1997 Sports Illustrated Cubs

For three years in the late 1990s, Fleer teamed up with Sports Illustrated to put out a set of baseball cards.  SI provided the pictures and Fleer produced the cards.  SI is known for its great sports photography, so it seemed like a wise move for Fleer to team up with them.

The first set came out in 1997 and included a total of 180 cards. The Cubs were minimally represented, with three base cards and one rookie card.

 

Grace, Sosa, and Sandberg with no-brainer selections.  The pictures don't seem like anything special.  The SI photographers didn't do anything that the Topps guys didn't already do.

The rookie subset is known as "Fresh Faces" and Kevin Orie was the lone Cub.  Fleer could have called the subset "Sepia Faces" instead of "Fresh Faces."  I don't find this one attractive at all.