BY TROY KIRK
This is the second in a series of articles about Fleer baseball card sets between 1963-81. While Fleer was limited by legal restrictions from producing baseball cards of current players, they kept their hand in the baseball card business by making small miscellaneous sets. This article will cover the 1973 Famous Feats set, 1974’s Wildest Days and Plays set, and the Pioneers of Baseball set in 1975.
The 1973 Famous Feats set contains 40 2 1/2 by 4-inch cards. Each card is numbered on the front and back and also gives the set size. Example: “No. 5 of 40 cards.” The fronts of the cards are in a vertical format and contain a small box at the top saying “Baseball’s Famous Feats.” Most of the front contains a cartoon of a player and a little description beside him of his feat. The bottom portion of the card contains the card number and an official Major League Baseball endorsement. The fronts have a white border and the cards are printed on white cardboard.
The backs are printed in blue ink and are written in a horizontal format. “Baseball’s Famous Feats” is written at the top followed by the player’s name and a story of his famous feat and a brief description of his career. The bottom of the card contains the card number and states that the cards were done by R.G. Laughlin and copyrighted by Fleer in 1972. The cards were distributed in 1973, however.
Fleer cards issued between 1973-76 were generally sold in packs containing one card, a stick of gum, and a couple of logo stickers – similar to the ones Fleer still uses today. The main difference is that they were generally of the cloth sticker variety in the mid-’70s.
The feats the players performed were generally done in the early days of baseball so as not to conflict with Topps’ contractural agreements with current players. Examples of the feats are “Wahoo Sam Crawford Hit 312 Triples,” “Red Rolfe Scored 18 Straight Games,” “Walter Johnson Won 38 1-to-0 Games.”
The 1974 Fleer Wildest Days and Plays set was very similar to the Famous Feats set. The cards were the same size, were again cartoons by R.G. Laughlin, and were also printed on white cardboard, though the cardboard was a little darker. The fronts of the cards contain the set title “Baseball’s Wildest Days and Plays” on the top of the vertical format, with a cartoon of the action of the play and a little caption beside it describing what happened.
Backs contain the set title at the top, and a write-up about the event in a vertical format in red ink. At the bottom is the card number of 42 cards “by R.G. Laughlin” with a 1973 copyright by Fleer. Like Famous Feats, they were issued the year after the copyright date.
Again, Fleer generally stuck to the early days of baseball. Typical events depicted include “Buck Weaver Hit 17 Straight Fouls Off Babe Ruth,” and “The Walking Steal of Home,” where Fred Clarke stole home because the bases were loaded and everyone thought it was ball four because something had stuck in the umpire’s throat. Another, “Hitting Through the Unglaub Arc,” involved a suggestion in 1907 by Bob Unglaub that a line be drawn in the outfield that the outfielders had to play in front of to prevent them from moving back for sluggers. When the ball was hit, they could go back. This was supposed to get more offense into the game, but it was never implemented.
The events depicted on the cards are generally very interesting and most cannot be found when reading record books. The set does a good job of conveying the feel for some strange and wild things that happened in baseball’s early days. This set is definitely a step beyond the “Famous Feats” set.
After putting out two very similar baseball card sets in 1973-74, Fleer and Laughlin decided to change things around a bit. The Pioneers of Baseball set in 1975 is very different from the previous sets. The card again was the same (2 1/2 by 4 inches) and it was on white cardboard, but the front of the cards featured a brown border with a small black and white photo instead of a cartoon made to look like it was stuck in a photo album. There are little photo corners drawn on the card. On the bottom of the card is a white caption box containing the player name with his position and years in the majors below.
The back of the cards look about the same as the year before. “Pioneers of Baseball” is written at the top with the player name and a biography in a box in the middle. The bottom of the card mentions Fleer, R.G. Laughlin and the card number of 28. There is also a 1974 copyright (one year behind the issue date).
The players depicted on the cards truly were pioneers of baseball, as 19 of the 28 began their careers in the 19th century. At least two of the photos in the set were taken directly from Old Judge cigarette baseball card sets of the late 1880s – as their copyright is seen on the photo. This is one of the few modern sets to picture 19th century players. It looks like the player selection was made with the thought in mind to include players who hadn’t appeared in recent card sets. This might explain why a few players that began their careers in the 20th century and are not in the Hall of Fame made it into the set. These players include Hal Chase, Buck Herzog, and Art Nehf. The inclusion of Nehf is particularly peculiar because he pitched from 1915 to 1929. While this is fairly early, several Hall-of-Famers could have been put in who played before him – people like Sam Thompson or Christy Mathewson.
CHECKLIST – 1973 FLEER “BASEBALL’S FAMOUS FEATS”
1. Joe McGinnity
2. Rogers Hornsby
3. Christy Mathewson
4. Dazzy Vance
5. Lou Gehrig
6. Jim Bottomley
7. Johnny Evers
8. Walter Johnson
9. Hack Wilson
10. Wilbert Robinson
11. Cy Young
12. Rudy York
13. Grover Alexander
14. Toney & Vaughn
15. Ty Cobb
16. Jimmy Foxx
17. Hub Leonard
18. Eddie Collins
19. Oescher & Cadore
20. Babe Ruth
21. Honus Wagner
22. Red Rolfe
23. Ed Walsh
24. Paul Waner
25. Mel Ott
26. Eddie Plank
27. Sam Crawford
28. Nap Lajoie
29. Ed Reulbach
30. Pinky Higgins
31. Bill Klem
32. Tris Speaker
33. Hank Gowdy
34. Lefty O’Doul
35. Lloyd Waner
36. Chuck Klein
37. Deacon Phillippe
38. Ed Delehanty
39. Jack Chesbro
40. Willie Keeler
CHECKLIST – 1974 FLEER “BASEBALL’S WILDEST DAYS AND PLAYS”
1. Cubs & Phils scored 49 runs in a game!
2. Hit by pitches 5 times in one day!
3. Thorpe homered into 3 states in one game!
4. The midget in the majors!
5. The most “tied” games ever!
6. 7 errors in one inning!
7. Four 20-game winners – and no pennant!
8. A deaf-mute caused umpires to signal strikes
9. 14 hits in an inning!
10. The Yankees weren’t shut out for two years!
11. Buck Weaver hit 17 straight fouls off Ruth
12. Sluggler Sisler’s greatest thrill was as a pitcher
13. The wrong way baserunner
14. The star who sat out the World Series
15. The grounder that climbed the wall
16. A catch off the Washington Monument
17. Mild manager Ott ejected twice in one day
18. Baseball’s shortest pitching career
19. Three homers in one inning
20. Lord Byron, the singing umpire
21. The walking steal of home
22. A record victory 20 years after his death
23. Hitting through the Unglaub arc!
24. Catching for the Giants at 52
25. Fired for striking out in the series
26. An 11-run inning on one hit!
27. 58 innings in three days!
28. A homer on a warm-up pitch
29. Giants win 26 straight – and finish fourth
30. The player who stole first base!
31. A perfect game – in relief!
32. The greatest comeback for victory!
33. The alltime flash-in-the-pan!
34. Pruett fanned Ruth 19 times in 31 tries!
35. The “fixed” batting race!
36. The wild-pitch rebound play!
37. 17 straight scoring innings
38. The wildest opening day!
39. Baseball’s strike one!
40. An opening day no-hitter – that didn’t count
41. Six straight walks in one game
42. An entire team hit and scored in one inning!
CHECKLIST – 1975 FLEER “PIONEERS OF BASEBALL”
1. Cap Anson
2. Harry Wright
3. Buck Ewing
4. A.G. Spalding
5. Old Hoss Radbourn
6. Dan Brouthers
7. Roger Breshnahan
8. Mike Kelly
9. Ned Hanlon
10. Ed Delehanty
11. Pud Galvin
12. Amos Rusie
13. Tommy McCarthy
14. Ty Cobb
15. John McGraw
16. Home Run Baker
17. Johnny Evers
18. Nap Lajoie
19. Cy Young
20. Eddie Collins
21. John Glasscock
22. Hal Chase
23. 3-Finger Brown
24. Jake Daubert
25. Mike Donlin
26. John Clarkson
27. Buck Herzog
28. Art Nehf
• • • • • •
See related articles on BaseballCardFun.com entitled:
“TWIN TIMES – Fleer Oddball Sets, Parts 1” Click Link Here
“TWIN TIMES – Fleer Oddball Sets, Parts 3” Click Link Here
• Originally Published in Aug-Sep 1985 “Twin Times” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM THE “TWIN TIMES” NEWSLETTER – OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE TWIN CITIES SPORTS COLLECTORS CLUB – IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND THE ADDITION OF GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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