The Rundown 1996- Cards 27-30

Card 27- Tony Fernandez
Tony was on the Yankees in 1996, which is surprising because I've never heard of him being on the Yankees. He was on the Blue Jays for a while until 1990, where the Bule Jays played tag with Fernandez and he ended up wandering around baseball, with stints on the Padres, Mets, Reds and Yankees. After 1996, he went to the Indians, until he returned to Toronto in 1998, and after a short stint with the Brewers, back again in 2001, before his retirement.
Chance of getting into the hall of fame- 40%- If he's lucky.
Card rating- 5. Shot of him making a play has some action to it, but not too much.

Card 28- Rich Becker
Rich was on the Twins when the card came out. Rich was a rookie in 1996 with the Twins, and not much had happened before. Not much happened after either. In his last three seasons, he was a nomadic machine, having 1/2 season stints with the Orioles, Mets, Brewers, A's, Tigers and A's again.
Chance of getting into the Hall of Fame- Zero. No one knows who this guy is.
Card Rating- 7. Another action shot, but it's in mid catch. Great card.

Card 29- Andujar Cedeno
Who? Says here that he was a Padre. Andujar was with the Astros for a few years until he flip-flopped around, going to several teams in his last few years.
Chance of Getting into the Hall of Fame- Zero. Again, no one knows this guy.
Card rating- 6. Elegant shot of him running to the base from the front. Pretty good.

Card 30- Paul Molitor
Now we're talking. In 1996, Paul was with Toronto, I mean LE JAYS! But the Hall of Famer has more history than that. Paul made his debut in 1977 with the Brewers. Paul and Robin Yount soon fought for the BEST BREWER EVER competition (That might soon be taken over by the World's Fattest Vegetarian), but in 1993, he signed with Toronto, and in 1996 he signed with the Twins, before his retirement in 1998.
Chances of getting into the Hall of Fame- 100% The fact that he IS in the Hall of Fame helps.
Card rating- 8. Nice shot of him going in for the swing.

I might get a few Target packs today, so be prepared.

NEW SERIES!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, it's because of the lack of...anything, lately!

Anyway, I'm going to be starting a new series called "the Rundown", in which I search the web for an entire series, then post all the cards from that series. The new Baseball Card Database has Topps 1996, so that's a pretty good place to start. I will be skipping all the All Star cards, and I will get back to them later, after I'm done. When I talk about each card, I will say how there career went before the card, and then after the card, and other quirky things.

Let's get right to it with number 13, 14 and 15. I will be doing a few at a time, and I can't get the picture so I'll make a link-

Number 13- Todd Helton

The first few cards from the series were draft picks that had been acquired before the cards had gone to print. Our three cards today were part of those.
Before the card- Todd Helton didn't have any cards
After the card- Todd Helton became a superstar in Colorado after his rookie year. He made a few all star teams, was a fixture at 1st base and was an all around good player.
Player Rating- 7. This guy has potential
Chance of getting into the Hall of Fame- 60%. Todd's an okay player, and he just doesn't seem to match up to the numerous people in the Hall of Fame.

Number 14- Mark Redman

Again, rookie card, and draft pick.
Before the card- nothing.
After the card- Mark didn't get started until 1999, where he pitched for a few years until he was traded to Detriot in 2001. After that, the once great pitcher ended up getting tossed between the Marlins, A's, Pirates, Royals, Braves and Rockies, where he still pitches.
Player Rating- 3. Not what he used to be.
Chance of getting into the Hall of Fame- 10%. Small chance.

Number 15- Michael Barrett

Rookie, draft pick, blablablablabla
Before the card- nothing
After the card- Michael played for Montreal for a few more seasons until he was traded to Chicago, where he was an awesome catcher and he was best known. Then, in 07, he was shipped to the Padres, where's been ever since.
Player Rating- 5. Okay player.
Chance of getting into the Hall of Fame- 50% could go either way if he gets better.

I'll just knock out the rest of the rookies tomorrow.