This is an index of our columns related to the 1993 Rookie Cup Team that was honored in 1994 Topps.
1994 Topps #1 Mike Piazza
Sources and Links
Baseball-Ref
Lifetime Topps Project (1994 ASR Subset)
Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Master Index
Showing posts with label 1994 Topps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1994 Topps. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Welcome to the HoF Ken Griffey Jr
Welcome to the Hall Ken Griffey Jr!
1994 Topps #388 All-Star Outfielders Len Dykstra & Ken Griffey Jr
Nice of Junior to climb into the Hall, give some respectability to the above card.
If you want a card that says both Hall of Shame (Dykstra) and Hall of Fame, Griffey of course, this is the one.
For more thoughts on the above card see our posting from last month.
Sources and Links
BBWAA
Nice of Junior to climb into the Hall, give some respectability to the above card.
If you want a card that says both Hall of Shame (Dykstra) and Hall of Fame, Griffey of course, this is the one.
For more thoughts on the above card see our posting from last month.
Sources and Links
BBWAA
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
2016 Hall of Fame Ballot
It isn't as exciting as the postseason or even the regular season but Awards Season is upon us. This will all culminate with the Hall of Fame Voting in January.
There are 15 new names on this years Ballot, none bigger than Ken Griffey Jr.
1994 Topps #388 All-Star Outfielders Len Dykstra & Ken Griffey Jr
1994 Topps #388 All-Star Outfielders Len Dykstra & Ken Griffey Jr (b-side)
Kind of a cool idea for an All-Star card with the pre- and post- break stats. Both Griffey and Dykstra had impressive OBP for the entirety of 1993, I am a little surprised the stat made it onto a 1994 card. Dykstra had a bit of a dropoff in the 2nd half, but his numbers remained impressive.
Dykstra finished 2nd to Barry Bonds in the 1993 NL MVP Voting, while Griffey came in 5th in the junior circuit - despite having the 2nd best WAR (8.7) which led AL position players.
RookiesThe 15 new comers on this years ballot are listed below
Garret Anderson
Brad Ausmus
Luis Castillo
David Eckstein
Jim Edmonds
Troy Glaus
Ken Griffey Jr
Mark Grudzielanek
Mike Hampton
Trevor Hoffman
Jason Kendall
Mike Lowell,
Mike Sweeney
Billy Wagner
Randy Winn
I am going to try and cover a couple of these players prior to the HoF announcement in January. At a minimum I expect to put together columns on Billy Wagner, Hoffman, and Ballot Snub Chan Ho Park.
There are 17 holdovers from the 2015 ballot giving us a total of 32 candidates. Some of those folks got mentioned in our 2015 HoF Ballot coverage which is can be found here.
Sources and Links
2016 HoF Candidates Index
CNN/SI - Jay Jaffe
Baseball Hall of Fame
baseball-ref
There are 15 new names on this years Ballot, none bigger than Ken Griffey Jr.
We will all likely see a lot of cards of Junior over the next couple of weeks. This is a fun one that also happens to feature the Phillies centerfielder of the era Len Dykstra. Something tells me that Griffey's HoF ballot count will be significantly better then Dykstra's sole appearance - the 2002 ballot.
Lenny received a single HoF vote, which is more than he deserved.
I did a few searches but was unable to find the BBWAA that voted for Dykstra. It is almost comical to think of he and Junior getting equal billing on a card. For the most part I think Griffey is one of the most well regarded professional athletes while Lenny is pretty much viewed as a cretin.
flip
Kind of a cool idea for an All-Star card with the pre- and post- break stats. Both Griffey and Dykstra had impressive OBP for the entirety of 1993, I am a little surprised the stat made it onto a 1994 card. Dykstra had a bit of a dropoff in the 2nd half, but his numbers remained impressive.
Dykstra finished 2nd to Barry Bonds in the 1993 NL MVP Voting, while Griffey came in 5th in the junior circuit - despite having the 2nd best WAR (8.7) which led AL position players.
RookiesThe 15 new comers on this years ballot are listed below
Garret Anderson
Brad Ausmus
Luis Castillo
David Eckstein
Jim Edmonds
Troy Glaus
Ken Griffey Jr
Mark Grudzielanek
Mike Hampton
Trevor Hoffman
Jason Kendall
Mike Lowell,
Mike Sweeney
Billy Wagner
Randy Winn
I am going to try and cover a couple of these players prior to the HoF announcement in January. At a minimum I expect to put together columns on Billy Wagner, Hoffman, and Ballot Snub Chan Ho Park.
There are 17 holdovers from the 2015 ballot giving us a total of 32 candidates. Some of those folks got mentioned in our 2015 HoF Ballot coverage which is can be found here.
Sources and Links
2016 HoF Candidates Index
CNN/SI - Jay Jaffe
Baseball Hall of Fame
baseball-ref
Saturday, June 13, 2015
1990 Seattle Mariners host Guaranteed No-Hitter Night
On June 16th of 1990 the Seattle Mariners Guaranteed a No-Hitter
The idea of the Guarantee was conceived by the Mariners promotion department as the baseball public got caught up in the excitement of the the 1990 No-Hitter Frenzy - Mark Langston had pitched one on April 11th, The Mariners own Randy Johnson June 2nd, and Nolan Ryan earlier that week.
1994 Topps #34 Nolan Ryan
Another impetus for the M's was that they were hosting Nolan Ryan's first start after his June 11th No-Hitter.
Had Ryan actually been able to redeem the Guaranteed No-Hitter for the Mariners he would have matched a feat only otherwise done by Johnny Vander Meer - Consecutive No-Hitters.
1991 Score #126 Matt Young
For their part Seattle sent out journeyman pitcher Matt Young.
The No-Hitter didn't get very far, Matt Young retired 4 batters before giving up a hit to John Russell. Harold Reynolds got the first hit off of Ryan in the bottom of the 3rd.
Despite being the significantly less noteworthy pitcher Matt Young was the closest of the two to get a no-hitter. Young pitched the last of 5 career shutouts only allowing 3 hits (Russell, Ruben Sierra, and Rafael Palmiero) all singles.
The promotion worked for the Ms, The 37,248 fans they drew to the Kingdome may seem pedestrian now, but it was the 4th best attendance number for the 1990 Mariners. It was also the most fans that got to see a Mariners win.
Note: In a practice common in Minor League Games the Mariners Guaranteed No-Hitter Game came with the caveat that if there was not a no-hitter, fans would get a free ticked to a future game. The free ticket was a $4.50 General Admission ticket to the July 11th game versus the Angels. The Mariners won that game as well. It was a 2-1 victory by Erik Hanson over the aforementioned no-hit pitcher Mark Langston. It doesn't appear many fans took advantage of the no-hit redemption as 18,357 which was a tick below the teams 18,638 average for the season.
1994 Topps
I like this card, it was issued the season after Ryan retired. Topps noted his career accomplishments by placing Ryan on card #34, his uniform number.
Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
LA Times
Baseball-ref
baseball-almanac
baseball cardpedia
baseball card database
The idea of the Guarantee was conceived by the Mariners promotion department as the baseball public got caught up in the excitement of the the 1990 No-Hitter Frenzy - Mark Langston had pitched one on April 11th, The Mariners own Randy Johnson June 2nd, and Nolan Ryan earlier that week.
Another impetus for the M's was that they were hosting Nolan Ryan's first start after his June 11th No-Hitter.
Had Ryan actually been able to redeem the Guaranteed No-Hitter for the Mariners he would have matched a feat only otherwise done by Johnny Vander Meer - Consecutive No-Hitters.
For their part Seattle sent out journeyman pitcher Matt Young.
The No-Hitter didn't get very far, Matt Young retired 4 batters before giving up a hit to John Russell. Harold Reynolds got the first hit off of Ryan in the bottom of the 3rd.
Despite being the significantly less noteworthy pitcher Matt Young was the closest of the two to get a no-hitter. Young pitched the last of 5 career shutouts only allowing 3 hits (Russell, Ruben Sierra, and Rafael Palmiero) all singles.
The promotion worked for the Ms, The 37,248 fans they drew to the Kingdome may seem pedestrian now, but it was the 4th best attendance number for the 1990 Mariners. It was also the most fans that got to see a Mariners win.
Note: In a practice common in Minor League Games the Mariners Guaranteed No-Hitter Game came with the caveat that if there was not a no-hitter, fans would get a free ticked to a future game. The free ticket was a $4.50 General Admission ticket to the July 11th game versus the Angels. The Mariners won that game as well. It was a 2-1 victory by Erik Hanson over the aforementioned no-hit pitcher Mark Langston. It doesn't appear many fans took advantage of the no-hit redemption as 18,357 which was a tick below the teams 18,638 average for the season.
1994 Topps
I like this card, it was issued the season after Ryan retired. Topps noted his career accomplishments by placing Ryan on card #34, his uniform number.
Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
LA Times
Baseball-ref
baseball-almanac
baseball cardpedia
baseball card database
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Philly Sports Hall of Fame - Mike Piazza
The story is known well - Mike Piazza was picked by the Dodgers in the 62nd round as a favor to Tommy LaSorda who was childhood friend of Mike Piazza's father. The pick was the 390th of the 1988 draft.
A few weeks ago Mike Piazza was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He never played for the Phillies, but athletes from the Philadelphia area are also considered for the Local Hall. This winter Piazza will be on the ballot for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time. There are many first times on the 2013 ballot with impressive credentials, but questionable issues both on and off the field - Clemens, Bonds, Schilling Sammy Sosa. Piazza's name and steroids have been linked a few times - The BBWAA voters will need to figure out what that information means to them.
Piazza's career numbers are very impressive and for me are hall worthy. 427 Homers, 1335 RBIs, 2127 Hits and a .308 BA from a guy who was primarily a catcher. He was Rookie of the Year in 1993 and finished 2nd in the MVP voting twice (1996 - Ken Caminiti, 1997 - Larry Walker). He was a 12 time all-star and took home 10 Silver Slugger awards. Piazza does not have a World Series Ring, but he was part of 5 playoff runs for 3 different teams (Dodgers, Mets, and oh yeah the Padres). As a member of the 2000 Mets Piazza played in the Subway Series versus the Yankees and Roger Clemens.
1994 Topps #1 Mike Piazza
1994 Topps
Perhaps because it falls in the years between and UbiquiBlogging this set doesn't appear to come up often. Regardless, I think it is pretty decent looking and could use further observation. The photos are interesting - an off center home plate border focuses attention to the image without being too showy. The team name and player name are both listed in a minimalist yet clear fashion. It is from last years that Topps did NOT use foil on their base cards (there is a parallel set - topps gold - that has foiled player names). It's a simple design that complements that helps feature the photo - Does a card design need to be any more?
For the Collector
I am not sure where I picked up this 1994 Piazza card but suspect it came out of a dime box.
Mike Piazza cards from 1992 include issues from Bowman UD and Fleer. Two Piazza card that appear to garner some coin on ebay are the Fleer #U-192 and Bowman #461:
| Mike Piazza 1992 Fleer and Bowman Pricing | 2012 11 20 |
| 1992 Fleer Update #u-92 - Low | $19.02 |
| 1992 Fleer Update #u-92 - PSA 10 GEM MT (Hi) | $149.99 |
| 1992 Fleer Update #u-92 - PSA 8 NM-MT (Low) | $23.00 |
| 1992 Bowman #461 - Low | $4.25 |
| 1992 Bowman #461 - PSA 10 GEM MT (Hi) | $107.00 |
| 1992 Bowman #461 - BGS 8.5 NM-MT+ (Low) | $8.50 |
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a thousand words
2008 World Champions