Since debuting in 1992, the Pinnacle model constructed a popularity for inventive design and high-quality imagery.
And the 1996 Pinnacle baseball card set definitely stored that custom alive…
As you browse the 400-card guidelines, you may discover high-quality, borderless imagery accented by gold foil triangular nameplates.
The cardstock was thicker, and the reverse sides even boasted small anti-counterfeiting strips.
Whereas nobody would possible be motivated to make counterfeits of those playing cards right now, it was a cool function again then.
The 1996 Pinnacle baseball set might not include any iconic pastime must-haves, however it did function loads of Corridor-of-Fame expertise.
And on this information, we’ll check out the 15 most dear.
Let’s bounce proper in!
1996 Pinnacle #171 Derek Jeter
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $100
The Corridor-of-Fame careers of Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter are eerily paralleled.
Each had excellent rookie seasons for dynasties in ready, one 12 months aside in 1995 and 1996, respectively.
Each received a championship in that very same 12 months, ending their franchises’ maddening waits.
Each infielders spent their careers because the centerpiece of their groups, stacking division titles and October at-bats.
Nevertheless, that is the place the parallels diverge.
In’ 95, Jones received a World Sequence title for a Braves workforce that hadn’t received one throughout their time in Georgia.
In ’96, Jeter received a title for a starved Yankees fanbase after a superb Rookie-of-the-12 months efficiency.
The workforce New York beat?
The defending champions from Atlanta.
All of it went sideways from there.
Regardless of Atlanta’s decade-long dominance over the AL East, they received one other title with Jones in uniform.
However, Jeter received 4 extra championships, together with a ’99 sweep of Chipper and the Braves.
1996 Pinnacle #279 Derek Jeter
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $75
The “Hardball Heroes” subset featured a mix of full-blown superstars, future Corridor of Famers, and promising but unproven expertise.
On the time, guys like Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon fell into the third class, although they’d pan out simply nice.
Pinnacle should have been brief on pictures of the younger Jeter, as they used a zoomed-out model of the picture from his base card.
The cardboard’s reverse states, “A strong hitter with sensational velocity, Derek begins the ’96 season because the No. 1 shortstop within the Bronx. He was Baseball America’s 1994 Minor League Participant of the 12 months.”
And he ended up because the 1996 AL Rookie of the 12 months, slashing .314/.370/430 with 10 dwelling runs, 78 RBIs, and 104 runs scored.
Jeter was much more spectacular through the Yanks’ World Sequence run that season, slashing .361/.409/.459 in 15 postseason video games.
It was the right end to the beginning of a legendary profession.
1996 Pinnacle #99 Don Mattingly
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $50
The best participant of one of many New York Yankees’ worst eras acquired a horrid stroke of luck in 1996.
In 1995, New York Yankees captain Don Mattingly received his first style of postseason baseball in his 14th Massive League 12 months, solely to be rudely knocked out of the playoffs by the upstart Seattle Mariners in 5 video games.
Coping with continual accidents, Mattingly took 1996 off.
He meant to return in 1997, however all the things remained within the air.
Satirically, the 12 months Mattingly took off was when the Yankees took off.
Buoyed by a younger core and deft free-agent acquisitions, New York outlasted the Orioles for the franchise’s first AL East title since 1980.
The roll continued within the postseason because the Yankees buzzsawed by means of the Rangers and O’s earlier than upending the defending champion Braves for a long-awaited title.
It might have been Mattingly’s first championship.
As a substitute, he watched from the sidelines earlier than calling it a profession in late January 1997.
1996 Pinnacle #122 Ken Griffey Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $50
On the final day of January 1996, the Seattle Mariners put their cash the place their mouth was, signing younger franchise icon Ken Griffey Jr. to a report four-year, $34 million deal.
Now the highest-paid participant in baseball, the 26-year-old heart fielder returned to the MVP monitor of his 1994 marketing campaign, slashing .303/.392/.628 with 49 dwelling runs, 16 stolen bases, 125 runs, and 140 RBIs in 140 video games.
Griffey led all of baseball with 9.7 Wins Above Alternative.
Even contemplating the inflated stats of the mid-Steroid Period, Griffey’s manufacturing was mind-boggling.
On Could twenty fourth in opposition to the Yankees, “The Child” clubbed three dwelling runs, drove in six, and scored 5.
Whereas the Mariners took a step again from ALCS participant to exterior of the playoffs in 1996, Griffey’s reputation was at an all-time excessive.
The fervor round him was so wild that 1000’s of “Griffey in 96” mock marketing campaign stickers had been slapped throughout vehicles across the U.S.
1996 Pinnacle #134 Ken Griffey Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
1996 Pinnacle #203 Kirby Puckett
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
After rehabbing a damaged jaw from an errant pitch on the ultimate day of the 1995 season, Minnesota Twins celebrity Kirby Puckett readied to return to his All-Star methods within the spring of ’96.
Every little thing went in accordance with plan till the 36-year-old proper fielder skilled blurred imaginative and prescient and an obstructing black dot in his proper eye through the exhibition slate.
Puckett tried to attend out the imaginative and prescient points, remaining on the IL for the primary half of the 1996 season.
With the issues persevering with and no actual answer coming, Puckett introduced his retirement from the sport on July twelfth, ending probably the most storied and beloved profession in Twins baseball lore.
Whereas the early exit from baseball clearly weighed on him, the long run Corridor-of-Famer stayed upbeat.
This included a raucous profession celebration in September in entrance of a packed Metrodome crowd in Minneapolis.
”I am right here to inform Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, that tonight Kirby Puckett is the luckiest man on the planet,” Puckett stated.
1996 Pinnacle #205 Tony Gwynn
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
The 1996 MLB season did not begin nicely for Tony Gwynn.
It ended nicely, although, because it normally did.
Regardless of a Could droop (by his requirements) and a prolonged IL stint with a heel damage, the 36-year-old San Diego Padres proper fielder discovered his standard groove, steaming by means of the late months of the common season to a seventh NL batting title and third in a row.
“I am fairly ecstatic about this 12 months,” Gwynn stated. “I had such a sluggish begin, (however) I did my homework and got here out of nowhere to win.”
Gwynn got here out of the gates with a .400 common in April however dropped to only above .300 in Could and .314 in June.
These aren’t dangerous numbers for anybody else, however it was totally different for the sport’s most prolific base hit collector.
After lacking July together with his heel ailment, Gwynn posted months of .373 and .374 to storm previous Colorado’s Ellis Burks and Los Angeles’ Mike Piazza for the batting crown.
1996 Pinnacle #208 Barry Bonds
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
Earlier than he turned the Massive League equal of “The Hulk,” Barry Bonds was the sport’s most completed five-tool participant.
Check out his 1996 season.
A 12 months after posting his third 30/30 marketing campaign, the 31-year-old San Francisco Giants left fielder did himself ten higher.
(Twice.)
Positioned on the coronary heart of an in any other case imbalanced beginning lineup, Bonds racked up statistics like a child taking part in Tremendous Nintendo.
Whereas the Giants flailed to a 68-94 report, he thrived, main all NL gamers in WAR (9.7).
Bonds additionally paced the Majors in walks (151), together with an MLB-leading 30 intentional passes.
After which, there have been the homers and stolen bases.
Bonds swiped and swatted his solution to historical past, hitting 42 dwelling runs and stealing 40 bases to affix Jose Canseco (1988) because the second 40-40 Membership member.
By his 2001-2004 MVP peak, Bonds would ditch the trainers.
In ’96, although, his wheels had been nonetheless in full movement.
1996 Pinnacle #214 Cal Ripken Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
1995 was concerning the particular person accolades for Cal Ripken Jr.
The following was concerning the workforce’s success.
In ’95, the Baltimore Orioles legend introduced the nice vibes again to baseball together with his record-breaking 2,131st consecutive sport.
The Orioles themselves, although, had been the image of mediocrity.
Baltimore completed 71-73, nicely out of competition when Ripken surpassed Gehrig in September.
In 1996, the remainder of the O’s backed up Cal for the franchise’s first playoff look since their World Sequence win in 1983.
Ripken rebounded from a sub-average particular person effort in ’95, slashing .278/.341/.466 with 26 dwelling runs and 102 RBIs in 163 video games.
With Brady Anderson’s out-of-nowhere 50-home run season and Rafael Palmeiro’s top-six MVP end, Ripken’s contributions propelled Baltimore to contender standing.
Baltimore was in the end eradicated in a five-game ALCS by the rival Yankees.
Ripken performed nicely on the way in which there, hitting .342 in 9 postseason video games.
1996 Pinnacle #255 Ken Griffey Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
1996 Pinnacle #258 Cal Ripken Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
1996 Pinnacle #338 Rickey Henderson
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $40
1996 is a dividing line between the Corridor-of-Fame begin of Rickey Henderson’s profession and his sluggish march to retirement in 2003.
It is not that Henderson was a foul participant from ’96 on.
He posted a better-than-league-average OPS+ in 4 of his remaining eight seasons.
Nevertheless, gone was the perennial All-Star and former AL MVP, dominating the Majors together with his legs and bat.
In his place was a succesful, above-average leadoff hitter with ample velocity and a declining contact on the plate.
Henderson moved to San Diego on a two-year deal after a really sturdy 1995 with the Oakland A’s.
Regardless of his popularity as a showboat and me-first participant, Rickey was a galvanizing veteran presence for a Padres squad that made its first playoff look in twelve years.
His offensive numbers did not mirror his affect.
Henderson posted his worst OPS+ (108) since his 1979 rookie 12 months, hitting simply .241 with 9 dwelling runs, 29 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases in 148 video games.
1996 Pinnacle #114 Chipper Jones
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $30
Chipper Jones received a style of the championship excessive life on the finish of his 1995 rookie season.
From there, it was playoff disappointment after playoff disappointment.
The Braves adopted their first World Sequence title of the Atlanta period with ten NL East championships.
Jones was on the heart of all these Braves groups, which all crashed and burned earlier than the 12 months’s trophy presentation.
It began in 1996.
Jones had a stellar sophomore season, ending fourth within the league’s MVP race.
The primary-time All-Star slashed .309/.393/.530 with 30 dwelling runs, 87 walks, 114 runs, 110 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, and 6.2 WAR in 157 video games.
The 24-year-old infielder stored raking within the playoffs, posting a .345 common with a .924 OPS with 11 runs, 10 walks, and 9 RBIs in 16 video games.
Nevertheless, Atlanta couldn’t parlay that right into a title, surrendering a 2-0 lead within the Sequence with 4 consecutive losses to the Yankees.
“We had been the most popular workforce on the planet,” Jones stated. “Then hastily, we weren’t.”
1996 Pinnacle #130 Mark McGwire
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $30
After battling accidents the earlier three seasons, Mark McGwire delivered considered one of his most full seasons on the dish in 1996.
Recognized primarily for hitting the lengthy ball, McGwire’s .312 batting common and league-leading .730 slugging proportion showcased his improved capacity to mix energy with precision.
In simply 423 at-bats over 130 video games, McGwire crushed an MLB-best 52 dwelling runs, probably the most since he belted 49 throughout his record-setting rookie 1987 marketing campaign.
His towering blasts turned must-see theater for anybody who marveled at his moonshot homers.
He additionally led the league in OBP (.467) and OPS (1.198) whereas driving in 113 RBIs, proving his knack for delivering in clutch moments.
When you go by WAR (6.4), it was the second-best of his twelve seasons in Oakland exterior of 1992 (6.5).
In some ways, McGwire’s 1996 season was a precursor to his historic 1998 chase.
He completed seventh in MVP voting and earned his eighth All-Star choice, additional cementing his legacy as a generational expertise.
Sadly for Oakland followers, it was his final full season on the town: McGwire can be traded to the St. Louis Cardinals halfway by means of the 1997 season.
1996 Pinnacle #201 Frank Thomas
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Worth: $30
The curse of the Chicago Black Sox continued unabated in 1996.
The franchise’s fortunes tanked with gusto after Shoeless Joe Jackson and his White Sox compatriots threw the 1919 World Sequence in opposition to the Cincinnati Reds.
Chicago made only one World Sequence from 1920 to 2004, shedding the 1959 Fall Traditional in six.
Issues regarded to show in 1994, however it proved to be false hope.
Carried by back-to-back AL MVP Frank Thomas, the Sox cruised into mid-August because the AL Central leaders at 67-46. A playoff look appeared possible.
After which, the strike wiped all the things out.
Thomas received his MVP, however the Sox had been denied an opportunity to get the cursed monkey off their backs.
After a foul 1995, Chicago reloaded for a playoff chase in ’96.
Nevertheless, regardless of Thomas’ .349 common and 40 dwelling runs, the Sox pale out of Wild Card competition in September with a 9-12 stumble to the end.
The curse lived on, “Massive Damage” or not.
1996 Pinnacle Baseball Playing cards In Assessment
The most important drag on this set is its lack of big-time rookie playing cards.
Regardless of that includes a whole “Rookies” subset, only a few are thought of “true” rookies.
And of these which might be, not one of the gamers turned out to be big-time legends.
Nevertheless, there isn’t a scarcity of star energy within the set, with a number of superstars showing a number of occasions with base playing cards and within the totally different subsets.
Talking of subsets, there have been a number of within the guidelines, together with:
- The Naturals (#134 – 163)
- Rookies (#164 – 193; 368 – 392)
- Checklists (#194 – 200; 393 – 399)
- Hardball Heroes (#254 – 283)
- .300 Sequence (#300 – 308; 312 – 313; 318; 322- 323; 334; 336)
The “.300 Sequence” subset was fascinating, paying tribute to a number of gamers who batted over .300 and aligning their card quantity within the sequence to their respective averages.
With the way in which the sport is performed right now, a subset like that won’t emerge for fairly a while, if ever.
Total, not one of the playing cards on this draw overwhelming consideration in right now’s pastime, however you possibly can see that 1996 Pinnacle baseball at the least presents a good quantity of nostalgia for followers of the period.
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