Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 1994 Leaf Series 1 Baseball
1994 Leaf Baseball has a similar marble-centric base card design as the one that debuted in the previous year. The card fronts also featured gold foil last names and Leaf logos. The base set was split evenly between two releases with each series containing 220 cards.
Most of the insert sets were split between series, with the exception of Series 1 exclusive Statistical Standouts and Series 2 Exclusive Power Brokers and MVP Contenders. Gold Leaf Rookies (1:18 packs), Slideshow (1:54 packs) and Gold Stars (1:90 packs) inserts can be found in both Series 1 and Series 2 packs.
If you are chasing big name Rookie Cards, 1994 Leaf is not the set for you. Series 1 contains exactly two, Brad Holman and Phil Leftwich—not exactly household names.
1994 Leaf Series 1 Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 10
Packs per box: 36
Price paid: $25
Shop for 1994 Leaf Series 1 Baseball boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Jim Abbott, Randy Johnson & Chipper Jones
Randy went viral recently when people realized that he is a professional photographer and covers some NFL games.
Pack 2:
Aaron Sele
Pack 3:
Jamie Moyer, Jay Buhner x2 & Mike Mussina
Pack 4:
Bobby Bonilla, Cecil Fielder & Mark Langston
Langston doesn’t get much love but he did put together a solid major league career. He also won seven Gold Gloves, including five straight from 1991-1995.
Pack 5:
Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, Lance Johnson, Raul Mondesi & Al Leiter
Pack 6:
Deion Sanders, Brett Butler & Ruben Sierra
Pack 7:
Bobby Bonilla & John Valentin
Valentin won a Silver Slugger Award following the 1995 season. He finished the year hitting .298 with 27 home runs and 102 RBI.
Pack 8:
Bernie Williams & Mark Grace
Pack 9:
Wally Joyner & Paul O’Neill
Pack 10:
Tino Martinez & Alan Trammell
Constantino Martinez won four World Series rings while playing for the Yankees dynasty of the late ’90s.
Pack 11:
David “Boomer” Wells & Brady Anderson
Pack 12:
Cal Ripken, Jr., Dwight Gooden, Don Mattingly & Lou Whitaker
Pack 13:
Tim Raines, Greg Maddux & Andres Galarraga
Rock Raines was a stolen base machine early in his career, swiping 70-plus bases each season 1981-1986.
Pack 14:
Robin Ventura & Andre Dawson
Pack 15:
Bobby Bonilla & Don Mattingly
Pack 16:
Harold Baines, Barry Larkin & dupe Dave Winfields
You could do worse than finding two Winfield cards in the same pack. The Hall of Famer racked up 12 All-Star selections, seven Gold Gloves, and six Silver Slugger Awards during his 22-year career.
Pack 17:
Tim Salmon, Mike Greenwell & Ozzie Guillen
Pack 18:
Marquis Grissom, Lou Whitaker & Harold Baines
Pack 19:
Jay Buhner & our third Mattingly
Buhner is shown here with a bat flip that would probably be considered pretty tame in today’s game.
Pack 20:
Another Baines, Eric Young & Barry Larkin
Pack 21:
Bobby Bonilla, Sammy Sosa & Jeff Kent
Pack 22:
Mike Greenwell & Jamie Moyer
Mike “Gator” Greenwell finished second in the AL MVP voting after the 1988 season, hitting .325 with 22 HR and 119 RBI.
Pack 23:
Barry Larkin, Lou Whitaker & Russ David Gold Leaf Rookies (1:18 packs)
Pack 24:
Cal Ripken, Jr. & Doc Gooden
Pack 25:
Tim Raines & Greg Maddux
A total of eight pitchers threw at least 200 innings in 1994. Maddux broke the 200-inning mark 18 out of 19 seasons 1988-2006. That includes the strike-shortened 1994 season, when he threw 202 innings.
Pack 26:
Dave Winfield, Deion Sanders & Ruben Sierra
Pack 27:
Wally Joyner, Lou Whitaker, David Wells & Eric Karros
Pack 28:
David Wells, Dante Bichette & Devon White
David Wells finished third in Cy Young voting two times. That includes the 2000 season, when he finished the year with a 4.11 ERA. The winner that season, Pedro Martinez, posted a 1.74 ERA.
Pack 29:
Jack McDowell, Rick Aguilera & yet another Sweet Lou
Pack 30:
Alan Trammell & Frank Thomas Slideshow (1:54 packs)
Pack 31:
Brady Anderson & Chuck Knoblauch
Knoblauch stole 407 bases during a 12-year career. He never had a season with less than 19.
Pack 32:
Dwight Gooden & Don Mattingly
Pack 33:
Dave Winfield, Greg Maddux & Tino Martinez
Pack 34:
Brady Anderson & John Franco
Franco has a very impressive major league resumé. He racked up 424 saves, while finishing his career with a sparkling 2.89 ERA.
Pack 35:
Joe Girardi, Cal Ripken, Jr. & Marquis Grissom
Pack 36:
Robin Ventura, Jim Abbott, Andre Dawson & Tim Salmon
Lastly, the Dawson card back. Great shot of Andre in front of the Green Monster.
This box was definitely off. I only found two inserts in the whole box. I didn’t pull any Statistical Standouts inserts, with 1:12 odds. I also only pulled the one Gold Leaf Rookies card, when odds suggest I should have found a couple. Really strange.
Definitely a tough one here, but this product can be a lot more fun when you find the appropriate inserts—especially if you’re lucky enough to pull one of the tough Gold Stars inserts, found just once in every three or so boxes.
I know we are already well into the NFL season, but baseball breaks will continue to be featured through the end of the MLB postseason. After that, I’ll switch over to football.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
36 packs those were the days