Minor League Photos of Shannon Stewart and the 32nd Pack of 1997 Pinnacle X Press!

Greetings Trollites! I took a short nap and have a little break before my last class of the day. We are up to pack #32 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press. There were no cards pulled of Shannon Stewart in this pack, but now that I realize how popular he (?) still is, I will show one more photo before I get to ripping the next pack… This is when Stewart was with the Knoxville Smokies in 1995. Stewart was a first round pick in 1992. Stewart hit 300 or better in 7 of his (?) 14 major league seasons and owns a .297 career batting average. He is still listed as an active free agent, but I don't think he played in 2009, did he? Okay, one more bonus pick of the former Jays first rounder (in the Syracuse Sky Chiefs road whites) and here we go with pack 32:
#70 Dave Nilsson Milwaukee Brewers (Nilsson was 6th in the NL with a .331 batting average in 1996)
#19 Ellis Burks Colorado Rockies
#125 Kevin Orie Chicago Cubs (Orie was the 77th different player to play third base for the Cubbies AFTER Ron Santo left in 1973. He wasn’t the last either…)
#88 Mo Vaughn Boston Red Sox (In ’96 The Hit Dog hit .326 with 44 homers and 143 RBI and DIDN’T win the Silver Slugger for first basemen)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card +7
#61 Manny Ramirez Cleveland Indians (Manny spent the first 8 years of his career in Cleveland before chasing the free agent dollar to Boston)
#41 Charles Nagy Cleveland Indians
#110 Ron Gant St. Louis Cardinals (Gant went to St. Louis as a free agent before the ’96 season. He hit 30 homers for the Cards and they made it to the NLCS, but lost to Gant’s former team, the Braves in 7 games)
Another pack of X Press down! Up next we are gonna go back to 1994 Pinnacle for pack #23. I went to Target, Wal Mart, K Mart and the card shop on the way home from work this morning and nobody had any 2010 Topps. I obviously live in the wilderness. I did pick up 4 more packs of 2009 Heritage to add to the next group break. I really hope they are creased from my local d-bag pack searcher. Stay tuned, cuz Shannon Stewart said so! I am gonna try to wrap up the last 6 packs in this group break TODAY! By the by, the top 2 photos are borrowed and copyright by theinsider dot com. Go Rays! Troll out.

An Update Plus Pack #26 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press!

There are 12 teams left for the next break. If all the slots fill up, like last time, all 118 packs featured HERE will be divided up for it (and probably a few more). The slots don’t have a monetary value, you can trade your way in with Rays jerseys, autographs, cards off of my want list, 2009 Topps Heritage SPs, cards from the 50’s or 60’s-anything you think I will like, just email me an offer…
Trying to finish up this break, so here we go with pack #26 of 1997 Pinnacle X Press:
#2 Andy Pettitte New York Yankees (It is a shocker to pull a pitcher out of this product… I think there is one pitcher to 12 hitters. I looked up Pettitte’s career numbers as soon as I yanked this one. The first surprise was not only has AP never sniffed a Cy Young, he has only been an All Star twice. He won 21 games in 1996, in the thick of the juiced ball/juiced player era… His record in the postseason is more than an entire season for most. He is 18-9 in 40 starts including 8 World Series. Wow. His 229 wins are 63rd All Time and his .629 winning percentage is 53rd All Time. He won 14 games for the Yankees last year in the regular season and he was 4-0 in the postseason. At 37 years old, I think he still has a few good years in him)
#20 Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore Orioles (A lot of people have a lot of opinions about Palmeiro-mine is that dude could MASH! 39 bombs and 142 ribs in ’96. You can say the juice bought him all the long balls, but you don’t get 3000 hits in a needle… Question: Are all left handed first basemen required to have a porn star mustache? Are they still or did that rule apply from the 70’s to the 90’s?)
#115 Joe Carter Toronto Blue Jays (I have searched and searched and I can’t find the 1984 Donruss Carter that I was sure I had-anybody got an extra? Carter joined the power party in ’96 himself with 30 bombs and 107 RBI)
#46 Bernie Williams New York Yankees (Did anyone in the AL NOT drive in 100 runs in ’96? Bernie brought home 102… When he hung up his cleats, he picked up a guitar. I saw him perform in Sarasota in November, the guy can pick it!)
#101 Rondell White Montreal Expos (Finally a human! Rondell had a respectable 15 year career, topped 20 homers a few times, was an All Star, but he never put up those sick and crazy triple crown numbers that nearly everyone else in this pack did)
#??? Swing for the Fences Game Card -4
#125 Kevin Orie Chicago Cubs (Orie was the Cubs first rounder in 1993… He made it to the Show in 1997 and had the best year of his short MLB career. He batted .275 with 8 homers and 44 RBI-all career bests. He was named on a ballot for Rookie of the Year, finishing 11th the year that Scott Rolen won it. He broke in with the Cubs, went to the Marlins and returned to the Cubs. He would actually go to the Marlins organization once more and return to the Cubs again. He spent 12 years in the minors with 10 different organizations… He made it back to Chicago briefly in 2002 and finally gave up in ’06)
#143 Mark McGwire Oakland A’s Peak Performers (Perhaps “Peak Performance Enhancer” would be a more appropriate subset title for this card…)
Another pack down… If you haven’t signed up for the next rip yet, please think about doing so. There are about 12 open spots. The break will be 50 packs UNLESS every spot is filled, then it will be around 130 packs. If you are already in and paid up, then turn on your salesperson charm and get these last slots filled up. If you are interested, please email me at bacontowne at yahoo dot com. Stay tuned, I aint gonna sleep until I finish at least one box today… Go Rays! Troll out.