Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

 1988 Fleer: Bo Jackson's career was short, but it was still amazing.  His athleticism, his arm, his speed, his power, his fun.  He was an all-time great even when stats won't back that up.

Wally Joyner was a 1X All-Star and 1X Home Run Derby champion.  His best season came with the Padres when he hit .327 for them in 1997.  He ended his career hitting .289 with a .362 OBP and just over 2,000 hits.  

Doyle Alexander pitched for 19 seasons winning 194 games while notching a 3.76 ERA.  Three times he had 17 wins in season and in 1989, his final year in the league, he had 18 losses with a 4.44 ERA.

Chris Gwynn hit .300 one year for the Royals in 306 plate appearances.  He had a total of 263 hits across 10 seasons.

The stickers were great.  'Nuff said.

And they came with great information on the back.

These are the last three packs from the box I purchased late in 2021.  I'm a fan of this set and showing off the cards has been so much fun.  We'll end it with Dave Stewart who is a PC guy of mine.  He has the look of a guy who just knows.  What he knows, I'm not sure of, but still.  3X World Champion and a World Series MVP right there.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
1 - Checklist
1 – SuperStar Specials
1 – Major League Prospects

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Wade Boggs was a great hitter winning 5 batting titles ending his career with just over 3,000 hits and a .310 batting average.  He had a crazy stretch early in his career where he hit .357 or better 4 out of 5 seasons.

Oh the power in these three greats of the game!  We know McGwire and Bonds won't make the Hall of Fame but the Crime Dog did.  He finished his career with a .284 batting average, 493 home runs, and 2,490 hits.  He twice led the league in homers and once in OPS.

The backs of the stickers were informative for fans who didn't have the internet at their disposal 27 years ago.

More big names from the era.  Benito Santiago was a 5X All-Star, 3X All-Star, 4X Silver Slugger, and a NLCS MVP.

Teddy Higuera didn't start his MLB career until he was 27, but was 94-64 with a 3.61 ERA before injuries ended his career.  Fun cards and memories as always.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
1 – Checklist

  

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Tony Gwynn led the league in batting average eight times.  He hit over .320 in 13 seasons.  He was a .338 career hitter with a .388 on base percentage.  Just crazy greatness.

A couple more Hall of Famers in Cal Ripken Jr. and Dennis Eckersley.  Mike Greenwell was no slouch in the hitting department, playing 12 seasons with the Red Sox ending his career with a .303 batting average and .368 on base percentage.

SuperStar Specials are fun cards.  I wish we had more like these today.  I know Topps tries with team and checklist cards, but I also want something closer to these.

We love Fleer stickers and the '88 design was great with different options.

Cincinnati traded Jeff Montgomery to the Kansas City Royals for Van Snider after only one season.  Yep, didn't know who he was either.  KC was the clear winner there as he played 12 seasons for the Royals ending with 304 saves.

Kent Tekulve's walkout music, Rubberband Man, was a classic as was the Pirates unis.  He talks about it some here.  Ron Gant looking 12 and Joe Niekro and the lost art that is the knuckleball.  I always like pitchers who threw it.

The backs of the stickers were just as much fun.  A color photo would have been better, but I'll take it.

More greats from the era.  I'll always take an Eric Davis card and always wonder what if...?  Fun design, fun set and so many fun memories of these players.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
2 – SuperStar Specials
2 – Major League Prospects

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

 1988 Fleer:  Paul Molitor was an amazing hitter.  He also played in two World Series.  He lost to St. Louis with Milwaukee but got his championship as a member of the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.  For his career he hit .359 in the playoffs and was the 1993 World Series MVP hitting .458, 2 home runs and 7 runs batted in along with a stolen base and 2 triples.  

Lansford and Butler had long successful careers in the majors and each batted .290 for their career.  Lansford won a batting title in 1981 and a championship with the A's in 1989. 

Jeff King played 11 seasons between Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Bob Walk and Claudell Washington are all-time favorites of mine.  Walk won a championship with Philly in his rookie season and then want on to a good career with Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

We all love the stickers.  Bring them back!

These extra cards giving us pairings of greats in the game are crazy fun.  Especially when you look at them so many years later.  We rarely get players from different teams on the same card.  We need that.  The All-Star Team design is just bad.  Could have done a lot of different things that aren't this.  Fun packs of cards and a design I like.  So many great memories.  Hope the playoffs are going well for you and your team...sans the Yankees.  Sorry.

BREAKDOWN:

45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)

3 - Stickers

2 – SuperStar Specials

2 – Major League Prospects

1 – All-Star Team

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Nolan Ryan is a great start to these packs.  Your all-time leader in strikeouts as well as walks and hits per nine innings pitched.  

More greatness from the 80s.  All three of these guys were huge during their era.  I remember how Fernandomania swept baseball fandom in 1981.  What an amazing year for him.

Yes, we love the stickers.

The backs of the stickers were pretty cool.  

The SuperStar Specials cards are fun ways to see the stars again and paired with others.

The All-Star Team cards are a letdown for me.  I don't like the colors and they have almost nothing going for them in terms of design.  Still, Clemons is always a great pull.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
2 – SuperStar Specials
1 – All-Star Team
1 – Major League Prospects

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Back to a favorite of mine.  Both of these guys are legends in their own ways.  Similarly they both won championships in their careers, were great defensively and someone it seems were well liked.  I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about Schmidt.  Probably some things about Gary Carter but I feel it's because he was with the Mets.

These three packs had plenty of greats from the era.  Joe Carter would go on to win two World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays and have one of the more iconic World Series moments as he walked it off in the ninth inning of game six of the 1993 World Series.

We all know Mark Grace had the better career of these two but Darrin Jackson did manage to play parts of 12 seasons in the league.  

Tom Glavine is a top five all-time favorite baseball player for me so these are always fun.  1987 was his rookie season and didn't show a ton of promise for the Hall of Fame player who had just made his debut.

Bret Saberhagen and Jack Morris need no introduction but Mike Witt was a good pitcher in the 80s earning two all-star nods.

Love these stickers!  Why we don't get these today in sets I'll never know.

Kirt Manwaring had a solid 13 season career while John Burkett was a two-time all-star including one as an Atlanta Brave.

I really like that Reggie photo.  A huge part of his career was as an Oakland A where he won three championships.  Still the all-time leader in strikeouts as well.  These three packs really delivered when it comes to memories and with the star power.

BREAKOUT:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
2 – SuperStar Specials
2 – Major League Prospects

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Ryne Sandberg wasn't flashy and it feels he gets lost in the conversations of great second basemen.  It took him three times to make the Hall of Fame.  His stats wouldn't stick out if you put them up against other random great players at the position.  Still he was so good.  Nine Gold Gloves.  Seven Silver Slugger Awards.  Ten-time All-Star.  1984 MVP.  And a home run derby champ.

Some fun players here.  Cecil Fielder before he won a World Series with New York.  Yeah, the freaking Yankees.  I forgot he played in Japan for a year after playing in Toronto.  Signed with Detroit and hit 51 homers after finding some amazing power in the Land of the Rising Sun. Huge storyline back in the day.

Love Fleer stickers.  We need more of these!  Just goofy team logo stickers.

The sticker backs are just as amazing.  Our best source for stadium info back in the day.  Who needs the internet.

Zane Smith is an all-time favorite of mine, so I'll always showcase him.  Always liked Dave Stieb . He played 15 of his 16 seasons with the Blue Jays and had a 3.44 career ERA and one ERA title to his name.

Tabler did bat .282 over 11 seasons but only had 47 career homers.  I thought he had more power.  I like fun cards like this.

Mark Davis only had two seasons with double-digit saves but parlayed one of those into a Cy Young when he had 44 saves and a 1.85 ERA.

Steve Bedrosian was another guy who won a Cy Young as a reliver with a 40 save season.  Bob Boone played 19 seasons as a catcher.  He played over 2200 games at the position, good for third all-time.  He's also the son of MLB player Ray Boone and father of Bret and Aaron Boone. 

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 – Stickers
1 – Checklist
1 – SuperStar Specials
1 – Major League Prospects