Manufacturer: Fleer
Set: 1981 Fleer Baseball ➡️
Player Name: Joe Charboneau
Position/Team: Outfield & DH for Indians
Card #: 397
Card Size: 2-1/2” x 3-1/2”
Card Values: See Pricing Table Below
Charboneau broke into the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) lineup in 1980 after an injury to slugger Andre Thornton. He immediately became a sensation both for his play and his eccentric personality. He won the AL Rookie of the Year award in a landslide and his 1980 stats were he hit .289 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI.
Charboneau became a folk hero in Cleveland. A song titled “Go Joe Charboneau” reached #3 on the local music charts, and he was famous for stories of bizarre personal feats, such as opening beer bottles with his eye socket and fixing his own broken nose with pliers.
His downfall was as swift as his rise, largely due to a devastating back injury suffered during a headfirst slide in Spring Training of 1981. The injury sapped his power and mobility. He underwent multiple surgeries to fix ruptured discs, but he was never the same player.
Interestingly, after his playing days, he made a brief appearance in the 1984 film The Natural, playing one of Roy Hobbs’ teammates (a fitting role for a player whose real-life story felt like a Hollywood script). Today, he remains a beloved “Ambassador” for the Cleveland franchise.
Shop current listings for this card on ebay!
Clicking a link to eBay may result in a referral commission being paid if a purchase is made.
Pricing Data For This Rookie Card
➡️ See all 1981 Fleer Rookie Card Prices
Pricing chart includes raw card price & some graded card value estimates.
These values are collated from a variety of resources including recently sold listings, sales averages and a variety of other sports card pricing data sources. Please see full disclaimer on “Terms Page” for more information. (Rookiecardprices.com only shows values for regular base set cards. No prices are shown for errors, parallels, subsets, misprints or other cards unless noted.)
DISCLAIMER: This data is not intended as financial advice and should not be used as such. Please do your own research before making any investment or selling/buying decisions.
Popular Rookie Cards from 1981 Fleer Baseball
