Team MVPs, 1982 Fleer

 

OK, making very modest progress on attempting to put this series to bed. This is the second edition of this series this year, improving on my one-per-year schedule from the last few years.

But still got quite a few sets to get through as I travel backwards through the sets I've completed.

The last set I covered was 1983 Fleer, and now it's '82 Fleer's turn. This is where I determine the "Team MVP" for each team in a particular set, what I think is the best card.

I bought a fair amount of Fleer in 1982. Like in 1981, I was attempting to collect all three sets, which was foolishness for someone on a paper boy's salary. But that's all I knew. I ended up with somewhere around 300 cards in the set, but it was enough to get an idea that the set was not well-photographed nor cropped all that great.

However, I like the set a lot, for the color-coordinated borders, the extremely weird and interesting photos and for providing a solid look at the day in the life of a major league ballplayer -- which sets today do not do at all. Thank goodness for 1980s Fleer.

All right, the Team MVPs have been arranged and grouped to reflect the division alignments in 1982. Let's go.

American League East

Orioles: Steve Stone; Red Sox: Dennis Eckersley; Indians: Joe Charboneau; Tigers: Rick Peters; Brewers: Ben Oglivie; Yankees: Bobby Brown; Blue Jays: John Mayberry

Team with the best cards: Orioles.

Team with the worst cards: Tigers, not too exciting.

Team I should go back and check again: Yankees. The Yankees have some pretty good portrait/candid shots in this set -- I really like the Aurelio Rodriguez card -- but I went with one of the few action shots the team has.

American League West

Angels: Ken Forsch; White Sox: Bill Almon; Royals: Dan Quisenberry; Twins: Darrell Jackson; A's: Jeff Jones; Mariners: Casey Parsons; Rangers: Al Oliver

Team with the best cards: White Sox. I really like the old-timey uniforms with the blue borders in this set. The Almon card, and any card from this time period where the White Sox player is pictured with a player from another team, is a favorite because I love how the two players seem to come from different eras, like there was some sort of time travel collision.

Team with the worst cards: Angels.

Team I should go back and check again: Rangers. The John Ellis is a classic catcher's stance but I really like the idea of Al Oliver gathering up all his equipment preparing to go into the field.

National League East

Cubs: Rawly Eastwick; Expos: Brad Mills; Mets: Pete Falcone; Phillies: Manny Trillo; Pirates: Tony Pena; Cardinals: Bob Sykes

Team with the best cards: Pirates. The best in the entire set. The very nice Steve Nicosia-blowing-a-bubble card is probably the third-best card in the team set. Meanwhile bubble blowers are the Team MVP for the A's and Expos.

Team with the worst cards: Phillies or Cardinals.

Team I should go back and check again: Expos or Mets. Two classic cards for each overwhelmed everything else.

National League West

Braves: Gaylord Perry; Reds: Ken Griffey; Astros: Joe Sambito; Dodgers: Steve Garvey; Padres: Juan Eichelberger; Giants: Jack Clark

Best: Braves, but that Perry just bullies its way in.

Worst: Reds aren't very interesting.

Team I should go back and check again: Giants. That Jack Clark is awesome but I am stunned that Fleer chose a photo of the player receiving a strike call, in no uncertain terms, on the player's OWN CARD. Maybe I should've gone with that Greg Minton staredown.

So there you are. I did finish the 1982 Fleer set last year -- no, I didn't bother with all the error cards. 

Up next, either Fleer again, in 1981 or maybe Donruss' debut. Gonna try to get to that before the year is through.