New 2020 Fairfield Re-Packs Top Whatever
Fairfield Repacks are a guilty pleasure of mine whenever I go to the Walgreens. They seem to keep them in stock just for me, as the inventory doesn’t seem to move unless I move it. So I’d assume, Walgreens knows that when I have to pick up a prescription, I get to reward myself with a random assortment of mostly Junk Wax, with some other surprises for only $5!
Last weekend, I dropped by the Walgreens to do my usual, and I found NEW PACKAGING where the Fairfield Repacks are found. The see through window that used to be on the front and left panels, is now gone. Now you can’t get a sneak preview of the top card in the box, nor do you get to figure out which pack is included inside. The new box is nicer looking, and it’s not like you really need to see the top card. Though it was often a deciding factor in choosing which Repack boxes I was going to buy. Which in the case of today, it was three of these new boxes.
A pretty good deal for what it is. Typically I throw about 75% of each repack box right into the garbage after I’ve opened it. Some of the rest will find homes in my permanent collection. Be it in albums or sleeves, or the drastically shrinking Monster box of commons that I’m keeping. While that may seem wasteful, I like to look at it as “creating scarcity.” By throwing away as many junk wax singles as I can, I’m reducing the number of them that can be re-sold! So while you may not notice there are less 1991 Topps Dave Anderson cards on the secondary market as there once was, I’m doing all I can to make sure those Dave Anderson cards have just a little more value. There may still be 17 million of them out there, but there’s now one less that will get in your way!
Since these boxes are different than the Fairfield Repacks that I’ve been buying for the last year and a half, I was a little more interested in breaking them. How different will the 2020 edition of Fairfields be over the 2018-2019 boxes that I’ve been buying? On the whole, will I find a different class of Junk Wax singles and some cards printed in lesser quantities, that I want to keep?
Apparently Fairfield Repacks are a choking hazard! I’ve yet to figure out what could be choked on inside here. It’s probably 1988 Donruss. After seeing that 12 of the 100 cards are 1988 Donruss, you will angrily rip them into pieces, creating that choking hazard for toddlers.
I think I thought this was something else when I set it in the (temporary) “keep” pile. First thinking it was a 2008 Topps Heritage card. Then I thought it was from 2010, since I couldn’t read the microscopic print on the back. It would have helped if I was familiar with Cole Tucker, but the Pirates are a team of 25 people who stir up zero interest in me. Anyway, the card had 3 beat up corners and ended up in the garbage shortly after I scanned it.
Baseball cards were so big 30 years ago that multiple companies were even making Minor League cards. So in addition to getting multiple cards of players that did next to nothing in the big leagues, now you could have multiple cards of players that never even appeared in the major leagues! At least these minor league cards are somewhat novel. You can usually find something interesting printed on them. Just not this example.
As a card manufacturer, Star was known for those rare basketball team sets in the mid 1980’s. Any of the Chicago Bulls editions will set you back a huge penny these days. So many Horace Grant fans! Star started making minor league baseball cards in 1989, with the goal of eventually landing a Major League license. But they never got one.
The rarer mail-in edition of Stadium Club. And one of the least interesting cards from the set. At least Reardon was a former Twin and Expo, and a significant one at that, which may save him from the wastebasket.
Mesa also had a pretty significant career. I remember first seeing his jheri-curl mullet on a 1988 Donruss card, back when I first started collecting baseball cards. He played a prominent role with the Indians, during their 1990’s run. Mesa played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues, including a pretty decent showing for the 2006 Colorado Rockies. Wish I’d gotten that card instead.
Future Oakland Athletics manager. I don’t remember his cards, but Macha logged playing time in 1979 and 1980 with the Montreal Expos. He didn’t play in the majors after a 37 game stint with the Blue Jays in 1981. So this is probably Macha’s last card as a player.
Before his managerial career advanced to the Hall of Fame level with the Atlanta Braves, Cox was fairly anonymous as a Toronto Blue Jay.
Staying in 1986 Topps country, here’s the first Minnesota Twin of this Whatever. Think I already have 4 copies of this card, so I may not bother keeping it.
The first Minnesota Twins card of the Repack that I didn’t already own. It’s nice when you find a common in these boxes that fills a blank spot in the binder. Though, it’s an ugly card and a really not great player... But a need nonetheless...
A Cherry Creek High School uniform, circa 1993! The speedy Denver native was the Detroit Tigers 9th overall pick in the 1993 Draft. He had speed to spare, but absolutely couldn’t hit. Brunson was out of baseball at age 21, in 1996. But he just took a decade off and came back for three seasons of independent ball in 2005 - 2007. Including a 2007 stint with the St. Paul Saints.
My first card from the Front Row 1991 Draft Picks set. Anyone with a camera and access to a printing press was making cards in 1991. Long made a brief 6 game cameo with the 1997 Kansas City Royals, and continued trying until 2000, in the Chicago White Sox organization.
My favorite Amaury Telemaco moment came from any late inning televised Cubs game, when a drunk Harry Carry stumbled over saying his name. And that’s about it.
Future head of the Players Union. How will Clark fare in the 2021 Collective bargaining agreement negotiations? They were already going to be tough to navigate, even before the Coronavirus muddied the landscape. It’s going to be interesting, but I don’t think in a good way for the fans.
Still don’t think I ever saw 1998 Score on sale anywhere. The only cards I have from the set have come from various Repacks. And that's fine, this design does nothing for me.
At least the non-branded minor league “prospect” sets of today are a little nicer looking, than they were 28 years ago. Tucker may still turn into a useful piece for a team, so this will stay on as a wait and see prospect. Unless it’s for the Pirates, then no one will know his name. Even if he makes the All Star Team.
That stupid orange gradient absolutely ruins what could have been a nice looking card. Lose that, but keep everything else and it would be one of my favorite sets of 1992.
I remember Storm Davis from his time with the Oakland Athletics of this era, always being a thorn in the side of the Twins as they battled Oakland for the AL West division crown. In 1990, he signed with Kansas and pitched like a Royal, then bounced around to Baltimore, Oakland (again) and Detroit, until his career was done.
Looks like Jefferson is playing baseball in a basement. I’m still one card short for my 1988 Fleer set. My hopes are to finally acquire that missing card from a pack or box, without having to buy it as a single. Ripping an entire wax box of 1988 Fleer a few months ago still didn’t bring it home.
I try to pay zero attention to the Boston Red Sox at all times, but I think this is a good rookie card to set aside. Or am I thinking of a completely different Red Sox player that I don’t care about?
But I do remember the frenzy of no-hitters during the 1990 season, and was glad to see Score honor that in the 1991 set. I was a Tommy Greene fan back in the early 1990’s, and even though his no hitter was thrown against the Montreal Expos, I won’t hold that against him.
A few years before Rijo dismantled the Athletics in the 1990 World Series, he pitched for them to moderate -at best- success. Oakland acquired Rijo in the December 1984 Rickey Henderson trade, then traded Rijo to Cincinnati in 1987 for Dave Parker. Rijo didn’t pitch due to injury, from 1996-2000, but came back to make 44 appearances for the Reds in 2001 and 2002. A comeback after a five year absence is a rarity in Major League Baseball.
Man it would have been cool if Craig Griffey would have developed into a Major Leaguer. Craig toiled in the minor leagues for 7 seasons, putting up an OPS of only .603. Still one of my favorite cards of 1992.
Although it seems like I am, I’m not intentionally dumping on the Pirates. I just find that organization completely devoid of an identity. Both of these rookies performed well at the highest level in 2019, and maybe both will stick around and become stars in Pittsburgh. And hey, Pirates management, Spend some money on your team! Give your fans a reason to care about one of baseball’s oldest franchises!
Nice retro uniform and a transaction line that doesn’t appear on his 1992 Topps card, despite it being the same picture.
The Minnesota Twins acquired Bedrosian from the San Francisco Giants, prior to the 1991 season. He would be a key piece in the Twins bullpen, leading up to their unexpected World Championship that year. Minnesota traded their #1 pick (20th overall) in the 1988 draft, Johnny Ard, to get this needed hurler. Ard looked to be on the fast track in his first three seasons in the Twins system. However, after the trade, he flamed out rather quickly. While looking this up, I discovered that Johnny Ard died in May 2018. That shocked me.
Anyone outside of Minnesota remember the stretch of time where Junior was in a such a bad slump, that he “changed” his name to Joe Ortiz? Because Joe Ortiz was a better hitter than Junior Ortiz, according to him.
One of Seattle’s top pitching prospects for years, and another one that didn’t pan out. I consistently flip/flop on whether I like 1995 Leaf or not. Individually, the cards are usually decent, but when you look at a bunch of them at the same time, they become redundant. At least this card is one that I like.
One of the many Perez brothers to play professional baseball (Carlos was my favorite). Melido was a solid -but unspectacular- pitcher from 1988-1995, with the Royals, White Sox and Yankees. He was inconsistent throughout his career, and was out of the game before turning 30.
Barberie was drafted 4 times before finally signing with the Montreal Expos in 1988. He never developed into a star, and really didn’t play anywhere near the level that was predicted. I’m still surprised that he played his last major league game in 1996, with only 1660 plate appearances over the course of 6 seasons.
I so wanted Van Poppel to become the next great Oakland Athletics ace. He was one of my favorite Junk Wax Prospector targets. I’d go out of my way to acquire Van Poppel cards, and rooted for any success he had. (Which wasn’t a whole lot.) Oakland finally gave up on their former top prospect in 1996, losing him on waivers to the Detroit Tigers. After the next few seasons bouncing between the Angels, Royals, Rangers and Pirates minor league systems, he found a home, pitching middle relief with the Chicago Cubs. Turning in two productive seasons, before moving on to little success with the Rangers (again) and Cincinnati Reds. After failing a Spring Training audition with the New York Mets in 2005, Van Poppel quietly left the game.
Didn’t realize Honeycutt was a member of the Seattle Mariners during their inaugural 1977 season. And he was still pitching 21 years later. That’s a pretty good career.
I don’t have much to say about 1998 Finest as a set, other than it was a nice return to basics, after the multi-tiered nonsense that Topps put out under it’s Finest label in 1996 and 1997.
I think I may have ranked this card too low. There’s some great hand painted advertising on the outfield wall, Kmart, Shoney’s and SuperAmerica among them. Factor in his name in lights above his pose, and this card is suddenly awesome! This is an absolute keeper!
As is this one! Representing Subway and Budweiser and some others I can’t recognize due to incomplete blurriness.
After all of that unintentional advertising, I think this would be a good time to interrupt the Whatever for a nice Refreshment Break!
When picking up your Fairfield Repacks at Walgreens, remember to swing through their snacks department and pick up some of the Movie Theater Candy. Conveniently priced -unlike the movie theaters- at 4 boxes for $4. Including childhood favorites, such as Mike & Ike’s! 99 Spillihp gas station overnight shift favorites, like Charleston Chews! Laura’s favorites, like Twizzlers Bites!
I thought it was Coke that had the market cornered on calling diet soda products “Zero”. Nope. Pepsi is doing it now too. Being a long time supporter of Diet Mountain Dew (since it doesn’t taste overly nasty at room temperature), I figured that I’d give Mountain Dew Zero it’s day in court.
In the mid 1990’s, autographed cards in packs were just getting off the ground. Companies like Classic, Signature Rookies and whomever made Old Judge, were paying anyone who signed a professional sports contract to sign thousands of barely licensed cards. And if you ever wondered what happened to these failed prospect autographs, I’m sure Fairfield bought them by the metric ton. Not that it’s a bad thing. Sure you’ll probably get an autograph of a player you’ve likely never heard of, but you may get something semi worthwhile.
You’ll typically get around 5 cards in each Repack from the most recent season. They kind of stand out like a sore thumb against all the junk wax contained within. I’m usually pretty indifferent towards Topps’ Gypsy Queen line, but I am a fan of the Marlins’ Brian Anderson.
Looking at this picture, I wonder if Jeff made contact with the pitch. From the angle of the ball to the location of the bat, this looks like a certain swing and a miss.
The former Minnesota Twins phenom, Wynegar played in 137 games at catcher in 1976. At only 20 years old! I don’t think that type of workload at that position, at that age, will ever be replicated. Wynegar managed a respectable career, spanning 13 seasons with the Twins, Yankees and Angels. But never became the superstar that was predicted of him.
All the black, yellow and blue on this card is jarring, but I like it. Tunnell’s last 12 innings of Major League Baseball came in a forgettable stint with the Twins in 1989. No one made a card for that.
Astacio was a pitcher who actually fared reasonably well at Coors Field. During his 5 years with the Rockies, Astacio posted a record of 53-48.
But my favorite memory of Astacio came after his brush with domestic violence in 1999. Not to make light of what happened, he was charged with assaulting his wife, which is by no means cool. But I happened to be at the next Rockies game where he pitched. Super A’s fan Rob was with me that night. When Astacio came to bat, he was loudly booed by the home crowd. However, he lined a single into center field and the crowd changed from boos to cheers instantly.
The submariner from South Korea was one of my favorite pitchers from the early 2000’s. Though after his showing in the 2001 World Series, I thought his short run might have been over. After a few years as the closer for the Diamondbacks, Kim was traded to the Red Sox, and then the Colorado Rockies, who used him as a starting pitcher in 2005 and 2006. He pitched acceptable, but I remember the announcers saying his name really fast to the point where many non-fans thought his name was “Yum Yum Kim”. Which would be a lot funnier if it was true.
A rookie card of future Montreal Expos great Moises Alou is a welcome addition to my collection. I only had two of these cards before today.
I will also keep another rookie card of Denny Neagle. After showing promise in the Twins organization, he was traded for John Smiley in Spring Training 1992. The Twins needed an ace to replace Jack Morris, who left for the Toronto Blue Jays after winning the World Series. Smiley leftfor Cincinnati after the 1992 season. They didn't bother replacing him for 1993.
In 2001, Neagle signed a five year, $51 million dollar contract with the Colorado Rockies. While I was excited by the signing, it turned out to be one of the worst contract decisions in Rockies history. One of, there were too many of them to rank this as the top one. Despite the contract running through the 2005 season, Neagle last pitched in 2003. Various injuries and a solicitation of prostitution charge in 2004, led to the Rockies voiding his contract. An attempted comeback with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005 led to nothing.
Hooray for another Knobakablach rookie card! One of my big “wins” as a junk wax prospector! I really need to finish my Junk Wax Prospector story that I’ve been working on and off for over a year and a half now. Also need to write a bunch of those. Had so many planned...
Despite two seasons with the Montreal Expos, I still only remember Calderon with the Chicago White Sox. But I really like his 1993 Topps card. This is my 5th copy of it!
For some reason, Fairfield has a ton of copies of Cal Ripken’s 1986 Topps card. I’ve picked up 5 of them over the last couple years, all from Fairfield Repacks. As a Ripken fan, I’ll never complain about getting more of these. It’s better than puling 5 more 1991 Topps Ripkens…
This one in the form of an autograph of another failed prospect. Herrera had tons of speed, but never hit much. Herrera played in the minor leagues for both the Cardinals and Indians organizations from 2011-2017, but only made it as far as AA. Only for 46 games total, managing just a meager .397 OPS.
Beyond being a rookie card of someone that still has a chance at becoming a star (now for the Rays), this is just a really nice photograph.
As is this one. That purple sky cast against the classic home white of the old Expos uniforms is beyond great. Not sure how many copies of this card I have, but it’s got to be approaching at least ten. And I’d still take more.
Here’s a new card to my collection of a player that I was a big fan of. Harper was a touted prospect that made his major league debut at age 19, with the California Angels, in 1979. After bouncing around through the Angels, Pirates, Cardinals, Tigers and Athletics organizations, now 28 years old, Harper signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins, in January 1988.
The Twins needed a backup catcher to Tim Laudner, and Harper was called up in mid-season to help. No one could have predicted how important Harper would be to the Twins over the next 6 seasons. It wasn’t long before Harper became the Twins every day catcher, over Laudner. From 1988 through 1993, Harper hit an amazing .306 / .342 / .431 over nearly 2700 plate appearances. Great numbers for any position, but at catcher, that is near superstar level production.
With the Coronavirus stopping all professional sports, the MLB Network has been showing old games to fill airspace. Including some of the games from the 1991 World Series, which really showed off Harper’s all around skills at the position. That hit he took from Lonnie Smith in game 4 had to have given him a concussion, but Harper miraculously held onto the ball. One of the most vicious hits I’ve ever seen a catcher take.
Brian Harper was a great Minnesota Twin, and a really nice person outside the stadium. He never turned down an autograph request that I saw, and was friendly to anyone that wanted to talk to him before and after games. He resurrected his career in a huge way after it looked to be on the decline, becoming one of the more important Twins catchers in team history.
I have five 1984 Topps cards of Yankees manager Billy Martin, but I never had the 1984 Topps Traded card of his replacement. Not only a Hall of Famer, but a legend of the game. For whatever reason, the 1984 Topps Traded set is the only Topps Traded set of the 1980’s that I’ve never owned. And I’m not a Yankees fan by any means, but how could you not love Yogi Berra? Very happy to own this card. Up until now, I didn’t know how much I had wanted it.
So now that I’ve gotten all the way through the 300 single cards in the new 2020 Fairfield Repack boxes, I’ve yet to mention any of the packs that accompanied them.
Each of the three Fairfield Repack boxes contained a 7 card retail pack of 2019 Topps Opening Day. Hoped for a little diversity, but at least this is better than the non-stop packs of 1991 Score or 1990 and 1991 Donruss. I actually saved 7 of the cards I got from these packs, whereas the junk wax ones got tossed directly into the trash. Save for a Twins or Expos card, that I may have wanted 6 more copies of.
I rarely buy the Topps Opening Day line, but something I’ve always liked about it is the odd inserts that don’t find their way into Topps base set. Like cards of team mascots!
The blue parallels in the 2019 set are really sharp. Even if they don’t scan well. But hey, it’s another Brian Anderson card. And I sure do seem to get those pretty easily these days.
The 150 Years of Baseball insert set in 2019 Topps was replicated in Opening Day. I didn’t have the regular issue Lou Gehrig 150 Years of Baseball insert, but I’ll gladly add the Opening Day version to my 2019 binders.
Out of the last of those three packs, I pulled a Montreal Expos card that I’d never seen before. Ending this Repack box(es) break on the most positive of notes. Great photo as well.
Out of the 300 cards contained within, I probably kept around 50 of them. The rest went into the trash (creating scarcity!) Some will make their way into my library of three ring binders and some will go into my team sorted sleeved boxes. For my three teams collections, I uncovered 9 Expos (3 of which I needed), 12 Twins (1 of which was needed, good ol’ Nick Blackburn) and 1 Colorado Rockie. Which I already had.
Next time Laura needs me to make a Walgreens run to pick up a prescription, I will take that detour through the toy aisle to see if any more boxes of Fairfield Repacks have been stocked.
Last weekend, I dropped by the Walgreens to do my usual, and I found NEW PACKAGING where the Fairfield Repacks are found. The see through window that used to be on the front and left panels, is now gone. Now you can’t get a sneak preview of the top card in the box, nor do you get to figure out which pack is included inside. The new box is nicer looking, and it’s not like you really need to see the top card. Though it was often a deciding factor in choosing which Repack boxes I was going to buy. Which in the case of today, it was three of these new boxes.
I smell a Whatever!
And here’s what you get:
100 random cards (most of which are from 1986-1993) and an unopened wax pack for $4.99.
A pretty good deal for what it is. Typically I throw about 75% of each repack box right into the garbage after I’ve opened it. Some of the rest will find homes in my permanent collection. Be it in albums or sleeves, or the drastically shrinking Monster box of commons that I’m keeping. While that may seem wasteful, I like to look at it as “creating scarcity.” By throwing away as many junk wax singles as I can, I’m reducing the number of them that can be re-sold! So while you may not notice there are less 1991 Topps Dave Anderson cards on the secondary market as there once was, I’m doing all I can to make sure those Dave Anderson cards have just a little more value. There may still be 17 million of them out there, but there’s now one less that will get in your way!
Since these boxes are different than the Fairfield Repacks that I’ve been buying for the last year and a half, I was a little more interested in breaking them. How different will the 2020 edition of Fairfields be over the 2018-2019 boxes that I’ve been buying? On the whole, will I find a different class of Junk Wax singles and some cards printed in lesser quantities, that I want to keep?
With that in mind, I present my newest Top Whatever:
The 2020 Fairfield Repack Edition!
This will count down the top 75 cards from the three boxes that caught my eye.
Ranked in order of how much I liked them.
Pretty simple!
WATCH OUT!!!
Apparently Fairfield Repacks are a choking hazard! I’ve yet to figure out what could be choked on inside here. It’s probably 1988 Donruss. After seeing that 12 of the 100 cards are 1988 Donruss, you will angrily rip them into pieces, creating that choking hazard for toddlers.
Kind of a reach...
Without further delay, here are the Top 75 Cards from 3 boxes of 2020 Fairfield Repacks!
#75 - 2019 Topps Archives Cole Tucker
I think I thought this was something else when I set it in the (temporary) “keep” pile. First thinking it was a 2008 Topps Heritage card. Then I thought it was from 2010, since I couldn’t read the microscopic print on the back. It would have helped if I was familiar with Cole Tucker, but the Pirates are a team of 25 people who stir up zero interest in me. Anyway, the card had 3 beat up corners and ended up in the garbage shortly after I scanned it.
Not even his curly mullet saved this one…
#74 - 1991 Line Drive Trey McCoy
Baseball cards were so big 30 years ago that multiple companies were even making Minor League cards. So in addition to getting multiple cards of players that did next to nothing in the big leagues, now you could have multiple cards of players that never even appeared in the major leagues! At least these minor league cards are somewhat novel. You can usually find something interesting printed on them. Just not this example.
#73 - 1993 Score Cris Colon
I don’t remember this guy at all…
NEXT!
#72 - 1990 Star Mike Twardoski
As a card manufacturer, Star was known for those rare basketball team sets in the mid 1980’s. Any of the Chicago Bulls editions will set you back a huge penny these days. So many Horace Grant fans! Star started making minor league baseball cards in 1989, with the goal of eventually landing a Major League license. But they never got one.
#71 - 1991 Stadium Club Jeff Reardon Members Only
#70 - 1981 Topps Mike Heath
Mike Heath had a much longer career than I remember.
#69 - 1997 Leaf Jose Mesa
Mesa also had a pretty significant career. I remember first seeing his jheri-curl mullet on a 1988 Donruss card, back when I first started collecting baseball cards. He played a prominent role with the Indians, during their 1990’s run. Mesa played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues, including a pretty decent showing for the 2006 Colorado Rockies. Wish I’d gotten that card instead.
#68 - 1983 Fleer Bobby Murcer
In a set filled with interesting photos, this is one of the least interesting.
#67 - 1982 Topps Ken Macha
Future Oakland Athletics manager. I don’t remember his cards, but Macha logged playing time in 1979 and 1980 with the Montreal Expos. He didn’t play in the majors after a 37 game stint with the Blue Jays in 1981. So this is probably Macha’s last card as a player.
#66 - 1998 Topps Fernando Vina
This is a slight improvement over the Brewers really bad idea uniform change of 1994.
#65 - 1991 Line Drive Lou Talbert
Heheheheh... He’s a Chick...
#64 - 1986 Topps Bobby Cox
Before his managerial career advanced to the Hall of Fame level with the Atlanta Braves, Cox was fairly anonymous as a Toronto Blue Jay.
#63 - 1986 Topps Frank Eufemia
Staying in 1986 Topps country, here’s the first Minnesota Twin of this Whatever. Think I already have 4 copies of this card, so I may not bother keeping it.
#62 - 2010 Topps T-206 Nick Blackburn
The first Minnesota Twins card of the Repack that I didn’t already own. It’s nice when you find a common in these boxes that fills a blank spot in the binder. Though, it’s an ugly card and a really not great player... But a need nonetheless...
#61 - 1994 Classic 4 Sport Matt Brunson
A Cherry Creek High School uniform, circa 1993! The speedy Denver native was the Detroit Tigers 9th overall pick in the 1993 Draft. He had speed to spare, but absolutely couldn’t hit. Brunson was out of baseball at age 21, in 1996. But he just took a decade off and came back for three seasons of independent ball in 2005 - 2007. Including a 2007 stint with the St. Paul Saints.
Think that I will keep this card.
#60 - 1994 Classic 4 Sport Joe Wagner
From the same set, we have one of the lowest quality photos to ever appear on a baseball card.
Wonder if that’s his mom’s house in the background?
#59 - 1991 Front Row Ryan Long
My first card from the Front Row 1991 Draft Picks set. Anyone with a camera and access to a printing press was making cards in 1991. Long made a brief 6 game cameo with the 1997 Kansas City Royals, and continued trying until 2000, in the Chicago White Sox organization.
Think I will keep this card too…
#58 - 1997 Fleer Amaury Telemaco
My favorite Amaury Telemaco moment came from any late inning televised Cubs game, when a drunk Harry Carry stumbled over saying his name. And that’s about it.
#57 - 1997 Pinnacle Tony Clark
Future head of the Players Union. How will Clark fare in the 2021 Collective bargaining agreement negotiations? They were already going to be tough to navigate, even before the Coronavirus muddied the landscape. It’s going to be interesting, but I don’t think in a good way for the fans.
#56 - 1991 O Pee Chee Premier Rene Gonzales
Still a big endorsee of 1991 O Pee Chee Premier for no apparent reason.
One of the most worthless sets of 1991, but I still like it.
And why did Topps crop this photo like the negative slipped on the light table?
#55 - 1998 Score Jermaine Allensworth
#54 - 1995 Flair Kirk Gibson
Forgot that Gibson went back to Detroit to finish his career.
#53 - 2018 Panini Stars & Stripes Bryce Tucker
At least the non-branded minor league “prospect” sets of today are a little nicer looking, than they were 28 years ago. Tucker may still turn into a useful piece for a team, so this will stay on as a wait and see prospect. Unless it’s for the Pirates, then no one will know his name. Even if he makes the All Star Team.
#52 - 1992 Score Storm Davis
I remember Storm Davis from his time with the Oakland Athletics of this era, always being a thorn in the side of the Twins as they battled Oakland for the AL West division crown. In 1990, he signed with Kansas and pitched like a Royal, then bounced around to Baltimore, Oakland (again) and Detroit, until his career was done.
#51 - 1988 Fleer Stan Jefferson
Looks like Jefferson is playing baseball in a basement. I’m still one card short for my 1988 Fleer set. My hopes are to finally acquire that missing card from a pack or box, without having to buy it as a single. Ripping an entire wax box of 1988 Fleer a few months ago still didn’t bring it home.
Where are you Bruce Ruffin?
I still really like 1988 Fleer for some strange reason.
#50 - 1994 Upper Deck Tim Belcher
Honestly do not remember Belcher the Tiger.
#49 - 1990 Donruss Andres Galarraga
Keeping this one, because I need 8 of this card.
#48 - 2019 Topps Heritage Michael Chavis
I try to pay zero attention to the Boston Red Sox at all times, but I think this is a good rookie card to set aside. Or am I thinking of a completely different Red Sox player that I don’t care about?
#47 - 1991 Score Tommy Greene No Hit Club
But I do remember the frenzy of no-hitters during the 1990 season, and was glad to see Score honor that in the 1991 set. I was a Tommy Greene fan back in the early 1990’s, and even though his no hitter was thrown against the Montreal Expos, I won’t hold that against him.
#46 - 1986 Topps Terry Leach
Our old friend Terry Leach in 1986 Topps New York Mets form...
#45 - 1991 Fleer Terry Leach
And in (hideous) 1991 Fleer Minnesota Twins form...
Both are keepers because I’m a huge fan of Terry Leach.
#44 - 1987 Topps Jose Rijo
A few years before Rijo dismantled the Athletics in the 1990 World Series, he pitched for them to moderate -at best- success. Oakland acquired Rijo in the December 1984 Rickey Henderson trade, then traded Rijo to Cincinnati in 1987 for Dave Parker. Rijo didn’t pitch due to injury, from 1996-2000, but came back to make 44 appearances for the Reds in 2001 and 2002. A comeback after a five year absence is a rarity in Major League Baseball.
#43 - 1992 Upper Deck Bloodlines Griffey's
Man it would have been cool if Craig Griffey would have developed into a Major Leaguer. Craig toiled in the minor leagues for 7 seasons, putting up an OPS of only .603. Still one of my favorite cards of 1992.
#42 - 1989 Fleer Roger McDowell
I just like the bat rack.
#41 - 2019 Topps Heritage Pirates Rookies
Although it seems like I am, I’m not intentionally dumping on the Pirates. I just find that organization completely devoid of an identity. Both of these rookies performed well at the highest level in 2019, and maybe both will stick around and become stars in Pittsburgh. And hey, Pirates management, Spend some money on your team! Give your fans a reason to care about one of baseball’s oldest franchises!
Provided we ever get back to playing games again...
#40 - 1992 O Pee Chee Eric Davis
Nice retro uniform and a transaction line that doesn’t appear on his 1992 Topps card, despite it being the same picture.
#39 - 1993 Upper Deck Rob Deer
Just a great dugout shot.
#38 - 1984 Topps Steve Bedrosian
The Minnesota Twins acquired Bedrosian from the San Francisco Giants, prior to the 1991 season. He would be a key piece in the Twins bullpen, leading up to their unexpected World Championship that year. Minnesota traded their #1 pick (20th overall) in the 1988 draft, Johnny Ard, to get this needed hurler. Ard looked to be on the fast track in his first three seasons in the Twins system. However, after the trade, he flamed out rather quickly. While looking this up, I discovered that Johnny Ard died in May 2018. That shocked me.
#37 - 2018 Topps David Dahl
I already have several copies of this card, but I’ve been a big Dahl fan since he was drafted.
#36 - 1992 Score Junior Ortiz
Anyone outside of Minnesota remember the stretch of time where Junior was in a such a bad slump, that he “changed” his name to Joe Ortiz? Because Joe Ortiz was a better hitter than Junior Ortiz, according to him.
I do, and that was something that endeared me to Ortiz for the rest of his career.
#35 - 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best Glenn Davis
As sick as I am of 1988 Donruss, those orange borders are rather striking.
#34 - 1995 Leaf Roger Salkeld
One of Seattle’s top pitching prospects for years, and another one that didn’t pan out. I consistently flip/flop on whether I like 1995 Leaf or not. Individually, the cards are usually decent, but when you look at a bunch of them at the same time, they become redundant. At least this card is one that I like.
#33 - 1985 Donruss Alejandro Pena
Always liked 1985 Donruss…
#32 - 1992 O Pee Chee Premier Melido Perez
One of the many Perez brothers to play professional baseball (Carlos was my favorite). Melido was a solid -but unspectacular- pitcher from 1988-1995, with the Royals, White Sox and Yankees. He was inconsistent throughout his career, and was out of the game before turning 30.
#31 - 1994 Score Bret Barberie
Barberie was drafted 4 times before finally signing with the Montreal Expos in 1988. He never developed into a star, and really didn’t play anywhere near the level that was predicted. I’m still surprised that he played his last major league game in 1996, with only 1660 plate appearances over the course of 6 seasons.
#30 - 1992 Pinnacle Todd Van Poppel
I so wanted Van Poppel to become the next great Oakland Athletics ace. He was one of my favorite Junk Wax Prospector targets. I’d go out of my way to acquire Van Poppel cards, and rooted for any success he had. (Which wasn’t a whole lot.) Oakland finally gave up on their former top prospect in 1996, losing him on waivers to the Detroit Tigers. After the next few seasons bouncing between the Angels, Royals, Rangers and Pirates minor league systems, he found a home, pitching middle relief with the Chicago Cubs. Turning in two productive seasons, before moving on to little success with the Rangers (again) and Cincinnati Reds. After failing a Spring Training audition with the New York Mets in 2005, Van Poppel quietly left the game.
Guess my stash of Van Poppel cards won’t be netting me a winter home in Arizona any time soon.
Which is fine, I wouldn’t want to live there anyway...
#29 - 1981 Topps Rick Honeycutt
Didn’t realize Honeycutt was a member of the Seattle Mariners during their inaugural 1977 season. And he was still pitching 21 years later. That’s a pretty good career.
#28 - 1998 Finest Joe Girardi
I don’t have much to say about 1998 Finest as a set, other than it was a nice return to basics, after the multi-tiered nonsense that Topps put out under it’s Finest label in 1996 and 1997.
#27 - 1990 Best Todd Watson
I think I may have ranked this card too low. There’s some great hand painted advertising on the outfield wall, Kmart, Shoney’s and SuperAmerica among them. Factor in his name in lights above his pose, and this card is suddenly awesome! This is an absolute keeper!
#26 - 1990 Star Joey Wardlow
As is this one! Representing Subway and Budweiser and some others I can’t recognize due to incomplete blurriness.
After all of that unintentional advertising, I think this would be a good time to interrupt the Whatever for a nice Refreshment Break!
When picking up your Fairfield Repacks at Walgreens, remember to swing through their snacks department and pick up some of the Movie Theater Candy. Conveniently priced -unlike the movie theaters- at 4 boxes for $4. Including childhood favorites, such as Mike & Ike’s! 99 Spillihp gas station overnight shift favorites, like Charleston Chews! Laura’s favorites, like Twizzlers Bites!
Or Sno Caps!
"The candy that no one buys!"
(Thanks, Doktor!)
But you’ll want to find something to wash it all down that is better than the new Mountain Dew Zero.
Yeah... Not impressive. How can something taste even more sugary when you remove all the sugar?
What may be impressive is your odds of getting a “hit” from a Fairfield Repack.
1 in 4 isn’t bad odds for $5…
But your “hit” isn’t exactly going to be a 2009 Bowman Chrome Mike Trout autograph.
What you’ll get will be more along the lines of this:
#25 - 1995 Old Judge T-96 Jim Bowie Autograph
In the mid 1990’s, autographed cards in packs were just getting off the ground. Companies like Classic, Signature Rookies and whomever made Old Judge, were paying anyone who signed a professional sports contract to sign thousands of barely licensed cards. And if you ever wondered what happened to these failed prospect autographs, I’m sure Fairfield bought them by the metric ton. Not that it’s a bad thing. Sure you’ll probably get an autograph of a player you’ve likely never heard of, but you may get something semi worthwhile.
Jim Bowie did manage to take 14 at-bats for the 1994 Oakland Athletics, hitting three singles.
#24 - 2019 Gypsy Queen Brian Anderson
#23 - 1996 Ultra Jeff Kent
Looking at this picture, I wonder if Jeff made contact with the pitch. From the angle of the ball to the location of the bat, this looks like a certain swing and a miss.
#22 - 1985 Fleer Butch Wynegar
The former Minnesota Twins phenom, Wynegar played in 137 games at catcher in 1976. At only 20 years old! I don’t think that type of workload at that position, at that age, will ever be replicated. Wynegar managed a respectable career, spanning 13 seasons with the Twins, Yankees and Angels. But never became the superstar that was predicted of him.
Perhaps because he was rushed into 137 games, catching in the major leagues at age 20.
#21 - 1998 Stadium Club Randy Velarde
Those late 1990’s Disney Angels uniforms are so bad that they’re almost good.
Almost.
#20 - 1985 Topps Lee Tunnell
All the black, yellow and blue on this card is jarring, but I like it. Tunnell’s last 12 innings of Major League Baseball came in a forgettable stint with the Twins in 1989. No one made a card for that.
#19 - 2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Russell Branyon
I have only a few cards from this set. While the design is far busier than I usually like, this works.
#18 - 2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Chan Ho Park
And Park was a better player than Branyon.
#17 - 1994 Donruss Pedro Astacio
Astacio was a pitcher who actually fared reasonably well at Coors Field. During his 5 years with the Rockies, Astacio posted a record of 53-48.
But my favorite memory of Astacio came after his brush with domestic violence in 1999. Not to make light of what happened, he was charged with assaulting his wife, which is by no means cool. But I happened to be at the next Rockies game where he pitched. Super A’s fan Rob was with me that night. When Astacio came to bat, he was loudly booed by the home crowd. However, he lined a single into center field and the crowd changed from boos to cheers instantly.
We both found that amusing.
Think that may have even been the game where we were stuck at the ticket window behind a woman negotiating to buy the whole team.
But I’ve mellowed since then!
How did you feel about fickle Rockies fans, Rob?
And I bet you know someone that may have liked the #16 on the Whatevr...
#16 - 1986 Donruss Bill Stein
Here because it was simply a photo I liked. I've never kept a Bill Stein card that wasn't part of a set.
But I'll keep this one.
#15 - 2001 Pacific Byung Hyun Kim
The submariner from South Korea was one of my favorite pitchers from the early 2000’s. Though after his showing in the 2001 World Series, I thought his short run might have been over. After a few years as the closer for the Diamondbacks, Kim was traded to the Red Sox, and then the Colorado Rockies, who used him as a starting pitcher in 2005 and 2006. He pitched acceptable, but I remember the announcers saying his name really fast to the point where many non-fans thought his name was “Yum Yum Kim”. Which would be a lot funnier if it was true.
#14 - 1990 Fleer Chuck McElroy & Moises Alou
A rookie card of future Montreal Expos great Moises Alou is a welcome addition to my collection. I only had two of these cards before today.
#13 - 1991 Line Drive Ted Williams
Not THAT Ted Williams...
But I’ll still keep a card of this Ted Williams!
#12 - 1991 Upper Deck Final Edition Denny Neagle
I will also keep another rookie card of Denny Neagle. After showing promise in the Twins organization, he was traded for John Smiley in Spring Training 1992. The Twins needed an ace to replace Jack Morris, who left for the Toronto Blue Jays after winning the World Series. Smiley leftfor Cincinnati after the 1992 season. They didn't bother replacing him for 1993.
In 2001, Neagle signed a five year, $51 million dollar contract with the Colorado Rockies. While I was excited by the signing, it turned out to be one of the worst contract decisions in Rockies history. One of, there were too many of them to rank this as the top one. Despite the contract running through the 2005 season, Neagle last pitched in 2003. Various injuries and a solicitation of prostitution charge in 2004, led to the Rockies voiding his contract. An attempted comeback with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005 led to nothing.
#11 - 1990 Bowman Chuck Knoblauch
#10 - 1994 Bowman's Best Brian Barber
Which would be similar to, but larger than, my Brian Barber story from a couple years ago.
#9 - 1992 Upper Deck Clemente Nunez
Always liked the first Florida Marlins card made by Upper Deck.
Even if Nunez never pitched in the Major Leagues.
#8 - 1993 Topps Ivan Calderon
Despite two seasons with the Montreal Expos, I still only remember Calderon with the Chicago White Sox. But I really like his 1993 Topps card. This is my 5th copy of it!
#7 - 2018 Topps Mike Trout Legends in the Making
Yup, keeping this one too...
#6 - 1986 Topps Cal Ripken
For some reason, Fairfield has a ton of copies of Cal Ripken’s 1986 Topps card. I’ve picked up 5 of them over the last couple years, all from Fairfield Repacks. As a Ripken fan, I’ll never complain about getting more of these. It’s better than puling 5 more 1991 Topps Ripkens…
#5 - 2015 Bowman Chrome Juan Herrera Autograph
Cool! Another Hit!
This one in the form of an autograph of another failed prospect. Herrera had tons of speed, but never hit much. Herrera played in the minor leagues for both the Cardinals and Indians organizations from 2011-2017, but only made it as far as AA. Only for 46 games total, managing just a meager .397 OPS.
#4 - 2017 Bowman Manny Margot
Beyond being a rookie card of someone that still has a chance at becoming a star (now for the Rays), this is just a really nice photograph.
#3 - 1992 Upper Deck Rondell White
As is this one. That purple sky cast against the classic home white of the old Expos uniforms is beyond great. Not sure how many copies of this card I have, but it’s got to be approaching at least ten. And I’d still take more.
#2 - 1985 Fleer Brian Harper
The Twins needed a backup catcher to Tim Laudner, and Harper was called up in mid-season to help. No one could have predicted how important Harper would be to the Twins over the next 6 seasons. It wasn’t long before Harper became the Twins every day catcher, over Laudner. From 1988 through 1993, Harper hit an amazing .306 / .342 / .431 over nearly 2700 plate appearances. Great numbers for any position, but at catcher, that is near superstar level production.
With the Coronavirus stopping all professional sports, the MLB Network has been showing old games to fill airspace. Including some of the games from the 1991 World Series, which really showed off Harper’s all around skills at the position. That hit he took from Lonnie Smith in game 4 had to have given him a concussion, but Harper miraculously held onto the ball. One of the most vicious hits I’ve ever seen a catcher take.
(Not a “hit” from the repack, this was signed in person after a game in 1990.)
Brian Harper was a great Minnesota Twin, and a really nice person outside the stadium. He never turned down an autograph request that I saw, and was friendly to anyone that wanted to talk to him before and after games. He resurrected his career in a huge way after it looked to be on the decline, becoming one of the more important Twins catchers in team history.
After saying all that, you’d think there would be no way that I could have gotten a better card from Fairfield.
Coincidentally, this Whatever’s number one card is also of a catcher...
#1 - 1984 Topps Traded Yogi Berra
I have five 1984 Topps cards of Yankees manager Billy Martin, but I never had the 1984 Topps Traded card of his replacement. Not only a Hall of Famer, but a legend of the game. For whatever reason, the 1984 Topps Traded set is the only Topps Traded set of the 1980’s that I’ve never owned. And I’m not a Yankees fan by any means, but how could you not love Yogi Berra? Very happy to own this card. Up until now, I didn’t know how much I had wanted it.
So now that I’ve gotten all the way through the 300 single cards in the new 2020 Fairfield Repack boxes, I’ve yet to mention any of the packs that accompanied them.
2019 Topps Opening Day packs
Each of the three Fairfield Repack boxes contained a 7 card retail pack of 2019 Topps Opening Day. Hoped for a little diversity, but at least this is better than the non-stop packs of 1991 Score or 1990 and 1991 Donruss. I actually saved 7 of the cards I got from these packs, whereas the junk wax ones got tossed directly into the trash. Save for a Twins or Expos card, that I may have wanted 6 more copies of.
Among the 7 cards I kept from the packs:
Mascots Mr. Red
I rarely buy the Topps Opening Day line, but something I’ve always liked about it is the odd inserts that don’t find their way into Topps base set. Like cards of team mascots!
Brian Anderson Blue Parallel
The blue parallels in the 2019 set are really sharp. Even if they don’t scan well. But hey, it’s another Brian Anderson card. And I sure do seem to get those pretty easily these days.
Lou Gehrig 150 Years of Baseball
The 150 Years of Baseball insert set in 2019 Topps was replicated in Opening Day. I didn’t have the regular issue Lou Gehrig 150 Years of Baseball insert, but I’ll gladly add the Opening Day version to my 2019 binders.
Gary Carter 150 Years of Baseball
Out of the last of those three packs, I pulled a Montreal Expos card that I’d never seen before. Ending this Repack box(es) break on the most positive of notes. Great photo as well.
Without the window cut out to reveal the top card, the unfolded box is quite nice!
Out of the 300 cards contained within, I probably kept around 50 of them. The rest went into the trash (creating scarcity!) Some will make their way into my library of three ring binders and some will go into my team sorted sleeved boxes. For my three teams collections, I uncovered 9 Expos (3 of which I needed), 12 Twins (1 of which was needed, good ol’ Nick Blackburn) and 1 Colorado Rockie. Which I already had.
Most importantly, these were a bunch of fun to flip through. Just as rediscovering old commons tends to be.
Next time Laura needs me to make a Walgreens run to pick up a prescription, I will take that detour through the toy aisle to see if any more boxes of Fairfield Repacks have been stocked.
They always have been!
I’m probably the only one buying them.
Thanks Fairfield.
Next time I’m in Des Moines, I’ll return some of the unwanted stuff from your RePacks.
Then you can re-sell them all over again!
As I was finishing up this story, the MLB Network was showing a Montreal Expos game!
Unfortunately, it was David Cone's perfect game from 1999, but still, the Expos are on TV!
Sure hope they can pull this win out!
I don't know where you live so it may not apply, but try recycling your junk cards instead of putting them in the trash. Cardboard is recyclable unless it's a glossy chrome card or something. Here in California curbside recycling bins take all sorts of paper and recycle it.
ReplyDelete