1990 Fleer

Today's offering comes to us from the now-defunct (again) Fleer corporation. Many card companies come and go, but there are few that enjoy the 'back-from-the-dead-soap-opera-trick' as much as Fleer has over the decades. The wrapper is old-school wax paper and features powder blue background with orange fading to yellow text. This set also represents the "10th Anniversary" edition. Those of you keeping (pardon the pun) score, that is the 10th anniversary of the first re-birth of Fleer...

Each pack featured 15 cards, a sticker, and the chance to grab cards from TWO possible insert sets: the "1990 All-Star Set" and the "League Standouts" set. Let's dig in, shall we?

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We lead off with a 4-way sticker that show the Twins, Yankees, A's, and Mariners.

There are four trivia questions on the back (remember, these are from 1990):
1. True or False? The Yankees have won more World Championships than any other club in major league history.
2. What two teams did the Twins defeat during the 1987 post-season?
3. What other club entered the American League the same year as the Mariners?
4. True or False? The Athletics are the last club to win back-to-back World Championships.

Answers will appear at the end of the post.

The first player we pull is Ivan Calderon (White Sox). Rather than bother you with any personally-related trivia, Fleer decided to list his stats back to 1980, which means there are five seasons of minor league play shown. Really? They couldn't find ANYTHING about him to put on his card?

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The next card is Scott Bankhead (Mariners). Scott led the Mariners in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts (though the card does not mention WHEN he did this. Presumably the year before). I love the rough cutting job on his hat. Man, was Photoshop not around at all in 1990?

Zane Smith's (Expos) hat is rounder on top, but almost looks a bit short. As if someone had taken just a little too much 'off the top.' Like Ivan, Zane gets not tidbits on the back of his card either.

Herm Winningham's (Reds) card sports a LOT of his team's namesake color. Yeah, he gets nothing in the way of trivia. At least he is featured in an action pose.

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The "76" logo in the background gives this one away! Jeff Robinson (Pirates) had this photo taken either at home in Three Rivers Stadium or was in a nearby park. Sorry, no trivia of which to speak...

Jose Alvarez (Braves) looks like an Adam Sandler ancestor. In fact, if they do a movie about Alvarez, Sandler can play the part. He has no trivia, but that's because his stats go back to 1979 and actually fill the entire space on the card.

Don Robinson (Giants), whom I remember from his numerous days in the 'Burgh, is sporting quite the mop of hair under that hat. It is very Trout-esque. Like Alvarez, Robinson's stats take up nearly all the space on the back of the card, going back to his days in Bradonton in '75.

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Another Mariner makes an appearance: Erik Hanson, who happens to NOT be one of "the" Hanson Brothers. He finished second on the Mariners in wins among other things, according to the trivia he DOES have on the back of his card.

Joe Magrane (Cardinals) may have been photographed just after throwing a pitch, but his eyes are looking dead at the camera, as if seeking approval of the shot. He was the leading winner and had the best ERA among starters, and held left-handers to "an astounding .177 batting average in 1988." Nothing like going back two years to find something worth writing home about, I guess...

Ellis Burks (Red Sox) was third on the BoSox in batting average. He was the first (and at the time only) rookie Soxer to have 20 steals and 20 home runs.

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INSERT ALERT - 1989 World Series card, "Clark powers the Giants into the series." This is card 4 of 12 in this subset.

INSERT ALERT - 1989 World Series card, "Parker's bat produces power." Basically the back of his card says "Dave Parker kicked butt. Thank you very much." Though Fleer took more words to say it than I did. Number 9 of 12.

Then we have Jim Corsi (A's). That's a pretty full crowd for this to be such a 'posed' photo. Must have been pretty close to game-time. No trivia.

The last two cards in the pack are:

Ton Herr (Phillies), who has a much smaller crowd behind him than Corsi. The back of his card goes back to 1975, so no trivia fits on his card.

David Wells (Blue Jays), who ended up going through several physical changes since this photo was taken... Let's just say "Baseball has been berry goot to him." He has been around since 1987.

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Ah, so you made it to the end of the pack and you want to know the answers to the trivia questions from the stick, right? No? Well, you're going to get them anyway, 'cause that's the way I roll (as opposed to laying down at the top of a hill and letting gravity do its job).

1. True
2. Tigers and Cardinals.
3. Blue Jays
4. False. New York Yankees 77-78

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