting to grow on me, much in the way that chrome cards started growing on me after I made endless fun of them originally.)

342 - Ryne Sandberg

390 - Bob Abreu Rookie

397 - Greg Maddux N.L. Checklist

362 - Greg Gagne

330 - Tom Gordon

Pack 20:

236 - Randy Johnson

256 - Hideo Nomo Hardball Heroes

206 - Moises Alou

290 - Dwayne Hosey

283 - Raul Mondesi

348 - Ken Hill (I realize at this point that I have yet to show one of the backs of the cards, so here we go. And... now you know.)

377 - Brooks Kieschnick Rookie

320 - Gary DiSarcina

318 - Kirby Puckett .300 Series

387 - Jeff Suppan Rookie

Pack 21:

292 - Rod Beck (I thought about scanning his card, but the thought makes me somewhat uncomfortable.)

224 - Jay Buhner (You get Buhner instead, in all his '90s teal glory.)

268 - Kirby Puckett Hardball Heroes

267 - Tony Gwynn Hardball Heroes

249 - J.T. Snow

324 - Juan Acevedo

334 - Wade Boggs .300 Series

389 - Terry Adams Rookie

396 - Chipper Jones N.L. Checklist

361 - Tino Martinez

Pack 22:

253 - Ryan Klesko (Surfer dude again. The spots on the top of his photo that I originally thought might have been printing defects actually seem like they might be water spots on the camera lens. Cute.)

274 - Matt Williams Hardball Heroes

232 - Lenny Dykstra

266 - Chipper Jones Hardball Heroes (Him again.)

248 - Orel Hershiser

372 - Livan Hernandez Rookie

337 - Sean Berry

335 - Paul Molitor (I realized that I've now scanned 4 Molitor cards for blog purposes and they've all been from 1996, all featuring Molitor on the Twins.)

382 - Osvaldo Fernandez Rookie

308 - Hal Morris .300 Series

Pack 23:

263 - Sammy Sosa Hardball Heroes (I should have scanned this one. I don't think the guy on the front of the card is actually Sosa.)

245 - Vinny Castilla

212 - David Cone

276 - Tim Salmon Hardball Heroes

108 of 200 - Barry Bonds Starburst (Do Bonds cards have any actual value anymore? Could Pinnacle have chosen a worse photo than this?)

325 - Bip Roberts (I've been Bipped! In the... sort of... literal sense, I guess.)

345 - Sterling Hitchcock

306 - Mark Grace .300 Series

338 - Rickey Henderson (Far be it from me to keep track of Rickey Henderson's every move throughout his career, but I did find it somewhat surprising that he actually spent some time with the Padres before his 2001 tour with the franchise.)

374 - Steve Gibralter

Pack 24:

214 - Cal Ripken Jr.

278 - Manny Ramirez Hardball Heroes

204 - Alex Gonzalez

235 - Bret Boone

255 - Ken Griffey Jr. Hardball Heroes

308 - Hal Morris .300 Series (Again? I hate this card.)

347 - Julio Franco

376 - Jason Kendall Rookie

355 - Rick Aguilera

365 - Ernie Young

And that's it. It's time to unleash these cards on the unsuspecting masses.