It's Like Taking A Step Back In Time

1995.
The 49ers demolished the Chargers in the Super Bowl.
The Dow closed over 4,000 for the first time ever.
Yahoo! was founded. Selena was murdered by a crazed fan.
Cal Ripken Jr. broke the consecutive games streak.
Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

And a teenage Halo fan bought his last packs of baseball cards, until his interest was rekindled in 2006.

As part of my massive cleanout and organization project that I've been undertaking for the last few weeks, I came across the final cards I purchased back in 1995. There were very few cards that I found in the middle of one of many boxes. Although they weren't plentiful, there were some interesting cards in the stack and I began to regret not collecting more cards from those days, but of course I had a few other priorities back then.

The cards I came across came from three sets, Upper Deck, Stadium Club and Leaf. Here are a few of the highlights. I may have to begin scouring the ol' interweb for some 1995 wax just to see what I was missing out on.

UPPER DECK

Todd Hollandsworth, 1996 Rookie of the Year and well a whole lot of years of not much else. Congrats to Upper Deck on their prediction skills.


An actual Predictor card of Jose Canseco. Apparently if Jose would have led the AL in home runs in 1995, I would have been the recipient of some odd card or doodad. Unfortunately, Jose could only muster 24 dingers and was obliterated by one Albert Belle. Thanks for the lackluster effort Jose.


Mike Mussina Electric Diamond. I don't know what makes this card special other than the Electric Diamond logo, but I feel special having it.


Fred, always the team player, always quick with the congratulations for others.

LEAF
I only had a couple of packs worth of Leaf, but apparently I hit the motherload as far as star cards.

Kirby, oh how I miss the days of Kirby Puckett. These Leaf cards look pretty slick. I'm always a sucker for a Kirby card. Finding this made me miss the purest days of card collecting.


The Big Hurt doing his Big Hurt thing. There has never been a more contact conscious swing that was filled with that kind of power.


Any card with Rickey in an A's uniform and on the base paths is a winner to me.

TOPPS STADIUM CLUB

My man Ray Lankford. #1 St. Louis Cardinal of all-time. I feel like I've won the lottery discovering an extra Lankford and Puckett card for my collection.


Maybe my favorite Milwaukee Brewer card ever. How could I possibly have stopped collecting after pulling this gem? Stupid teenage priorities.

Ahhh, 1995. A year of many great moments and a very dark time for this collector.

Go Halos!

Fave 4: Chicago White Sox

The Pale Hose. Everytime I hear that nickname I can't help but think of scantily clad, pigment challenged ladies selling their services on the boulevard.

What does that have to do with my Fave 4, nothing. Just wanted to pass it along. The intro is brief today, let's get right to the action.

1. Frank Thomas

Can you imagine what this guy would have been like on steroids? For seven straight seasons the Big Hurt finished in the top 8 of the MVP voting, with back-to-back MVPs in 1993 and 1994. Thomas was another of those guys who I can't remember people disliking when I grew up. Even the haters had to admit that the man could hit like no other.

2. Lance Johnson

Sort of the anti-Thomas. While I loved Frank for his powerful stroke and enormous size, Lance was impressive for his ability to hit triples and fly around the bases. Although he had his best season ever as a Met, I will always remember him as a member of the White Sox. 5 times he led the league in triples. I respect that.

3. Jack McDowell

His run at the top was short, but spectacular. A second and first place CY Young finish, seasons of 17, 20 and 22 wins and a really sweet retro look on his 1991 Topps card. McDowell kinda seemed like a prick and I found the stories about his music career to be boring and annoying, but on the mound Black Jack had a run of studliness.

4. Oswaldo Guillen

I know there's a lot of dislike for this guy these days, but I can't get enough of Ozzie. Every time he opens his mouth, you know it's gonna be juicy and interesting. As a player, I enjoyed watching him, but his managerial career and honesty to the press is what put him in the number 4 spot. The competition was a couple of journeymen, and Ozzie easily outpaced them.

Honorable Mentions:
Craig Grebeck

I like my underdogs, and he's right up there with the best. Despite being 5'7" 148 pounds, doing nothing especially well, Grebeck stuck around for 12 seasons and made more than 5.5 million dollars playing baseball. He spent one year with the Halos, but to me he's a Pale Ho.
Warren Newson

Another underdog, vertically challenged and a bit on the husky side, Warren Newson was the poor man's Kirby Puckett. Well, maybe the third world Kirby Puckett. Whatever, I like the guy.

While the Sox had a nice early 90's run, I'll never forgive them for the 2005 ALCS. Don't even get me started on umpire Doug Eddings.

Go Halos!