- One of the best sets of the early 2000's in my opinion. It is also one of the few that I tried (and succeeded) to build.
- Love how the artist captured the concentration on Jim's face while waiting for the ball at 1st. Fantastic.
- 2 copies of this card currently on COMC, one at 99 cents, the other at $1. For that set, those are probably right on the money.
- Robert
- Until I picked up this card last year, I had no idea that this set even existed. 180 cards total, 90 World Series heroes, 45 RC and 45 Future World Series heroes.
- 10 copies of this card currently on COMC, priced from 75 cents to $1.24. I have no idea what these packs sold for back in the day, so I don't know if this is good or not so good.
- Jim had 2 chances at a ring with the Indians, in 1995 and 1997. Jim hit a combined .255 in those 2 WS, with 3 HR and 6 RBI. I still remember how he and the Indians were within 3 outs of the '97 series before fate cruelly took it away from them...
- Robert
- Two hundred and 62 hits. Imagine that number. Play 162 games, and in 100 games get at least 2 hits. That didn't happen as you know, but putting the number in that perspective makes you think about how great Ichiro's 2004 season was.
- One team had 3 players in the top 10 hit category, the Orioles. Tejada (203), Mora (187) and Lopez (183) cracked the list that also contained Damon, Jeter, Kotsay and Crawford.
- Career game #28 starts a really good run for Ichiro. He extended his hit streak to 10 games by going 3 for 5 with a double and 3 runs scored against the Red Sox. The M's won 10-3 increasing Jamie Moyer's record to 5-0
- Robert
- This is why I love older cards. This card features a hall of famer, a future hall of famer, and Melvin Mora. You just never know with baseball what can happen during a given season.
- The back of the card shows the top 10 hitters in the AL for 2003. There were 2 teams that had two players each in the top 10; the Tigers (IRod and Guillen) and the A's (Durazo and Kotsay).
- Career game #27; Ichiro runs his hit streak to 9 games with a triple and 2 runs scored in a 5-1 win over the Red Sox. Aaron Sele would get the win running his record to 5-0 on the 2nd of May.
- Robert
- Makes you wonder if this is a Sakic card or a Patrick Roy card. You can clearly see Roy in the background and the inset photo.
- 8 copies for sale on COMC, ranging in price from 99 cents to $1.25. Yes, most Sakic base cards are around a buck, but this set should be a bit lower than most of the other base sets. I would say in the 50-75 cent range would be more like it for this card.
- Career goal #297 came 12/4/96 against the Oilers. His goal opened the game, and was a short handed goal. It was all the Avs would need as they shut out Edmonton 2-0
- Robert
- What intrigued me about this card instantly was Ichiro's glove. Looks like something from the turn of the 20th century, doesn't it?
- Bio on the back: "in 2003, he led American League rightfielders in every defensive category, 12 assists (including 2 in one inning)." Pretty good stat to feature on a gold glove winner's card, right?
- Career game 26 sees Ichiro go 1 for 4 extending his hit streak to 8 games. Ichiro has one of 3 hits off of Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez as the Sox won 2-0.
- Robert
- Bought a lot of these packs back in the day. 99 cents was a hard price point to pass up.
- Great photo of Joe releasing a shot. Look at the whip in the stick at puck contact, incredible.
- Interesting set size, 310 cards. Not sure why Upper Deck didn't just stop at 300 or go up to 350.
- 5 copies of this card on COMC, range from 96 cents to $1.25. Might be better off finding a pack and taking a chance on pulling a Joe...
- Robert
- Not a bad design for an eX card. A bit hard to see the #25 on the left hand side of the card, but other than that the background looks cool, kind of like this is hand drawn instead of a photo.
- Interesting stats on the back; Fleer featured Jim's stats vs 5 teams, and then against the NL. Jim ate up the NL to the tune of 10 HR and 25 RBI with a .365 average in 2001.
- Career home run #280 was hit on 9/10/01 against Dan Wright of the White Sox. It was a solo shot at home that tied the game at 1. Unfortunately for the Tribe that would be the only run they would get in a 7-1 loss.
- Robert
- Maybe the top 2 players of the decade? Ichiro and Pujols would get my vote.
- Love this photo with the shot of U.S. Cellular Field in the background. More photos like this would be welcome.
- Career game #25 would see Ichiro's latest hit streak go to 7 games with a 1 for 6 performance against the White Sox. Ichiro's hit came in the 9th inning off of Keith Foulke. The Sox would go on to lose the game in 14 innings, 2-1.
- Robert
- A healthy dose: I currently own 43 cards from 2002 releases of Jim. A few new sets I haven't shown on this blog before as well. Looking forward to it.
- Typical Bowman, nothing flashy or outlandish. Steady clean design, black and red border (a great color combo IMO).
- Bio on the back: "once a punch and Judy hitter, Thome devoted himself to weight training and blasted 32 total homers (AAA and Cleveland) in 1993." Can you imagine Jim being a singles hitter, ever?
- Robert
- A little screwed up: I had this in with my 98-99 cards. Only 2 years off.
- Nope: Joe only played one game against Florida during the 96-97 season, and was held pointless. No winner here.
- Interesting that all 3 versions of the card feature Joe against eastern conference teams (other 2 were NJ and Pittsburgh). Maybe fewer games means fewer winners?
- Robert
- Seeing this card made me think "how many miles has Ichiro ran while running the bases during his career?" I'm sure that there's somebody out there that can figure this out.
- 2005 Topps=the Ichiro set. He is a part of 6 cards in the set. Crazy.
- Game #24 is a big one for Ichiro as he goes 3 for 6 with a run in an 8-5 win over the White Sox. Ichiro gains back 8 of the 10 batting average points he lost the previous game and is now hitting .345. Ichiro's hit streak is up to 6 games.
- Robert
- Final card of my PC of Jim for 2001 is here. I'm guessing pink is a primary color? Oh, it's red!
- This card is serial #'d 866/975. I don't recall having shown too many serial numbered cards for Thome so far. I'm sure that I can count them on one hand.
- Surprisingly this was not added to the TCDB as of yet. Unlike my Sakic collection, adding Thome cards has been few and far between for me.
- 8 copies of this card are currently on COMC, the cheapest at $1.50 and the most expensive is $3.85. Not too bad a range in my opinion.
- Robert
- I like the dark blue border of the card, but the Opening Day logo back then was a shade too big for my taste.
- No longer will we see Chief Wahoo on cards and uniforms as MLB decided to remove it effective 2019. Is the nickname Indians the next to go?
- Career homer #277 was the first of 2 on the day against the Red Sox Hideo Nomo. Jim would go 2 for 3 with 3 RBI in a 8-5 win to make a winner of Bartolo Colon.
- Robert
- Great card depicting Ichiro breaking the 84 year old record that George Sisler held for most hits in a season. Love how the photo captures the fireworks going off in the background while the hits counter is rolling over to 258.
- 4 copies of this card are currently for sale on COMC. Cheapest is at 57 cents, most expensive is at $1.75. Can't say that I'd pay $1.75 for this card, and I might be stretching it to pay 57 cents as well.
- Game 23, sees the hit streak go to 5 with a 1 for 6 performance against the White Sox. The hit was a double off of starter James Baldwin in a 8-3 win to extend the M's record to 19-4. Ichiro's average dips 10 points to .337.
- Robert
- Was kind of surprised for how old this card was and how many of them are out there that this wasn't added to the TCDB. That has been handled...
- Supposedly there are 100 copies of a Gold Starquest card out there of Joe Sakic. In all these years I have never seen one. Found a Chipper Jones '99 SQ gold out of 100 ebay auction, $125. Yikes.
- Three copies of this are currently on COMC. Cheapest is $1.99, most expensive is $3.70. Not bad.
- Robert
- This is the middle tier of the Starquest inserts. I love the look of this card better than the other two versions because of the green.
- Still cheap: COMC has a copy of this card for just 89 cents, which is still reasonable for any Sakic insert.
- I've been trying to find the odds of pulling the green and red versions, but have had no luck. If anyone sees them anywhere online, please point them out to me.
- Robert
- I don't have a whole lot of inserts that I liked over the years, but Starquest cards are one of the few that I enjoyed. Don't know why, I just do.
- The blue version is the most common, which in turn means that they are the most inexpensive. The cheapest version of this card right now on COMC is just 38 cents, which is a steal for any Sakic card.
- Bio on the back: "...Joe Sakic has earned eight selections to the NHL All-Star Game..." Finally a card that doesn't mention his shorthanded skills!
- Robert
