“Cecil has hit more HR’s than any player in the 1990s (258), a total that includes a trio of three-HR games.”

1997 Topps Series 2:

1. #411 Cecil Fielder
2. #444 Cliff Floyd
3. #374 Bobby Bonilla
4. #339 Jay Powell
5. #427 Bob Wolcott
6. #474 Neifi Perez
7. #353 Charlie O’Brien
8. #486 Jeff Reed
9. #438 Jeffrey Hammonds
10. #300 Ken Griffey Jr.
11. #359 Devon White

“Randy says his nickname, “Big Unit,” was coined by Tim Raines when the two were teammates in Montreal.  In 1989, says Johnson, Raines bumped into him, with the bill of Tim’s batting helmet hitting Randy in the chest.  Raines looked up and declared, “Man, you’re a big unit!””

1997 Topps Series 2:

1. #388 Dennis Eckersley
2. #325 Randy Johnson
3. #360 David Cone
4. #442 Mark Lewis
5. #327 Mark Leiter
6. #478 Danny Peoples/Jake Westbrook (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
7. #483 Mark Johnson/Mark Kotsay (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
8. #468 Jason Conti/Jhensy Sandoval (Rookie Card)
9. #377 Todd Walker
10. #364 Kirt Manwaring
11. #373 Jose Rijo

1997 Topps Series 2:

Both of these pitchers succeeded in the Major Leagues, but are now retired.  Braden Looper retired in 2011 after not making the opening day roster.  John Patterson retired in 2009 after not being able to overcome pain in his arm.

1. #390 Ryan Klesko
2. #412 John Flaherty
3. #288 Todd Greene
4. #385 Matt Williams
5. #374 Bobby Bonilla
6. #477 Braden Looper/John Patterson (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
7. #495 Checklist (Checklist)
8. #476 Trey Beamon
9. #322 Mark Whiten
10. #293 Nomar Garciaparra
11. #410 Tony Gwynn

A pack of 1997 Topps Series 1:

Last January, Gil Meche decided to retire rather than have more surgery performed on his ailing shoulder, walking away from a guaranteed $12 million salary.  On his decision to forego the salary Meche said, “I didn’t want to go try it again for another season and be the guy making $12 million doing absolutely nothing to help their team”.

1. #50 Tom Glavine
2. #209 Jason Giambi
3. #148 Rich Becker
4. #190 Andy Benes
5. #223 Donne Wall
6. #182 Ramon Martinez
7. #94 Mark Lemke
8. #262 Ken Caminiti
9. #211 Edgar Renteria
10. #271 Gil Meche/Matt Halloran (Rookie Card)
11. #153 Jose Mesa

A pack of 1997 Topps Series 2:

“New York’s Andy Pettitte was the favorite, but in the second-closest American League Cy Young Award vote ever, the winner was Hentgen.  And why not?  Pat had a far-lower ERA (3.22 to 3.87), more strikeouts and shutouts, lower hit and home run ratios as well as a league-leading 10 complete games.  Especially impressive was his excellence under a heavy workload.  In a league in which the average start was 5.9 innings, Hentgen normed 7.6, and once toughed-out five consecutive complete games.”

1. #351 Alan Benes (Topps All-Star Rookie)
2. #284 Scott Servais
3. #429 Rod Beck
4. #413 Len Dykstra
5. #292 Darren Lewis
6. #459 Ron Villone
7. #330 Pat Hentgen
8. #290 Derrick Gibson
9. #376 Curtis Pride
10. #449 Chad Curtis
11. #381 Carlos Baerga

One guy with a goatee and two guys with molester ‘staches… nice.

Gerald “Jay” Witasick Jr. was the most successful out of the three.  Between 1993 and 2007, he played on 16 different minor league teams and 7 different major league teams as a starter, middle reliever, and closer.

1997 Topps Series 2:

1. #439 Dave Stevens
2. #326 Eddie Taubensee
3. #316 Amaury Telemaco
4. #441 Mark Thompson
5. #336 Chuck Finley
6. #490 Wes Helms/Bill Mueller/Brad Seitzer (Prospects) (Rookie Card)
7. #491 Jeff Abbott/Shane Monahan/Edgard Velazquez (Prospects) (Rookie Card)
8. #492 Jimmy Anderson/Ron Blazier/Gerald Witasick Jr. (Prospects) (Rookie Card)
9. #416 Bob Abreu
10. #378 Jason Bere
11. #386 Bartolo Colon

“CAREER HR DATA…AB-per-HR rate: 12.41 (2nd all-time to Ruth)… AB-per-HR rate in ’96: 8.13 (ML record)… # of men to hit more than 52 in a season: 7.”

The 7 men to hit more than 52 homers in a season as of 1996 were:  Roger Maris, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Hack Wilson, Ralph Kiner, and Mickey Mantle.

Another 8 men joined them since 1997:  Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ryan Howard, Luis Gonzalez, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and David Ortiz

1997 Topps Series 2:

1. #332 Bobby Witt
2. #283 Jamie Moyer
3. #457 Scott Brosius
4. #395 Javy Lopez
5. Seasons Best #SB6 Mark McGwire (Bleacher Reachers)
6. #482 John Nicholson/Andy Prater (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
7. #481 Kris Benson/Billy Koch (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
8. #480 Joe Lawrence/Pete Tucci (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
9. #381 Carlos Baerga
10. #450 Mo Vaughn
11. #384 Kevin Stocker

“In tying his own ML mark with 20 SO’s (9/18), Roger became only the 5th man to K as many as 16 after age 30.”

1997 Topps Series 2:

1. #303 Darren Oliver
2. #424 Cal Eldred
3. #370 Roger Clemens
4. #415 Brian Jordan
5. #321 Eric Karros
6. #313 C.J. Nitkowski
7. #445 Denny Neagle
8. #383 Jason Schmidt
9. #434 Dustin Hermanson
10. #324 Brett Butler
11. #446 John Jaha