before there was topps total, there was pacific online

in 1998, pacific tried to connect baseball cards to the interwebs, without the crappy mini-cd that upper deck was putting out with their powerdeck release.  pacific online cards included a link that you could type in and then visit a page for that player.  no need for the stats on the back when you could type in a ridiculously long web address, wait for your dial-up, and get to the stats 10 minutes later.

what i did (and still do) like about the set, however, is how inclusive it was.  800 cards meant that everyone but joe shlabotnik was featured.  and, since 1998 was around the time when the dodgers were employing a bunch of short term out of place guys, the pacific online set is obscure dodger gold.  look at the back of the team checklist:

wait, let me enlarge it.

jim bruske?!? mike devereaux in a return to dodger blue!  thomas howard was a dodger?  darren hall?  tom prince - love the backup catcher love!  even the loogys - scott radinsky and mark guthrie (featured at the top of the post) are included.  that is just fan-freaking awesome.  it sucks not to have a card of brent leach or russell mitchell these days.

here's the front of the checklist just so sheff can't complain.

here's to you 1998 pacific online. even if your player sites are no longer active.