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 Lineup Cards (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)
Reviews
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 Dave 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, Jr.
- 29 Alex Rodriguez
- 30 Mike Piazza
- 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
- 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 Javy 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
- 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 Bob 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
- 126 Damon Hollins
- 127 Matt Stairs
- 128 Cliff Floyd
- 129 Derek Bell
- 130 Darryl Strawberry
Power Tools
- 131 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 132 Tim Salmon
- 133 Manny Ramirez
- 134 Paul Konerko
- 135 Frank Thomas
- 136 Todd Helton
- 137 Larry Walker
- 138 Mo Vaughn
- 139 Travis Lee
- 140 Ivan Rodriguez
- 141 Ben Grieve
- 142 Brad Fullmer
- 143 Alex Rodriguez
- 144 Mike Piazza
- 145 Greg Maddux
- 146 Chipper Jones
- 147 Kenny Lofton
- 148 Albert Belle
- 149 Barry Bonds
- 150 Vladimir Guerrero
- 151 Tony Gwynn
- 152 Derek Jeter
- 153 Jeff Bagwell
- 154 Juan Gonzalez
- 155 Nomar Garciaparra
- 156 Andruw Jones
- 157 Hideo Nomo
- 158 Roger Clemens
- 159 Mark McGwire
- 160 Scott Rolen
Team Lineup Card
- 161 Travis Lee
- 162 Ben Grieve
- 163 Jose Guillen
- 164 Mike Piazza
- 165 Kevin Appier
- 166 Marquis Grissom
- 167 Rusty Greer
- 168 Ken Caminiti
- 169 Craig Biggio
- 170 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 171 Larry Walker
- 172 Barry Larkin
- 173 Andres Galarraga
- 174 Wade Boggs
- 175 Sammy Sosa
- 176 Todd Dunwoody
- 177 Jim Thome
- 178 Paul Molitor
- 179 Tony Clark
- 180 Jose Cruz, Jr.
- 181 Darin Erstad
- 182 Barry Bonds
- 183 Vladimir Guerrero
- 184 Scott Rolen
- 185 Mark McGwire
- 186 Nomar Garciaparra
- 187 Gary Sheffield
- 188 Cal Ripken, Jr.
- 189 Frank Thomas
- 190 Andy Pettitte
Rookies
NOTE: cards #231-#300 are NOT short-printed.
- 191 Paul Konerko
- 192 Todd Helton
- 193 Mark Kotsay
- 194 Brad Fullmer
- 195 Kevin Millwood RC
- 196 David Ortiz
- 197 Kerry Wood
- 198 Miguel Tejada
- 199 Fernando Tatis
- 200 Jaret Wright
- 201 Ben Grieve
- 202 Travis Lee
- 203 Wes Helms
- 204 Geoff Jenkins
- 205 Russell Branyan
- 206 Esteban Yan RC
- 207 Ben Ford
- 208 Rich Butler RC
- 209 Ryan Jackson RC
- 210 A.J. Hinch
- 211 Magglio Ordonez RC
- 212 Dave Dellucci RC
- 213 Billy McMillon
- 214 Mike Lowell RC
- 215 Todd Erdos RC
- 216 Carlos Mendoza RC
- 217 Frank Catalanotto RC
- 218 Julio Ramirez
- 219 John Halama RC
- 220 Wilson Delgado
- 221 Mike Judd
- 222 Rolando Arrojo RC
- 223 Jason LaRue
- 224 Manny Aybar RC
- 225 Jorge Velandia
- 226 Mike Kinkade
- 227 Carlos Lee
- 228 Bobby Hughes
- 229 Ryan Christenson
- 230 Masato Yoshii 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
- 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
- 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
High-Numbers
- 301 Blake Stein
- 302 John Rocker
- 303 Justin Baughman
- 304 Jesus Sanchez RC
- 305 Randy Winn
- 306 Lou Merloni
- 307 Jim Parque
- 308 Dennis Reyes
- 309 Orlando Hernandez
- 310 Jason Johnson
- 311 Torii Hunter
- 312 Mike Piazza
- 313 Mike Frank
- 314 Troy Glaus
- 315 Jin Ho Cho
- 316 Ruben Mateo RC
- 317 Ryan Minor
- 318 Aramis Ramirez
- 319 Adrian Beltre
- 320 Matt Anderson
- 321 Gabe Kapler
- 322 Jeremy Giambi
- 323 Carlos Beltran
- 324 Dermal Brown
- 325 Ben Davis
- 326 Eric Chavez
- 327 Bobby Howry
- 328 Roy Halladay
- 329 George Lombard
- 330 Michael Barrett
- 331 Fernando Seguignol
- 332 J.D. Drew
- 333 Odalis Perez
- 334 Alex Cora
- 335 Placido Polanco
- 336 Armando Rios
- 337 Sammy Sosa
- 338 Mark McGwire
- 339 Checklist - Sammy Sosa / Mark McGwire
Parallels
Each of the 339 base cards are available in the following parallels.
- True Blue (limited, but not serial-numbered, 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.
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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, Jr.
- 3 Ken Griffey, Jr.
- 4 Alex Rodriguez
- 5 Greg Maddux
- 6 Mike Piazza LA
- 6 Mike Piazza FLA
- 6 Mike Piazza NYM
- 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, Jr.
- 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 Dave 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
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, Jr.
- 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, Jr.
- 7 Alex Rodriguez
- 8 Mike Piazza LA
- 8 Mike Piazza FLA
- 8 Mike Piazza NYM
- 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 Dave 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, Jr.
- 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 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Alex Rodriguez
- 2 Frank Thomas / Albert Belle
- 3 Cal Ripken / Roberto Alomar
- 4 Greg Maddux / Chipper Jones
- 5 Tony Gwynn / Ken Caminiti
- 6 Derek Jeter / Andy Pettitte
- 7 Jeff Bagwell / Craig Biggio
- 8 Juan Gonzalez / Ivan Rodriguez
- 9 Nomar Garciaparra / Mo Vaughn
- 10 Vladimir Guerrero / Brad Fullmer
- 11 Andruw Jones / Andres Galarraga
- 12 Tino Martinez / Chuck Knoblauch
- 13 Raul Mondesi / Paul Konerko
- 14 Roger Clemens / Jose Cruz
- 15 Mark McGwire / Brian Jordan
- 16 Kenny Lofton / Manny Ramirez
- 17 Larry Walker / Todd Helton
- 18 Darin Erstad / Tim Salmon
- 19 Travis Lee / Matt Williams
- 20 Ben Grieve / Jason Giambi