10 September 2013

the wizard of oz final tributes

not too long ago, i featured a post with some 1997 upper deck final tributes.  included in that set were andre dawson, kirby puckett, and ozzie smith.  today i will show some (most) of their other final tribute cards.  first up is the wizard of oz.

1997 upper deck collector's choice
i like the 'tribute' designation on the front, even though not all of the career stats are included on the back.
1997 fleer ultra
double play action, with rickey sliding in!  fleer gets ozzie's entire career stats on the back, too
1997 leaf
with what might be a dp turn on the back, but only one year of stats
1997 donruss
with all but one of ozzie's seasons on the back.  got something against 1978 donruss?
1997 donruss elite
probably my least fave of the final ozzie cards.  the back is pretty uninspired
same goes for 1997 pinnacle
although we get a bit of a write-up regarding ozzie's final season on the back
1997 fleer
has the best back of the bunch - every year is covered, and it is easier to read than the ultra card.
fleer also included ozzie in the 'golden memories' insert set
with a photo from his number retirement ceremony held on 9/26/96.  here's the back.
topps failed to issue an ozzie smith card in 1997 which was too bad.  i think they could have done better than these cards.  if pressed, i would say that fleer is the winner here, but all of these are in my final tribute binder so it doesn't matter.

next up, the hawk.

2 comments:

  1. Great post. Shame that Topps didn't have a tribute card for The Wizard. I'm off to track down one of those Fleer Golden Memories inserts for my Ozzie insert page.

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  2. I've always wondered why Topps never gave Smith a card in '97. A massive oversight on their part.

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