Top 5 Cards; Jeff Bagwell

After adding 7 cards to my Jeff Bagwell collection from last weekend's card show, he officially became my newest 100-card player collection, a very unexpected one at that.

Even as recent as last summer, my Jeff Bagwell PC was hovering around 50 cards, approximately the same total as another Astros great, Craig Biggio. Next thing I knew, I was finishing up the online inventory and discovered he was closing in on this total. A couple months later, I categorized my 100th card of the 4-time All-Star.

To be fair, the era in which he played in merited the production of tons of his cards. The 1990's in particular saw companies produce record numbers of cards, meaning a decent number would be of a star like Bagwell. Not to mention the early 2000's which saw some of the best Fleer and Donruss sets ever made.

As I described, my Jeff Bagwell player collection just reached a total of exactly 100 cards. Before that total rises and his player collection is officially a top-tier PC, here are my 5 favorite cards of the 1994 NL MVP.

#5 1995 Fleer Pro-Vision

Fleer and Score, in particular, made a lot of cards that looked like this throughout the late 80's and early 90's. What I mean by that is a lot of super colorful and busy designs which sometimes worked out and other times missed the mark. In this case, Jeff Bagwell's 1995 Fleer Pro-Vision card was a success despite being a little out there. I especially love the rocket ship coming from the distance at the exact moment that Bagwell is taking one of his power swings in what I believe to be a vastly underrated uniform.

#4 2017 Bowman's Best 1997 Best Cuts Atomic Refractor

Even though the card isn't quite as shiny in person as it is when scanned, I must admit I'm relatively pleased by that. Though I'm certainly one to appreciate super shiny refractor-type cards, Bagwell's Best Cuts Atomic Refractor from the 2017 Bowman's Best set has just the right amount of shininess for my taste while the set, both base versions, and parallels, does an excellent job at paying homage to one of the original Bowman's Best insert sets from 1997.

#3 1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Super Action Stick'Ums

As pleased as I was to find this card in the dime bins at a past baseball card show, I was ecstatic to find that not a single one of the stickers had been ripped off and that this card was mine, each sticker still attached. Seriously, whoever thought of this idea was definitely onto something. Whether you wanted another baseball card or just loved stickers and wanted to stick them somewhere, this 30-card insert set from 1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice had something for every kind of collector.

#2 2001 Fleer Focus Diamond Vision

No matter the case, I'm always glad to see stadium shots make it to baseball cards, especially when the ballpark is as cool as Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas is. Okay, so it was apparently called Enron Field back in 2001, but it's the same place nowadays, just a better name and a better team as well. I kind of wish Fleer made the ballpark shot take up more of the card than just this small square, but I have a feeling this card wouldn't be at #2 on the list if it was done any differently.

#1 2017 Topps Stadium Club

Like I just said, stadium shots are some of my favorite photos to make it onto baseball cards, no matter how much or how little of the ballpark is showing in the photo. Last year, in one of the greatest Stadium Club, releases ever, Topps produced this beauty among other standout cards, and I instantly went crazy for it the minute I picked it up at the show.

Everything in this card, from the swing of the bat to the uniform and even the clear sky above the ballpark, is captured at just the right moment. It just goes to show, when enough attention and care is put into a card, it becomes nothing short of a standout, worthy of the #1 spot.