Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 2002 Fleer Baseball
Fleer’s flagship baseball brand was a mainstay from 1981 to 1997. They switched gears in 1998 with the debut of their new flagship product, Fleer Tradition. This would be an annual release from 1998 until the company’s bankruptcy in 2005. Upper Deck bought the rights to Fleer, but only released one lone Tradition set in 2006.
2002 Fleer Baseball was kind of a random return to the regular brand name, serving as kind of an homage to its earlier days. The base set consists of 540 cards, including four subsets. The design prominently features red, white, and blue, which kind of brings me back to 1988 Fleer Baseball. In another throwback to earlier times, there was a Barry Bonds Career Highlights insert using the same design as the Roger Clemens version included in 1992 Fleer.
As a chase for this release, there are Classic Cuts relic cards, autographs, and autographed relics. The Classic Cuts checklists are loaded with Hall of Fame talent.
2002 Fleer Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 10
Packs per box: 24
Price paid: $50
Shop for 2002 Fleer Baseball boxes on eBay.
Pack 1 highlights:
Ray Durham, Jose Offerman & Juan Encarnacion CP
Changing Places cards feature, you guessed it, players that switched teams in the offseason.
Pack 2:
Jim Thome, Luis Castillo, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez & Jamie Moyer
Pack 3:
Adrian Beltre FP, Darin Erstad, Shigetoshi Hasegawa CP & Marlon Byrd FF
Hasegawa pitched for nine seasons in the majors, posting a 3.70 career ERA.
Pack 4:
Jason Varitek, Jason Kendall, Craig Biggio, Jamie Moyer & Carlos Pena CP
Pack 5:
Edgardo Alfonzo, Jacobs Field CL, Chuck Finley, Mark Prior FF, Reggie Sanders CP & Ken Griffey, Jr. Headliners (1:8 packs)
There are nine stadium cards at the end of the set that feature checklists on the back.
Pack 6:
Vladimir Guerrero FP, Orlando Hernandez, Omar Vizquel, Lance Berkman & Jason Giambi CP
Pack 7:
Alfonso Soriano, Ray Durham, Cliff Floyd, Darin Erstad & Aramis Ramirez Tiffany (046/200)
Tiffany parallels feature glossy fronts and are limited to just 200 copies.
Pack 8:
Benito Santiago, Edgar Renteria, J.D. Drew, Derek Jeter FP, David Justice CP & Juan Uribe Rookie Sensations (0413/1500)
Pack 9:
Luis Castillo, Nomar Garciaparra FP & Luis Gonzalez Headliners (1:8 packs)
Nomar would be a Red Sox franchise player for just another season and a half before being traded at the 2004 deadline.
Pack 10:
Sammy Sosa FP, Larry Walker, Chipper Jones FP, Trevor Hoffman & Eddie Murray Classic Cuts (1:24 packs)
Pack 11:
Brian Roberts, our third Darin Erstad & Tsuyoshi Shinjo CP
Shinjo played just three seasons in the majors, hitting .245 with 20 HR and 100 RBI.
Pack 12:
Tim Hudson, C.C. Sabathia, Jason Varitek & Barry Bonds Career Highlights (1:12 packs)
There are also autographed versions of the Bonds Career Highlights cards, with each of the 10 cards limited to 25 copies.
Pack 13:
Wrigley Field CL, Pedro Martinez, Sammy Sosa, Mariano Rivera, Hideo Nomo CP, Tino Martinez CP & Randy Johnson Headliners (1:8 packs)
Nomo pitched just one season in Boston, 2001, and led the league in both strikeouts and walks.
Pack 14:
Benito Santiago, Kerry Wood, Curt Schilling, Ken Griffey, Jr. & Robin Ventura CP
Pack 15:
Steve Finley & Scott Hatteberg CP
Hatteberg had a big role in the Moneyball movie, and was the subject of many arguments between Beane and manager Art Howe.
Pack 16:
Edgar Martinez, Andruw Jones, Curt Schilling & Sammy Sosa Golden Memories (1:24 packs)
Pack 17:
Larry Walker, Mark Loretta & Randy Johnson FP
Loretta won the 2004 NL Silver Slugger at second base, batting .335 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI.
Pack 18:
Tim Salmon, Juan Gonzalez CP & Pokey Reese CP
Pack 19:
Barry Larkin, David Justice CP & Barry Zito
Zito, strangely left out of the Moneyball script, won the 2002 AL Cy Young award. He went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA.
Pack 20:
Miguel Tejada, Garret Anderson, Brian Jordan CP & Barry Bonds Career Highlights (1:12 packs)
Pack 21:
Garret Anderson, Todd Zeile CP & Barry Larkin
Zeile was at the tail end of a 16-year major league career. He would amass 2,004 career hits before retiring following the 2004 season.
Pack 22:
Kevin Millwood & Paul Konerko
Pack 23:
Andy Pettitte, Eric Chavez, Rafael Furcal & Bernie Williams Tiffany (112/200)
Pack 24:
Raul Mondesi, Pac Bell Park CL & Chan Ho Park CP
Lastly, the Mondesi card back.
This set was definitely a trip down memory lane, especially the Barry Bonds Career Highlights. It took me forever to track down all 12 Clemens cards back in the 1990s. Definitely no complaints on my pulls, including the Steady Eddie Classic Cuts relic. That checklist is absolutely stacked and makes this box worth ripping again.
Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
A nice simple set – many a tad too many inserts – like the Bonds career highlights card though.