1991 Topps Traded:

1. #73T Mark Lewis (Rookie)
2. #96T Dave Righetti
3. #124T Jeff Ware (USA) (Rookie)
4. #41T Tony Fernandez
5. #114T Darryl Strawberry
6. #9T Rafael Belliard
7. #13T Sid Bream

Darryl signed a five-year $22.25 million contract with the Dodgers in 1991 when he became a free agent.

1991 Topps Traded:

1. #40T Junior Felix
2. #10T Dante Bichette
3. #42T Steve Finley
4. #70T Bill Krueger
5. #110T Dave Smith
6. #123T Mo Vaughn
7. #54T Rick Helling (Team USA) (Rookie)

“Rick’s 9-1 Won-Lost record and 1.58 ERA led Kishwaukee (Malta, Illinois) College in 1991.  A power pitcher, he averaged 1.2 Strikouts-per-inning last season.  Rick pitched 3 scoreless innings for Victory in USA’s 6-2 decision vs. Mexico at Millington, Tennessee, 6-14-91.  He’s expected to transfer to Stanford University this fall.”

There are a couple spelling errors in this card.  They misspell “Strikeouts” as “Strikouts”, and they misspell Rick’s name in the back as “Rick Hellings”.

1991 Topps Traded:

1. #38T Steve Farr
2. #94T Rock Raines
3. #19T Gary Carter
4. #26T Danny Darwin
5. #48T Luis Gonzalez (Rookie)
6. #64T Barry Jones
7. #78T Billy McMillon (USA) (Rookie)

“Luis was signed as a 4th round Draft selection of the Astros, June 2, 1988 by Scout F.H. “Jug” DeFord.”

Luis Gonzalez’ best years were 1999-2006 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  With the Diamondbacks, he was a 5-time All-Star, World Series champion, and hit 57 home runs in 2001.

He announced his retirement on August 29 this year and joined the Diamondbacks’ front office.

1991 Topps:

1. #555 Turner Ward (Rookie)
2. #26 Luis Sojo
3. #487 Rafael Belliard
4. #465 Ken Griffey
5. #596 Ronnie Walden (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
6. #1 Nolan Ryan
7. #172 Pete Incaviglia
8. #333 Chipper Jones (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
9. #172 Pete Incaviglia
10. #671 Andy McGaffigan
11. #21 Joe Morgan (Manager)
12. #221 Don Slaught
13. #108 Matt Young
14. #409 Mike Stanley
15. #432 Delino DeShields (Topps All-Star Rookie)
16. #528 Denny Martinez

“Chipper enjoyed the honor of being the nation’s first selection in the June, 1990 Draft.  At the Bolles School he was honored as Florida High School Player of the Year last season.  He led his team to State Finals for the 2nd consecutive campaign and to a 66-19 record in 3 seasons.  Chipper was 3-time All-State, 3-time Jacksonville All-City and 3-time Bolles School MVP.  The Gatorade Florida HS Player of Year, he was selected to play for Team USA.”

Chipper’s been winning awards and leading his team since he was a teenager.  Now, at the age of 37, he’s still schooling the younger folks how to properly hit the ball.  He has played with the Atlanta Braves organization for his entire 20-year professional baseball career.

1991 Topps Traded was released in pretty much the same format as in the previous year.  This time, they added Team USA cards to the set, which is great because it included Jason Giambi’s rookie card.  Other notable rookies in the set are Jeff Bagwell, Luis Gonzalez, and Ivan Rodriguez.

Each wax box came with 36 packs with 7 cards per pack.  Here’s what I got out of the first pack:

1. #76T Willie McGee
2. #93T Ron Polk (USA) (Head Coach)
3. #43T Jim Fregosi (Manager)
4. #46T Kirk Gibson
5. #29T Steve Decker (Rookie)
6. #129T Willie Wilson
7. #103T Tom Runnells (Manager)

Don’t you just love the all-knowing look on Kirk Gibson’s face?  It’s like he’s thinking, “I hit a game-winning home run in the 1988 World Series, what have YOU done with your life?”

“Kirk and his wife have two sons, Kirk and Kevin.“

1991 Topps #570 Barry Bonds

1991 Topps archives, to be integrated with my new collection:

1. #537 Jose Lind
2. #545 Dale Murphy
3. #548 Jaime Navarro
4. #556 Gary Ward
5. #558 Otis Nixon
6. #570 Barry Bonds
7. #590 Eddie Murray
8. #591 Ken Hill
9. #606 Jim Gott
10. #612 Steve Lyons
11. #617 Bill Wegman
12. #632 Lloyd Moseby *x2
13. #640 Andre Dawson
14. #651 Alan Mills (Rookie)
15. #652 Kevin Romine
16. #676 Scott Chiamparino (Rookie)
17. #679 Bill Bathe
18. #680 David Cone
19. #693 Francisco Cabrera
20. #695 Kevin Seitzer *x2
21. #706 Brad Arnsberg
22. #713 Scott Scudder
23. #714 Marvell Wynne
24. #716 Bob Geren
25. #718 Steve Crawford
26. #739 Russ Swan
27. #749 Greg Harris
28. #771 Gary Redus
29. #782 Jim Deshaies

1991 Topps #450 Wade Boggs

1991 Topps archives, to be integrated with my new collection:

1. #321 Bob Rodgers (Manager)
2. #324 Ron Kittle
3. #334 Todd Benzinger *x2
4. #338 Luis Rivera
5. #349 Dave Gallagher
6. #361 Scott Garrelts
7. #376 Mike Harkey
8. #377 Rene Gonzales
9. #383 Pete Smith
10. #384 Gerald Perry
11. #385 Mickey Tettleton
12. #386 Cecil Fielder (All-Star)
13. #388 Kelly Gruber (All-Star)
14. #431 Paul Gibson
15. #437 Doug Dascenzo
16. #439 Dickie Thon
17. #443 Jeff Innis
18. #448 Craig Lefferts
19. #450 Wade Boggs
20. #454 Kevin Appier (Topps All-Star Rookie)
21. #466 Charles Nagy (Rookie)
22. #484 Dave LaPoint
23. #490 Kirk Gibson
24. #505 Chuck Finley
25. #509 Glenallen Hill
26. #516 Karl Rhodes (First Topps Card)
27. #526 Moises Alou
28. #530 Roger Clemens
29. #531 Dave Rohde (Rookie)

1991 Topps #35 Greg Maddux

1991 Topps archives, to be integrated with my new collection:

1. #2 George Brett (Record Breaker)
2. #5 Cal Ripken (Record Breaker)
3. #13 Mariano Duncan
4. #14 Dennis Lamp
5. #16 Mike Heath
6. #18 Nelson Liriano
7. #19 Jeff Robinson
8. #20 Pedro Guerrero
9. #22 Storm Davis
10. #35 Greg Maddux
11. #47 Brook Jacoby
12. #58 Mel Stottlemyre (Rookie) *x2
13. #61 Stan Javier
14. #69 Steve Wilson
15. #81 Cito Gaston (Manager)
16. #89 Darren Daulton
17. #111 Andres Thomas
18. #114 Lance Dickson (Rookie) (Future Star)
19. #119 Carl Nichols
20. #127 Joe Price


1991 Topps #138 Jamie Moyer

21. #136 Dave Schmidt
22. #138 Jamie Moyer
23. #143 John Smiley
24. #151 Tom Browning
25. #152 Mickey Hatcher
26. #153 Bryan Harvey
27. #170 Carlton Fisk
28. #187 Greg Cadaret
29. #196 Jim Vatcher (Rookie)
30. #200 Darryl Strawberry
31. #211 Brian Barnes (Rookie) (Future Star)
32. #234 Scott Erickson (Rookie)
33. #246 Kevin Wickander
34. #256 Greg Hibbard
35. #274 Ken Williams
36. #277 Scott Coolbaugh *x2
37. #285 Jim Abbott
38. #294 Mike Moore
39. #313 Ron Robinson
40. #316 Gene Nelson