“Matt’s family owns a photo of his grandfather (ex-ML OF’er Bert Griffith) smoking cigars and fishing with Babe Ruth.  At times, Williams does a fair imitation of grandpa’s old buddy.”

1998 Topps Series 2:

1. #486 Eric Milton/Jason Marquis/Corey Lee (Prospects)
2. #425 Bob Tewksbury
3. #487 A.J. Hinch/Mark Osborne/Robert Fick (Prospects)
4. #353 Fernando Vina
5. #488 Aramis Ramirez/Alex Gonzalez/Sean Casey (Prospects)
6. #452 John Valentin
7. #413 Ryan McGuire
8. #378 Jeff Brantley
9. #445 Jason Schmidt
10. #439 Matt Williams
11. #381 Mike Fetters

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.

1. #267 Wes Chamberlain
2. #296 Eddie Taubensee
3. #298 Scott Radinsky
4. #299 Thomas Howard
5. #330 Rich Rodriguez
6. #337 Pat Mahomes
7. #363 John Smoltz
8. #375 Cal Eldred
9. #379 Ryan Klesko
10. #377 Damion Easley
11. #383 Sam Militello
12. #384 Arthur Rhodes
13. #386 Rico Brogna
14. #396 Mo Vaughn
15. #410 Steve Farr
16. #411 Henry Cotto
17. #422 Pete Janicki (Top Prospect)
18. #437 Brad Pennington (Top Prospect)
19. #442 Frank Rodriguez (Top Prospect)
20. #458 Dave Hollins (Inside the Numbers)
21. #476 Will Clark/Barry Bonds/Matt Williams (Team Stars)
22. #497 Juan Gonzalez (Award Winners)
23. #513 Jose Lind

1. #HR2 Cecil Fielder
2. #HR5 Matt Williams *x2
3. #HR25 Jeff Bagwell

1. #386 Wade Boggs/Matt Williams (All-Stars)
2. #53 Billy Ashley (Future Star)
3. #315 Ken Hill
4. #349 Carlos Quintana
5. #128 George Tsamis
6. Gold #120 Jimmy Key
7. #76 Luis Aquino
8. #255 Bobby Witt
9. #219 Pat Borders
10. #308 Mike Trombley
11. #111 Greg Litton
12. #43 Pat Mahomes

The baffling thing about this card is that Matt Williams was not selected for the 1993 All-Star Game.  The All-Star 3rd baseman for the National League in 1993 was actually Gary Sheffield, with Dave Hollins as the backup.

I guess that’s why they call them “Topps All Stars” and not just “All-Stars”.

Notable rookies in 1995 Topps Traded include Carlos Beltran, Hideo Nomo, Bronson Arroyo, and Richie Sexson.  Each hobby box includes one Power Booster insert card, of which Cal Ripken and Barry Bonds are the best cards to look for.

A hobby box comes with 36 packs with 11 cards each.  Here’s what I got in the inaugural pack:

1. #140T Charlie Hayes
2. #82T Chad Fonville (Rookie)
3. #90T Dave Gallagher
4. Power Boosters #10 Matt Williams (At the Break)
5. #9 Mo Vaughn (At the Break)
6. #14T Kevin Gross
7. #93T Kevin Jarvis
8. #46T Dave Mlicki
9. #147T Roberto Petagine
10. #102T Mark Whiten

Hey look, it’s the one-per-box Power Booster!  It’s not Barry Bonds or Cal Ripken, but Matt Williams is pretty good.  It’s hard to see from the scan, but it’s got some refraction action going.  From the back:

“For the second straight year, Williams’ assault on the HR record books was interrupted.  A broken foot kept him out of half of the pre-All Star action in 1995, but not before he chalked up some gaudy numbers.  In 36 games, he batted .381 with 13 HR’s and 35 RBI.  His longball rate projected to a Maris-menacing 59 over 162 games.“