I’m having a hard time getting these Team MVP posts up the way I wanted to. After finding out in March that it had been a year and a half since the last one, I decided to pick up the pace on this.
But this is the first since March. Oh well.
My overall goal in this series is to find the “best” card for each team for each set I complete. I started by going in reverse order from the year of the set. I went all the way back to 1981. Then I went back to sets I’ve completed since then.
Now I’m everywhere, tackling sets no matter how I feel, arbitrary rules be damned!
So now it’s Fleer from 1986. Fleer is the best brand for when you need to write a quick post because the set is ordered per team, as if it has this series in mind! Thanks, Fleer!
On the other hand – woof, this is a painful set. I’ve often said that I overlooked ’86 Fleer for decades before finally completing it – forgetting it even existed a few times. When I look at every card now, there are so many dark photos, blurry photos, and poorly cropped photos everywhere. And there’s a lot of “just stand there.” Thank goodness for the Super Star Specials (which I didn’t count in this exercise). But all the subpar and average makes the remarkable shots stand out… you know the ones.
Let’s get started – in 1986 division style:
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
Orioles: Rick Dempsey; Red Sox: Roger Clemens; Indians: Ernie Camacho Tigers: Kirk Gibson; Brewers: Jim Gantner; Yankees: Billy Example; Blue Jays: Jesse Barfield
Team with the best cards: I don’t think any team in this entire set can be described in terms of “best,” but I’ll say Orioles or maybe Yankees.
Team with the worst cards: Indians or blue jays.
Team I should reassess: Tigers. Grandma’s appearance on Kirk Gibson’s card immediately won me over.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
Angels: Ruppert Jones; White Sox: Carlton Fish; Royals: Steve Balboni; Twins: Mickey Hatcher; If: Dave Kingman; Sailors: Bob Lang; Rangers: Glenn Brummer
Team with the best cards: White Sox, I think, although maybe it’s those strange SOX uniforms that make me say that.
Team with the worst cards: If.
Team I should reassess: I still wonder if Reggie Jackson is the better Angels card. Such a classic home run pose, but the Ruppert Jones one is slightly better (but he hits his head on the top rim, which is a repeated problem in this set).
NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
Cubs: Keith Moreland; Expos: Andrew Dawson; Of: Darryl Strawberry; Phillies: Charles Hudson; Pirates: Johnny Ray; Cardinals: Willie McGee
Team with the best cards: Possibly Phillies.
Team with the worst cards: Cardinals were pretty boring.
Team I should reassess: Cubs. I think I skipped the Ryne Sandberg card.
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
Brave: Dale Murphy; Red: Andy McGaffigan; Astros: Glenn Davis; Dodgers: Steve Sax; Padres: Tony Gwynn; Giants: Jeff Leonard
Team with the best cards: Maybe the Astros.
Team with the worst cards: Dodgers aren’t great, I mean the Sax picture is very dark.
Team I should reassess: Fathers. There are quite a few action shots in that team set, but I still stuck with Gwynn.
My overriding feeling when going through these cards from a 40 year old set is how flimsy they feel. The second half of the 1980s seems to have had its share of those sets, mostly with Donruss, but also some with Fleer and even Topps. The cardboard from that time has a lot to do with it, as I have written before. It makes me happy again that I grew up with cards in the 1970s, and even in the early 1980s they feel more substantial. 1981 Donruss, I think, ushered in a dark and weak world.
And there you are, another list of individual MVPs established.
Next time I might tackle 2024, 2022, or 2021 Topps (weee) or go back to Fleer and see if 1985 Fleer was at least a little better.
#Team #MVPs #Fleer