Retro Review – Party Like It’s 1999!

When I think back, I believe that 1999 had to be the craziest year of my life. I was 22 years old, absolutely burning up the road, and trying to be an adult, even though I refused to grow up. That’s still a problem in 2018 but it’s easier to accept being a big kid at 41 than it was at 22. It’s weird but at 22, everyone was asking, “Will you ever grow up??” and now, everyone just nonchalantly says, “Oh, he never grew up….” So either it is more acceptable at my older age or people have just given up on me being anything more than what I’ve become. Either way, it’s a win/win for me.

I look at how hectic life can be now with a wife and two kids and wonder what I did with all my free time before 2007; but in all honesty, it was pretty hectic back then too. I just didn’t have 3 other people on the payroll. I started working at my current job in August of 1998 so I am coming up on 20 years with the same company, which I consider a huge personal accomplishment when I take into account what my job life was like before that time. I’ve been with my employer a long time and I’ve seen people come and go, just throw their hands up and walk out, be escorted out by security, retire and in some sad cases, pass away much too soon. This job has turned into a very rewarding career.

But back in 1999, I was in my first year there and I still had no clue what I really wanted to do. In fact, not only did I have my current full time job; I was also a server at Outback a few nights a week, I coached Jr. Varsity Baseball at my alma mater and I was trying to go to school on the weekends. I had a pretty full plate when you throw in girlfriends and sports buds. To top it all off, along with the rest of the world, I was trying to prepare for Y2K!! That may have been part of the growing up issue because I didn’t know if I was even going to need a job after 1/1/2000 or if life was going to turn into a “Mad Max” apocalyptic scene. Unfortunately, we weren’t partying like Prince thought we would be.

Even though it was a crazy year, a few things still stick out in my mind from that time. I have very vivid memories of coaching the baseball team that year. Our JV team was strong but the high school team wasn’t very good. We had a stud pitcher/SS and some decent players throughout the lineup but we had a total of 10 players on the team that year. We were in the “AA” classification and baseball was not the sport we were known for. But I still had a blast coaching them and I’ve made a lot of friends that I still keep in touch with; some of whom play on my current softball team today.

The first memory that comes to mind is the game in Seminole County where Coach Bullard (the head coach that gave me the opportunity) was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and had to go sit on the bus for the remainder of the double header. I was elevated to head coach on the big high school stage and this was only our second game of the season. I was a nervous wreck but it was certainly learning on the job. I wonder sometimes if Coach Bullard didn’t do it on purpose to see if I would sink or swim. He didn’t get tossed any other games that year and was generally very even keel.

Then there was the game where I cracked my forearm thanks to a line drive into our dugout. We were playing Cook County and their first baseman was a monster, 6’4/240 type guy, and he was the best power hitter in our region. I remember our pitcher that night was very accurate and a good pitcher but didn’t have a ton of velocity. I was crouched in the doorway of the 3rd Base dugout, signaling pitches to our catcher, as I did every game. The Cook Co. Beast got way out in front of one and whipped it around to the dugout and it smashed into my foreman, which luckily was covering my chest. That was some serious pain my friends.

I also remember when our star player and his best friend “stole” my pickup truck during a JV game to go get drinks from the store. I got to my truck and the inside floor by the door was all scratched up with steel cleats and they owned up to it. I knew exactly what the steel cleat marks looked like because they had spent the season up to that point climbing in and out of the back of my truck with those on and scratching up the bed of it. Just like when we complained during the game when they made mistakes; they just didn’t think sometimes.

I don’t have very many fun memories from Outback because I absolutely hated working nights when I thought I had settled down into a nice 9 to 5. I had to work though because that was the year I moved out of the house and went out on my own. I had rent to pay and Hamburger Helper to buy. We did have a pool at the apartment though and that made for a fun summer time. I just always had to work and my girlfriend got more enjoyment from the pool than I did. That first time living on my own was quite an experience and I learned a lot from it.

The main Y2K memory I have from that year happened at the New Year’s Eve party I attended. We had been gearing up for months and had been forced into fear by the media and the Y2K paranoia. We really didn’t know what was going to happen. Were the electrical grids going down? Would all of our technology be obsolete? Would computers come to life like in the movie “Maximum Overdrive”? Nobody really knew and I am not convinced that it wasn’t just a big push for everybody to have to buy new stuff.

But at the New Year’s Eve Party, we were ready to move out of ’99 and into the 2000’s and were excited and anxious as the same time. We were counting down the seconds as the ball was dropping when the host of the party slipped off to the basement. When we got to 1 second, he flipped the breaker and the whole house went dark. There was a gasp and a kid started crying. I may have jumped a little as well. The party came to a complete stop and all of the warnings we had received over the last year came rushing to my mind. For a brief moment, we all stood in shock, wondering if the end was now beginning. Of course, he flipped the breaker back on and we all started laughing. Then laughter turned to anger from some people because they didn’t actually get to see the ball drop because he cut the electricity. Good times.

The only good memory I have from that year in college was my English class and the teacher I had. This was when I wrote my infamous “A Time for Forgiveness” about Lonnie Smith and the pain I had lived with for the previous 8 years. This was really when I think I started to focus on writing because I was getting praise for it. My teacher thought I had something special and I enjoyed doing it. Now, almost 20 years later, here I am writing my own little blog posts every couple weeks and having people actually read them. I may not have gotten that push if I hadn’t been in that particular class with that particular teacher.

Along with writing, I started doing something (again) in 1999 that I still do today. This was around the end of my “Dark Period” and I was getting back into collecting full time. I didn’t buy a ton of 1999 product but I did spend a lot of time organizing and sorting my old stuff. I don’t actually remember buying any 1999 Topps Baseball that year but I bought a lot of football. So when I visited my LCS a couple of weeks ago and this box of 1999 Topps Baseball was sitting on the shelf, I thought, “why not?”

1999 Topps only has 462 cards in the set and has some special cards that celebrate the home run chase Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had the year before. The box configuration was 36 packs with 11 cards per pack. This was series 2, which covered card #243-462. There were also some other surprises that could be found in a hobby box, and for 1999, they were highly sought after. The set commemorated Nolan Ryan’s stellar career and had reprints and autographs of some of his Topps cards over the years. An SP of these cards even came in a refractor, which was very young technology for the time. The set also included some Mystery Finest inserts that were chase cards. So there is a lot more here to see than just base cards and standard inserts.

The packs were really odd to me. They were lime green looking and they were see through, which feels out of place for late 90’s cards.

I’ve never been a big gold border guy so that was a bit of a turnoff right off the bat. This design was very similar to ’98 Topps Football if you remember the Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf RC’s from that year. Here are some of the stud catchers playing in ’99.

The infield was loaded with talent in 1999. There were veterans like Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs, who was winding down in Tampa. Then there were hot young players like Nomar in Boston and the A-Rod that everybody still loved in Seattle. There are some huge names here.

Just like the infield, there were some veterans in the outfield that were wrapping up stellar careers, like Rickey Henderson. But there were also some guys that were tearing the cover off the ball, like Barry Bonds, Tim Salmon and Larry Walker, who had plenty left in the tank. Check out this sweet Brian Hunter card!

This was a great time for pitchers but a couple of these guys were not far from destroying their legacies and wiping out any value they had in the hobby. Of course, those pitchers are Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling. Dwight Gooden has already been through his most trying career years. Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were in the middle of the greatest National League run in history. And there were some awesome young arms that were just getting fired up; Mike Hampton, Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter.

While not technically “Rookie Cards” by the formal definition, these were 3 very early cards of players that went on to have great careers. I don’t even remember this Big Papi Card!

While the early cards of Beltre and Papi were very nice, there wasn’t a lot going on in the Draft Pick section of the checklist. The best name in the group was Matt Holliday. Pat Burrell and Brad Lidge had ok careers as well but nothing that makes these cards highly sought after.

The prospects were pretty much misses as well. Carlos Lee and AJ Burnett had good careers and John Rocker had a chance but the rest of these guys were situational players for the most part.

These cards we’re VERY busy with the gold, threads and multiple players. There are some very good players here in the “All Topps” inserts. There aren’t a ton of Big Cat cards in an Atlanta uniform so that was nice.

Strikeout Kings is self explanatory and seeing Kerry Wood here reminds me of how big of a chase this guys rookie cards were at one point. I found collation to be pretty bad in ’99 Topps as every 10th pack or so would have 5 of these cards in them. Same for Prospects, All Topps and Draft Picks.

Record Numbers gave us a non-gold border to collect in the set. The players here were all studs, as most record breakers are. This was the season after Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought baseball back to prominence with their unforgettable home run battle. He had a couple of Record Numbers inserts.

Another set that commemorated the home run chase was “HR Parade” which outlined some of the big Homers along the way.

Here are 2 of the Nolan Ryan reprints with the gold stamp. The cards were glossy and carried the backs that would have been found in 1981 and 1983 for these cards. Great throwbacks!

This one was pretty special. Not only was it the RC reprint, it was the SP Refractor. I know this isn’t a big money card but there were a total of ZERO found currently for sale on eBay. That has to be good right?

All Matrix was more technology that was just making a splash in the hobby. This card looks much better in person than the photo appears.

This one was even better. This is truly a beautiful card for 1999. This is even beautiful for 2018!

Finally, no autographs, but I did pull this Mystery Finest Refractor of the All Topps Designated Hitters. It has a black plastic film over the front of the card and I’m not taking it off because I have no idea if I can get it done without messing it up. One day, I suppose.

This set was really one of the tougher ones I’ve had to score so far. I was really leaning on a 4 because of the All Matrix, Ryan reprints, chance at autos and Mystery Finest. Those are all great cards to find in the box. The price was a little on the high end for the checklist, at $40. The gold border ultimately pulled it down to a 3. If the gold border was the only problem, it may have stayed at a 4 but the rookie class was very slim and Series 2 didn’t have Jeter or Griffey. If I ever was going to create a 3.5 Score, this would be it. But I’ll keep it at a 3. With that said, All Matrix and the Ryan Refractor made this box a lot of fun and I actually sleeved those up. What say you about ’99 Topps Baseball?

J-Dub

Scoring Scale

1.Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.

2.There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3.Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4.You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5.Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?