1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Baseball Cards

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars baseball cards present an excellent run to chase. The set was released at the tail end of 1998. Given its late release date, this set features a variety of rookie cards of players not included in the flagship 1998 Leaf release. Each card in the set is available in four different parallels, which includes the following:

• Base: These are the standard cards in the set and feature silver foil text on the front.
• True Blue: These have a stated print run of 500 copies and feature flat blue foil text on the front.
• Longevity: These have a stated print run of 50 (49) copies and feature foil fronts with flat gold foil text and team logos in the background.
• Longevity Holographic: These have a stated print run of just 1 copy. The first serial numbered card in the print run of 50 for the Longevity parallel is the Holographic parallel. So for example, serial numbered 01/50 is the Longevity Holographic, while serial numbers 02-50/50 are the standard Longevity parallels. The key difference beyond the serial number is that the fronts have a holo-foil finish and don’t feature team logos in the background.

This set came out right around the time I checked out of the hobby so I missed this product entirely and wouldn’t become aware of it until I would return in the summer of 2003. By that time, several cards in the set, which included many of the key rookie cards, had already become popular in the hobby. I was only ever really after the Frank Thomas cards so I didn’t really become familiar with the big names until I got more curious with the 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars set over the years. This is a peculiar set in that it comes with a high number series that’s shorter printed compared to other cards in the set. This is reminiscent of vintage sets from the 1950s-1960s. I thought that was an interesting spin. What’s even more intriguing is that this wasn’t intentional; it just happened that way organically.

As with many, if not most mainstream products from the 1990s, the 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars set comes with a variety of excellent inserts. Sealed boxes are becoming harder to find. If you wanna get your hands on some excellent wax from a time when the hobby experienced a healthy blend of scarcity and variety, grab a box of 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars baseball cards.

To see what’s currently on eBay from 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars, click here.

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Set Information:

Important Date(s)
December 1998	Release Date

Set	Total Cards	Print Run(s)	Odds
Base	339	–	9:1 1-130, 231-300: – 131-230: 1:2 301-339: 1:8
True Blue	339	500	–
Longevity	339	49	–
Longevity Holographic	339	1	–
Crosstraining	10	1000	–
Crusade Update Green	30	250	–
Crusade Update Purple	30	100	–
Crusade Update Red	30	25	–
Extreme Measures	10	280-989	–
Extreme Measures Die Cuts	10	11-720	–
Freshman Orientation	20	5000	–
Freshman Orientation Samples	20	–	Dealer Wholesale Order Forms
Great American Heroes	22	2500	–
Great American Heroes Samples	20	–	Dealer Wholesale Order Forms
Greatest Hits	20	2500	–
Home Run Derby	20	2500	–
Leaf MVP’s	20	4500	–
Leaf MVP’s Pennant Edition	20	500	–
Major League Hard Drives	22	2500	–
Major League Hard Drives Samples	20	–	Dealer Wholesale Order Forms
Standing Ovations	10	5000	–
Standing Ovations Samples	10	–	Dealer Wholesale Order Forms
Ticket Masters	20	2250	–
Ticket Masters Die Cuts	20	250	–

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Base Set Checklist:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars is a 339-card set issued in 9-card packs with an SRP of $2.99 and released very late in the year, which allowed for the inclusion of several rookies. The set contains the following subsets: Power Tools (131-160), Team Line-Up (161-190), and Rookies (191-300). Cards 131-230 are short prints. The high series (301-339) were printed in shorter supply than the rest of the set. Ryan Minor (317) is believed to have been printed in shorter supply than the rest of the high series cards (301-339).

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Andy Pettitte	171	Larry Walker TLU SP
2	Roberto Alomar	172	Barry Larkin TLU SP
3	Randy Johnson	173	Andres Galarraga TLU SP
4	Manny Ramirez	174	Wade Boggs TLU SP
5	Paul Molitor	175	Sammy Sosa TLU SP
6	Mike Mussina	176	Todd Dunwoody TLU SP
7	Jim Thome	177	Jim Thome TLU SP
8	Tino Martinez	178	Paul Molitor TLU SP
9	Gary Sheffield	179	Tony Clark TLU SP
10	Chuck Knoblauch	180	Jose Cruz Jr. TLU SP
11	Bernie Williams	181	Darin Erstad TLU SP
12	Tim Salmon	182	Barry Bonds TLU SP
13	Sammy Sosa	183	Vladimir Guerrero TLU SP
14	Wade Boggs	184	Scott Rolen TLU SP
15	Andres Galarraga	185	Mark McGwire TLU SP
16	Pedro Martinez	186	Nomar Garciaparra TLU SP
17	David Justice	187	Gary Sheffield TLU SP
18	Chan Ho Park	188	Cal Ripken Jr. TLU SP
19	Jay Buhner	189	Frank Thomas TLU SP
20	Ryan Klesko	190	Andy Pettitte TLU SP
21	Barry Larkin	191	Paul Konerko SP
22	Will Clark	192	Todd Helton SP
23	Raul Mondesi	193	Mark Kotsay SP
24	Rickey Henderson	194	Brad Fullmer SP
25	Jim Edmonds	195	Kevin Millwood SP RC
26	Ken Griffey Jr.	196	David Ortiz SP
27	Frank Thomas	197	Kerry Wood SP
28	Cal Ripken Jr.	198	Miguel Tejada SP
29	Alex Rodriguez	199	Fernando Tatis SP
30	Mike Piazza	200	Jaret Wright SP
31	Greg Maddux	201	Ben Grieve SP
32	Chipper Jones	202	Travis Lee SP
33	Tony Gwynn	203	Wes Helms SP
34	Derek Jeter	204	Geoff Jenkins SP
35	Jeff Bagwell	205	Russell Branyan SP
36	Juan Gonzalez	206	Esteban Yan SP RC
37	Nomar Garciaparra	207	Ben Ford SP RC
38	Andruw Jones	208	Rich Butler SP RC
39	Hideo Nomo	209	Ryan Jackson SP RC
40	Roger Clemens	210	A.J. Hinch SP
41	Mark McGwire	211	Magglio Ordonez RC
42	Scott Rolen	212	Dave Dellucci SP RC
43	Vladimir Guerrero	213	Billy McMillon SP
44	Barry Bonds	214	Mike Lowell SP RC
45	Darin Erstad	215	Todd Erdos SP RC
46	Albert Belle	216	Carlos Mendoza SP RC
47	Kenny Lofton	217	Frank Catalanotto SP RC
48	Mo Vaughn	218	Julio Ramirez SP RC
49	Ivan Rodriguez	219	John Halama SP RC
50	Jose Cruz Jr.	220	Wilson Delgado SP
51	Tony Clark	221	Mike Judd SP RC
52	Larry Walker	222	Rolando Arrojo SP RC
53	Mark Grace	223	Jason LaRue SP RC
54	Edgar Martinez	224	Manny Aybar SP RC
55	Fred McGriff	225	Jorge Velandia SP
56	Rafael Palmeiro	226	Mike Kinkade SP RC
57	Matt Williams	227	Carlos Lee SP RC
58	Craig Biggio	228	Bobby Hughes SP
59	Ken Caminiti	229	Ryan Christenson SP RC
60	Jose Canseco	230	Masato Yoshii SP RC
61	Brady Anderson	231	Richard Hidalgo
62	Moises Alou	232	Rafael Medina
63	Justin Thompson	233	Damian Jackson
64	John Smoltz	234	Derek Lowe
65	Carlos Delgado	235	Mario Valdez
66	J.T. Snow	236	Eli Marrero
67	Jason Giambi	237	Juan Encarnacion
68	Garret Anderson	238	Livan Hernandez
69	Rondell White	239	Bruce Chen
70	Eric Karros	240	Eric Milton
71	Javier Lopez	241	Jason Varitek
72	Pat Hentgen	242	Scott Elarton
73	Dante Bichette	243	Manuel Barrios RC
74	Charles Johnson	244	Mike Caruso
75	Tom Glavine	245	Tom Evans
76	Rusty Greer	246	Pat Cline
77	Travis Fryman	247	Matt Clement
78	Todd Hundley	248	Karim Garcia
79	Ray Lankford	249	Richie Sexson
80	Denny Neagle	250	Sidney Ponson
81	Henry Rodriguez	251	Randall Simon
82	Sandy Alomar Jr.	252	Tony Saunders
83	Robin Ventura	253	Javier Valentin
84	John Olerud	254	Danny Clyburn
85	Omar Vizquel	255	Michael Coleman
86	Darren Dreifort	256	Hanley Frias RC
87	Kevin Brown	257	Miguel Cairo
88	Curt Schilling	258	Rob Stanifer RC
89	Francisco Cordova	259	Lou Collier
90	Brad Radke	260	Abraham Nunez
91	David Cone	261	Rickey Ledee
92	Paul O’Neill	262	Carl Pavano
93	Vinny Castilla	263	Derrek Lee
94	Marquis Grissom	264	Jeff Abbott
95	Brian L. Hunter	265	Bob Abreu
96	Kevin Appier	266	Bartolo Colon
97	Bobby Bonilla	267	Mike Drumright
98	Eric Young	268	Daryle Ward
99	Jason Kendall	269	Gabe Alvarez
100	Shawn Green	270	Josh Booty
101	Edgardo Alfonzo	271	Damian Moss
102	Alan Benes	272	Brian Ross
103	Bobby Higginson	273	Jarrod Washburn
104	Todd Greene	274	Bobby Estalella
105	Jose Guillen	275	Enrique Wilson
106	Neifi Perez	276	Derrick Gibson
107	Edgar Renteria	277	Ken Cloude
108	Chris Stynes	278	Kevin Witt
109	Todd Walker	279	Donnie Sadler
110	Brian Jordan	280	Sean Casey
111	Joe Carter	281	Jacob Cruz
112	Ellis Burks	282	Ron Wright
113	Brett Tomko	283	Jeremi Gonzalez
114	Mike Cameron	284	Desi Relaford
115	Shannon Stewart	285	Bobby Smith
116	Kevin Orie	286	Javier Vazquez
117	Brian Giles	287	Steve Woodard
118	Hideki Irabu	288	Greg Norton
119	Delino DeShields	289	Cliff Politte
120	David Segui	290	Felix Heredia
121	Dustin Hermanson	291	Braden Looper
122	Kevin Young	292	Felix Martinez
123	Jay Bell	293	Brian Meadows
124	Doug Glanville	294	Edwin Diaz
125	John Roskos RC	295	Pat Watkins
126	Damon Hollins	296	Marc Pisciotta RC
127	Matt Stairs	297	Rick Gorecki
128	Cliff Floyd	298	DaRond Stovall
129	Derek Bell	299	Andy Larkin
130	Darryl Strawberry	300	Felix Rodriguez
131	Ken Griffey Jr. PT SP	301	Blake Stein SP
132	Tim Salmon PT SP	302	John Rocker SP RC
133	Manny Ramirez PT SP	303	Justin Baughman SP RC
134	Paul Konerko PT SP	304	Jesus Sanchez SP RC
135	Frank Thomas PT SP	305	Randy Winn SP
136	Todd Helton PT SP	306	Lou Merloni SP
137	Larry Walker PT SP	307	Jim Parque SP RC
138	Mo Vaughn PT SP	308	Dennis Reyes SP
139	Travis Lee PT SP	309	Orlando Hernandez SP RC
140	Ivan Rodriguez PT SP	310	Jason Johnson SP
141	Ben Grieve PT SP	311	Torii Hunter SP
142	Brad Fullmer PT SP	312	Mike Piazza (Marlins) SP
143	Alex Rodriguez PT SP	313	Mike Frank SP RC
144	Mike Piazza PT SP	314	Troy Glaus SP RC
145	Greg Maddux PT SP	315	Jin Ho Cho SP RC
146	Chipper Jones PT SP	316	Ruben Mateo SP RC
147	Kenny Lofton PT SP	317	Ryan Minor SP RC
148	Albert Belle PT SP	318	Aramis Ramirez SP
149	Barry Bonds PT SP	319	Adrian Beltre SP
150	Vladimir Guerrero PT SP	320	Matt Anderson SP RC
151	Tony Gwynn PT SP	321	Gabe Kapler SP RC
152	Derek Jeter PT SP	322	Jeremy Giambi SP RC
153	Jeff Bagwell PT SP	323	Carlos Beltran SP
154	Juan Gonzalez PT SP	324	Dermal Brown SP
155	Nomar Garciaparra PT SP	325	Ben Davis SP
156	Andruw Jones PT SP	326	Eric Chavez SP
157	Hideo Nomo PT SP	327	Bobby Howry SP RC
158	Roger Clemens PT SP	328	Roy Halladay SP
159	Mark McGwire PT SP	329	George Lombard SP
160	Scott Rolen PT SP	330	Michael Barrett SP
161	Travis Lee TLU SP	331	Fernando Seguignol SP RC
162	Ben Grieve TLU SP	332	J.D. Drew SP RC
163	Jose Guillen TLU SP	333	Odalis Perez SP RC
164	Mike Piazza TLU SP	334	Alex Cora SP RC
165	Kevin Appier TLU SP	335	Placido Polanco SP RC
166	Marquis Grissom TLU SP	336	Armando Rios SP RC
167	Rusty Greer TLU SP	337	Sammy Sosa HR SP
168	Ken Caminiti TLU SP	338	Mark McGwire HR SP
169	Craig Biggio TLU SP	339	S.Sosa/M.McGwire CL SP
170	Ken Griffey Jr. TLU SP

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Crosstraining:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Crosstraining is a 10-card set with a print run of 1000.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Kenny Lofton	6	Ivan Rodriguez
2	Ken Griffey Jr.	7	Chipper Jones
3	Alex Rodriguez	8	Jeff Bagwell
4	Greg Maddux	9	Nomar Garciaparra
5	Barry Bonds	10	Derek Jeter

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Crusade Update:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Crusade Update is a 30-card set that’s an addendum to the 100-card Crusade insert set issued in packs of 1998 Donruss, 1998 Donruss Update, and 1998 Leaf. This 30-card run is made up of early and rookie-era players. Key RCs: Kevin Millwood and Magglio Ordonez. Parallel(s): Green /250, Purple /100, and Red /25.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
101	Richard Hidalgo	116	Eric Milton
102	Paul Konerko	117	Brad Fullmer
103	Miguel Tejada	118	Karim Garcia
104	Fernando Tatis	119	Abraham Nunez
105	Travis Lee	120	Rickey Ledee
106	Wes Helms	121	Carl Pavano
107	Rich Butler	122	Derrek Lee
108	Mark Kotsay	123	A.J. Hinch
109	Eli Marrero	124	Brian Rose
110	David Ortiz	125	Bobby Estalella
111	Juan Encarnacion	126	Kevin Millwood
112	Jaret Wright	127	Kerry Wood
113	Livan Hernandez	128	Sean Casey
114	Ron Wright	129	Russell Branyan
115	Ryan Christenson	130	Magglio Ordonez

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Extreme Measures:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Extreme Measures is a 10-card set printed with flat foil and print runs vary by card. Cards contain a stated print run to 1000 but that number is split between the combined print runs of the two versions of the cards: base and die cut. The die cut versions have a lower print run to correspond to a specific 1997 statistic from the associated player. For example, Frank Thomas posted a .347 AVG in 1997 so the print run for the die cut version of his card is 347. The remaining in the 1000 print run are assigned to the base versions.

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Card #	Player(s)	Base Print Run	Die Cut Print Run
1	Ken Griffey Jr.	944	56
2	Frank Thomas	653	347
3	Tony Gwynn	628	372
4	Mark McGwire	942	58
5	Larry Walker	280	720
6	Mike Piazza	960	40
7	Roger Clemens	708	292
8	Greg Maddux	980	20
9	Jeff Bagwell	873	127
10	Nomar Garciaparra	989	11

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Freshman Orientation:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Freshman Orientation is a 20-card set that features new players, holofoil text, and a print run of 5000. Sample versions also exist and were issued through dealer wholesale order forms.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Todd Helton	11	Mark Kotsay
2	Ben Grieve	12	David Ortiz
3	Travis Lee	13	Juan Encarnacion
4	Paul Konerko	14	Fernando Tatis
5	Jaret Wright	15	Kevin Millwood
6	Livan Hernandez	16	Kerry Wood
7	Brad Fullmer	17	Magglio Ordonez
8	Carl Pavano	18	Derrek Lee
9	Richard Hidalgo	19	Jose Cruz Jr.
10	Miguel Tejada	20	A.J. Hinch

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Great American Heroes:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Great American Heroes is a 22-card set that features some of baseball’s biggest names, holographic foil, and a print run to 2500. Mike Piazza is featured on three cards in this set, each representing one of the following teams: Dodgers, Marlins, and Mets. Sample versions also exist and were issued through dealer wholesale order forms. Of the three Mike Piazza cards, the one featuring him in a Dodgers uniform is the only one issued as a sample.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Frank Thomas	10	Juan Gonzalez
2	Cal Ripken Jr.	11	Hideo Nomo
3	Ken Griffey Jr.	12	Roger Clemens
4	Alex Rodriguez	13	Mark McGwire
5	Greg Maddux	14	Barry Bonds
6A	Mike Piazza (Dodgers)	15	Kenny Lofton
6B	Mike Piazza (Marlins)	16	Larry Walker
6C	Mike Piazza (Mets)	17	Paul Konerko
7	Chipper Jones	18	Wade Boggs
8	Tony Gwynn	19	Barry Larkin
9	Jeff Bagwell	20	Andres Galarraga

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Greatest Hits:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Greatest Hits is a 20-card set that features new and seasoned players, and a print run of 2500.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Ken Griffey Jr.	11	Tino Martinez
2	Frank Thomas	12	Juan Gonzalez
3	Cal Ripken Jr.	13	Nomar Garciaparra
4	Alex Rodriguez	14	Mark McGwire
5	Ben Grieve	15	Scott Rolen
6	Mike Piazza	16	David Justice
7	Chipper Jones	17	Darin Erstad
8	Tony Gwynn	18	Mo Vaughn
9	Derek Jeter	19	Ivan Rodriguez
10	Jeff Bagwell	20	Travis Lee

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Home Run Derby:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Home Run Derby is a 20-card set that features player photos on a flat bronze foil design, and a print run of 2500.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Tino Martinez	11	Mark McGwire
2	Jim Thome	12	Andruw Jones
3	Larry Walker	13	Nomar Garciaparra
4	Tony Clark	14	Juan Gonzalez
5	Jose Cruz Jr.	15	Jeff Bagwell
6	Barry Bonds	16	Chipper Jones
7	Scott Rolen	17	Mike Piazza
8	Paul Konerko	18	Frank Thomas
9	Travis Lee	19	Ken Griffey Jr.
10	Todd Helton	20	Albert Belle

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Leaf MVP’s:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Leaf MVP’s is a 20-card set that features a flat foil design. While each card is serial numbered to 5000, the first 500 are the Pennant Edition parallels.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Frank Thomas	11	Jeff Bagwell
2	Chuck Knoblauch	12	Craig Biggio
3	Cal Ripken Jr.	13	Chipper Jones
4	Alex Rodriguez	14	Barry Larkin
5	Ivan Rodriguez	15	Mike Piazza
6	Albert Belle	16	Barry Bonds
7	Ken Griffey Jr.	17	Andruw Jones
8	Juan Gonzalez	18	Tony Gwynn
9	Roger Clemens	19	Greg Maddux
10	Mo Vaughn	20	Mark McGwire

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Major League Hard Drives:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Major League Hard Drives is a 20-card set that features holofoil and a print run of 2500. Mike Piazza is featured on three cards in this set, each representing one of the following teams: Dodgers, Marlins, and Mets. Sample versions also exist and were issued through dealer wholesale order forms. Of the three Mike Piazza cards, the one featuring him in a Dodgers uniform is the only one issued as a sample.

To see what’s currently on eBay from 1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Major League Hard Drives, click here.

Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Jeff Bagwell	10	Tony Gwynn
2	Juan Gonzalez	11	Derek Jeter
3	Nomar Garciaparra	12	Mo Vaughn
4	Ken Griffey Jr.	13	Ben Grieve
5	Frank Thomas	14	Manny Ramirez
6	Cal Ripken Jr.	15	Vladimir Guerrero
7	Alex Rodriguez	16	Scott Rolen
8A	Mike Piazza (Dodgers)	17	Darin Erstad
8B	Mike Piazza (Marlins)	18	Kenny Lofton
8C	Mike Piazza (Mets)	19	Brad Fullmer
9	Chipper Jones	20	David Justice

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Standing Ovations:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Standing Ovations is a 10-card set that features holofoil and a print run of 5000.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	Barry Bonds	11	Cal Ripken Jr.
2	Mark McGwire	12	Greg Maddux
3	Ken Griffey Jr.	13	Roger Clemens
4	Frank Thomas	14	Paul Molitor
5	Tony Gwynn	15	Ivan Rodriguez

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Ticket Masters:

1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars Ticket Masters is a 20-card set. Each card features two players, one on each side, and both from the same team. While each card is serial numbered to 2500, the first 250 are die cut parallels.

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Card #	Player(s)	Card #	Player(s)
1	K.Griffey Jr./A.Rodriguez	11	A.Jones/A.Galarraga
2	F.Thomas/A.Belle	12	T.Martinez/C.Knoblauch
3	C.Ripken Jr./R.Alomar	13	R.Mondesi/P.Konerko
4	G.Maddux/C.Jones	14	R.Clemens/J.Cruz Jr.
5	T.Gwynn/K.Caminiti	15	M.McGwire/B.Jordan
6	D.Jeter/A.Pettitte	16	K.Lofton/M.Ramirez
7	J.Bagwell/C.Biggio	17	L.Walker/T.Helton
8	J.Gonzalez/I.Rodriguez	18	D.Erstad/T.Salmon
9	N.Garciaparra/M.Vaughn	19	T.Lee/M.Williams
10	V.Guerrero/B.Fullmer	20	B.Grieve/J.Giambi