Barry Larkin Collection 987: 1995 Donruss - #6 - Dominators

Barry Larkin

Year:  1995

Brand:  Donruss

Insert set:  Dominators

Card number:  6

Ah yes, the glory days of the mid-90s when baseball cards came with protective film on them!  In all seriousness, this is actually a pretty sweet card, even with the stupid "remove protective film" sticker still on it.  I couldn't bring myself to remove the protective film, sorry Donruss!  

As for the card itself, it's part of the Donruss Dominators insert set.  A fairly rare set in 1995 as cards were seeded 1:24 hobby packs of Series 2.  The set contains 9 cards with each card showing the top three players at a given position.  While no one will argue against either Cal Ripken, Jr. or Barry Larkin being included on a list of best shortstops at the time, I don't think many people would put Wil Cordero in that same category. 

A quick look at the checklist reveals that the shortstop position must have been the weakest of the nine positions according to Donruss...basically all of the other cards in the set feature three good-to-great players.  Here's the full checklist:

1. Greg Maddux / David Cone / Mike Mussina
2. Mike Piazza / Ivan Rodriguez / Darren Daulton
3. Frank Thomas / Jeff Bagwell / Fred McGriff
4. Roberto Alomar / Carlos Baerga / Craig Biggio
5. Robin Ventura / Travis Fryman / Matt Williams
6. Cal Ripken / Barry Larkin / Wilfredo Cordero
7. Barry Bonds / Moises Alou / Albert Belle
8. Ken Griffey, Jr. / Kenny Lofton / Marquis Grissom
9. Tony Gwynn / Kirby Puckett / Paul O'Neill

Overall, despite Wil Cordero taking up space and that sticker mucking up the look of the card, I still like this particular Barry Larkin card quite a bit!  It's a fun set and a great snapshot in time - plus the set is rare enough to be interesting today but not so rare as to be impossible to find.  Well done, Donruss!