1998 Pinnacle Performers

Description

1998 Pinnacle Performers was a 150-card, single-series, entry-level set that was the re-branded, second iteration of the 1997 Pinnacle X-Press product. Released in July 1998, this product was Pinnacle Brands' penultimate baseball card product that was officially released prior to their bankruptcy that same year. This set continued with the second iteration of the "Swing for the Fences" game/contest for collectors. Base cards featured a color player photo with a team-colored, off-set border background. There were two subsets and Checklists at the end of the set:

• Rookies
• Far and Away

There were no Rookie Cards in this set.

Distribution

Wax: 24 packs per box; eight cards per pack (MSRP: $1.99)

Inserts and parallels were usually the 3rd card in the pack while the Swing for the Fences cards (players and point cards) were usually the last card in the pack.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	150	-	8:1	?
Peak Performers Parallel	150	-	1:7	?
Swing for the Fences	50	-	1:2	?
Launching Pad	20	-	1:9	?
Power Trip	10	10,000	1:21	?
Big Bang	20	2500	1:45	?
Big Bang Seasonal Outburst	20	varies	?	?

Checklist

Promos

Promotional samples of the Big Bang insert set were distributed within wholesale dealer order forms prior to the product's release (one card per order). These promos looked the same as the base Big Bang inserts except they had word "SAMPLE" is printed in large black ink that ran diagonally across the back of the card and were not serial-numbered.

Base Set

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Frank Thomas
• 3 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 4 Alex Rodriguez
• 5 Greg Maddux
• 6 Mike Piazza
• 7 Chipper Jones
• 8 Tony Gwynn
• 9 Derek Jeter
• 10 Jeff Bagwell
• 11 Juan Gonzalez
• 12 Nomar Garciaparra
• 13 Andruw Jones
• 14 Hideo Nomo
• 15 Roger Clemens
• 16 Mark McGwire
• 17 Scott Rolen
• 18 Vladimir Guerrero
• 19 Barry Bonds
• 20 Darin Erstad
• 21 Albert Belle
• 22 Kenny Lofton
• 23 Mo Vaughn
• 24 Tony Clark
• 25 Ivan Rodriguez
• 26 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 27 Larry Walker
• 28 Jaret Wright
• 29 Andy Pettitte
• 30 Roberto Alomar
• 31 Randy Johnson
• 32 Manny Ramirez
• 33 Paul Molitor
• 34 Mike Mussina
• 35 Jim Thome
• 36 Tino Martinez
• 37 Gary Sheffield
• 38 Chuck Knoblauch
• 39 Bernie Williams
• 40 Tim Salmon
• 41 Sammy Sosa
• 42 Wade Boggs
• 43 Will Clark
• 44 Andres Galarraga
• 45 Raul Mondesi
• 46 Rickey Henderson
• 47 Jose Canseco
• 48 Pedro Martinez
• 49 Jay Buhner
• 50 Ryan Klesko
• 51 Barry Larkin
• 52 Charles Johnson
• 53 Tom Glavine
• 54 Edgar Martinez
• 55 Fred McGriff
• 56 Moises Alou
• 57 Dante Bichette
• 58 Jim Edmonds
• 59 Mark Grace
• 60 Chan Ho Park
• 61 Justin Thompson
• 62 John Smoltz
• 63 Craig Biggio
• 64 Ken Caminiti
• 65 Richard Hidalgo
• 66 Carlos Delgado
• 67 Dave Justice
• 68 J.T. Snow
• 69 Jason Giambi
• 70 Garret Anderson
• 71 Rondell White
• 72 Matt Williams
• 73 Brady Anderson
• 74 Eric Karros
• 75 Javy Lopez
• 76 Pat Hentgen
• 77 Todd Hundley
• 78 Ray Lankford
• 79 Denny Neagle
• 80 Sandy Alomar
• 81 Jason Kendall
• 82 Omar Vizquel
• 83 Kevin Brown
• 84 Kevin Appier
• 85 Al Martin
• 86 Rusty Greer
• 87 Bobby Bonilla
• 88 Shawn Estes
• 89 Rafael Palmeiro
• 90 Edgar Renteria
• 91 Alan Benes
• 92 Bob Higginson
• 93 Mark Grudzielanek
• 94 Jose Guillen
• 95 Neifi Perez
• 96 Jeff Abbott
• 97 Todd Walker
• 98 Eric Young
• 99 Brett Tomko
• 100 Mike Cameron
• 101 Karim Garcia
• 102 Brian Jordan
• 103 Jeff Suppan
• 104 Robin Ventura
• 105 Henry Rodriguez
• 106 Shannon Stewart
• 107 Kevin Orie
• 108 Bartolo Colon
• 109 Bob Abreu
• 110 Vinny Castilla
• 111 Livan Hernandez
• 112 Derrek Lee
• 113 Mark Kotsay
• 114 Todd Greene
• 115 Edgardo Alfonzo
• 116 A.J. Hinch
• 117 Paul Konerko
• 118 Todd Helton
• 119 Miguel Tejada
• 120 Fernando Tatis

Rookies

• 121 Ben Grieve
• 122 Travis Lee
• 123 Kerry Wood
• 124 Eli Marrero
• 125 David Ortiz
• 126 Juan Encarnacion
• 127 Brad Fullmer
• 128 Richie Sexson
• 129 Aaron Boone
• 130 Enrique Wilson
• 131 Javier Valentin
• 132 Abraham Nunez
• 133 Ricky Ledee
• 134 Carl Pavano
• 135 Bobby Estalella
• 136 Homer Bush
• 137 Brian Rose

Far & Away

• 138 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 139 Frank Thomas
• 140 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 141 Alex Rodriguez
• 142 Greg Maddux
• 143 Chipper Jones
• 144 Mike Piazza
• 145 Tony Gwynn
• 146 Derek Jeter
• 147 Jeff Bagwell

Checklists

• 148 Checklist
• 149 Checklist
• 150 Checklist

Parallels

Peak Performers

All 150 cards in the base set were available in a Peak Performers parallel that utilized the same photo and design as the base set but differed as the entire card was given a foil finish, featured gold foil accents on the nameplate, and had "PEAK PERFORMERS" printed on the card front.

Inserts

Big Bang

This 20-card set honored the top home run hitters in the game on a silver etched-foil background. Each card is serial-numbered to 2,500 copies.

Big Bang Seasonal Outburst

All 20 cards in the Big Bang insert set were available in a Seasonal Outburst parallel that featured a red etched-foil finish and a serial-number equal to the number of home runs that player hit in the 1997 season. However, a number of non-serial numbered cards emerged on the secondary market over the years, with some or all leaking out after the Donruss/Leaf/Pinnacle parent company bankruptcy in 1998. Collectors speculate that there are more non-serial numbered Seasonal Outburst parallel cards in circulation than there are serial-numbered ones.

The number following each player represents the amount that player's Big Bang Seasonal Outburst card is serial-numbered to.

NOTE: Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Seasonal Outburst parallel is erroneously serial-numbered to 57, instead of 56 (the number of home runs he hit in 1997), and is an uncorrected error.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr. 57
• 2 Frank Thomas 35
• 3 Mike Piazza 40
• 4 Chipper Jones 21
• 5 Alex Rodriguez 23
• 6 Nomar Garciaparra 30
• 7 Jeff Bagwell 43
• 8 Cal Ripken, Jr. 17
• 9 Albert Belle 30
• 10 Mark McGwire 58
• 11 Juan Gonzalez 42
• 12 Larry Walker 49
• 13 Tino Martinez 44
• 14 Jim Thome 40
• 15 Manny Ramirez 26
• 16 Barry Bonds 40
• 17 Mo Vaughn 35
• 18 Jose Cruz, Jr. 26
• 19 Tony Clark 32
• 20 Andruw Jones 18

Launching Pad

This 20-card set highlighted top young and/or established hitters in the game on an all-foil card front with a space-themed background.

• 1 Ben Grieve
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 3 Derek Jeter
• 4 Frank Thomas
• 5 Travis Lee
• 6 Vladimir Guerrero
• 7 Tony Gwynn
• 8 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 9 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 10 Chipper Jones
• 11 Scott Rolen
• 12 Andruw Jones
• 13 Ivan Rodriguez
• 14 Todd Helton
• 15 Nomar Garciaparra
• 16 Mark McGwire
• 17 Gary Sheffield
• 18 Bernie Williams
• 19 Alex Rodriguez
• 20 Mike Piazza

Power Trip

This 10-card set highlighted the top home-run hitters in the game on a silver and red etched-foil background design. Each card is serial-numbered to 10,000 copies. Similar to the Big Bang Seasonal Outburst cards, a number of non-serial numbered versions emerged on the secondary market after the Donruss/Leaf/Pinnacle bankruptcy in 1998.

• 1 Frank Thomas
• 2 Alex Rodriguez
• 3 Nomar Garciaparra
• 4 Jeff Bagwell
• 5 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 6 Mike Piazza
• 7 Chipper Jones
• 8 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 9 Mark McGwire
• 10 Juan Gonzalez

Swing for the Fences

Similar to the promotion in 1997 Pinnacle X-Press, Swing for the Fences was a game for collectors to play utilizing cards inserted into Pinnacle Performers packs, featuring 50 of baseball's top long-distance hitters. The object of the game was to identify the 1998 Home Run Champion from either the National or American League and match it with the exact number of home runs he hit during the 1998 season by using a combination of 2 cards:

• A Swing for the Fences Player card
• Multiple Point cards

Each 8-card wax pack contained either a Swing for the Fences Player card or a Point card.

• 1 Brady Anderson
• 2 Albert Belle
• 3 Jay Buhner
• 4 Jose Canseco
• 5 Tony Clark
• 6 Jose Cruz, Jr.
• 7 Jim Edmonds
• 8 Cecil Fielder
• 9 Travis Fryman
• 10 Nomar Garciaparra
• 11 Juan Gonzalez
• 12 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 13 Dave Justice
• 14 Travis Lee
• 15 Edgar Martinez
• 16 Tino Martinez
• 17 Rafael Palmeiro
• 18 Manny Ramirez
• 19 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 20 Alex Rodriguez
• 21 Tim Salmon
• 22 Frank Thomas
• 23 Jim Thome
• 24 Mo Vaughn
• 25 Bernie Williams
• 26 Fred McGriff
• 27 Jeff Bagwell
• 28 Dante Bichette
• 29 Barry Bonds
• 30 Ellis Burks
• 31 Ken Caminiti
• 32 Vinny Castilla
• 33 Andres Galarraga
• 34 Vladimir Guerrero
• 35 Todd Helton
• 36 Todd Hundley
• 37 Andruw Jones
• 38 Chipper Jones
• 39 Eric Karros
• 40 Ryan Klesko
• 41 Ray Lankford
• 42 Mark McGwire
• 43 Raul Mondesi
• 44 Mike Piazza
• 45 Scott Rolen
• 46 Gary Sheffield
• 47 Sammy Sosa
• 48 Larry Walker
• 49 Matt Williams
• 50 Wild Card

Swing for the Fences Upgraded

Collectors that submitted the Swing for the Fences Player card of either the AL and NL home run king and Point cards that matched the exact number of HRs that player hit in 1998 would receive a special 10-card pack of Upgraded Swing for the Fences cards. There were 12 Upgraded Swing for the Fences cards that featured a concentric, holographic dot-matrix background design, used in the 1998 Pinnacle Epix set.

These Upgraded Swing for the Fences cards were supposed to have been distributed directly to Hobby dealers and thus collectors could receive these packs directly from participating Hobby dealers rather than from Pinnacle. However, Pinnacle Brands filed for bankruptcy before the end of the 1998 season - wiping out the contest - and the Upgraded cards were never officially distributed. Similar to other cards in this set and other sets planned for release after August 1998, these cards eventually emerged on the secondary market after bankruptcy.

Further, the first 1000 entries were to have received a special autographed Swing for the Fences Upgraded card of Juan Gonzalez. All entries also would have been entered into a drawing for a trip for two to the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston. However, due to Pinnacle's bankruptcy, the Juan Gonzalez Upgraded Autograph cards were never produced.

• 1 Mark McGwire
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 3 Mike Piazza
• 4 Frank Thomas
• 5 Juan Gonzalez
• 6 Jeff Bagwell
• 7 Alex Rodriguez
• 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 9 Nomar Garciaparra
• 10 Chipper Jones
• 11 Scott Rolen
• 12 Barry Bonds

Swing for the Fences Shop Exchange Cards

This twelve-card partial-parallel to the Swing for the Fences insert set was created as a promotional tie-in for Hobby shop owners and was first released at the 1998 All-Star Game FanFest, which was sponsored by Pinnacle Brands. Cards from this set were subsequently distributed to shop owners, nationwide, in ten-card packs.

Collectors that purchased three packs of 1998 Pinnacle Performers could take the wrappers to their local participating Hobby store and receive a single Shop Exchange card. Collectors that purchased an entire box would receive a ten-card cello pack of all Swing for the Fences Show Exchange cards. These cards utilized the same player photo as the base Swing for the Fences cards but were printed on 20-point card stock and featured a silver holographic design and were not sequentially numbered on the back. The checklist is the same as the Upgraded set (see above).

Autographs

Juan Gonzalez Swing for the Fences Autographed Ball

Randomly inserted into packs was a coupon good for a Major League Baseball autographed by Texas Rangers star Juan Gonzalez. However, due to Pinnacle's bankruptcy, the redemption program was cancelled. It is unclear if Gonzalez ever signed any baseballs for this promotion.

• Juan Gonzalez EXCH