The 1990's were a decade of mass production by the card industry. There also was a branching of sorts of the 3 major brands into unique release products such as Leaf, Ultra, Bowman, and the popular Chrome. 1990 saw three rookie sluggers in Sammy Sosa, Frank Thomas, and Larry Walker, while the 1991 release brought RC of Chipper Jones and 3 future HOF in Mike Mussina, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jeff Bagwell. The 1992 release of Bowman saw unique photos of rookie like Mariano Rivera & Mike Piazza. The Upper Deck company release the first ever SP product in 1993 and brought to collector's the icon 1993 SP Derek Jeter rookie, followed up in 1994 with Alex Rodriguez. 1995 brought the first release of Chrome; producing rookie cards of Vladimir Guerrero and Andruw Jones, among others. The 1997 - 1998 Bowman Chrome sets issued a host of marquee rookie cards in Roy Halladay, Adrian Beltre, Roy Halladay and Jimmy Rollins. David "Big Papi" Ortiz had two sensational rookie cards in the 1997 Ultra & 1997 Fleer. The decade came to a close with another Bowman Chrome release and Upper Deck followed with it's Ultimate Victory set; bringing RC of Alfonso Soriano and Tim Hudson.
1990'S ALL DECADE TEAM
C - Mike Piazza (Dodgers)
1B - Jeff Bagwell (Astros) 2B - Craig Biggio (Astros) 3B - Robin Ventura (W Sox) SS - Barry Larkin (Reds) |
LF - Barry Bonds (Giants)
CF - Ken Griffey Jr. (Mariners) RF - Larry Walker (Rockies) OF - Albert Belle (Indians) |
P - Roger Clemens (Red Sox)
P - Greg Maddux (Braves) P - David Cone (Mets) P - Randy Johnson (Mariners) P - Kevin Brown (Rangers) |