Young Superstars II #28 - Fred McGriff

That looks like either a spring training or pre game shot on McGriff based on the alternate jersey. The headshot on the reverse with the empty stands makes me think pre-game and the ammount and color of the seats makes me think SkyDome.

One of my best friends growing up was named Fred, but he looked exactly like another one-time Brave, Marquis Grissom.

McGriff put up some great numbers and hit over 30 home runs seven straight years. When I think of the Crime Dog, my first thought is of the fire at Fulton County Stadium the day of McGriff's arrival in Atlanta. My second thought were those silly Tom Emanski baseball training videos that you still see on ESPN from time to time very late at night.

Hall of Fame? The numbers are good, but I think he flew just a bit under the radar and wasn't a very outspoken player. In 19 seasons he hit .284/493/1550. As a first baseman, he sat right at league average.

He hit very well in his postseason appearances and has a World Series ring from 1995 with the Braves.

Fred McGriff's career statistics

Young Superstars II #23 - Roger Clemens

What do you think? Is this our first potential Hall of Famer? His reactions and attitudes after the steroid allegations are suspicious, at best. But he had a remarkable career.

Is that a Mariners away jersey standing on first base? The number looks like 38, but Jerry Narron wore 38 for four games with the Mariners in 1987, and that's not him on base. It could be the first base coach. Any ideas?

By the time this picture was taken, Clemens was already a highly decorated veteran. By 1988, he'd already won two Cy Young awards (on his way to winning six), an MVP award and made the first of his eleven trips to the All Star game in 1986 where he won the All Star MVP.

His two World Series rings came as a member of the Yankees and in 2004 while pitching for Houston, he picked up a National League Cy Young award.

The numbers are really astounding. 354 wins against 184 losses, 4672 strikeouts in 4916+ innings and a 3.12 career ERA. His numbers are comparable to Maddux, though Clemens walked over 500 more men than Maddux (but also picked up 1300 more Ks). Clemens' ERA was just a hair lower than Maddux's, though his WHIP was just a bit higher.

I think he's a Hall of Famer. I don't particularly like him, but I think he'll be in.

Roger Clemens' career statistics

Young Superstars II #7 - Julio Franco

The words "Young" and "Julio Franco" together in one place do not make sense.

Actually, Julio Franco is one of my all time favorite players. He just never seemed to stop, he never seemed old. When he played in Atlanta in 2007, he was in better shape than players half his age. I think he is a Hall of Famer, I could be wrong and he didn't reach a lot of those milestone numbers, but he was consistently good for nearly 25 years. I think the biggest plus for him is his .298 batting average over 25 seasons, and he was still hitting well until his last season (.222).

In 1999, at the age of 40, Julio batted .423 in the Mexican league. If that wasn't enough, a year later he hit .437. Then in 2001 he was back in the Major Leagues.

This is also another card that the ladies at Dinged Corners are sure to like.

The photo on the reverse looks to be taken at the same time as his base release.

Julio Franco's career statistics

Young Superstars #16 - Terry Steinbach

Terry Steinbach was a three time All Star in the late 80s, and MVP of the '88 Mid-Summer Classic. He was also a part of Oakland's 1989 World Series championship team.

I remember Terry Steinbach very well from his time with the A's in the late 80s and for some reason I seemed to have a lot of his cards. Every year during the World Series I'd go through my baseball cards and get out as many as I could of players on the two teams. When I got back into collecting in '08, a lot of my late 80s Dodgers and A's cards were still together.

The green in the border goes very well with his equipment and the card gets points for a catcher in full gear (it's be better if he had his mask on, but you don't always get what you want). The picture on the reverse of the card looks too much like a mugshot. This is also the first card showing a player doing something other than batting or pitching. However, it's not a very interesting picture.

Terry Steinbach's career statistics