The 1988 Fleer baseball card #5 features utility player Ken Phelps of the Seattle Mariners. Born in 1958 in Eureka, California, Ken Phelps made his Major League debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1979. While never becoming a true superstar, Phelps carved out a respectable 14-year MLB career, known as a solid power hitter off the bench who could play multiple positions.
The 1988 season was Phelps’ 9th in the big leagues, and his first full season with the Seattle Mariners after being traded from the New York Mets during the 1987 season. Now in his athletic prime at 30 years old, Phelps put together one of the better seasons of his career, hitting .279 with 22 home runs and 75 RBIs in 128 games. Splitting his time between 1B, 3B, and DH, he provided much needed pop in the middle of the M’s lineup.
This Fleer card depicts Phelps in a Mariners road gray uniform, bat on shoulder with a serious expression on his face. In the background is a blue sky and clouds, with no other identifying scenery. The simple yet effective photo captures Phelps in his element, ready to step into the batter’s box and drive the ball. On the front there is also the standard Fleer design elements of the team logo on the upper left, with the Seattle “S” breaking through horizontal blue and teal stripes.
On the back of the card there is a career statistics snapshot for Phelps through 1987, including MLB totals of .257 batting average, 86 home runs, and 333 RBIs in 8 major league seasons up to that point spanning 638 total games. It also lists his 1987 splits with the Mets and Mariners that season. A paragraph of biography details his baseball journey up to that point with the Cubs, Mets, and now Mariners.
Fleer was still a relatively new player in the baseball card market in 1988, having only started producing baseball cards in 1981 after entering the sports card business in 1981. The set had an issue of 432 total cards featuring all major leaguers at the time. Rated a PSA 8 on the PSA Collectible Grading scale, this Ken Phelps rookie card from 1988 Fleer would sell today in pristine condition for around $15-20. In lower grades it might fetch $5-10.
While not considered one of the highly sought after rookie cards from that era, the 1988 Fleer Phelps does hold nostalgic value for Mariners and Phelps collectors of that time period. It encapsulates Phelps at the peak of his career during his only season in a Mariners uniform, a time when the franchise was still working to gain traction in the Seattle market after relocating from Milwaukee in 1977.
A little known fun fact – Ken Phelps actually began his MLB career with the Cubs in 1979 as part of a blockbuster 14-player trade with the Montreal Expos. Phelps was originally acquired by the Expos, but was placed on waivers by Montreal, claimed by the Cubs, and made his debut with Chicago only a few months after being drafted. The trade was one of the largest in MLB history up to that point.
After his solid 1988 campaign, Phelps would see his numbers decline over the next few seasons split between Seattle, Oakland, and Toronto. He played his final MLB game in 1991 as a member of the Blue Jays. In total, he hit .254 with 140 home runs and 503 RBIs over 1,141 career games. Phelps stayed involved in the game after retiring, spending time as a minor league manager and coach in the Yankees, Expos, and Diamondbacks organizations over the next decade.
For collectors of late 80s baseball cards and Mariners memorabilia from that era, the 1988 Fleer Ken Phelps card endures as a nice representative piece capturing a productive player from that franchise’s history at the height of his powers. While not the most iconic card from that famous ’88 Fleer set, within the context of Phelps’ respectable career and time with Seattle, it remains a fun and semi-affordable relic from that period in the game’s history to own.
