I first saw one of these, probably a couple years after they were released. I was struck by the design, the colored background and gold foiling. Remember when Walmart and Target used to carry those boxes of random unopened packs for a buck a pack? That's how I was introduced to these. Subsequently, I bought many packs of 2007 Fleer that way.
There are 25 cards in the set and according to Baseballcardpedia.com they were inserted one-per-pack. But we all know that doesn't mean you're never gonna pull any dupes. After a year or so depleting every $1-pack of 2007 Fleer I could find, the cards I was lacking went on the Want List, where friendly bloggers could help me complete it. And that they did.
There are some pretty good rookies in the set. I broke this review down into 5-card groups, in alphabetical order. Let's take a look at how each group of these Rookie Sensations fared in the Big Leagues, and who was/is the Sensation of each group.
One of the things I didn't like about the design was that the names are too small to see, especially against the colorful marbled backgrounds.
Boof Bonser - 4 years, 19-25, 5.18.
Chad Billingley - 9 years, 83-64, 3.72, 1052 K, 2009 All Star.
Cole Hamels - 13 years, still active, 163-121, 3.42, 2558 K, 4x All Star, WS MVP, No-Hitter, Combined No-Hitter.
Conor Jackson - 6 years, .271, 52 HR.
Dan Uggla - 9 years, .241, 235 HR, 3x All Star, Silver Slugger.
Cole Hamels is the winner of this lot.
Boof Bonser - 4 years, 19-25, 5.18.
Chad Billingley - 9 years, 83-64, 3.72, 1052 K, 2009 All Star.
Cole Hamels - 13 years, still active, 163-121, 3.42, 2558 K, 4x All Star, WS MVP, No-Hitter, Combined No-Hitter.
Conor Jackson - 6 years, .271, 52 HR.
Dan Uggla - 9 years, .241, 235 HR, 3x All Star, Silver Slugger.
Cole Hamels is the winner of this lot.
The Kinsler card was the last one I needed to complete the set. I actually already had a Kinsler, but I had gotten it signed, so I wanted to keep it separate.
Francisco Liriano - 14 years, potentially still active, 112-114, 4.15, 1814 K, All-Star, No-Hitter, WS Champ, 2x Comeback POTY.
Hanley Ramirez - 14 years, potentially still active, .289, 1834 H, 271 HR, NL ROY, 3x All Star, 2x Silver Slugger, NL Batting Champ, WBC Gold Medalist.
Ian Kinsler - 13 years, .267, 257 HR, 4x All Star, WS Champ, 2x Gold Glove, WBC Gold Medalist.
Josh Barfield - 3 years, .264, 16 HR.
Jeremy Hermida - 7 years, .256, 65 HR.
A few good ones in there, but I think I would go with Hanley Ramirez.
Josh Johnson - 8 years, 58-45, 3.40, 2x All Star, NL ERA Leader.
Jon Lester - 13 years, still active, 190-108, 3.56, 2355 K, 5x All Star, 3x WS Champ, NL Wins Leader, No-Hitter.
Jonathan Papelbon - 11 years, 41-36, 368 Saves, 2.44, 808 K, 6x All Star, WS Champ, Combined No-Hitter.
Jeremy Sowers - 3 years, 18-30, 5.18.
Justin Verlander - 15 years, still active, 225-129, 3.33, 3006 K, 8x All Star, WS Champ, AL MVP, 2x CY Young, Triple Crown, AL ROY, 3x AL Wins Leader, 5x Strikeout Leader, 3 No-Hitters.
Um, Verlander, not necessarily hands down as Lester has a great career going as well.
I guess the background color is kinda based on the team colors. Markakis is the only orange background card in the set.
Jered Weaver - 11 years, 150-98, 3.63, 1621 K, 3x All Star, 2x AL Wins Leader, Strikeout Leader, Golden Spikes Award, No-Hitter.
Kenji Johjima - 3 years, .268, 48 HR, WBC Gold Medalist.
James Loney - 10 years, .284, 108 HR.
Matt Kemp - 13 years, still active, .285, 1780 H, 281 HR, 1010 RBI, 3x All Star, 2x Gold Glove, 2x Silver Slugger, NL HR Leader, NL RBI Leader, Hit for Cycle.
Nick Markakis - 13 years, still active, .288, 2355 H, 188 HR, 1031 RBI, All Star, Silver Slugger, 3x Gold Glove.
Tough call. Weaver was pretty consistent, but Kemp and Markakis have been pretty solid.
I'm going with Matt Kemp.
Prince Fielder - 11 years, .283, 319 HR, 1028 RBI, 6x All Star, 3x Silver Slugger, NL HR Leader, MLB RBI Leader.
Matt Garza - 11 years, 93-106, 4.09, 1380 K, No-Hitter.
Ricky Nolasco - 11 years, potentially still active, 114-118, 4.56, 1513 K.
Ryan Zimmerman - 14 years, .279, 270 HR, 1015 RBI, 2x All Star, Gold Glove, 2x Silver Slugger, WS Champ.
Scott Olsen - 5 years, 37-49, 4.85, 528 K.
I'd have to go with Fielder as the best pick of the lot.
So I have:
Cole Hamels
Hanley Ramirez
Justin Verlander
Matt Kemp
Prince Fielder
as my best picks per lot.
What do you think?
What would your picks be?
As an interesting fun fact: 2007 was the last set released by Fleer, as Upper Deck had bought the rights to the name.
Cool set. I wasn't collecting in 2007, so had never seen these. I always liked their Rookie Sensations in the mid/late 90s. Pretty solid group of players who actually made it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was kinda surprised. Three years was the shortest MLB career, that's not bad.
DeletePretty cool that they continued the run of these inserts into the 2000's. I'm still trying to finish off my 1992 Rookie Sensation set.
ReplyDeleteI'd say Verlander is the best player in the group... but Kenji would be my sentimental pick.
I was surprised that Kenji's MLB career was only 3 years. I was sure he'd been around a lot longer.
DeleteMaybe it has to do with the number of cards he has. They made a lot of MLB cards for him plus he has all of his NPB cards too.
DeleteI've got a whole bunch of these available if anyone needs.
ReplyDeleteGreg - The Collective Mind