2021 Sportlots purchases part 6: Dizzying Deans

Previously: Quick summary and set wants; Big and small we have them all!; Better off Ted; A Tettle-ton of Froot Loops; Lucky Tiger Seven

Tonight's post is definitely the largest in the series in terms of quantity of cards, but I'm going to do my best to get through it quickly and let the scans mostly speak for themselves. That's partially because I don't want to get hung up writing something that's too long--I'd love to get these cards put away and on to the next post--plus I have a show coming up this weekend, and I have a super cool new Facebook purchase to show off that I'm looking forward to posting.

So let's get to this evening's subject. I'm not quite sure what made me decide to PC Dean Palmer, a 3B who mostly played in the 90s for Texas, KC, and then Detroit. He spent his last five seasons with the Tigers but only two of those were full years--he'd appear in just 87 games from 2001 to his sunset season of 2003. Still, he was kind of a highlight on some of those awful Detroit teams, continuing to show the pop he did with the Rangers and Royals by putting up 38 and 29 bombs and 100 and 102 RBI in '99 and 2000. If anything, it's probably a combination of his power, brief Tigers tenure, and the fact that most of his cards hail from my favorite hobby era: the mid-90s to the mid-aughts.

So here's a look at the roughly 180 items I added via Sportlots. I picked five scans worth of vertical cards and one of horizontals to highlight, then covered the rest via photos. Honestly, who wants to look at 20 scans of Dean Palmer cards?

Here's a lot of Deans:

To start with I picked one of a few Minors issues I grabbed this time, opting for the one you see because I thought "89ers" was a great example of fun farm team nicknames. There's also pairs of Sportflics (the first a RC), black inserts, Finest (OG '93 and '94), and sweet Pinnacle dufex inserts. Don't worry, there's plenty more "90s inserts rule" goodness where that came from!

In terms of the base here we continue the Finest run with '95 while adding the following year's artistic E-MotionXL, the non-autographed Leaf Signature, and Topps Chrome version 1.0, which I think ended up looking quite nice despite the original product being relatively boring. Everything else is a parallel, from '95 Summit's Nth Degree and '96's Donruss Press Proof, Fleer Tiffany, Score Dugout Collection, and Ultra Gold Medallion. The Press Proof was one of the costlier cards in my cart at a buck but I thought it was worth it.

This scan may be my favorite of the bunch with a who's who of 90s giants of design and shininess. '97 includes two versions of the eye-popping color brought by Flair Showcase, the artistic visions of Studio and Topps Gallery, and a high-flying Palmer on Topps Chrome's excellent sophomore effort. Not to be outdone, 1998 starts very strongly thanks to Fleer's amazing E-X2001, and the bar stays high with Finest (having skipped a couple years I already had), another gorgeous Flair Showcase base, and lastly Pacific's "I dare you to try to ignore me" Revolution.

Are you enjoying seeing all these high-end brands? Then you'll like these too! SP Authentic's had a number of looks and '98's is one of the best. That year's Gold Label pops just like the Showcase cards that keep coming up in this post. We go back to the UD well a couple more times to finish up 1998 with the "hobby" version of the 10th Anniversary Preview (I own the retail set), plus the higher-end parallel of the flagship product, called Special F/X. 1999 opens with beautiful designs and familiar names like Finest, Flair Showcase (x2) and Topps Chrome (more acrobatics from Palmer!) plus Fleer's Mystique, a product where you got to peel opaque film from a number of mystery cards.

And here we have the last of the scanned vertical stuff. Don't ask me how a '98 Sports Illustrated card ended up dead center in a scan with cards from 2000-01, I couldn't tell you. In terms of base stuff, that joins some very nice offerings from 2001 Bowman's Best, Finest, Studio, Topps Fusion, and Topps HD. I believe I've said a few times how much I admire Fusion, which used gorgeous designs from Bowman's Best, Finest, Gallery, Gold Label, and Stadium Club--some of Topps' best lookers from that time. By the way, Palmer was the only Tiger to appear on two designs in the product. HD was no slouch either, and way ahead of its time in terms of the name. Man, I can't even remember when I first got an HD TV, but nobody was thinking about them back in 2001!

The group also includes a pair of parallels. Upper Deck's Ionix from 2000 was one of a number of weird brands from that era (remember HoloGrFx?), but the insert version called Reciprocal was kind of a fun idea. Besides the rainbow shininess, the images on the front and back are flipped (including the tiny slide-like photos on the bottom of the front). Ultra's Gold Medallion is much more familiar, and in 2000 Fleer opted to go with a die-cut design in addition to the other elements for the first time.

I had a pretty easy time selecting a third of the 24 horizontal cards to highlight for this post--nothing boring here, if you ask me! I don't usually put much effort into oddballs but I thought the three-player '91 Baseball Cards Magazine issue (done in the style of '66 Topps) would be fun. Pinnacle's GOAT flagship product from '95 makes yet another appearance here thanks to the highly sought-after Artist's Proof parallel, another $1 I was glad to shell out for. That's joined by a couple more '95s from Score's Gold Rush and a base from the first of two years of Sportflix with an "X". I don't know what stat Palmer had to achieve for that '97 UD Predictor to turn into a winner, but maybe someday I'll land a double and scratch it off. Part of Dean's career coincided with the dawn of the explosion of numbered cards, such as '98 SPx Finite (Radiance Parallel, #d /4500) and '99 Flair Showcase Row 1 (/6000). So limited! And we'll end the discussion of scans with a 2000 SPx Power Brokers insert, released a year after he tied his career-high of 38 bombs as a member of the Tigers.

Photo #1 is part 1 of two of "the rest". While these are less exciting to me compared to what I showed off above, there's still lots to enjoy. More Minors cards, tons of Stadium Club, UD's Fun Packs (including a card that folds out), multiple Pinnacle brands.... If there's something you remember from the 90s it's probably here!

Since the second photo covers '97-2003 it's the one that's heavier on the Tigers stuff, which is great. Plenty of good looking designs plus some inserts here, just nothing that beat out what I chose for the scans. The final card here is a 2003 Topps Chrome, the last I needed to cover his mainstream base from the final season during which he appeared on cards during his career (though I still need some parallels).

And here are the remaining 16 horizontals. A few stand out, like Pacific's Crown Royale die-cut base cards, plus Topps' goofy DIII from '95. The last card here is a 2001 UD Vintage team checklist that servers as a good reminder that it's easy to miss cards of your player if you only search their full name; Sometimes card descriptions include only a last name, an abbreviated name, or in this case, the team name. So it pays to keep a player checklist open on TCDB to avoid missing stuff like this!

I'm stating the obvious here but that was a lot of stuff to show off, and I hope some of you found some of it interesting since I don't know many others who are interested in collecting Palmer. As you might expect, this purchase did major damage to his checklist, getting me to 411 of his 1024 TCDB-listed items, and moving him up to #7 overall in my collection.

Oh yeah, and it allowed me to easily take the crown among Palmer collectors on TCDB as one of just five guys to have 200+, and the first to 400!

I certainly feel productive thanks to that and the fact that I get to put these away, meaning there should be just a few more posts left in this series, all of them of much smaller stacks. First, though, I think I'll get to that interesting Facebook pickup I teased, and then maybe a show recap depending on how Friday goes as well.

2015 trade package #19: 2x3 Heroes sends 2 sports x 3 Nicks

It's been almost a month since I last posted a trade package from Jeff over at 2x3 Heroes, but in reality the amount of time between when that envelope arrived and I received another great PWE from the master of envelopes of the plain and white variety was actually much less than that.

I'll stick to my previous statement that Jeff is a classy guy because this time he sent me cards of not one but two of his teams' rivals:  the Wings and the Tigers:

First up is one of those cool Fire Die-Cuts from 2014 Bowman Chrome, and it's 3B Nick Castellanos, whose hitting has improved a bit in the last few weeks.  I'm a little confused that these look more like tidal waves in shape than fire, but the overall concept is fun.

Next up is a '93 UD card of "Top Prospect" P Rick Greene.  I avidly followed the Tigers in the 90s, awful teams and all, and I remember some of the guys who were potential blue chips like Tony Clark and Justin Thompson, but I definitely don't remember Greene, so I looked him up.  I was surprised to find that he was Detroit's first-rounder in '92 but not surprised that he appeared in literally one MLB game, with the Reds in 1999.  The Tigers took him ahead of guys like Shannon Stewart, Rick Helling, Jason Kendall, and Charles Johnson.  Oh, and some guy named Johnny Damon.  Hello, "1990s Tigers SUCKED" tag.

Lastly we have a 2010 Bowman Chrome rookie-or-not of former RP Brayan Villareal, who had a pretty solid 2012 before being flipped to Boston in the trade I mentioned again yesterday that brought Jose Iglesias to the Motor City.

Justin Verlander 2012 Triple Play (#291)

The other baseball entry today is this kid-friendly Panini Triple Play subset card of blog namesake Justin Verlander.  I believe I have his other base card from that set but I'll have to dig around to take a look.

Moving closer to the Detroit River here's the bulk of the Red Wings portion, which includes puck wizard Pavel Datsyuk, D-man Niklas Kronwall (Nick #2!), legendary Red Wing Nick Lidstrom (Nick #3!) and Jan Mursak, a Slovenian winger currently in the KHL.  Then there's a gorgeous Zenith Mozaics insert (remember the awesome baseball versions back in '96?) featuring young star Tomas Tatar, Lidstrom, and star forward Henrik Zetterberg.  I really love the design Panini used here in addition to the nostalgia factor.

Niklas Kronwall 2013-14 Black Diamond Dual Jerseys dual jersey

Oh yeah, and there was also this sweet dual jersey hit of Kronwall (too many Nicks!) to add to my Wings PC.  The thumping defenseman can now claim three entries in that group thanks to this six-piece relic and a solo autograph.  A nice surprise hit to be sure!

Once again Jeff, I thank you for your generosity and promise you that a package will be headed back your way once I find enough good stuff of the Hawks and Sox.  Until then, GO TIGERS CUBS!

2014 trade package #34: GCRL out of nowhere!

The last time cards showed up in my mailbox from Jim over at GCRL, way back in August, I was pretty sure that I wasn't expecting them.  That's relevant because another envelope showed up in my mailbox the other day, and it included cards from Jim...that were definitely unexpected.  The very player-specific blogger was nice enough to set aside a few Tigers for me:

Vintage vintage, modern vintage, and modern modern!  Jim happened to send me two cards of players at each corner infield position (you'll see the other in a minute) from four very different eras in Tigers history.  A 3B you could nickname "A-Rod," Rodriguez was with the Tigers for nine of his 17 MLB seasons and is seen here on a '74 Topps card.  "Hammerin'" Hank needs no introduction and looks like the slugger he was in this sepia-toned 2002 SP Legendary Cuts base offering.  And Fielder, seen on a 2012 GQ Moonshots insert, did indeed hit some longballs during his two-year term with Detroit:  55 over two seasons, to be exact; he was also putrid in the playoffs and I don't miss him!

But a player I do miss and am happy to see join my Tigers hits collection is this dude right here:

Dean Palmer 2001 Fleer Game Time Lumber bat

Dean-o!  Palmer was with Detroit for just five of his 14 seasons, and really only played for two full years--1999 and 2000--due to injuries, but those two seasons were very good for him despite terrible Tigers teams.  After eight seasons with Texas and two with the Royals, Dean signed on with Detroit for five years and $36 million, which seemed reasonable after an All-Star 1998 campaign in which he clubbed 34 homers, his second-best total at the time.  The following two seasons with the Tigers, Palmer bashed 67 HR, including a new career-high 38 in '99, while eclipsing 100 RBI, all while mostly playing 3B.

His career quickly went downhill after that, but those two seasons provided me with plenty of good memories during an otherwise bleak era in Motown.  Considering his power, it's definitely appropriate that my first hit of him is a bat relic.

Jim, thanks again for the unexpected but much-appreciated cards!  I can already tell you that I'll soon have something headed back your way (which was already in the works before you sent these!) in thanks for being a great trade partner.  Readers, please point your browsers/feeds to GCRL and help add to the collection of a very focused blogger!

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!

2014 COMC pickups #4: Tigers autos of yore (or the 1990s)

In honor of the Tigers' 4-0 start (which was fraught with plenty of danger), here's a couple autographs of players from...the 1990s when the Tigers were terrible?  Well, it's not the era I'm going for here so much as the players.  I didn't have hits of either guy, plus I was a fan of both of them during their stays in Motown, so when I found a couple nice deals on COMC, I grabbed them to add to my Tigers PC:

Tony Clark 1997 Donruss Signature Autographs auto

Clark is very well known among Tiger fans, and likely even many casual fans who watched baseball in the 90s and early 00s.  He was the second overall pick in 1990, right after Larry Wayne Jones, and was often the best offensive player on his team for the decade, not that that's saying much.  A California native, he debuted with the Tigers in '95, and stayed with the team through the 2001 season.  While his 1996-99 campaigns saw him hit .277 and average 31 HR and 98 RBI, his final two Detroit seasons were disappointments, and the team let the Red Sox grab him on waivers in late 2001.

After producing middling results with the Sox, Mets, and Yankees from 2002-2004, he experienced a resurgence, albeit brief (and fluky) with the 2005 Diamondbacks, hitting .304 with 30 HR and 97 RBI in just 130 games.  After two-plus seasons more in Arizona, he was sent to the Padres in 2008, then rejoined Arizona for his final season, 2009, although he played in just 144 games those last two seasons.

The Tigers had a lot of hope for Clark, who, for a couple seasons put up numbers that lived up to his draft status, but it was all for naught since the Tigers were downright awful during his tenure, going 471-644 (.422) and failing to surpass 79 wins.  His declining stats made letting him go a bit easier, though it was still sad to see a mainstay leave.  Fortunately, his post-playing career has been more positive, as he was recently named the permanent executive director for the MLBPA.  The highly-respected Clark was deputy to the previous occupant of that position, Michael Weiner, who passed away last year.  According to wikipedia, Tony is the first former Major League player in that role.  Based on that respect, plus many good memories from his playing days, I'm happy to add a beautiful on-card auto from the excellent '97 Donruss Signature set to my collection.

Mike Henneman 1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs auto

Henneman, a fourth-rounder in 1984, was a Tigers RP from 1987-1995, so unlike Clark, he at least got to experience playing on some GOOD teams, especially his 1987 rookie season when Detroit clawed its way to the playoffs before losing to the eventual champion Twins in the ALCS.  Mike was an incredible 11-3 with seven saves out of the bullpen that year, and he actually went 49-21 between '87 and '91, also tallying 80 saves.  With a few exceptions, he was pretty much the team's closer from '88 on, and do you remember when relievers used to pitch that many innings per game?

Detroit traded him to Houston late in '95 for 1992 #1 overall pick Phil Nevin, who wouldn't begin to live up to his potential for a couple more seasons, after he was gone from Detroit.  Henneman, meanwhile, finished 1995 with the Astros, then signed with the Rangers for the '96 season, piling up a career-best 31 saves, though he also went 0-7.  His only autograph would come in the form of the above card with Texas as he was included in 1996 Leaf Signature, along with like EVERYBODY else that year (but seriously, it's a landmark set, and one I still enjoy to this day), giving me a second on-card signature to enjoy today.

Mike also found his calling after he retired as he's now serving as the pitching coach for the West Michigan Whitecaps, Detroit's single-A team near Grand Rapids.  I attended a Lansing Lugnuts (Blue Jays affiliate) game last summer and caught a glimpse of the former bullpen ace.  I hope coaching suits him well and that he can work his way back up to the Majors, imparting advice from his 10-year career.

Stay tuned for more COMC Tigers pickups soon!

Complete sets: 1998 Topps (Series I)

I've mentioned a couple times recently that I lost track of a couple of my complete sets over the years I've had my collection, possibly due to the fact that it's had to move with me a few times.  One of those was an entire set of 2000 Topps baseball, while the other was 1998 Topps Series I.  In the case of '98 Flagship, it was just Series I I couldn't find since I had an extra Series II on hand somehow.  Regardless, having already picked up the 2000 version and wanting to restore my pretty decent run of complete sets, I threw down $20 even on this guy:

My judicious spending the last few months gave me some money to play with, so I scored this '98 Topps Series I set on eBay last week.  I don't recall seeing these in retail stores around me, but I do remember other boxes being packed this way. 

I think Vintage either was or continues to be a big distributor of retail stuff, probably especially repacks.  Make fun of it all you want, but the "Card Guard" totally did its job!  It also made for a big, ugly hunk of plastic garbage to toss.

Here's how the set was packed inside, with a cardboard insert holding three shrink-wrapped groups of cards.  They obviously didn't lead with the best players on top in two out of the three piles!  By the way, because I know at least a few of you collect empty boxes, I've hung onto this one for now, so if anyone wants it, please let me know!

Here's the bottoms of each wrapped pack.  I'm mainly showing these off to point out that they're not in any sort of order, so you know what that means:  I got to sort the set!  That's something I'm still fond of doing in the rare cases I buy boxes these days, and I have fond memories of doing so lots of times over the years.

Ok, enough about that, let's talk about the set:

First up is a group of nine legends, all of which should be in the HOF eventually.  As with Aaron in the 2000 set, I'm glad Topps didn't retire card #21, but did a card tribute instead for Clemente.  He was also the subject of that year's reprint set, which I have.  Leading off with Gwynn at #1 was a nice touch too.

There were exactly nine Tigers cards that I saw, and if you're having trouble telling them apart in the scan, they are, in order:  Tony Clark, Brian Hunter, Deivi Cruz, Mel Nieves, Todd Jones, Damion Easley, Bob Hamelin, Raul Casanova, and Juan Encarnacion on a three-player prospects issue.  I'm glad Clark showed up because I'd been meaning to highlight the fact that he's been appointed the new head of the MLBPA since the unfortunate passing of former leader Michael Weiner (cancer).  Clark wasn't universally loved in Detroit because some thought he never reached his lofty potential, but I remember him fondly and think he did about the best he could on some abysmal 90s Tigers teams.  I wish him well in his new position, where I anticipate some success since he seems to have been a well-liked guy.

I did one more 9-card scan to capture some of the fun and interesting cards in the set.  Wagner and Montgomery didn't win awards in '97 but were "fireman" bullpen aces at times in their careers.  The Guerrero is one of his more noteworthy base cards thanks to a nice use of perspective.  Baerga, Gonzalez, and Alicea are notable for some nice acrobatics.  Ausmus made the cut because he's the new Tigers manager and got a nice horizontal card featuring his awesome mask.  Finally, the Bell and Lofton cards showcase players and photographers having a great time.

I wanted to include one card back for completeness' sake, so I went with Eck's card #200 since it shows stats from the career of a pitching legend.  By the way, Eck would pitch one more season in '98 with the Red Sox, then call it a career with 197 wins and 390 saves in 24 seasons en route to the Hall.

'98 Series I isn't a huge set by any means, but I was surprised it only included one card for my Michigan Baseball PCs, that of Hal Morris.  Hal signed with the Royals at the end of '97 before heading back to Cincy in '99.

Ok, if you've made it this far, you're probably like "Hey, what about those four bonus cards!"  Or maybe not, since my blurry photo of the box makes it kind of hard to read that note.  In any event, this box comes with four bonus cards!  I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised by ending up with these four regular inserts:

The Kotsay is from a set I already own and is therefore available.  The Tomko and Lou-Gon hail from Topps' Minted in Cooperstown sets, kind of a precursor to the gold parallels they eventually went with.  If you weren't collecting then, I'll point out that the gimmick with them is that they were actually stamped in Cooperstown, NY.  Finally, the Clemente is reprint #6, and again, I already have all of those, so that ones up for trade, as are the Tomko and Gonzalez.

All in all, this is a set I remember fondly back when Topps didn't suck at everything, so I'm not so annoyed by having to spend a bit to reclaim it.  It takes another item off my baseball wantlist, too!  On a related note, I'll shortly have a few more additions to make that list even shorter, so stay tuned.

This Motown ain't big enough for the both of us: my least favorite Tigers

A couple years ago I made a list of my favorite Detroit Tigers that had played during my lifetime, and yesterday I celebrated the return of Jeremy Bonderman, a guy who didn't make the list but whom I like all the same.  But that got me thinking about the guys I DIDN'T like, which led to this list of my LEAST favorite Tigers of the last 30 years--the All Suck Squad (note:  all images courtesy of the always-fantastic COMC):


C:  Gerald Laird
This is a guy that went to consecutive World Series in 2011 and 2012 and won it all with the '11 Cardinals.  Still, while with the Tigers he stubbornly refused to hit.  Some fans cited his rapport with the pitching staff as a positive, but he was such a black hole at the plate that I couldn't fathom what kind of dirt he had on Leyland to get so much playing time.  For me, the lowest point will always be "Game 163," the one-game playoff with Minnesota for the last AL spot in the 2009 playoffs.  Laird wasn't the sole cause of the embarrassing loss that capped off another signature Leyland second-half collapse, but his 0-6 day that included two strikeouts was huge in a one-run loss.  Now that he's no longer an automatic out for the Tigers, I wish him well with this year's Braves team that's doing very well.


1B:  Randall Simon
I was born early enough last century to have lived through plenty of awful Tigers teams to the point where I remember when the word "competitive" didn't exist in Detroit's vocabulary, much less "playoffs."  Teams stocked with scrubs like Simon are symptomatic of the dark ages from which the Tigers didn't emerge until 2006.  A former Braves "prospect," Simon bounced around a bit before getting into 211 games with the 2001 and 2002 Tigers.  He somewhat suspiciously belted 19 homers in 2002, and his batting average and OBP weren't that bad, but this was not the guy you wanted starting on a team hoping to go anywhere.  He played for a total of six teams in eight years, if that gives you any indication.  Needless to say, after guys like Simon, I realize how spoiled I am to have TWO all-star first-basemen on my team.


2B:  Neifi Perez
Perez came over to the Tigers in a late-season waiver deal with the Cubs in 2006.  To say Perez took the AL by storm is putting it lightly as he rained on the Tigers' quest for the AL Central crown, hitting .200 in 21 games for a team that once again Leyland-ed the 2nd half and backed into a playoff berth thanks to the wild card.  He failed to record a hit in five ALCS plate appearances and mercifully didn't get any ABs in the Cardinals' World Series drubbing.  Neifi did manage to outdo his 2006 campaign the following year by totaling just 11 hits in 64 at-bats over 33 games, and while he made a key play in Justin Verlander's no-hitter that year, he erased any good will that might have built up by becoming quite possibly the least likely player to be caught for amphetamine use, THREE TIMES.  Like Laird, he's no longer in a position to continue damaging Detroit's otherwise potent offense, meaning I can sleep better at night.


SS:  Adam Everett
It's nothing personal or anything, but this guy flat-out couldn't hit.  Maybe 20 years ago you could get away with that at short as long as you were a good enough fielder, but Everett wasn't even that.  Signed in 2008, he played in 138 games the following year, and his abysmal .238/.288/.325 slash surely led to some key losses that forced what should have been an unnecessary game 163 to occur.  In 2010, he was hitting .185 after 31 games when the Tigers mercifully cut bait.  A mediocre 34-game run in Cleveland the following year proved to be his swan song.  The former Boston first-rounded just never lived up to his draft position.


3B:  Dmitri Young
Young is probably one of the guys on this list who's here not so much for statistic reasons as personal ones.  A former #4 overall pick that the Tigers got from the Reds in a deal for Juan Encarnacion, Young hit .279 with 82 HR and 267 RBI over five seasons in Detroit.  But he had a number of personal and legal issues that held him back from what should have been a more substantial career.  I can't say I was sorry to see him get released before the playoffs back in 2006.  Still, since his retirement he seems to have gotten things together, and he's an avid card collector, which is cool.


OF:  Bobby Higginson
First of all, I have to say that I chose this card to exemplify just how horrifically bad the Tigers were in the early 2000s--think of Higginson's teammate Shane Halter here as those teams' version of jack-of-all-trades-that-aren't-hitting Don Kelly.  I don't drink but seeing this card makes me want to.
Anyway, Higginson could have become one of those lifetime Tigers that become fan favorites.  He started his 11-year career fairly strongly, especially the three seasons after his '95 debut.  Then he went through an off '99 campaign before putting up fantastic numbers in 2000.  That turned into an extremely ill-advised five year, $35 million deal that the Tigers quickly regretted for a LONG time.  That was mostly due to his speedily declining hitting skills, and nobody was too broken up after he was let go, then retired, after the 2005 season.  Considering his overall negative effect on the team, it's not extremely shocking how much the Tigers improved the following year.


OF:  Jose Macias
Macias only appeared in 248 games for the Tigers over four seasons (1999-2002), but considering his middling talent, and the fact that the Tigers were starved for good players during those seasons, I just don't understand how he lasted that long in Detroit.  Even worse, he appeared on cards like the above, plus a much rarer parallel that I pulled and practically couldn't GIVE away, much less sell.  Guys like him have led me to create a brand new tag for this post:  "Early 2000s Tigers SUCKED too."


OF:  Wendell Magee
Magee was with the Tigers for 278 games between 2000 and 2002.  Like Macias, he was part of those crappy teams that were crappy because of crappy players like him.  His #2, 8, and 10 Baseball-Reference Similarity Scores are Felix Pie, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, and Ruben Mateo, which would be amazing if this was the year 2000.  I'm so glad that things look much rosier in the outfield these days, especially with Austin Jackson, not to mention other guys that also aren't no-talent assclowns.


DH:  Ruben Sierra
Sierra was a Tiger for 46 games in 1996, coming over to Detroit from the Yanks in a deal for fan favorite Cecil Fielder.  Since it wasn't the 1980s, he didn't do much of anything, then the Tigers dumped him to the Reds in an offseason deal.  Fielder, meanwhile, enjoyed playing for a contender, homering 13 times for the Bombers before getting his first taste of the playoffs, which proved to be delicious as New York won it all for their first title in years.  I figure the card above, from 1997 Topps (one of my favorite sets of theirs, incidentally) depicts him flailing and missing at yet another pitch.  Thanks again, Randy Smith.


UTIL:  Don Kelly
Kelly has a knack for chipping in a few key hits sometimes, but that's probably because he gets so many freakin' chances as manager Jim Leyland's teacher's pet.  A guy with a career .232 average and .292 OBP, his versatility earned him a somewhat understandable super-sub role for the Tigers; his bat, however, has never justified his insane amount of playing time.  Hell, the other day, with Miguel Cabrera dealing with a lingering injury, Leyland gave Kelly the start at 3B.  That was all well and good, until you did a double-take looking at the lineup and saw that Kelly also assumed Miggy's 3-slot in the lineup.  WHAT WHAT WHAT?!  Like the cat that came back the very next day, I've enjoyed some wishful thinking that Kelly was a goner, but he just keeps coming back, like a stubborn STD.


SP:  Nate Robertson
Hey, remember when the Tigers were in the playoffs in 2006 and Nate did the "gum time" thing and everybody loved it until the Tigers ran cold in the World Series?  Yeah, that's about the highlight of Robertson's career.  With Detroit he had decent seasons in 2004 and 2006, but over his seven seasons with the team, he went 51-68 with a 4.87 ERA.  He...just wasn't that great, even as a bottom-of-the-rotation guy.  I pretty much cringed every time his turn came up in the rotation, and his eventual conversion to the bullpen, which he shockingly didn't appreciate, went about as well.  Fortunately, the Tigers dumped him back on the Marlins in 2010, and things have been pretty good for the Detroit rotation since.


RP:  Ryan Perry
Perry is a classic example of a first-rounder that just couldn't put things together.  He was the 21st overall pick in 2008 out of Arizona, one pick after the Mariners nabbed fellow college closer/bust Josh Fields.  Considering the volatility of relievers, especially closers (who in some ways rival NHL goalies in that respect), I just don't understand wasting first-round picks on them.  Many of your best stoppers are converted failed starters who have the right combination of pitches, heat, and attitude.  Just three and a half years after being drafted that high, the Tigers flipped him to the Nats for Collin Balester--yes, THAT Collin Balester.  The Tigers have drafted pretty well recently, but it's safe to say that Perry was a HUGE miss.


CL:  Todd Jones
Jones and his stupid redneck mustache made two separate appearances for the Tigers, from '97-'01 and again from '06-'08.  After the Tigers got him from the Astros in '96, he closed out 226 games until he was flipped to the Twins for Mark Redman in 2001--the Mark Redman that was eventually sent to Florida in a deal for...ugh...Nate Robertson, which is one strike against him.  Another 93 saves followed during his second tenure, but his effectiveness dipped in his final two seasons, and he retired after being let go in 2008.  While you might have expected to see more recent examples of annoying roller-coaster-type closers here, such as Jose Valverde, Jones was the original, and stomachs across the state were at risk of knotting every time he stepped on the mound.  Although he finished his career with more than 300 saves, he's easily my least favorite Tigers closer since my birth.

MGR:  Jim Leyland

How do I defend disliking the guy that's taken the Tigers from awful to two-time Pennant-winners, not to mention shepherding the '97 Marlins to an upset victory over the Indians?  Mainly, I've rarely seen anybody do so little with so much.  The Tigers' turnaround since the start of the 2006 season came courtesy of more spending, spending SMARTER, much better drafting, and bold moves like trading for Miguel Cabrera.  Leyland, meanwhile, has taken some extremely talented teams and often managed to be underwhelming.  Until recently he had a justified reputation for managing teams that went into catastrophic second-half swoons, especially the aforementioned 2009 squad, or the 2006 team that barely squeaked into the playoffs.  It took until 2011 for the Tigers to once again finish atop their division, a feat he fortunately repeated last year and may reprise once more.  This is especially due to his stubbornness and refusal to part from by-the-book matchup splits thinking, which has hurt the team far too often.  Witness productive players like Matt Tuiososopo getting pulled game after game for Don "The Ghost of Gerald Laird" Kelly and his noodle bat.  See him fail to pull fatigued pitchers while having a quick hook for ones that are cruising.  Don't harbor any illusions that the turnaround in Detroit is mainly thanks to the Marlboro Man; there's a reason I'm reusing my "Jim Leyland is terrible at everything except smoking" tag.

With all those pent-up negative feelings out of the way, I'll be back to fun new stuff the next time I post.  Until then, go Tigers! (yes, even Don Kelly and Jim Leyland)