1993 Duracell Power Players

The card market became so saturated by 1993, that one could not purchase anything without a card being somehow attached or available as a tie in to that product. Case in point: Duracell.

These cards were available through mail order by sending in proofs of purchase from selected Duracell product. What do batteries have to do with baseball? Your guess is as good as mine, but the promotion proved successful enough to warrant two different series of 24 cards. Forty-eight cards, in all, were available to anyone who bought enough Duracell batteries and knew how to address and mail an envelope. Weren't the nineties a glorious time?

These, of course, are unlicensed, as so much great product was back then. Every trace of logos have been airbrushed out, but unlike Upper Deck's 2010 fiasco, Duracell can somehow use the full Chicago White Sox name as an identifier.

As luck would have it, the White Sox have a card in each series.

Series 1
2 - Frank Thomas

Series 2
20 - Jack McDowell

I'm not sure if history has defined McDowell as a "power player", but ask anyone back in 1993, and the answer would definitely be a yes. Frank Thomas is a no doubter. The Hall of Fame looms large in the next few years for the Big Hurt and he was one of the premier talents of 1993.

The front of the card features an action picture, the Duracell logo at the top, a line border of black fading into orange and the Players Association logo. It's pretty nice for a card that was part of a mail-in promotion. The back of the card sports a color head shot, a faux signature, a factoid, some basic personal stats (height, weight, birthdate, etc.), the last five seasons of stats and the Players Association logo (again).

Obviously, there was some thought put into the design. It isn't the best oddball set I've ever seen, but it does rank in the upper half. The lack of team logos surprisingly doesn't distract from the feel of the card. A solid effort from Duracell!