I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 74 - Edgar Renteria

Ozzie Smith was the Cardinals shortstop for much of the 1990s, and was eventually replaced by Royce Clayton after he retired.  In 1998, the Cardinals traded Clayton away to the Texas Rangers, in the middle of the season, for third baseman Fernando Tatis.  The Cardinals played all sorts of different players at shortstop during the second half of the 1998, none of them were good.  

Prior to the 1999 season, the Cardinals traded Braden Looper, Armando Almanza, and Pablo Ozuna to the Marlins in exchange for Edgar Renteria. 

He's wearing teal on his rookie card.  You should buy this card.  

Renteria was only 19 when he reached the Majors, and 22 when he was traded to the Cardinals.  He was a work in progress at this point in his career, but he had also made a name for himself as one of the few Major Leaguers to have a walk off hit in the deciding game of the World Series.  

Only one year of 1990s baseball cards for Edgar Renteria in a Cardinals uni.  It was not actually really all that great for two reasons.  Kind of makes this a short post.  

Reason One- Topps used the same picture in all of their products.  All of their products.

Here's his 1999 Topps card.  

  

and his 1999 Topps Finest card.  

I think the smile is slightly different.  

I could scan his Bowman card and put it on here, but you will never believe the picture that Topps used for the card.  He's actually not holding the bat, but everything else is the same.  The photographer from Topps spent a whole two minutes taking pictures of Edgar Renteria in Spring Training.  

and I am spent.  

Reason 2- He has a bunch of cards that have a Cardinals logo, but the picture shows him as a Marlin.  

Like this one....

or this one.....

Of course, there are a few different Edgar Renteria cards from 1999 that get it right.  

and they are pretty nice.