Classic Set Previews: CENTER FIELDERS

We've saved the most expensive position players for last! Baseball Gods Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays are the best hitters in the Classic Set, and what Showdown studs they are! Mantle has the set's second OB 11 and still homers at 17! With speed A and a +3 arm, Mantle is a complete package that rivals many of the MVP Bonds years in the early 2000s!!! Mays isn't that far behind, although he "only" has an OB 9 thanks to the more competitive OB numbers of this set. He still homers at 15 though, giving him an extremely deadly chart! Unfortunately, there is not a lot of depth behind these two legends. Duke Snider and Fred Lynn produced incredible cards, but only 5/25 players are worth more than 400 points. The steep falloff should make managers weary of putting off drafting CFs and I'd be surprised if both Mantle and Mays weren't top five draft picks!

Name	Year	PTS	TEAM	On-Base	Speed	Fielding	HR	3B	2B	1B+	1B	BB	FB	GB	K
Mickey Mantle	1956	680	NYY	11	A (20)	3	17-20	0	16	15	11-14	4-10	3	0	1-2
Willie Mays	65	620	SF	9	A (21)	3	15-20	14	13	12	8-11	3-7	2	0	1
Duke Snider	55	590	LAD	10	C (12)	2	17-20	16	14-15	0	10-13	4-9	3	0	1-2
Fred Lynn	1979	560	BOS	10	B (14)	3	18-20	0	14-17	13	10-12	4-9	3	0	1-2
Cesar Cedeno	72	420	HOU	9	A (23)	3	19-20	17-18	13-16	12	6-11	4-5	3	2	1
Marv Rettenmund	1971	390	BALT	10	B (16)	1	0	20	19	18	11-17	4-10	0	3	1-2
Willie McGee	85	380	STL	9	A (23)	3	20	16-19	14-15	12-13	5-11	0	0	3-4	1-2
Jose Cruz	83	370	HOU	9	A (20)	2	20	18-19	16-17	15	9-14	5-8	4	0	1-3
Lonnie Smith	82	340	STL	9	A (23)	2	0	19-20	15-18	14	9-13	5-8	0	4	1-3
Cesar Geronimo	76	330	CINCY	9	A (20)	3	0	18-20	16-17	14-15	8-13	5-7	0	3	1-2
Gorman Thomas	1980	300	MIL	7	C (10)	1	14-20	0	11-13	0	10	5-9	0	0	1-4
Jay Johnstone	75	300	PHI	9	B (15)	1	0	0	18-20	16-17	4-15	3	0	1-2	0
Keith Moreland	85	270	CHC	8	A (18)	0	19-20	0	15-17	13-14	9-12	4-8	3	2	1
Ruppert Jones	82	250	SD	8	B (15)	2-1	20	0	18-19	17	9-16	5-8	0	0	1-4
Lenny Dykstra	86	230	NYM	8	A (22)	2	0	19-20	16-18	15	8-14	4-7	0	2-3	1
Garry Maddox	76	220	PHI	8	A (20)	3-2	0	20	15-19	14	5-13	4	0	3	1-2
Bill North	1973	220	OAK	8	A (23)	3	0	20	0	19	11-18	5-10	0	4	1-3
Chet Lemon	84	220	DET	7	B (15)	3	17-20	15-16	12-14	11	7-10	3-6	0	3	1-2
Amos Otis	1976	200	KC	7	A (21)	3	18-20	0	14-17	13	7-12	5-6	0	0	1-4
Devon White	91	180	TOR	7	A (22)	3	19-20	16-18	12-15	10-11	7-9	5-6	0	0	1-4
Paul Blair	1967	170	BALT	7	B (16)	3	19-20	16-18	13-15	12	7-11	4-6	0	3	1-2
Al Oliver	74	150	PIT	7	A (19)	2	20	17-19	14-16	13	4-12	3	0	2	1
Cesar Tovar	1970	140	MINN	7	A (19)	0	20	18-19	15-17	13-14	7-12	5-6	4	2-3	1
Dan Ford	1979	130	CAL	6	B (15)	0	17-20	0	14-16	13	6-12	5	0	4	1-3
Angel Mangual	1974	10	OAK	4	A (18)	2	20	19	17-18	0	6-16	5	0	1-4	0

The most expensive position player in the set, Mickey Mantle is worth all of his 680 points! As complete a player as you'll find in Showdown, Mantle will hit for average and power. Considering the depth of pitching in this set, having Mantle in a team's 2, 3, or 4 hole will be a huge advantage. When it came to making this card, we went black and white to really emphasize the "classic" nature of Mantle's game. Really, we're proud to present one of baseball's all-time greatest to you!