Random Wax: 1991 Fleer Baseball (4 Packs)

 1991 Fleer: Cal Ripken was the opposite of flashy.  He just did his job.  Like every day...literally!  He probably doesn't get the hype he deserves and that includes from me.  He did what he did for 20 years and put up great numbers.  Not really good numbers but great numbers at a position that didn't see that very much.  Baseball Reference Great did a great comparison of all-time players at shortstop which can be seen here.  Other players at his position just don't put up the numbers he did.  Amazing player.

Dwight Gooden was coming off a 19-win season, McGwire hit 39 home runs and Righetti had 36 saves.  This design I like.  Don't ask me why.  No team logo.  Obnoxious bright yellow borders.  But still, for some reason I do like this set.

Some really good lefty hitters.  Hal Morris won a championship with the Reds in 1990 and hit .340 in the regular season to boot.

The backs were colorful though muted tones.  A Fleer thing but we get tons of stats and another photo and logo as well so all is good.

Top Game Savers is a league leaders esque card and works well.  I'd like to see their save totals or team logos but it's better than nothing.

We love the Fleer stickers, and I really enjoy the Top 10 all-time leaders for teams on the backs.  These are great snapshots of great players for each team.  Really fun to read through the lists. 

Fun memories and players.  Speaking of fun, I miss when speedsters ruled the base paths.  I know we are trending that way a bit more now, but Vince Coleman was so much to watch.  As fast as he was, he still couldn't out run a tarp which didn't help the Cardinals when they played and lost to the Royals in the '85 World Series.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
4 – Stickers
1 – Super Star Specials

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

 1988 Fleer:  Paul Molitor was an amazing hitter.  He also played in two World Series.  He lost to St. Louis with Milwaukee but got his championship as a member of the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.  For his career he hit .359 in the playoffs and was the 1993 World Series MVP hitting .458, 2 home runs and 7 runs batted in along with a stolen base and 2 triples.  

Lansford and Butler had long successful careers in the majors and each batted .290 for their career.  Lansford won a batting title in 1981 and a championship with the A's in 1989. 

Jeff King played 11 seasons between Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Bob Walk and Claudell Washington are all-time favorites of mine.  Walk won a championship with Philly in his rookie season and then want on to a good career with Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

We all love the stickers.  Bring them back!

These extra cards giving us pairings of greats in the game are crazy fun.  Especially when you look at them so many years later.  We rarely get players from different teams on the same card.  We need that.  The All-Star Team design is just bad.  Could have done a lot of different things that aren't this.  Fun packs of cards and a design I like.  So many great memories.  Hope the playoffs are going well for you and your team...sans the Yankees.  Sorry.

BREAKDOWN:

45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)

3 - Stickers

2 – SuperStar Specials

2 – Major League Prospects

1 – All-Star Team

Random Wax: 1991 Fleer Baseball (4 Packs)

1991 Fleer: Dennis Eckersley was such a dynamic player.  To become a closer, DOMINANT closer at age 32 and after being a good starter for the first 12 seasons of his career.  Crazy.  He was fun to watch and such a great closer.

Bob Welch won 211 games with a career 3.47 ERA.  The man could pitch.  Maddux wasn't a slouch either.

Who had more hits amongst these three?  Gary Gaetti (2280) over both Marquis (2251) and Tino (1925).  My money would have been on Tino and then Marquis.

Fleer sticker greatness.  I really enjoy the Top 10 All-Time Stat leaders on the back as well.

I like the Lance Parrish photo and the Kirk Gibson photo is good too.  Feels weird seeing Franco fielding.

Team Leaders cards are a nice opportunity to seem more of the game's greats.

So many stats to enjoy.  Welch's 27 wins and Eck's crazy amazing 1990 stand out for sure.  The muted colors on the backs of the cards always perplexed me.  I'm sure it saved money or something but it was odd.

I'm a Langston guy so I couldn't pass him up.  Also a big Kirby guy though I had to forgive him for what he did to the Braves in the World Series first so it took me some time to come around.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
4 – Stickers
1 – Checklist
1 – Superstar Specials

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Nolan Ryan is a great start to these packs.  Your all-time leader in strikeouts as well as walks and hits per nine innings pitched.  

More greatness from the 80s.  All three of these guys were huge during their era.  I remember how Fernandomania swept baseball fandom in 1981.  What an amazing year for him.

Yes, we love the stickers.

The backs of the stickers were pretty cool.  

The SuperStar Specials cards are fun ways to see the stars again and paired with others.

The All-Star Team cards are a letdown for me.  I don't like the colors and they have almost nothing going for them in terms of design.  Still, Clemons is always a great pull.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
2 – SuperStar Specials
1 – All-Star Team
1 – Major League Prospects

Random Wax: 1991 Fleer Baseball (4 Packs)

1991 Fleer:  Hard to believe Dave Stewart was only an All-Star one time.  He won 20+ games four seasons in a row with the A's.  Stewart made up for it by winning three World Series - one each with the Dodgers, A's and Blue Jays.  He was also known the intense look.  Unfortunately cards from the 80s and 90s were known for horrible centering like this one.  Such a disappointment.

Some key players from the era.  Ellis Burks is an all-time favorite of mine.  I tend to not give Sheffield the credit he deserves but looking at his baseball card helps remind me how good he was and I've been won over by his Hall of Fame argument.  

Everyone loves the stickers and the backs of these are great too showing off the all-time leaders for a team.

Out of the league for two years due to Tourette Syndrome, Jim Eisenreich still had a really good career hitting .290 over 15 seasons.  Nice Don Slaught photo.  Easy to imagine a play that just occurred as he looks back for the call.  I like this set for no good reason even with its eye pain inducing brightness and lack of logo on the front.

Zane Smith is a top-ten all-time favorite of mine.  Maybe it's that hair.  Nice look at Stewart's stats including the apex of his career.  Love the memories and I'll keep sharing these over time.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
4 – Stickers

1991 Fleer Baseball (4 Packs)

1991 Fleer:  Picked up a box of these off eBay along with two 90s football boxes and I'll start showing them all off.  Old wax is always fun.  We'll kick it off with Nolan Ryan.  The man was so dominant for so long.  Amazing career.

This is a set I always think I shouldn't like...but I kinda do.  Those super bright yellow borders.  No logo. Centering tends to be off.  But I kinda do.  A few of the best from the era here.  Willie Wilson was a great switch-hitter (.285 career) and of course a speedster (668 steals).  Always a favorite of mine.

Some catcher love here.  Technically the Mike Hartley card isn't about the catcher, but the catcher steals the show in my opinion.  Looks like he just told Hartley something he didn't want to hear.

The backs are good.  We get a second photo, the team logo we're missing on the front, and career stats, including minor league stats in some cases.

Love Fleer's stickers in these sets.  The backs had the team's career stat leaders.  I really enjoy looking at those.  Thank you Fleer.

Nice Blauser photo and a couple of other prominent players from the 90s.  Van Slyke was part of a trade from the Cardinals to Pittsburgh that featured Tony Pena going to St. Louis.

That Mike Greenwell is a Fleer Pro Visions card.  I like the art.  I also like the Clark and Guerrero photos.  These packs are fun.  I apologize if the glare from the cards got to your eyes.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
4 – Stickers
1 – Checklist
1 – Pro-Visions

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Back to a favorite of mine.  Both of these guys are legends in their own ways.  Similarly they both won championships in their careers, were great defensively and someone it seems were well liked.  I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about Schmidt.  Probably some things about Gary Carter but I feel it's because he was with the Mets.

These three packs had plenty of greats from the era.  Joe Carter would go on to win two World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays and have one of the more iconic World Series moments as he walked it off in the ninth inning of game six of the 1993 World Series.

We all know Mark Grace had the better career of these two but Darrin Jackson did manage to play parts of 12 seasons in the league.  

Tom Glavine is a top five all-time favorite baseball player for me so these are always fun.  1987 was his rookie season and didn't show a ton of promise for the Hall of Fame player who had just made his debut.

Bret Saberhagen and Jack Morris need no introduction but Mike Witt was a good pitcher in the 80s earning two all-star nods.

Love these stickers!  Why we don't get these today in sets I'll never know.

Kirt Manwaring had a solid 13 season career while John Burkett was a two-time all-star including one as an Atlanta Brave.

I really like that Reggie photo.  A huge part of his career was as an Oakland A where he won three championships.  Still the all-time leader in strikeouts as well.  These three packs really delivered when it comes to memories and with the star power.

BREAKOUT:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
2 – SuperStar Specials
2 – Major League Prospects