Cecil Fielder is one of my all-time favorite Detroit Tigers. When I really started following baseball in 1992 or so, Cecil was one of the most popular players in a game, coming off his 3rd straight season of leading the American League in RBIs. I saw him play a few times in Spring Training over the years, and in 2010 at Rob Ducey's
Pro Free Agent Showcase , I finally got to meet Mr. Fielder in person (he was a coach at the showcase). The whole concept of a free agent showcase was innovative, and as an autograph collector back then, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some signatures, and possibly meet one of my favorite Tigers. I contacted Mr. Ducey (himself a former Big-Leaguer) through the e-mail provided on the website, and asked him if it would be ok to attend and watch the tryouts. He replied promptly and said it was fine. I went to the tryout camp, and got many autographs, but still hadn't met Cecil. They had a break for lunch, and after the players got their fill, Mr. Ducey went up to me and asked if I would like some lunch. I said 'sure', and got some BBQ, and watched the rest of the tryout. At the end, Cecil came into the stands and was talking with a few scouts. I waited for him to get done talking, but he motioned for me to come over, and he happily signed a few cards and shook my hand. It was a great day for me as a baseball fan. I wish I would've made this card back then. I would've loved to show it to Big Daddy.
In 1991, Topps had a few subsets (All-Stars, Draft Picks, Future Stars, and Record Breakers), but no Season Highlight cards. Donruss produced a highlight card of Cecil in their Highlights insert set, and Score had a highlight card as well, but no highlight card for Topps. I used Topps' Future Stars template for this one, and think it turned out ok, and looks pretty close to what Topps may have done if they had made a highlights subset in 1991.
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