Flashing Back to 1998

By Blaidd Drwg

Back in 1998, Topps included an insert subset in their baseball card set called “Hall Bound” with the intention of predicting guys who were going to be heading to the Hall of Fame some point after they retired. The way it looks, 14 of the 15 guys in the set should at some point have a plaque in Cooperstown. Here is the list:

1998 Topps HallBound #HB1 Paul Molitor
1998 Topps HallBound #HB2 Tony Gwynn
1998 Topps HallBound #HB3 Wade Boggs
1998 Topps HallBound #HB4 Roger Clemens
1998 Topps HallBound #HB5 Dennis Eckersley
1998 Topps HallBound #HB6 Cal Ripken
1998 Topps HallBound #HB7 Greg Maddux
1998 Topps HallBound #HB8 Rickey Henderson
1998 Topps HallBound #HB9 Ken Griffey Jr.
1998 Topps HallBound #HB10 Frank Thomas
1998 Topps HallBound #HB11 Mark McGwire
1998 Topps HallBound #HB12 Barry Bonds
1998 Topps HallBound #HB13 Mike Piazza
1998 Topps HallBound #HB14 Juan Gonzalez
1998 Topps HallBound #HB15 Randy Johnson

Some of these “predictions” were pretty easy – Molitor, Gwynn, Boggs, Eckersley, Henderson and Ripken were all at the tail end of their careers by 1998 and, with maybe the exception of Eckersley, were all pretty much locks for the Hall by that point.

Maddux, Clemens and Bonds were all in the league roughly 10 years by that point and were pretty much locks by that point. McGwire was also in the league about 10 years by that point, but he hadn’t broken 60 home runs and was probably a borderline candidate at best.

Let’s take a look at the rest of the list:

Ken Griffey Jr. – He had just come off his first 56 home run season and won an MVP award. He was pretty much a lock by this point in his career for the Hall, unless he had completely fallen apart. While he only had 2 more great seasons left, he stuck around long enough and had enough good seasons to stay on track.

Frank Thomas – He was looking like a no-brainer selection for the Hall after the 1997 season. He would start his decline after ’97, but like Griffey stayed good long enough that there is no real question about his HOF credentials.

Mike Piazza – He was the first really risky choice on this list. He had only 5 full seasons under his belt after the 1997 season (granted with 3 finishes in the top 5 in MVP voting) and played a position where lifespan is generally not great. Posted a 23 WAR through 1997 and 26 from 1998 through the end of his career, but is probably the best hitting catcher in history, so he should cruise into the Hall easily.
Juan Gonzalez – Juan Gone was one of the most feared hitters at the time. He had one MVP and would win one more and like Griffey, looked like he would cruise into the Hall and would have only 2 more great seasons after 1997. Unlike Griffey, Gonzalez had his last great season at age 31 and was pretty much done after that and probably won’t see the Hall unless he buys a ticket.

Randy Johnson – The Unit was probably the most interesting choice on the list. He was 33 after the 1997 season ended, had recorded an ERA+ of 129, 2000 strikeouts and won a Cy Young Award, but had only recorded 124 wins. While he was great, he didn’t exactly scream Hall of Famer. From 1998 to the end of his career, he managed to pitch to age 45, win 4 Cy Young Awards, win 179 games, strike out 2875 batters and post a 141 ERA+. I would say he padded his resume just a bit.