This is the second pack of 2002 Fleer Platinum baseball I’ve reviewed. As I said in my last review I do like this set. There are a ton of inserts and the design is great. The last pack I even got an insert which is always a bonus on these packs. I’m not sure why Fleer decided to get rid of this product since I would think it would be a hit with the vintage set. Well just in case you forgot, here is what the pack looks like:
What’s strange is, a pack looking like this should sell well in the RTP area since it is colored UNC blue. This is one of the many dollar packs I have picked up and I think I even have one more of these, that I will get to next week. The pack has 10 cards which you know I’m stoked about since it means a better chance at getting inserts! Let’s rip in!
1. Rondell White – OF – Yankees – 209 – I think this is a typical blah card. He had a mediocre career, he’s more of a table setter than a power guy. By the time he got to the Yankees his best days were behind him, but for what ever reason the NY media was excited about landing him. I always thought of him as a poor man’s Harold Baines. A very poor man’s Baines.
2. Charles Johnson – C – Marlins – 11 – This was Charle’s 2nd tour of duty with the Marlins and his 5th organization in 4 years. It’s not that he was a bad hitter, it was that he was a bad catcher. It’s strange, if he played first base he’d be a bottom tier player, but since he was offensively potent and a cathcer, he stuck around for awhile. In any event, he seemed to always be on my fantasy team so I guess he couldn’t have been so bad.
3. Tony Clark – 1B – Red Sox – 154 – Tony had two careers in baseball, a great one with the Tigers where B-R compares him to Glenn Davis and Mo Vaughn by the time he was 28, then we got to see his injured side, where he never quite put it completely back together and is compared to JT Snow or Phil Nevin. He was playing basketball at U of Arizona while I was there, seemed kind of arrogant to me. Although in retrospect, I would be that way too if I signed a $2,000,000 contract, then went to college for basketball.
4. Eric Karros – 1B – Dodgers – 245 – What happened to him? He just kind of quietly retired in 2005. Ever look at the complete baseball HOF ballot and see guys on there that retired 5 years ago and say oh yeah, I guess he retired a while ago huh? I feel like that with Eric. He was a very good player for so long with the Dodgers, it just didn’t seem right to see him in a White Sox and A’s jersey. Kind of like Frank Thomas in an A’s or Blue Jays jersey.
5. D’ Angelo Jimenez – SS – Padres – 81 – He came up in the Yankees farm, but with Jeter anchored in at SS the Yanks had no choice but to send him packing. At first I thought that trade was as lopsided as the Buhner deal, where the Yanks got Jay Witaseck, but in the end, Jimenez never developed into the 5 tool player they were hoping for.
6. Tim Salmon – OF – Angels – 117 – Another guy that just slinked away in 2006. I remember him as being a very good OF, after looking at his stats, he was until the injuries caught up to him. He finished with 299 HRs, I bet he thinks about that a lot. THinking one more homer, then at least I can say I hit 300, instead he has to say 299, and that sucks.
7. Bandon Backe / Jason Standrige – P – Devil Rays – 271 – Both made it to the majors, but niether became the pitching prospect that Fleer was hoping for when they made this card. Backe pitches for the Astros part time now (AAA the rest of the time). Standridge pitches for the Royals but not too often. Both should be gone by 2009.
8. Luis Castillo – 2B – Marlins – 184 – He had the huge hit streak and stole tons of bases, but the Marlins sent him off to the Twins and then he went off to the Mets. His SBs dropped from the 50′s to the 20′s and I guess that made him expendable. I wonder what hapopened?
9. Edgar Martinez – DH – Mariners – 25 – One of the greatest hitters of our generation, there was a good 5 years toward the end of his career where he was hitting above 0.320. I remember one scout on a radio show that said no matter how you prepared for him, he is constantly able to change his hitting style to each pitcher he faces. That is a real student of the game in my mind.
10. Sammy Sosa – OF – 34 – Cubs – This was his last big homer year (64), right before the HGH scandal fell. You know he was doing it, everyone knew, but we loved that big grin, and loved seeing him slam out those balls! Even the corked bat couldn’t bring him down, he was that popular. In the end I don’t think steroids will either. He deserves to be in the HOF just like McGwire and Bonds. I hope he gets there.
Thats it folks, no inserts, which has me stratching my head. I like the look of the card, a glossy throw back to the 1987 Fleer set. Definitely would consider getting this set, looks like I could get the whole set for $25 on eBay. So let’s go and rate these guys
Cost of pack – $1 – 3.0 stars – I am basing this off of the one dollar I paid, instead of the $2.50+ it probably cost.
Cards in Pack – 10 – 2.5 stars – average amount of cards in the pack so an average rating, had it been 15 I would have given it a 5 star review.
Stars in pack – 2 – 1.0 star – Sosa and Salmon would be the stars, Martinez maybe a minor star.
Value of pack – 0.0 stars – The set is worthless without getting an insert, this pack is too.
Design of card – 4.0 stars – love the design of this card. Like I said earlier, it looks like the 1987 Fleer set, which has always been one of my favorite designs.
I was a bit more disappointed in this pack than the previous one. The lack of good players and inserts really hurt this pack. The overall rating is 2.0 stars which is good considering it was mostly crap. Once again if there are any cards you would like in this set, please let me know at superbadwax@yahoo.com.
