1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars

Description

1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars is a 339 card set released in December, 1998 by Playoff, Inc. This product was originally intended for release by Donruss in August, 1998 under the name "Leaf Rookies & Chase," but was delayed by the bankruptcy of Donruss' parent company Pinnacle Brands. At the time of Pinnacle's bankruptcy, most of Leaf Rookies & Stars had already been printed. Football card manufacturer Playoff purchased what was left of Pinnacle Brands and negotiated with MLB Properties a temporary license that allowed the firm to distribute 1998 Donruss Signature Series and 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars.

Because of the novelty of being guaranteed pulling either a serial-numbered insert or a short-printed base card in every pack, Leaf Rookies & Stars was one of the more notable base brand issues of the late 1990's. The later than originally scheduled release allowed Playoff to tack-on 39 additional cards at the end of the set, including several rookies added to the 40 man roster at the end of the 1998 season.

The set contains the subsets: Power Tools (131-160), Team Line-Up (161-190), and Rookies (191-300). Cards 131-230 were short-printed, being seeded at a rate of 1:2/packs. The 39 cards tacked on to the end of the set (301-339) were seeded at noticeably shorter rates (approximately 1:8/packs) than other subsets. Several key Rookie Cards, including J.D. Drew and Troy Glaus appear within this run of "high series" cards.

It has been estimated that there are about 4500 copies of each "low number" short-print and 5500 copies of each "high number" SP. Though not confirmed by the manufacturer, it is believed that card #317 Ryan Minor was printed in a lesser amount than the other cards in the high series -- about 2000 copies.

Distribution

Hobby: 24 packs per box, nine cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99)

Blasters: 8 packs per box, nine cards per pack (MSRP: $19.99) and 12 packs per box, nine cards per pack (MSRP: $29.99)

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	339	-	?
short set	200	-	?
"Low Number" SPs	100	-	1:2
"High Number" SPs	39	-	1:8
True Blue	339	500	1:8
Longevity	339	49	?
Longevity Holographic	339	one-of-one	?
Crosstraining*	10	1,000	?
Extreme Measures*	10	varies	?
Extreme Measures Die-Cut	10	varies	?
Freshman Orientation*	20	5,000	?
Great American Heroes*	22	2,500	?
Greatest Hits*	20	2,500	?
Home Run Derby*	20	2,500	?
Leaf MVPs*	20	4,500	?
Leaf MVPs Pennant Edition	20	500	?
Major League Hard Drives*	22	2,500	?
Standing Ovations*	10	5,000	?
Ticket Masters*	20	2,250	?
Ticket Masters Die-Cut	20	250	?
Crusade Green	30	250	?
Crusade Purple	30	100	?
Crusade Red	30	25	?

* One insert in every two hobby packs

Checklist

Base Set

1 Andy Pettitte

2 Roberto Alomar

3 Randy Johnson

4 Manny Ramirez

5 Paul Molitor

6 Mike Mussina

7 Jim Thome

8 Tino Martinez

9 Gary Sheffield

10 Chuck Knoblauch

11 Bernie Williams

12 Tim Salmon

13 Sammy Sosa

14 Wade Boggs

15 Andres Galarraga

16 Pedro Martinez

17 David Justice

18 Chan Ho Park

19 Jay Buhner

20 Ryan Klesko

21 Barry Larkin

22 Will Clark

23 Raul Mondesi

24 Rickey Henderson

25 Jim Edmonds

26 Ken Griffey Jr.

27 Frank Thomas

28 Cal Ripken

29 Alex Rodriguez

30 Mike Piazza (Mets)

31 Greg Maddux

32 Chipper Jones

33 Tony Gwynn

34 Derek Jeter

35 Jeff Bagwell

36 Juan Gonzalez

37 Nomar Garciaparra

38 Andruw Jones

39 Hideo Nomo

40 Roger Clemens

41 Mark McGwire

42 Scott Rolen

43 Vladimir Guerrero

44 Barry Bonds

45 Darin Erstad

46 Albert Belle

47 Kenny Lofton

48 Mo Vaughn

49 Ivan Rodriguez

50 Jose Cruz Jr.

51 Tony Clark

52 Larry Walker

53 Mark Grace

54 Edgar Martinez

55 Fred McGriff

56 Rafael Palmeiro

57 Matt Williams

58 Craig Biggio

59 Ken Caminiti

60 Jose Canseco

61 Brady Anderson

62 Moises Alou

63 Justin Thompson

64 John Smoltz

65 Carlos Delgado

66 J.T. Snow

67 Jason Giambi

68 Garret Anderson

69 Rondell White

70 Eric Karros

71 Javier Lopez

72 Pat Hentgen

73 Dante Bichette

74 Charles Johnson

75 Tom Glavine

76 Rusty Greer

77 Travis Fryman

78 Todd Hundley

79 Ray Lankford

80 Denny Neagle

81 Henry Rodriguez

82 Sandy Alomar Jr.

83 Robin Ventura

84 John Olerud

85 Omar Vizquel

86 Darren Dreifort

87 Kevin Brown

88 Curt Schilling

89 Francisco Cordova

90 Brad Radke

91 David Cone

92 Paul O'Neill

93 Vinny Castilla

94 Marquis Grissom

95 Brian L. Hunter

96 Kevin Appier

97 Bobby Bonilla

98 Eric Young

99 Jason Kendall

100 Shawn Green

101 Edgardo Alfonzo

102 Alan Benes

103 Bobby Higginson

104 Todd Greene

105 Jose Guillen

106 Neifi Perez

107 Edgar Renteria

108 Chris Stynes

109 Todd Walker

110 Brian Jordan

111 Joe Carter

112 Ellis Burks

113 Brett Tomko

114 Mike Cameron

115 Shannon Stewart

116 Kevin Orie

117 Brian Giles

118 Hideki Irabu

119 Delino DeShields

120 David Segui

121 Dustin Hermanson

122 Kevin Young

123 Jay Bell

124 Doug Glanville

125 John Roskos RC

126 Damon Hollins

127 Matt Stairs

128 Cliff Floyd

129 Derek Bell

130 Darryl Strawberry

131 Ken Griffey Jr. PT SP

132 Tim Salmon PT SP

133 Manny Ramirez PT SP

134 Paul Konerko PT SP

135 Frank Thomas PT SP

136 Todd Helton PT SP

137 Larry Walker PT SP

138 Mo Vaughn PT SP

139 Travis Lee PT SP

140 Ivan Rodriguez PT SP

141 Ben Grieve PT SP

142 Brad Fullmer PT SP

143 Alex Rodriguez PT SP

144 Mike Piazza PT SP

145 Greg Maddux PT SP

146 Chipper Jones PT SP

147 Kenny Lofton PT SP

148 Albert Belle PT SP

149 Barry Bonds PT SP

150 Vladimir Guerrero PT SP

151 Tony Gwynn PT SP

152 Derek Jeter PT SP

153 Jeff Bagwell PT SP

154 Juan Gonzalez PT SP

155 Nomar Garciaparra PT SP

156 Andruw Jones PT SP

157 Hideo Nomo PT SP

158 Roger Clemens PT SP

159 Mark McGwire PT SP

160 Scott Rolen PT SP

161 Travis Lee TLU SP

162 Ben Grieve TLU SP

163 Jose Guillen TLU SP

164 Mike Piazza TLU SP

165 Kevin Appier TLU SP

166 Marquis Grissom TLU SP

167 Rusty Greer TLU SP

168 Ken Caminiti TLU SP

169 Craig Biggio TLU SP

170 Ken Griffey Jr. TLU SP

171 Larry Walker TLU SP

172 Barry Larkin TLU SP

173 Andres Galarraga TLU SP

174 Wade Boggs TLU SP

175 Sammy Sosa TLU SP

176 Todd Dunwoody TLU SP

177 Jim Thome TLU SP

178 Paul Molitor TLU SP

179 Tony Clark TLU SP

180 Jose Cruz Jr. TLU SP

181 Darin Erstad TLU SP

182 Barry Bonds TLU SP

183 Vladimir Guerrero TLU SP

184 Scott Rolen TLU SP

185 Mark McGwire TLU SP

186 Nomar Garciaparra TLU SP

187 Gary Sheffield TLU SP

188 Cal Ripken TLU SP

189 Frank Thomas TLU SP

190 Andy Pettitte TLU SP

191 Paul Konerko SP

192 Todd Helton SP

193 Mark Kotsay SP

194 Brad Fullmer SP

195 Kevin Millwood SP RC

196 David Ortiz SP

197 Kerry Wood SP

198 Miguel Tejada SP

199 Fernando Tatis SP

200 Jaret Wright SP

201 Ben Grieve SP

202 Travis Lee SP

203 Wes Helms SP

204 Geoff Jenkins SP

205 Russell Branyan SP

206 Esteban Yan SP RC

207 Ben Ford SP RC

208 Rich Butler SP RC

209 Ryan Jackson SP RC

210 A.J. Hinch SP

211 Magglio Ordonez RC

212 Dave Dellucci SP RC

213 Billy McMillon SP

214 Mike Lowell SP RC

215 Todd Erdos SP RC

216 Carlos Mendoza SP RC

217 Frank Catalanotto SP RC

218 Julio Ramirez SP RC

219 John Halama SP RC

220 Wilson Delgado SP

221 Mike Judd SP RC

222 Rolando Arrojo SP RC

223 Jason LaRue SP RC

224 Manny Aybar SP RC

225 Jorge Velandia SP

226 Mike Kinkade SP RC

227 Carlos Lee SP RC

228 Bobby Hughes SP

229 Ryan Christenson SP RC

230 Masato Yoshii SP RC

231 Richard Hidalgo

232 Rafael Medina

233 Damian Jackson

234 Derek Lowe

235 Mario Valdez

236 Eli Marrero

237 Juan Encarnacion

238 Livan Hernandez

239 Bruce Chen

240 Eric Milton

241 Jason Varitek

242 Scott Elarton

243 Manuel Barrios RC

244 Mike Caruso

245 Tom Evans

246 Pat Cline

247 Matt Clement

248 Karim Garcia

249 Richie Sexson

250 Sidney Ponson

251 Randall Simon

252 Tony Saunders

253 Javier Valentin

254 Danny Clyburn

255 Michael Coleman

256 Hanley Frias RC

257 Miguel Cairo

258 Rob Stanifer RC

259 Lou Collier

260 Abraham Nunez

261 Ricky Ledee

262 Carl Pavano

263 Derrek Lee

264 Jeff Abbott

265 Bob Abreu

266 Bartolo Colon

267 Mike Drumright

268 Daryle Ward

269 Gabe Alvarez

270 Josh Booty

271 Damian Moss

272 Brian Rose

273 Jarrod Washburn

274 Bobby Estalella

275 Enrique Wilson

276 Derrick Gibson

277 Ken Cloude

278 Kevin Witt

279 Donnie Sadler

280 Sean Casey

281 Jacob Cruz

282 Ron Wright

283 Jeremi Gonzalez

284 Desi Relaford

285 Bobby Smith

286 Javier Vazquez

287 Steve Woodard

288 Greg Norton

289 Cliff Politte

290 Felix Heredia

291 Braden Looper

292 Felix Martinez

293 Brian Meadows

294 Edwin Diaz

295 Pat Watkins

296 Marc Pisciotta RC

297 Rick Gorecki

298 DaRond Stovall

299 Andy Larkin

300 Felix Rodriguez

301 Blake Stein SP

302 John Rocker SP RC

303 Justin Baughman SP RC

304 Jesus Sanchez SP RC

305 Randy Winn SP

306 Lou Merloni SP

307 Jim Parque SP RC

308 Dennis Reyes SP

309 Orlando Hernandez SP RC

310 Jason Johnson SP

311 Torii Hunter SP

312 Mike Piazza SP (Marlins)

313 Mike Frank SP RC

314 Troy Glaus SP RC

315 Jin Ho Cho SP RC

316 Ruben Mateo SP RC

317 Ryan Minor SP RC

318 Aramis Ramirez SP

319 Adrian Beltre SP

320 Matt Anderson SP RC

321 Gabe Kapler SP RC

322 Jeremy Giambi SP RC

323 Carlos Beltran SP

324 Dermal Brown SP

325 Ben Davis SP

326 Eric Chavez SP

327 Bobby Howry SP RC

328 Roy Halladay SP

329 George Lombard SP

330 Michael Barrett SP

331 Fernando Seguignol SP RC

332 J.D. Drew SP RC

333 Odalis Perez SP RC

334 Alex Cora SP RC

335 Placido Polanco SP RC

336 Armando Rios SP RC

337 Sammy Sosa HR SP

338 Mark McGwire HR SP

339 Sammy Sosa/Mark McGwire CL SP

Parallels

Each of the 339 base cards are available in the following parallels.

• True Blue (limited to 500 copies)

• Longevity (serial-numbered to 50 copies)

• Longevity Holographic (one-of-one): The very first serial-numbered copy of each Longevity card is printed with a holographic foil sheen, is stamped "1/50" on the back, and is a one-of-one. Thus, there are technically 49 copies of the regular Longevity parallel and 1 copy of the holographic Longevity parallel.

Convention Parallels

Special parallels of the 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars set were produced for numerous conventions held in the United States from 1999-2000, similar to the Convention Parallels produced using cards from the 1998 Donruss Signature Series set. These convention parallels were produced by Playoff and it is unclear why Playoff chose an old baseball product for this promotion, as they had neither an MLB Properties nor an MLBPA license at the time. These cards were not serial numbered and it is unclear if parallels exist for all 140 players in the set or if parallels were produced just for specific players. However, there are 5 Ken Griffey, Jr. convention parallels that exist, with each displaying a unique stamp representing its respective convention:

• Superbowl XXXIII (January 21-24, 1999, Miami, FL)
• Sportsfest 1999 (June 17-20, Philadelphia, PA)
• The 20th National (July 18-22, 1999, Atlanta, GA)
• Superbowl XXXIV (January 26-30, 2000 Atlanta, GA)
• The 21st National (July 27-30, 2000, Anaheim, CA)

Bold text indicates that this Convention distributed cards with the same exact stamp on cards from the 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars and the 1998 Donruss Signature Series sets.

Inserts

Rookies & Chase Insert Promos

To preview Leaf Rookies & Chase, all dealer wholesale order forms contained one sample card from four different insert sets (Freshman Orientation, Great American Heroes. Major League Hard Drives and Standing Ovations). The checklists are identical to those listed below, with the exception of the Mike Piazza Marlins and Mets cards. The promos each feature the large "SAMPLE" text printed diagonally across the card back and a blank area intended for serial numbering on back. Apparently, MLB disallowed Donruss/Leaf the rights to use the word "chase" in a product name, fearing it insinuated aspects of gambling. However, the name was officially changed after Playoff took over Pinnacle's assets.

Crosstraining

This 10-card set is serial-numbered to 1000 copies. The cards are printed on foil board with a shoe sole design.

1 Kenny Lofton

2 Ken Griffey Jr.

3 Alex Rodriguez

4 Greg Maddux

5 Barry Bonds

6 Ivan Rodriguez

7 Chipper Jones

8 Jeff Bagwell

9 Nomar Garciaparra

10 Derek Jeter

Extreme Measures

This 10-card set is printed on foil board and serial-numbered to 1000. However, a parallel version was created whereby a specific amount of each card was die cut to a featured statistic. The result, was varying print runs of the non-die cut cards. Specific print runs for each non-die-cut card are provided in our checklist after the player's name.

To calculate the production figure for the die-cut, simply subtract the figures below by 1000.

1 Ken Griffey Jr. /944

2 Frank Thomas /653

3 Tony Gwynn /628

4 Mark McGwire /942

5 Larry Walker /280

6 Mike Piazza /960

7 Roger Clemens /708

8 Greg Maddux /980

9 Jeff Bagwell /873

10 Nomar Garciaparra /989

Freshman Orientation

This 20-card set serial-numbered to 5000 copies and printed with holographic foil.

1 Todd Helton

2 Ben Grieve

3 Travis Lee

4 Paul Konerko

5 Jaret Wright

6 Livan Hernandez

7 Brad Fullmer

8 Carl Pavano

9 Richard Hidalgo

10 Miguel Tejada

11 Mark Kotsay

12 David Ortiz

13 Juan Encarnacion

14 Fernando Tatis

15 Kevin Millwood

16 Kerry Wood

17 Magglio Ordonez

18 Derrek Lee

19 Jose Cruz Jr.

20 A.J. Hinch

Great American Heroes

This 22-card set is serial-numbered to 2500 copies and stamped with holographic foil. In remembrance of his turbulent 1998 season, Mike Piazza is featured on three different versions (pictured separately as a Dodger, Marlin and Met). Each of the three Piazzas is serial-numbered to 2500.

1 Frank Thomas

2 Cal Ripken

3 Ken Griffey Jr.

4 Alex Rodriguez

5 Greg Maddux

6A Mike Piazza (Dodgers)

6B Mike Piazza (Marlins)

6C Mike Piazza (Mets)

7 Chipper Jones

8 Tony Gwynn

9 Jeff Bagwell

10 Juan Gonzalez

11 Hideo Nomo

12 Roger Clemens

13 Mark McGwire

14 Barry Bonds

15 Kenny Lofton

16 Larry Walker

17 Paul Molitor

18 Wade Boggs

19 Barry Larkin

20 Andres Galarraga

Greatest Hits

Each of the 20 cards in this set is serial-numbered to 2500 copies.

1 Ken Griffey Jr.

2 Frank Thomas

3 Cal Ripken

4 Alex Rodriguez

5 Ben Grieve

6 Mike Piazza

7 Chipper Jones

8 Tony Gwynn

9 Derek Jeter

10 Jeff Bagwell

11 Tino Martinez

12 Juan Gonzalez

13 Nomar Garciaparra

14 Mark McGwire

15 Scott Rolen

16 David Justice

17 Darin Erstad

18 Mo Vaughn

19 Ivan Rodriguez

20 Travis Lee

Home Run Derby

Each of these 20 cards are serial-numbered to 2500 copies.

1 Tino Martinez

2 Jim Thome

3 Larry Walker

4 Tony Clark

5 Jose Cruz Jr.

6 Barry Bonds

7 Scott Rolen

8 Paul Konerko

9 Travis Lee

10 Todd Helton

11 Mark McGwire

12 Andruw Jones

13 Nomar Garciaparra

14 Juan Gonzalez

15 Jeff Bagwell

16 Chipper Jones

17 Mike Piazza

18 Frank Thomas

19 Ken Griffey Jr.

20 Albert Belle

Leaf MVPs

Each of these cards are serial-numbered to 5000 copies with the first 500 die-cut.

1 Frank Thomas

2 Chuck Knoblauch

3 Cal Ripken

4 Alex Rodriguez

5 Ivan Rodriguez

6 Albert Belle

7 Ken Griffey Jr.

8 Juan Gonzalez

9 Roger Clemens

10 Mo Vaughn

11 Jeff Bagwell

12 Craig Biggio

13 Chipper Jones

14 Barry Larkin

15 Mike Piazza

16 Barry Bonds

17 Andruw Jones

18 Tony Gwynn

19 Greg Maddux

20 Mark McGwire

Major League Hard Drives

This 22-card set is printed with holographic foil stamping and serial-numbered to 2500 copies. In remembrance of his turbulent 1998 season, Mike Piazza is featured on three different versions (pictured separately as a Dodger, Marlin and Met). All three versions of the Piazza card had 2500 cards printed.

1 Jeff Bagwell

2 Juan Gonzalez

3 Nomar Garciaparra

4 Ken Griffey Jr.

5 Frank Thomas

6 Cal Ripken

7 Alex Rodriguez

8A Mike Piazza (Dodgers)

8B Mike Piazza (Marlins)

8C Mike Piazza (Mets)

9 Chipper Jones

10 Tony Gwynn

11 Derek Jeter

12 Mo Vaughn

13 Ben Grieve

14 Manny Ramirez

15 Vladimir Guerrero

16 Scott Rolen

17 Darin Erstad

18 Kenny Lofton

19 Brad Fullmer

20 David Justice

Standing Ovations

Each of these 10 cards are serial-numbered to 5000 copies.

1 Barry Bonds

2 Mark McGwire

3 Ken Griffey Jr.

4 Frank Thomas

5 Tony Gwynn

6 Cal Ripken

7 Greg Maddux

8 Roger Clemens

9 Paul Molitor

10 Ivan Rodriguez

Ticket Masters

Each of these 20 cards are serial-numbered to 2500 copies, with the first 250 cards die-cut. This double-sided set is printed on foil board and features color photos of players from the same team.

1 K. Griffey Jr./A. Rodriguez

2 F. Thomas/A. Belle

3 C. Ripken/R. Alomar

4 G. Maddux/C. Jones

5 T. Gwynn/K. Caminiti

6 D. Jeter/A. Pettitte

7 J. Bagwell/C. Biggio

8 J. Gonzalez/I. Rodriguez

9 N. Garciaparra/M. Vaughn

10 V. Guerrero/B. Fullmer

11 A. Jones/A. Galarraga

12 T. Martinez/C. Knoblauch

13 R. Mondesi/P. Konerko

14 R. Clemens/J. Cruz Jr.

15 M. McGwire/B. Jordan

16 K. Lofton/M. Ramirez

17 L. Walker/T. Helton

18 D. Erstad/T. Salmon

19 T. Lee/M. Williams

20 B. Grieve/J. Giambi

Crusade

See 1998 Donruss Crusade