“One year after slugging 49 home runs, The Kid cracked his 50th of 1997 on September 7.  In the fourth inning at Minnesota’s Metrodome, he rocketed a two-run shot off the retractable seats behind the right-center field fence.  The ball bounced back onto the field, where Junior retrieved it and took it home, placing it alongside career homer balls Nos. 100, 200 and 250.  ”There are certain things you just don’t give away,” he said.  Griffey finished the year with 56 bombs, then jacked 56 more in ’98.”

2000 Topps Series 2:

1. #305 Brett Tomko
2. #277 Miguel Cairo
3. #450 Ben Christensen/Richard Stahl (Draft Picks) (Rookie Card)
4. #445 Tim Raines Jr./Gary Matthews Jr./Garry Maddox Jr. (Prospects)
5. #385 Robb Nen
6. #475e Ken Griffey Jr. (Magic Moments)
7. #420 Corey Koskie (Topps All-Star Rookie)
8. #400 Ken Griffey Jr.
9. #369 Bill Simas
10. #274 Devon White
11. #337 Bret Boone

PACK 1

1. #UH289 Darwinson Salazar (First Year) (Rookie)
2. #UH257 Tony Arnerich (First Year) (Rookie)
3. #UH228 Brian Miller (First Year) (Rookie)
4. #UH94 Thomas Diamond (Prospect)
5. #UH248 Hayden Penn (First Year) (Rookie)
6. #UH309 Matt Brown (First Year) (Rookie)
7. Gold #UH300 Jason Motte (Serial#1110/2005) (First Year) (Rookie)
8. #UH213 B.J. Upton (Futures Game All-Star)
9. #UH190 Aramis Ramirez (All-Star)
10. #UH122 Paul Konerko (Postseason Highlights)

PACK 2

1. #UH33 Placido Polanco
2. #UH55 Marlon Byrd
3. #UH243 Daniel Haigwood (First Year) (Rookie)
4. #UH290 George Kottaras (First Year) (Rookie)
5. #UH259 Ricky Barrett (First Year) (Rookie)
6. #UH321 Chris Volstad (Draft Pick) (First Year) (Rookie)
7. #UH24 Jody Gerut
8. #UH171 Bartolo Colon (Sporting News All-Stars)
9. #UH130 Roy Oswalt (Postseason Highlights)
10. #UH166 Ken Griffey Jr. (Sporting News All-Stars)

PACK 3

1. #UH238 Brian Bannister (First Year) (Rookie)
2. #UH263 Steve Nelson (First Year) (Rookie)
3. #UH99 Philip Hughes (Prospect)
4. #UH326 Beau Jones (Draft Pick) (First Year) (Rookie)
5. #UH229 Chris Vines (First Year) (Rookie)
6. #UH324 C.J. Henry (Draft Pick) (First Year) (Rookie)
7. Gold #UH256 Kevin Collins (Serial#1108/2005) (First Year) (Rookie)
8. #UH194 Chris Carpenter (All-Star)
9. #UH120 Garrett Anderson (Postseason Highlights)
10. #UH156 Joe Nathan (Sporting News All-Stars)

PACK 4

1. #UH256 Kevin Collins (First Year) (Rookie)
2. #UH240 Thomas Oldham (First Year) (Rookie)
3. #UH233 Baltazar Lopez (First Year) (Rookie)
4. #UH21 Byung-Hyun Kim
5. #UH231 Chuck Tiffany (First Year) (Rookie)
6. #UH293 Brandon Moorhead (First Year) (Rookie)
7. Barry Bonds Home Run History #BB391 Barry Bonds
8. #UH219 Chris Young (Futures Game All-Star)
9. #UH58 Chris Young
10. #UH125 Freddy Garcia/Jose Contreras (Postseason Highlights)

Note 1:  The 2 Chris Young cards are of different people

Note 2: “Baltazar” is an awesome name

PACK 5

1. #UH262 Jerry Owens (First Year) (Rookie)
2. #UH312 Jered Weaver (Draft Pick) (First Year) (Rookie)
3. #UH79 Jose Guillen
4. #UH249 Heath Totten (First Year) (Rookie)
5. #UH30 Jason Kendall
6. #UH311 Stephen Drew (Draft Pick) (First Year) (Rookie)
7. #UH301 Chuck James (First Year) (Rookie)
8. #UH214 Conor Jackson (Futures Game All-Star)
9. #UH138 Bartolo Colon/Cliff Lee/Jon Garland (League Leaders)
10. #UH159 Felipe Lopez (Sporting News All-Stars)

1995 Topps Series 1:

1. #184 Hector Fajardo
2. Cyberstats #018 John Wetteland
3. #368 Mike Butcher
4. #204 Todd Worrell
5. #305 Orel Hershiser
6. #388 Ken Griffey Jr./Barry Bonds (Topps All Stars)
7. #392 David Cone/Greg Maddux (Topps All Stars)
8. #82 Ray Lankford
9. #38 Tim Wallach
10. #44 Bret Barberie
11. #77 Tim Raines
12. #242 Terry Pendleton
13. #99 Cris Carpenter
14. #197 Steve Cooke
15. #320 Chris Bosio

“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

1. #78 Jay Bell
2. #16 Greg Maddux
3. #194 Rey Ordonez
4. #197 Jamey Wright
5. #81 Roberto Hernandez
6. #224 Ken Griffey Jr. (League Leaders)
7. #73 Damion Easley
8. #94 Matt Lawton
9. #35 Ray Lankford
10. #9 Will Clark
11. #132 A.J. Hinch

In 1998, Ken Griffey Jr. led the American League with 56 home runs.  Seven other AL players hit 40+ home runs in 1998 — Albert Belle, Jose Canseco, Juan Gonzalez, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, and Mo Vaughn.  Every one of these players except for Griffey and Belle are believed to have taken steroids.

1. #133 Freddy Sanchez
2. #193 Shairon Martis
3. #315 Scott Kazmir
4. #38 Houston Astros (Team Card)
5. Tales of the Game #TOG-21 Curt Schilling
6. Legendary Lineage #LL19 Whitey Ford/CC Sabathia
7. Topps Town #TTT3 Hanley Ramirez
8. #251 John Lannan
9. #264 Arizona Diamondbacks (Franchise History)
10. #85 Ken Griffey Jr.

“Sabathia went 19-8 in his first season in the Bronx to lead the American League in victories, a feat Ford accomplished three times in pinstripes.  Both hurlers were among the most durable of their era.  Whitey paced the American League in innings pitched twice, including his AL Cy Young season of 1961.  CC tossed a circuit-high 241 frames in 2007, when he took the AL Cy Young Award.”

This is my first Whitey Ford card, so it’s going into my Hall of Famers binder.

I also got a couple Nats to go into my Washington Nationals binder:

and a future Hall of Famer for my Hall of Fame binder:

See you in Cooperstown around 2016!

1. #140 Brandon Webb
2. #243 Chase Headley
3. #66 Dustin Pedroia (MVP)
4. Ring of Honor #RH15 Don Zimmer
5. Topps Town #TTT14 CC Sabathia
6. #22 Evan Longoria/David Price (Classic Combos)
7. #282 Chris Lambert (Rookie)
8. #30 Ken Griffey Jr.
9. #183 Jason Michaels
10. #141 Mark Teahen

Here’s another one for my collection, Junior in a Sox uniform.

His last All-Star Game appearance was in 2007 when he was with the Cincinnati Reds.  I’m hoping Seattle fans will vote him in for 2010 for one last appearance before he bows out and waits for Cooperstown.  In 2010, he’s hitting .226 with no homers yet.

1. #UH6 Josh Barfield
2. #UH20 Gordon Beckham (Rookie)
3. #UH263 Matt Holliday
4. #UH151 Jayson Werth (All-Star)
5. #UH110 Justin Masterson
6. Gold Border #UH307 Heath Bell (Serial#0771/2009)
7. Topps Town #TTT69 Victor Martinez
8. #UH330 Ken Griffey Jr.
9. #UH190 Ken Griffey Jr. (Season Highlights)
10. #UH85 Joe Crede

“Gordon’s first Major League homer — a three-run shot against Cincinnati on June 20, 2009 — helped turn a 5-0 deficit into a 10-8 White Sox victory.  Power always has been his forte.  As a junior at the University of Georgia in ’08, Beckham blasted an NCAA-leading 28 longballs while leading the Bulldogs to the finals of the College World Series.”

Gordon Beckham — Real deal or overhyped?  I think we’ll know for sure after the 2010 season.

And I got back-to-back cards of a player who has proven to be the Real Deal: