1993 Donruss Elite Series Fred McGriff

All I knew about the Donruss Elite Series inserts from the early 1990s was they were needle in a haystack finds - where picking up a couple of cases [or more] of a particular Donruss product didn't guarantee an Elite Series insert pull.

I saw this in a showcase at a monthy show I go to and thought it would be a fun pick up for $10 - but then I held off because I was concerned about finding cards at the dollar bins of doom and capping my purchases off this particular table up through a certain amount.

However, there was actually a couple more opportunities to see this particular seller [at a couple of other show dates besides the monthly one I'm familiar with] - so maybe I was counting on 'circling back' to find the card again.

In a show the next Saturday after the monthly one, I made my way back to the seller's tables but didn't see the card displayed - I started to digging through the $10 box and hoped the card might still be among the others and I set aside quickly when I saw it.

This particular set was numbered to 10,000 and maybe these inserts started to loose their relevance as other chase cards printed through the early UV era [just past the junk wax years] - started to look more and more like these cards and notably inserted in a more realistic 'per box' rate.

1986 Donruss Fred McGriff RC #28

This may not be a significant purchase because there are too many of them - but for my Top 50 common PC, I wanted a rookie of McGriff to group with two certified autograph cards I've picked up over the years.

Here is Sports Illustrated's in-depth look at McGriff's career - the movement for once borderline HOF guys like Bert Blyleven and Tim Raines were championed by numbers guys, but because McGriff falls quite short of the advanced metrics standards for first baseman, he isn't getting the same 'after the fact' support.

While the numbers don't lie, I do think it’s time McGriff gets a serious bump for induction into the Hall of Fame - unlike other sluggers, McGriff numbers never really experienced a power surge through the mid 1990s, yet he still hit 493 home runs as a consistent, metronomic slugger.

Featured autograph - Fred McGriff

I found a card for McGriff in the '15 for $1' box at a card shop I visited and was able to get him to sign it for me - the autograph doesn't resemble his 'sit down' autographs but he can sign any way he wants to after hitting 493 home runs in the big leagues.

Featured autograph - Fred McGriff

I probably didn't need another certified autograph card of the longtime MLB slugger [I picked one up several years ago] - but the autograph is bold and clean on the baseball material used, so I picked it up for ownage sake.

Hopefully the baseball material for these 2015 Panini National Treasures inserts will be durable so the autograph will not fade over the time - the most infamous examples of these types of 'sweet spot' cards going bad come from 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot products [kind of like this example or this one], where cheap baseball material [not leather] was used.

Featured autograph - Fred McGriff

I picked this card up because according to SCN it doesn't look like the borderline Hall of Fame candidate has answered his fan mail since 2008 - impulsively, I may pick up certified autographs that are considered low end pulls in ridiculously high-end products like Topps Five Star featuring players collectors may overlook.

There are still some retired players [maybe more 'fan favorites' than Hall of Fame legends] that sort of have an allure and while probably not notoriously tough signers - need to be contacted and be shown the money to ink up a number of pack insert certified autograph cards.

Considering the Hall candidates - Fred McGriff

Fred McGriff

Pro - McGriff's prime was during the late 1980s and early 1990s as he clubbed 30 home runs for seven straight seasons from 1988-1994.

He propelled the Atlanta Braves in their chase to win the National League West championship in 1993 - the last real pennant race.

He slugged 30 or more home runs in 10 of 19 seasons - he led the American League with 36 home runs in 1989 and the National League with 35 in 1992.

He finished with 493 home runs and 1,550 RBIs.

He finished with a .377 on-base percentage and a .509 slugging percentage.

Con - McGriff's numbers are easy to ignore, because as the power numbers exploded through the mid 1990s, there was no real 'jump' in The Crime Dog's home run totals.

While sluggers of comparable ability were slugging past his best home run totals on a perennial basis - McGriff wasn't hitting 40-50 home runs like everyone else through the mid to late 1990s.

Yes/No - I'd lean towards 'yes.'

McGriff's legacy will forever be linked for endorsing Tom Emanski's baseball instructional videos - McGriff was a great slugger and if he had starred from the 1970s and early 1980s, maybe the consistency in his power numbers would be seen with more relevance.