2014 trade package #23: GCRL's Tigers are Jim dandy

I received a great surprise trade package from Jim of Dodgers infield quartet-centric GCRL sometime last week, maybe in response to stuff I sent him and maybe because he's such a great guy.  As Abe Simpson would say,

The part that wasn't surprising is that it included some useful Tigers:

Cuyler, Paul Gibson, Gladden, Higginson, and Lira all hail from the awful teams from 20-ish years ago, and you know what that means:  "1990s Tigers SUCKED" tag deployed!  Hunter was from the same era, but he was awesome, stealing 116 bases in his two-plus years in Detroit, including 74 in 1997.  Kirk Gibson, meanwhile, recalls fond memories of better teams in the 80s on his 1986 Donruss card.  Avi Garcia rounds out the group with a lovely BowChro Refractor, and while he's on a hated rival, I do look forward to seeing him try to reach his potential in the coming years.

Here we have five Upper Deck issues (four of pitchers) and a Topps Opening Day Pudge that clearly didn't get the memo.  I'd call the horizontal Zumaya my favorite of the bunch, but with Upper Deck's designs you really can't go wrong.

When I was younger I had a ton of these Score holograms, and this pair hails from the 1990 version, which focuses on MVPs.  Gehringer and Cochrane are an outstanding pair of HOFers, and I've added Charlie's card as #19 to his PC.

This reprint was clearly the most interesting of the bunch, an issue called "Ty Cobb Steals Third" from a set called 1912 Hassan Triple Folder.  I love the black-and-white shot of Cobb sliding in to third for one of his 897 career steals, and the pairing with Jennings--who appeared in six games over five seasons with the Tigers as a player, plus managed them for 14 seasons and three pennants--is great.  You don't hear much about "Ee-yah" these days, but really, how many managers can claim 287 HBP over their playing careers?

The perforations are fairly obvious, but maybe I can trim it a bit and submit it to Beckett for grading.  I'll be rich!

Thanks again, Jim, for a fun out-of-the-blue package, the type that never fails to disappoint.  Hopefully I'll dig up more good stuff for you as well before long.  Readers, whether you're a fan of Garvey, Cey, Russell, or Lopes (but you have to pick at least ONE), head on over to GCRL right now!