From the Pedro Binder

2001 Fleer Genuine @LG

What in the name of Tris Speaker is this monstrosity?

I don’t even know where to begin. I guess let’s start with the shape. Apparently, someone at Fleer remembered everyone’s pursuit of the perfect hourglass shape, and thought it applied to baseball cards as well. It’s sort of an overlapping pennant look, which I guess is baseball-related. Clearly, a die-cut for the sake of being a die-cut. It makes it harder to handle too. Yuck.

What’s up with the “@LG”? It’s there right on top in silver foil. Then, it’s everywhere else in a retro computer graphic font. Is there a reason for that? I see one reference to “larger than life.” Is that where the LG comes in? Is it supposed to be “At large”? It’s not. Why is it there? Why does Fleer feel that @LG is the most important thing on the card?

To be fair, the picture of Pedro is a nice one. He’s right there getting ready to pitch, like a giant in…some stadium. I don’t know which park Pedro is standing in. It’s not Fenway. At least it’s not Yankee Stadium.

It would have been pretty cool if it were Fenway, though. Then he could be standing there “larger than life” in Fenway ready to pitch. That would actually make a great concept. Get rid of the die-cut. Eliminate all the clutter from @LG. Just make it Pedro super-sized in his home park. That would work.

This, does not.