Ultra Exciting

One of my goals for 2015 is to keep track of cards in my player collections. Adding onto this I want to keep up with any sets I am trying to complete. The first of such sets is 1999 Ultra. The Ultra brand has always been a favorite of mine. One of my best memories of sports cards is opening packs of 1994-95 Ultra basketball with my dad. What a great set that was. I wanted to put together an Ultra baseball team set together, and I'm quite fond of the 1999 design. I'm keeping track of what I have on my What I Collect page. Let's go through some Orioles and Braves from the 1998 season!

First up, Brady Anderson, a three-time All-Star. How did you hit 50 home runs and knock in 110 runs in 1996? And only 11.6 at-bats per home run. Anderson struggled in 1998 hitting just .236 but had a bounce back year in 1999.

Great card of Mike Mussina. I can't decide what I like better from this set, the text used for the player names or the photography. 

I appreciate the card backs showing stats for the player's entire career. The Did You Know? facts are pretty interesting too. Mussina played multiple positions on his high school football team and was offered a scholarship to kick at Penn State. I'm guessing not too many major league pitchers can dominate like Mussina on the diamond and also kick a 60-yard field goal. The card says '60-year field goal'. Guess that one slipped past editing. Still love the card!

Sadly this Graf isn't in the best shape on the surface. If I find another copy of this one I won't mind replacing it. Graffanino came up in the Braves system playing three years for the major league team before being released in 1999. He played several infield positions and was a good contact guy.

Michael Tucker came to the Braves in a trade before the 1997 season along with Keith Lockhart for Jermaine Dye and Jamie Walker. I was sad to see the 23 year old Dye go to the Royals after seeing him in Richmond the year before. Back to Tucker... he spent 2 years with the Braves before being traded to the Reds along with our next Brave...

Denny Neagle. I always enjoy seeing shots of players signing for fans, and I enjoyed watching Neagle while with the Braves. He had one incredible All-Star season for Atlanta in 1997, going 20-5 with a 2.97 era, finishing 3rd in Cy Young voting.

And a nice shot of the Big Cat making contact. The photography in this set is pretty great. I'd argue it's the strongest photo of the group. What a season he had for the Braves in 1998, hitting 44 home runs and batting in 121 runs. He missed all of 1999 battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and came back with a strong 2000 season, winning Comeback Player of the Year. While he was only with the Braves for a few seasons, the Big Cat is one of my favorites.

And while he's pictured in a Devil Rays uniform, I couldn't pass up picking up this Fred McGriff. I am certainly not going to limit my Crime Dog collection to Brave uniforms only. I know I'm not alone in thinking McGriff should get consideration for the Hall of Fame. Sadly it doesn't look like it will happen based on his recent percentage of votes.

Chipper Stack

My second largest player collection behind Ryan Klesko so far is likely Chipper Jones. I have a large stack of cards of his from the late 90s, early 2000s. He won the NL MVP in 1999, so I guess it makes sense that a lot of the cards I have of Chipper are from that time. It's rare to see a player stick with one team through his whole career these days, and Chipper was able to do that for 19 seasons with the Braves. 

Here are some of my favorites from the stack.

I appreciate this Vintage '61 from 1999 Fleer Tradition, made to look like 1961 Fleer. And honestly before seeing this card I didn't know that Fleer made sets that early on. Pretty good design for that early on. From reading, the original 1961 set featured players from baseball's history, from the 1800s to current players from that time. Would be neat to own a card from the original set.

I can check off the Chipper Jones from my 1999 Fleer Ultra team set wantlist. While the action shot of Chipper doesn't make the Andruw, it's still a nice looking card.

The backgrounds of these Ionix cards from Upper Deck just don't scan well, but I thought it did well enough to post here. A nice shot of Chipper's post swing.

The first card in this row is an insert from 2007 insert called Flashback Fridays. Maybe I should have saved talking about this set till a Friday, because I also have the Rafael Furcal from this set. From what I can find online, it looks like there were blasters of 2007 Topps that included 5 cards from this set as a 'starter'. Maybe someone who remembers can fill me in. This card really does have a flashback feel, as the back mentions this is part of a series on famous ballplayers, and each card has a tip on inside baseball. Sounds like something written on an older card to me.

This 2000 Topps Finest is one of my favorite Chipper cards, but it just didn't scan well. The background is supposed to be light blue and it of course is chrome-y. The background also has 1999 NL MVP written all over it, which you can't really tell in the scan. I had to include a card that mentions Chipper's MVP award. 

This card from 2003 Upper Deck Vintage might be my favorite in this stack. I always enjoy seeing the Braves throwback uniforms, and this card looks pretty close to the design of 2014 Topps Heritage, which I've already ranked #1 on my list of 2014 set releases, and of course looks like 1965 Topps. Interesting how Upper Deck was able to produce cards that look like an old Topps set. I am assuming there was some kind of deal made there, right?

Finally, a card with one of my all-time favorite Braves and my current favorite Brave, Freddie Freeman! Pretty cool to see them featured on the same card, this one from 2010 Bowman. The card points out how Chipper hit at least 20 home runs each season from 1995 through 2008. Pretty impressive.

2010 was the year Freeman made his major league debut. More hype surrounded Jason Heyward at the time than Freeman, but Freeman also looked very promising. I'm hoping Freeman will model Chipper in staying on with the Braves for his whole career.

First Team Set Want list - 1999 Ultra

I've enjoyed collecting Ultra sets over the years, and although I don't have a desire to pick up complete sets, Braves and Orioles team sets give me a taste of set collecting without picking up hundreds of cards.

Last month I posted about a stack of Andruw Jones cards in my collection, one of which is from 1999 Ultra where he has jumped up onto the wall.  Not only do I like the action shot in this card, but the text on this card as well.  I've decided 1999 Ultra will be the first team set I go after, for both the Orioles and Braves.  Here are the team checklists per TeamSets4U.com:

Braves:

1 Greg Maddux

17 Walt Weiss

25 Andruw Jones

48 Andres Galarraga

71 Tony Graffanino

156 Chipper Jones

187 Michael Tucker

203 Denny Neagle

217 Greg Maddux Season CROWNS SP

242 Bruce Chen PROSPECTS SP

247 George Lombard PROSPECTS SP

The only one I can mark off the list is the Andruw Jones.  All others will go onto the What I Collect page.  My only complaint with this checklist- where are Glavine and Smoltz, while Denny Neagle shows up on the checklist instead?  

I would just say I'll go after a different year instead, but this is my favorite Ultra design.  Plus, the Orioles checklist for this year is great.

Orioles:

16 Brady Anderson

83 Cal Ripken, Jr.

96 Mike Mussina

105 Scott Erickson

114 Eric Davis

123 Armando Benitez

143 Rafael Palmeiro

177 Roberto Alomar

213 Cal Ripken, Jr. CL

243 Ryan Minor PROSPECTS SP

Two Ripken cards, Alomar, Mussina, and a personal favorite of mine, Scott Erickson.  Was this team particularly great on the field, no they weren't.  But it's a team I enjoyed watching in my childhood, and that's good enough for me.  The only guy missing here that I feel like should have been included is B.J. Surhoff.

So I will be looking to pick up Braves and Orioles from this set, and likely other Ultra sets in the future (2004 and 2005 Ultra are my other favorites).

From the Binder- Andruw Jones

I first saw Andruw Jones play for the AAA Richmond Braves in 1996 when I was 10 years old.  His first at-bat he hit a long foul ball to the left of the foul pole, just missing a home run.  His next at-bat he crushed a homer out of The Diamond.  If I remember correctly Jones only played one more game after that one in Richmond and was called up to Atlanta.  Andruw was in the World Series lineup against the Yankees that October, hitting home runs in his first two at-bats. He finished his career a 10-time gold glover and 5-time all-star.  Let's get to the cards.

The 1997 Metal Universe card was the first Andruw Jones card in my collection. 11 year old me thought this card was just too cool, and I don't disagree with him.  Andruw is tracking a fly ball on another planet, it appears.

The 1999 Ultra in the center shows Jones' athleticism and how he won all those gold gloves.  My favorite action shot of Jones.  What a leap!

This 2003 Authentix set has a great design with Jones sporting a retro Braves jersey.  I put together a complete set in the basketball version.

I wish the Stadium Club Chrome brand was produced longer than it was. The color on these cards make them look great in person.

It's nice to see players signing autographs for fans on cards, as Jones is in this 1999 Fleer Tradition.

Does Jones catch the ball on the 1999 Stadium Club card on the right?

Seeing Andruw Jones play in AAA is one of my favorite memories as a baseball fan.  It's awesome to see a player in the minors and then see them have success in the majors.  Who have you seen play in the minors that has gone on to be a star in the majors?  Did you suspect how good they would be at the time?