2019 Sportlots purchases: the Mick x2 (not that Mick)

Part two of my Sportlots haul centers on a couple guys named Mickey, neither of which played for a team that won't be winning a World Series for the tenth straight season, the Yankees.

First up is Gordon Stanley Cochrane, better known by his nickname "Mickey," though he was also called "Black Mike."  This, of course, is the guy for whom Mantle was named.  The HOF catcher/manager spent his first nine seasons with the Philly A's, winning a pair of rings with them in 1929 and '30, plus an MVP in '28.  After being dealt to Detroit late in 1933, he was a player/manager for the Tigers from '34-'37 (and just a manager in 1938), capturing another MVP award in his first season.  Oh yeah, he also led the team to consecutive pennants in '34 and '35, winning it all in his second season and bringing Detroit its first crown in the sport.  He was pretty good, you might say.

To my previously paltry Cochrane collection I added 13 cards, starting with this nine spot.  I don't think anything here is obscure to anyone--Hygrade, Pacific Legends, Conlon, Swell Baseball Greats, and a trio of fun Fleer products that focused on classic players.  The 2003 Fall Classics base that ends the scan is one of two today that depicts Mickey with the A's, which is totally fine by me since it looks great.

The other four continued in a similar vein:  2003 SP Legendary cuts (just beautiful!), '04 Greats of the Game (ditto!) and Sweet Spot Classics (can't go wrong!) and 2013 Panini Cooperstown.  The back of the Sweet Spot Classics base (A's again) notes that Cochrane struck out a ridiculous 217 times in 13 seasons.  That's less than or equal to four players' single-season totals, including Mark Reynolds' 223 in 2009!

I feel great about adding some nice stuff of a Tigers legend, and this has me motivated to track down more on subsequent Sportlots runs.

So Cochrane's nickname beget Mantle's own name, and the next guy was christened after the Yankees legend and fellow Oklahoman:  Mickey Tettleton.

The guy they called "Fruit Loops" (they gave him his prodigious strength!) was drafted by the Oakland iteration of Cochrane's original team, then had stints in Baltimore and Texas that bookended his four seasons in Detroit, 191-94.  It was a very productive stretch for him that resulted in 112 HR and 14.8 bWAR, or around half of both career numbers.  He had an awesome batting stance as a switch-hitter and was often seen with a huge wad of chew in his cheek, something I loved when I was younger (but hate now that I'm aware of its effects).

This Mickey is much more prominent in my Detroit collection as I've made more of an effort to collect Tettleton as one of my favorite recent-ish Tigers.  The 15 cards you'll see here get him up to 87, and this first scan is mostly one of my favorite brands, Stadium Club.  Here you see Mick's cards from 1991-95, plus 2015.  That's a rare good decision by Topps these days!  I really like the 50/50 split of catching/hitting these offer, plus the mix of designs is fun to look at.

Also included is his oversized base card from the oddball-ish 1994 Fleer Extra Bases, which you'll see a couple more times in this series.

Oh hi, "90s inserts rule" tag, how have you been?  I'm not at all surprised to see you here thanks to this bevy of fun chase cards, plus some great base products as well.  Up top we have an early version of Fleer's Lumber Company name, plus Leaf's "should have just made these the base set" Black Gold, both from '92.  You're damn right that Mickey made the cut for the iconic debut of Finest--gotta get me that Refractor!--in 1993, and that's joined by the beautiful (and maybe early Dufex?) Pinnacle Home Run Club and another high-end debut, Upper Deck's SP.  

1994's lone entrant is the last lenticular brand to use the "Sportflics" name before Pinnacle switched it to "Sportflix" for its final two years.  And speaking of Score/Pinnacle, our final two cards, both from '95, are fun parallels from those brands:  Museum Collection and Gold Rush.  I've said it a ton and I'll say it again:  1995 Pinnacle is my absolute favorite version of that product, and the Museum Collection cards are flat-out beautiful.  That's why I didn't mind grabbing another card of Tettleton as a Ranger.

What will I show off next?  I dunno.  I'm not even sure when I'll be posting next, but I've got lots more cards to scan and share with you and I'm looking forward to seeing what you readers think.