Word: player
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Fleer goes the opposite direction, including all but a player's Little League stats on the back. It overloaded me for four years (am I supposed to memorize that the Cubs' Scott Sanderson had a 2.68 ERA at West Palm Beach in 1977?), but Fleer has added a bit of Vin Scully on the back for all of us who need help interpreting the numbers...
...with or pitchers threw a fastball, a breaking ball, and an off-speed pitch. Baseball purists hated it because it was so subjective (ratings were performed by "the Scouts"), but it was corny like baseball ought to be. This year the Fleer color graphic isn't as corny: each player's batting average or ERA is given for day, night, home and away games. These are cards you can sit down with for the Game of the Week...
...Fleer card isn't as good as it could have been. Fleer was the best overall card last year, but this year's design of scattered blue and red diagonal stripes behind the photo complicates a good idea. The photo itself fades out near the top, so that a player's head sticks out into the background. It's a creative variation on last year's Fleer design, and it could carry the card without the complication of the stripes...
...year, even though their backs are unimpressive and their photos often aren't as sharp as Fleer's. Topps' front is traditional enough to enlist my nostalgia, and though the overall effect is to make the card look like the cover of a cheap sports magazine, at least the player, and not the background, is the center of attention. They're not as good as last year's Topps, but all of this year's crop of cards is generally weaker...
...mark of the era that no one puts lighthearted cartoons about the players on the back of the cards anymore, like "Bob enjoys playing guitar in the off-season" or "Jesus once served 18 months in the Dominican Army," Topps used to be masterful at these cartoons. This year, they and Donruss put the player's contract status on the back...