Card Spotlight: 3-15-19

1992 Fleer #89 - Jack McDowell

The overproduced junk wax era is not one that I physically visit often in my collection. I tend to have the bulk of it already and I have seen them so much, that the cards mostly haunt me in my dreams. Sometimes I can get caught up in the hype of the stigma against this era of cards and I dismiss them. It doesn't mean I love them any less. It just means I don't visit as often as I should.

Last night, while organizing my collection, I found myself inside a monster box full of junk wax. As I was separating cards into years and sets, I was reminded of stupid things I used to do. I would fill nine pocket pages with cards and then I would cut the pages down into individual cards. My reasoning was that these were more rigid than penny sleeves and not as expensive or bulky as toploaders. It worked as a creative solution at the time. Not so much now.

As I've been organizing, I've been taking cards out of these homemade monstrosities. Most of what I thought I was protecting didn't need any protection at all. It may have cost more to print some of these cards than they are worth now. To me, these cards are priceless, but to those who make their living selling cards, these cards are basically throw-ins or padding so more valuable cards don't get damaged in transit. When I sold cards on eBay, these were my bread and butter. The inexpensive add on. Then eBay changed their pricing structure for stores and I was out.

As I was sorting these cards and I was feeling the actual cards in my hand, something dawned on me. These cards are actually pretty great. I'm not talking about the early nineties Ultra cards or Stadium Club, whose high gloss on both sides would bind those sets together like an impossible brick. No I'm talking about 1992, when Topps and Fleer had gone on to better card stock and gloss on the front. It still had the feel of cardboard on the back, just a glitzier version and the card fronts never looked better.

The card companies took better care in selecting photographs. They took more care in how the cards were made. Yes, some companies would lie about production runs and everybody pumped out way too many cards, but the quality was better. I guess we can thank Upper Deck for that. Even those early Upper Deck cards feel different. A 1990 Upper Deck baseball card has a different feel than a 1994 Upper Deck baseball card. The stock is paper thin on the 1990 cards, but the quality still remains after all these years.

These thoughts struck me as I was sorting through 1992 Fleer cards. The back feels and looks nice. The front still looks nice tilted into the light. There's just something about these cards that is underappreciated because of the time they were released. Sure, the Jack McDowell card has too much dead space on the photograph, but it still captures your eye. Jack isn't in his windup. He's leaning up against a post, 'cuz he's tired.

I'm not sure when cards started using this trick of the player overlapping the border or the text, but it was overused. It also didn't make much sense, dimensionally speaking. Go ahead. Look at some examples where the player obscures part of the border or team name. That's not three dimensional space on a two dimensional plane. That's something that bends the laws of physics.The Jack McDowell card isn't atrocious, but there are some cards out there that really test your spatial reasoning.

There were some great cards that came out in the junk wax era. We tend to blanket over that time frame because the overproduction made most cards worthless. Next time you are going through your cards, if you grew up buying packs in the junk wax era, pause on that part of your collection and try to remember your excitement at opening those packs. What made those fun to collect? What were your collecting goals? What places did you get your cards from?

When you've answered those questions, take a good look at those cards. Appreciate them through your younger self. The answers you get there will peel away at all the "hits" and you'll find yourself at the core of your collecting. It's not just about the case hit or the gimmick cards. It's about the base card. The hometown star, who is only truly appreciated in your town. The common card, which makes up the bulk of the set. Too many times we gloss over every card in the pack, rushing to find that hit or favorite player or favorite team. Slow down and appreciate every card. You won't regret it.

WSC Gierman '19 - Eloy Jimenez

Card #8 - Eloy Jimenez

2019 Donruss

If I was hard pressed to define what old Donruss designs inspired 2019 Donruss base set, I would begrudgingly say some mish-mash of 1991 and 1997. But that wouldn't be exactly true. This appears to be the first year of Panini's resurrection of Donruss, where the base design isn't a direct inspiration of something in the backlog of original designs.

That isn't to say that past Donruss designs don't appear in the set. They certainly do. But the bulk of the base cards shy away from past Donruss designs. They remind me more of Pinnacle inspired designs. I like the direction that Panini is taking Donruss. It could be more exciting, but it says a lot that Panini has looked into creating a new design that is not immediately influenced by the past.

The Diamond Kings and the retro cards both borrow from the 1985 Donruss design. 1985 Donruss is a nice looking set that gets lost in the minds of most collectors. The breakout of the 1984 design made the 1985 set less memorable. It's nice to see it being utilized here.

In the base set, the White Sox have seven cards, including a Diamond King, a Rated Rookie, a retro design and a variation.

9 - Yoan Moncada DK
46 - Michael Kopech RR
64 - Jose Abreu
113 - Yoan Moncada
142 - Carlos Rodon
213 - Daniel Palka 1985 Retro
213 - Daniel Palka 1985 Retro (variation)

Panini is starting to go into territory that originally got Donruss' license pulled. The parallel. There are fourteen parallels and four different colored printing plates. So there are up to eighteen additional ways to collect the majority of the base set.

Full set 300 card (complete set and variation cards) parallels include Independence Day, Career Stat Line, Season Stat Line, 150th Anniversary, Holo Back, Father's Day Ribbon, 42 Tribute, Mother's Day Ribbon, Artist Proof, Press Proof, Black Printing Plate, Black Printing Plate, Magenta Printing Plate, and Yellow Printing Plate.

220 (complete set minus Diamond Kings) card parallels include Orange Holo, Pink Holo, Purple Holo, and Red Holo.

That is infuriating to a completest, when there are so many more sets coming that scream for your time and money. I get parallels and I actually enjoy them, but some releases border on the ridiculous. This is one of those sets. Topps also had eighteen different parallels, including printing plates, on their Series One release, so maybe this is just becoming the norm. It's still ridiculous.

Topps, with all their licenses intact should know better. Panini, while trying to get fully licensed, should show why they need to be fully licensed. Infinite parallels will probably not help matters. Stick to the base set and maybe a parallel or two that you think is cool. There is so much else coming out this year that will be trying to pry your wallet open. Collect wisely.

WSC Gierman '19 - Aaron Bummer

Card #7 - Aaron Bummer

WSC All-Stars: Tony Cuccinello 1945

Card #22 - Tony Cuccinello

For the first time since the inaugural All-Star game in 1933, the All-Star game was cancelled. Due to wartime travel restrictions for World War II, the 1945 All-Star game was cancelled on April 24, 1945.

No players were ever "officially" selected to the All-Star rosters, but the Associated Press and The Sporting News selected their own roster, so fans could dream about the All-Star game that never was.

Tony Cuccinello was selected as the starting third baseman for this fantasy game. Tony was selected two other times as an All-Star. Once in 1933 with the Brooklyn Dodgers and once in 1938 with the Boston Bees.

WSC Gierman '19 - Carson Fulmer

Card #6 - Carson Fulmer

1961 Golden Press

This set originally came inside a booklet and the cards are of the "punch out" variety. With Topps cornering most of the market with exclusive player contracts during this time, most sets featured Hall of Fame or retired players. This set features thirty-three cards of the greatest players from the first half of the twentieth century.

What separates this release from Topps and Fleer are the photograph choices and the colorization. Featuring "in action" poses, it brings to life many top tier players of the past in a way that was rarely depicted on cardboard before on a consistent basis.

The coloring is off just enough to give the cards an ethereal look to the past. It still gives vibrancy to these players. The little details still show up in the cards. In Eddie Collins' card, the historic arched windows of Comiskey Park are clearly there in the background. They cannot be mistaken for another park, which gives the card more poignancy since old Comiskey was demolished after the 1990 season.

Even though most places list Eddie Collins as being on the Athletics, that is clearly a White Sox uniform on him and he's on the field at Comiskey Park in Chicago. So he is the only White Sox card in this set. There are other subjects who played for the White Sox, but no one else is pictured in a White Sox uniform.

28 - Eddie Collins

This is a unique set for the time. It could almost be a precursor to the SP Legendary Cuts sets that Upper Deck put out in the 2000s. The design has a very similar feel. Although the card itself feels nothing like those sets due to the perforations that held the cards in the booklet.

This is a great short set consisting of thirty-three cards that can be picked up fairly inexpensively. Don't expect to find these in pristine condition because of how they were sold originally.

WSC Gierman '19 - Yoan Moncada

Card #5 - Yoan Moncada

1960 Fleer Baseball Greats

Fleer Corporation's first foray into baseball cards was way back in 1923, when they put their advertising stamp on the back of W515 strip cards. They had blank backs and were a perfect way to advertise its "Bobs and Fruit Hearts" candy line. Fleer's next dip into baseball cards was in 1959, when they signed Ted Williams and made a set of cards all about him, mostly because Topps had a monopoly on most current ballplayers. They had signed exclusive rights to Topps.

In 1960, Fleer decided to expand on their 1959 set, by adding additional players, but mostly retired. The result was interesting. Mistakes were made. Lots of questionable choices were made. In the end, another alternative to Topps dominance was released. Let's dive in.

The design was pretty basic. A frame that was reminiscent of photo corners that held photographs in albums was available in four colors throughout the set. Blue, yellow, green, and red. It was simple, but served its purpose. It stood out from Topps and Leaf in 1960. While Topps had a more complicated, elegant design, Leaf had basically no design to speak of. Leaf looked like a photograph, with name, position and team designation all in black and white.

Standing out from the others was both good and bad. Fleer definitely got noticed, but the set did look a bit amateurish compared to its competition. It was not without its charms though. Players that hadn't been on cardboard in years found a place to shine again, sort of.

While the intention was good, the execution lacked quality control. Subjects ranged from players to managers to executives. They all had connections with baseball. It was a unique set for the time and that is truly what makes it stand out.

The White Sox have four cards in the set.

19 - Marty Marion
27 - Luke Appling
49 - Ed Walsh
56 - Ray Schalk

I mentioned earlier that mistakes were made. Yes, they were. Interesting choices were also made. The backs of the cards listed the teams that each player played for. They also mentioned if that player went on to have any affiliation with baseball after their playing days.

The Marty Marion card should be him in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform or possibly in a St. Louis Browns uniform. Those are the only two teams he was with as a player. Instead, Fleer shows him in a White Sox uniform. He only managed the White Sox, after two managing stints with the Cardinals and Browns. It's a weird choice, but a welcome one for a Sox fan.

The Ed Walsh card is not "Big" Ed Walsh. Sure his statistics were on the back, but the picture is actually Ed Walsh Jr., who also played for the White Sox, but about two decades later.

It's not just the White Sox that are affected by these choices. The entire set is littered with interesting choices similar to these highlighted. Some players are shown in a uniform as an elderly gentleman. Others are shown in uniforms that one would not expect. It's baffling, yet refreshing to see.

The 1960 Fleer set is a nice oddity, where you can find a slew of mostly older players, mostly retired. It helped pave a long path to the 1981, when the Topps monopoly was officially broken for three decades before being reinstated.

This is a fun set to collect and not terribly expensive. If you expand past the White Sox, there are tons of Hall of Fame players, like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Mordecai Brown and Honus Wagner. There's even a Branch Rickey card. Ford Frick, Ed Barrow and Kenesaw Landis have cards too. It's a nice history lesson wrapped up in a vintage card set.

WSC Gierman '19 - Alex Colome

Card #4 - Alex Colome

WSC Gierman '19 - Seby Zavala

Card #3 - Seby Zavala

Cards That Never Were #63

1970 Topps - Van Kelly

Van signed with the Milwaukee Braves before the 1964 season. He stayed in their minor league system until a trade to the San Diego Padres on June 13, 1969. Kelly appeared in seventy-three games for the Padres in 1969, mostly as a backup to third baseman Ed Spiezio and a pinch hitter. He hit .244 that year for San Diego. Normally, this would warrant a card in next year's Topps set, but it never happened. In fact, the only cards listed for Van are both from 1971. A '71 team issue Padres card and a '71 team issue Richmond Braves card.

Kelly found himself in thirty-eight games with the Padres in 1970, now as the Opening Day starting third baseman. The love didn't last very long, as his last MLB game in the field was on June 1, 1970, for an inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates. His last MLB game was a pinch hitting appearance on June 12, 1970 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1971, Van was on the Richmond Braves, but not the Padres. There was no transaction listed for that move, so I can only wonder how he came back to the Braves organization.

Sometime, during mid-season 1973, Kelly went from the Braves minor league system to the White Sox minor league system. Then in 1974, he was in the Montreal Expos system until 1975. In 1975, Van became the inaugural manager of the Lethbridge Expos.

In my research, I found that my initial card creation of Van's 1970 card came extremely close to another card creation by Giovanni Balistreri in April 2014, so I changed my card to the one above. My original card is pictured below, which you can see uses the same photo as the card from 2014, except for a few minor tweaks. Great minds think alike. Also, when creating custom cards using old designs for "Cards That Never Were", there are only so many good quality photographs out there to use and with players that have limited MLB time, there are only so many cards that can be considered lost without losing the integrity of this type of project.

If unbeknownst to me, if I create a similar card to one that I discover after the fact, I'll change it if I can, because I don't want to step on other people's toes. It's a fun project that we're all doing and it should be kept that way. If there's no other way around it, I'll still show off my card, but I'll definitely acknowledge the previous effort.

WSC Gierman '19 - Leury Garcia

Card #2 - Leury Garcia

WSC Gierman '19 - Yonder Alonso

Card #1 - Yonder Alonso

Card Spotlight: 3-8-19

1985 Fleer Star Stickers #68-73 - Tom Seaver (Stop Action)

Yesterday's announcement that Tom Seaver was retiring from public life, because he was suffering dementia, really got me thinking about his time with the White Sox.

I was excited that the Sox got Tom Seaver. He was still a big name and could bring veteran presence and stability to the mound. Within that time frame, Seaver won his 300th game. That was probably the biggest moment I remember of Tom's time on the South Side. From 1984 until early 1986, Seaver had a 33-28 record with a 3.67 ERA, pitched 547 1/3 innings and struck out 296 batters. That's not too shabby.

While this definitely wasn't prime years Tom Seaver, he was pretty good. I still got excited when I went to a game that he started. Little did I know at the time, that the Sox were getting progressively worse as a whole and was spiraling towards a dismal 1989 season. I didn't care. The Sox were my team and I was excited to see superstar players take the field in the Sox uniform.

I guess that had an effect on Kenny Williams as a player in the White Sox organization at the time, because he used that philosophy during his tenure as GM. Get that superstar player on the team. It doesn't matter that his best days were a decade ago. He's still a name!

One of the best memories of 1985 was going to the local drug store and picking up packs of Fleer Stickers. I would carefully peel off the stickers and place them in my book, lining the sticker up perfectly with the lines of the empty album page. It took me most of the summer and at least one trade before I could finish Tom Seaver's delivery. When it was done, I felt like I had accomplished something during summer vacation.

If I go back through my childhood boxes, I'm sure I will find this sticker album. I can say with some certainty that there are probably still one or two stickers missing from the book. Will I ever go back and finish it off? Never. It marks a time in my childhood that cannot be duplicated. Finishing the album off thirty-four years later will only serve to taint those memories. It will stand as a testament that I finished off Tom Seaver's delivery in six stickers, through pack opening and probably one trade.

I'd like to say I traded with Mark down the street, but it was probably Keith a street over. It's been thirty years since I've spoken to either. Childhood friends drift apart, whether it be disagreements, finding new friends, going to different schools, or moving to different cities. Whatever the reason, the only thing that you can hold onto are the memories of those friendships and the activities that you did together.

I had great friends back then. Mark, Keith, Eric, Ray and Roger. They all had their time in the sun and they all faded into the background of my life. I'll occasionally look back and briefly relive those moments. I'll smile and keep moving forward. It's the same with baseball cards. Sure, there's the connection of trading and showing off your collection to friends, but those cards evoke moments in time too. Every time I look through my collection or read about someone else's cards, those moments are living and breathing again. It is a privilege.

I wish you nothing but peace living out the rest of your life, Tom. I hope you are able to find moments or serenity and joy.