Random Ray - 1995 Collectors Choice

This is the second Collectors Choice card I have featured on my Random Ray posts. Yes, I am going to post all of them at some point, because these were great cards. I don't care that they were marketed for kids or that they were $1 pack cards at discount retailers. 

This card stays true to Upper Deck as a card brand. Great photography with a simple and modern design.

Here is the front of the 1995 Collectors Choice Ray Lankford card.  

All of the design elements, player name, team name, and brand logo, are all on the edges of the card. The main focus is the picture. This is a nice action shot of Ray diving back into first base against the Giants. I would try to do that thing where I figure out where and when the picture was taken, but Ray was frequently on base during road day games against the Giants in 1994.  

I love the Cardinals road uniforms from the 1990s and early 2000s. I still have no idea why they gave up on wearing the blue hats for every road game. It's a good look.

Back of the card. 

The stats are really simple on the back, but you get another really nice big color photograph of Lankford. The designer did a good job of balancing the space between the stat box and picture. Honestly, knowing that this was geared towards kids, I was in high school which counts, I don't mind the simple stat box. 

If you have a favorite player from the 1990s, you can never go wrong finding a card of them from a Collectors Choice set.  

Random Ray - 1997 Collectors Choice

The first half of the 1990s were not good years to be a Cardinals fan.  I feel like I say that every week on my Random Ray posts.  The team typically featured a combination of older, inexpensive players who were past their prime and younger prospects who did not pan out for various reasons.  It really all boiled down to the fact that the team's owner, August Busch III, was really cheap and did not care about the team.

  That all changed after the 1995 season.  The team was sold to the current ownership group and they actually tried to improve the roster by adding good players.  Before the 1996 season, the Cardinals signed or traded for Ron Gant, Andy Benes, Royce Clayton, Gary Gaetti, Luis Alicea, Todd Stottlemyre, and Dennis Eckersley.  I am probably forgetting some people.  

Do you know how nice it was to find baseball cards of Ray Lankford pictured alongside baseball players who were actually talented? 

This card was in Series 1 of the 1997 Collectors Choice set.  Many of the Cardinals photos for Series 1 were taken during the team's first few games of the 1996 season against the Mets in New York.  Note the blue dugout and orange handrails in the background.  The picture looks like its following a Ron Gant home run.  A quick flip through the box scores from the 1996 Cardinals shows Gant homered in the second game of the season against future Cardinals closer, Jason Isringhausen.  

Always nice when you can track a picture down to a specific game and event.  

Back of the card.  

I am not a big fan of overly busy card backs that are crammed with a lot of information.  However, Upper Deck seems to make this one seem decent.  There are a decent amount of stats, a nice write-up about Ray Lankford, and I dig the "Did You Know" trivia/factoid at the bottom.  The highlight on the card back is the picture at the top.  Interesting that Ray Lankford is wearing Dmitri Young's batting helmet.  

Dmitri wore 24 for the Cardinals in 1996 and 1997 and was a switch hitter.  Given Ray is wearing a batting practice jersey and gray pants, I am guessing this is from a Spring Training game and the team packed lightly.  I don't think the veteran players even appear that often in the road games in Spring Training.  

Overall, a nice card.  Love these Collector's Choice cards.  

Random Ray - 1998 Collector's Choice

I don't care what people say about Collector's Choice, I loved these cards back in the 1990s.  They were cheap retail cards that were often seen as a kid-friendly product.  I was in high school and college when Upper Deck was cranking out these sets.  I liked that the Collector's Choice sets were large and featured a lot of different players from the different teams.  There were quite a few 1990s Cardinals players who managed to make the checklist of Collector's Choice but never appeared in the Topps base set.  

Loved those mail-in home run cards too.  

I picked out the 1998 Collector's Choice card for today's Random Ray post but will get around to the others in time.  Players who reached the All-Star Game were given cards with gray borders and a little logo in the top corner of the card.  Ray Lankford only made the All-Star Game once in his career in 1997, which meant that the 1998 Collector's Choice card got the special treatment.  

(Sparkling sound) 

Nice action shot of Ray Lankford hitting in Coors Field.  This card was in Series 2 of the Collector's Choice, so it came out in June.  You can tell the photograph on the card was taken in 1998 because there is no number on the front of the jersey.  I love cards where you can trace the photograph back to a specific game.  

The Cardinals played the Rockies during the second week of the 1998 season in Denver.  The first game of the series was a day game, also the Rockies home opener.  It was a controversial game that was decided on a key play that involved Ray Lankford.  Woody Paige, from ESPN and Denver Post fame.....

had a write-up of the play and also made an offer to take a drug test to prove his version of the play was correct.  

From the April 9th, 1998 Denver Post.....  

"St. Louis' Ray Lankford made an extraordinary catch at knee level. Helton tagged at third while Castilla blew past second base. Helton slowed on his path to home and hollered for Castilla to return. The ball, meanwhile, was relayed to first base to get Castilla, but not until after Helton had scored.

Even though the inning was over on the double play, the score should have been 12-10. The Rockies scored a run in the eighth and another in the ninth, and the Cards and the Rox still could have been playing this morning to break a 12-12 tie.

But the Rockies didn't receive credit for Helton's run.........

I saw the entire sequence perfectly with my own two surgically improved eyes from the press box.

Following Lankford's catch, I looked down and watched a rather lackadaisical Helton cross the plate, then instantly shifted attention to first just as the ball arrived.

There is absolutely no doubt Helton touched home for the run before St. Louis' Mark McGwire touched first for the inning's last out. I've never been so certain. I'll take a lie detector, or a drug, test."

Back of the card.  

Well, this is an interesting photo of Ray Lankford bunting a baseball with his batting helmet on backward.  This photo was actually used on the front of another baseball Ray Lankford baseball card.  I will get to that in another post.  

Upper Deck seemed to reuse a lot of facts about players.  I am almost certain that Ray Lankford hitting two upper-deck home runs in Riverfront Stadium and his Texas League MVP are mentioned on at least five other Upper Deck cards.  I guess it's what happens when one company makes 15 different card sets.  

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 73 - Jose Oliva

Since it is Jackie Robinson Day, I thought I would do the last Cardinals player who wore 42 prior to Major League Baseball retiring the number across the game. The Cardinals would later retire 42 a second time for Hall of Fame reliever Bruce Sutter.  

The last player to wear 42 prior to Jackie Robinson Day in 1997 was Jose Oliva, who has no relationship to Tony Oliva.  He played for the Braves in 1994 and 1995, before he was traded to the Cardinals in August of 1995.  The Cardinals stuck him at third base for a few games the last few weeks of the season.  Oliva hit .122 with 2 home runs in almost 100 at bats during his time with the Cardinals.  

The brief stint earned Oliva a few cards in 1996.  I have three of them, I know I am missing one or two.  My favorite is his 1996 Collector's Choice.  

It's a simple card with him looking at the third base coach, or something like that.  You can see the 42 on the front of his jersey.  By the far the best picture on any of his Cardinals cards.  

Next.  

This is my least favorite card of Oliva.  Who puts a check swing on a baseball card?  Donruss.  Did I mention they went bankrupt?  It feels a little lazy to make a card of a player with this type of action shot.  I'd rather take the Collector's Choice card above where he is just looking at the coach.  

Last.  

This card has a lot of potential.  I want to like it more than the Collectors Choice.  The photo is clearly taken in Wrigley Field, but I don't love that the ivy walls in the background are blurry.  I thought the picture of Oliva might actually be airbrushed.  He did play a game with the Cardinals against the Cubs in Wrigley, but his hat looks off.  Still think this might be a Braves picture that was airbrushed.  

Oliva played in the Cardinals Minor League system during the 1996 season, and was out of professional baseball in 1997.  He was killed in a car accident in December of 1997.  

Here is the 42 on the outfield wall of Busch Stadium.  

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 54 - John Mabry

Mabry worked as a hitting coach for the Cardinals in recent years under the unsuccessful and unpopular Mike Matheny.  He took a lot of flack, maybe rightfully so, about the lack of offense during his time with the club as a coach.  More specifically, the team seemed to lack much power.  Mabry was not exactly know for his power as a player, which likely added to fans criticism of him as a coach.

Manager Mike Marheny, John Mabry.And Billy Mueller all fired from #Stlcards staff

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 15, 2018

Cardinals fans rejoiced.  I am not sure if he has found another job as a coach.  

The Cardinals selected Mabry in the 6th Round of 1991 Major League Draft.  He made it through the Minors with little fanfare.  Mabry never put together a great season in the Cardinals system, he was just sort of a solid player who happened to reach the Major League level at a time when the roster was a little thin on talent.  It did not help that All-Star first baseman Gregg Jefferies left the Cardinals for the Phillies.  

Mabry showed up in a few different baseball card products while he was in the Minors, but there were better Cardinals prospects to go after beyond Mabry.  He appeared in an Upper Deck Minors set, also the 1994 Bowman set.  My favorite early Mabry card was his 1994 Score Rookie/Traded card.  Loved the red border on these cards.....

He was more or less a full time player on the 1995 Cardinals.  He frequently started at first base for the team, but also made some appearances in the outfield.  One of Mabry's best attributes as a player was his throwing arm.  The Cardinals had a crowded outfield though with Ray Lankford, Brian Jordan, and Bernard Gilkey taking up the majority of playing time.  

I think there are several 1995 cards that do a good job of summarizing Mabry's offense skills.  

A Collector's Choice card with a picture of Mabry throwing the bat.  He did hit over .300 in 1995, which is something positive.  Mabry also came in fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting.  

Look at that check swing.  Mabry also only hit 5 home runs, which seems borderline criminal for a corner infielder.  His slugging percentage was .405, which sadly ranked just behind the aforementioned starting outfielders.  He often occupied important places in the line-up, but probably would have been a seventh or eighth place hitter in many other lineups.  

One of his highlights from 1995 was a fake bunt walk off hit against the Cubs.  

If you want to understand how bland and boring Mabry was a player, I think it is best exemplified by his Emotion card from 1995.  These cards had adjectives stamped on the side of the player's picture which was a description of their style of play.  Mabry's word.....

Adroit, meaning skillful, is a way of saying he shows up and he puts his jersey on the correct way.  I am not exactly sure in what way Mabry showed that he was adroit.  Really, it probably made people go grab a dictionary or thesaurus.  

Seriously, he looked nice on a card or two.  Like his Flair.....

That's a good look for Mabry.  He just hit a single.  

John Mabry's best season was probably 1996.  He just missed hitting .300, had 13 home runs, 30 doubles, and drove in 74 runs.  In the Postseason, he hit .300 against the Padres in the Divisional Series and .261 against the Braves in the National League Championship Series.  Mabry also had his best baseball card made, which appeared in the 1996 Leaf Signature product.  

Mabry has some oddball autographs from early in his career, but this is his best autographed card available.  Probably his best card overall too.  I am not a huge fan, if you could not tell, and if I did not need the other cards in the post to complete sets in my collection, this would likely be one of my only Mabry cards.  

There were a few cards of Mabry during the 1997 and 1998 seasons, but his role on the club was rightfully diminished after the team signed Ron Gant and traded for Mark McGwire.  The two moves made it hard for him to find playing time as an outfielder or on the infield.  The Cardinals played around with making him a third baseman, but that did not work out well.  

My favorite 1997 card of Mabry was his Stadium Club.  He's fielding in this picture, but I like the action shot in Wrigley against the Cubs.  That park always makes for a great baseball card backdrop.  Having the Cubs player being Ryne Sandberg also probably helps too.  Great photo, exactly what you would expect out of a Stadium Club card.  

Mabry was non-tendered by the Cardinals after the 1997 season and ended up playing for the Mariners in 1998.  He still had a few cards with the Cardinals in 1998 though.  My favorite is his Topps card, which shows him fielding a ground ball at first base.  

The rest of Mabry's career was spent on the bench bouncing around the league.  There is always space for an extra left handed bat.  Mabry would reappear for the 2001, 2004, and 2005 Cardinals teams.  In between he played for the Mariners, Padres, Marlins, Phillies, A's, Cubs, and Rockies.  There were not a ton of baseball cards to commemorate his second and third stints with the Cardinals.  Those that were made were rather.......

boring.  Sort of fitting.  

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 53 - Dmitri Young

This is a nice post about Dmitri Young.  He has had sort of a bad rap amongst Cardinals fans for awhile, but I really do not see what people have against the guy.  The man collects baseball cards and at one point Dmitri also had one of the most incredible baseball card collections out there before he cashed out 2.5 million dollars.

The Roberto Clemente rookie in his hand sold $400K alone, which is ridiculous, but if he got someone to pay that much good for Dmitri.

A little bit longer post today for my 1990s Cardinals post.  I like Dmitri even if Cardinals do not like always like him.  

Back to baseball.  The Cardinals have finished in last place once over the last 70 or 80 years.  It has not happened much, but I am not in the mood to go look it up at the moment.  The one time it has happened in modern baseball times was in 1990.  Whitey Herzog quit in the middle of the year, so did Terry Pendleton.  The team even traded long time fixture Willie McGee to the A's to bolster their playoff run.  Hot mess.

The Cardinals had the fourth overall pick and used it on 17 year old Oxnard, California high schooler Dmitri Young.  He was on USA Today's All-American High School baseball team and had received a scholarship to baseball at Miami.

Dmitri had some big numbers at several of his stops along through the Cardinals Minor League system.  In his first full season in the Minors he hit .310 with 14 home runs and 36 doubles in A-Ball with the Springfield Cardinals.  Later, when he reached Triple A Louisville, he hit .333 with 15 home runs, 31 doubles, and even managed to swipe 16 bases.  Won the batting title.

Young was not without his controversies before reaching St. Louis.  Namely, he went after a fan in the stands while he was playing for the Arkansas Travelers, who were the Cardinals Double A team at the time of the incident.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Young spoke about this incident a few times during his career, while he would have handled the situation differently, it definitely hurt his relationship with the Cardinals and some fans in St. Louis.  I still collected a few of his Minor League cards.  Probably one of my first times every dealing with a product outside of the usual Major League Baseball products in the early 1990s was tracking down a few Dmitri Young cards  

I have a few favorites.  

I think the 1994 Upper Deck Minor League card is my favorite.  The most professional looking of all his Minor League cards in my opinion and I love the action shot.  Dmitri Young actually spent the majority of his time in the Minors playing third base and left field.  The Cardinals dabbled with him at first base in the Minors, but did not play him extensively at that position until his second stint at Triple A in 1996.  

I'm just throwing up this Classic Best card because the scan was handy, but Dmitri has a ton of these odd-ballish cards from 1991 and 1992.  He was in the lower Minors and on many of the cards it shows.  The Cardinals must have gone through some phase in the late 1990s where their Minor League teams all wore surplus polyester uniforms or repurposed shirseies from the team store.  

Didn't Pedro Guerrero retire sometime around 1991 or 1992?  

Would not shock me.  There are a few where Dmitri Young is just wearing a slugger bird logo shirt.  

The Cardinals ditched this logo in 1992, but it's all over their Minor League cards from that era.  Old man Busch was saving himself some money, also not putting anything on the team store on clearance.

Dmitri ended up getting called up by the Cardinals at the end of the 1996 season, just in time for the team's Postseason run.  They were not supposed to make the playoffs the first season that LaRussa managed the team, let alone get within a game of the World Series.  Dmitri did not contribute much during the final weeks of the season, nor during the first part of the National League playoffs.  However, he had a huge hit in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead in the Series against the defending World Series Champions.  

It was one of the few good moments from a frustrating National League Championship Series.  Card companies seemed to magically remember that Dmitri Young was around and was going to get playing time the following season.  Really the only season where he had a full slate of Cardinals cards turned out to be 1997.  

Best card.....

is from Collector's Choice because they gave him a highlights card for hitting that triple in the National League Championship Series.  The front picture is from the actual hit. The back of the card.....

very well done by Upper Deck.  

A few more.  Bowman gave him an autograph card.  He also had one in the Donruss Signature set, but the Bowman is a little bit nicer looking in my opinion....

It is also a little harder to find and will cost you $3 instead of $2.  That's without shipping.  A few more recognizable brands.  Donruss gave him a Rookie Diamond Kings.  Not the same as just a regular Diamond Kings card, but they were not making the Rated Rookie cards at this point.  

Almost all of the rest of the Dmitri Young cards from 1997 came from the Pinnacle brands.  I am pretty sure that had a photographer show up for infield/batting practice one day, and they came up with photos for every Dmitri Young card for the rest of that season.  

Pinnacle Inside......

Blue road practice jersey with a red turtleneck in Candlestick Park.  

Candlestick Park, Blue jersey, red turtleneck.  Look, Dmitri wears Nikes.  

New Pinnacle, was like New Coke in many ways, and apparently used recycled pictures that were just cropped a little differently the photos used for other card products.  

Cannot quite see his batting gloves in this picture.  

Finally a Fleer Ultra to close out 1997.  

Good picture of Dmitri playing first base, which is what he did most of the time during the 1997 until the end of July.  His first full season in the Majors was a disappointment.  He never did show any of the pop, nor drive in his swing that made him one of the better players in the Minor Leagues.  

The Cardinals needed offense and they ended up trading for A's first baseman Mark McGwire.  He was a free agent to be, but had spent the majority of his career playing for Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa and the front office was convinced they could sign him if they got him to play a few months in St. Louis.  

McGwire hit and ended up signing a contract with the Cardinals.  Dmitri Young was traded to the Reds for washed up reliever Jeff Brantley.  He still appeared on a few early 1998 releases as a member of the Cardinals.....

Dmitri seemed like a guy who needed a change of scenery early on with the Cardinals.  Not usually the way things go in St. Louis.  Add in the fact that the Cardinals got hosed on the trade by an in division rival, and I think that has added to some of the negativity around the legacy of Dmitri Young according to Cardinals fans.  

In a curious twist to the Cardinals trading him to the Reds during the 1997 off-season, he was actually selected by the Devil Rays during the expansion draft and traded back to the Reds.  He did not have many cards in 1998.  However, his first season in Cincinnati was a huge success that made him a regular in sets for most of his playing career.  

Dmitri played four years for the Reds and never hit less than .300 and had an on-base percentage of .353 during that four year span.  

He also spent five years with the Tigers and managed to still hit even though he was frequently the only quality bat in their lineup.  In 2003, he made the American League All-Star team, almost hit 30 home runs, and had a .909 OPS.  The Tigers lost 119 games.  It was statistically his best season as a professional player.  

He ended his career by playing the Nationals during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  Dmitri was only 34 years old when he retired from baseball.  During his last two seasons with the Nationals he hit .310/.382/.469 and even made the National League All-Star team in 2007.  He became a fan favorite of sorts with the Nationals, who were in their early days in Washington.  Dmitri Young had talked about trying to make a comeback at one point, but he stayed retired.  

Very nice career overall.  I have always been convinced that if he stayed in St. Louis, he would have never had the career that he had playing for the Reds and Tigers.  While Cardinals fans can grade Dmitri Young rather harshly at times, but there are much worse things that can happen with high draft picks than having a 13 year career with a few All-Star Game appearances.  

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 48 - Rick Sutcliffe

A few weeks back I did a post on Tom Henke pitching his final season in a Cardinals uniform.  That was a great short term signing of a veteran player for the team.  There were a few others during the 1990s that did not work out quite as well.  Mainly, I suspect that some of these players were really on the Cardinals because they agreed to play for next to nothing.

If August Busch III is reading, you are welcome to correct that assumption in the comments.  

Just to state for the 40th time since I started writing this thread of 1990s posts, the Cardinals went cheap after August II, Gussie, died and his son took over the team.  Rick Sutcliffe had won 10 games with the Baltimore Orioles in 1993, but his ERA was 5.75.  Maybe that's not horrible pitching in Camden Yards during the steroid era, but he was clearly not the guy who led the National League in wins during the 1987, the Rookie of the Year in 1979, and the Cy Young in 1984. 

Most important reason for Rick Sutcliffe making an appearance on the 1994 Cardinals?  His salary was $250,000.  That was not the Major League minimum in 1994, but the players near him in terms of salary on the Cardinals included Vincente Palacios, John Habyan, Rheal Cormier, and Mike Perez.  Not the pricy part of the payroll.  

The 1994 season was Sutcliffe's last as a Major Leaguer.  He had two long stints on the disabled list, which limited him to just 16 starts in what amounted to half a season's games.  He actually ended up with a winning record, 6-4, in spite of the fact that his ERA ended at 6.52.  Sutcliffe had several games which did a lot to jump his ERA up, probably a little inflated.  

On to baseball cards.  I will do four cards for Sutcliffe, two from 1994 and two from 1995.  A few bonus cards at the end.  

Sutcliffe was always a mullet type of guy and this card shows off that hair.  He actually had some shorter hair at some point with the Cardinals.  I also like the sunglasses.  I know those were probably really cool in 1994.   I am not a glasses type of person, never worn them, and I don't do sunglasses either.  This pair actually remind me of Kenny Powers.  I guess you throw in the mullet......

makes me want to check to see if Rick Sutcliffe has ever taught P.E. class in North Carolina.  I like the Stadium Club cards, always nice photography.  I like the picture on the card, but I always thought the label maker bottom is little bit odd.  Wasn't there a Simpsons episode out around this time where Bart gets a label maker from his aunts for this birthday?  

and there you have it.  This was during Season 3, which aired in 1992.  Someone at Topps watched this episode and then designed this Stadium Club set.  

Next card.  

This is the short haired version of Rick Sutcliffe.  Not clearly as cool as the mullet.  This is much more along the lines of Rick Sutcliffe the guy who works on Sunday Night Baseball.  Throw a shirt, tie, and sport coat on him....

This card is from the 1994 Score Traded/Rookie set.  Everyone remembers these cards for the ARod rookie.  Always kind of liked the red borders with the Cardinals cards, but it stinks that the team did not have many cards in the set.  I think the best Cardinals card is either this Sutcliffe or John Mabry.  Slightly depressing.  

That was really it for his 1994 cards with the Cardinals.  He also had a few with the Orioles, but overall Sutcliffe just did not have many cards that year.  You can only imagine, given the season he had in 1994, that the selection of 1995 was even more sparse.  Sutcliffe had two different cards the year after he retired.  

First up.  

A Collector's Choice card.  Upper Deck always had nice photography on their cards.  Nice shot of Sutcliffe signing autographs.  Not sure what else is going on here.  

Next.  

Another Score card.  Nice enough picture and a decent card to go out with.  

One thing that is slightly disappointing about Sutcliffe's 1995 card selection is the fact that he does not have a Topps card.  I know that in 1994 Topps gave him a card with the Orioles......

which is understandable since he played the 1993 season with them.  Given the longevity of Sutcliffe's career, the fact that he won several major awards, it would have been nice if Topps had given him some sort of send off for the end of his career.  For what it is worth, they did end up giving Sutcliffe a few cards in the mid 2000s, which are pretty nice.  

and they thankfully avoid his time with the Cardinals.  The retirement years Sutcliffe cards only had a two year run, since there has not been a single card made of the former pitcher.  

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 41- Ron Gant

The Cardinals ownership changed after the 1995 season.  Anheuser Busch had owned the team since the mid 1950s, but after the passing of Gussie Busch in 1989 the team had been run by his son August Busch III.  Gussie loved the Cardinals and worked to put a winning product on the field.  August III liked the idea that fans spent money at Busch Stadium, but could care less about what happened on the field.

The new ownership group was headed by Bill DeWitt Jr..  He grew up in St. Louis where his father, Bill DeWitt, was a baseball executive with the St. Louis Browns, Yankees, Tigers, and Reds.  DeWitt Sr. even ended up owning the Reds for a few years in the 1960s.

DeWitt Jr.'s made many moves after taking ownership of the team in hopes of improving the on-field product.  Tony LaRussa was hired as manager, the team traded for half of the Oakland A's and Royce Clayton, and the team signed two high end free agents.  Andy Benes was signed to lead the rotation and long-time Brave Ron Gant was signed to bolster the middle of the lineup.

During his time with the Braves and Reds had frequently appeared in playoffs and was one of the better impact bats available that off season.  He had left the Braves after he broke his leg in an ATV accident before the 1994 season.  Gant proved himself worthy with a good year in Cincinnati....

which landed him a 5 million dollar a year contract with the Cardinals.  

Gant's first season with the Cardinals was a huge success.  He hit 30 home runs in just 122 games and the Cardinals got within a game of the NLCS.  Gant was clutch throughout the unexpected playoff run.  

Gant spent two more seasons on the Cardinals and they were not good.  In 1997 the Cardinals struggled to score runs during the first half of the season and Gant was a large part of the problem.  He had an OPS of just .698 and a slugging percentage of .388, or 50 points lower than leadoff hitter Delino DeShields.  

Mark McGwire came over to the Cardinals from Oakland at the end of July in 1997.  Gant was pushed down the lineup in 1998 in favor of hitting McGwire, Lankford, and Brian Jordan in the middle of the lineup.  The team eventually traded for Fernando Tatis and brought up top prospect J.D. Drew.  Add in the free agent signing of Eric Davis and Gant was toast in St. Louis.  

Gant's role as a starter eventually diminished after leaving the Cardinals, but he still had some nice moments down the stretch of his career.  Including a pretty good playoff game as a spot starter for the A's in 2001.

Baseball card wise, there are a lot of Ron Gant cards in a Cardinals uniform.  I had a few hundred to sort through to find a few for this post.  I narrowed it down to a small stack of cards.  More specifically, one marble and a few baseball cards.

Marble first.

One of the great oddball sets of the 1990s is the 1997 Topps Marble Shooters set.  The small plastic marbles are tough to find and can be pretty pricy at times.  I have managed to scrap together the complete Cardinals set, three different marbles, over the course of 20 years.  Gant was included in the set along with fellow outfielders Brian Jordan and Ray Lankford.  

Not my favorite Gant, but certainly a great conversation piece.  

Next up is a sort of cool low budget card.  

Who can forget the old "You Crash The Game" cards that Upper Deck used to put in their card packs during the 1990s?  Not sure how many people actually followed along with these cards and took advantage of the exchange program.  Gant went yard twice against the Cubs on in a July 12th win.  

Since Gant hit the home run, this card could be exchanged for a winning card.  

I have seen some people call these Winner cards, other Cell cards.  Whatever you want to call it, Ron Gant is wearing a Reds uniform on the card, but you just cannot see the logos on his jersey and batting helmet.  There is only one number 6 on the Cardinals......

and it is not Ron Gant.  

Last two quickly.  I am supposed to be writing a newsletter, but this has been a great few minutes of procrastination.  

This is THE Ron Gant baseball card.  It does not matter if you get the 1997 Topps or Topps Chrome version of this card, both are pretty incredible.  Same picture, just a matter of whether you want shine or no shine.   If someone asked me about Ron Gant, this is where I would point them.  This is what Ron Gant was as a baseball player.  Even when he was on the Braves, his arms were rather bulky.    He is still ripped to this day.......

Which brings me to my last card.  If the 1997 Topps card shows what Ron Gant was as a baseball player, the 1999 Topps card shows what Ron Gant was a Cardinals player.  This photo says it all....

He's swinging, he looks happy, and I am not sure he hit anything.  I am not saying that Ron Gant was somehow happy about not hitting while he was on the Cardinals, but if I were getting paid a bunch of money to hit baseballs and have huge biceps I would be pretty happy most of the time too.  Gant was not actually on the 1999 Cardinals, don't worry Topps got him a Phillies card in 1999.

Let's procrastinate three extra minutes to talk about why Topps made a card of Ron Gant in a Cardinals uniform after he retired.  This is the card.....

Ron Gant got traded off the Cardinals at the end of the 1998 season because he could not hit consistently for power and then he and Tony LaRussa got into some sort of verbal spat.  Not sure much good came out of Gant's time as a Cardinals.  Why are we revisiting these three years?  I am sure there are some Braves fans who would love to see a Ron Gant card, maybe the Reds?  At least Topps stopped at one.