Allen Bored
Welcome to Part 1 of our tribute to the 1991 Fleer cards. Why am I paying tribute to these cards? Well because it was the one year and manufacturer that I received a worthless baseball, football, and basketball pack for. Also these cards are worth looking back at for the simple fact that this year Fleer had some of the ugliest card designs ever released.
The Fleer Baseball set could be summed up in one word: Yellow. Lots and lots of yellow and some black as well. If you were a Pittsburgh Pirates circa 1991 this was the set for you. Would it have killed Fleer to at least add a team logo to the card as well? Not only are the cards ugly it’s also one of the most worthless sets ever as the base set has only four cards (Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, and a Griffey/Bonds card) that are worth $1. Now there was one redeeming quality about ’91 Fleer Baseball which was a 16 “Pro Vision” card insert set which featured some cool looking paintings of players. And wouldn’t you know it, I pulled one of them from this pack and it just happened to be my favorite player of all-time.
#12
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 400 PA, .268/.368/.358 (Minors)
Jennings spent most of the year at Triple-A, only had 11 plate appearances with Oakland.
#131
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 484 PA, .259/.358/.465, 129 OPS+, 2.4 WAR
The career platoon outfielder/first baseman saw his most playing time in ’91.
#309
Card Value: $0.10
1991 Stats: 634 PA, .277/.385/.507, 141 OPS+, 3.3 WAR
Davis signed a two year deal with the Twins during the offseason and had one of the best seasons of his career, helping the Twins go from a last place finish in ’90 to a World Series title in ’91.
#327
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 524 PA, .314/.363/.505 (Minors)
Sevens had an extended look as a rookie at first base for the Angels the prior season but didn’t fare well and would only get a September call up in ’91 but he hit reasonably well this time around (.293/.354/.414 in 66 PA).
#335
Card Value: $0.10
1991 Stats: 712 PA, .261/.347/.513, 133 OPS+, 3.7 WAR
This was the second of three straight years that Fielder would lead the Majors in RBI and the second straight year he was runner up in the A.L. MVP voting. In hindsight he was very overrated by the writers as per WAR he wasn’t even one of the Top 25 players in the league and ranked only 18th in OPS+. But there was no denying his power and one his most famous home runs happened on September 14th of ’91 when he hit a ball out of Milwaukee’s County Stadium, the only time this is believed to have happened.
#351
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 35 2/3 IP, 0.87 WHIP, 1.77 ERA (Minors)
Fleer may have wanted to do a better job of choosing players for their set as Schwabe was a minor league reliever who threw only 3 2/3 IP with the Tigers the year before. He was released by the Tigers during the offseason and spent ’91 with the Twins Double-A team.
#375
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 45 2/3 IP, 1.47 WHIP, 113 ERA+, 0.7 WAR
Orosco was 34 years old in ’91 and was only halfway done with his career at this point.
#377
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 305 PA, .243/.279/.303, 61 OPS+, 0.3 WAR
This was Skinner’s last season in the Majors.
#488
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 29 2/3 IP, 1.62 WHIP, 4.55 ERA (Minors)
Here’s yet another player in this pack who didn’t play a day in the Majors in ’91. In Price’s case he wouldn’t see the Majors again, he began the year with the Orioles Triple-A team before being released and finished it with the Padres Triple-A team.
#540
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 472 PA, .281/.342/.347, 92 OPS+, 2.2 WAR
Roberts missed several games this season primarily due to a knee injury but also had back and shoulder problems as well.
#571
Card Value: $0.05
1991 Stats: 428 PA, .265/.322/.361, 89 OPS+, 1.0 WAR
Stillwell lost his starting shortstop gig in mid-July to David Howard (yikes) but regained it during the final few weeks of the season.
#601
Card Value: $0.40
1991 Stats: 571 PA, .260/.332/.376, 98 OPS+, 0.9 WAR
Yount had already begun to decline the prior season and this was a continuation of it as it was his worst season in 16 years according to WAR. He also had the unpleasant of experience of missing three weeks due to a kidney stone.
Pro Visions #4
Card Value: $2.50
1991 Stats: 585 PA, .201/.330/.383, 103 OPS+, 1.5 WAR
Woooooooot a McGwire card! This was by far the happiest I’ve been opening one of these worthless packs when I pulled this card. Even during my lengthy collecting lay off I still held on to my old binder of McGwire cards I used to collect although I know I already have this one. By far my favorite player in any sport, I even stuck with him through his brutally awful ’91 season. Believe it or not he was an “All-Star” this year as the fans voted him a starter. He pulled himself off the roster due to an ear infection which was probably made up and more likely didn’t want to play out of embarrassment.
