When AI Took Over Baseball Cards...30 Years Ago!
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There is little positive to be said about the 1994-1995 baseball strike that, among other things, denied fans a 1994 World Series, cost Tony Gwynn a possible .400 season, and soured many fans on baseball for years, if not forever.
At least on cardboard, however, the shortened season did lead to some fun and high-tech innovation. Distributed at a clip of one per standard pack or three per jumbo pack, the 1995 Topps set included "Cyberstats" inserts that combined each player's actual 1994 stat line with computer-simulated data to finish out the season.
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For example, while the real Man of Steal swiped only 22 bases in the short season, Cyber-Rickey stole 42. Sure it would have been more fun to watch it happen in real life, but wasn't this the next best thing? Either way, the 396-card set offered collectors something that Major League Baseball couldn't: the answers to all their what-if scenarios from a September and October that never were.
So just what were some of the fantastic but fictitious finishes to the otherwise most forgettable flop of a season ever? Well, keeping in mind this was before the great McGwire-Sosa home run chase of 1998, the home runs Cyber-Barry Bonds finished with was rather notable. Barry didn't just lead the Cyber-NL but equaled the major league record in the process. In fact, we learn from another card in the set that Cyber-Barry tied Roger Maris in dramatic fashion, with a four HR outburst in Colorado on Cyber-September 27!
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Apart from the Topps AI somehow knowing Barry would take his place among the greatest home run hitters in the game, what other Cyber-feats did the insert set feature? Here are just a few more:
- 55 HR for Ken Griffey, Jr.
- A .360/53/145 slash line for Frank Thomas who just missed the Triple Crown by 3 homers
- 51 HR for Matt Williams
- 20 wins and a 1.69 ERA for Greg Maddux
As for Tony Gwynn and his magical quest for .394, Mr. Cyber-Padre not only fell short but even lost a few points off his early August average, settling for .391. And about that postseason that never was, well, it turned out pretty exciting, even if it left no shortage of broken hearts in Montreal.
Over in the National League, the 106-win Cyber-Expos were stunned by the Los Angeles Cyber-Dodgers on one side of the NLDS ledger while Cyber-Atlanta knocked out Cyber-Cincy on the other side. As for the American League Division Series, it was the Cyber-Indians over the Cyber-Yanks and the Cyber-Rangers, led by Jose Canseco, over the Cyber-White Sox.
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Now here's where things get really crazy. Remembering these cards came out in early 1995 based on computer sims run in late 1994, what are the chances of a Cyber-World Series matchup between the same two teams that would meet for the actual World Series in 1995? Let's just say our AI overlords delivered, bringing collectors a Cyber-Fall Classic featuring the Cleveland Indians, back in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1954, and the Atlanta Braves.
However, the state of AI in 1994 was not nearly as advanced as today's bleeding edge technologies. While the Braves took the IRL 1995 World Series four games to two, the 1994 Cyber-Series went to a full seven games, with Cyber-Cleveland prevailing in the clincher by a score of 12-3. Delivering the Forest City its first title since 1948 was World Series MVP Kenny Lofton, cementing his case for Cyber-Cooperstown, batting .379 with 6 steals.
Fast forward to 2025 where it seems artificial intelligence has infiltrated just about every aspect of our lives. Collectors have already seen applications of AI to grading, identification, sales listings, and even "artwork." While some collectors worry about what the technology-enhanced future of the Hobby holds, the 1995 Topps collectors out there, especially the ones in Cleveland, know that AI, if not every time, at least sometimes does a pretty darn good job!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.