The 1993 Pinnacle baseball card series marked the beginning of Pinnacle’s early 1990s run as one of the premier baseball card manufacturers. Series 1 was released at the start of the 1993 baseball season and contained 330 total cards split between regular issue cards and insert cards.
Some key details and highlights about the 1993 Pinnacle Series 1 include:
Design – The cards featured a clean design with a white border and team logo in the upper left. Player photos were large and vividly printed. Backs contained basic stats and career highlights.
Rarity – The set had no parallels or serial numbering. Short prints and popular players made certain cards harder to find than others. The most coveted insert was the Jim Abbott “No Excuses” card.
Rookies – Standout rookie cards included Wil Cordero, Jason Bere, Rey Sanchez, Kenny Lofton, and Jimmy Key. Cordero and Lofton went on to have solid careers.
veterans – Popular veterans included Ryne Sandberg, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken Jr., Kirby Puckett, Roger Clemens, and Ozzie Smith. These players were all nearing or in the middle of Hall of Fame careers.
Inserts – In addition to the popular Abbott card, inserts featured cards for Manager of the Year (Bobby Cox), Cy Young Award (Greg Maddux), and All-Star Game cards. A 10-card subset paid tribute to the oldest ballparks.
Distribution of 1993 Pinnacle Series 1 was through rack packs, blaster boxes, and factory sets. Hobby boxes contained 15 packs with 3 cards per pack and one insert or short print per box on average. Cards had decent photo quality and centering for the era.
Some notable individual cards from the set include:
Ken Griffey Jr. – One of Griffey’s early Pinnacle rookie year cards. Clean photo and design captured his smooth left-handed swing.
Cal Ripken Jr. – Ripken was coming off his record-setting 2,131st consecutive game streak. His card featured a classic side-on batting stance picture.
Nolan Ryan – At age 46, Ryan was still striking out batters as one of baseball’s legends. His card honored his playing days winding down.
Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz – This popular Braves “Big Three” starting rotation was entering their pitching prime years. Their cards became a subset among collectors.
Will Clark – As one of the game’s best hitters, Clark’s card showed why he was such a feared run producer for the Giants.
Cecil Fielder – Fielder was coming off a 51-home run season in 1992. His massive power swing was captured on his Pinnacle card.
Aside from common players, key short prints and chase cards included Cory Snyder, Dennis Martinez, and Jeff Bagwell. Jim Abbott’s “No Excuses” insert earned him recognition for overcoming being born without a right hand.
In the years following, 1993 Pinnacle Series 1 developed a strong collector following. Pristine mint condition examples of stars like Griffey, Ripken, and Ryan command high prices today. The set is regarded as one of the better-designed baseball issues of the early 1990s sports card boom.
While production numbers were high, the vivid photography, memorable rookie cards, and popular veterans captured the allure of the 1993 MLB season. Series 1 endures as a classic Pinnacle baseball card set which successfully blended the nostalgia of baseball’s past with the promise of its future.
