The 1990s Baseball Card Face-off - 1994 Donruss vs 1998 Collector's Choice

I'm going to determine the best baseball card set from the 1990s. Check this post to see my methodology.

Here's where we were last week.

There are 2 match ups left in the Babe Ruth 2nd quartile. I'll get both of them done this week. Next week I'll try to run the Red, Green and Yellow levels so I can take a week off for Thanksgiving. My goal is to get the Babe Ruth 3rd Quartile done before Christmas.

1994 Donruss vs. 1998 Collector's Choice

1994 Donruss #27 Cecil Fielder

1994 Dunruss #185 Jeff Kent

1994 Donruss is one of the best Donruss sets from the 1990s, which pretty much means it's one of the best Donruss sets ever. It has full bleed action shots front and back with out too much gold foil. The photos are crisp and jump right out at you. The design isn't perfect. I don't really like the box with the team logo on the front and the gold foil lettering in the colored strip is a bit hard to read. I'd also like to see more stats on the back. Up to this point, Donruss always had at least the past 5 years of stats. They could have done that here. I do like the black box with the player's bio information. Nice and easy to read.

1998 Collector's Choice #217 Willie McGee

1998 Collector's Choice #295 Andy Benes

1998 was the fifth and last year for Collector's Choice. For reasons probably forgotten by everyone, Upper Deck dropped Collector's Choice in 1999 for a new set called UP Choice, which pretty much looked like Collector's Choice and served the same purpose. Anyway, after 5 years, Collector's Choice was getting a bit stale. The design had changed little, just some rearranging of the main elements. "Stumpy", the umpire figure on the back making his second and last appearance, was almost enough to stop buying this product after one pack. The set did have good photography and full career stats so was a good low cost choice for set collectors.

The Result: While there's nothing really bad about 1998 Collector's Choice (except for Stumpy), 1994 was an exception set so it goes forward.

Who are the new guys on the HOF Ballet

The 2016 Hall of Fame ballot was just released. I will confess that, beyond being retired for 5 years, I don't know what criteria is used to determine who gets on the HOF ballet. Clearly these aren't the only guys who finished their careers in 2010. Just to name a few: Garret Atkins, Rocco Baldelli, Josh Banks, Brian Bannister, Danny Bautista, you get the idea.  So who's new?

Ken Griffey Jr. (1989 Topps Traded #41)

If there's anybody who has got to be a first ballot choice for the Hall, it has to be Junior. 630 career home runs alone has to make him a shoe-in.

Jim Edmonds (1993 Fleer Final Edition #181)

Jim certainly had a good career, 4-time All-Star, 393 homer runs and a .284 career average but, while I think he'll stay on the ballot a few years, I think he falls a little short of the Hall.

Jason Kendall (1993 Select #359)

He was 1st round draft pick, 3-time All-Star with a .288 career batting average but I think 75 home runs will not get him into the Hall.

Troy Glaus (1998 Bowman #134)

Another 1st year draft pick and a 4-time All-Star and a World Series ring, but the stats just aren't there.

Mike Hampton (1995 Topps #133)

I loved him as an Astro, especially in 1999 when he posted a 22-4 season. But a 148-115 career record isn't getting him into the Hall.

Luis Castillo (2001 Topps #244)

I don't know too much about Castillo but just looking at his stats suggests to me that he won't get enough votes to be on next year's ballot.

Randy Will (2004 Topps Cracker Jack #127)

He was good enough to have a 13-year career but longevity alone doesn't get you into the Hall.

Garret Anderson (1994 Topps #84)

17 years in the bigs, 3-time All-Star and a 2002 World Series ring. With a .293 average and 287 home runs I think he'll be on the ballot for a few years but ultimately, no plaque at Cooperstown.

Mike Lowell (1998 Bowman Prospect Previews #8)

Everyone of these guys were solid ball players who you'd want on your team. Lowell was a 4-time All-Star, and 2-time World Series winner, and the 2007 WS MVP with 223 career home runs. You've got to appear on 75% of the ballots (only 10 can be voted for) and I don't see Lowell as more than tenth considering the other players returning to the ballot this year.

Billy Wagner (1994 Classic Best Gold #18)

Billy the Kid has 422 career saves, making him #5 on the all-time list. That combined with a 2.31 ERA and 7 All-Star Games should be enough to get him to Cooperstown but perhaps not this year.

Trevor Hoffman (1995 Fleer #562)

With 601 career saves (#2 on the all-time list), Hoffman has a good shot at a first ballot nomination. Regardless, I think he has to go into the Hall ahead of Wagner.

Mark Grudzielanek (1997 Topps #260)

Another solid player but I think Mark drops off the ballot after this year.

Mike Sweeney (2001 Fleer Platinum #448)

5-time All-Star, a career .297 BA and 215 home runs will not keep Sweeney on the ballot for long.

David Eckstein (2003 Topps 205 #252)

Eckstein is another solid player with just not good enough stats.

Brad Ausmus (1997 Fleer #552)

Three former Astros (Hampton, Wagner and Ausmus) on the ballot this year who were all teammates on the great Astros teams of the late 1990s. Ausmus was a great catcher and really knew how to handle pitchers, but his offensive stats are not what you expect to get into the Hall. Does having a great ability to call pitches get you into the Hall? Probably not.

Movie Review - Spectre

James Bond is back!

"Spectre" seems to complete a trilogy that began with "Quantum of Solice", continued in "Skyfall" and now, maybe, finishes with "Spectre". If you're planning to see it you might want to go and read a synopsis of the two earlier movies. I think it will help make the first part of "Spectre" more comprehensible.

For those long time Bond fans (I mean people who have been watching the movies since the 1960s) you'll remember SPECTRE as the name of a worldwide, multi-national crime organization which made its first appearance in "Dr. No" in 1962. This new Spectre (it's not clear if it's supposed to be an anagram anymore) seems to be an offshoot or something of the Quantum organization.

It has all the stuff you want in a Bond movie: car chases, helicopter stunts, gadgets, fist fights, guns, guns, and more guns, beautiful women (Bond only gets to seduce 2 of them), beautiful scenery (the movie is filmed in London, Morocco, the Alps, Rome, and Mexico City), and explosions. The movie is reportedly one of the most expensive movies ever made with a budget of $250 million. Every dollar of that is on film. As of 11/10 the movie has made $305 million so after only a week or so it's already making money.

I was disappointed by the last Bond movie, "Skyfall". Sure it did all the Bond stuff pretty good, and while I don't expect a complicated plot, I do expect some plot. Also, that Skyfall only turned out to be Bond's childhood home was quite a comedown.

"Spectre" is much better in regards to plot and the movie making, at least, some internal sense. The trailers have been careful not to give the story away, so I won't either. Some consequential things happen in this movie, consequential for the Bond universe. The next movie (at the end of the closing credits it said "James Bond will return") will have to be strongly influenced by the happenings here.

My only real complaint with the movie is Daniel Craig. His Bond is more and more a character that seems completely detached. His lines are delivered in a deadpan way, even the slightly humorous lines are too droll. There is some spark of life in Bond's eyes in the closing scene, but it was a long time coming.

As in all movies of this type, the villain is ofter more concerned with glorying in his bad-assness then he should be, allowing the hero time to figure out a way to escape.

All Growed Up

This is a short post about a guy who appeared in all of 8 games in 2015, although he had 3 doubles and a 2-run homer and hit .286. He's been a good prospect in the Yankees system since at least 2012. His home run was his first major league hit. Unfortunately he also hurt his shoulder during the 8 games and had season ending surgery in August.

In 2012, the guy I'm talking about, Mason Williams appeared in the Topps Pro Debut. He had a pretty good first pro season, getting 94 hits and 28 stolen bases. But man, he looks like a 12-year-old.

But here he is in 2015 Topps Update. He's an inch taller, 15 pounds heavier, 3 years older (24) and looks like the real deal.

And his batting helmet fits better.

Favorite card from each team - 2015 Part 2

Continuing from yesterday

Nationals

What a follow through!

Orioles

Hard to tell what's going on here. I guess he was making a throw after recovering a wild pitch.

Padres

Derek Norris makes a point.

Phillies

J-Roll breaks Schmid's hit total and Michael Jack goes on the field to congratulate him.

Pirates

McCutchen lets his bat and his hair fly.

Rangers

3 hits, including a homer, and 4 rbi gets Joey a Gatorade bath in his debut game.

Rays

Jennings takes a dive.

Red Sox

Pedroia looks pretty pleased with himself.

Reds

Billy entertains the bull pen.

Rockies

Post game interview soaking.

Royals

Great shot of Holland reacting to a ball hit right at him.

Tigers

Davis gets a second chance.

Twins

Heavy on the eye black.

White Sox

Garcia showed some growth as a player this year.

Yankees

Brett Gardner meet the outfield fence and a bunch of enthusiastic ladies.