1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #476 Greg Colbrunn
2. Cyberstats #283 Jorge Fabregas
3. #483 Scott Livingstone
4. #528 Robb Nen
5. #476 Greg Colbrunn
6. #633 Todd Greene/Troy Percival (On Deck) (Rookie)
7. #659 Checklist (Checklist)
8. #551 Chris Clemons (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
9. #546 Chris Hoiles
10. #449 Andy Benes
11. #610 Brett Butler
12. #517 Eric Young
13. #403 Darren Oliver

Topps predicted that Jorge Fabregas would have finished a strike-free 1994 baseball season with a respectable .307 batting average as the Angels’ backup catcher.  It was his rookie season, so the prediction may have been a bit skewed.  In actuality, Jorge batted .283 in the shortened 1995 season and would end his career in 2002 as a career .241 hitter.

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #562 Carlos Rodriguez
2. Cyberstats #280 Billy Ashley
3. #526 Gregg Jefferies
4. #477 Manny Ramirez (Topps All-Star Rookie)
5. #512 Greg McMichael
6. #648 Rod Pedraza/Phil Schneider (On Deck) (Rookie)
7. #525 Dave Veres (Rookie)
8. #643 Terrell Lowery/Jon Shave (On Deck) (Rookie)
9. #430 Steve Avery
10. #533 Kevin Stocker
11. #519 Kirk Gibson
12. #610 Brett Butler
13. #474 Alan Trammell

“The much-hyped Ramirez disappointed no one as he finished as runner-up in the Rookie of the Year race.  Among AL freshmen, he had the second-highest totals in homers, RBI, doubles and hits.  Exclusive of one 6-for-52 slide, Manny batted .303 during the 1994 season.”

The man who beat out Manny Ramirez in homers, RBI, doubles, and hits in 1994 was Bob Hamelin.  Bob Hamelin batted .282 with 24 home runs in his the strike-shortened rookie season, then went on to win the 1994 AL Rookie of the Year award.

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #162 Kirby Puckett/Lenny Dykstra (All-Star)
2. #82T Chad Fonville (Rookie)
3. #158 Wade Boggs/Matt Williams (All-Star)
4. #82T Chad Fonville (Rookie)
5. #33T Rheal Cormier
6. #24T Tomas Perez (Rookie)
7. #29T Todd Williams
8. #63T Felix Rodriguez (Rookie)
9. #144T Pat Listach
10. #79T Brad Radke (Rookie)
11. #53T Terry Mulholland

Matt Williams was one of the players who was most adversely affected by the 1994 baseball strike.  He was on pace to break Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1994 when the strike started.  He batted .391 with 13 home runs by the end of May.  However, he was one of the players named in the Mitchell Report as having used steroids, so maybe it was a good thing that he didn’t break the record.

1995 Topps Series 1:

1. #2 Mickey Morandini
2. Cyberstats #127 Darrell Whitmore
3. #198 Jeff Branson
4. #368 Mike Butcher
5. #89 Domingo Cedeno
6. #250 Chuck Knoblauch
7. #337 Jason Jacome (Rookie)
8. #69 Harold Reynolds
9. #61 Mike Kelly
10. #226 Randy Milligan
11. #9 Delino DeShields
12. #90 Mark Grace
13. #12 Gary DiSarcina
14. #268 Greg Harris
15. #202 Kent Mercker

Topps’ advanced state-of-the-art computer systems predicted that if Darrell Whitmore played a full season in 1995, he would have hit .204 and smacked 5 homers!

Ever since his foray into the Major Leagues ended in 1995, Darrell has kept busy in professional baseball, playing in AAA ball, Independent leagues, in Mexico, and in Japan until he retired in 2002.

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #92T Vaughn Eshelman
2. #118T Jerald Clark
3. #46T Dave Mlicki
4. #110T David Cone
5. #24T Tomas Perez
6. #29T Todd Williams
7. #27T Derek Bell
8. #104T Melvin Bunch
9. #159 Cal Ripken/Ozzie Smith (All-Star)
10. #104T Melvin Bunch
11. #156 Frank Thomas/Fred McGriff (All-Star)

Cal Ripken edged out Ozzie Smith in 1994 All-Star Voting 1,628,524 votes to Smith’s 1,367,518.

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #74T Ben Davis (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
2. #30T Ryan Jaroncyk (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
3. #155T Andre Dawson
4. #30T Ryan Jaroncyk (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
5. #150T Carlos Perez (Rookie Year Candidates)
6. #57T Andujar Cedeno
7. #6 Mike Piazza (At the Break)
8. #125T Joey Cora
9. #87T Darren Bragg
10. #100T Jason Bates
11. #80T Jaime Navarro

“Piazza missed a month to injury (thumb) in the first half of 1995, but still was named clean-up hitter for the NL All-Star squad.  In his 42 games before the break, the bashing backstop swatted .377.  His HR-RBI totals of 13-37 would have projected to league-leading figures of 21-61 had he been able to play in every Dodger game.“

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #116T John Kruk
2. #47T Bronson Arroyo (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
3. #103T Dilson Torres
4. #47T Bronson Arroyo (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
5. #7 Tony Gwynn (At the Break)
6. #20T Larry Walker
7. #59T Manny Alexander
8. #154T Dave Stewart
9. #96T Bob Tewksbury
10. #92T Vaughn Eshelman
11. #19T Mike Mimbs

The Bronson Arroyo rookie card is one of the top cards in the 1995 Topps Traded set, and I got two in this pack!

“Undefeated for three of his four seasons, Bronson set his high school’s records for wins and ERA during his senior campaign.  The Pirates believe Arroyo will mature into a legitimate power pitcher as he adds weight to his tall, lanky frame.”

Bronson now weighs in at 195 pounds – up 30 pounds from his “tall, lanky” draft weight of 165.

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #537 Jon Lieber
2. Cyberstats #200 Don Mattingly
3. #542 Brian Anderson (Topps All-Star Rookie)
4. #415 Mike Magnante
5. #427 Devon White
6. #657 Andres Berumen/Bryce Florie (On Deck)
7. #623 Terry Mathews
8. #510 Scott Elarton (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
9. #542 Brian Anderson (Topps All-Star Rookie)
10. #495 Doug Jones
11. #556 Robby Thompson
12. #576 Mike Moore
13. #461 Bobby Witt

Topps predicted that if Don Mattingly played a full season in 1994, he would have hit .302 with 9 home runs and 75 RBI.  They also predicted that he would have stolen a base before the end of the season.  However, Don Mattingly did not steal a base from 1993 to the end of his career in 1995.  He ended with his career with 14 career stolen bases.