Neither rookie or traded

A short while ago I found a very old Excel Spreadsheet from 2008 that catalogued my collection of Padres cards. I checked how many Tony Gwynn card I owned back then. Twelve years ago I owned 16 cards featuring Tony.

Fifteen of them have already been blogged. They were:

• 9 Topps cards - 1986, 1987 (base & All Star card), 1988, 1989, 1993, 1999, 1999 Opening Day, 2005 All Times Fan favourites (which was a reprint of the Topps 2000 card, which caused me some confusion)
• 2 DonRuss cards - both from 1988
• 2 Fleer cards - 1991 and 1993
• 2 Upper Deck cards - 1991 and 2001 (Black Diamond)

and the card I'm about to show you now...

Card Number 387: Score Rookie & Traded, 1998; #RT9

Tony was an odd choice for a "Rookie & Traded" set because in 1998 he was a long way past being a rookie, and throughout his career he was never traded.

I can't remember how I had acquired this card back in 2008, but I remember buying a mixed job-lot of Padres cards off eBay that arrived in a box because there were so many of them and I think it was probably in there. 

It's strange to think this card was only 10 years old when I listed it in my spreadsheet back in 2008. I wasn't to know that over a decade later I would be writing about it on my blog as my 387th card featuring Tony Gwynn!

The stats box is a bit odd because it starts with the number of runs that Tony scored instead of games or at bats, which are usually the first figures listed. It also includes his "Total Bases", which doesn't usually feature in a cardback stats box.

Tony had a card in Score's regular release as well.

Card Number 388: Score, 1998; #50

Of all the photos of Tony at the plate on baseball cards, there aren't many that show him with the bat in front of his head like that, just before he draws it back into the hitting position.

The back is virtually identical to the Rookies and Traded card, except this one mentions him playing in his 13th All Star Game in 1997. It also has a drop shadow effect on his surname, which is a bit of a cheesy nineties desktop publishing flourish, and yet looks alright. 

Total: 388/394