Ascending the Pinnacle

Pinnacle is yet another 1990s card company that now lives on as one of Panini's many brands. Their cards from the 90s give Pacific a run for their money in terms of the amount of gold foil stuck on the front. Unfortunately that stuff scuffs easy, and the scanning process is unforgiving of flaws. However, one of these cards has a contender for 'Best photo on a cardback ever!' So, here we go...

Card Number 76: Pinnacle, 1995; #291
This is part of an insert series about the "Swingmen". Or batters as we otherwise call them.

That's kind of a trippy background.

I can't decide if I love or loathe that artful use of bats there. The write up is gushing. It starts, "A pro in all phases of baseball and a classy guy, to boot..." The claims that he was "Almost impossible to strike out" is true though. He struck out less than 30 times a season and finished with an incredibly low career total, all things considered.

Card Number 77: Pinnacle, 1996; #267
Another season, another insert set, a lot of gold foil...

This year Tony is one of the 'Hardball Heroes'. The gold foil is a solid wedge and thankfully the scan has toned it down.

I'm really not sure about that stat on the back. It claims Tony hit .394 in 1995, when runners were in scoring position. That might be true. It's very specific though.

Card Number 78: Pinnacle 1997; #42
Even more gold foil! This time the foil is embossed with the names of various landmarks in San Diego. I had to rescan this because my first scan had an ugly smudge across the foil caused by a fingerprint. Oops!

The landmarks listed are San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, La Jolla Cove, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, Del Mar, the Gas Lamp Quarter, Miramar, and Jack Murphy Stadium. I've been to a lot of those places. In fact, here's a picture of me in Balboa Park rocking my first ever Padres t-shirt back in 2004.

Listing all those places makes me want to go back to San Diego.

The cardback has a unique layout.

I particularly like how the designer has etched the word Padres into the bat. It notes how Tony's seventh batting title puts him in with some illustrious company. Tony would add an eighth title in 1997.

Card Number 79: New Pinnacle, 1997; #71
I don't know why this is listed as 'New Pinnacle' on the Trading Card Database, but I'm accepting their nomenclature to avoid confusion with the other set released in 1997. The card is lovely and a step up from the previous set. This is late 90s classy card design at its ultimate. The pinnacle, if you will.

Yes, that is gold foil around his name and for the team name and the logo. This is an acceptable level of foil on a baseball card before we drift into overkill territory.

I promised you one of the best cardback photos ever. Here it is.

SAFE! Tony has dived for that one and extended himself fully. I defy anyone to show me a better cardback photo than Tony lying full stretch in the baseline dirt. His uniform is going to be FILTHY when he stands up!

Those were some explorations of the heady heights of Pinnacle. I hope you enjoyed them.

Total: 79/394