1991 Upper Deck

I can see already that Upper Deck is getting a bad shake in this deal. As I like to blog about a year per night, usually with beer, I find myself getting increasingly sloppy by the time I get to their cards each year. I'll address this in my final post this evening.

Upper Deck was stuck in a rut nonetheless. I have a hard time telling their first few years cards apart, which is a shame, since they were always at the top end of the spectrum. These really are great looking cards, but again, they didn't seem to have much going on with regards to originality. They just seem to keep moving home plate around. 

But, they do have that error card of Frank Tanana with Larry Wilcox's picture......

The 1991 Upper Deck Detroit Tigers:

7 Scott Aldred

45 Team Checklist - Jack Morris

73 Rico Brogna

131 Tony Phillips

201 John Shelby

203 Lance McCullers

205 Mark Salas

223 Alan Trammell

225 Travis Fryman

241 Scott Lusader

244 Cecil Fielder

316 Dan Petry

318 Mike Heath

320 Walt Terrell

336 Jack Morris

338 Steve Searcy

340 Larry Sheets

367 Lou Whitaker

369 Frank Tanana

386 Mike Henneman

389 Chet Lemon

412 Gary Ward

556 Milt Cuyler

559 Lloyd Moseby

579 Paul Gibson

599 Dave Bergman

676 Jeff Robinson

High Number Series:

726 Rob Deer

729 Mickey Tettleton

747 Pete Incaviglia

There was one insert card. Much like Donruss, it wasn't much of an insert card, it was just numbered differently. Oh, and it had a pretty bat. A silver bat. With white stars.

SS12 Cecil Fielder Sliver Slugger

Upper Deck also released an extra end of the year boxed set, the Final Edition. This was in addition to the high number series they already released. So I guess this is like the the second Update edition. Either way, that's a cool card of Livingstone.

44F Rusty Meacham

53F Scott Livingstone

82F Cecil Fielder

1991 Score

I am completely speechless. For anybody who knows me, that is no small feat. Judge for yourself. I'm just going to throw them anywhere at this point.

The 1991 Score Detroit Tigers:

38 Tony Phillips

40 Alan Trammell

112 Mike Heath

114 Jack Morris

129 Jeff Robinson

133 Lloyd Moseby

142 Mike Henneman

152 Paul Gibson

168 Cecil Fielder

176 Larry Sheets

297 Lou Whitaker

313 Lance McCullers

316 Jerry Don Gleaton

328 Frank Tanana

395 Cecil Fielder All-Star

434 Dan Petry

557 Chet Lemon

562 Dave Bergman

570 Travis Fryman

609 John Shelby

629 Darnell Coles

637 Gary Ward

649 Steve Searcy

693 Cecil Fielder Master Blaster

740 Scott Aldred

741 Rico Brogna

756 Phil Clark

770 Cecil Fielder Highlight

801 Walt Terrell

852 Alan Trammell

There was an Update set too and I don't have a single card. So I'll post this Walt Terrell card.

3T Pete Incaviglia

25T Mickey Tettleton

40T John Cerutti

47T Rob Deer

56T Bill Gullickson

1003 total cards in this amazingly bad set. 

Speechless I say. 

Speechless.

1991 Studio

Wow. Where to begin. Somebody at Donruss was dating someone at Olan Mills and voila! Studio!! I graduated HS in 1986, and I swear that 99% of the guy's senior pics in my yearbook look exactly like Lloyd Moseby's. Sadly, the other 2 pictures look just like Rob Deer's. (and Wyatt Earp's...) I will not be posting my own picture at this time.

The 1991 Studio Detroit Tigers:

51 Milt Cuyler

52 Rob Deer

53 Cecil Fielder

54 Travis Fryman

55 Bill Gullickson

56 Lloyd Moseby

57 Frank Tanana

58 Mickey Tettleton

59 Alan Trammell

60 Lou Whitaker

1991 Leaf

Year 2 of Leaf gave us these uninspired cards. It sort of looks like the cards are supposed to look like they are pictures in a photo album. A photo album full of lead paint maybe.

A great shot of things to come from Milt Cuyler though.

I can't imagine how pissed off if I would be if I were not a Tigers fan and I bought a pack of these high end cards and pulled a Jerry Don Gleaton......until I look at the Brewers checklist and see Kurt Knudsen. Suddenly I'm not so pissed anymore.....

The 1991 Leaf Detroit Tigers:

4 Tony Phillips

18 Mike Henneman

55 Paul Gibson

92 Dave Bergman

106 Cecil Fielder

120 Lou Whitaker

135 Jerry Don Gleaton

149 Travis Fryman

187 Steve Searcy

223 Lloyd Moseby

237 Rob Deer

251 Milt Cuyler

270 John Cerutti

322 Mickey Tettleton

351 Alan Trammell

366 Pete Incaviglia

402 Bill Gullickson

455 Andy Allanson

497 Frank Tanana

Leaf also added a boring insert set called Leaf Gold Rookies, which included Nolan Ryan and Rickey Henderson. No, I do not make this stuff up.

BC11 Rico Brogna

As we will see in the many years to come of Topps products, gold foil does not scan worth a damn. It pretty much shows up as black.

EDIT: Thanks again to Jon for this one.

1991 Leaf Previews:

18 Cecil Fielder

1991 Donruss

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round, the wheels on the bus go.....ah, screw it. Donruss hit rock bottom in '91 with these turds. They hijacked the '86 design and released these in two series with two different color schemes so we could swear at them twice. This is one of those cases where the cards themselves say more than I ever could. The Cecil Fielder Diamond King card is not even worth showing.

The 1991 Donruss Detroit Tigers:

3 Cecil Fielder Diamond King

40 Milt Cuyler

65 Mark Salas

76 Mike Henneman

118 Alan Trammell

133 Lance McCullers

174 Lou Whitaker

188 Lloyd Moseby

230 Mike Heath

245 Jeff Robinson

286 Tony Phillips

301 Chet Lemon

342 Dave Bergman

353 Paul Gibson

397 Cecil Fielder MVP

422 Scott Aldred

451 Cecil Fielder

492 Jack Morris

508 Frank Tanana

549 Steve Searcy

563 John Shelby

605 Clay Parker

620 Edwin Nunez

661 Jerry Don Gleaton

675 Dan Petry

717 Walt Terrell

728 Gary Ward

729 Rob Deer

768 Travis Fryman

Donruss added their MVP insert cards to the base set in '91, and replaced them with Highlights insert cards, which weren't really insert cards either. They were just numbered like they were.

BC-5 Cecil Fielder

They continued with their Rookies box set, this time fooling us by making them red instead of green. Which makes me wonder. Series 1 had blue fronts and blue backs. Series 2 had green fronts and green backs. The Rookies had red fronts and......slightly different green backs? I don't know, and I don't care. Hell, we didn't even get the good Leiter brother.

6 Milt Cuyler

29 Mark Leiter

53 Rusty Meacham

The one saving grace is that this would be the end of the crappy era for Donruss. They would come up with some nicer cards in the years to follow, but good god are these awful.

EDIT: Thanks to my new friend and Tiger collector Jon for telling me about one I have missed.

1991 Donruss Grand Slammers:

7 Cecil Fielder

1991 Fleer Ultra

Not to be outdone by Leaf and their 5th color PMS Metallic inks, Fleer decided to come out with their own version too!!! They even called it Ultra, which means it's like, way cool, or something. Truth be told, these aren't that bad looking. A little on the drab side, but otherwise ok. Lots of great action shots anyway.

The 1991 Fleer Ultra Detroit Tigers:

120 Dave Bergman

121 Cecil Fielder

122 Travis Fryman

123 Mike Henneman

124 Lloyd Moseby

125 Dan Petry

126 Tony Phillips

127 Mark Salas

128 Frank Tanana

129 Alan Trammell

130 Lou Whitaker

392 Cecil Fielder Great Performances

They even released an Update set, which would be very cool if two of the three Tigers in it we didn't already have and were everyday players to begin with.....

22U Milt Cuyler

23U Paul Gibson

24U Mickey Tettleton

I don't have any of the Update cards, so I'll just put up a card of My Friend Mark Salas.

1991 Fleer

I have no idea how Fleer managed to take such a nice design and absolutely screw it up. Ok, I lied. I know how, but for god's sake, why? Those bright yelo borders are an affront to the eyes. This could have such a nicer set without them. If you don't believe me, then scroll to the bottom when you see what the wonders of Photoshop can accomplish.

There are two Tigers cards that stand out though. One is the card of Cecil Fielder during Home Run Derby at the 1990 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field. (Especially the guy sitting in the plastic garbage can in the background...) The other is the card of Darnell Coles standing in front of a pristine Green Monster at Fenway Park. Without all the ads and the Monster seats it almost looks like a spring training photo.

The 1991 Fleer Detroit Tigers:

331 Dave Bergman

332 Phil Clark

333 Darnell Coles

334 Milt Cuyler

335 Cecil Fielder

336 Travis Fryman

337 Paul Gibson

338 Jerry Don Gleaton

339 Mike Heath

340 Mike Henneman

341 Chet Lemon

342 Lance McCullers

343 Jack Morris

344 Lloyd Moseby

345 Edwin Nunez

346 Clay Parker

347 Dan Petry

348 Tony Phillips

349 Jeff Robinson

350 Mark Salas

351 Mike Schwabe

352 Larry Sheets

353 John Shelby

354 Frank Tanana

355 Alan Trammell

356 Gary Ward

357 Lou Whitaker

709 Super Star Special Cecil Fielder

717 Team Checklist

The Update set was short but sweet. I wonder if that photo was taken from this game? (I think I just figured out how to make a working link. Whoo-hoo!!!)

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1991/B04180CHA1991.htm

22U John Cerutti

23U Rob Deer

24U Mickey Tettleton

Now for the bonus "get that nasty ass yelo the hell out of here" special edition RobbyT Photoshop card....

See? Doesn't that look a million times better?

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier

I found this card on the same page with my '91 Stadium Club cards. This was part of a 132 card base set. These aren't listed in the team checklist book I have, but I do have an old Beckett big book that lists all 132 cards. This is my best guess at the team set.

The 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier Detroit Tigers:

27 Milt Cuyler

44 Cecil Fielder

67 Pete Incaviglia

123 Alan Trammell

1991 Stadium Club

Topps got into the high end card business with these babies. I seem to remember these being $3-4 a pack, and that was if you could find them anywhere. Very un-Topps-like, I think they only printed about 100 of each card. I don't have but a handful, and those are just from picking up a single here and there over the years. Topps began their neverending fascination with foil stamping with these, so that's yet another reason not to like them. They never lived up to the hype for me. 

The 1991 Stadium Club Detroit Tigers:

23 Chet Lemon

41 Tony Phillips

63 Alan Trammell

101 Lou Whitaker

158 Frank Tanana

186 Cecil Fielder

287 Mike Henneman

315 Walt Terrell

352 Steve Searcy

355 Travis Fryman

364 Lloyd Moseby

386 Dave Bergman

412 Mickey Tettleton

429 Scott Aldred

445 John Cerutti

456 Mark Salas

470 Milt Cuyler

539 Rob Deer

574 Jerry Don Gleaton

I see I have a Cecil Fielder All-Star card that is not part of the set. (#48 is Steve Avery) The stats on the back contain stats up to the All-Star break of 1991, so this was obviously released later in that season. I don't know if it was an insert card or if it was part of a special All-Star set, but here it is.

48 Cecil Fielder

1991 Bowman

In '91 Bowman continued along with their role as the set that focused primarily on prospects. Which of course in no way explains the card of Tony Bernazard. No, that's not some kid whose name happens to be Tony Bernazard. That the real one. The back of the card says that he spent 1990 in Japan. My guess is that Joe McDonald and Bo Schembechler thought they had scored another Cecil Fielder. One of us was wrong. Thanks to retrosheet, I see that in 1991 he went 2-12 for the Tigers in six games and was released on May 7th, never to play in a big league game again. You learn something new everyday.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/Pbernt001.htm

The 1991 Bowman Detroit Tigers:

131 Pete Incaviglia

132 Rob Deer

133 Bill Gullickson

134 Rico Brogna

135 Lloyd Moseby

136 Cecil Fielder

137 Tony Phillips

138 Mark Leiter

139 John Cerutti

140 Mickey Tettleton

141 Milt Cuyler

142 Greg Gohr

143 Tony Bernazard

144 Dan Gakeler

145 Travis Fryman

146 Dan Petry

147 Scott Aldred

148 John DeSilva

149 Rusty Meacham

150 Lou Whitaker

151 Dave Haas

152 Luis de los Santos

153 Ivan Cruz

154 Alan Trammell

367 Cecil Fielder Silver Sluggers

370 Alan Trammell Silver Sluggers

1991 Topps

If I were to sit down and pick my top five favorite Topps sets of all-time, this would be one of them. This is just about as good as it gets. (The scans really don't do these cards justice) I remember Topps switching to a higher line screen in '91, which in resulted in the clearest and sharpest photographs they ever produced. The nice use of the logo complemented by the subtle blue and orange frames is great. Even the gaudy Topps logo seems to blend right in. Hell, they even managed to make Mike Henneman look like a real ballplayer. 

The 1991 Topps Detroit Tigers:

16 Mike Heath

75 Jack Morris

106 Ed Nunez

128 Travis Fryman

145 Lou Whitaker

183 Clay Parker

236 Frank Tanana

275 Alan Trammell

281 Larry Sheets

328 Walt Terrell

369 Steve Searcy

386 Cecil Fielder All-Star

389 Alan Trammell All-Star

412 Dave Bergman

431 Paul Gibson

469 Chet Lemon

498 Mark Salas

506 Darnell Coles

519 Sparky Anderson

556 Gary Ward

583 Tony Phillips

597 Jerry Don Gleaton

632 Lloyd Moseby

641 Mike Henneman

658 Scott Aldred

684 Milt Cuyler

720 Cecil Fielder

746 John Shelby

766 Jeff Robinson

Now I don't know what happened, but I don't have the Traded Set. I thought I did. I do have the checklist of cards in the set, but not the set itself. So I'll just stick in this great card of Lou Whitaker instead. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

The 1991 Topps Traded Detroit Tigers:

5T Skeeter Barnes

30T Rob Deer

57T Pete Incaviglia

119T Mickey Tettleton

I was under the impression that this was the first Topps debut set. I was wrong. One of my emailers informed me just today that the first set was done in 1990. When I looked at the checklist he sent me for it, well, I didn't do anything. But I wanted to. It was that bad. Not like this one, which had a few of my favorite Tigers for years to come.

The 1991 Topps Debut Detroit Tigers:

3 Scott Aldred

36 Milt Cuyler

49 Travis Fryman

136 Rich Rowland

163 Steve Wapnick