“The first Japanese-born player from the Japanese Lg. to pitch in the majors, Hideo quickly became one of America’s top SO artist.  On 6/14/95, he fanned 16 Pirates in 8 IP, falling 3 K’s short of the NL record and 2 shy of the ML rookie mark.”

He kinda looks like a turtle in this shot…

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #115T Kevin Ritz
2. #78T Erik Hanson
3. #91T Steve Finley
4. #53T Terry Mulholland
5. #4 Albert Belle (At the Break)
6. #41T Brett Butler
7. #24T Tomas Perez (Rookie)
8. #162 Kirby Puckett/Lenny Dykstra (Mid All-Star)
9. #47T Bronson Arroyo (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
10. #40T Hideo Nomo (Star Track) (Rookie)
11. #165T Checklist 1-165 (Checklist)

“In a 2nd straight injury-abbreviated season, Mark still became Oakland’s No. 2 HR hitter ever (behind Reggie Jackson).  The superstitious McGwire always touches the bases with his right foot when circling the bags after a home run.”

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #620 David Justice
2. Cyberstats #306 Kirk Gibson
3. #520 Spike Owen
4. #478 Albie Lopez
5. League Leaders #LL42 Vince Coleman
6. #555 Tommy Davis (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
7. #538 Trey Moore (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
8. #657 Andres Berumen/Bryce Florie (On Deck) (Rookie Card)
9. #503 Albert Belle
10. #472 Mark McGwire
11. #604 John Roper
12. #585 Dave Clark
13. #573 Scott Leius

“Joe, a lifelong Cubs’ fan, was nonetheless excited to be picked by the Rockies in the 1992 Expansion Draft.  ”It’s the first tiem I’ve been a first round pick.”, he said.  ”The only other draft I had the possibility of being a first round pick was possibly the Army.”

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #572 John Kruk
2. Cyberstats #377 Felix Jose
3. #539 Joe Girardi
4. #512 Greg McMichael
5. #432 Pat Meares
6. #653 Jason Isringhausen/Chris Roberts (On Deck) (Rookie Card)
7. #627 Ron Gant
8. #632 Cory Bailey/Scott Hatteberg (On Deck)
9. #438 Roberto Alomar
10. #539 Joe Girardi
11. #408 Leo Gomez
12. #509 Gil Heredia
13. #471 Matt Walbeck

Jose Canseco had 237 total bases in 1994, ranking 13th in the Major Leagues according to the back of the card.

The back of the card is wrong though.  Canseco actually finished tied for 14th place with Kirby Puckett and Jeff Conine.  The 13 players finishing ahead of him were Jeff Bagwell (with 300), Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Matt Williams, Dante Bichette, Fred McGriff, Barry Bonds, Moises Alou, Andres Galarraga, Kenny Lofton, Rafael Palmeiro, Tony Gwynn (with 238).

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #454 Tony Eusebio
2. Cyberstats #263 Carlos Delgado
3. Finest Inserts #14 Jose Canseco
4. #435 John Briscoe
5. #487 Eric Karros
6. #636 Sean Bergman/Shannon Penn (On Deck) (Rookie Card)
7. #648 Rod Pedraza/Phil Schneider (On Deck) (Rookie Card)
8. #492 Cade Gaspar (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
9. #558 Will Clark
10. #416 Tom Candiotti
11. #573 Scott Leius
12. #433 Bill Swift
13. #408 Leo Gomez

Johnny Ruffin’s actual 1994 stats:

70 IP, 3.09 ERA, 7-2 W-L, 44 SO, 1SV

His projected CyberStats:

95 IP, 3.32 ERA, 7-2 W-L, 63 SO, 2 SV

1995 Topps Series 1:

1. #332 Jim Gott
2. Cyberstats #146 Johnny Ruffin
3. #204 Todd Worrell
4. #123 Kevin Gross
5. #115 Wally Joyner
6. #343 Craig Grebeck
7. #147 Ray McDavid (Star Track)
8. #105 Ken Caminiti
9. #80 Rafael Palmeiro
10. #72 Carlos Reyes
11. #22 John Wetteland
12. #275 Ramon Martinez
13. #125 John Doherty
14. #310 Ruben Sierra
15. #21 Orlando Merced

“Baseball was robbed of one of its greatest stars when Griffey broke his left wrist on May 26 while making a fence-crashing catch.  Nonetheless, Junior was voted-in as an All-Star Game starter — an honor he had to decline.  He had smacked seven HR’s in his 27 games — a pace that would have yielded 42 over the 162-game season.”

1995 Topps Traded and Rookies:

1. #149T Phil Plantier
2. #138T Scott Cooper
3. #111T Antonio Osuna
4. #127T Paul Quantrill
5. #37T Mike Macfarlane
6. #36T Jack McDowell
7. #2 Ken Griffey Jr. (At the Break)
8. #121T Todd Zeile
9. #148T Kevin Brown
10. #25T Michael Barrett (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
11. #116T John Kruk

Darren Daulton’s actual 1994 stats:  .300 AVG and 15 HR in 257 AB

Darren Daulton’s 1994 CyberStats:  .294 AVG and 17 HR in 306 AB

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #400 Henry Rodriguez
2. Cyberstats #270 Darren Daulton
3. #620 David Justice
4. #469 Carlos Delgado
5. #569 Steve Karsay
6. #645 Tony Graffanino/Damon Hollins (On Deck) (Rookie Card)
7. #510 Scott Elarton (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
8. #480 Eddie Perez/Jason Kendall/Einar Diaz/Bret Hemphill (Prospects) (Rookie Card)
9. #595 Brad Ausmus
10. #464 Andujar Cedeno
11. #607 Felix Jose
12. #599 John Olerud
13. #511 Melido Perez

Cyberstats predicts that Bernie Williams would have hit .304 with 18 home runs and 28 stolen bases if the 1994 strike hadn’t happened.  He actually hit .289 with 12 home runs and 16 stolen bases in the shortened 1994 season.

1995 Topps Series 2:

1. #514 Shawn Green
2. Cyberstats #277 Bernie Williams
3. #561 Jack McDowell
4. #493 Jorge Fabregas
5. #414 Jeff Blauser
6. #421 Ryan Nye (Draft Pick) (Rookie)
7. #581 David Bell/Joel Chimelis/Lino Diaz/Aaron Boone (Prospects) (Rookie)
8. #570 Brian Meadows (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
9. #470 Willie Banks
10. #481 Bryan Eversgerd
11. #475 Tom Gordon
12. #597 James Mouton
13. #610 Brett Butler