1998 Pinnacle Plus

Description

1998 Pinnacle Plus is a 200-card set printed on foil-board and released in August, 1998. Like most Pinnacle Brands sets of the era, it follows the same formula of other mid-level Pinnacle sets of the era: 150 players with the super stars doubled-up in a subset or two mixed in with a couple dozen of non-rookie "rookies"; inserts; and a $3/pack price point.

This product was the last baseball card set Pinnacle Brands would ever release, as they went out of business just a few weeks later.

Distribution

24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99).

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds
Base	200	-	10:1
Lasting Memories	30	-	1:5
Yard Work	15	-	1:9
Piece of the Game	10	-	1:19
All-Star Epix Purple	12	-	1:120
All-Star Epix Orange	12	-	1:24
Artist's Proof	60	-	1:35
Team Pinnacle	15	-	1:71
Gold Team Pinacle	15	-	1:199
All-Star Epix Emerald	12	-	1:240
Mirror Gold Team Pinnacle	15	25	?
Gold Artist's Proof	60	100	?
Mirror Artist's Proof	60	one of one	?
Nolan Ryan Autographed Baseball Redemption	1	1,000	?
Interleague Game-Used Baseball Redemption	1	100	?

Checklist

Promos

Six "Sample" cards were distributed in two-card sealed cello packs within dealer order forms and in Hobby media releases about four to six weeks prior to the release of 1998 Pinnacle Plus baseball.

NOTE: The samples are similar in design, but not completely identical, to the regular issue Pinnacle Plus cards. The samples share the same photographs, but the cards are printed on basic four-color UV coated cardstock. The actual Pinnacle Plus base set was printed on silver foil board.

• 8 Nomar Garciaparra
• 9 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 24 Frank Thomas
• 33 Mike Piazza
• 56 Chipper Jones
• 72 Larry Walker

Base Set

• 1 Roberto Alomar
• 2 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 3 Brady Anderson
• 4 Albert Belle
• 5 Jeff Cirillo
• 6 Roger Clemens
• 7 David Cone
• 8 Nomar Garciaparra
• 9 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 10 Jason Dickson
• 11 Edgar Martinez
• 12 Tino Martinez
• 13 Randy Johnson
• 14 Mark McGwire
• 15 Dave Justice
• 16 Mike Mussina
• 17 Chuck Knoblauch
• 18 Joey Cora
• 19 Pat Hentgen
• 20 Randy Myers
• 21 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 22 Mariano Rivera
• 23 Jose Rosado
• 24 Frank Thomas
• 25 Alex Rodriguez
• 26 Justin Thompson
• 27 Ivan Rodriguez
• 28 Bernie Williams
• 29 Pedro Martinez
• 30 Tony Clark
• 31 Garret Anderson
• 32 Travis Fryman
• 33 Mike Piazza
• 34 Carl Pavano
• 35 Kevin Millwood RC
• 36 Miguel Tejada
• 37 Willie Blair
• 38 Devon White
• 39 Andres Galarraga
• 40 Barry Larkin
• 41 Al Leiter
• 42 Moises Alou
• 43 Eric Young
• 44 John Jaha
• 45 Bernard Gilkey
• 46 Freddy Garcia
• 47 Ruben Rivera
• 48 Robb Nen
• 49 Ray Lankford
• 50 Kenny Lofton
• 51 Joe Carter
• 52 Jason McDonald
• 53 Quinton McCracken
• 54 Kerry Wood
• 55 Mike Lansing
• 56 Chipper Jones
• 57 Barry Bonds
• 58 Brad Fullmer
• 59 Jeff Bagwell
• 60 Rondell White
• 61 Geronimo Berroa
• 62 Magglio Ordonez RC
• 63 Dwight Gooden
• 64 Brian Hunter
• 65 Todd Walker
• 66 Frank Catalanotto RC
• 67 Tony Saunders
• 68 Travis Lee
• 69 Michael Tucker
• 70 Reggie Sanders
• 71 Derrek Lee
• 72 Larry Walker
• 73 Marquis Grissom
• 74 Craig Biggio
• 75 Kevin Brown
• 76 J.T. Snow
• 77 Eric Davis
• 78 Jeff Abbott
• 79 Jermaine Dye
• 80 Otis Nixon
• 81 Curt Schilling
• 82 Enrique Wilson
• 83 Tony Gwynn
• 84 Orlando Cabrera
• 85 Ramon Martinez
• 86 Greg Vaughn
• 87 Alan Benes
• 88 Dennis Eckersley
• 89 Jim Thome
• 90 Juan Encarnacion
• 91 Jeff King
• 92 Shannon Stewart
• 93 Roberto Hernandez
• 94 Raul Ibanez
• 95 Darryl Kile
• 96 Charles Johnson
• 97 Rich Becker
• 98 Hal Morris
• 99 Ismael Valdes
• 100 Orel Hershiser
• 101 Mo Vaughn
• 102 Aaron Boone
• 103 Jeff Conine
• 104 Paul O'Neill
• 105 Tom Candiotti
• 106 Wilson Alvarez
• 107 Mike Stanley
• 108 Carlos Delgado
• 109 Tony Batista
• 110 Dante Bichette
• 111 Henry Rodriguez
• 112 Karim Garcia
• 113 Shane Reynolds
• 114 Ken Caminiti
• 115 Jose Silva
• 116 Juan Gonzalez
• 117 Brian Jordan
• 118 Jim Leyritz
• 119 Manny Ramirez
• 120 Fred McGriff
• 121 Brooks Kieschnick
• 122 Sean Casey
• 123 John Smoltz
• 124 Rusty Greer
• 125 Cecil Fielder
• 126 Mike Cameron
• 127 Reggie Jefferson
• 128 Bob Higginson
• 129 Kevin Appier
• 130 Robin Ventura
• 131 Ben Grieve
• 132 Wade Boggs
• 133 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 134 Jeff Suppan
• 135 Vinny Castilla
• 136 Sammy Sosa
• 137 Mark Wohlers
• 138 Jay Bell
• 139 Brett Tomko
• 140 Gary Sheffield
• 141 Tim Salmon
• 142 Jaret Wright
• 143 Kenny Rogers
• 144 Brian Anderson
• 145 Darrin Fletcher
• 146 John Flaherty
• 147 Dmitri Young
• 148 Andruw Jones
• 149 Matt Williams
• 150 Bobby Bonilla
• 151 Mike Hampton
• 152 Al Martin
• 153 Mark Grudzielanek
• 154 Dave Nilsson
• 155 Roger Cedeno
• 156 Greg Maddux
• 157 Mark Kotsay
• 158 Steve Finley
• 159 Wilson Delgado
• 160 Ron Gant
• 161 Jim Edmonds
• 162 Jeff Blauser
• 163 Dave Burba
• 164 Pedro Astacio
• 165 Livan Hernandez
• 166 Neifi Perez
• 167 Ryan Klesko
• 168 Fernando Tatis
• 169 Richard Hidalgo
• 170 Carlos Perez
• 171 Bob Abreu
• 172 Francisco Cordova
• 173 Todd Helton
• 174 Doug Glanville
• 175 Brian Rose
• 176 Yamil Benitez
• 177 Darin Erstad
• 178 Scott Rolen
• 179 John Wetteland
• 180 Paul Sorrento
• 181 Walt Weiss
• 182 Vladimir Guerrero
• 183 Ken Griffey, Jr. NAT
• 184 Alex Rodriguez NAT
• 185 Cal Ripken, Jr. NAT
• 186 Frank Thomas NAT
• 187 Chipper Jones NAT
• 188 Hideo Nomo NAT
• 189 Nomar Garciaparra NAT
• 190 Mike Piazza NAT
• 191 Greg Maddux NAT
• 192 Tony Gwynn NAT
• 193 Mark McGwire NAT
• 194 Roger Clemens NAT
• 195 Mike Piazza FV
• 196 Mark McGwire FV
• 197 Chipper Jones FV
• 198 Larry Walker FV
• 199 Hideo Nomo FV
• 200 Barry Bonds FV

Parallels

Artist's Proofs

Artist Proof is a 60-card partial-parallel of the Pinnacle Plus base set printed on dot-matrix holographic foil.

Each card is also available in the following parallels.

• Gold Artist's Proofs (serial-numbered to 100 copies)

• Mirror Gold Artist's Proofs (one-of-one)

• AP1 Roberto Alomar
• AP2 Albert Belle
• AP3 Roger Clemens
• AP4 Nomar Garciaparra
• AP5 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• AP6 Tino Martinez
• AP7 Randy Johnson
• AP8 Mark McGwire
• AP9 Dave Justice
• AP10 Chuck Knoblauch
• AP11 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• AP12 Frank Thomas
• AP13 Alex Rodriguez
• AP14 Ivan Rodriguez
• AP15 Bernie Williams
• AP16 Pedro Martinez
• AP17 Tony Clark
• AP18 Mike Piazza
• AP19 Miguel Tejada
• AP20 Andres Galarraga
• AP21 Barry Larkin
• AP22 Kenny Lofton
• AP23 Chipper Jones
• AP24 Barry Bonds
• AP25 Brad Fullmer
• AP26 Jeff Bagwell
• AP27 Todd Walker
• AP28 Travis Lee
• AP29 Larry Walker
• AP30 Craig Biggio
• AP31 Tony Gwynn
• AP32 Jim Thome
• AP33 Juan Encarnacion
• AP34 Mo Vaughn
• AP35 Karim Garcia
• AP36 Ken Caminiti
• AP37 Juan Gonzalez
• AP38 Manny Ramirez
• AP39 Fred McGriff
• AP40 Rusty Greer
• AP41 Bob Higginson
• AP42 Ben Grieve
• AP43 Wade Boggs
• AP44 Jose Cruz
• AP45 Sammy Sosa
• AP46 Gary Sheffield
• AP47 Tim Salmon
• AP48 Jaret Wright
• AP49 Andruw Jones
• AP50 Matt Williams
• AP51 Greg Maddux
• AP52 Jim Edmonds
• AP53 Livan Hernandez
• AP54 Neifi Perez
• AP55 Fernando Tatis
• AP56 Richard Hidalgo
• AP57 Todd Helton
• AP58 Darin Erstad
• AP59 Scott Rolen
• AP60 Vladimir Guerrero

Inserts

Lasting Memories

• 1 Nomar Garciaparra
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 3 Livan Hernandez
• 4 Hideo Nomo
• 5 Ben Grieve
• 6 Scott Rolen
• 7 Roger Clemens
• 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 9 Mo Vaughn
• 10 Frank Thomas
• 11 Mark McGwire
• 12 Barry Larkin
• 13 Matt Williams
• 14 Jose Cruz
• 15 Andruw Jones
• 16 Mike Piazza
• 17 Jeff Bagwell
• 18 Chipper Jones
• 19 Juan Gonzalez
• 20 Kenny Lofton
• 21 Greg Maddux
• 22 Ivan Rodriguez
• 23 Alex Rodriguez
• 24 Derek Jeter
• 25 Albert Belle
• 26 Barry Bonds
• 27 Larry Walker
• 28 Sammy Sosa
• 29 Tony Gwynn
• 30 Randy Johnson

Yardwork

• 1 Mo Vaughn
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Albert Belle
• 4 Nomar Garciaparra
• 5 Tony Clark
• 6 Tino Martinez
• 7 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 8 Juan Gonzalez
• 9 Sammy Sosa
• 10 Jose Cruz
• 11 Jeff Bagwell
• 12 Mike Piazza
• 13 Larry Walker
• 14 Mark McGwire
• 15 Barry Bonds

Piece of the Game

NOTE: Despite the name, none of the cards in this set feature any game-used material.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Alex Rodriguez
• 4 Chipper Jones
• 5 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 6 Mike Piazza
• 7 Greg Maddux
• 8 Juan Gonzalez
• 9 Nomar Garciaparra
• 10 Larry Walker

Team Pinnacle

A continuation of the insert set begun in 1992 Pinnacle, this 15-card set features Pinnacle's choice for the best player at each position in the American and National League. Half the cards feature the American League player's side printed on foil board, and the other half have the NL player's side on foil. In addition, each card is also available in the following parallels.

• Gold
• Mirror Gold (serial-numbered to 25 copies)

NOTE: Since the Mirror Gold cards have holographic foil on BOTH sides of the card, only one version of each card exists.

• 1 Mike Piazza / Ivan Rodriguez
• 2 Mark McGwire / Mo Vaughn
• 3 Roberto Alomar / Craig Biggio
• 4 Alex Rodriguez / Barry Larkin
• 5 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Chipper Jones
• 6 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Larry Walker
• 7 Juan Gonzalez / Tony Gwynn
• 8 Barry Bonds / Albert Belle
• 9 Kenny Lofton / Andruw Jones
• 10 Tino Martinez / Jeff Bagwell
• 11 Frank Thomas / Andres Galarraga
• 12 Roger Clemens / Greg Maddux
• 13 Pedro Martinez / Hideo Nomo
• 14 Nomar Garciaparra / Scott Rolen
• 15 Ben Grieve / Paul Konerko

All-Star Epix

All-Star Epix is a 24-card set released in both 1998 Score Rookie/Traded and Pinnacle Plus. Similar to the Epix inserts, All-Star Epix showcases All-Star Game highlights on holographic matrix cards.

The first twelve cards were seeded in Score Rookie and Traded packs while the final 12 cards were inserted in Pinnacle Plus packs.

Unlike the first batch of Epix inserts, only one All-Star Epix card per player was produced.

70% of the total production of all All-Star Epix inserts were printed on Orange foil; 20% on Purple foil; and the remaining 10% on Emerald foil.

Score Rookie/Traded Series

• E1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• E2 Juan Gonzalez
• E3 Jeff Bagwell
• E4 Ivan Rodriguez
• E5 Nomar Garciaparra
• E6 Ryne Sandberg
• E7 Frank Thomas
• E8 Derek Jeter
• E9 Tony Gwynn
• E10 Albert Belle
• E11 Scott Rolen
• E12 Barry Larkin
• E13 Alex Rodriguez
• E14 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• E15 Chipper Jones
• E16 Roger Clemens
• E17 Mo Vaughn
• E18 Mark McGwire
• E19 Mike Piazza
• E20 Andruw Jones
• E21 Greg Maddux
• E22 Barry Bonds
• E23 Paul Molitor
• E24 Hideo Nomo

Autographs & Game-Used

Nolan Ryan Autographed Baseball

Randomly inserted into packs of 1998 Pinnacle Plus were 1000 exchange cards good for a baseball autographed by Nolan Ryan. Unfortunately, with Pinnacle Brands going out of business just weeks after the release of the product, none of the exchange cards were ever fulfilled. In fact, it is unclear if Ryan ever signed any baseballs for this promotion.

Interleague Game-Used Baseball

Randomly inserted into packs of 1998 Pinnacle Plus were 100 exchange cards good for a baseball used in a 1997 Major League Interleague game. Like with the Nolan Ryan autograph, none of the exchange cards were ever fulfilled.