Completed insert set – 1998 Topps Milestone

1998 had some tough insert sets – and I’ve now knocked them all off their pedestal!

Info about the set:

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Set description:  This was a retail-only set in 1998 Topps series 2.  This set focused on career milestones that these individual players were close to at the end of the 1997 season.  The front has an action photo and a larger posed photo over a blue foil cloud background.  The back discusses the milestones that player could reach in 1998.

Set composition:  10 cards, 1:36 odds (1998 Topps series 2 retail)

Hall of Famers:  6.  Eckersley, Griffey Jr., Gwynn, Maddux, Ripken, Thomas

The other 4 guys all had some level of steroid implications.

How I put the set together:

• 5 cards from COMC
• 3 cards from Beckett’s marketplace
• 1 card from Sportlots
• 1 card from eBay

Like the series 1 retail-only insert set from 1998 (Baby Boomers) – I didn’t get any from actual card packs, makes me sad 😦

Thoughts on the set:  This is a nice insert set, I like themes that these sets had around this time frame and it’s a very pretty design.  Reminds me of some mid-90s Upper Deck insert sets I also really liked.  This would have been fun to collect in 1998.

Card that completed my set:  #MS3 – Dennis Eckersley

I bought this from Beckett Marketplace on Black Friday.  I was looking for this card for what seemed like forever quite a while – the 2nd to last card I bought was in 2017.  In fact, at one point I thought I had this card and realized it was the Topps Chrome version (which are much more easy to find compared to the base Topps set).

Best card (my opinion):  #MS6 – Ken Griffey Jr.

Easy pick, this is the winner hands down!  Griffey with the backwards cap!

My Favorite Reds card:  There are none, though Griffey would be a Red!

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Here’s a scan of the set – front and back.

Any other tidbits:  Here’s the milestone predicted for the 1998 season for each player:

• Barry Bonds – MLB’s first 400 HR, 400 SB player (reached in 1998)
• Roger Clemens – 3,000 strikeouts (reached in 1998)
• Dennis Eckersley – 1,070 Games pitched – all-time leader (he passed Hoyt Wilhelm with the final appearance of his 1998 season and career – but Jesse Orosco passed him the next  season)
• Juan Gonzalez – 300 HR (reached in 1998)
• Ken Griffey Jr. – 300 HR (reached in 1998)
• Tony Gwynn – 9th batting title to pass Honus Wagner for NL mark (never reached) and 3,000 hits (reached but not in 1998)
• Greg Maddux – 200 wins and 2,000 strikeouts (both reached in 1998)
• Mark McGwire – 400 HR and 1,000 RBI (both reached in 1998)
• Cal Ripken Jr. – 400 HR and 1,000 XBH (both reached but not in 1998)
• Frrank Thomas – tie Joe DiMaggio for 2nd with 8 straight 100 RBI to start their career (full seasons

Rickey Henderson got to 2,000 runs in 1998 and was just the 6th person to reach that mark – he should have made this set!  Especially since the Thomas one was kind of a reach.