Sean-O-Meter Update April 25

It has been a little less than two weeks since I told you about Sean's injury. We have been overwhelmed by your response to my request for a few cards to help cheer him up. The baseball card blogging community is a fantastic group of people and we are extremely grateful for your generosity.

Sean's arm is getting better and he isn't in pain any more. The biggest issue is when the arm starts to itch. His spirits have really picked up, too. Every day the first thing he does when we come home from school is check the mail for any packages. That is the highlight of his day. We go back to the surgeon on May 9 and then we will find out when the cast can come off and when he can get back to playing ball.

I thought you might like to know how things have been going with the cards, so I've created a Sean-O-Meter to update the total number of cards he has received.

Through April 24 the card total is...



Thank you to Steve G, Steve P, Greg L, Greg G, Patricia and Lucy, Jim H, Rod R, Zach M. and David W. for 527 cards!!!!

The Story of the Shawon-O-Meter



My Sean-O-Meter is based on the original Shawon-O-Meter, which was used in the bleachers from 1989 - 1995 to update Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston's batting average. In 1989 Shawon got off to a very slow start and it wasn't until early June that he got his average above .200. He ended up hitting .278 for the season as the Shawon-O-Meter showed his average gradually rising throughout the season. Different versions of the Shawon-O-Meter have ended up in Cooperstown and the Smithsonian. You can read more about the Shawon-O-Meter here and here.

Dunston was a favorite of mine in the mid 80's - early 90's. You couldn't help but love his ADHD-like enthusiasm on the field and his rocket arm at shortstop. Here are a few of my favorite Shawon Dunston cards:

Topps 1985 - Shawon was drafted #1 overall in the 1982 draft, four picks ahead of Dwight Gooden.



Upper Deck 1990 - you have to love that infectious smile



Stadium Club 1994 - there is that smile again



Score 1991 - Rifleman - Recognition for his tremendous arm



Upper Deck 1992 - Best Infield Arm



Pinnacle 1995 - Making the pick at short



Fleer 1991 - In the air turning the double play



Donruss 1995 - Chugging around the bases



Topps 1992 - Getting dirty on the bases

Fleer 2005

Continuing a look at Fleer Cubs cards from the 2000's

The Tradition name is missing from the Fleer 2005 set, but the cards definitely have an old-time look to them. The design is very minimal and very conservative (which is a polite way of saying boring!). Many of the cards included old-fashioned posed shots like you saw on early Topps cards.

Here are several of the posed cards:

Moises Alou, like he is kneeling in the on deck circle



Matt Clement, in the stretch



Greg Maddux, with a weird smile



Corey Patterson, kneeling with his bat



Carlos Zambrano, just standing there



There were some actions shots, too and here are my favorites

Mark Prior, making the pitch



Todd Walker, making contact



Kerry Wood, bringing the heat at Wrigley Field

Fleer 2004

Continuing a look at Fleer Cubs cards from the 2000's

As they did in 2003, Fleer used a variation of one of their own designs as the basis of the 2004 cards. This time they borrowed from the 1990 cards. One thing I really don't like with this set is the back. Fleer must has fired all their copy writers because their is nothing on the back except stats and blank space. Very plain, very boring.

This card of Jeff Pico from 1990 looks very similar to the 2004 Carlos Zambrano.





Here is the very plain looking back of Zambrano's card




These three cards are of players the Cubs acquired during the 2003 season and helped lead them to the Central Division crown.

Center fielder Kenny Lofton took over when Corey Patterson got injured in early July and was out for the rest of the season.



Randall Simon was one of several players the Cubs got from the Pirates. He helped when Hee Seop Choi slumped.



Eric Karros did a nice job at first base, too.



Derrek Lee is shown in a Marlins uniform, and was obtained by the Cubs during the winter of 03-04 to take over at first for Simon, Karros, and Choi.



Matt Clement making the pitch at Wrigley.



Moises Alou takes a hack at a pitch



Sammy Sosa waiting for the pitch.

Fleer 2003

Continuing a look at Fleer Cubs cards from the 2000's

In 2003 Fleer decided to copy one of their own designs instead of ripping off Topps. They were celebrating their 40th anniversary and reused the 40-year-old 1963 design. Now it looks like they were behind Topps, who had be reusing 50-year-old designs in their Heritage series since 2001.

My picks from this set include...

Moises Alou, against an ivy background



Matt Clement, pitching in the early Spring with brown ivy



Kerry Wood in action, no scowl on his face



Sammy Sosa, team captain - notice the "C" on his shoulder. A year later he was not acting like a captain on the last day of the season and his time in Chicago would be over.



Carlos Zambrano, in his usual blue softball jersey



Aramis Ramirez, making his first Cubs appearance on a Fleer card



And a couple blasts from the past....

Hall of Famer Sweet Swinging Billy Williams



And Fleer was rude enough to remind Cubs fans of one of their all-time worst trades, Lou Brock

Fleer 2001

Continuing a look at Fleer Cubs cards from the 2000's

Fleer 2001 looked just as good as the 2000 set. They also looked just as good as Topps 1956. So were the Topps lawyers ready to go to court yet?

Here is a 1956 Topps card



My favorites include...

This team leader card with floating heads



Kerry Wood, with his scowl again



Yankee skipper Joe Giradi



Pitcher Jon Lieber wearing a batting helmet



Korey Patterson, and yes I know I spelled his name with a K instead of a C, but since he struck out so much, the K is more appropriate for him.



And a couple other prospect flops, Joey Nation and Oswaldo Mairena

Fleer 2000

Now looking at Fleer Cubs cards from the 2000's

I must admit that, based on a very small sample, I never liked Fleer. I bought the complete set Fleer's first and second years, 1981 and 1982. I was a Topps guy and Fleer did nothing in those first two years to change my mind. And for the next 26 years, I didn't see another Fleer card and had a negative view of Fleer.

I completed my Topps Cubs sets in the winter of 2008 and in the spring I turned my attention to getting all the Fleer Cubs cards. While they certainly improved as the years went on, nothing from the 80's and 90's did much for me.

That changed with the cards from 2000. This was the third year of Fleer Tradition, although I do not know what the "tradition" was with the first two years. But they sure seemed to nail it with the 2000 set. I loved these cards. They looked and felt like old time cards. In fact they looked just like Topps 1954.

Here is what the Topps 1954 cards looked like



I wonder if Topps considered a lawsuit. And the backs even had some cartoons in the style of early Topps. I would have to think that this is the set that prompted Topps to bring out the first Heritage set the following year.

Here are some of my favorite Cubs cards from 2000

This team card is the only Cubs team card ever issued by Fleer.



Mark Grace, looking very suave



Sammy Sosa, with a smaller picture of him doing his hop.



Kerry Wood, with his game face. With that look and a 95 mile per hour fastball, I would think more that one hitter would have been imtimidated.



and a cartoon on the back.



Jon Lieber, not looking very suave, with a cartoon on the back of his card, too







This checklist has a very old school look to it with the floating head of Sammy in the corner.



And one of the many Cubs prospect flops, Raul Gonzalez