Turkey Red was one of my favorite basketball sets from the mid-2000s and I was pleased to come across this one in my stack of Cal cards. Just a unique set.
The card in the center from 2000 Upper Deck Ovation did not scan very well, but it's a cool design with most of the card being taken up by a baseball with a different texture there from the rest of the card.
If there's a player that belongs in a Pure Grit insert set, it's Cal. Not sure if I've mentioned this, but I also like shiny cards, and this insert is shiny, even if you can't tell from the scan.
Continuing the trend of cards that didn't scan well, this Piece of the Game insert from 1998 Pinnacle Plus mostly talks about Lou Gehrig on the back.
This 2000 Prism card actually scanned very well. The back of the card wastes so much space, as only one year of stats appears on the back. Cool card for sure, though.
And another favorite Topps brand, Gold Label. Just a great design and a card that I think I picked up at a card show back in the day. The card mentions one game against the Braves in June of 1999 where Cal scored 5 runs, the first time he'd managed that feat in his career.
On to the last row! This Flair Greats design isn't one of my favorite, but how can I not like a card picturing Cal from the early days of his career. I appreciate a card back that has a lot of stat, and this one has 16 years of stats, missing just the early years of his career.
This 1999 Revolution card scanned decently, but the gold and white really looks great with the Orioles uniforms.
And finally the card that I may as well not even post since it scanned so poorly, an insert from Fleer Focus called 'Focal Points', in case you can't read it in the scan (which you probably can't). This card has an orange background which you can't see in the scan, and goes nicely with the black Orioles uniform. I enjoy lesser known tidbits on the backs of cards, but this card tells about his home run total (over 400), hit total (over 3,000), and his two gold glove awards.
Getting close to documenting all the Ripken cards in my collection. More to post about soon!
The photo on the Fleer Focus insert is from the infamous Turn Ahead the Clock promotion in 1999. Topps used a photo from the same game on Ripken;s base card in one of the All-Time Fan Favorites sets in the mid 00's, but I had no idea the Focus card existed. I'll have to track a copy down one of these days.
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