Fleer Tradition, In Order

To begin with, I am officially a high school graduate.  My time in high school was full of ups and downs, but I can safely say I had the time of my life and I’m going to miss it so much.  In a few short months, I’ll be leaving for Ithaca College to work on the next chapter of my life.  Now that I have a lot of free time (no summer work or football), I’ll try to squeeze as many posts as I can.  Beginning with this.

Long-time readers should note that I’ve had the same wantlist up for the past year and a half for one set: 2004 Fleer Tradition.  I usually don’t receive cards from this set in trades so I rarely mark off numbers.  When Tom from The Angels,In Order contacted me saying he had a large stack of FT, I immediately told him to send ‘em over.  Here are some of the highlights.

#4 World Series: Miguel Cabrera

Miguel looks a little fitter here.  This is before he negotiated half his contract be paid out with Little Caesar’s Pizza.

#256: Jacque Jones

#384: Brad Radke

Jacque Jones and Brad Radke?  This is so 2004.  I remember playing with these guys along with the likes of Christian Guzman, Luis Rivas, and Eric Milton on 2003 MVP Baseball.  I’m not particularly sure why I always picked the Twins; their pitching staff was awful (Johan Santana was rated considerably low in the game) and they didn’t have a particular superstar I liked (Torii Hunter was their best player).  Eh, some things shall remain a nostalgic mystery.

#499: Gerald Laird/Rosman Garcia/Ramon Nivar

Okay, for the record, Gerald Laird is now backing up Yadier Molina in St. Louis and the other two never panned out (what a surprise).

Cards 401-500 (including all the prospect cards) are short printed.  Yes, that’s right, nearly 1/5 of the set are short prints.

Why?

Diamond Tributes #13: Todd Helton

Diamond Tributes #14: Richie Sexson

Diamond Tributes, one of the few insert sets in FT, are very well done.  Nice design, colorful, and glossy... just the way I like my women (yes, I’ve used this joke before, but I know you like it).

As usual, if you have anymore 2004 Fleer Tradition, hit me up.  Thanks to Tom from The Angels, In Order for sending this over.  Please check out his blog (even if you’re a Rangers fan), it’s a very cool cardboard and team retrospective of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.