1995 Stadium Club World Champion Montreal Expos Team Set


As much as I wish this was a set honoring the Montreal Expos AS world champions, this is -in all unfortunate reality- a World Champions Montreal Expos team set, made possible by the 1995 World Champion Atlanta Braves...

Let me explain...


One of the gimmicks that were added to the 1994 Stadium Club set, was the Super Team cards. One card would represent each team. The owners of certain team's cards could redeem them for prizes, depending on how well each team performed by the end of the 1994 baseball season.


The holder of the World Series winning team's card could redeem it for:

A complete 630 card set of 1995 Stadium Club baseball, each stamped with a gold World Series logo.
A complete team set of the division winner, each card stamped with a gold Division Champion logo.
A jumbo sized (3" x 5") complete team set of the division winner. 
The winning card returned, stamped redeemed.


The holder of the World Series losing team's card could redeem it for:

A complete team set of the division winner, each card stamped with a gold Division Champion logo.
A jumbo sized (3" x 5") complete team set of the division winner. 
The winning card returned, stamped redeemed.


The holder of each division winner's team card could be redeemed for:

A complete team set of the division winner, each card stamped with a gold Division Champion logo.
The winning card returned, stamped redeemed.


You got a Super Team Card at a rate of 1 in 24 packs, (roughly 1 per box). I no longer have any of the Super Team cards I pulled from packs, but I'm pretty sure they all finished dead last. I think there was a Padres card in there...

If anyone has a 1994 Stadium Club Montreal Expos Super Team card, let me know!


For most of the 1994 season, the Montreal Expos Super Team card was one of the hottest of the 28 teams, in 1994 Stadium Club. As the season wore on, more and more people were predicting an Expos - Yankees World Series, so those teams Super Cards were the most desired for this promotion.


Then... The baseball strike happened, and there would be no World Series in 1994.


Had 1994 gone according to how I wanted it to, holders of the Expos cards would have won that prize. Given their top record in the game when the 1994 season ended, it was really cool to see an Expos card as one of the most valuable in a set listed in Beckett...

Whatever that is worth...


Topps announced the 1994 promotion would be extended to the 1995 season. With the prizes applying to 1995 editions of Stadium Club baseball cards.


When the 1995 season was given a starting point, and the players ordered to return to work, the Expos were gutted... The great 1994 team wouldn't get another shot at winning.

Predictably, the value of the Expos Super Team card plummeted (while the Yankees remained steady), as the 1995 edition of the Montreal Expos had virtually no chance at winning the World Series.


They lost Larry Walker to free agency (to the Colorado Rockies), and were forced to trade veterans Marquis Grissom (to Atlanta), John Wetteland (to the Yankees) and Ken Hill (to St. Louis), because of financial constraints. Making the pain of 1994 hurt just a little more, all four of those players appeared in 1995 playoff games for their new teams, while the Expos sat at home.


1995 Stadium Club itself was a really nice set. Bright color, great photography and a clean design. Released in 3 series over 1995, players included in the set spanned the end of the 1994 season, through the mid-1995 season rookie call-ups.


For the Montreal Expos, it was a great look at the uncrowned world champions of 1994, to some of the players who would attempt to fill their shoes over the next few years.


The magic of 1994 had been stripped away... The 1995 Montreal Expos finished the season at an underwhelming 66-78, dead last in the National League East, and 24 games behind the Atlanta Braves...

The same Braves that finished the 1994 season 6 games BEHIND Montreal in the standings.


To rub salt in those wounds, the Atlanta Braves won the 1995 World Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians. At least Marquis Grissom get a ring out of it.


Besides irritating me, the Braves winning meant that 1994 Atlanta Braves Super Team cards could now be redeemed for the top prize. My favorite local card store redeemed an Atlanta Super Team card, shortly after the World Series. The owners of the shop were breaking up the full set, keeping the teams and cards they wanted, and selling team sets and singles to regular customers.


After the grand prize was delivered from Topps, I was offered the shot at buying the Expos and Mets team sets, and bought both. (I was also a fan of the Mets big 3 pitching prospects, the law firm of Wilson, Pulsipher and Isringhausen...)


I don't remember what I paid for either set, but I can't say I've seen them much on the trading circles, so I'm glad I paid whatever I did...


It's been estimated there were roughly 20,000 of each of the 30 Super Team Cards inserted into packs. No one knows how many winning Atlanta Braves cards were redeemed, so no one knows how many World Champion stamped sets were made. They aren't easy to find...


I'll say less than 10,000... That sounds about right to me, given the era...


The Montreal Expos never came close to being as successful as their ill-fated 1994 season. I could go on for volumes of how badly the Expos were treated by Major League Baseball and the Bud Selig era (and likely will if I keep this blog going), but am instead going to complain about the Atlanta Braves some more...


To this day, it irks me to no end every time I hear the Atlanta Braves tout a fictional streak of division championships, because they always omit the 1994 season. You cannot finish in second place one year, and include that in your streak of years finishing in first place. That isn't how records work Atlanta... Why don't you go build another taxpayer funded stadium, I think Sun Trust is getting a little long in the tooth...


I really don't like the Atlanta Braves...

No one likely picked up on the order I arranged this Expos team set for this post. It's not alphabetical, or by number... It's in order of each player LEAVING the Expos. For Montreal, tracking the stars leaving town is really how you have to tell their story.

Even this guy...


Rondell White was drafted by Montreal in the first round (24th overall) of the 1990 draft. White stayed in the organization until a July 31, 2000 trade to the Chicago Cubs (for Scott Downs). His 8 seasons with the Expos rank at or near the top of anyone during the team's last 15 years in Montreal. Players just didn't get to stay there for any great length of time.

I've been a big Rondell White fan for years, even after his time in Montreal was over. After spending the next five seasons with the Cubs, Yankees, Padres, Royals and Tigers, White wrapped up his career with two seasons in Minnesota.

A future story will include my Rondell White collection, which includes the only autographed jersey I own.

Comments

Post a Comment

Someone else liked these...

What Happened to Clark's Submarine Sandwich?

Image
Well, they went out of business! Yeah, that's the short answer.  But more importantly, what happened to each individual Clark's Submarine Sandwich store? Once there were 15 of them scattered around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, but they were all gone by 1991. Clark's still has a small but loyal following around town, and a reputation built off the bread, thinly sliced onions and most important, the sandwich oil that was it's signature. While the chain is long gone, I want to know just how gone is it?  For example, my hometown had a Clark's Submarine Sandwiches, and that building is still standing. Former Clark's Submarine Sandwich Location: 401 Northdale Blvd. Coon Rapids Back in October 2006, the building had long been sitting empty, but was still in good shape. Shortly after I took the picture of the abandoned Clarks/Cousins building, it was renovated and turned into a Dunn Bros. Coffee. But still standing! Clark&
Read some more »

2024 Baseball Whatever act 1 - ebay and Sorting

Image
Late last year, I predicted that 2024 would be a completely different year for my collection. I was going to cut way down on buying unopened product. Hobby boxes have priced themselves out of my range, and retail has been overpriced and spotty at best. I think I've burned out on the hobby, and the change from Topps to Fanatics amplified things. So I was going to dedicate 2024 to buying a few of the singles I liked, and a little retail when I found it and was interested. This year I bought the least amount of cards since 2017, which ended a run of my lowest collecting years. Funny thing is I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would. Scratching the baseball card itch was done primarily through sorting the tens of thousands of cards I already had. I had also decided that I'd look for singles I wanted on ebay. This would be the best way to fill notable gaps in my Twins, Expos and Rockies collections. Inspired by watching Laura hunt for Justin Morneau cards, and seeing the
Read some more »

2024 Baseball Whatever act 2 - Minnesota Twins Cards and Season

Image
Made it to only two Twins games this season. One in June, against the Colorado Rockies. Another at the end of August, against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Twins I saw play both of those games could not have been more different. After a promising start to an already sour season, with a firm grasp on the Wild Card through the summer, the Twins let it all slip away. With plenty of blame to go around. Due to rampant Skenes hunting, I hadn't seen any 2024 Topps Update at the retail level, until about a month after its release. Needed a few things from the WalMarts after work the other night, and found a decent amount of Hanger boxes. Arranged in a display box, sitting on a shelf, not hanging on anything. I added four of them to my cart, thinking it would give me a nice sampling of the base set. I'd hoped to find these to include some of those cards here. Just looking at the checklist, there were a bunch of cards I needed to properly tell this story. As far as that goes, I did very wel
Read some more »

Abandoned Mall: Villa Italia Mall - Lakewood, CO

Image
Villa Italia Mall in Lakewood, Colorado, opened in March 1967.  It closed for good on July 15th, 2001. I'm not going to get into the biography of the large shopping mall. My experiences there number a grand total of two. Once in June of 2000 (for a baseball card show), and the other in May, 2001, when I took these pictures. Since there was no emotional attachment on my behalf toward the place, I know next to nothing about it. There are a few good sites with real information and more pictures of Villa Italia. Both in it's heyday and in it's depressed run down state. I consulted these for this story. Deadmalls has a basic biography, that is a good starting point.  A link appears at the bottom of the page that takes you to another site with a nice selection of Villa Italia photos. Or you can just click here... So let me add my piece to that total! In May 2001, my mom was in town from Minnesota. She was in Denver visiting my sister (who lived in Lakewood)
Read some more »

Abandoned Retail - Target - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Target T-42. The 42nd Target store in the world, was located in Coon Rapids, MN. Until it was replaced by Target T-1144, a mile or so to the north, 26 years later. Coon Rapids Target opened October 19, 1972, and closed October 6, 1998. Living on the north side of town in the 1970’s and 1980’s, big box retailers like Zayre and Kmart were more frequently visited, since they were closer to our house. Target was patronized less often, and usually paired with grocery shopping at Red Owl. Complete with video games while my mom shopped for food. And copies of Mad magazine slipped into the cart when no one was looking. Downtown Center, anchored by Festival Foods, opened in 1987. Sitting at the corner of Round Lake and Bunker Lake, in Andover, that shopping center was now more convenient for weekly groceries. Subsequently, Red Owl's visits started declining, just due to Festival. Riverdale WalMart opened November 14, 1990. For better or worse, that siphoned an even more significant chunk of
Read some more »

Gates Rubber Company - Demolition Diary part 1

Image
As far as I'm concerned, the city of Denver's most important landmark was the abandoned Gates Rubber factory. Shown here from the southeast, at roughly Broadway and Mississippi Avenues, from two photographs spliced together somewhat decently. The massive factory's first structures were built in 1910. New construction and expansion took place over much of the 20th century, until the plant's closure in 1991. Ever since the rubber production was outsourced, rumors of the complex's demolition have run rampant. Until that one year when it finally happened. I did a poor job of documenting many of my favorite properties in the state of Colorado, nearly the entire time I lived in the state. So I made the resolution, that as soon as I first found out the shovels were chewing red brick, that I would be there to extensively cover it's demise. That happened in early November, 2013.  By April 20, 2014, Gates Rubber Company was rapidly disappearing, and now lo
Read some more »

Ghosts of Riverdale Past - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Recently there’s been a lot of chatter amongst the townsfolk about the retail abomination known as Riverdale. Another round of store closures has people talking about what a massive failure this shopping cluster has always been, and why retail is the way it is, and who's to blame and all that kind of stuff. Bottom line being, more stores that people liked shopping at are gone. For whatever reason. Which made me wonder, how many former businesses in Riverdale did I manage to get pictures of over the years? As I started going through the Riverdale picture folder on my external drive, I found far more than I'd expected. This is by no means EVERY former business that didn't survive the ridiculous conditions of shopping in my hometown, but it's an interesting peek into some of what didn't work. I didn't live in Coon Rapids when Riverdale was built. When I moved back in 2003, I was horrified that the western sky now had a brilliant orange glow in the middle of the nig
Read some more »

Abandoned Retail - Brookdale Mall, Sears & Perkins!

Image
Visiting Minnesota in September 2011, my dad told me that Brookdale Shopping Mall was being demolished, and we should check it out. Brookdale opened in 1962, as one of the "Dales." A series of suburban metro area shopping malls designed to syphon retail dollars away from the traditional downtowns of major cities. In the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, Brookdale was in Brooklyn Center, Rosedale was in Roseville, Ridgedale in Minnetonka and Southdale in Edina. Back in the day, needed housewares, "important" clothes for school and other reasons, and whatever other supplies the family had to buy, usually came from the mall. Brookdale was a constant. Rosedale as well, but that mall is currently thriving today, and thus far off my radar. Northtown mall was the closest to us, but it was a second tier mall without the top drawing anchors. Northtown has seen a little hint of a resurgence after losing it's long string of anchors and a series of renovati
Read some more »

Columbine Square Shopping Center - Littleton, CO - Part Two

Image
If you read part one of my Columbine Square Shopping Center story, you're familiar with its condition after the property owners closed the place down, in 2013. (And if you haven't read part one yet, go do it now!) Well, get ready for it to be all sorts of 2015 again, as it's time for part two! Very 1970's style Columbine Square sign, at the south (Federal Blvd.) shopping center entrance. Photo taken April 8, 2018, after I finished taking pictures of the Littleton Prep (Safeway) demolition. (Oh, sorry... SPOILER ALERT! ) I still really miss seeing the Rocky Mountains every day.  Going back a bit further is where part two starts.  The shopping center was already looking pretty rough, less than 2 years after all the tenants were kicked out. It had been a while since I walked around the property for pictures. Now I had a big writing project coming due. Which I needed additional Columbine Square material to complete. The day I chose for this was... Sunday, June 7, 2015.  P
Read some more »

Dinner Break! - Burger Time - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Burger Time is a small Fargo, ND, based fast food burger chain, that started their first restaurant in 1987. After initial success, they expanded by as many as 15 stores, in Minnesota and South Dakota. (Not sure, but I think there may have been one in Iowa for a time.) For whatever unknown reason, Coon Rapids, MN, was chosen as one of their first expansion sites. They would build a new restaurant on the northeast corner of the Family Center Mall property. Back in the late 1980's, that area garnered a great deal of traffic, as it was the heart of Coon Rapids retail. While the Family Center Mall had seen it's better days, the Target and surrounding businesses across Coon Rapids Blvd. remained very strong. Not to mention the population of the town had blown up with the northern expansion into the Oaks of Shenandoah. BOOOOOOOO!!! Family Center Mall, from the southeast corner of the parking lot. What used to be Burger Time, can be seen on the right side. Only chopping the mall in p
Read some more »