1992 Stadium Club, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #458 Gary DiSarcina *x3
2. #459 John Smoltz
3. #460 Will Clark
4. #461 Dave Otto
5. #463 Dwight Evans
6. #464 Tom Brunansky *x2
7. #465 Shawn Hare
8. #466 Geronimo Pena
9. #467 Alex Fernandez
10. #468 Greg Myers
11. #470 Len Dykstra
12. #471 Jeff Johnson *x2
13. #472 Russ Swan
14. #474 Chuck McElroy
15. #475 Mark McGwire
16. #476 Wally Whitehurst *x2
17. #477 Tim McIntosh
18. #480 Carlton Fisk
19. #481 Jeff Plympton
20. #482 Carlos Martinez *x2
21. #485 Tim Teufel
22. #487 Jeff Reed
23. #489 Mel Rojas
24. #490 Ben McDonald *x2
25. #491 Andres Santana
26. #492 Chris Beasley
27. #493 Mike Timlin
28. #494 Brian Downing
29. #495 Kirk Gibson
30. #501 Mike Harkey

1992 Ultra All-Stars, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #1 Mark McGwire
2. #2 Roberto Alomar
3. #4 Wade Boggs
4. #5 Mickey Tettleton
5. #6 Ken Griffey Jr. *x2
6. #7 Roberto Kelly
7. #8 Kirby Puckett
8. #10 Jack McDowell

One of my gifts for Christmas in 1992 was a box of 1992 Fleer Ultra Series II.  It was the first and only hobby box of unopened packs I had ever owned until last year.  The cards are crisp and look really nice.  It’s a shame that the complete set of Series II only sells for a few bucks now, if anyone at all wants it.  After all, there are NO notable cards in Series II, and sadly, it’s the only set I’ve ever come close to completing:

1. #4 Leo Gomez
2. #18 Tony Pena
3. #27 Bryan Harvey
4. #35 Ozzie Guillen
5. #51 Mark Lewis
6. #62 Tony Phillips
7. #69 Jim Eisenreich
8. #74 Brent Mayne
9. #84 Bill Spiers
10. #94 Scott Leius
11. #95 Shane Mack
12. #102 Pat Kelly
13. #115 Mark McGwire
14. #116 Terry Steinbach
15. #121 Jay Buhner
16. #139 Ivan Rodriguez
17. #144 Pat Borders
18. #154 Duane Ward
19. #162 Tom Glavine
20. #165 Mark Lemke
21. #173 George Bell
22. #184 Jerome Walton
23. #193 Joe Oliver
24. #206 Darryl Kile
25. #208 Curt Schilling
26. #217 Mike Scioscia
27. #228 Tim Burke
28. #247 Mickey Morandini
29. #280 Bruce Hurst
30. #301 Brady Anderson *x2

1998 Topps Series 2:

1. #502 Checklist 284-442 (Checklist)
2. #325 Mark McGwire
3. #503 Checklist 443-MS10 (Checklist)
4. #326 Jose Cruz Jr.
5. #484 Derrick Gibson/Michael Coleman/Norm Hutchins (Prospects)
6. #389 Eric Young
7. #492 J.J. Davis/Troy Glaus (Draft Picks) (Rookie)
8. #304 Jason Kendall
9. #493 Jayson Werth/Dan Reichert (Draft Picks) (Rookie)
10. #302 Barry Larkin
11. #494 John Curtice/Mike Cuddyer (Draft Picks) (Rookie)

“The amazing McGwire batted against 27 teams in 1997 and homered against 26 of them!”

I wonder which team was the one that McGwire couldn’t homer off of?

I’ve just received a package from Stats on the Back, completing a trade for the Nick Evans Red Hot Rookies redemption card I received last week.  This is the first card trade I’ve done since, well, maybe 6th grade (for me, that was in the early 90′s).  Time and time again, I’m finding that card collectors these days are some of the most generous people around.

In exchange for the Nick Evans Red Hot Rookie, this is what Stats on the Back sent me:

1985 Topps #401 Mark McGwire (USA) (Rookie)

And being a humble (and yes, we here in Washington are constantly humbled…) Nationals fan,

2008 Topps Retail Relics #RR-LM Blastings Thrillage (…I mean, Lastings Milledge)

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter #292 Elijah Dukes

2007 Topps Allen and Ginter #144 Manny Acta (Fired Manager)

2006 Topps Allen and Ginter #180 Jose Guillen

Thanks again Stats on the Back for for making my first trade a great experience.  I only wish I could find more from my collection to send you because you are too generous.  Maybe next trade…

1991 Donruss, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #2 Craig Biggio (Diamond Kings)
2. #5 Barry Larkin (Diamond Kings)
3. #7 Lenny Dykstra (Diamond Kings)
4. #10 Ron Gant (Diamond Kings)
5. #11 Delino DeShields (Diamond Kings)
6. #14 Ryne Sandberg (Diamond Kings)
7. #19 Rafael Palmeiro (Diamond Kings)
8. #20 Bob Welch (Diamond Kings) *x2
9. #22 Brian Harper (Diamond Kings)
10. #23 Gregg Olson (Diamond Kings)
11. #27 Diamond Kings (Checklist)
12. #30 Bernard Gilkey (Rated Rookie) (Rookie) *x2
13. #32 Derek Bell (Rated Rookie) (Rookie)
14. #33 Jose Offerman (Rated Rookie) (Rookie)
15. #34 Terry Bross (Rated Rookie) (Rookie)
16. #38 Moises Alou (Rated Rookie) (Rookie)
17. #39 Julio Valera (Rated Rookie) (Rookie) *x2
18. #40 Milt Cuyler (Rated Rookie) (Rookie)
19. #41 Phil Plantier (Rated Rookie) (Rookie) *x2
20. #45 Dave Hansen (Rated Rookie) (Rookie) *x2
21. #48 Steve Sax (All-Star)
22. #50 Jose Canseco (All-Star)
23. #53 Rickey Henderson (All-Star)
24. #56 Mark McGwire (All-Star)
25. #57 Jack McDowell
26. #59 Alex Fernandez
27. #61 Mike Walker *x2
28. #64 Mark Guthrie
29. #69 Bob Milacki
30. #71 Todd Zeile
31. #75 John Smoltz
32. #76 Mike Henneman
33. #78 Jim Abbott
34. #79 Gregg Jefferies
35. #83 Bruce Hurst
36. #84 Eric Davis *x3
37. #88 Bret Saberhagen
38. #90 Bobby Thigpen *x2
39. #99 Franklin Stubbs *x2
40. #100 Checklist 28-103 (Checklist)

There is a special place in my heart for the crappy 1990 Fleer set.  It’s the first set that I bought a whole lot of.  I kind of liked the white thin feel of the card as opposed to the dark ugly brown cardboard 1990 Topps cards.  Upper Deck cards were the best cards around in 1990, but they cost a little too much for a 10-year-old on a $3 per week allowance.

1. #2 Todd Burns
2. #5 Storm Davis *x2
3. #8 Ron Hassey
4. #11 Rick Honeycutt *x2
5. #14 Carney Lansford
6. #15 Mark McGwire
7. #20 Terry Steinbach
8. #24 Curt Young
9. #29 Andre Dawson *x2
10. #30 Shawon Dunston
11. #42 Dwight Smith (Rookie) *x2
12. #50 Steve Bedrosian
13. #52 Jeff Brantley *x3
14. #53 Brett Butler
15. #54 Will Clark
16. #64 Randy McCament (Rookie)
17. #65 Kevin Mitchell *x2
18. #66 Donell Nixon
19. #73 Robby Thompson
20. #76 George Bell
21. #87 Nelson Liriano
22. #89 Fred McGriff
23. #90 Lloyd Moseby
24. #91 Rance Mulliniks
25. #97 Ernie Whitt
26. #104 Jose DeJesus
27. #105 Luis de los Santos
28. #108 Tom Gordon
29. #114 Mike Macfarlane *x3
30. #117 Kevin Seitzer
31. #122 Frank White
32. #124 Matt Winters (Rookie) *x2
33. #130 Brian Downing
34. #136 Wally Joyner
35. #139 Bob McClure *x2
36. #145 Lee Stevens (Rookie) *x2
37. #146 Claudell Washington
38. #147 Devon White
39. #148 Mike Witt
40. #150 Sandy Alomar Jr. *x2

2001 Topps Noteworthy #TN1 Mark McGwire

2001 Topps series 2

1. #418 Mickey Morandini
2. #564 Alex Gonzalez
3. #605 Tony Eusebio
4. #686 Garrett Stephenson
5. #408 Brant Brown
6. Noteworthy #TN1 Mark McGwire
7. #521 Bernie Williams
8. #654 Rickey Ledee
9. #649 Brian Rose
10. #475 Cal Eldred

…and Series 2 Checklist 2/4.

Noteworthy achievements for Mark McGwire:

• “Slugged a record 70 home runs in 1998, shattering Roger Maris’s single-season mark of 61“
• “Has homered in a record-tying (Fred McGriff) 37 different big-league ballparks“
• “Stands seventh on baseball’s all-time home run list (554), nine behind sixth-place Reggie Jackson.“
• “Only player in history to hit his 400th and 500th home runs in consecutive seasons (1998-99)“
• “Has been chosen to play in the All-Star Game 12 times, including eight starts.“
• “Set NL record for walks in a season (162) in 1998.“

Did anyone else notice that on the card Mark McGwire’s name is spelled “mark mcgWire” with a capital “W”?