The 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies Team Set Story

After dipping my proverbial toes in the ebay baseball card buying market a couple of months ago, I decided that it would be appropriate to wade into about ankle depth. Slowly entering to not shock the body too much.

You wouldn’t want to get cramps!

After buying a few of cards a couple of months ago, I decided there were a few cards of common players that I really wanted to pick up. Quick search reveled them for sale by multiple people. So I set out on a plan to find what I wanted for the best option and/or price, and if discounts were offered on multiple purchases. Soon I found the best way to acquire one of my current top desired common cards, was to buy this team set. 

1998 Pacific Online - Colorado Rockies - Team Checklist

(I'll tell you which card I wanted later...)

Something card-wise that had been on my radar in the past year, was the 1998 Pacific Online set. At 800 cards, it was the largest of all 1998 baseball sets. With a deep checklist of all (as of 1998) 30 teams. Meaning, this Rockies set will have Todd Helton, Larry Walker, Vinny Castilla and all the rest of the well-known Rockies stars. But it would also have cards of backup outfielders, utility infielders and various situational relief pitchers. 

Something Topps and Pinnacle Brands decided to cut for space in the late 1990's.

Speaking of situational relief pitchers...

Not all that long ago, I discovered that my Jeff Innis collection of mainstream Junk Wax Era base cards was missing one. I'd been holding out hope that I'd pull it from a Fairfield Re-Pack, so I'd end up paying less than the 10 cents it "books" for. After several years of sporadic attempts, I decided that I should just buy the card.

For $1.50...

1993 Fleer - Jeff Innis

But it was worth it. 

When 1993 Fleer came out, my first opinion was: "Well, I'm certainly not buying much of this..." That opinion really hasn't changed. I typically like gray as a color. But Fleer used a gray with a beige tint, which is rather ugly. A majority of the photos look washed out (this card is no exception) and it's just not a very good looking set.

Since I wasn't buying any more of it, I didn't bother looking at a checklist. So I didn't even know about this card until 6 years ago. Unfathomable that I collected through nearly the entire Junk Wax Era, and a card of Wasted Quarter's Favorite Player, went unseen to that point. 

1993 Fleer - Jeff Innis 

Now that I've FINALLY acquired all of the base Jeff Innis cards, I'm going to have to start looking for some of his more obscure ones. Like the New York Mets team issued sets, his minor league cards and the Jeff Innis Holy Grail, a 1991 Topps Desert Shield parallel. 

Once I do that, I'll re-write my 2017 Jeff Innis story. Which really does need to be re-written and expanded. Covering new cards, as well as video clips off the YouTubes, and my brief tribute after his passing, in January 2022.

******

The second card I was after was inspired by a recent Justin Morneau ebay purchase, that Laura made. Morneau appeared as one of the 5 featured players on a 2005 eTopps Twins team card. It was a very nice looking card, stored inside it's own One Touch holder. You don't see too many of the mid-aughts eTopps cards around. 

You know... I bet there's an eTopps Montreal Expos Team Card that I must own...

2004 eTopps - Montreal Expos - Team Card

Wow, this card is gorgeous. 

Wait, what's going on with Orlando Cabrera's head?

ENHANCE!

That's not a scratch on the card. That's not a scratch on the One Touch holder. Topps sealed the card with a silver pube trapped between Cabrera's face and its clear Lucite case. Not cool Topps! I can't fish it out without removing the eTopps seal. This is always going to bother me about one of -what should be- the most attractive Montreal Expos cards in my collection.

The back of the card summarizes what was the outlook going into the Expos sad final season in Montreal. Losing Vladimir Guerrero and Javier Vazquez, from a surprise winning 2003 season, and replacing them with Tony Batista, Nick Johnson and Carl Everett. None of whom produced at superstar level, let alone the standards they set in their own careers.

But hey, Rocky Biddle is coming back!

I don't remember how the whole eTopps program worked. You bought the cards online, from Topps Website. Think there was a feature where you could have the card sent to you, or kept at Topps and traded online with other collectors online cards. 

Pretty sure there was an online Topps thing called "The Pit" around this time as well. 

Pit eTopps that it didn't work.

HA!

The same ebay seller responsible for sending me the Expos eTopps also had a wide selection of appealing team sets I wanted to add to my collection. I have very few cards from the early-aughts Playoff, Leaf, Donruss future Panini brand, so I’ll be picking up some cheap Rockies and Expos team sets from those years. This would be the easiest way to fill some collection gaps.

The 1998 Pacific Online Rockies and Twins team sets were the big bonus to me. They were both around $8 each, but with each team set including 25 different players, that's a good enough deal. I have very few of these cards, and really wish they had an Expos team set for sale. I really want that set!

1998 Pacific Online - Minnesota Twins Checklist

The Twins team set for $8 includes the David Ortiz rookie. Which most ebay sellers offer for $10 or more, just for that one card. I'll cover the Twins team set at a later date. But I just had to take a peak at the checklist. Sure you have a couple of Hall of Famers in Ortiz and Paul Molitor, but there's a who lotta "that guy played for the Twins?!?" with Mike Morgan, Bob Tewksbury, Greg Swindell, Orlando Merced, Alex Ochoa, Brent Gates and Otis Nixon all in this set. 

But that's the case with the entire 1998 Pacific Online checklist. Which applied to all 30 teams. 25 years ago, I dismissed this set as garbage, but once I stopped and looked at it, I decided that while I would love to have the full set, I should at least get my three teams.

1998 Pacific Online was probably ahead of its time. The internet of that day was just coming out of its Terrible Two's, and it was a feeling out commercial free for all. For every online business venture that was successful, 20 of them failed within two years. 

Notice you can't find any 1999 Pacific Online cards for sale?

Back in 1998, this was my computer setup at Kenyon. A Macintosh G3 Power PC, which was pretty advanced for this time. It was purchased via loan from my father, through connections at Overpriced Art School. Which did pay off as I was able to hone some prepress skill in the lapsing period of time between graduating Overpriced Art School and landing my Big-Boy Jobby Job, in April 2000. 

Wasted Quarter was the benefit of that.

But it was still 1998. Internet was brought into my crappy 480 square foot apartment via the phone lines.

And who was bringing the Internet? 

Like millions of American's, we had America Online. And we didn't like it. But it was easy and non-threatening. If you didn't really look into all of the ick, that AOL was responsible for fostering. 

This particular AOL 8.0 tin has stayed in my collection since the day it arrived in the mail. The same day the CR-Rom packaged inside was thrown in the garbage. The top of the tin is actually something I still use every day. I'm not going to tell you what for.

Which brings us back to 1998 and the Pacific Online set. I bought a few packs back then, and wasn't impressed. Because I had no perspective. The internet was slow and pay by the hour in 1998, so playing with baseball cards online wasn't about to be a thing in my life. 

But the 1998 Colorado Rockies absolutely were. I watched them on TV every chance I had, and made it to a few games at Coors Field. My first baseball season in Colorado was 1997. That was spent getting familiar with the team, learning the broadcasters for both radio and television, and generally getting a feel of the franchise. 

Not being here for the Rockies first 5 seasons, I didn't fully understand how the ballclub would constantly find creative ways to lose. But I was optimistic going into the 1998 season. They made some interesting trades and signed some decent free agents to fill some gaps on the 1997 team. Never called them a World Series contender, but a Wild Card seemed like a legit possibility. 

Then the season started…

******

The purple border design really works well for the Rockies. Which is probably the only team purple is a color match with. Actually, I forgot that in 1998, both expansion teams, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks both used purple in their color palate. Maybe this color was a tribute to recent expansion teams? There is something close to the Florida Marlins (Skull Crushing) Teal on the card backs...

1998 Pacific Online - #237 - Pedro Astacio

Astacio came to the Rockies in July 1997, after a trade from the Dodgers. He pitched well to finish out the season, and took the role of #2 starter in the rotation. He started 35 games, but given the state of the game in 1998 (steroids nationally and high altitude locally) he was saddled with an ERA of 6.23. Underneath that ugly number was just enough effectiveness to post a near 500 record of 13-14, with 170 strikeouts in 230.1 innings. 

Numbers that tell a big story about the game today vs 25 years ago.

1998 Pacific Online - #238 - Jason Bates

1995 National League Rookie of the Year candidate had been unable to build on, or even replicate his numbers from a few years earlier. He batted only .189, with no home runs and only 3 runs batted in. Used mostly as a pinch hitter, those are some awful numbers to keep employing on your bench. This was Bates last season in Colorado, and he never returned to the major leagues.

1998 Pacific Online - #239 - Dante Bichette

Bo Bichette's old man... “Bitch-T” (as Military Mike named him, back in 1991) was a possible team MVP candidate for his 1998 season. Playing in 161 of 162 games, clubbed 219 base hits, for a .331 average, with 22 home runs and 122 RBI's. He even stole 14 bases on top of that. Wasn't a bad left fielder either. 

September 10, 1998 - Rockies win 3-1, over the Florida Marlins. 

I was one of 44,906 people at Coors Field, on an overcast Thursday afternoon. Free agent Darryl Kile pitched a complete game, giving up only two hits and one run, to an absolutely gutted Marlins team. Who were fresh off winning the World Series in 1997. Roberto Clemente's nephew Edgard played right field for Colorado, so it was legend adjacent.

Bichette hit a home run in the game. He was one of the "Blake Street Bombers" that made up the foundation of an incredible middle of the batting order. (Coors Field is located on Blake Street. The Rockies had a potent home hitting lineup that hit "bombs", inside the stadium. Get it!?)

1998 Pacific Online - #240 - Ellis Burks

Burks wasn't one of the Rockies major stars, but he was just one level below them. I was surprised when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants at the July 1998 trading deadline. Apparently they weren't interested in re-signing the upcoming free agent, and felt a better value came from Darryl Hamilton, Jason Brester and relief pitcher, Jim Stoops.

I remember Jim Stoops, and finding mild amusement at his name. He pitched fairly okay in three September 1998 games for Colorado, and was never heard from again.

1998 Pacific Online - #241 - Vinny Castilla

Vinny Castilla had an otherworldly season in 1998. Playing in all 162 games, batting .319, with 46 home runs and 144 RBI. Not saying it was natural, but even the unnatural trinity of McGwire, Bonds, Sosa were several levels above Castilla in 1998. He was also a great third baseman, and was one of my favorite Rockies of the late 1990's.

******

Homesickness for Colorado just doesn't seem to go away for me. Nearly every day something will trigger a memory from my over 20 years living there. At least I have plenty of material saved to pad out stories that would just be about baseball cards that no one other than me cares about. Last month I skipped the baseball cards entirely to talk about an abandoned adult theater in Denver, because nostalgia. In this case, looking at this collection of 1998 Colorado Rockies is triggering all sorts of memories of all the times Rockies baseball was the background noise, either in my car or in my crappy apartment.

The residence of the late 1990's was the Kenyon Place Apartments. Where I watched the 1998 Colorado Rockies underachieve to shockingly new ways on TV, when I was home.

Home was that tiny 1 bedroom, diagramed on the right side of the page. Looking at the price of rent, this flyer is either from 1998 or 1999. I paid $365 a month when I moved here in October, 1996. Back when I could almost afford life on gas station wages. Which lasted until July 1997, when I took a job cutting meat. Then I found out that giving rides to pizza, offered a far better pay per hours worked ratio. A key factor for those Overpriced Art School days.

Highly doubt any of that would apply or even work out today.

Ask for Kevin.

You'll see!

******

But first I have to tell you about the card I wanted most out of the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set...

1998 Pacific Online - #242 - Greg Colbrunn

The Rockies signed Colbrunn as insurance against an abject failure by rookie first baseman, Todd Helton. Didn't prove necessary as Helton starred and Colbrunn sat. In his 62 games of limited duty with Colorado, he batted .311, with 2 home runs and 13 RBI. Decent numbers for a glorified pinch hitter, but the opening for future playing time just wasn't there. 

On July 30, 1998, Greg Colbrunn was traded back to those damn Atlanta Braves, for David Cortes and Mike Porzio. I remember Porzio like I do Stoops. At least Mike Porzio got a couple of Rockies cards in 1999.

1998 Pacific Online card backs are very colorful!

The reason I was after this card was not only that Greg Colbrunn was a pursued player in the Junk Wax Prospector days. The fact that he was a prospect with the Montreal Expos added to my interest. Signing with the Colorado Rockies made Greg Colbrunn one of only five players to appear in major League Games for the Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins and the Rockies.

Pacific Online and Ultra are the only baseball card licenses to have printed a Greg Colbrunn Rockies card. Ultra's photo is a close on his face in the dugout. Very bland. Pacific Online brought a decent Spring Training photo. But I needed a Colorado Rockies Colbrunn to join his Twins representation:

1997 Ultra - Greg Colbrunn

He got a better photo from Ultra in 1997. Although not by much.

His 1997 season with Minnesota was nearly an exact copy of 1998. He had a strong first half as the Twins first baseman, sharing time with former 1991 First Round Draft Pick, Scott Stahoviak. Suddenly he is traded to the Atlanta Braves in August 1997, for minor league outfielder, Marc Lewis. Before his brief run with the Twins, spent the previous 3 seasons with the Florida Marlins. Who claimed Colbrunn off waivers from the Montreal Expos, after the 1993 season.

1993 Upper Deck - Greg Colbrunn - Autograph

In April 1997, Colbrunn made an in-store autograph appearance at the Minnesota Twins Pro Shop, in Roseville, MN. My mom brought three Expos cards to the signing, (1993 Select and 1993 Stadium Club being the other two) and he expressed mild surprise to see his Expos cards. She told him that I was a big Expos fan, living in Colorado.

So I'm thinking that's why he signed with the Rockies for the 1998 season.

He wanted me to see him play!

******

I haven't done much on ebay. Thinking its best use for cards will be filling in gaps in the collection. I'm not after any high dollars cards in particular. Right now, the cards that interest me the most are inserts, parallels and "hits" of Twins, Expos and Rockies players that were never stars. Rare, just not particularly desirable. 

The early March visit to St. Cloud, Minnesota's Fan Zone, I wrote about last month, was the perfect example of this in card store form.

Luckily, the seller of that 1993 Fleer Jeff Innis card I talked about earlier, had a "buy five, get one free" promotion for a lot of his cheap auctions. My interpretation of that was to now go hunting for (non) hits.

2000 Fleer Autographics - Carl Pavano

Pavano was the Expos key get in return from the Boston Red Sox, for future Hall of Famer, Pedro Martinez. Pavano was perfectly acceptable for few seasons in Montreal. Then he won a World Series with the 2003 Florida Marlins, dated Alyssa Milano for a while, signed a huge contract with the Yankees, didn't live up to it, and ended up pitching parts of three seasons with the Minnesota Twins. 

As if I needed any more reason to plop down $2 for a signature that interesting.

2000 Fleer Autographics - Fernando Seguignol

Speaking of, did Fernando start signing his name, change his mind, then start writing a different name underneath? I already have a Seguignol autograph in the Expos collection, but that one is confined to only two lines. Think was $1.50, and I have zero problem with that.

2000 Bowman's Best - Locker Room Collection - Milton Bradley - Auto

When he wasn’t busy assembling a wide variety of family friendly board games, Milton Bradley played a season and half for the Montreal Expos. Until he was traded for future Rockies pitcher, Zach Day. Interesting note, Day spent the 2007 season with AAA Rochester (NY) in the Minnesota Twins organization, but never got the call. He would have made the sixth player for all three teams.

And I'm still holding out hope that Bartolo Colon signs to pitch an inning for the Colorado Rockies. 

They might even let him hit a home run!

2001 Topps Gold Label - Fernando Tatis - Class 1

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s father get a beautiful card that almost masks the fact that's not a real Expos uniform on his chest. Not one of Topps worst efforts.

2002 Topps Traded Chrome Refractor - Frank Robinson

Long desired adding this card to the Expos collection. A top tier Hall of Famer appearing as a Montreal Expos manager. Despite a ridiculous amount of pushback from Major League Baseball, who was running the team, Robinson (and Expos General manager, Omar Minaya) did an incredible job of keeping the team relevant throughout their slow death.

******

Altitude and ineptitude considered, the 1998 Colorado Rockies bullpen wasn't all that bad.

Anchored by the following two:

1998 Pacific Online - #243 - Mike DeJean

Traded from the New York Yankees for catcher Joe Girardi, after the 1995 season. DeJean pitched decently for his first few seasons in Colorado. 1998 was his best season, appearing in 59 games, throwing 74.1 innings. Serving as the Rockies primary setup man, DeJean posted a 3-1 record, with a 3.03 ERA, but a shockingly low 27 strikeouts.

1998 Pacific Online - #244 - Jerry DiPoto

Prior to becoming a highly criticized General Manager of the Angels and Mariners, DiPoto was the Rockies closer from 1997 to 1999. He retired in the spring of 2001 season due to injury. But in 1998, he appeared in 68 games for the Rockies. DiPoto racked up 19 saves, and went 3-4 with a 3.53 ERA, in 71.1 innings pitched, striking out 49.

1998 Pacific Online - #245 - Curtis Goodwin

This former top prospect out of the Baltimore Orioles system played in a career high 119 games for the 1998 Rockies. He was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds, in December 1997, for a journeyman relief pitcher (Mark Hutton) that the Rockies weren't using. For the season, Goodwin batted .245, but only drove in 6 runs. He did hit one home run for Colorado, one of the three he hit over his entire career. You'd hope he'd be a flashy speedster given the absolute lack of any power, but he only stole 5 bases for the 1998 season.

Goodwin himself became a journeyman. Going to the Chicago Cubs on a waiver claim, in March 1999, then to the Toronto Blue Jays in August 1999. He didn't make it out of the Kansas City or Texas farm systems in either 2000 or 2001, then called it quits on playing professional baseball.

1998 Pacific Online - #246 - Todd Helton

The future Hall of Fame first base phenom who played so well, it forced Greg Colbrunn out of a job.

Todd Helton got a nice Whatever from me, in honor of his Hall of Fame vote, back in January.

Although, he did have to share it with Joe Mauer. 

1998 Pacific Online - #246 - Todd Helton

Pretty good numbers from his 35 game, late 1997 debut with the Rockies. I was watching the game where he hit his first major league home run. As soon as he came up to Colorado, he belonged here. They let the prior face of the franchise, Andres Galarraga, walk in free agency, to free up first base for Helton. 

As hinted at on the back of this card, the Rockies did very well against the Expos in 1998. Going 7-2, outscoring Montreal 46-29, over 9 games. Following up on Todd Helton's 1997 stats on the back of his 1998 Pacific Online card; Helton played in 152 games during his rookie season, batting .315, with 25 home runs and 97 RBI. Just a hint at what was to come over the next five seasons of absolute video game numbers...

******

And if you were playing video games at Kenyon in 1998, in the rare case it was something current, chances are it was...

Jet Moto on the Sony Playstation. This game was just a lot of fun to play, and it blew away any racing game on the SuperNoFriendo. Which was the game system I was usually playing. The SuperNoFriendo still remains my favorite video game system of my lifetime. Many others will disagree.

When I wasn't at home, hanging out (drinking) with friends, pretending to take Overpriced Art School serious or playing pizza taxi, I was probably wasting time at a book or CD store. Usually the trifecta of Cheapo Records, Twist & Shout Records, or my all time favorite...

Tower Records (ad ripped from one of Rob's Terrorizer Magazines). 

Soon after I moved to Colorado, I learned there was a Tower Records in Denver. Yaaaaay!

In the Cherry Creek Mall. Boooooo!

Tower was a store that I could (and did) spend hours looking at all the cool stuff from every genre of entertainment you need. More than just a big buncha compact disks, Tower stocked a great deal of obscure and non-mainstream books, magazines, VHS tapes and DVD's, small toys and memorabilia. And zines. A store with this kind of inventory keeping a current selection of zines. Most stores wouldn't bother giving precious shelf space to low profit, self-published, self indulgence. Tower Records did right up to the very end. I never submitted Wasted Quarter for in-store distribution, but I did look into it.

Say Rob, how do you feel about Tower Records and ripping their ads from your copies of Terrorizer Magazine?

Me too!

This copy of Cool and Strange Music came from Tower Records, in the fall of 1997. The front cover story is a feature on 27 years of the Dr. Demento Show. From June 1986 to some point in 1990, I was recording his weekly syndicated show off KJJO 104.1 FM, out of Minneapolis. After moving to Colorado, I found it was broadcast out of Boulder, Colorado, on KBCO 97.3 FM radio. They stopped airing it in the summer of 1999. 

For just over two years, I was able to replicate what I did in the late 1980's. Record the shows as they air, then the next day, copy the songs I like to another cassette. Rinse, repeat. Unfortunately, of the 20 some cassettes of Dr. Demento music I had recorded between 1986 and 1990, only 4 survived. Between 1997 and 1999, I was able to replace a lot of what I had from my Junior High School cassettes.

In 1998, I started writing a Wasted Quarter article about that very thing. I never finished the story, and I never came close to printing that issue of Wasted Quarter. (It would have been issue #39.) These tapes rank as one of the greatest influxes of Cool and Strange Music to my library. And it's all stuff that still gets plays today. All of those cassettes were ripped to mp3’s in 2001, just so I could have all of my Dr. Demento music on convenient (and now outdated) compact disk.

Ahh…. the stuff that shapes a young mind...

I absolutely miss Tower Records.

It was so 1998...

Just like the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set!

Now we're back on track!

1998 Pacific Online - #247 - Bobby M. Jones

Not to be confused with Bobby J. Jones, who pitched for the New York Mets and San Diego Padres, from 1993 to 2002. Bobby M. Jones pitched for the Rockies between 1997-1999, then he was traded to the New York Mets in 2000, where he became teammates with Bobby J. Jones. Bobby J. Jones moved onto the Padres for the 2001-2002 seasons, then San Diego traded for Bobby M. Jones in 2002.

Got it?

It doesn't matter... Bobby M. Jones pitched in 35 games for the 1998 Colorado Rockies, starting 20 of them. His record of 7-8, 5.22 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 141.1 innings pitched, looks poor on the surface. But in comparison to the rest of the Rockies pitching staff, he fit right in.

In fact, you know who Bobby M. Jones pitched almost exactly like?

1998 Pacific Online - #248 - Darryl Kile

The Rockies signed Kile as a free agent. in December 1997. Coming off 7 decent seasons with the Houston Astros, and a career year in 1997, Colorado gave him $24 million over 3 years. Money that seems almost novelty compared to the contracts for pitchers today. Hopes were Kile would become the Rockies Ace, leading a staff that showed potential over the 1997 season.

For 1998, Kile started 36 games in 1998, for the Rockies, 13-17 with a 5.20 ERA. Most important, he threw 230.1 innings for a team that needed a strong presence at the top of the rotation. At the least, someone to pair with Pedro Astacio to keep two spots solid. Going into the season, I thought this may be enough to keep them in contention. Granted, a lot of things had to go right...

Not for the 1998 Colorado Rockies...

May 15, 1998. The 17-25 Rockies lost 8-5, to the 21-18 Milwaukee Brewers. Dante Bichette homered in this game, just as he would go on to do when I came back in September. Darryl Kile pitched terrible, giving up 12 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings, allowing 7 of Milwaukee's runs. 

I was one of the 48,035 fans in attendance, on that Friday night. This game still stands out to me, since it was the only time I sat in the right field corner upper deck. The view from that perspective has to be a lot different today. Now there's blocks and blocks of overpriced condos hiding the view of the Rocky Mountains, that once could be seen from the main concourse of Coors Field. Not anymore. 

Kile had an even worse 1999 season, after pitching passably in 1998. After going 8-13, 6.61, in 32 starts, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, for 4 players who did next to nothing for Colorado. Unshockingly, his pitching improved in St. Louis, and his run from 2000 to early 2002, was probably the best of his career. Going from years pitching in the Astrodome and Coors Field, to a pitching park like Busch Stadium, was a great boost to an extreme flyball pitcher, like Kile.

Tragically, Darryl Kile died of a heart attack in his sleep, on June 22, 2002. His body was found in his Chicago hotel room. The Cardinals were in town to play the Cubs, and Kile hadn’t showed up to the ballpark.

For years, the Rockies kept his uniform number 57 unofficially retired above their bullpen, in right field.

1998 was the first seasons for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. On November 18, 1997, Major League Baseball held the Expansion Draft, allowing both teams to pick from a pool of unprotected players one each of the 28 other teams rosters. It was a big deal for me and my baseball following. ESPN would televise the entire things, just as they did in 1993 for the Florida Marlins and these same Colorado Rockies. I still have both of the ESPN broadcasts of the 1993 and 1998 Expansion Drafts recorded on VHS.

In addition to the draft, you'd see a lot of trades between the other 28 teams, as they were looking to fill gaps. Both is 1997 results, and the chain effect the Expansion Draft created. I took the day off work specifically to watch, which was one of my favorite nerdy events in baseball history. I really hope MLB expands again soon, just so I can watch another Expansion Draft...

You know who needs an expansion team?

Montreal.

1998 Pacific Online - #249 - Mike Lansing

As the Rockies were busy losing outfielder Quinton McCracken and pitcher Bryan Rekar to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they traded some prospects to the always cost-cutting Montreal Expos, for second baseman Mike Lansing. 

1993 Select Rookie & Traded Rookie All Star - Mike Lansing

I was ecstatic! And this card did not scan very well. One of my favorite Expos was coming to Colorado to be our second baseman. Surely half his games in Coors Field will make him a megastar!

1998 Pacific Online - #249 - Mike Lansing

His 1998 line of .276, 12 home runs, and 66 RBI,  with 10 stolen bases, over 153 games, was right in line with the numbers he put up in Montreal. Lansing missed much of the 1999 season, but was back healthy in 2000. The Rockies, being a complete mess in 2000, traded Lansing to the Boston Red Sox for not much of anything. 

Where Lansing did not much of anything.

******

What else happened in 1998?

1998 WWF King of the Ring VHS

Mick Foley nearly made my Kenyon visitors have a heart attack, during his Hell in a Cell match.

(VHS purchased from Tower Records, if you're keeping track. And why wouldn't you be?)

St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 4, 1998

In other pro wrasslin news, this guy became the Governor of Minnesota. I found out about this while drinking heavily discounted pitchers of beer, with the Azzip Tuh closing crew, at Dubb's Pub. (Sue and Margaret were great bartenders!) A TV above one of the pool tables we occupied showed the headline. My friends, who already made Minnesota jokes at me, had a field day with my home state electing a pro wrassler Governor. Looking back, he didn't do that bad of a job.

Englewood Herald, August 21, 1998.

In other newspaper news, the abandoned shopping mall a few blocks from my apartment was now being demolished. 

Meaning there could no longer be another round of Cinderella City demolition worker, hide-and-go-seek, like there was in February 1998. Still regret not checking the entire mall out, back when I had the chance a year or so earlier.

1998 Pacific Online - #250 - Curtis Leskanic

Being an original Colorado Rockie, dating back to the 1993 Expansion Draft (where he was drafted from the Minnesota Twins organization), it's probably not far-fetched to imagine Leskanic making a public appearance here, during the mall's dying days. When looking at Becketts of this era, I'll find semi-regular listings for mall card shows at Cinderella City. Back in the early to mid 1990's, before the mall lost all of its retailers. Possibly a Leskanic autograph signing by the old Joslin's?

In 1998 (when there were a total of zero card shows at Cinderella City), Leskanic pitched in 66 games for the Rockies. Going, 6-4 with a 4.40 ERA, and 55 strikeouts in 75.2 innings. He only got 2 saves, which was unusually low for him.

1998 Pacific Online - #251 - Nelson Liriano

Liriano played for Colorado in parts of the 1993 and 1994 seasons, before moving onto Pittsburgh and the Dodgers for parts of the next three seasons. He resurfaced for 12 games with the 1998 Rockies. He did not get any base hits during a few plate appearances.

1991 Topps - Nelson Liriano

Back in 1990, he appeared in 53 games with the Minnesota Twins. Nearing the July 1990 trade deadline, Minnesota traded left-handed relief pitcher, John Cendeleria, to the Toronto Blue Jays for Liriano and outfield prospect Pedro Munoz. Second base had been a complete void for the Twins for several years, and hopes were that Liriano would solidify the position. At the time of the trade, the Twins were running out a second base platoon of Al Newman (and his pathetic .582 OPS) and Fred Manrique (not much better with a .601 OPS). 

Liriano hit only .254/.332/.357, showing no power, over his time with the Twins. Better than the Manrique/Newman combo, but not enough for the Twins to re-sign him. As things ended up, he wouldn't have played much for the 1991 Minnesota Twins, as Chuck Knoblauch arrived and finally solidified the position.

******

Seeing Nelson Liriano's inclusion in the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set brought to mind some of the other players in the team sets I picked up, that played for the Twins and/or Expos, in addition to the Rockies. 

1989 Topps Major League Debut - Gary Wayne

I bought the Twins team set because I only had two of the 11 Twins cards from this small box set. I never picked one up, back in the days where you could find them everywhere. Gary Wayne was a Rule V Draft Pick, out of the Montreal Expos AAA roster, in December 1988. Wayne was an effective situational lefty in the Twins bullpen from 1989 through the 1992 season. He was traded to the Colorado Rockies in Spring Training 1993, for right-handed reliever, Brett Merriman. (The less said about his Twins performance, the better.) Wayne was acquired by Bob Gebhard, the Rockies General Manager, who had previously worked in both the Twins and Expos organizations, prior to being hired by Colorado.

So a move like this had to be expected…

2001 Topps Traded Gold - Quinton McCracken

Not from a team set, but a single I picked up for a buck and change, to ride along with the 1993 Fleer Jeff Innis, to my house. The Rockies lost McCracken in the 1998 MLB Expansion Draft, picked #4 overall, by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After playing parts of 3 seasons with the Devil Rays, McCracken appeared in 24 games for the 2001 Minnesota Twins. He did not excel, hitting only .219/.275/.313, over 70 plate appearances. 

At least Topps noticed and gave him a card in the Traded set.

2005 Leaf - Livan Hernandez - Checklist

Until the team set arrived, I didn't have a single 2005 Leaf Expos card. Hernandez spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons with Montreal, and even tagged along to Washington, for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. After spending 2007 with the Arizona D-Bags, Hernandez signed with the Minnesota Twins for the 2008 season, paying him $5 million. He started 23 games for the Twins, pitching slightly above terrible. Yet still terrible enough that Minnesota put him on release waivers, where he was claimed by the Colorado Rockies. He pitched all sorts of more terribler with Colorado, but that not what matters.

His 2008 season put Livan Hernandez on the short list of players to appear in games with Montreal, Minnesota and Colorado.

2004 Playoff Honors - Orlando Cabrera

I've really liked all of the 2004 Playoff Honors cards I've seen, which is not that many. The photos are bright and clear, and the stock is good quality as well. Picking up the Expos and Rockies sets was automatic, as soon as I saw they were available. 

In order the fit with this story, here's the connection. At the July 2009 MLB Trade Deadline, Minnesota shipped minor league infielder Tyler Ladendorf to the Oakland Athletics for Orlando Cabrera. The Twins needed a shortstop to solidify a middle infield rotation of Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, Brendan Harris and Matt Tolbert. Clearly a murderers row... Cabrera played well in his 59 games in Minnesota, batting .289/.313/.430, with 5 home runs. Can't say the 2009 Twins wouldn't have won the division without him, but he hit better than any of the four he replaced. 

Cabrera also hit a key home run in the 2009 AL Central Division Tie Breaker game with Detroit. Ultimately sending the Tigers home and the Twins to New York, to be swept in the first round by the Yankees.

******

Meanwhile, back in the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set.

1998 Pacific Online - #252 - Kirt Manwaring

Manwaring was a (very) light hitting defensive catcher who played with Colorado from 1997-1999, after a 10 year run with the San Francisco Giants. In 100 games with the 1998 Rockies, he hit .247, with 2 home runs and 26 RBI. But his defense was why he was here.

But hopes were high that one of the Colorado Rockies top prospects would soon take over...

2000 SP Authentic Chirography - Ben Petrick

He had quite an impressive 1999 audition, batting .323/.417/.565, with 4 home runs in 19 games. Promising as that debut was, his hitting wouldn't keep pace. The Rockies gave him all sorts of opportunities, but he just couldn't take the job, and was traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2003.  He didn't stick there either and was gone from the major leagues. It would be revealed later that Petrick was dealing with some major health issues, which likely sabotaged his career. 

Meaning this card was only an ebay $1.49!

None of this has anything to do with 1998 Pacific Online though. 

But Chuck McElroy does!

1998 Pacific Online - #253 - Chuck McElroy

A former Chicago Cubs relief pitcher, I can still hear a drunken, slurring Harry Carry announcing his name, during the late innings of Cubs games from the early 1990's. McElroy finished the 1997 season on the south side of Chicago, with the White Sox. But on November 18, 1997: McElroy was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Expansion Draft. But a few minutes after the draft, the D-Bags traded McElroy to the Colorado Rockies, for minor league outfielder, Harvey Pulliam.

For the 1998 season, the Rockies clearly won that trade. Chuck McElroy pitched in 78 games, for 68.1 innings, going 6-4 with a 2.90 ERA, striking out 61. His 1999 season wasn't nearly as good, with a ERA that more than doubled. He was traded to the New York Mets at the July 1999 MLB Trade Deadline.

Now here's one you likely have never heard of...

(Only because one doesn't exist.)

Now I'm going to take yet another brief aside to mention the tiniest of bit players in the 1998 Colorado Rockies bullpen, Fred Rath. While researching the 1998 Rockies for this story, I suddenly remembered Fred Rath. I followed all of this as it was happening, but it had disappeared from memory until now. Thanks Baseball Reference! I present it in brief timeline form...

June 6, 1995: Fred Rath signs with the Minnesota Twins as an undrafted amateur free agent.

June 25, 1998: The Colorado Rockies selected Fred Rath, off waivers from the Minnesota Twins.

July 29, 1998: Rath is recalled from AAA Colorado Springs, and makes his major league debut at Coors Field, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He pitches the 7th through 9th innings, gives up 4 hits and 1 run, with no walks or strikeouts.

August 4, 1998: After a disastrous start by ace Darryl Kile, Rath is brought into the game with 2 out, in the second inning, to face the Pirates, at Three Rivers Stadium, in Pittsburgh. He pitches through the 4th inning, walking 2 and striking out 2. He gave up two hits, but no runs, besides one runner that was tagged to Kile. 

Fred Rath was sent back to AAA Colorado Springs at some point after this game. 

September 28, 1998, the Minnesota Twins selected Fred Rath, off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.

And that was all for Fred Rath in the major leagues. The Rockies technically borrowed him from the Twins for a total of 2 games, and a total of 5.1 innings, then gave him back. He gave up 6 hits, 1 run on 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Both of his major league appearances came against Pittsburgh. One at home and one on the road.

Too bad he doesn't have a Rockies card.

1998 Pacific Online - #254 - Mike Munoz

Munoz was another bullpen piece, throwing 41.1 innings over 40 games. He record not as good as McElroy, at 2-2, with an ERA of 5.66. Only 24 strikeouts wasn't very good either. But he did have a 6 year run with the Rockies. More than three times as long as Chuck McElroy was in Denver.

You know what else took place in Denver in 1998?

The 1998 Major League Baseball All Star Game (shown here in commemorative pin form).

I didn't go to the game.

I tried to win tickets.

I entered the Rockies lottery for the chance to buy tickets.

None of that worked, so I watched the 1998 All Star Game on TV. 

And I bought my official Colorado Rockies 1998 All Star Game keychain...

And my official Colorado Rockies 1998 All Star Game souvenir ugly baseball.

I've got to say that the Colorado Rockies 1998 All Star Game logo is one of my favorite All Star Game logos of all time. Really partial to the 1991 Toronto Blue Jays All Star Game logo for some reason.

I did attend the 1998 All Star Fan Fest, at the massive Colorado Convention Center, in Denver. The six day baseball festival included sponsored booths from baseball related manufacturers and licensees, several exhibits on the history of baseball, put on by the Hall of Fame, and a large baseball card and memorabilia show. With representatives from all five card companies, there to hand out free promotional items. 

I got an autographed David Ortiz 1998 Donruss Signature card from the Pinnacle Brands booth! 

As a metaphor for Ortiz's Twins career, hitting his signature on the intended space, was a swing and a miss. Still a great acquisition for the price of free. Almost as big of a steal as the Boston Red Sox got, after the Twins gave up on him.

The event was promoted by Pinnacle Brands, makers of the Score, Donruss, Leaf, and countless other sets around that time. Less than three months after promoting the 1998 All Star Fan Fest, Pinnacle Brands went out of business. Their licenses were picked up by Playoff Inc., which became Panini America. 

Amongst the Hall of Fame artifacts brought to the 1998 All Star Fan Fest, was Babe Ruth's cap and jersey. I didn't get a lot of pictures from Fan Fest, but I do plan on writing a story about it. Just not today...

1998 Pacific Online - #255 - Neifi Perez

Early in his career, Neifi Perez looked like he could develop into a star shortstop for the Rockies. His first full season with Colorado was 1998, when he was 25 years old. Perez played in all 162 games, batted .274, with 9 home runs and 59 RBI. Certainly not at the level of late 1990's megastar shortstops like Jeter, A-Rod, or even Nomar Garciaparra, but those are great numbers to build off. 

But he never really built. He settled in as a player that would hit between .275 and .290, and not strike out a whole bunch. But he never developed much power and didn't like to take walks. That type of player has some value, which is why Perez played 12 seasons in the major leagues.

Just not as a superstar.

1998 Pacific Online - #256 - Jeff Reed

Reed hit a home run in the May 15, 1998, Rockies game I attended. The (then) 17-25 Rockies lost 8-5, to the 21-18 Milwaukee Brewers. On the season, Reed played in 113 games in 1998. Batting .290, with 9 home runs and 39 RBI. Decent numbers for a catcher, he and Kirt Manwaring wore the Rockies tools of ignorance, in roughly a 60/40 split.

1985 Donruss - Jeff Reed

But Jeff Reed began his career as a 1980 first round draft pick (12th overall) of the Minnesota Twins, making his major league debut in April 1984. Reed only got into 25 games with Minnesota over the 1984 and 1985 seasons, before playing 68 games with the Twins in 1986. 

1988 Fleer - Jeff Reed

During 1987 Spring Training, Minnesota traded Reed (and others) to the Montreal Expos for relief ace Jeff Reardon (and others). Reardon was a big part of the Twins winning the 1987 World Series. The Expos played Reed as their backup catcher in 1987 and part of 1988, before trading him (and others) to the Cincinnati Reds.

1998 Pacific Online - #257 - Mark Thompson

Colorado’s second round draft pick in 1992, a year before the major league team would play their first game. Thompson debut with the Rockies in July 1994, just in time for the strike to end his season. He was back in 1995 and pitched poorly. His first full season with Colorado was 1996, and he wasn’t very good. He was even worse in 1997, and 1998 saw just 6 games with the Rockies. Going 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA, with only 14 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. He was non-tendered after the 1998 season.

******

A few months ago, I was excited to discover that former St. Louis Cardinals Junk Wax Era catching prospect Todd Zeile, had two cards featuring him with the 2003 Montreal Expos. Until that point, I was unaware that Zeile had any Expos cards commemorating his 34 game cameo in Montreal.

Zeile played with the Rockies in 2002, after coming over in a January 2002 convoluted mess of a three team trade. I’ll let Baseball Reference summarize something I’d forgotten about:

2003 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Todd Zeile

January 21, 2002: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the New York Mets with Benny Agbayani and cash to the Colorado Rockies. The New York Mets sent Lenny Harris and Glendon Rusch to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Colorado Rockies sent Ross Gload and Craig House to the New York Mets. The Colorado Rockies sent Alex Ochoa to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Jeromy Burnitz, Lou Collier, Jeff D'Amico, Mark Sweeney and cash to the New York Mets.

2002 Topps Traded Gold - Benny Agbayani

Until finding this card on the ebays, I completely forgot about Benny Agbayani’s time with the Rockies…

2002 Topps Traded Chrome - Todd Zeile - Refractor

And there was no way I could turn down this absolute beauty of a Zeile Rockies card…

Doing some more eBay searching, I found the 2004 Montreal Expos equivalent of Todd Zeile. 

2005 Donruss Press Proof - Alex Gonzalez

On the July 31, 2004 MLB Trade Deadline, Gonzalez was traded to the Expos as part of an even more convoluted FOUR team trade, that involved the Minnesota Twins and the soon-to-be World Champion 2004 Boston Red Sox. Once again, I’ll let Baseball Reference cover the specifics of that trade: 

July 31, 2004: Traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Chicago Cubs with Francis Beltrán and Brendan Harris to the Montreal Expos. The Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins.

Gonzalez played just 35 games with Montreal before a conditional trade to the San Diego Padres, on September 16, 2004. He did get an Expos card in the 2004 Topps Traded set, but this 2005 Donruss Expos/Padres card was new to me.

And it’s a serial numbered Press Proof, so it’s even more specialler!

******

Let's get back to 1998 already...

1998 Pacific Online - #258 - John Vander Wal

Mainly used as a pinch hitter (and he was damn good at that), but an occasional backup in left and right field, also getting time at first base. Vander Wal played with the Rockies from 1994 to the 1998 August Waiver Trade Deadline. (I miss the old August waiver trading period.) Colorado sent Vander Wal to the San Diego Padres, for the legendary, Kevin Burford. (Yeah... Me either...) 

Up to the trade, he appeared in 89 games for the Rockies. Yet, this added up to only 121 plate appearances. Most came from batting for the pitcher’s spot in the order, in later innings. In oddly limited duty, Vander Wal put up a very nice .288/.380/.548 line. Coming from 30 base hits, 5 home runs and 20 RBI. Project those numbers to 500 plate appearances, and you have a superstar.

1994 Stadium Club - John Vander Wal

Vander Wal was a 1987 3rd round pick by the Montreal Expos. For whatever reason, Expos management decided during Spring Training, they didn't need Vander Wal's pinch hitting prowess. Instead of getting something useful for the 1994 ballclub, they sold his contract to the Rockies for an undisclosed amount of money. Questionable move, given the value Vander Wal provided over the next decade.

Well, the Montreal Expos did have the best record in baseball, at the end of the 1994 season...

And we all know what happened next...

Speaking of the Expos...

Colorado was looking to add quality bullpen pieces, and called Montreal about Dave Veres. The Expos were looking to cut payroll, because of course they were, and agreed to the trade. They received weak hitting outfielder, Terry Jones, and a player to be named later. That player would be Mark Mangum. A pitcher out of a Texas high school, and the Rockies first round pick in the 1997 draft. Per rules of the draft, any player drafted could not be traded for one year after signing. So the Expos had to wait for the prospect they wanted.

Too bad for the Expos, Mangum was a bust. He started poorly and his numbers got worse every year. He stayed in the Expos system until 2002, and made it to AA Harrisburg for two seasons, and that was it for Mangum. However, he did make it to my unofficial 2017 Whatever of Bad Rockies and Bad Jokes. And they are bad. You have been warned... 

1998 Pacific Online - #259 - Dave Veres

Veres however was excellent for the Rockies in 1998. He pitched in 63 games, with  74 strikeouts in 76.1 innings, going 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA. He also racked up 8 saves when filling in for DiPoto.

1996 Fleer Update - Dave Veres - Auto

In early 1998, there was a baseball card show at the Southwest Plaza shopping mall in Littleton, Colorado. (The shopping mall most directly responsible for the killing of Englewood’s Cinderella City.) One of the dealers was a guy that goes down to Spring Training, with hoards of baseball cards to get autographed. I bought a bunch of autographed Expos cards from him. No guarantees of authenticity, but who is going to forge a Dave Veres autograph?

******

What else happened in 1998 that was likely more important than Rockies baseball?

Wasted Quarter had a big year. (If you click that link, the Googles is going to warn you about my excessive foul language and the general weirdness of that story, before allowing you to read it... So here's my advance warning of that.) Not in sales or distribution, just in terms of developing its format. A big assist came in the form of that Macintosh computer I talked about earlier. (The one not used for the intended purpose of the 1998 Pacific Online set.)

Unfortunately, the fall of 1998 saw the last published issue (#64) of Factsheet 5. A vital resource in Wasted Quarter's formative years, starting with the first issue I bought in the fall of 1994. (Minneapolis Shinders, RIP) Both Wasted Quarter issues #9 and #20, were reviewed in copies of Factsheet 5. Poor reviews of a poor product, "filled with the enthusiasm of a close group of friends." But it made incoming mail deliveries exciting and interesting, for a time.

Tower Records zine rack introduced me to several titles I followed while around this time. Backwash, Chin Music and The Inner Swine, were some of my favorites of the Tower era. Backwash's content was a lot of 1970's and 80's nostalgia, which wasn't done to death at the point. Plus the viewpoint was fresh. Baseball seemed to be a popular theme with zines. I saw more baseball themed zines than any of the other major sports. Elysian Fields was always an excellent read. The Inner Swine was probably my favorite zine of the Tower days. I probably bought about ten different issues at Tower, before he switched to a digital-only format in 2004. I loved his writing style, and it's fair to say The Inner Swine was an influence on Wasted Quarter. 

Wasted Quarter #37 was printed in late September, 1998. The main story was a travel journal to Minnesota, and all of the wacky antics of running into various old friends while in town. (One of whom gave me the picture of the giant pig nads, from the Minnesota State Fair, for a front cover!) This was the first issue of Wasted Quarter that was assembled digitally, on the brand new Supa-Macintosh G3 Power PC. Utilizing all of the shiny and new graphic design skills, taught to me at Overpriced Art School. 

And there was a really fun crossword puzzle that infuriated several Overpriced Art School classmates. Especially since I promised (in writing) a $1,000,000 cash prize to anyone who could solve it, without help. 

"You can't use words that don't exist in a crossword puzzle!"

Yes, I can. 

Wasted Quarter #38 was printed in early November, 1998. This was my 5 year anniversary issue. At 80 pages, it was the largest issue I'd put out to that point. I'd been working on it for much of 1998, and that good art all over the front cover was indeed drawed by me. 

******

And now we've arrived at the Larry Walker dedicated portion of the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set. Walker was undeniably the superstar player on the team. Since his 1995 free agent arrival from the Montreal Expos, Larry Walker was the face of the franchise, and produced to match it. He was the Rockies player given the most promotion and national exposure.

1998 Kenner Starting Lineup - Larry Walker

Kenner even gave his 1998 Kenner Starting Lineup figure that cool, home run robbing catch, pose. Every time I look at the corner of any Kenner Starting Line Up figure, I have to stop and reflect on all of the 105 year olds out there, bummed out that they can no longer play with their Kenner Starting Lineup action figures. 

2023 Topps Dynamic Duals - Tim Raines & Larry Walker

A birfday gift from my mom this year. I'd never heard of the Dynamic Duals set, and this was the first card I'd seen from it. Since it's obviously the best one, I don't need to look for any more!

Going back to 1998, and the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set, Larry Walker is all over it. He gets the checklist all to himself, and not just one, but TWO different base cards...

1998 Pacific Online - #260 - Larry Walker

This one...

1998 Pacific Online - #260 - Larry Walker

With this back.

1998 Pacific Online - #260 - Larry Walker

And this one...

1998 Pacific Online - #260 - Larry Walker

With a completely different back.

I don't know if either one is a shorter print than the other, or if both are printed at the same quantity. Both have the same card number (#260), so that offers no help. Pacific stopped producing baseball cards in 2001, and no one was available to answer questions I didn't ask. Pacific chose 20 star players in the set and gave them an extra base card. The fact the lowly Rockies got one of the represented top 20 stars tells you something about Walker's stature in the game, during the late 1990's. Not like anyone was paying attention to the Rockies for anyone else.

If they were at all...

Walker had another of his typical MVP caliber, future Hall of Famer seasons. Although he only played in 130 games, he hit .363, with 23 home runs and 67 RBI. His power numbers were down (they'd come back in 1999) but he did steal 14 bases! 

He also switched up his look in 1998, going from curly mullet to shaved head. As a fellow sufferer of Male Pattern Baldness, I can relate to the pain...

We now take a Larry Walker break to present the last non-Larry Walker card in the 1998 Pacific Online Colorado Rockies team set.

1998 Pacific Online - #261 - Jamey Wright

The Rockies first round pick (28th overall) in the 1993 draft. He debut for Colorado in July 1996, and pitched in the Rockies rotation (to results that were not so great) through the 1999 season. He bounced around the league for years after that before revitalizing his career as a relief pitcher. I was shocked in 2010 when I saw he was still pitching for the Cleveland Indians, then a trade to the Seattle Mariners. He kept finding work, and pitched four more seasons, with Seattle, the Rays and Dodgers, retiring after the 2014 season.

But in 1998, he started 34 games for the Rockies, throwing up an uninspiring 9-14 record, with a high 5.67 ERA over 206.1 innings. Only 86 strikeouts in that span, is not a good number. The late 1990's were abysmal for starting pitchers not named Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez. Or the starting rotation of the Atlanta Braves.

1998 Pacific Online - #262 - Colorado Rockies Checklist

Hey, there's that Walker guy again!

1998 Pacific Online - #262 - Colorado Rockies Checklist

No need to spend any time discussing the checklist. I already went through all of the players on it. 

There may even be a couple of people who actually read all of it!

1998 Colorado Rockies Ticket Envelope Schedule

I had hopes for a possible Wild Card run, but the 1998 Colorado Rockies finished with a record of 77-85. Good for fourth in the division, ahead of only the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks. Disappointment like that comes with consequences, so manager Don Baylor was fired after the season. They did lead the National League in attendance, drawing 3,792,683 fans to Coors Field. A few of those were me. 

******

I've been writing this story for over a month now. Around the time I started it, I got the urge to take on a lengthy part of the massive card sorting project. And that had to be started right now! Once I started this round of sorting, I wanted to keep hammering away at it until I had finished it. So writing this story (and others I started) took a temporary back seat.

I had three separate sets of boxes of mixed cards from 2020 through 2023, with some stragglers from between 2005 and 2019. That was where I left off on the previous sorting project. Months earlier I whittled away most of the commons. Leaving a bunch of stars and rookies, base cards, inserts, parallels and a few greater hits that were overlooked. All of these had to be sorted by team, and then combined with the other. I was surprised to discovered that even this portion of the collection numbered over 40,000 cards. 

I'm going to need more storage supplies...

For X-Mess last year, Laura's sister's family got me an Amazon gift card. I hadn't used it because I wasn't sure what I needed or wanted. A couple weeks ago, I noticed that my stash of slowly collected retail packs of penny sleeves had dwindled from a high of 7,500, down to less than 1,000, thanks to finding all sorts of cards that needed a better degree of protection. Those retail penny sleeves averaged about .01299 cents a piece, if I bought the thousand pack at Target. Buying a larger quantity would mean a bigger discount, and I need a large quantity of penny sleeves. For both now and the next round of sorting, covering 2005-2019. Whenever I decide to start that.

On the Amazons, I found a deal for 10,000 Penny Sleeves at around $65. Or .0065 cents a piece.

Combine that with another 200 Top Loaders, and my order is complete. My gift card is spent and I have a bunch of necessary supplies. So there's a win!

I've bought very little unopened product since the first 2 weeks after 2024 Topps came out. Which was when I had enough 2024 Topps flagship. I didn't bother with 2024 Topps Big League. I was intrigued by 2024 Topps Heritage, just because of the 1975 set, but I'd avoided buying it because I'd gotten used to walking by the retail card aisles and saying "nope".

Until last week, when I had a particularly obnoxious mission to the WalMarts. After dealing with the horrible customers, my routine walk by the card aisle had a purpose. I needed something to wash the taste of WalMarts out of my mind. A lone 2024 Topps Heritage Mega Box remained on the shelf. This would be the first Heritage I’d buy in 2024. 

Quite possibly my last as well…

Not that I didn’t do well with what I pulled from the Mega Box. A Trout short print, a white border variation, Nico Horner bat relic and a lazy Junior Caminero autograph (with two soft corners) are absolutely nothing to complain about. What I will complain about is the photos. 

For 2024 Topps Heritage, Topps inexplicably did that thing where they bleach out the background from all the photos to make the player stand out in the image. I hate it when Topps does this, and they do it from time to time for no apparent reason. 1975 Topps didn’t whitewash the photos... That is what this set is supposed to be based off. This brings back memories of 2012-2015 Bowman. Sets I can’t stand because the pictures are so terrible. 

So thank you Topps for ruining 2024 Heritage. Which I had been looking forward to collecting since I like the 1975 Topps set so much. I guess I’ll just go look at my near mint complete 1975 Topps set (with only the Hall of Fame Rookies, not in mint condition). 

“Hi, I’m NOT Wander Franco!”

Apologies for the abrupt close to this story. I didn’t know how to finish it, and I’ve been working on it for so long, I just want it done so I can write about something else!

Maybe we'll go out for Burgers soon...