Going back in time to 2001

Earlier today, I finished the missing player checklist to the 2001 Topps/2001 Topps Traded sets. Finishing the 2001 set kind of brought back some nostalgia for me. 2001 was almost 20 years ago, and it kind of shows how much baseball cards have changed since then. 

2001 started, and I was finishing up my senior year of high school. I had a job at my current company, Publix Supermarkets, as a cashier, which gave me some extra spending money. I purchased a ton of baseball cards, including a bunch of 2001 Topps Series 1. I must've purchased a box of Series 1, and finished the Series 1 set. Later that year, I finished high school, and I believe I purchased the Series 2 boxed set. 

2001 Topps was a big deal that year. It was the 50th anniversary of the company's baseball cards. The main draw for the set was an insert set featuring jersey swatches of some of the games all-time leaders, like Nolan Ryan, Mark McGwire, and Hank Aaron. They also had an autograph insert set. Since autographed cards and jersey cards were only about 5 years old at the time, the novelty hadn't worn out. For me, they were really cool, since at that point, I hadn't ever pulled one of either. 

The 2001 set would also get an unexpected boost from 2 legendary rookies. Ichiro Suzuki was kind of expected, since he signed with the club in November of 2000. He was put in a number of 2001 card sets, and his rookie season helped drive his card prices through the roof. 

Albert Pujols also debuted that year, and by the middle of his season, card makers had taken notice and put him in card sets. 

For Topps, Ichiro was included in the 2001 Topps Series 2 set, and Pujols was put in the Topps Traded set. I forgot what the exact issue was, but for some reason, Ichiro was left out of the 2001 Topps Chrome set, but was put in the 2001 Topps Traded Chrome set. In addition, while Pujols wasn't in the '01 Topps main set, he was included in the '01 Topps Chrome set, and wasn't in the 2001 Topps Traded Chrome set. I think it had something to do with Suzuki's contract or something. If anyone knows details of why this happened, fill me in.

I went off to college at the University of Mobile in Alabama that August or so, and with the little amount of money that I had saved up from working at Publix went mostly to buying cards. I was hitting up the local Wal-Mart for packs of 2001 Topps Traded, trying to get the Pujols rookie. The packs came with 3 or 4 Topps Traded Chrome cards in them, and I hoped to beat the odds and get a Pujols Chrome card. About 8 packs in, I pulled a regular version of the Pujols, and I also pulled a Chrome Rookie of the Year duo card of Pujols and Suzuki. Those were probably my best pulls of that year, and trust me, I probably purchased the most cards I ever had that year. 

I still have some random things from the 2001 Topps set that I thought I would show off. First are some little booklets that must've come with every box. The first is a book of random 2001 Topps products you could buy, and the second is one previewing the Series 2 set. 

Probably the only thing I would've purchased was the t-shirt or the mug. I pulled 1 or 2 of the What Could've Been inserts, and nothing from the high-end inserts shown on those pages. 

I wonder if anyone actually purchased the products that Topps sold, and if they have survived these almost 20 years. I also pulled 1 or 2 of the Before There was Topps cards. I never pulled an autograph, but I got a Luis Montanez autographed card from COMC.

There is the Montanez. Those were nice looking cards. Would make a nice base card for an all-autograph set. 

Here are the key rookies from the set, as well as the Chrome Ichiro/Pujols I pulled. The sticker must've came with my 2001 Series 2 set. 

As far as finishing the checklist, I figured I would show some of the cards that Topps missed from the set. At 792 cards, there were still a number of sunset and rookie cards that Topps left off of the set. I also want to note that Topps included 2 cards of Michael Tucker and Brian Meadows in the main set, as well as 2 regular cards of AJ Hinch and Matt LeCroy (1 in the regular set, and 2 in the Traded set). They also had a number of players who were featuered on a Prospect card in the regular set. Some of those guys were given a regular base card in the Traded set, but that's understandable. Still, I don't understand how you can make a set 792 cards long in order to get more players and managers in, and still double up on 2 guys in the main set and 2 more guys if you add the Traded set in. With that being said, here are some key missing cards.

Towards the end of 2001, Mark Teixeira, Mark Prior, and Adam Dunn were starting to make appearances in card sets, and Topps missed the ball on all of them.

 This Orel Hershiser sunset card was made by GCRL. It's a shame that Topps didn't give the Bulldog his final Topps card.

 Geronimo Berroa was a nice power hitter. He was probably one of the bigger names on the list of guys who got sunset cards in the set.

 2 guys who could've got a rookie card. I don't really care for Molina after all of his outlandish play in the last WBC, but I've grown to like Utley, especially after he almost took out the Yankee$ in the 2009 World Series.

 Varitek didn't get a Topps card due to a contract dispute or something, so I guess I can't pin it all on Topps.

 Probably one of the biggest names of guys who were coaches and didn't get cards is Eddie Murray.

Rod Beck didn't get a card. I would've figured he woudl've got in the set, as he was still a big name in 2001 and the set was 792 cards long. 

 A nice Lou Merloni done by Michael of the FB Custom Cards page. I really wish he could make cards full time.

 Topps missed their shot at a Mark Buehrle rookie. He wasn't really on anyone's radar, so I guess it's understandable.

 Here are some Draft Pick cards made by Ryan from the FB Custom page.
Cliff Lee could've had his first Topps card. 

 Laynce Nix wasn't a big name, but he is in my Favorite Player Collection, and Atkins was a good player for Colorado.

 Can you imagine how insanely hot a Dontrelle Willis '01 Topps rookie would be back when Willis mania was going on in 2003 and 2004?

 This card would've been hot on 2 separate occations. Jason Bay won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2004 and was a big name for 5 or 6 years. He was injured in 2007, and out of baseball after the 2013 season. In 2010, Jose Bautista broke out, but by then, Bay was a Met, and missed about 70 games with a concussion.

As much as I can't stand the guy, this Bud Selig custom by Richard of the FB custom group is a card Topps could've included had they wanted to.

 A final kind of fantasy card, Beckett and Benoit are big names, but Roberto Batista is the real star of this card. Roberto is a co-worker of P-Town Tom, who does the Waiting 'Til Next Year blog. Roberto was never featured on a major Topps or Bowman card, and only has a few minor league issues. He didn't save much of his memorabilia from his playing days, and doesn't have many of his own cards, so I figured I would give him a Topps one of his own.

 Lastly, one of my favorite players, Brandon Inge, could've been included in the Traded set with a rookie card.

Now that the '01 set checklist is done, it's on to 2002, and eventually 2019. I plan on adding replacement players to the '95 checklist after that, and then get on making customs for the '93 Topps set. There may be some ARAIG and KOD projects in between, but that's the plan at least.

I hope you enjoyed this journey back in time to 2001. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy