Some Vintage from a Garage Sale

Before I dive into this post, a couple notes:

• First, I wanted to offer a word of thanks to Dime Boxes, Night Owl, Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary, and A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts for their recent card giveaways!
• Second, my post thumbnails continue to not show up on other blogrolls. I have done some searching to try to figure out how to fix this, but no luck. If anyone can solve this distressing development, there's a PWE of cards with your name on it. EDIT: it randomly worked this time!

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a garage sale of a guy who owned a card shop in town that recently closed. I've definitely missed going to his shop since it closed in March, though I doubt I would have made as many trips there with the COVID situation. There are two other card shops here, but one has very limited hours and selection (I'm not even sure if it's open right now anyway) and I've never liked the other card shop even though it's been around since my childhood. So the recently closed shop was my main outlet to hunt for treasures, besides the occasional card show (which have also gone away since the pandemic).

So it was fun to get to flip through some cards again for a little while. I started with his vintage boxes, which I hadn't really looked at much before. I'm the type that likes to know at least a ballpark of what I might pay for something. The hang up for me has been that his vintage cards are all in boxes by set, but are not priced. But since I was card-starved, I decided to pay whatever he quoted once I brought everything to him to check out. Since I bought some other unpriced items, I'm not sure exactly what I paid for these, but it was probably in the 50 cent range. So not terrible.

Anyway, it was fun to pick up some vintage cards that I thought I'd show off here.

First up are some new "lesser knowns" for my Frankenset/mini-collection:

1969 Topps #128, Tommie Aaron
1969 Topps #287, Jose Tartabull
1970 Topps #401, John Harrell/Bernie Williams

Tommie Aaron is part of one of my favorite baseball trivia questions, because a lot of people don't even know about him: Which brothers combined for the most home runs in MLB history? Hank and Tommie Aaron (768). Hank had 755, and Tommie had 13. The DiMaggios (Joe, Vince, and Dom) are second with 573 combined home runs.

Jose Tartabull hung around to play part of nine seasons in MLB. He is Danny Tartabull's father.

I didn't even know about this Bernie Williams before I saw this card. He batted .192 in 102 games over four MLB seasons.

1970 Topps #317, Billy Conigliaro/Luis Alvarado
1970 Topps #53, John Kennedy

Billy Conigliaro actually played two seasons on the same Red Sox squad as his more famous brother, Tony.

John Kennedy's middle name is Edward (JFK's brother, long time Senator Ted Kennedy, had the given name Edward). This John Kennedy card is of course made more awesome because it's a Pilots card.

Next up are a group of cards that sometimes appear in lists of most-awkward or funniest baseball cards. It was fun to pick some of these up.

1969 Topps #38, Zoilo Versalles

The former MVP was not happy in this photo, but it wasn't because he hated playing for the Padres. They picked him up in the expansion draft, but traded him to Cleveland before the 1969 season began.

1970 Topps #252, Lowell Palmer

I wonder if those were prescription sunglasses. 

1966 Topps #74, Don Mossi

Let's just say this photo may have benefitted from some zooming out. 

Next up is one of two cards I have depicting a catcher writhing in pain. This one was clearly a result of the now obsolete home plate collision. 

1973 Topps #542, Pat Corrales

If you're curious about the other "catcher in pain" card, here it is:

1992 Score #311, Jeff Reed

Back to vintage. I've known for some time that I needed a vintage Dick Allen card, because everyone needs a vintage Dick Allen card. By 1974, dumb Topps had finally stopped calling him Richie or Rich. 

1974 Topps #70, Dick Allen

The final pickup I'll show here was Dime Boxes' recently crowned second Frankenset winner! I was really pumped to see this beauty among the other 73s. 

1973 Topps #273, Chris Speier

The card store guy hinted online on his still active Facebook page that he planned on doing another sale. I hope he does, because I barely got to look at the dime boxes this time!

Lean on Me

Sometimes card sets, subsets, or inserts have a purposeful theme, often given a label such as Diamond Kings or All-Stars. I think that sometimes, however, there are themes that are more subtle, probably the product of a variety of factors. One factor that seems to me to be most influential is the photographer. In some cases, an action shot is just an action shot and a posed shot is just a posed shot. But in other instances, the photographer probably directs a player to take a certain pose. We know this is true of sets such as the early Studio offerings. Furthermore, some photographers looking for candid shots of players might be able to catch the player at a particular moment that they feel fits a certain look they are going for.

I think something like this was at work with 1983 Fleer. I found this like I find most other quirky things that I find about sets, by flipping through a stack of cards. I think in this case, three cards in a row seemed to be leaning toward a similar theme. Literally leaning. I went through the card stack again to see how many of the cards featured a player leaning on something. There were quite a few. Seemingly more than most sets, though I'm not THAT bored to do such research. But I thought I'd share my findings in the off chance that more than three people in the world care about such a thing. The cards seemed to fit into one of three categories (from least to most prevalent):

Leaning on one's leg

Leaning on a bat (yes, there's some overlap with leg leaning, but that's just how it's going to be)

Leaning on a railing

Some final stats for consideration because, why not:

Happiest Group (by %):

Leg Leaners: 2 of 3

Railing Leaners: 4 of 8

Bat Leaners: 2 of 5 (although Mickey Hatcher is probably the happiest of all the players)

Leaning Representation by League:

AL: 13 (Remember, the Brewers were in the AL in 1983)

NL: 3

Leaning by Position:

Catchers: 4

Outfield: 4

First Base: 3

Not Represented: Third Base

Leaning by Name:

Bob: 2

11 others: Tied with 1

Ok, I'll stop now. Keep your feet on the ground and keep leanin' for the stars!

Who's the Criminal? Donruss or Classic? (+ Pick 3)

First, a question... The thumbnail pictures for my posts aren't appearing on any blogrolls lately. Any idea why? Google searching has not helped me.

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Recently, I was looking through my various cards sorted by player mainly to see if there were any good Frankenset cards I missed on the first go around. When I made it to Randy Johnson, the following two cards must have been near each other in the stack. Interestingly, the first thing I noticed is that Johnson's pose looked almost identical to a card I had just seen when flipping through the stack. I compared the two faces again. Then again. They looked so similar. And then, duh, I thought to look at the background of each card. And what do you know:

So who copied whom? As far as I can tell the two companies did not collaborate on the 1990 sets and weren't connected in any way. Baseballcardpedia.com indicates that the Classic Yellow set was produced by a company called Game Time, Ltd. The Classic set began its run in 1987 and issued its final MLB set in 1993, most of which were sold with a trivia board game. Donruss began its run in 1981, which makes me think if there is a criminal here, it would be the newbie Classic.

So let's look at the card again. Notice something about the Classic card. At the bottom of the photo, a fence is visible. The Donruss card doesn't have said fence, so Classic couldn't have ripped off the Donruss card. However, the Donruss card has upper deck stands above Randy Johnson's head, while Classic doesn't. So Donruss couldn't have lifted the picture from the Classic card either. But then I got to thinking, it would be very unlikely that a card company would wait until another had released their set to finalize the photos on their own set. (Kind of a DUH moment here.)

So my conclusion is there was possibly a stock photo submitted by the Mariners or appearing in a media guide or something that was fair game for any of the card companies to use. Now that I reason it out, it doesn't seem like there was any ripping off going on here. I clearly didn't think this through before writing this post. Please forgive me for leading you to this exercise in futility. 

But wait a minute... There IS a criminal here! BOTH companies, for uniquely TERRIBLE card designs. Shame on them. 

If you made it this far, you've stumbled into a giveaway! Congratulations. If you visited the blog during the first giveaway, the rules are the same. You are eligible to win again, too.

This isn't an earth-shattering giveaway because my collection isn't earth-shattering, but I wanted to do a small giveaway since it's fun to receive cards of any kind in the mail. Especially if they are free. And they are free - no obligation to send anything back.

Anyway, this giveaway is simple. There are three sets of players. Pick one player from each of the groups of names. Enter your names in the comments below. The first 6 people that comment will win and receive a PWE of cards of those three players. I'll try to include some interesting cards if I have them. Also, in the comments, if you want cards of that player from a particular team, you can say so, and I will try to accommodate. No doubling up on names. Once a player is taken by someone, you need to pick someone else in the group.

In subsequent giveaways, players chosen in the previous giveaways will not be available to choose again until some unknown date in the future.

If you win, please provide your name and address via email by accessing my Blogger profile. If I've traded with you, you can skip this step. 

And Blog Reader Bruce, I still need your address from the last giveaway.

Remember, pick one player from each group!

GROUP 1: (HOF) - don't expect anything too vintage here, but there are some cool cards

Grover	Alexander		Reggie	Jackson
Luke	Appling		Fergie	Jenkins
Earl	Averill		Walter	Johnson
Ernie	Banks		Chuck	Klein
Johnny	Bench		Nap	Lajoie
Jim	Bottomley		Joe	Morgan
Lou	Brock		Stan	Musial
Rod	Carew		Brooks	Robinson
Mickey	Cochrane		Frank	Robinson
Joe	Cronin		Tris	Speaker
Bob	Feller		Willie	Stargell
Rollie	Fingers		Bill	Terry
Jimmie	Foxx		Honus	Wagner
Frankie	Frisch		Paul	Waner
Bob	Gibson		Billy	Williams
Goose	Goslin		Ted	Williams
Lefty	Grove		Carl	Yastrzemski
Gabby	Hartnett
Rogers	Hornsby

GROUP 2: Former All-Stars and such (Galarraga - McGriff)

Andres	Galarraga		Tommy	John
Ron	Gant		Andruw	Jones
Nomar	Garciaparra		Wally	Joyner
Jason	Giambi		David	Justice
Kirk	Gibson		Eric	Karros
Joe	Girardi		Jeff	Kent
Troy	Glaus		Jimmy	Key
Juan	Gonzalez		Paul	Konerko
Luis	Gonzalez		John	Kruk
Dwight	Gooden		Mark	Langston
Shawn	Green		Derrek	Lee
Mike	Greenwell		Travis	Lee
Marquis	Grissom		Al	Leiter
Pedro	Guerrero		Jim	Leyland
Ron	Guidry		Mike	Lieberthal
Ozzie	Guillen		Javy	Lopez
Josh	Hamilton		Greg	Luzinski
Todd	Helton		Fred	Lynn
Dave	Henderson		Billy	Martin
Keith	Hernandez		Dennis	Martinez
Orel	Hershiser		Ramon	Martinez
Charlie	Hough		Tino	Martinez
Bo	Jackson		Willie	McGee
Gregg	Jefferies		Fred	McGriff

GROUP 3: Current/Recent All-Stars and such (G - Z)

Joey	Gallo	Kyle	Schwarber
Paul	Goldschmidt	Chris	Sale
Didi	Gregorius	Carlos	Santana
Zach	Greinke	Max	Scherzer
Bryce	Harper	Jean	Segura
Felix	Hernandez	Luis	Severino
Jason	Heyward	Andrelton	Simmons
Aaron	Judge	George	Springer
Clayton	Kershaw	Giancarlo	Stanton
Dallas	Keuchel	Trevor	Story
Cory	Kluber	Stephen	Strasburg
Jon	Lester	Dansby	Swanson
Francisco	Lindor	Ichiro	Suzuki
Evan	Longoria	Noah	Syndergaard
Manny	Machado	Masahiro	Tanaka
Trey	Mancini	Troy	Tulowitzki
JD	Martinez	Justin	Turner
Andrew	McCutchen	Trea	Turner
Yadier	Molina	Justin	Upton
Matt	Olson	Joey	Votto
Salvador	Perez	Adam	Wainwright
Tommy	Pham	Christian	Yelich
Buster	Posey
David	Price
Jose	Ramirez

It's Not What You Think! - (Donruss Names Series - Part 3)

Welcome to part three of the Donruss Names Series, where we find buried treasure on the backs of Donruss baseball cards from 1981 to 1992. In part one, we looked at some famous players who actually went by their middle name during their playing career. In part two, we learned that some guys we thought went by a nickname, really didn't. The nickname was the name!

Today's installment looks at players who have a unique first name. We'll look at what one would think their first name would be based on the name they went by, then we'll reveal their actual first name. Again, we'll go in reverse uniqueness order. We have a nine player lineup, and though I didn't plan it this way, it looks like we'd have every position covered except pitcher.

9. Thad Bosley

Most probable first name: Thaddeus. Some unintentional Sportflix-like 3-D action going on with this card.

It seems that Thaddis is basically the same as Thaddeus. Just a spelling variation.

8. Bobby Brown

Most probable first name: Robert, Roberto

Bobby shares his given name with that of Hall of Fame second baseman Rogers Hornsby, who bears his mother's maiden name as his first name. So you'd think it would have been kind of cool to go by Rogers since you're a major league baseball player. But if he wants to go by Bobby Brown, I guess that's his prerogative. 

7. Al Bumbry

Most probable first name: Albert, Alan, Alonzo

6. Bert Campaneris

Most probable first name: Albert

That's just an incredibly cool name. There's nothing else that can be said.

5. Mike Hargrove*

Most probable first name: Michael

Would going by Dudley have helped or hurt the Indians in the '95 and '97 World Series? One of history's mysteries.

4. Lee Lacy

Most probable first name: Lee, Leon, Leslie

The most famous Leondaus in history? Probably Lee Lacy.

3. Butch Hobson

Most probable first name: Henry? George?

History's most famous Clell? That would be outlaw Clell Miller, who was killed by a bunch of townspeople during a robbery attempt, had his body exhumed the night after he was buried, was shipped to a med school in Michigan, and was taken by a med student who became a doctor. The doctor, Henry Wheeler, kept Miller's skeleton displayed in his office until his own death. What does this have to do with Clell "Butch" Hobson? Basically nothing, but it's a crazy story. Thanks Wikipedia for your poorly sourced article! Who knows if it's even true!

2. Chris Chambliss

Most probable first name: Christopher

Most famous Carroll? Carroll O'Connor, who played Archie Bunker on All in the Family.

1. Gene Tenace*

Most probable first name: Eugene

Fury was likely chosen because Wrath and Rage were already taken by the couple with the twin boys who lived down the block from the Tenace family.

Thanks for sticking around for round three of the Donruss Names Series. Hope you enjoyed it! 

*(Incidentally, I found out after forming the idea for this post that Hargrove and Tenace were first made known to the card blogging world by Night Owl's research many moons ago. His post is definitely worth a look.)

Role-Reversal: My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 6 (Cards 55-63)

It's time for another installment of my favorite Frankenset card (by page), where I show off my Frankenset by giving you my top three favorite cards from each page of the Frankenset. Let's jump right in.

3) 1981 Topps #62, Joe Pettini

This card is a beautiful convergence of the 1970s and 1980s.

2) 1992 Donruss Triple Play #63, Rickey Henderson

The 1992 Donruss Triple Play set has some great Frankenset material. The makers of the set clearly were trying to be a little bit off the wall in an attempt to cater to a young audience. I'm a little torn about what I think about their approach, but I think I'm ok with it. One of the main reasons why is the fact that this was the middle of the overproduction era and this was kind of a fringe set, so why not do something a little different. I mean, you had both Upper Deck and Leaf in 1992 basically copy their 1991 design, and none of the other card makers really did anything too exciting in my opinion that year. So Triple Play's strange pictures and odd subsets work for me in that context. 

On page five of the Frankenset, we saw an entry from the Triple Play set, and now have another. It's a bit puzzling, though, to use an odd photo for a player of the caliber of Rickey Henderson. For Pat Kelly, sure. But Rickey had just broken the career stolen base record the season prior, so you'd think there would have been an opportunity there.

1) 1994 Score #61, Jose Canseco

The scene was Fenway Park, May 29, 1993. With shadows overtaking the field and the Rangers desperately behind in their game against the Red Sox, slugger Jose Canseco asks his manager Kevin Kennedy for a chance to pitch. In his first and only major league pitching appearance, Canseco pitches the 8th inning, allowing three hits, three runs, and three walks as the Rangers fall 15 to 1. 

This game was just three days after what was perhaps Canseco's most famous (or infamous) highlight. On May 26, Carlos Martinez of the Indians hit a deep fly ball to right field that Canseco misplayed. The ball hit him on the top of the head and bounced over the fence for a home run. It was quite a stretch of three days for Mr. Canseco. 

Remarkably, after the pitching appearance on the 29th, Canseco began having elbow trouble and would have Tommy John surgery six weeks later. He missed the remainder of the 1993 season. 

In fact, as I learned from the back of this card and confirmed with some additional research, Jose's career was considered to be in jeopardy as a result of the injury. Of course, he made it back to have several more solid seasons in MLB.

Here's a look at Jose Canseco's mound performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iufXBbwtUk

Which of these was your favorite from page six?

1981 Donruss and Its Poison Gum?

1981 was the only year Topps, Donruss, and Fleer all contained gum with their packs of cards. The Topps virtual monopoly of producing cards had been recently overturned, so Fleer was back in the game and Donruss was an eager newcomer. Both of the latter companies had to work out some kinks in the early years, with photo quality issues and errors being at the top of the list. But back to the gum. Topps appealed the antitrust ruling that let Fleer and Donruss into the card making business, but the best they could do was retain the sole rights to packaging cards and gum together. As a result, in 1982, Fleer went with the logo sticker and Donruss introduced their puzzle cards along with their base sets.

But maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Donruss in particular wasn't allowed to continue to include gum in its packs of cards. From what I could gather in some limited research, the gum stain/sticking issues inherent in gum-card packaging might have been notably worse with the Donruss product. It had to have been something with the makeup of the gum itself.

I think we all can picture a Topps gum stain. But a Donruss gum stain? Maybe not. So when I ran across these cards, all I could think was, "What in the world was this gum made from?"

Now granted, there has to be some color change that has gone on over the nearly 40 years since these beauties were produced, but my goodness it looks bad. Some potential reactions:

• I didn't know gum could rust! 
• Was this stuff made from tree sap?
• I think these cards should be tested for carcinogens! 

Your thoughts?

(Oh, and look at that Steve Yeager card again. Crazy story from 1976! Wow!)

Band-o Brothers

Sal and Chris are brothers. Sal is almost 12 years older than Chris. Both are major league baseball players. But the age gap meant that by the time Chris reached the major leagues, his older brother had made four all-star games, amassed over 1,700 hits and 1,000 RBI, and had celebrated three World Series titles.

Not having any brothers, I did not experience a sibling dynamic anywhere near Chris and Sal's. But it had to have been hard for Chris. But making the major leagues is an incredibly impressive feat, and Chris had a respectable career as a part-time catcher. He should be proud of his accomplishments, and I hope he is. 

I'm not certain if the folks over at Donruss were trying to portray the sibling dynamic between the Bando brothers when they released their 1982 set. The set would feature Sal's final card and Chris's first.

But doesn't it really look like Chris is looking at Sal and Sal is looking back at Chris? 

1982 Donruss #551, Chris Bando

1982 Donruss #592, Sal Bando

A Really Tall Guy, an Error, and a Frightening Delivery: My Favorite Frankenset Card by Page; Page 5 (Cards 46-54)

Page five of the Frankenset is missing card #50, the first time we've explored a page with a missing card. Just waiting for the right #50 to come along. Let's jump right into the fun. As usual, I will give you my top three from the page, in reverse order.

3) 1995 Fleer Ultra #49, Mike Moore

Card #3 in the countdown brought to my mind the sports term "game face." Bob Knight expressed his annoyance about the term in one of his famous interviews. As Knight mimics a series of overexaggerated facial expressions, you could rightly conclude that he just doesn't buy into the notion of the game face. But what about an "accidental game face," as I am calling it. A look that just happens naturally in the course of competition. The Michael Jordan tongue wag comes to mind. So do Mike Moore's crazy eyes, right? They might now after this picture, which cannot be unseen:

The look didn't catch on, for obvious reasons. But what if Moore hadn't posted a 5.42 ERA in 1994 or a 7.53 ERA in 1995? Maybe it could have become the game face to end all game faces.

2) 1992 Donruss Triple Play #46, Pat Kelly

The 1992 Triple Play set is quirky. There are odd "Awesome Action" cards, an awkward "Little Hotshots" subset showing a picture of a player when he was a kid, and some strange photo choices. It makes for an entertaining set in some ways, but you have to feel for a guy like Pat Kelly. Did they really have to do this to him?

I suppose it's not the first card to show a player misplaying a ball. But I say give the guy a break! 

1) 2001 Topps HD #51, Randy Johnson

If you recall the last installment of the Frankenset by Page series, you would remember Blue Jays pitcher Pat Hentgen taking the crown for page 4. A card showing an AL pitcher batting in the DH era but before Interleague play is tough to beat. Well you know what? So is a really tall pitcher batting:

Johnson had a good year in 2001, winning his third straight Cy Young Award and leading the Diamondbacks to their first and only World Series title. Johnson would win the Cy Young for a fourth straight year in 2002. In the 2001, World Series, the Big Unit won three of the four games in the series for the Diamondbacks, posting a super stingy 1.04 ERA. With that kind of pitching dominance, of course you'd show him batting on his baseball card, right?

Collections Getting a Boost from Trades

A couple of solid trades lately have boosted my player and set collections, so I thought I would share some highlights. Kevin, a.k.a. The Diamond King, and I swung a trade where I sent his some Diamond Kings, a few Bo Jackson oddballs, and a few Scott Rolen rookies. He sent me an awesome package in return. 

The top two from this group were from one of his Diamond Nine giveaways. This is followed by some other general awesomeness, including the Fleer Pro-Visions Sandberg that had eluded me for so long.

It gets even better with this group of Sandberg/Grace/Wood cards. The top middle card is numbered to 500 and the middle Kerry Wood is numbered to 250! I don't have a lot of that in my collection, so it's even more appreciated! And that Mark Grace Finest card is so nice I really am tempted to peel back the protective film to enjoy it more. I mean, the instructions say to peel it off, right?

Kevin was looking for a few more ideas so I told him I enjoy anything from the 1970s, and I thought this would be helpful since I think a lot of people have at least some lying around that they don't mind parting with. I would have been satisfied with a few 76 Topps commons or something, but Kevin stepped up his game here, too. A Richie Ashburn Post card (for the Cubs of course), J.R. Richard and Cesar Cedeno rookie cards, and a run of 2nd through 4th year cards of Bruce Sutter! Oh and that mind-bending Ron Santo with the White Sox card. Awesome stuff. Thanks Kevin!

I also recently completed a small trade with Tom from The Angels, In Order after spotting some things on his want list I knew I could help with. He sent back five new Sandbergs to my Ryno collection (including Sandberg sporting his short-lived mustache), as well as a healthy group of 81 and 85 Topps set helpers. Thanks Tom! 

Thanks to Kevin, Tom, Card Barrel, Baseballcardstore.ca, and others, these are now my stats for a few collections:

Ryne Sandberg: 384 unique cards

Mark Grace: 281 unique cards

1985 Topps: Only 31 cards left to complete the set.

1981 Topps: 83 cards left to complete the set.

Unflattering Card Backs

Sometimes, I'll admit, I neglect to look at the back of the card. When you are flipping through a large number of cards in a dime box, for example, you just don't have time. If you like the front of the card, you set it aside in your pile. Done. That's it. But maybe later you take a closer look. Or if you have a player collection or a set in a binder, you might sit down one day and really soak in both sides of the card. (I'm not a double bagger on pages, so it's easier for me. Cue dissention in the comments section.)

My most prominent player collection is of my favorite Cub of all-time, Ryne Sandberg. He has a lot of great cards, because great players tend to have a lot of great cards. I think the companies generally spent more time creating better cards of better players. This is of course not always true, but I was recently looking at some of Nolan Ryan's late-career cards, and wow are there some awesome ones. Maybe that's a post for another day. 

So back to Sandberg. How to describe the greatest second baseman of the 2nd half of the 20th Century? (Yeah, I'm aware of Joe Morgan. And you know who Joe Morgan's biggest fan is? Joe Morgan. So yeah.) The card producers would have had a lot to choose from for Ryno, and they often used some of the following:

• 10-time all-star (1984 through 1993)
• 9-time Gold Glove winner 

Sandberg won these consecutively from 1983 through 1991. He also played full seasons at second base in 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1997. The Gold Glove winners from those years were:

1992 - Jose Lind (yawn)

1993 - Robby Thompson (can I use yawn again?)

1996 - Craig Biggio (worse fielding % than Ryno that year and yes, I know it's not just about fielding %)

1997 - Craig Biggio (not even in the top 10 fielding % that year)

• Gifted athlete (three sport letter winner in high school, stole 50 bases and hit 40 homeruns in separate seasons)
• Consummate professional
• Fundamentally sound 
• Dedicated to perfecting his craft at bat and in the field

With these characteristics in mind, the folks over at Fleer had a lot to choose from when they pictured Sandberg (the NL home run leader in 1990) with the 1990 AL home run leader, Cecil Fielder. I really like the front of this card.

1991 Fleer #709, "Home Run Kings" Ryne Sandberg and Cecil Fielder

So what did they choose to put on their the back of the card?

In case you missed it:

Seriously? That's the best intro you can come up with? I mean, yeah, the rest of the card is flattering, but really? And what does that even mean, "at ease behind an office desk"? Are his feet kicked up on the desk while he sips a cup of coffee and chats with co-workers? I picture the relaxed version of Ron Livingston in Office Space. It just strikes me as bizarre. I'm not really upset about it, so no worries.

Guessing the same person who came up with this write-up is the same one who chose that hideous yellow design. Maybe it was Phil? Hmm...

But don't worry, the makers of something called Sports Card Review took it to poor Cecil on a "card" made sometime before the 1993 season. It can only loosely be called a card because it is one of those lame productions from the early 90s that sought to speculate on the value of a player's cards and whether or not they were a good buy at the time. This "card" itself is flimsy and severely lacking in substance. In any event, here's the thing:

Fantastic use of Word Art on the front by the way. And you know what? Cecil had a pretty good year in 1993. So there.

I'm really not that crabby about this whole thing, but I think I sound crabby. Maybe I need a vacation.