Pinnacle Performers

Pinnacle released its Performers card set in just one year, 1998. There were only 150 cards in the set although there were a few insert series as well. As the set concentrated on the bigger stars of the time, Tony featured on two cards.

Card Number 476: Pinnacle Performers, 1998; #8

It feels like the use of regular shapes overlaid in an irregular way dates the card to the 1990s. However, overlaying a cropped photo onto a photo background is an unusual technique for back then.

The photo on the back is an odd choice to show in full given it's being reproduced as a small size. Tony is tiny on this card. He's also not in right field in the photo, given that he's stood in front of a 405 feet sign, which is a normal depth for centre field.

It doesn't specify the year on the card, but the stats box is a month-by-month breakdown for the 1997 season, when Tony won his eighth and final batting title. His 220 hits were the most in the major leagues that year as well. 

Card Number 477: Pinnacle Performers, 1998; #145

The last 10 player cards in the set had a small sub-theme called "Far & Away". It's an odd name for a subset and there isn't an explanation in the card. The photo composition on the front is more conventional than the base card.

The back has a write up of Tony's career up to this point and has the intriguing factoid that in 1998 he was third in terms of total career hits among active players. He had 2,780 hits at the end of the 1997 season.

Total: 477 cards