1998 Donruss

Description

1998 Donruss was a 420-card set released in two series of 170 and 250 cards, respectively - its smallest base set of the decade. Similar to the previous year, the second series was officially known as Donruss Update but with these cards being sequentially numbered as a continuation of Series One, Donruss Update is considered part of the overall 1998 base set. Keeping with the tradition established in 1994, each base card featured full-bleed color player photos and a foil-stamped player nameplate and Donruss logo. The base design element for this year featured an alternating team-colored banner design at the bottom of the card front.

There were five subsets.

• Fan Club (156-165)
• Hit List (346-375)
• The Untouchables (376-385)
• Spirit of the Game (386-415)
• Checklists (166-170/416-420)

Each Fan Club card carried instructions on how one could vote for their favorite players to be included in the Update Series' FANtasy Team insert set.

The two players with notable Rookie Cards were Kevin Millwood and Magglio Ordonez.

Sadly, this year's release was the final Donruss set issued in the 90s, ending an eighteen-year run dating back to 1981. In July, two years after Donruss, Inc. (which included the Leaf brand) was purchased by Pinnacle Brands, Pinnacle filed for bankruptcy protection and was liquidated the following month. Playoff Corporation -- known for its football cards -- paid $9.6 million for all of Pinnacle's assets and subsequently entered a license agreement with Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP) allowing them to sell a portion of the leftover baseball card inventory they inherited. This would include 1998 Donruss Signature Series and 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars, which came out in December 1998 and January 1999, respectively. In 2001, Playoff (now renamed "Donruss-Playoff") was able to secure a permanent MLB license and the Donruss brand was revived in 2001.

Distribution

Hobby: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack (MSRP: $1.99)

Retail: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack

Blaster: 12 packs per box plus bonus pocket collectors album and 1/4" screwdown card holder

Blister: 14 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99). 25 Blisters per case.

Update Series Hobby: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack

Update Series Blaster: 12 packs per box, 10 cards per pack

Insertion Ratios

Series One

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds	Jumbo Odds
Base	170	-	?	?	?
Silver Press Proofs	170	1500	?	?	?
Gold Press Proof	170	500	?	?	?
Rated Rookies	30	-	?	?	?
Rated Rookies Medalists	30	250	?	?	?
Diamond Kings	20	9500	?	?	?
Diamond Kings Canvas	20	500	?	?	?
Elite Series	20	2500	?	?	?
Long Ball Leaders	24	5000	?	?	?
Production Line Power Index	20	varies	?	N/A	N/A
Production Line Slugging	20	varies	N/A	?	N/A
Production Line On-Base	20	varies	N/A	N/A	?
Crusade Green	40	250	?	?	?
Crusade Purple	40	100	?	?	?
Crusade Red	40	25	?	?	?

Update Series

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	250	-	?	?
Silver Press Proofs	250	1500	?	?
Gold Press Proof	250	500	?	?
Dominators	30	-	?	?
Rookie Diamond Kings	12	9500	?	?
Rookie Diamond Kings Canvas	12	500	?	?
FANtasy Team 1st Team	10	3750	?	?
FANtasy Team 1st Team Die-Cut	10	250	?	?
FANtasy Team 2nd Team	10	1750	?	?
FANtasy Team 2nd Team Die-Cut	10	250	?	?
MLB 99	20	-	?	?
Crusade Green	30	250	?	?
Crusade Purple	30	100	?	?
Crusade Red	30	25	?	?
1998 Donruss Signature Series Previews	??	varies	?	?

Checklist

Base Set

Series One

• 1 Paul Molitor
• 2 Juan Gonzalez
• 3 Darryl Kile
• 4 Randy Johnson
• 5 Tom Glavine
• 6 Pat Hentgen
• 7 Dave Justice
• 8 Kevin Brown
• 9 Mike Mussina
• 10 Ken Caminiti
• 11 Todd Hundley
• 12 Frank Thomas
• 13 Ray Lankford
• 14 Justin Thompson
• 15 Jason Dickson
• 16 Kenny Lofton
• 17 Ivan Rodriguez
• 18 Pedro Martinez
• 19 Brady Anderson
• 20 Barry Larkin
• 21 Chipper Jones
• 22 Tony Gwynn
• 23 Roger Clemens
• 24 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 25 Tino Martinez
• 26 Jeff Bagwell
• 27 Shawn Estes
• 28 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 29 Javy Lopez
• 30 Denny Neagle
• 31 Mike Piazza
• 32 Andres Galarraga
• 33 Larry Walker
• 34 Alex Rodriguez
• 35 Greg Maddux
• 36 Albert Belle
• 37 Barry Bonds
• 38 Mo Vaughn
• 39 Kevin Appier
• 40 Wade Boggs
• 41 Garret Anderson
• 42 Jeffrey Hammonds
• 43 Marquis Grissom
• 44 Jim Edmonds
• 45 Brian Jordan
• 46 Raul Mondesi
• 47 John Valentin
• 48 Brad Radke
• 49 Ismael Valdes
• 50 Matt Stairs
• 51 Matt Williams
• 52 Reggie Jefferson
• 53 Alan Benes
• 54 Charles Johnson
• 55 Chuck Knoblauch
• 56 Edgar Martinez
• 57 Nomar Garciaparra
• 58 Craig Biggio
• 59 Bernie Williams
• 60 David Cone
• 61 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 62 Mark McGwire
• 63 Roberto Alomar
• 64 Fred McGriff
• 65 Eric Karros
• 66 Robin Ventura
• 67 Darin Erstad
• 68 Michael Tucker
• 69 Jim Thome
• 70 Mark Grace
• 71 Lou Collier
• 72 Karim Garcia
• 73 Alex Fernandez
• 74 J.T. Snow
• 75 Reggie Sanders
• 76 John Smoltz
• 77 Tim Salmon
• 78 Paul O'Neill
• 79 Vinny Castilla
• 80 Rafael Palmeiro
• 81 Jaret Wright
• 82 Jay Buhner
• 83 Brett Butler
• 84 Todd Greene
• 85 Scott Rolen
• 86 Sammy Sosa
• 87 Jason Giambi
• 88 Carlos Delgado
• 89 Deion Sanders
• 90 Wilton Guerrero
• 91 Andy Pettitte
• 92 Brian Giles
• 93 Dmitri Young
• 94 Ron Coomer
• 95 Mike Cameron
• 96 Edgardo Alfonzo
• 97 Jimmy Key
• 98 Ryan Klesko
• 99 Andy Benes
• 100 Derek Jeter
• 101 Jeff Fassero
• 102 Neifi Perez
• 103 Hideo Nomo
• 104 Andruw Jones
• 105 Todd Helton
• 106 Livan Hernandez
• 107 Brett Tomko
• 108 Shannon Stewart
• 109 Bartolo Colon
• 110 Matt Morris
• 111 Miguel Tejada
• 112 Pokey Reese
• 113 Fernando Tatis
• 114 Todd Dunwoody
• 115 Jose Cruz
• 116 Chan Ho Park
• 117 Kevin Young
• 118 Rickey Henderson
• 119 Hideki Irabu
• 120 Francisco Cordova
• 121 Al Martin
• 122 Tony Clark
• 123 Curt Schilling
• 124 Rusty Greer
• 125 Jose Canseco
• 126 Edgar Renteria
• 127 Todd Walker
• 128 Wally Joyner
• 129 Bill Mueller
• 130 Jose Guillen
• 131 Manny Ramirez
• 132 Bob Higginson
• 133 Kevin Orie
• 134 Will Clark
• 135 Dave Nilsson
• 136 Jason Kendall
• 137 Ivan Cruz
• 138 Gary Sheffield
• 139 Bubba Trammell
• 140 Vladimir Guerrero
• 141 Dennis Reyes
• 142 Bobby Bonilla
• 143 Ruben Rivera
• 144 Ben Grieve
• 145 Moises Alou
• 146 Tony Womack
• 147 Eric Young
• 148 Paul Konerko
• 149 Dante Bichette
• 150 Joe Carter
• 151 Rondell White
• 152 Chris Holt
• 153 Shawn Green
• 154 Mark Grudzielanek
• 155 Jermaine Dye

Fan Club

• 156 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 157 Frank Thomas
• 158 Chipper Jones
• 159 Mike Piazza
• 160 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 161 Greg Maddux
• 162 Juan Gonzalez
• 163 Alex Rodriguez
• 164 Mark McGwire
• 165 Derek Jeter

Checklists

• 166 Larry Walker
• 167 Tony Gwynn
• 168 Tino Martinez
• 169 Scott Rolen
• 170 Nomar Garciaparra

Update Series

• 171 Mike Sweeney
• 172 Dustin Hermanson
• 173 Darren Dreifort
• 174 Ron Gant
• 175 Todd Hollandsworth
• 176 John Jaha
• 177 Kerry Wood
• 178 Chris Stynes
• 179 Kevin Elster
• 180 Derek Bell
• 181 Darryl Strawberry
• 182 Damion Easley
• 183 Jeff Cirillo
• 184 John Thomson
• 185 Dan Wilson
• 186 Jay Bell
• 187 Bernard Gilkey
• 188 Marc Valdes
• 189 Ramon J. Martinez
• 190 Charles Nagy
• 191 Derek Lowe
• 192 Andy Benes
• 193 Delino DeShields
• 194 Ryan Jackson RC
• 195 Kenny Lofton
• 196 Chuck Knoblauch
• 197 Andres Galarraga
• 198 Jose Canseco
• 199 John Olerud
• 200 Lance Johnson
• 201 Darryl Kile
• 202 Luis Castillo
• 203 Joe Carter
• 204 Dennis Eckersley
• 205 Steve Finley
• 206 Esteban Loaiza
• 207 Ryan Christenson
• 208 Deivi Cruz
• 209 Mariano Rivera
• 210 Mike Judd
• 211 Billy Wagner
• 212 Scott Spiezio
• 213 Russ Davis
• 214 Jeff Suppan
• 215 Doug Glanville
• 216 Dmitri Young
• 217 Rey Ordonez
• 218 Cecil Fielder
• 219 Masato Yoshii RC
• 220 Raul Casanova
• 221 Rolando Arrojo RC
• 222 Ellis Burks
• 223 Butch Huskey
• 224 Brian L. Hunter
• 225 Marquis Grissom
• 226 Kevin Brown
• 227 Joe Randa
• 228 Henry Rodriguez
• 229 Omar Vizquel
• 230 Fred McGriff
• 231 Matt Williams
• 232 Moises Alou
• 233 Travis Fryman
• 234 Wade Boggs
• 235 Pedro Martinez
• 236 Rickey Henderson
• 237 Bubba Trammell
• 238 Mike Caruso
• 239 Wilson Alvarez
• 240 Geronimo Berroa
• 241 Eric Milton
• 242 Scott Erickson
• 243 Todd Erdos RC
• 244 Bobby Hughes
• 245 Dave Hollins
• 246 Dean Palmer
• 247 Carlos Baerga
• 248 Jose Silva
• 249 Jose Cabrera RC
• 250 Tom Evans
• 251 Marty Cordova
• 252 Hanley Frias
• 253 Javier Valentin
• 254 Mario Valdez
• 255 Joey Cora
• 256 Mike Lansing
• 257 Jeff Kent
• 258 Dave Dellucci RC
• 259 Curtis King RC
• 260 David Segui
• 261 Royce Clayton
• 262 Jeff Blauser
• 263 Manny Aybar RC
• 264 Mike Cather RC
• 265 Todd Zeile
• 266 Richard Hidalgo
• 267 Dante Powell
• 268 Mike DeJean RC
• 269 Ken Cloude
• 270 Danny Klassen
• 271 Sean Casey
• 272 A.J. Hinch
• 273 Rich Butler RC
• 274 Ben Ford
• 275 Billy McMillon
• 276 Wilson Delgado
• 277 Orlando Cabrera
• 278 Geoff Jenkins
• 279 Enrique Wilson
• 280 Derrek Lee
• 281 Marc Pisciotta RC
• 282 Abraham Nunez
• 283 Aaron Boone
• 284 Brad Fullmer
• 285 Rob Stanifer RC
• 286 Preston Wilson
• 287 Greg Norton
• 288 Bobby Smith
• 289 Josh Booty
• 290 Russell Branyan
• 291 Jeremi Gonzalez
• 292 Michael Coleman
• 293 Cliff Politte
• 294 Eric Ludwick
• 295 Rafael Medina
• 296 Jason Varitek
• 297 Ron Wright
• 298 Mark Kotsay
• 299 David Ortiz
• 300 Frank Catalanotto RC
• 301 Robinson Checo
• 302 Kevin Millwood RC
• 303 Jacob Cruz
• 304 Javier Vazquez
• 305 Magglio Ordonez RC
• 306 Kevin Witt
• 307 Derrick Gibson
• 308 Shane Monahan
• 309 Brian Rose
• 310 Bobby Estalella
• 311 Felix Heredia
• 312 Desi Relaford
• 313 Esteban Yan RC
• 314 Ricky Ledee
• 315 Steve Woodard
• 316 Pat Watkins
• 317 Damian Moss
• 318 Bob Abreu
• 319 Jeff Abbott
• 320 Miguel Cairo
• 321 Rigo Beltran RC
• 322 Tony Saunders
• 323 Randall Simon
• 324 Hiram Bocachica
• 325 Richie Sexson
• 326 Karim Garcia
• 327 Mike Lowell
• 328 Pat Cline
• 329 Matt Clement
• 330 Scott Elarton
• 331 Manuel Barrios
• 332 Bruce Chen
• 333 Juan Encarnacion
• 334 Travis Lee
• 335 Wes Helms
• 336 Chad Fox RC
• 337 Donnie Sadler
• 338 Carlos Mendoza RC
• 339 Damian Jackson
• 340 Julio Ramirez
• 341 John Halama RC
• 342 Edwin Diaz
• 343 Felix Martinez
• 344 Eli Marrero
• 345 Carl Pavano

Hit List

• 346 Vladimir Guerrero
• 347 Barry Bonds
• 348 Darin Erstad
• 349 Albert Belle
• 350 Kenny Lofton
• 351 Mo Vaughn
• 352 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 353 Tony Clark
• 354 Roberto Alomar
• 355 Manny Ramirez
• 356 Paul Molitor
• 357 Jim Thome
• 358 Tino Martinez
• 359 Tim Salmon
• 360 Dave Justice
• 361 Raul Mondesi
• 362 Mark Grace
• 363 Craig Biggio
• 364 Larry Walker
• 365 Mark McGwire
• 366 Juan Gonzalez
• 367 Derek Jeter
• 368 Chipper Jones
• 369 Frank Thomas
• 370 Alex Rodriguez
• 371 Mike Piazza
• 372 Tony Gwynn
• 373 Jeff Bagwell
• 374 Nomar Garciaparra
• 375 Ken Griffey, Jr.

Untouchables

• 376 Livan Hernandez
• 377 Chan Ho Park
• 378 Mike Mussina
• 379 Andy Pettitte
• 380 Greg Maddux
• 381 Hideo Nomo
• 382 Roger Clemens
• 383 Randy Johnson
• 384 Pedro Martinez
• 385 Jaret Wright

Spirit of the Game

• 386 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 387 Todd Helton
• 388 Paul Konerko
• 389 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 390 Larry Walker
• 391 Ken Caminiti
• 392 Jose Guillen
• 393 Jim Edmonds
• 394 Barry Larkin
• 395 Bernie Williams
• 396 Tony Clark
• 397 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 398 Ivan Rodriguez
• 399 Darin Erstad
• 400 Scott Rolen
• 401 Mark McGwire
• 402 Andruw Jones
• 403 Juan Gonzalez
• 404 Derek Jeter
• 405 Chipper Jones
• 406 Greg Maddux
• 407 Frank Thomas
• 408 Alex Rodriguez
• 409 Mike Piazza
• 410 Tony Gwynn
• 411 Jeff Bagwell
• 412 Nomar Garciaparra
• 413 Hideo Nomo
• 414 Barry Bonds
• 415 Ben Grieve

Checklists

• 416 Barry Bonds
• 417 Mark McGwire
• 418 Roger Clemens
• 419 Livan Hernandez
• 420 Ken Griffey, Jr.

Parallels

All 420 cards were available in the following parallels:

• Silver Press Proof (print run of 1500 copies; not serial-numbered)
• Gold Press Proof (print run of 500 copies; not serial-numbered)

Silver Press Proof

Silver Press Proofs maintained the same design as the base set but were die-cut in the upper-right corner, had a full silver-foil finish on the front, silver-foil stamping, and repeating patterned Donruss "D" logo across the card front.

Gold Press Proof

Gold Press Proofs maintained the same design as the base set but were die-cut in the upper-right corner, had a full silver-foil finish on the front, gold-foil stamping, and repeating patterned Donruss "D" logo across the card front.

Inserts

Rated Rookies

This 30-card set featured many of the top rookies of 1998 on a white card background with white stars and thick, horizontal team-colored bars running across the card front. Rated Rookies were exclusive to Series One packs.

• 1 Mark Kotsay
• 2 Neifi Perez
• 3 Paul Konerko
• 4 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 5 Hideki Irabu
• 6 Mike Cameron
• 7 Jeff Suppan
• 8 Kevin Orie
• 9 Pokey Reese
• 10 Todd Dunwoody
• 11 Miguel Tejada
• 12 Jose Guillen
• 13 Bartolo Colon
• 14 Derrek Lee
• 15 Antone Williamson
• 16 Wilton Guerrero
• 17 Jaret Wright
• 18 Todd Helton
• 19 Shannon Stewart
• 20 Nomar Garciaparra
• 21 Brett Tomko
• 22 Fernando Tatis
• 23 Raul Ibanez
• 24 Dennis Reyes
• 25 Bobby Estalella
• 26 Lou Collier
• 27 Bubba Trammell
• 28 Ben Grieve
• 29 Ivan Cruz
• 30 Karim Garcia

Rated Rookies Medalist

All Rated Rookie inserts were available in a Medalist parallel that featured a full silver-foil finish, die-cut star cutouts, and "Medalist" text along the side of the card front. These were limited but not serial-numbered to 250 copies.

Diamond Kings

The final offering of this notable insert set featured 20 of the most well-known players in baseball artistically designed by artist Dan Gardner, who also designed the previous year's set. Each card was serial-numbered to 10,000 copies with the first 500 cards printed on canvas (see below), and randomly inserted into all Series One packs. Thus, only 9500 copies of the "base" Diamond King insert were made.

• 1 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 2 Greg Maddux
• 3 Ivan Rodriguez
• 4 Tony Gwynn
• 5 Paul Molitor
• 6 Kenny Lofton
• 7 Andy Pettitte
• 8 Darin Erstad
• 9 Randy Johnson
• 10 Derek Jeter
• 11 Hideo Nomo
• 12 Dave Justice
• 13 Bernie Williams
• 14 Roger Clemens
• 15 Barry Larkin
• 16 Andruw Jones
• 17 Mike Piazza
• 18 Frank Thomas
• 19 Alex Rodriguez
• 20 Ken Griffey, Jr.

Promo

Additionally, a Frank Thomas promo card was created as a promo for the 1998 Donruss Series One product. The card was sent to all wholesale accounts along with the order forms for the product. The promo card looked like the regular Diamond King insert but had "SAMPLE" printed across the back of the card for differentiation.

Canvas

The first 500 serial-numbered copies of each Diamond King insert were printed on actual canvas card stock.

Elite Series

The eighth and final edition of the Donruss signature insert set featured 20 of the top players in the game at the time on pewter-colored etched foil finish with a diamond-shaped cutout featuring the color player photo and extra-large calligraphic "Elite" across the card front.

Each Elite Series insert was serial-numbered to 2500 copies and randomly inserted into Series One packs.

• 1 Jeff Bagwell
• 2 Andruw Jones
• 3 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 4 Derek Jeter
• 5 Juan Gonzalez
• 6 Mark McGwire
• 7 Ivan Rodriguez
• 8 Paul Molitor
• 9 Hideo Nomo
• 10 Mo Vaughn
• 11 Chipper Jones
• 12 Nomar Garciaparra
• 13 Mike Piazza
• 14 Frank Thomas
• 15 Greg Maddux
• 16 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 17 Alex Rodriguez
• 18 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 19 Barry Bonds
• 20 Tony Gwynn

Long Ball Leaders

This 24-card set honored the top home run hitters in the game at the time on a gold and silver etched-foil card front. While the theme previous iterations of this insert focused on the players with the longest home runs hit in the previous season, this year's theme highlighted the the home run total of the player, relative to the Roger Maris's single-season home run record of 61.

Each card was serial-numbered to 5000 copies and exclusive to Series One packs.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Mark McGwire
• 3 Tino Martinez
• 4 Barry Bonds
• 5 Frank Thomas
• 6 Albert Belle
• 7 Mike Piazza
• 8 Chipper Jones
• 9 Vladimir Guerrero
• 10 Matt Williams
• 11 Sammy Sosa
• 12 Tim Salmon
• 13 Raul Mondesi
• 14 Jeff Bagwell
• 15 Mo Vaughn
• 16 Manny Ramirez
• 17 Jim Thome
• 18 Jim Edmonds
• 19 Tony Clark
• 20 Nomar Garciaparra
• 21 Juan Gonzalez
• 22 Scott Rolen
• 23 Larry Walker
• 24 Andres Galarraga

Production Line

The inaugural year of this popular insert set that carried on through the Donruss-Playoff-era of the brand, featured 60 cards broken out evenly across three, 20-card tiers representing a different offensive statistic:

• Power Index (more commonly known as OPS): (Blue holographic foil; exclusive to Series One Hobby packs)
• Slugging Percentage: (Red holographic foil; exclusive to Series One retail packs)
• On-Base Percentage: (Green holographic foil; exclusive to Series One Jumbo packs)

Each card within each tier was serial-numbered to the featured player's 1997 numerical total (multiplied by 1000) for that statistic. Production figures of each card are denoted in the checklists below.

Power Index

• 1 Frank Thomas 1067
• 2 Mark McGwire 1039
• 3 Barry Bonds 1031
• 4 Jeff Bagwell 1017
• 5 Ken Griffey, Jr. 1028
• 6 Alex Rodriguez 846
• 7 Chipper Jones 850
• 8 Mike Piazza 1070
• 9 Mo Vaughn 980
• 10 Brady Anderson 863
• 11 Manny Ramirez 953
• 12 Albert Belle 823
• 13 Jim Thome 1001
• 14 Bernie Williams 952
• 15 Scott Rolen 846
• 16 Vladimir Guerrero 833
• 17 Larry Walker 1172
• 18 Dave Justice 1013
• 19 Tino Martinez 948
• 20 Tony Gwynn 957

Slugging

• 1 Mark McGwire 646
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr. 646
• 3 Andres Galarraga 585
• 4 Barry Bonds 585
• 5 Juan Gonzalez 589
• 6 Mike Piazza 638
• 7 Jeff Bagwell 592
• 8 Manny Ramirez 538
• 9 Jim Thome 579
• 10 Mo Vaughn 560
• 11 Larry Walker 720
• 12 Tino Martinez 577
• 13 Frank Thomas 611
• 14 Tim Salmon 517
• 15 Raul Mondesi 541
• 16 Alex Rodriguez 496
• 17 Nomar Garciaparra 534
• 18 Jose Cruz, Jr. 499
• 19 Tony Clark 500
• 20 Cal Ripken, Jr. 402

On-Base

• 1 Frank Thomas 456
• 2 Edgar Martinez 456
• 3 Roberto Alomar 390
• 4 Chuck Knoblauch 390
• 5 Mike Piazza 431
• 6 Barry Larkin 440
• 7 Kenny Lofton 409
• 8 Jeff Bagwell 425
• 9 Barry Bonds 446
• 10 Rusty Greer 405
• 11 Gary Sheffield 424
• 12 Mark McGwire 393
• 13 Chipper Jones 371
• 14 Tony Gwynn 409
• 15 Craig Biggio 415
• 16 Mo Vaughn 420
• 17 Bernie Williams 408
• 18 Ken Griffey, Jr. 382
• 19 Brady Anderson 393
• 20 Derek Jeter 370

Dominators

This 30-card set highlighted some of the best players in the game on a team-colored design featuring a radiance pattern from the player photo and holofoil finishes over the insert nameplate. These were randomly inserted into Update Series packs.

• 1 Roger Clemens
• 2 Tony Clark
• 3 Darin Erstad
• 4 Jeff Bagwell
• 5 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 6 Andruw Jones
• 7 Juan Gonzalez
• 8 Ivan Rodriguez
• 9 Randy Johnson
• 10 Tino Martinez
• 11 Mark McGwire
• 12 Chuck Knoblauch
• 13 Jim Thome
• 14 Alex Rodriguez
• 15 Hideo Nomo
• 16 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 17 Chipper Jones
• 18 Tony Gwynn
• 19 Barry Bonds
• 20 Mo Vaughn
• 21 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 22 Greg Maddux
• 23 Manny Ramirez
• 24 Andres Galarraga
• 25 Vladimir Guerrero
• 26 Albert Belle
• 27 Nomar Garciaparra
• 28 Kenny Lofton
• 29 Mike Piazza
• 30 Frank Thomas

Rookie Diamond Kings

This 12-card set highlighted some of the top young stars in the game at the time on an artistic rendition designed by Dan Gardner. Each card was serial-numbered to 10,000 copies with the first 500 printed on actual canvas card stock (see below). These were exclusive to all Update Series packs.

• 1 Travis Lee
• 2 Fernando Tatis
• 3 Livan Hernandez
• 4 Todd Helton
• 5 Derrek Lee
• 6 Jaret Wright
• 7 Ben Grieve
• 8 Paul Konerko
• 9 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 10 Mark Kotsay
• 11 Todd Greene
• 12 Brad Fullmer

Canvas

As with the Canvas Diamond Kings in Series One (see above), the first 500 serial-numbered copies of each Rookie Diamond King were printed on a canvas card stock.

FANtasy Team

This 20-card set featured the leading vote-getters from the online FAN Club promotion hosted by Donruss. The first ten cards made up the FANtasy 1st Team and consisted of the top 10 vote-getters. Each FANtasy 1st Team card was serial-numbered to 2000 copies. The remaining players made up the FANtasy 2nd Team and were each serial-numbered to 4000 copies.

All FANtasy Team inserts featured a holographic foil finish across the card front and were exclusive to Update Series packs.

• 1 Frank Thomas
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 4 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 5 Travis Lee
• 6 Greg Maddux
• 7 Alex Rodriguez
• 8 Mark McGwire
• 9 Chipper Jones
• 10 Andruw Jones
• 11 Mike Piazza
• 12 Tony Gwynn
• 13 Larry Walker
• 14 Nomar Garciaparra
• 15 Jaret Wright
• 16 Livan Hernandez
• 17 Roger Clemens
• 18 Derek Jeter
• 19 Scott Rolen
• 20 Jeff Bagwell

Die-Cut

The first 250 serial-numbered copies of each FANtasy Team card were available in a parallel where all the stars along the right and left edges were cut out.

MLB 99

This 20-card set promoted the upcoming MLB 99 video game for the Sony PlayStation. Each card featured full color player photos, white borders, and the PlayStation Logo. The reverse side contains information on a contest where entrants could win a Sony PlayStation, copies of the MLB 99 game, or boxes of Donruss baseball cards.

These were randomly inserted in both Update Series and 1998 Studio packs.

• 1 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 2 Nomar Garciaparra
• 3 Barry Bonds
• 4 Mike Mussina
• 5 Pedro Martinez
• 6 Derek Jeter
• 7 Andruw Jones
• 8 Kenny Lofton
• 9 Gary Sheffield
• 10 Raul Mondesi
• 11 Jeff Bagwell
• 12 Tim Salmon
• 13 Tom Glavine
• 14 Ben Grieve
• 15 Matt Williams
• 16 Juan Gonzalez
• 17 Mark McGwire
• 18 Bernie Williams
• 19 Andres Galarraga
• 20 Jose Cruz, Jr.

Crusade

See 1998 Donruss Crusade.

Autographs

1998 Donruss Signature Series Previews

This set previewed the upcoming 1998 Donruss Signature Series set -- which due to Pinnacle Brands' bankruptcy and liquidation, would be released by Playoff in January, 1999. Although the cards were not serial-numbered, production figures would eventually be issued by Playoff and those figures are next to the player's name in the checklist below. The design of the set is identical to the autographs in Donruss Signature Series, but have a yellow background (as opposed to red, blue, and green) and the word "PREVIEW" printed in the upper-left corner on the front.

As of 2023, there have been 151 total Preview cards identified but only 34 of these were autographed - a large majority of these Preview cards are unsigned (labeled below) and considered proofs. Summary Notes:

• 151 Preview cards in the set have been confirmed
• 34 Preview cards in the set were autographed
  • 29 of the 34 autographed Preview cards in the set were inserted into Donruss Update packs
  • 5 of the 34 autographed Preview cards in the set were not inserted into Donruss Update packs: Moises Alou, Sean Casey, Geoff Jenkins, Derek Jeter, and Dan Wilson
    • These 5 autographed Previews were never intended for public release and emerged on the secondary market during and after Pinnacle's bankruptcy proceedings.
    • Alou, Casey, Jenkins, and Wilson failed to return their cards in time for the Donruss Update packout and were stored in Pinnacle's card vault (unlike modern practices, redemption cards were not issued). It is believed that these four players signed a minimum of 100 cards each.
    • Jeter's Preview cards have a different story as it is believed Pinnacle failed to send his Preview cards separately and that those cards were erroneously sent to Jeter along with his allotment of cards for the 1998 Donruss Signature Series brand - whereas the other 33 participating players got their yellow Preview cards months before getting their red, blue, and green Signature Series cards, Jeter received his Preview cards months later in the same package as his Signature Series cards).
      • Jeter signed all of the cards he was given, including the yellow Preview cards, and sent them back to the manufacturer -- by which time the Update Series had already been released. Like the Alou, Casey, Jenkins, and Wilson Preview autographs, the yellow Jeters were squirreled away by Pinnacle and did not emerge until after the company's bankruptcy.
      • As of 2023, less than 10 unsigned copies of the Jeter have surfaced and are very rare.
• There are some players that have an unsigned Preview and also have an unsigned Executive Proof in the Base Red, Millennium, or Century Marks card in the 1998 Donruss Signature Series Autographs either. This suggests that these players were supposed to be in both this Preview and Signature Series set but were not included due to the player not signing (and/or returning) in time, a licensing agreement not being met, or some other reason.
• Given that many unsigned Preview cards surfaced in 2018, the number of cards in this card set is seemingly not set in stone and is most likely dynamic moving forward.
• Interestingly, there are unsigned Preview cards of Pettitte, Marrero, and Olerud but these players do not have Executive Proofs in the Signature Series set (i.e., Base Red, Century/Millennium Marks) - they only exist in this Preview set.

Autographed print runs for players are indicated below. Some players with Autographed Preview cards also have an unsigned Preview version that exists and are indicated below. Further, players in bold with an asterisk(*) have an unsigned Preview (i.e., unsigned proof) and do not have an autographed Preview version.

• Edgardo Alfonso*
• Roberto Alomar*
• Sandy Alomar, Jr. 96
• Moises Alou 100+? (and an unsigned Preview)
• Gabe Alvarez*
• Wilson Alvarez*
• Brady Anderson*
• Kevin Appier*
• Jeff Bagwell*
• Albert Belle*
• Adrian Beltre*
• Andy Benes 135 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Kris Benson*
• Craig Biggio*
• Wade Boggs*
• Bobby Bonilla*
• Russell Branyan 188 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Ellis Burks*
• Ellis Burks*
• Orlando Cabrera*
• Mike Cameron*
• Ken Caminiti*
• Sean Casey 100+? (and an unsigned Preview)
• Bruce Chen*
• Tony Clark 188 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Will Clark*
• Matt Clement*
• Ken Cloude*
• Michael Coleman*
• Jacob Cruz*
• Jose Cruz, Jr.*
• Russ Davis*
• Carlos Delgado*
• Jason Dickson*
• Mike Drumright*
• Todd Dunwoody*
• Scott Elarton*
• Juan Encarnacion 193 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Darin Erstad*
• Bobby Estalella*
• Shawn Estes*
• Jeff Fassero*
• John Franco*
• Travis Fryman*
• Brad Fullmer 396
• Karim Garcia*
• Nomar Garciaparra*
• Jason Giambi*
• Derrick Gibson*
• Tom Glavine*
• Juan Gonzalez 108 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Shawn Green*
• Todd Greene*
• Ben Grieve 100 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Marquis Grissom*
• Mark Grudzielanek*
• Vladimir Guerrero*
• Wilton Guerrero*
• Jose Guillen*
• Tony Gwynn*
• Jeffrey Hammonds*
• Todd Helton 101 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Chad Hermansen*
• Richard Hidalgo 380 (and an unsigned Preview)
• A.J. Hinch 400 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Chan Ho Park*
• Todd Hundley*
• Butch Huskey*
• Raul Ibanez*
• Damian Jackson 15
• Geoff Jenkins 100+? (and an unsigned Preview)
• Derek Jeter < 10? (and an unsigned Preview)
• Randy Johnson*
• Chipper Jones 112 (and an unsigned Preview)
• David Justice*
• Jason Kendall*
• Jimmy Key*
• Ryan Klesko*
• Chuck Knoblauch 98 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Mark Kotsay*
• Barry Larkin*
• Ricky Ledee*
• Travis Lee 101 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Derrek Lee*
• Esteban Loaiza*
• Kenny Lofton*
• Javier Lopez*
• Mike Lowell 450 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Greg Maddux 92 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Eli Marrero*
• Al Martin*
• Ramon Martinez*
• Edgar Martinez*
• Ben McDonald*
• Rafael Medina*
• Kevin Millwood 395 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Raul Mondesi*
• Matt Morris*
• Charles Nagy*
• Abraham Nunez*
• John Olerud*
• Paul O'Neill*
• Luis Ordaz*
• Magglio Ordonez 420 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Kevin Orie*
• David Ortiz 393 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Rafael Palmeiro 107 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Carl Pavano*
• Jay Payton*
• Neifi Perez*
• Andy Pettitte*
• Dante Powell*
• Aramis Ramirez*
• Cal Ripken, Jr. 22
• Ruben Rivera*
• Henry Rodriguez*
• Felix Rodriguez*
• Alex Rodriguez 23
• Scott Rolen*
• Brian Rose*
• Tim Salmon*
• Curt Schilling 100
• Gary Sheffield*
• Randall Simon 380 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Sammy Sosa*
• Darryl Strawberry*
• Jeff Suppan*
• Fernando Tatis 400 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Miguel Tejada 375
• Justin Thompson*
• Brett Tomko*
• Bubba Trammell*
• Ismael Valdes*
• Mario Valdez*
• Mo Vaughn*
• Robin Ventura 95 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Billy Wagner*
• Larry Walker*
• Todd Walker*
• Darryl Ward*
• Rondell White*
• Matt Williams*
• Bernie Williams*
• Antone Williamson*
• Preston Wilson*
• Dan Wilson 100+?
• Tony Womack*
• Kerry Wood 373 (and an unsigned Preview)
• Steve Woodward*
• Ron Wright*
• Todd Zeile*

Donruss
Triopoly Era: 1980-81 Donruss Test - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987
Junk Wax Era: 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993
Post Junk Wax Era: 1994 - 1995 - 1996
Pinnacle Brands Era: 1997 - 1998
Donruss-Playoff Era: 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005
Panini America Era: 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Optic: 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022
All-Stars: 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989
Highlights: 1985 - 1986 - 1987
The Rookies: 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2014 Donruss The Rookies Update
Baseball's Best: 1988 - 1989 - 1990
Other Donruss Brands: 1983 Donruss HOF Heroes - 1984 Donruss Champions - 1985 Donruss HOF Sluggers - 1987 Donruss Opening Day - 1988 Donruss Team Books - 1989 Donruss Traded - 1990 Donruss Learning Series - 1993 Donruss Elite Dominators - 1997 Donruss Team Sets - 1998 Donruss Collections -1998 Donruss Days - 2002 Donruss Originals