Continuing on in the "50 cent pack" series, here's a pack of 1997 Score Series 2. My interest in Score waned after 1991, so most of their sets from the the '90s are pretty unfamiliar to me.367 - Orlando Miller
417 - Rich Becker
400 - Scott Erickson (On the back of the card, Erickson is credited with "nearly" taking his Orioles to the 1996 World Series. That's some feat for a guy with a 5.02 ERA, not to mention a plus-5.00 ERA in three of his previous four seasons. I just remember him as the guy who could never live up to his 20-win season in his second season of major league ball.)
500 - Andruw Jones Goin' Yard (Such a scrawny dude at that age. He had 5 career HRs at the time according to the back of the card.)452 - Jim Eisenreich (Eisenreich was coming off a .361 season at age 37.)
337 - David Wells (Quite possibly one of the worst baseball card photos of all time.)
442 - Dave Justice (Awkward!)386 - Armando Benitez
535 - Tony Gwynn True Grit (Grit is not a very tangible quantity in baseball. How does a front office determine what percentage of the payroll they should allocate to grit in a given season? What impact, truly, does grit have on a team's performance?)
475 - Jason Dickson Showcase Series (Sort of a poor man's chrome card on a 50 cent budget. I thought it might be a one-per-pack parallel, but some research indicates that these show up 1-in-7 packs.)
363 - Darryl Hamilton ("Hey guys, I'm here! I know I'm late, but does anyone still want to play some ball today? Guys?)
550 - Chase Common Checklist (I'm not really sure who Chase is. I think this is Mike Piazza.)
484 - Jose Guillen (A fresh faced rookie who would later fall in with the bad crowd.)352 - Jeff Kent
404 - Cal Eldred (True story: My father's side of the family wanted to name me Eldred. Yikes.)
441 - Pat Rapp
482 - Brant Brown
362 - Jeff King
503 - Bernie Williams Goin' Yard (Bernie was coming off of a then-career high 29 HRs for the '96 champs.)
515 - Gary Sheffield Goin' Yard (The regular card backs have no photo and have a ton of tiny text. This subset features a photo on the back.)
Be strong, kids!
The "True Grit" logo means that the grit was authenticated by a respectable third party. You should have no doubts about the origin of this grit. It was collected from Tony Gwynn and is guaranteed by the Score Card company.
ReplyDeleteFirst '95 Donruss now '97 Score? It's like a trip down memory lane for me. I busted so many of these packs when I was young...Score, Collector's Choice, and Topps were the only packs this guy could afford then. But you know what? Those low-risk packs were a ton of fun and it always seems like you got decent stuff.
ReplyDeleteKeep the mid-'90s packs coming!!
Thanks for opening that, now I officially never have to waste any money on '97 Score cards.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have a 5.00 ERA you "nearly" do a lot of things. You also "almost" do a lot of things. But you never, ever actually DO anything. Except suck.
ReplyDeleteThat Wells card is hysterical. What was the photographer thinking?
Now there's an angle of David Wells that no one wants to see!
ReplyDelete"1997 Score," said an observer.
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ReplyDeleteIs it ironic that the phone number listed on the back of the pack now belongs to an employment agency?
ReplyDeleteAMERICAN STAFF RESOURCES CORPO 2100 McKinney Ave Ste 1700. Dallas,TX 75201 (214) 981-8600
Hahaha, that's hilarious (about the phone number.)
ReplyDelete