Random inserts

On my way home from work one day last week, I stopped in at the baseball card shop and picked up these gems from the half-price boxes.

1997 Ex 2000 Hall or Nothing #13

In 1997, Juan Gonzales was in the middle of a heck of a career. In 9 years in the majors he had 256 home runs and seemed a sure bet for the Hall of Fame. At least that's what this card says on the back. He ended up with 424. Nothing to sneeze at but the last 4 years of his career were plagued with injuries. It seems unlikely now that he'll get much consideration for the Hall. This card is made of clear plastic with copper and gold foil stamping on the front. And it's die cut. Quite a nice card.

1997 Ultra Top 30 Golden Medallion #10

Another die cut card from 1997 Fleer Ultra.

2003 Fleer Platinum Heart of the Order #12
The card features Shawn Green, Paul LoDuca and Andrian Beltre of the Dodgers. Seems these three had a pretty good 2002.

2001 Fleer Tradition Lumber Company #10
In 2000, Darin Erstad had 240 hits, double his career average. He also hit .355, 56 points better than his second best season. So Fleer put him in their Lumber Company insert set in 2001.

1997 Pinnacle Mint #12
Pinnacle Mint was a 30-card set which came 2 cards and 2 brass coins to a pack. The cards have die cut holes in them for the coins to fit in. I had 2 cards and 2 coins so I guess I must have bought one pack. Of course the coins and the cards didn't match. Now I've got the matching pair of Nomo card and coin, with the coin already stuck in the card.