Acquisition: Roy Oswalt Rookie Diamond King

Subject: 2001 Donruss The Rookies Roy Oswalt Rookie Diamond King (#RDK-4)
Paid: $1
Found: In a dollar box at the White Plains Show

The Complete 2001 Donruss base short-set checklist.

UPDATED 3/27/08

Courtesy of Joe of Reds Cards, I've completely filled out the CSL and SSL tables. Danke shein, my friend. Danke shein.

Alright, starting off with the short set, here's the complete 150-card checklist. In addition, we've listed the production for each of the Season Stat-Line (SSL) and Career Stat-Line (CSL) parallels.

Card #	Name	CSL	SSL	Notes
1	Alex Rodriguez	194	41
2	Barry Bonds	69	49
3	Cal Ripken, Jr.	277	56
4	Chipper Jones	204	36
5	Derek Jeter	153	73
6	Troy Glaus	224	47
7	Frank Thomas	328	43
8	Greg Maddux	240	19
9	Ivan Rodriguez	288	83
10	Jeff Bagwell	167	47
11	Jose Canseco	198	49
12	Todd Helton	107	59
13	Ken Griffey, Jr.	33	40
14	Manny Ramirez	236	92
15	Mark McGwire	248	32
16	Mike Piazza	199	90
17	Nomar Garciaparra	117	96
18	Pedro Martinez	268	174
19	Randy Johnson	319	19
20	Rick Ankiel	233	11
21	Rickey Henderson	282	36
22	Roger Clemens	260	188
23	Sammy Sosa	231	50
24	Tony Gwynn	338	41
25	Vladimir Guerrero	322	44
26	Eric Davis	278	77
27	Roberto Alomar	304	40
28	Mark Mulder	88	19
29	Pat Burrell	260	27
30	Harold Baines	49	72
31	Carlos Delgado	214	41
32	J.D. Drew	224	73
33	Jim Edmonds	186	42
34	Darin Erstad	87	39
35	Jason Giambi	181	43
36	Tom Glavine	208	91
37	Juan Gonzalez	294	30
38	Mark Grace	148	75
39	Shawn Green	100	99
40	Tim Hudson	31	20
41	Andruw Jones	116	36
42	David Justice	246	41
43	Jeff Kent	274	33
44	Barry Larkin	300	71
45	Pokey Reese	229	29
46	Mike Mussina	353	11
47	Hideo Nomo	397	181
48	Rafael Palmeiro	36	39
49	Adam Piatt	299	5
50	Scott Rolen	50	89
51	Gary Sheffield	279	43
52	Bernie Williams	278	30
53	Bobby Abreu	117	10
54	Edgardo Alfonzo	296	94
55	Jermaine Clark*	133	23
56	Albert Belle	295	23
57	Craig Biggio	160	101
58	Andres Galarraga	291	100
59	Edgar Martinez	235	37
60	Fred McGriff	20	18
61	Magglio Ordonez	301	32
62	Jim Thome	233	33
63	Matt Williams	292	102
64	Kerry Wood	21	132
65	Moises Alou	229	30
66	Brady Anderson	299	89
67	Garret Anderson	297	40
68	Tony Armas, Jr.	61	59
69	Tony Batista	279	32
70	Jose Cruz, Jr.	47	32
71	Carlos Beltran	159	92
72	Adrian Beltre	174	30
73	Kris Benson	21	10
74	Lance Berkman	127	76
75	Kevin Brown	321	13
76	Jay Buhner	308	92
77	Jeromy Burnitz	156	31
78	Ken Caminiti	331	63
79	Sean Casey	312	151
80	Luis Castillo	251	180
81	Eric Chavez	241	139
82	Jeff Cirillo	311	115
83	Bartolo Colon	51	15
84	David Cone	184	120
85	Freddy Garcia	249	79
86	Johnny Damon	352	136
87	Ray Durham	371	121
88	Jermaine Dye	319	33
89	Juan Encarnacion	41	158
90	Terrence Long	80	18
91	Carl Everett	149	149
92	Steve Finley	254	151
93	Cliff Floyd	326	126
94	Brad Fullmer	232	142
95	Brian Giles	301	111
96	Luis Gonzalez	329	31
97	Rusty Greer	307	117
98	Jeffrey Hammonds	341	152
99	Mike Hampton	344	151
100	Orlando Hernandez	41	141
101	Richard Hidalgo	345	44
102	Geoff Jenkins	64	155
103	Jacque Jones	242	149
104	Brian Jordan	124	129
105	Gabe Kapler	32	134
106	Eric Karros	242	146
107	Jason Kendall	314	112
108	Adam Kennedy	264	159
109	Byung-Hyun Kim	142	111
110	Ryan Klesko	165	140
111	Chuck Knoblauch	293	75
112	Paul Konerko	207	156
113	Carlos Lee	316	107
114	Kenny Lofton	306	30
115	Javy Lopez	130	24
116	Tino Martinez	229	147
117	Ruben Mateo	271	7
118	Kevin Millwood	50	168
119	Bengie Molina	15	133
120	Raul Mondesi	212	24
121	Trot Nixon	27	118
122	John Olerud	367	103
123	Paul O'Neill	260	160
124	Chan Ho Park	388	18
125	Andy Pettitte	100	125
126	Jorge Posada	382	28
127	Mark Quinn	167	20
128	Aramis Ramirez	12	65
129	Mariano Rivera	165	36
130	Tim Salmon	231	34
131	Curt Schilling	110	11
132	Richie Sexson	325	14
133	John Smoltz	157	156
134	J.T. Snow	151	152
135	Jay Payton	151	17
136	Shannon Stewart	216	21
137	B.J. Surhoff	359	157
138	Mike Sweeney	302	144
139	Fernando Tatis	258	18
140	Miguel Tejada	254	30
141	Jason Varitek	37	111
142	Greg Vaughn	320	117
143	Mo Vaughn	299	36
144	Robin Ventura	227	84	UER
145	Jose Vidro	191	51
146	Omar Vizquiel	260	176
147	Larry Walker	271	97
148	David Wells	161	166
149	Rondell White	167	111
150	Preston Wilson	303	31

Acquisition: Trade w/The Cardboard Junkie

Don't you think it's time I updated this thing? Yeah, me too.

I made my first acquisition of 2001 D'Russ cards since establishing this blog, a trade with The Cardboard Junkie. I sent him:

2006 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks & Prospects #DP81: Dustin Evans
2007 Upper Deck Goudey Gamer Used: Andruw Jones
2003 Bowman Heritage Diamond Cuts: Gary Sheffield
2002 Topps 206 Framed Relic: Chipper Jones
2005 Studio Private Signings: Johnny Estrada (#/50)

I received:

2001 Donruss: 153 173 193
"2000" Retro: 2 55 82
"1999" Retro: 2 8 31 37 41 47 48 54 56 66
Diamond Kings: 8
Donruss The Rookies Expired Redemption Card

(And he also threw in a few 2008 Upper Deck commons.)

The three 2001 cards are all from the Rated Rookies subset and are all numbered to 2001 copies. Card #153 is of "Brewers" pitcher Gene Altman. I put Brewers in quotes because, although Mr. Altman is pictured in a Milwaukee uniform, he never threw a pitch for them. Or for any other Major League team for that matter. In fact, he's been out of baseball for the last five years. Can you imagine putting down your $100 for a box of this stuff, and the one-per-box Rated Rookie you get is Gene Altman? Now you know why I hate this product.

At least Steve Lomasney (card #173) made it to The Show. He played one game for the Red Sox in '99, and has been kicking about the International League ever since.

Alright we're 0-for-2 on these Rated Rookies. #193 is of an actual bona-fide super star player: Alfonso Soriano. But here again, Donruss fucks up by including a gimmicked "rookie" of a player whose true-RC had been released in 1999.

Card #82 of the "2000" Retro set is, of course, the infamous C.C. Sabathia card -- a card that was initially pulled from the set. The Junkie says that he received it a few years ago directly from Donruss when he sent in another card.


Carsten Charles was pulled from the set after the Indians removed him from their 40-man roster. His "2000" Rated Rookie was replaced by a redemption good for a card of Ichiro Suzuki -- who played the 2000 season in Japan. As you can see, only 500 copies of this card were made as opposed to 2000 for the other "2000" Rated Rookies. It should also be noted that the serial numbering area lacks the "Bang" that was standard for most Donruss numbered cards.

Amongst the other fake cards I received were "2000s" of A-Rod and Jeff Kent and "1999s" of NOE-MAH!!! Barry Larkin, Jeromy Burnitz, Will Clark, Kenny Lofton, Brian Giles, Paul O'Neill, Moises Alou, Ray Lankford and Juan Gonzalez. The Junkie also threw in a few fake "2000s" that I already had, just for good measure.

He also sent me an expired Donruss The Rookies redemption card and a Diamond King insert of Roger Clemens.

Everybody else is doing it, why don't I?

With all the different set, team, and player cardblogs out there, it was about time I jumped on the bandwagon.

So behold. I give you 2K1Druss, a blog chronicling my feeble attempt to build a complete master set of 2001 Donruss.

Expect lots of scans. Lots of trades. And lots of information about one really, really, bad baseball card product. And if we have enough time, we'll also get into some of Donruss-Playoff's other 2001 baseball products; as well as some of the great Donruss sets of the pre-Playoff era.

The Inspiration for this Blog

ALWAYS BE COLLECTING -- 2001 Donruss

"Do you know what it takes to collect 2001 Donruss?"

We all have our vices and guilty pleasures. We know they're bad for us, but we just can't help ourselves.

I know if I eat too many Gorditas, I'll get fat. But I like Gorditas, and I eat them anyway.

I know if I drink too many pints of Boddington's Pub Ale, I get a hangover. But I like the taste of Boddington's, and I drink it anyway.

I know if I take too many Xanaxes, I'll be zonked out the rest of the day. But it "takes the edge off," so I take them anyway.

When it comes to baseball cards, my vice is 2001 Donruss: the Xanax of baseball cards.

So to "celebrate" the return of Donruss-Playoff to the baseball card industry with an unlicensed draft pick product, and to sate the never-ending rumors that D-P will be getting their real licenses back, let's set the WABAC machine six years to examine their first "real" baseball card effort.

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In 1998 Pinnacle Brands -- which had spent $41 million dollars for the rights to the Donruss and Leaf brand names two years earlier -- filed for bankruptcy protection. Shortly thereafter, both Major League Baseball Properties and licensing arm of the Players Association revoked their respective licenses, and Pinnacle's assets were ordered liquidated. In the summer of '98, it appeared that Donruss baseball would come to an end after eighteen glorious years. But then an unlikely savior appeared. A savior that took the form of football card manufacturer Playoff, who paid $9.6 million at auction for everything that was left of Pinnacle.

Shortly thereafter, speculation in The Hobby immediately began as to Playoff's intentions -- specifically in regards to acquiring MLB and MLBPA licenses. Although Playoff was granted a temporary license (so that those players Pinnacle contracted to sign for 1998 Donruss Signature could be paid) they were denied a permanent license. It appeared that Playoff's quest to get into the baseball card business would never bear fruit.

That is, until late-2000. Things started to turn in Playoff's favor after Pacific inserted into packs of 2000 Invincible a Manny Ramirez bat card with what appeared to be a piece of cork embedded in it. When Pacific was unable to vouch for the bat's authenticity -- they admitted to having purchased the bat from a third party -- MLBPA yanked Pacific's license.

Almost immediately, rumors of Playoff finally getting the licenses it had long coveted began to fly again. Finally, after a three year quest, those efforts came to fruition in February 2001, when it was announced that Playoff (now renamed "Donruss-Playoff") had at last received permission to produce Major League Baseball cards.

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With nearly three years of pent-up demand -- not the mention the novelty of it being the first completely original baseball card product from Playoff -- loyal Donruss collectors immediately began to place pre-sell orders with their local hobby dealers. (Many of those same dealers were disappointed to find out that they would be limited to only one six-box hobby case.) In April 2001 Donruss Baseball went live.

The result: The worst baseball card set ever made.

In their haste to produce their first real baseball card product, Donruss-Playoff (D-P) essentially recycled the same formula that had successfully worked for them in football cards. In fact, the parallels between the 2001 Donruss Baseball and 2000 Donruss Football sets are uncanny to say the least. Both sets have roughly the same number of cards (220 in baseball versus 250 in football), and both had an MSRP of $1.99/pack. However, both products relied heavily on a gimmick that was becoming commonplace in football cards, but had never, ever, before appeared in a base level baseball brand.

2001 Donruss was the first entry-level baseball trading card product to feature short-printed, serial-numbered, rookie cards. While short-printing may have appealed to the football card audience, it didn't to base-level baseball card collectors. By limiting the production of each "Rated Rookie" to only 2001 copies (not including the Albert Pujols and Ben Sheets exchange cards -- each limited to 500), D-P had abandoned the one segment of the market that traditionally purchases and collects such base level products. The one segment that had been the cornerstone of the Donruss brand since 1981: Set builders.

While 2001 Donruss did sell well, not all collectors were pleased. Beckett.com's Rich Klein was one. Shortly after the set's release, he wrote:

"(Collectors are) beginning to realize there are almost no (rookie) cards out there and some, unfortunately for Donruss/Playoff, are beginning to learn that they can live without Donruss in future years... I just think too many collectors will have gotten fed up trying to get 2001 Donruss Baseball that their Donruss collection will permanently end with 1998."

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In retrospect, D-P screwed up the comeback edition of Donruss baseball royally. Long-time Donruss baseball collectors simply gave up after 2001. What D-P failed to realize, and to the bitter end never really quite understood, was that football card collectors and baseball card collectors are two completely different breeds of hobbyist. What works in football, may not (and usually does not) necessarily work in baseball. Again, quoting Klein:

"I'm worried that Donruss/Playoff has used the Donruss brand name to turn a quick profit so their next product sells well. To me, this is thinking only a few months ahead instead of looking a year or more into the future. This is the same type of marketing that - in my opinion - failed to serve Score/Pinnacle well after about 1995 or so. Donruss/Playoff's lack of long-term vision with the release of the limited 2001 Donruss Baseball product could eventually hurt the Donruss name."

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Well, some collectors; but not this one. You see, for the "so-bad-it's-good" reasons I stated before, I made it a quest to attempt to complete a 2001 Donruss master set. I know I should know better, but I can't help it.

I can't help it. But I'm addicted to the worst baseball card set ever!

Here's my original 2001 Donruss box break and review (as posted to the old stalegum.com).

And here's my 2001 wantlist. (HELP ME OUT!!!)