Hall of Fame - Jeff Bagwell

IT'S HALL OF FAME WEEKEND APPARENTLY. I HAVEN'T REALLY KNOWN WHAT MONTH IT IS FOR SEVERAL OF THE PAST MONTHS SO IT KINDA SNUCK UP ON ME. I'M GUESSING I HAVE SCANS OF THIS YEAR'S INDUCTEES SOMEWHERE ON MY HARD DRIVE BUT I'M TOO LAZY TO SEARCH FOR THEM. INSTEAD! HERE ARE POSTS IN MY DRAFT FOLDER FROM THE 2017 CLASS THAT I HALFWAY DID AND NEVER POSTED FOR SOME REASON. WAS IT TOO BUSY? WAS IT TOO LAZY? WAS IT SIMPLY APATHY? WE'LL NEVER KNOW!!! BUT I AM POSTING THEM NOW BECAUSE I'VE GONE ALL QUIRKY. YOU CAN DIFFERENTIATE WHAT I WROTE BACK THEN FROM WHAT I AM WRITING RIGHT THIS EXACT SECOND BECAUSE I WASN'T ALL YELLY IN 2017. WELL I KINDA WAS BUT NOT ONLINE. ENJOY

It's The National weekend!!! Why aren't you up in Chicago blowing thousands of dollars on pieces of cardboard?!? Oh, you're broke ass broke like me? Well OK then. It's Hall of Fame induction weekend too, we can enjoy that while sitting our asses at home. I've dug up some oldie moldie cards to honor the newest inductees.

1992 Donruss Diamond Kings

Some of y'all weren't born when this card came out so let me try to explain how big a deal it was back then. 1991-1992 was a weird time for baseball cards. Most companies were still in 1980s mode with their base card designs, but premium sets like Stadium Club and Pinnacle were popping up and getting a lot of collector attention. After an abysmal looking design in '91, Donruss gussied up the 1992 set, making it look more like their Leaf product and turned the long-running Diamond Kings subset into a full bleed glossy insert set. And people lost their minds chasing that Bagwell. The first boxes came out a couple weeks before Christmas in 1991 and I spent every last dime I had ripping packs trying to pull just one Diamond King, I didn't. Not till after Christmas anyway. Nowadays you can get the whole set for a few bucks (or pull it all out of dime and quarter boxes if you're willing to dig) but it's still one of the best looking insert sets of the 90s.

1995 Fleer Pro-Visions

Sticking with the Art theme for this post. I know everyone loathes the 1995 Fleer set and I really can't blame you. The base card designs range from ludicrous to hideous and the set as a whole is possibly the busiest and most confusing designs ever put on a mainstream base product. I'm not going to deny this, I'm just going to say look at the whole picture. 1995 was in the middle of Fleer's 'Insert in every pack' phases and while the base set is a mess the insert cards were very clean looking and well designed. The mess of a base set wasn't just a mess, it was a conscious design choice meant to flip the script on the trope of the boring looking base card and creatively weird inserts. So it didn't work out that well, at least they tried something new. Better than long runs of sets that all look alike (yes I'm talking about you, twenty first century Topps designs).

The Pro-Visions inserts had been around since 1991 and in '95 they were full bleed with a design that connected through all six cards in the series. The fronts are creative artwork and the backs are pure 90s purple and teal swirly cheese. Next time someone says the 1995 Fleer set sucks, show 'em Jeff Bagwell smashing the goddamn Space Shuttle out of the park and see how fast they shut up.

2003 Donruss Jersey Kings

OH MAH GAWD ITZ BEEG MOJO HEETZ USING RECYCLED ART FROM 1991 BACK WHEN USED LAUNDRY CARDS WEREN'T WORTHLESS GARBAGE CLUTTERING UP DOLLAR BOXEN. I'M BEING CYNICAL BUT THIS CARD IS FUCKIN SWEET. THICK AS A BRICK, NICE DARK SWATCH FOR US GOTHY COLLECTORS, LOVELY ART AND ONE OF THE LESS-TERRIBLE DESIGNS FOR THE MID-AUGHTS

AND CHECK THIS SHIT OUT, A PICTURE OF THE ACTUAL EXACT JERSEY THAT JEFF SWEATED ALL OVER IN AN OFFICIAL MAJOR LEAGUE GAME OF BASE AND BALLS  THE DIRTY RAG PIECE CAME FROM, GUARANTEED. NONE OF THIS 'THIS SWATCH CAME FROM SOMEWHERE, SOME PLACE, SOMEHOW, PROBABLY, I MEAN THERE'S AN ACTUAL PIECE OF CLOTH EMBEDDED IN THE CARD ISN'T THERE? QUIT BITCHING, THIS IS YOUR GUARANTEED HIT FROM THE BOX, NO REFUNDS' DISCLAIMERS WE GET NOWADAYS. LOOKIT THAT BEAUTIFUL JERSEY THAT WAS SHREDDED TO BITS SO 100 OF THESE CARDS COULD GET MADE

1997 PINNACLE INSIDE DUELING DUGOUTS

YELLING DURING THE CARD DESCRIPTIONS TOO, IDGAF. THIS IS A RIDICULOUS INSERT WITH AN EMBEDDED SPINNY STAT WHEEL THAT CAME OUT OF A LUDICROUS PRODUCT THAT PUT A FLAT, RECTANGULAR PACK OF CARDS INSIDE A ROUND, CYLINDRICAL TIN CAN BECAUSE THE LATE 90S WERE FUCKIN CRAZY, MAN. THE WHEEL HAS SEVERAL YEARS OF SPINNY STATS WHAT YOU CAN SPIN TO SEE THE DIFFERENT SEASONS OF STAT SPINS. MY HEAD IS SPINNING. IT'S LATE AND I NEED TO POST THIS QUICK BEFORE I PASS OUT BUT I SCANNED ALL FIVE YEARS OF STATS FOR BAGWEEL AND I GOTTA COMMENT ON ALL OF THEM. HA HA BAG WHEEL. MY DEMENTED MIND MAKES PUNS I DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT.

THE WHEEL STARTS WITH 1992, HIS SOPHOMORE SEASON THAT MORE OR LESS MATCHED HIS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CAMPAIGN, JUST WITH A FEW MORE BOPS AND RIBBIES AND A LITTLE PROP IN HIS AVERAGE AND ON BASE PERCENTAGE

YEAR THREE, COUPLE MORE HOMERS, COUPLE FEWER RBIS, WAY BETTER AVERAGE. A TASTE OF WHAT'S TO COME

1994 HOLY SHIT. TY COBBIAN AVERAGE, BABE RUTHIAN HOMERS AND RBIS ARE A SILLY STAT BUT HE HAD A TON OF EM. IMAGINE WHAT THIS WOULD LOOK LIKE WITH ANOTHER MONTH OF GAMES. BURN IN HELL BUD SELIG

OH NO, A SLUMP. A SLUMP FOR JEFF BAGWELL IS 4.9 WAR AND A BETTER SEASON THAN HIS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CAMPAIGN

1996, AH JEFF IS BACK. THE FIRST OF 6 STRAIGHT SEASONS OF OVER 5 WAR. IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WAR YOU SURE AS HELL UNDERSTAND .315/31/120 I BETCHA

BACK OF THE CARD HAS 1996 MVP AND BRAVES LEGEND KEN CAMINITI. REST IN PEACE KEN AND SAY HI TO JIM BOUTON AND DON MOSSI FOR ME

*LOUD SOB*

YELL AT ME IF I DON'T POST IVAN TOMORROW, I'M SERIOUS ABOUT THIS