1988 Fleer

Pack #4 in Dave in Michigan's pile of junkwax, is an unopened waxpack of 1988 Fleer. Of all the sets released in '88 Fleer was (by default) the best. Granted, that's not exactly saying a whole lot; but the design is nice looking and it has the only true rookie card of Edgar Martinez.

Base:
Ellis Burks
In his rookie season of 1987, Burks became only the third Red Sox to go 20/20. Curiously, he did not receive a single ROY vote.

Major League Prospects: R. Velarde/A. Peterson
Randy Velarde would go on to have a 16-year career with the Yankees, Angels, A's and Rangers. On the other hand, Adam Peterson pitched in parts of five seasons for the White Sox and Padres. He final career stat line: 5-11, 5.46 ERA, 1.50 WHIP

Dave Henderson
It says on his BR Bullpen page, "Henderson will most be remembered for his enthusiastic style of play and for his spinning leap after he hit the Game 5 HR in 1986." The ghost of Donnie Moore would, respectfully, disagree.

Al Pedrique
Served as interim manager of the D-Backs in '04.

Gary Redus
Gary hit .462 for Billings in '78, which remains to this day the highest batting average ever recorded in professional baseball history.

Bob Welch
Bob is shown on his '88 Fleer card as a Dodger, but before the season he was dealt to Oakland. There, he developed a splitter and won 27 games for Oakland in 1990.

Superstar Special: "The O's Brothers," Billy & Cal Ripken, Jr.
Still not as cool as the Cal, Jr./Cal, Sr./Billy card in '88 D'Russ.

Al Hall
I could find nothing on this guy.

Terry Kennedy
One of the 80s better catchers, Kennedy made four All-Star appearances in the decade.

Mike Scott
Although the Mets won the pennant, Scott was named 1986 NLCS MVP. He also won the Cy Young award that season.

Alvin Davis
Here's another award winner: The 1984 ALROY. Davis is the greatest player in pre-Griffey Mariners history.

Checklist: NYM,TOR,MKE,MON

Scott Lusader
Hit .246 in 260 ABs over five seasons with Detroit and the Yankees.

Chuck Finley
Oh sure, he won 200 games and led the AL in ERA twice. But when I hear the words "Chuck Finley," my first thoughts are...



Pete Incaviglia

Always good to get another '93 Phillie. But did you know that Inky holds a place in MLB Draft history?

Montreal picked Incaviglia in the first round of the 1985 draft. Incaviglia demanded the Expos sign him to a Major League contract, and promote him immediately -- something the Expos didn't want to do. With negotiations at a standstill, the Expos traded his draft rights to Texas.

Shortly after this trade, MLB changed the rules prohibiting teams from trading away draftees until one year after they had been drafted.