Tuesday Twins - Familiar Fleer

For today's 'twins' post in Fabulous Fleer Fortnight, here are are some Fleer cards which may look familiar...

Card Number 930: Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion Edition, 1999; #596

The original version of this card (below) was very dark. This card is very shiny very gold!

On the back, Fleer have handily added a note that it's the gold medallion edition. There was one gold medallion parallel version in every pack.

Card Number 931: Fruit of the Loom / Fleer, 1993; #28

The only differences between this card and the normal base card was the small 'Fruit of the Loom' logo on the front, and a different number on the back.

These cards were available in packs of underwear produced by clothing company Fruit of the Loom. They were included in little packs of 6 cards in with briefs and boxer shorts. It's a quirky little parallel that is truly representative of the card collecting bubble in the late 80s and early 90s when just about any product imaginable could have baseball cards in it.

In the previous year, Fleer had produced cards for 7-Eleven (blogged with some heady nostalgia for my boyhood memories of 7-Eleven here) and in that promo set they changed the images on the front and back of the card. This time they didn't change the image on either side. Apart from the set number, this is exactly the same as the regular release. 

Card Number 932: Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion Edition checklist, 1996; #4

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Junior Junkie has a good write up of Fleer's gold medallion parallels in 1996 and explains how Fleer did a gold medal version of everything. Including checklists.

The main difference is a teeny foil stamp on the front. It doesn't scan very well.

These cards were available at a rate of 1 per pack. There was also one insert per pack and every ten packs contained a gold medallion version of an insert. As per Junior Junkie's post, that means some rarer inserts have an exponentially higher scarcity value in the gold medallion version. However, this checklist would have been comparatively common.

Just in case a collector didn't see the large word 'CHECKLIST' on the front, Fleer wrote it repeatedly over the back as well.

Fleer often divided their sets up by numbering players from the same team consecutively. I've complained before that this was a missed opportunity not to align the player on the front with the team on the back. As ever with these checklists from the 90s, there are names that jump out as recognisable and a load of players who have disappeared into sporting obscurity now. (When I blogged the regular version of this checklist, I mentioned Wonderful Monds. I still wish he had made it in the bigs. What a name!)

Total: 932 cards

He's making a list, he's checking it twice

We are a week away from Christmas, and this song lyric has been in my head. So it seems an apt title for a blog post about Tony's appearances on checklists.

Some player collectors don't count checklists. That's their prerogative. I think they're missing out.

Card Number 894: Upper Deck, 1995; #Checklist 2 

This card takes me to 500 cards over my original target of 394 cards!

These shiny checklists were basically insert cards.

On the front there's a reference to Tony's famous batting average in 1994.

I enjoy reading the list of names on these checklists. Among all the really famous names are players who have been long-forgotten, like Chuck Carr and Pat Rapp. 

Card Number 895: DonRuss, 1994; #440

DonRuss used this checklist to commemorate Tony's reaching the 2000 hit milestone.

Some of the random forgotten players on here include Phil Leftwich and the frankly amazingly named Hipolito Pichardo!

Hipolito pitched 350 games in a ten year major league career for the Royals, Red Sox and Astros. He also had 103 baseball cards in his career, according to TCDB. Phil Leftwich had 39 cards, which is actually more than the number of games he pitched in the major leagues (34 games in 3 years for the Angels).

Card Number 896: DonRuss, 1993; #660

This is really a 'cameo card'. It's not about Tony per se - DonRuss put a photo of  different teams on their checklists. But Tony is in the photo walking behind Gary Sheffield. There seems to be a giant patting Gary on the head as well. That guy must be about 6 foot six.

The winners in the peculiar names category this time around are on the front - Chuck Crim and Scott Scudder both sound like low rent villains from a comic book. They're joined on the back by William Pennyfeather! But the name that really stood out on the back was Tony's brother, Chris Gwynn, who was #657 in the set.

I could count this in the number of Tony's cards where Chris gets a mention somewhere. Chris had 118 cards of his own, and may well have been mentioned on a similar number of Tony's cards. (That's another project when I run out of cards to blog!)

Total: 896 cards

Shining light

Today's card prompted an unexpected  comment from my wife, Cathy, when I showed it to her. You should know that she is the least likely person to ever say anything crude, so it was quite a surprise that she said what she did.

Card Number 567: Upper Deck, 1998; #539

This was a 'Season Highlights' card in Upper Deck's flagship set. The silver cross background may have been meant to be a searchlight or floodlight. Cathy commented:

"It looks like a light is shining out of his butt!"

You can really see the effect on the overhead scan, which really captures the shiny silver foil!

On the back we read about Tony's excellent 1997 season, when he hit his second highest batting average of his career and won his eighth and final batting title.

This card also doubles up as a checklist and satisfyingly, Tony's base card (#500) is one of the cards on the checklist. As ever, looking at the list of names provides a real mix of recognisable names and long-forgotten bit players.

Hopefully this post hasn't lowered the tone of the blog too much!

Total: 567 cards

Additional Ultra

Happy New Year! I'm kicking off 2021 with a couple of bonus Fleer Ultra cards.

Card Number 561: Fleer Ultra Checklist, 1996; #4

Tony is getting ready to bat in the photo on the front of this checklist.

Fleer Ultra, like the Fleer flagship sets, often featured players from each team in alphabetical number-sequential order. They could have gone a step further and ensured the player on the front was one of the players on the back, but they didn't. Instead Tony has the team members from the Blue Jays, Braves, Cubs and Reds.

I'd not seen Wonderful Monds (#443) listed on a baseball card before. Also known as Wonder, he played seven seasons in the minor leagues after being drafted by the Braves in 1993. His middle name was Terrific. 

Wonderful Terrific Monds. With a name like that it's such a shame he never made it to the Majors. He is a good reminder of why it's always worth checking out a checklist.

(I want card number 443 now.)

Card Number 562: Fleer Ultra, 1998; #AT14

This was an insert set with a 'paint effect' overlaid on the photo. Ah, the early days of Photoshop when such things were new and exciting. 

The back has a bit of an odd write-up, that describes Tony as a Don Quixote type character, tilting at impossible windmills. "Tony will never achieve perfection... but he will never stop trying."

It does make me wonder if the same copywriter who came up with the really weird write ups on some of the Skybox cards was let loose here on this insert set.

Total: 562 cards

Two cards to launch a Pacific quintet

I have five cards that Pacific released in 1999 left to blog, so I'm going to do two today and three tomorrow. Let's kick off with Tony's base card from Pacific's main release.

Card Number 538: Pacific, 1999; #368

A glorious posed photo on the front! There is another version of this card, with Tony swinging at the plate. Pacific often released two versions of cards in their sets.

The cardback mentions Tony reaching the 2,900 hit mark. I like to think Pacific were already gearing up to release their Hit Machine 3000 cards.

Card Number 539: Pacific (team checklists), 1999; #29

The team checklists were numbered from 1 to 30, separately from the main set. 

Because this is a team checklist, it shows that Pacific has adopted a Fleer-esque approach to numbering - all the Padres were sequential in the set.

The design of the checklists cards are classic late-90s photoshopping. It's a style Pacific really went in for across a lot of their sets. They also tried to use as many different fonts as possible, but didn't prioritise legibility.

I'll finish off the quintet tomorrow.

Total: 539 cards

A DonRuss trio from 1998

Three cards today, all released by DonRuss in the year the Padres last reached the World Series.

Card Number 535: DonRuss, 1998; #22

DonRuss flagship sets were using full-bleed images by this point. The orange and blue stripes at the bottom are reminiscent of a circus tent.

On the back, we have a contender for best photo on a cardback ever. It's maybe just exceeded by the one Pinnacle used on their 'New Pinnacle' card in 1997, but it's close.

How many Hall of Fame, record-setting, multiple All-Stars, would bother collecting up the balls after batting practice? Tony has got them scooped up in his jacket and is just about to dump them into the ball box. 

Is there a more human moment captured on a baseball card anywhere? 

Card Number 536: DonRuss, 1998; #167

Tony is the featured player on Checklist number 2 in the set. There is a point when checklists aren't really checklists.

There are some good names on the back of the card. Derek Jeter is #100 and there are several Hall of Famers or contenders for the Hall of Fame. It's a bit odd that all the names are superimposed on a Padres logo. DonRuss could have used their corporate branding as the watermark.

Card Number 537: DonRuss Preferred, 1998; #175

Given the shininess of this card, I think "Preferred" was DonRuss's version of Topps Finest and other shiny card sets. It doesn't really scan very well. 

The double hoop motif that frames Tony's cameo portrait on the back is the set logo for DonRuss Preferred. The write up is about Tony not hitting many home runs.

1998 was the year that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were both chasing the record for home runs. That interest had been building ever since Albert Belle topped 50 home runs in 1995. Ken Griffey Jr and Mark McGwire both topped 50 home runs in 1997 and there was a lot of expectation around the record set by Roger Maris in 1961 finally being surpassed.

So, it's perhaps not surprising that DonRuss looked at Tony's home run records. Given the hype that was around home runs, his numbers had increased in 1997 as well. He never recorded more than the 17 homers he hit in 1997 - although he did notch 16 in 1998, the year this card was released. The 33 home runs in those two seasons made up a good percentage of his career total of 135 home runs.

Total: 537 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

A sneak peak ahead

I'm excited because at the weekend a package turned up that I'd been anticipating for a while. There were about 50 Tony Gwynn cards inside and 23 of them were ones I didn't yet have. The cards are mainly from the 1980s, and I've decided that next week's blog posts will have a theme. Next week will be Eighties Week here on Point 394.

In the purchase were two pin badges. I haven't decided yet whether to blog about them because they're badges, and I'm trying to keep the focus of the blog on baseball cards. Maybe when I run out of cards to blog about, I'll move on to them.

In the meantime I'm not going to let a post go by without including at least one card. This was one of the few cards from the 90s in the joblot that I didn't already have and it's another "last card in the set".

Card Number 475: DonRuss, 1996; #550

This checklist at the end of the set lists itself on the checklist but doesn't mention Tony.

Checklists don't tend to be included in sets any more. In this case DonRuss used the checklist to highlight Tony's 1000th career run. However, I would query that date. 

According to Baseball Reference, Tony didn't score a run on 7th May that year. It was the final game in a series where the Padres were swept convincingly by the Giants. Tony picked up a run the following day in the first game of a series against the Dodgers. 

I've reached a point where I just don't trust the facts I read on baseball cards any more.

There's a picture of Tony on the back as a watermark behind the checklist as well. 

One of the great things about checklists is finding names of otherwise forgotten baseball players that stick out for some reason. Like the onomatopoeic Eric Plunk (#479), or the player who could be perennially lonely, Duane Singleton (#549). It's not always a good idea to look these guys up though. I did that recently with Chuck Knoblauch (#536) only to find he has had an unhappy life after baseball. It's best to let them live on as eye-catching names on a checklist.

Total: 475 cards

Carrying on beyond 394

After the excitement of reaching 394 cards yesterday, today was always going to be a bit of an anticlimax. And what could be more anticlimactic than looking at checklists? (Leave an answer in the comments!)

Card Number 395: Upper Deck, 2000; #294

To be honest, checklists like this aren't really what I think of when I think of checklists. This is to all intents and purposes an actual card.

My quibble with the back is the re-use of the photo on the front for the headshot. Given that Tony's face is obscured by his batting helmet, it's an unusually poor choice of photo for Upper Deck.

Stylistically there isn't much difference between a stats box full of tiny numbers and a 30-card checklist. Particularly when one of those players is called "Pokey". (#86 - It's not actually the name on his birth certificate, though!)

Card Number 396: Upper Deck, 2000; #536

What's better than one checklist in a set featuring your favourite player? How about two checklists in a set featuring your favourite player?

It's a much better photo on the front and there's a different photo on the back this time. The front photo has all the identifying things you could possibly need - Tony's full face, the team name on the uniform, the number 19 and 'SD' on his helmet and arm patch. It's the exact opposite of a logo-less card; a logo-full card? The only place where it slips up is bisecting Tony's ankle with a blob of gold foil and decolourising his now-detached foot.

There is a slightly new take on Tony's 3000 hits on the back. I wasn't aware until reading this card that Tony achieved 3,000 hits in the third fewest games up to that point. Tony reached his 3000th hit in his 2,284th game and nobody has done it in fewer games since. He is still third behind Ty Cobb and Nap Lajoie.

I love learning a new factoid and there is something a but unusual about learning it off a checklist!

Total: 396 cards

Choosy collectors chose this collection

Upper Deck cards were originally marketed as 'The Collector's Choice'. But then in 1994 Upper Deck decided to launch a range called Collector's Choice. These were large card sets with numerous parallels and insert series, including Stick-Ums, push-out bobbleheads and confusing card games. As a result, Collector's Choice cards occupy a decent-sized portion of the Upper Deck part of my collection, even though the range ceased in 1998. 

Card Number 352: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1994; #344

This is the Team Checklist for the Padres in the set. I've previously blogged about Tony's base card and its parallel.

The back is notable for having the 1994 Opening Day roster list. There aren't many memorable members of the starting line up.

During the first few years of Collector's Choice, all the cards had parallel versions with 'silver signatures' in foil on them. Even the checklists.

Card Number 353: Upper Deck Collector's Choice - Silver Signature, 1994; #344

Unfortunately, the silver foil scans black.

This is one of the cards in my collection that I will hopefully upgrade one day as it has a little bit of damage on the right hand side. 

The back of the card is the same as the regular base version.

Just a note on that factoid. That .358 batting average that saw Tony achieve second place in the hitting tables in 1993 would have won him the National League batting title in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, as well as in 2001 (his final season) and 1983 (his rookie season), although he might not have made enough plate appearances in either of those seasons to qualify. (Since 2007, players have to make 502 plate appearances to be in contention for the title. However, I don't know what the rules were in the 80s and 90s.)

So, discounting the two years at either end of Tony's career, that batting average would have brought him a National League title in another five seasons and the overall Major League title in four of them. As it was, he was second in 1993 with that total.

Card Number 354: Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition, 1995; #160

This range was a supplementary set released towards the end of the season. It included a number of rookie cards and also noted who made the All Star team that year. Tony had an All Star card.

The cardback has a better photo. This is Tony being The Fonz.

Bit of a boring stats box with the record-breaking .394 batting average tucked away in tiny font underneath it. It was commemorated on another card in the set though.

Card Number 355: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1996; #290

Tony is bursting out of the card but the 3D effects would be better if his arm was over the Collector's Choice logo as well.

There's a quiz question on the back! That's about the best thing on the cardback.

Tony was also chosen as the player on the Team Checklist in the set too.

Card Number 356: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1996; #408

Visually, this card looks very similar to the 1994 card I kicked off the blog post with.

Comparing this checklist to the 1994 one, most of the team had been replaced.

The factoids are about the Padres season in 1995. Given that this year San Diego has been nicknamed Slam Diego, one of the factoids is surprisingly relevant.

The 1996 Collector's Choice series also had "You Make the Play" game cards - both versions are in this post.

Card Number 357: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1997; #210

When I do a blog post like this there is always one card that has a weird choice of photo on the front. This is the weird (collector's) choice photo card in this post.

The 1996 All Star game was played at Philadelphia. Tony was elected to the starting line-up but didn't actually play. The National League won 6-0 without his input, though.

The little cartoon chap who was asking the baseball quiz questions on the cardbacks in 1996 was back with a 'Did you know?' section. It's not the most interesting tidbit of knowledge.

And that's the end of the run-through of the cards that Upper Deck claimed collectors would choose.

Total: 357/394