2019 trade package #25: Nachos Grande

Fellow Barry Larkin enthusiast and awesome trader Chris of the somewhat recently redesigned Nachos Grande put in some quality time updating his trade lists by set not too long ago.  That's a move that I think will pay off handsomely both for his collection and those of many other collectors.  In my case I had plenty of interest in some of his trade fodder from his Fleer Sports Illustrated breaks, so I claimed a few cards, for which I'll be rewarding Chris pretty soon:

Everything here is from SI's debut collaboration with Fleer, and what a product it was!  Great photography (naturally) on vibrant, glossy cards printed on thick stock.  Best of all, a number of those cards were reprints of classic magazine covers.

The top three cards above are the Tigers I claimed--a pair of Tony Clarks and one Travis Fryman.  Two of the better players from some of Detroit's lean years, they manned the infield corners in Motown for a bit of '95 (Tony's first season), then 1996-97, until Fryman was traded. They combined for 121 HR, 483 RBI, and 13.4 bWAR as teammates and rare bright spots on some rough squads.  Thanks to TCDB I've become more open to adding cards of non-PC guys because I get stats on how many items I have of every player, so I was happy to add these, putting me at 107 of Clark and 117 of Fryman.

The other base card I absolutely had to have was one of the cover reprints I just mentioned, starring PC guy Ken Griffey Jr. and fellow 90s badass/HOFer Frank Thomas.  The two graced the front of the August 8, 1994 issue, one that came out during that year's strike-shortened season, which was one to remember for a number of reasons.

And speaking of covers, Kenny's fellow Junior Cal came along for the ride on an Extra Edition parallel (#273/500) of another one, the biggest get of the package for me.  This was somewhat early on in numbered inserts so it's a terrific piece, with the July 29, 1991-dated mag highlighting the Iron Man nearing streak game #1500 while "enjoying the best season of his illustrious career."  Baseball-Reference would tend to agree, noting a career-high 11.5 bWAR and personal bests in HR (34), RBI (114), AVG (.323, in a full season, so not including 1999), and OPS (.940).  Oh yeah, and he won his second AL MVP.

Fleer was always a manufacturer that remembered to think about the kids in the hobby, so they included these Great Shots mini posters as a fun insert.  Naturally I grabbed Cal's version along with one of perennial Gold Glover Greg Maddux.  They don't hold up to well after being unfolded and folded again numerous times but they look great and feature more of that interesting photography.

Chris didn't stop there, though, sending me a nice pile of Tigers while he was at it:

Plenty of interesting guys here.  Alvarez never panned out, but Anderson looked like he might provide some value (if not #1 overall pick value) before injuries derailed his career.  Blair was a bit like Edwin Jackson, coming to Detroit by way of five other teams and enjoying a pretty nice season (16-8) in '97, bouncing around a fit, then returning toward the end of his career.  As for Fister, the Tigers fleeced the Mariners for a very effective pitcher, then did the opposite in getting Robbie Ray (and others) from the Nats while having no idea how to use him and getting relatively little value when they flipped him for Shane Greene in a three-team deal.

Exavier Logan has one of the more disappointing nicknames in the game's history when you learn that it's meant to rhyme with "book" instead of sounding like the explosive weapon.  Iglesias, Infante, and Peralta were all decent-to-above average middle infielders for the team.  And card-collecting aficionado Dmitri Young gets paired with his much younger (12 years!) brother below.

Yep, there's Delmon, who had a few big hits over a couple seasons with the Tigers.  Appropriately enough, former speedster Brian Hunter leads off, and he's probably already stolen second, too, after he went off for a career high 74 swipes in '97.  Lastly, it's a bit sad to see former ace Scherzer on a card with Big Sexy Bartolo Colon (who shares my birthday!) and future Tigers IL in residence pitcher Matt Moore.

Chris, thanks again for making those SI cards available and getting them to me along with some great Detroit stuff so quickly!  I'm gonna take a little bit to get back to you while I await next month's show, but I'm also putting together a Sportlots haul that will be of great interest to you.