2000 Greats of the Game

Description

2000 Greats of the Game is a 107-card set released by Fleer in late March, 2000. Fueled by a now-legendary collection of autographs, the Yankee Clippings game-used jersey cards, and the superior design of the base set, the product turned out to be one of the most popular releases of the 2000 calendar.

Each 24-pack Hobby box will yield four autographs.

Distribution

Hobby: 24 packs per box, six cards per pack (MSRP: $4.99).

Retail: 24 packs per box, four cards per pack.

Blasters: 14 packs per box (MSRP: $34.99), four cards per pack.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Base	107	-	6:1	4:1
Retrospection	15	-	1:6	1:6
Autographs	93	-	1:6	1:24
Memorable Moments	4	varies	?	?
Yankees Clippings	15	-	1:48	N/A

Checklist

Promos

• P33 Nolan Ryan

Base Set

• 1 Mickey Mantle
• 2 Gil Hodges
• 3 Monte Irvin
• 4 Satchel Paige
• 5 Roy Campanella
• 6 Richie Ashburn
• 7 Roger Maris
• 8 Ozzie Smith
• 9 Reggie Jackson
• 10 Eddie Mathews
• 11 Dave Righetti
• 12 Dave Winfield
• 13 Lou Whitaker
• 14 Phil Garner
• 15 Ron Cey
• 16 Brooks Robinson
• 17 Bruce Sutter
• 18 Dave Parker
• 19 Johnny Bench
• 20 Fernando Valenzuela
• 21 George Brett
• 22 Paul Molitor
• 23 Hoyt Wilhelm
• 24 Luis Aparicio
• 25 Frank White
• 26 Herb Score
• 27 Kirk Gibson
• 28 Mike Schmidt
• 29 Don Baylor
• 30 Joe Pepitone
• 31 Hal McRae
• 32 Lee Smith
• 33 Nolan Ryan
• 34 Bill Mazeroski
• 35 Bobby Doerr
• 36 Duke Snider
• 37 Dick Groat
• 38 Larry Doby
• 39 Kirby Puckett
• 40 Steve Carlton
• 41 Dennis Eckersley
• 42 Jim Bunning
• 43 Ron Guidry
• 44 Alan Trammell
• 45 Bob Feller
• 46 Dave Concepcion
• 47 Dwight Evans
• 48 Enos Slaughter
• 49 Tom Seaver
• 50 Tony Oliva
• 51 Mel Stottlemyre
• 52 Tommy John
• 53 Willie McCovey
• 54 Red Schoendienst
• 55 Gorman Thomas
• 56 Ralph Kiner
• 57 Robin Yount
• 58 Andre Dawson
• 59 Al Kaline
• 60 Dom DiMaggio
• 61 Juan Marichal
• 62 Jack Morris
• 63 Warren Spahn
• 64 Preacher Roe
• 65 Darrell Evans
• 66 Jim Bouton
• 67 Rocky Colavito
• 68 Bob Gibson
• 69 Whitey Ford
• 70 Moose Skowron
• 71 Boog Powell
• 72 Al Lopez
• 73 Lou Brock
• 74 Mickey Lolich
• 75 Rod Carew
• 76 Bob Lemon
• 77 Frank Howard
• 78 Phil Rizzuto
• 79 Carl Yastrzemski
• 80 Rico Carty
• 81 Jim Kaat
• 82 Bert Blyleven
• 83 George Kell
• 84 Jim Palmer
• 85 Maury Wills
• 86 Jim Rice
• 87 Joe Carter
• 88 Clete Boyer
• 89 Yogi Berra
• 90 Cecil Cooper
• 91 Davey Johnson
• 92 Lou Boudreau
• 93 Orlando Cepeda
• 94 Tommy Henrich
• 95 Hank Bauer
• 96 Don Larsen
• 97 Vida Blue
• 98 Ben Oglivie
• 99 Don Mattingly
• 100 Dale Murphy
• 101 Fergie Jenkins
• 102 Bobby Bonds
• 103 Dick Allen
• 104 Stan Musial
• 105 Gaylord Perry
• 106 Willie Randolph
• 107 Willie Stargell

Inserts

Retrospection

• 1 Rod Carew
• 2 Stan Musial
• 3 Nolan Ryan
• 4 Tom Seaver
• 5 Brooks Robinson
• 6 Al Kaline
• 7 Mike Schmidt
• 8 Thurman Munson
• 9 Steve Carlton
• 10 Roger Maris
• 11 Duke Snider
• 12 Yogi Berra
• 13 Carl Yastrzemski
• 14 Reggie Jackson
• 15 Johnny Bench

Autographs & Game-Used

Autographs

This 93-card insert features autographed cards of some of the greatest players in major league history. The card design closely parallels the base set, except of course for the player's signature. It is widely considered to be one of the most significant baseball card sets of the 21st Century.

NOTES:

• Shortly after Greats of the Game was released, representatives at Fleer released cryptic details on a few cards confirming the widespread belief among collectors of suspected short-prints within the set. It's known that the two scarcest cards are Johnny Bench and Mike Schmidt with production for both believed to be in the 175-200 card range. In addition to the Schmidt and Bench short-prints, other SPs include (with estimated production runs): Kirby Puckett and Phil Rizzuto (around 200 copies each) Reggie Jackson (250), George Brett (275), Whitey Ford, Tommie Henrich, and Don Mattingly (300). Joe Carter, Stan Musial, Jim Palmer, Ozzie Smith, Duke Snider, Warren Spahn, and Robin Yount were also SPed with production estimated in the 350-500 card range.

• Whereas all cards were signed with a black Sharpie pen, Dave Concepcion signed some of his cards in red ink.

• Herb Score mistakenly signed several of his base autographs with an "ROY '55" notation. Score was supposed to sign 55 purple-bordered Memorable Moments parallels (see below) with the notation.

• A Yogi Berra card signed in blue ink is rumored to exist.

• In 2004, a Fleer released an autographed Derek Jeter card done in the style of 2000 Greats of the Game. Over time, this card has been accepted by master set collectors as being part of the 2000 GotG Autographs set -- despite the fact that Jeter (or any other active player) did not appear in the 2000 GotG base set. The card was made available as a replacement for autograph exchange cards of other players that Fleer could not fulfill (lucky, them). Only 150 copies of this Jeter card were produced; however, the card is not serial-numbered. This card is NOT to be confused with a similar looking Jeter autographed card that was part of the 2001 Fleer Derek Jeter Legacy Collection. That card -- which has the same photograph as the 2004-issued card, has the Legacy Collection logo on the reverse side and a 2001 copyright date.

• Following Stan Musial's death in 2013, his marketing company "Stan the Man, Inc." released "Player Sample" signed versions of his card. (Apparently, Fleer gave each signer a number of un-signed copies of their card to do with as they wished.) All cards were slabbed by BGS -- which notated their Stan the Man provenance on the slab's label -- and sold on the secondary market. While the card looks identical to Musial's pack-issued card, all the Player Sample examples were signed in blue ink as opposed to the normal black ink.

• In 2014, Robert Edward Auctions sold a complete set including a Dave Concepcion red ink, a Herb Score "ROY '55" base autograph, and the Derek Jeter redemption card for $3851

• Luis Aparicio
• Hank Bauer
• Don Baylor
• Johnny Bench SP
• Yogi Berra SP
• Vida Blue
• Bert Blyleven
• Bobby Bonds
• Lou Boudreau
• Jim Bouton
• Clete Boyer
• George Brett SP
• Lou Brock
• Jim Bunning
• Rod Carew
• Steve Carlton
• Joe Carter SP
• Orlando Cepeda
• Ron Cey
• Rocky Colavito
• Dave Concepcion
• Dave Concepcion Red Ink
• Cecil Cooper
• Andre Dawson
• Dom DiMaggio
• Bobby Doerr
• Darrell Evans
• Bob Feller
• Whitey Ford SP
• Phil Garner
• Bob Gibson
• Kirk Gibson
• Dick Groat
• Ron Guidry
• Tommy Henrich SP
• Frank Howard
• Reggie Jackson SP
• Fergie Jenkins
• Derek Jeter released in 2004 150
• Tommy John
• Davey Johnson
• Jim Kaat
• Al Kaline
• George Kell
• Ralph Kiner
• Don Larsen
• Mickey Lolich
• Juan Marichal
• Eddie Mathews
• Don Mattingly SP
• Bill Mazeroski
• Willie McCovey SP
• Hal McRae
• Paul Molitor
• Jack Morris
• Dale Murphy
• Stan Musial SP
• Ben Oglivie
• Tony Oliva
• Jim Palmer SP
• Dave Parker
• Joe Pepitone
• Gaylord Perry
• Boog Powell
• Kirby Puckett SP
• Willie Randolph
• Jim Rice
• Dave Righetti
• Phil Rizzuto SP
• Brooks Robinson
• Preacher Roe
• Nolan Ryan
• Mike Schmidt SP
• Red Schoendienst
• Herb Score
• Herb Score ROY '55 notation
• Tom Seaver
• Moose Skowron
• Enos Slaughter
• Lee Smith
• Ozzie Smith SP
• Duke Snider SP
• Warren Spahn SP
• Willie Stargell
• Bruce Sutter
• Gorman Thomas
• Alan Trammell
• Frank White
• Hoyt Wilhelm
• Maury Wills
• Carl Yastrzemski
• Robin Yount SP
• Dave Winfield SP

National Convention

At the 2000 National Sports Collectors Convention, Fleer gave away a number of hand-numbered 2000 Greats of the Game autographs as prizes. Unfortunately, these cards are NOT marked as coming from the National Convention. Even though these are hand-numbered, they should be treated as any other Greats autograph.

Memorable Moments

Each Memorable Moments card is an autographed parallel of the player's regular GotG autograph and is notated by the player with one of his career achievements. Each card is hand-numbered on the reverse side to the last two digits of the achievement's year. The fronts of these cards are purple-bordered instead of gold. Please note that Herb Score signed some of his base autograph cards with the "ROY '55" notation.

• Ron Guidry CY 78
• Nolan Ryan HOF 99
• Herb Score ROY 55
• Tom Seaver CY 69

Yankees Clippings

This insert set features 15 cards that contain pieces of game-used jerseys of legendary New York Yankee players. This set represents one of the earliest attempts by manufacturers to incorporate a theme into a memorabilia-based insert. All cards feature jerseys EXCEPT for the Mantle card which features a pair of home, pin-striped game-used pants. There are also two different Willie Randolph cards, one with the home jersey, the other with an away jersey.

• Billy Martin
• Dave Righetti
• Dave Winfield
• Don Larsen
• Don Mattingly
• Elston Howard
• Joe Pepitone
• Mel Stottlemyre
• Mickey Mantle
• Reggie Jackson
• Ron Guidry
• Thurman Munson
• Tommy Henrich
• Tommy John
• Willie Randolph
• Willie Randolph (gray)

Greats of the Game
1999 Sports Illustrated - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 Flair - 2004 - 2006
Other Greats of the Game Sets: 2005 Donruss Greats