Tribute to 1991 Fleer - Tom Gorzelanny
In soccer, referees issue yellow cards to poor sports and cheats. The yellow card is thought of as a warning. Two yellow cards get you thrown out of a game.In 1991, Fleer issued yellow cards to baseball card collectors all over the country.
Indians fan? Yellow card.
Red Sox fan? You got a yellow card.
Phillies fan? You got a yellow card, too.
That's a lot of yellow. And maybe things got a little too yellow for some collectors.
But you know what? The cards look pretty dang cool for players on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Really -- the black and yellow cards start to make sense as a team-themed tribute to the Buccos. Maybe somebody at Fleer really loved the Pirates...
Today's card features Tom Gorzelanny of those very Pirates. Tom has racked up some great minor league stats, but for the most part, this hasn't translated into success at the big league level.
Minors (4+ Seasons)
2.84 ERA
1.10 WHIP
8.9 K/9
2.8 BB/9
0.2 HR/9
3.1 K/BB
Majors (3+ Seasons)
4.78 ERA
1.51 WHIP
5.9 K/9
4.1 BB/9
1.0 HR/9
1.4 K/BB
Here's hoping Tom turns it around in 2009.
(Side note -- this 1991 Fleer card is an absolute favorite of mine -- great photo. One of my favorite cards in the set)
I love 1991 Fleer! I have stacks and stacks of those commons somewhere that I should really throw out, but just can't bring myself to.
ReplyDeleteThis was actually one of the first custom sets I redid from scratch in Photoshop - because it was ridiculously easy. A yellow box, a few lines and Times New Roman text. :)
Here's a few of the ones I made up in my Photobucket; Link
I have a Kerby Puckett from that season...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the black and gold do you know that Pittsburgh is one of only two cities that has 3 teams represented by the same color?
That's always a fun trivia question to have handy when you have nothing to do.
Awesome job on this card, you should work for Topps or Upper Deck! I just hope Gorzo can regain his '07 form (14-10). The Pirates need it.
ReplyDeletehamiltonian - Thanks for the link! Those are awesome cards. I really enjoyed looking at them and have gone through them a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteFavorites:
Andrew Miller -- great, great job on this
Gerald Laird -- almost too cool of a photograph for this set though! It's almost an Upper Deck or Stadium Club shot!
Justin Morneau -- One of the coolest follow through swings in all of baseball. Great choice for the card -- captured brilliantly. From this shot it reminds me a lot of Fred McGriff's follow through -- the little one armed windmill
Alex Gordon -- Maybe one of the most authentic looking to me, and possibly my favorite. The blur and whitewash look of the background ooze 1991 Fleer!
All in all awesome work! The others are great too. I've added them to my sidebar if that's OK with you (tribute cards by other bloggers).
Schruender - Puckett, yes...it would be awesome to do a card of him on this blog even. He has fallen from grace a bit in recent years but was always one of my favorites growing up. Saw him play in KC a couple of times, and I want to say I saw him hit one out.
Also, I am trying very hard to come up with that second city...
Jeff - Thanks! I'm very flattered. I agree with your comment on Gorzo and the Pirates. It SEEMS like they could just turn things around and have an awesome rotation. I had Maholm on my fantasy team last year, Snell on my fantasy team two years ago, and Duke three or four years ago, and all three were awesome. It seems like it wouldn't be asking too much for them to turn the corner into aces, would it??
I really think this series has a hideous design.
ReplyDelete