12 Days of Christmas (Day 4): Top 9 Cards from my Next Four Packs out of the '97 Limited Box

Welcome to my latest theme week:  12 Days of Christmas!  Each day, I'll be counting down by one - and with it, a new list that encompasses the day's number.  

For today, I've got another four packs out of my 1997 Donruss Limited box.  I started my 12 Days of Christmas countdown with a four pack grouping of 1997 Donruss Limited, now it's time to do it again (though this time you'll only see the nine best cards rather than the twelve best - hooray for less scanning)!

Day 4:  Top 9 Cards from Four Packs of 1997 Donruss Limited

Packs #13 - 16:

#9:  2.  Greg Maddux / David Cone

"The Professor" sported a 2.72 ERA (2nd best among NL pitchers) in 1996 but as a Reds fan I could have sworn Maddux's ERA was closer to 1.00.  I don't know how anyone ever scored off of him since I swear the umpires gave him (and most of the other Braves pitchers) an extra six inches on both sides of home plate.  

#8:  158.  Michael Tucker / Curtis Goodwin

Not the most exciting pair of players or anything here but Goodwin goes down as the lone Red in this group of packs which is all it takes to make the Top 9 today!

#7:  22.  Derek Jeter / Lou Collier

Pretty good looking Derek Jeter card, the dark blue borders work great with the Yankees' colors.  

#6:  16.  John Smoltz / Pedro Martinez

Arguably the most star-studded card pairing out of all of the base cards I pulled in this group of packs.  Smoltz, like Maddux, seemed to benefit from generous umpire strike zones throughout the 90s.  Still, there's no denying he was a great pitcher, even with the extra assistance.

#5:  72.  Scott Rolen / Edgardo Alfonzo

I always liked Scott Rolen and was happy when the Reds traded for him near the end of his playing career.  Rolen's "stat line" on the 1997 Limited card simply says "Rookie slugger in first year as regular 3B for Phillies" which is nearly useless to print on a card but I guess Donruss wanted to be sure to include Rolen in their set...

#4:  78.  Frank Thomas / Tony Clark

I've mentioned it before, but I have a small PC of a bunch of guys who never played for the Reds - one such collection is for Frank Thomas.  As such, this card is probably going to end up in that collection!  Nice to get a true keeper since I have no plans to build this particular base set (100% because of all the short prints scattered throughout the set).

#3:  Limited Exposure:  147.  Bartolo Colon / Kevin Appier

Our third Limited Exposure parallel of the box.  I've been crossing my fingers that we'd pull a Barry Larkin Limited Exposure but no such luck thus far.

#2:  44.  Double Team:  Ivan Rodriguez / Rusty Greer

Our third Double Team short print of the box features a pair of Rangers.  Once again, you can tell this was meant to be a group break box for me since I've now pulled a Pudge card - it's been a running joke for a long time as to how many Pudge cards I pull (hint:  nearly all of them it seems)!  The Double Team cards are 1:6 packs so I ought to pull one more before the box is complete...still hoping for that Barry Larkin card!

#1:  28.  Star Factor:  Juan Rodriguez / Ivan Rodriguez

And there ya go, our second short print of the group of packs and our second Pudge card!  The Star Factor cards are seeded 1:24 packs so this is a box hit Pudge!  Unfortunately for me, that probably means that I won't pull the Star Factor Barry Larkin card that I still need for my own collection...but maybe I'll be able to trade this Rangers card for that Larkin?  

Not a bad bunch of packs, even without a Barry Larkin sighting.  I am enjoying this box so far though I have to say that I think it's going to be dinged on collation/card condition (I've pulled a bunch of miscut cards which shouldn't happen in a product this fancy/expensive)!