This can be very difficult to tell. The reason I know the ones I have are for sure, because the person I got them from was buying them as they came out and labeling them at the time. Sometimes there are very little differences, like the type of ink used for the signature or a very minor difference in cropping. It can be difficult to tell for sure.
As far as the number goes, that is just a number assigned by beckett. Sometimes is alphabetical, sometimes not. I just use what they assign so it is somewhat trackable

Thank you. I am glad you found the site

5000 cards is a lot of cards, and more than most Ripken Collectors probably have. Glad that people still find a use for the site

Sure send it my way, and I will add it to the masterlist that people download

Thank you. Glad you could find a use for it

I was trying to get a copy of all of them at one point, and I realized that was an absolutely crazy goal haha