1993 Topps Series 1

I wish my local hobby shop had more of a selection when it comes to the 25-cent packs, but at least they have a few different choices available to dull the sting of $4.00 packs of 2008 Heritage. As soon as I saw the familiar blue shrink wrap of 1993 Topps, I was overcome with a wave of nostalgia. That was the first set that I built, and since I'm still tantalizingly close to completing it (SIX cards to go - all from Series 1), I decided to grab a pack on my way out yesterday. Let's see if I can beat the odds with this pack.

138 Joe Oliver - I'm pretty sure this is the first time in APAD history that Joe has appeared in back-to-back rips.

298 Scott Livingstone Topps All-Star Rookie - Scott actually hit .281 for his career, lasting eight seasons as a mostly part-time player.

265 Andre Dawson - Hawk! He'd better be a Hall of Famer soon.

371 Mariano Duncan - He's currently Joe Torre's first base coach in LA.

167 Steve Olin - Steve and fellow Indians pitcher Tim Crews tragically died in a boating accident in Spring Training that year.

394 Bernardo Brito (Gold) - Awesome! Topps replaced the checklist cards from 1992-1994 with fringe players in the Gold parallel set. Bernardo has a fascinating stat line; he was in his twelfth season in pro baseball when the Twins called him up at the age of 28. (As a Dominican native, he might have been even older in truth.) He hit 229 home runs in the minors through 1992, and another 73 afterward for a total of 302. He would get two more cups of coffee with the Twinkies in 1993 and 1995, adding five major league dingers to his massive minor league total.

209 Jeff Parrett - I love Jeff's 1993 Upper Deck card, actually.

256 Wil Cordero - Good player, but not a great person.

194 Jerald Clark - One of a handful of players with cards in both series of this set, as he was picked by the Rockies in the Expansion Draft.

82 David Segui - An Oriole! Not one of my favorites, but he did hit a home run in my first ever game at Camden Yards.

168 Kevin Maas - I saw him play for AAA Columbus against the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Red Barons in 1995. Also in the Clippers lineup that night? Darryl Strawberry, on a rehab assignment. He went 0-fer, to the delight of the home crowd at Lackawanna County Stadium.

100 Mark McGwire - One of my favorite action shots from this set.

332 Geno Petralli - Geno received several intentional walks every year from confused pitchers who assumed he was Rafael Palmeiro.

310 Dave Righetti - "Rags" may be the best pitcher in major league history whose name rhymes with spaghetti.

114 Mel Hall - Want to make longtime Yankee fans cringe? Mention this guy.

Okay, so I didn't get any of the six base cards I needed. But the Bernardo Brito gold card was a cool surprise. If you've got any of the elusive 1993 Topps half-dozen that you're willing to trade, hit me up!