3 from 96 - Fleer

Another trio of cards from 1996 today. 

Card Number 793: Fleer, 1996; #567

For a couple of years Fleer printed their cards as full-bleed photos on unvarnished matt card stock. It's an unusual look for cards released in the 90s, as most card companies issued glossy cards. Tony's name and position are picked ou tin gold foil. 

The cardback includes an almost complete career stats box. They only had room for 12 rows so omitted Tony's statistics from 1982 and 1983. Tony looks a bit startled in the photo.

As a reflection of what I posted yesterday about Tony's second career peak, the factoid is about how in 1995 he became the first player to record a batting average over .350 for three years running since the second world war. Tony's batting average in the last ten years of his career was a good wedge higher than in the first ten years. He hit over .350 in 1996 and in 1997 as well. 

Card Number 794: Fleer Update, 1996; U224

Encore was a subset towards the end of the Update set, featuring the bigger stars of the game.

This card is printed in the same way as the flagship set, but with a bold blue tint in the background. 

The cardback has the same stats box, but a different photo and factoid.

We will have to take Fleer's factoid writer's word for it that Tony was ecstatic about chasing a division title, as he looks focused on hitting the ball in the photo. However, it's on record that Tony was ecstatic about the Padres winning the NL West that season - especially as his brother Chris hit a 2-RBI double in the eleventh inning of the final game of the regular season, which meant the Padres won the Division. It was a winner takes all game against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium as the Padres pipped them to first place. 

Card Number 795: Fleer Road Warriors, 1996; #2

There were 10 cards in this insert set. (Which makes me think of Mad Max 2!)

As I mentioned when I blogged about the Pinnacle cards with Tony's home and road stats on, it didn't seem to make much difference where Tony was playing. He hit the ball in every park. The same wasn't true about stealing bases, though. 

Although the purple font for the title is attractive, I'm dinging a point off this card for having an awkward lay out for the text on the back. 

Total: 795 cards

A fistful of Fleers

Here's an illustration of how a run-of-the-mill set could get stuffed with Tony Gwynn cards for collectors like me to accumulate. For some reason I hadn't already blogged about Tony's Fleer cards from 1997, and then a recent purchase from Russ, who was selling off his baseball card collection, brought me two more cards from the same set; a veritable fistful of Fleers.

First up, Tony's base card:

Card Number 525: Fleer, 1997; #462

I love this picture with the disembodied hands reaching down over the dugout wall with things for Tony to sign.

The card has a matt finish, which is unusual for a full bleed card. Fleer have included the set year on the front (bonus point!) and noted that Tony was a league leader and an All Star with little embossed prints.

There's a bit of controversy in the factoid - "Tony lacked sufficient plate appearances, but an arcane rule... gave Gwynn his seventh batting title in '96." 

I did the bare minimum of research to find out what that arcane rule was. Here's an explanation, couirtesy of Wikipedia: 

"if a player's lead in AVG is sufficiently large that enough hitless at bats can be added to reach this requirement and the player still would have the highest batting average, he wins the title. Tony Gwynn, for example, had 159 hits in 451 ABs in 1996 (.353 average) but only 498 PAs. Gwynn's batting average would have dropped to .349 (159 hits in 455 ABs) with four hitless ABs added to reach the 502 PA requirement, but this would still have been higher than the next-highest eligible player (.344 average), so he was awarded the 1996 NL batting title."

I appreciate the spur from a cardback to go and learn something new!

Tony was also on a checklist.

Card Number 526: Fleer, 1997; #743

Why would anyone complain about a checklist when checklists look this good?

It's a team checklist for Series 2

It also includes the opening day line up for the Padres in 1997. That game was on 1 April 1997 at home against the Mets and they won 12-5. Tony had 3 hits in 5 at bats, scored 2 runs and batted in another 2 runs.

You can see on the side there that Tony had another FIVE cards issued in this set. That included a card in the 'Encore' subset. (Guess what's coming next!)

Card Number 527: Fleer, 1997; #702

The card is very orange.

The back looks similar to the regular base set, but the reference to "arcane" rules has been replaced with some number-crunching about Tony's hitting stats in the final third of a game.

 

Tony's consistency in the 'clutch' is probably down to him getting used to a pitcher by the sixth inning of a game - he recommended batters watched pitchers throwing their practice pitches and to any players ahead of them in the order to maximise the likelihood of being able to hit off them.

Tony was in among the inserts in the 1997 Fleer set too.

Card Number 528: Fleer (Headliners Insert), 1997 #7

The Headliners cards featured 20 players who made headlines the previous season.

In September 1996 the Padres went into a 'winner takes all' series against the Dodgers to decide which team would be Champions of the National League West. The Padres swept the season.

What's notable (to me, anyway), is that the game after the game mentioned on this card, which decided the Championship, was won by Tony's brother Chris. He was on as a pinch hitter (replacing Greg Vaughn), and his two-RBI hit in the 11th inning brought the Championship pennant to San Diego, and took the Padres into the post-season for only the second time in their history.

That could have been mentioned on the card, but by 1997 Chris had retired from Major League Baseball and it looks like his exploits had already been forgotten.

I hope you enjoyed this fistful of Fleers. Thanks for reading!

Total: 528 cards

Some Upper Deck Inserts

Welcome to the weekend - here are a handful of Upper Deck inserts for you to enjoy.

Card Number 478: Upper Deck, 1997; #378

The Capture the Flag subset featured 18 different players who were involved in the post-season in 1996. They are heavily foiled so they scan badly.

Here's a photo that shows how it looks unscanned. Even the photo doesn't capture how shiny it is.

Variations of this card exist with a white background on the back, but this is the regular cardback.

In 1996, the Padres won only their second ever National League West divisional title. The season came down to a straight contest with the Dodgers in the final series of the regular season. Whoever won the series would win the division pennant. As the cardback says, Tony's 2 run single in the penultimate game of the series meant that the final game was effectively a championship decider.

The winning hit in that final game was actually made by Tony's brother, Chris Gwynn, who was a pinch hitter with the Padres for the final two seasons of his major league career. Chris made 100 plate appearances for the Padres in 1996, recording just 16 hits and a season batting average of .178. But he got the hit that mattered, to make the Padres champions of the NL West.

Card Number 479: Upper Deck Hitter's Club, 2000; #EP6

Tony was one of 10 players honoured as "Epic Performers" in this insert series in the small "Hitter's Club" set. I've already blogged about Tony's base card from the set.

It's another heavily foiled card. (Sorry, no photo this time.)

On the back, there's a reference to Tony's 3000th hit the previous season. This was also commemorated on another card in this set - the fourth in this anniversary blog post.

The one line of statistics is truly minimalist and only features six numbers. 

Card Number 480: Upper Deck, 1998; #136

This was one of 18 cards in a subset called Define the Game. The front and back feature a quote from Mike Chaldu, who is listed here as a copy editor for Baseball. What that means is, he was an employee of Upper Deck who wrote copy for baseball cards. 

The quote in it's entirety is: 

(Tony Gwynn) of: A man at the top of his profession. I've had the pleasure of watching Gwynn up close honing his craft. Want any further proof of "Mr Padre's" hitting prowess... ...How about the fact that he just completed his fifth straight season with an average above .350?

Mike Chaldu would have had the pleasure of watching Tony Gwynn honing his craft. Before he worked for Upper Deck he spent a year as assistant editor of the Padres Magazine in 1995. He was with Upper Deck for five years from 1996 - 2001 and also did some sports reporting for a local paper in San Diego during the time. (Helpfully he listed all of this is on his public LinkedIn page.)

Apart from the quote from an Upper Deck staffer, this card stands out as one of the brownest cards in my collection. I'm all for brown, being a Padres fan, but it doesn't really work as a base colour for a baseball card. It feels like Upper Deck were padding their set somewhat with these cards and they could have chosen a slightly better colour for them.

Total: 480 cards

We are into the 480s, number-wise, and tomorrow we start 80s Week!