Finishing Off the Third Box of the Group Break (with a Really Nice Relic #ed out of 100)!

If I'm being honest, I must admit that the 2002 Fleer Maximum box was a total dud.  Oh sure, we did find a fairly nice Mike Piazza relic already but for the most part the box was disappointing.  Not so much for the design, inserts, or hits.  No, it was disappointing because almost every single card in each 15 card pack was stuck to the cards above and below it.  That results in a lot of chipping and peeling - and generally ugly looking cards when all is said and done.  Even so, there are a few cards that escaped relatively unscathed (usually the card on the top or bottom of the pack).  I hope the cards make for a nice addition to each group break participant's collection regardless of the inferior quality produced by Fleer.

We have four 15 card packs remaining - and I believe one of them should hold our second hit from the box.  Let's rip all four packs and finish off this box!

Pack 13:
Ryan Klesko - Padres
Jason Johnson - Orioles
Cristian Guzman - Twins
Rich Aurilia - Giants
Ben Grieve - Rays
Matt Williams - Diamondbacks
John Olerud - Mariners
Jim Thome - Indians

Mike Lieberthal - Phillies
Preston Wilson - Marlins
Bubba Trammell - Padres
Albert Pujols - Cardinals
Mike Sweeney - Royals
Jermaine Dye - Athletics
256.  Impact:  Derek Jeter - Yankees

Pack 14:
Mark Buehrle - White Sox
Juan Encarnacion - Tigers
Freddy Garcia - Mariners
Todd Walker - Reds
David Eckstein - Angels
Corey Koskie - Twins
Jeff Weaver - Tigers
Robert Fick - Tigers
Sean Casey - Reds
Manny Ramirez - Red Sox
Magglio Ordonez - White Sox
Brad Radke - Twins
264.  Impact:  Pedro Martinez - Red Sox

Maximum Coverage Relic:  Randy Johnson - Diamondbacks #091/100

Woah!  That's a gorgeous looking relic - and it's probably one of the largest swatches of cloth that I've seen on a relic!   Even better, the card is numbered out of 100 making this a great hit for the Diamondbacks.

But wait you say...when did the D-backs ever wear white?!  Let's flip the card over.

Yep.  This is a card featuring a piece of a game-worn Mariners jersey by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks.  At least Fleer was forthcoming with where in the world the cloth piece came from, I appreciate that.  As for the group break, this is clearly a Diamondbacks card (despite it being a Mariners' jersey) and so congrats to Chris G. who ended up with the D-backs in the team randomization portion of the group break!

Pack 15:
Carlos Beltran - Royals
Brandon Duckworth - Phillies
Eric Karros - Dodgers
Keith Foulke - White Sox
Russ Ortiz - Giants
Aubrey Huff - Rays
Robert Person - Phillies
Dee Brown - Royals
Steve Cox - Rays
Todd Helton - Rockies
CC Sabathia - Indians
Randy Johnson - Diamondbacks
Javier Vazquez - Expos
Vladimir Guerrero - Expos
257.  Impact:  Roberto Alomar - Mets

A nice card for the Mets!

Pack 16:
Barry Zito - Athletics
Aramis Ramirez - Pirates
Alfonso Soriano - Yankees
Carlos Delgado - Blue Jays
Paul Lo Duca - Dodgers
Jacque Jones - Twins
Carlos Lee - White Sox
Joe Randa - Royals
Raul Mondesi - Blue Jays
Kazuhiro Sasaki - Mariners
Ryan Dempster - Marlins
Garrett Anderson - Angels
Johnny Damon - Athletics
Mike Piazza - Mets
253.  Impact:  Nomar Garciaparra - Red Sox

The final pack of the box might have been a semi-dud but the final four packs as a whole really helped to improve my opinion of the box.  The Johnson relic is a gorgeous piece of cardboard - and coupled with the Piazza pulled earlier, I'd say we did quite well with our hits out of the box.  I still don't like all the sticking/chipping that occurred with almost every base card though.

We've now finished off three boxes - only four more remain with packs left unopened.  I'll continue the slow march to group break completion tomorrow!