bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog

Happy Father's Day. Now, Who's Up For a 2-Pack Archives Break

2013-06-16T13:10:00.004-05:00

Father's Day 2013 started with a quick breakfast in bed, some coffee, and a nice present from my wife and children. They bought these wooden letters D A D and each of them painted one of the letters in their own unique way. I really like these home-made crafts because it shows that they took time out of their busy days to make something nice for me. But what was more important was the gifts I received...the two kids that have been my world for the last 13 years.

We are right now sitting in the social hall next to the church. Mass ended a bit more than an hour ago, and while my wife back in the church practicing with the choir, the kids are re-discovering the joys of Nintendo DS. They haven't played with these devices since spring break, using their parents' smartphones for their gaming escape. Now that summer is here, hopefully they'll play their games as sparingly as they did during the school year. But I digress. While everyone is busy, what better time than now to do a pack break?

Yesterday, while my wife was with her dad, and my daughter was at a dance audition, my son and I went to our local big box store in hopes of just hanging out and finding any of the newest Lego Minifigures. On the minifig note, series 10 is out and so far we have the Roman Commander and Warrior Woman. Sure enough, we found the minifigs and selected five at random (I mean, what would the odds be of getting the same two figures, right)? Okay, not so random, we did feel for the prop. We picked five, and along with a Kreo Donkey Kong Mario Kart car, we now own the Trendsetter (with dog), the Skydiver, the Motorcycle Mechanic, the Paintballer, and Tomahawk Warrior (so many figures with weapons in these series...it's like watching that Deadliest Warrior show to see which would win in a one-on-one duel). I also bought two packs of the newest Topps sensation (at least before series 2), Topps Archives and one jumbo pack of 18-cards. Let's see what's in these packs.

Pack 1 (in order of appearance):

#184 Kyle Seager, Mariners, 1990 design
#041 Doug Fister, Tigers, 1972 design
#057 Todd Frazier, Reds, 1982 design
#69S-BBMP Yogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Joe Mauer, Buster Posey 4 in 1 mini stickers, 1969 design
#004 Marco Scutaro, Giants, 1972 design
#078 Johan Santana, Mets, 1982 design
#141 Adam Jones, Orioles, 1985 design
#151 Jason Motte, Cardinals, 1990 design

Comments: For those who do not like the 1990 Topps design, the cards in this pack make a great argument as to why this design is awesome. The Motte card uses the red design, reminding me of some of how the red color really worked when the subject was from the Cardinals. The stickers look nice. Glad that there was a theme to the subjects (all-star catchers). Otherwise, nothing much to write home about.

Pack 2 (in order of appearance):

#110 Josh Hamilton, Angels, 1985 design
#187 Alex Gordon, Royals, 1990 design
#032 Wade Boggs, Red Sox, 1972 design
#085 Tony Perez, Reds, 1982 design
#214 Fred McGriff, Blue Jays, 1989 design (All Time Fan-Favorites subset SP found 1:4 packs)
#175 Yogi Berra, Yankees, 1990 design
#018 Jon Lester, Red Sox, 1972 design
#062 Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox, 1982 design.

Comments: Now we're talking. An SP card, and the card design is my favorite of all-time, 1989. Three Red Sox cards in the pack though...not that there is anything wrong with that but I didn't get any Cubs or *cough* White Sox cards in either pack.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in my life: Leslie Anama, Charles Mok, Anamite Anama, Richard Lee, Charles Mok Jr., Sam Bell. Happy Fathers Day to all Dads, Dads-to-Be, Grandfathers, Great Grandfathers, Foster Dad's, Stepdads, and Just-Like-Dads out there. Remember, anyone can be a father, but it takes a real man to be called "Daddy."

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps Traded #107T John Russell

2013-06-14T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, June 14, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps Traded #107T.
Player Name, position, team: John Russell, catcher, Texas Rangers.
Major League Debut: June 22, 1984.
Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Braves): 74 G, 159 AB, 14 R, 29 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB, .233 SLG, 8 BB, 53 SO, .182 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies #1st, June 1982. Signed with the Rangers as a Free Agent 05/09/1990. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his fourth Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "John caught Nolan Ryan's sixth No-Hitter, 6-11-90."
Commentary: The problem with the 1990 Topps set is three-fold. First, there was so much of it printed out, whether in box form (the traditional white cardstock) or in retail packs (I'm sure this was an experiment...and they used grey cardstock to boot). Secondly, although it uses the regular 1990 elements, the design's color scheme was just awful and inconsistent with how the regular set worked. Kudos to Topps for putting yellow to complete "the rainbow" but the transition to red was just not necessary. Third, short of hosting the rookie cards of Dave Justice and Scott Erickson, Cecil Fielder's first Topps card as a Tiger, there really isn't much happening in this set. Heck, even Cubs cult legend Hector Villanueva couldn't save this set from being valuable. As of now, box loads of this set could be sold for pennies on the dollar, and if I had to buy this set now, I wouldn't spend more than $5.00 on it...and even that seems to be a bit too much. But I digress. John William Russell was the Phillies' first round draft pick, eventually became their regular catcher in 1986. But other than that, he wasn't really used to his full potential. He never played more than 100 games in the majors during the season (the most he appeared in was 93 that magical year in '86, when he hit .241 with 13 homers and 60 rbi's). But he did manage to play well enough in the minors that when needed in Philly, his name was on the "must call up" list. After a season in Atlanta, the backup catcher signed on with the Texas Rangers. Eventually, he would be the mentor to Texas' budding superstar, Ivan Rodriguez. But finally, something good happened to John Russell. He was entered into a unique fraternity of catchers, joining the likes of Jeff Torborg, Art Kusnyer, Tom Egan, Ellie Rodriguez, and Alan Ashby (eventually joined by Mike Stanley). What did all these players have in common? Each one of them caught one of Nolan Ryan's seven no hitters. Russell caught the sixth one on June 11, 1990 against the Oakland Athletics. It would be the first of two no-nos for Ryan as a Ranger. For his part, Russell went 1-3 with a solo home run in the second inning off of Scott Sanderson. He finished the season appearing in 68 games, hitting a good .273 with 2 home runs and 8 rbi's...and one no-hitter. And although he would appear in a grand total of 115 games over the course of his Rangers career, the game on 06/11/1990 put him in the history books. Russell retired after the 1994 season, playing in two games for the Cardinals' AAA team in Louisville and turned to coaching. He was named manager to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2008 season, a role he would hold until 2010.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 7.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2003 Topps Traded and Rookies #130T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1981 Topps #666 Detroit Tigers Team Card

2013-06-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, June 6, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1981 Topps #666.
Team: 1980 Detroit Tigers.
Last Line of Statistics: 1980 stats: Manager Sparky Anderson, 84-78, .519 PCT., 19 GB, Fourth Place AL East.
Commentary: When I saw the number of today's card, I really thought, "Yes, a player who knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs." Then I saw the year and remembered, "Drat, this isn't Topps Total!" Besides, the Yankees, who finished first in the AL East were eliminated by the Royals in the ALCS (yes folks, the Royals were a very good team back then). The Tigers, on the other hand, finished in fourth place, 19 games behind the Yankees (and a half game up on Boston). But the Tigers had young stars in Alan Trammell & Lou Whitaker manning the middle infield (as they would all throughout the 80's and early 90's), sluggers Lance Parrish & Kirk Gibson, along with skipper Sparky Anderson, a nucleus was there that would in four seasons steamroller all over the AL. Parrish led the 1980 Tigers in home runs (24) while Trammell was the hitting star with an even .300 average. The Tigers ace, Jack Morris, was a workhorse at the plate, with a record of 16-15, 11 complete games, and two shutouts, even with an ERA of 4.18. Closer Aurelio Lopez anchored the bullpen with 21 saves as well as a 13-6 record and 3.77 ERA. In 1981, thanks to a strike-shortened season, the Tigers finished a combined 60-49, good for a cumulative third in the AL East. The back of the card provides team collectors a complete Tigers team checklist. There are 26 players on the list: 10 pitchers, 2 catchers, 6 outfielders, 6 infielders, and two guys (Rick Peters and Johnny Wockenfuss) who played multiple positions (the utility guys).
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1990 Topps Traded #107T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1994 Topps Traded #92T Charlie O'Brien

2013-06-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, June 12, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1994 Topps Traded #92T.
Player Name, position, team: Charlie O'Brien, catcher, Atlanta Braves.
Major League Debut: June 2, 1985.
Last Line of Statistics: 1993 stats (Mets): 67 G, 188 AB, 15 R, 48 H, 11 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 0 SB, .378 SLG, 14 BB, 14 SO, .255 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by Athletics #5th, June 1982. Signed as a free agent with the Braves 11/27/1993. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his eighth card.
Blurb on the back: "Because of his defensive genius, Charlie was hand-picked by the Braves as a back-up and mentor to super-rookie Javy Lopez."
Commentary: If this card looks familiar as a previous Card of the Day...it is. This is the second time that the Randomizer picked this card for today's subject. And as much as I would have loved to switch cards (using maybe the card before or after this one), I thought to honor the Randomizer's wishes and use this card again. The original post became one of the most read post on my blog thanks to an article linking my post and this card to his site (there were over 4000 hits to this humble, little blog thanks to this). To save time and agony, I'll just keep the original commentary, just changing a couple of things. Making his third appearance on the Randomizer, Charlie O'Brien, who never played more than 70 games up to this point in his career, was known more for his defense than he was for his bat. But it was what he brought to the game later on that revolutionized the catcher's position. Inspired by the goalie masks that hockey players use, he created a mask for catchers that was, yes a bit larger, but provided more protection for the man behind home plate against foul balls, against bats against the back of the head, et al. And, the view was amazing. You didn't even have to remove the mask to catch those pesky foul balls. And once it was approved by MLB to use in play, well, lets just say his mask added years to a catcher's health. At this time, the Braves had a young superstar waiting in the wings to become their primary catcher. O'Brien's signing guaranteed that a young Javy Lopez would learn from one of the better defensive catchers in the game.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
How many cards of each player do I own?: 10 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be1981 Topps #666. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1993 Topps Traded #73T Pete Incaviglia

2013-06-11T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, June 11, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1993 Topps Traded #73T.
Player Name, position, team: Pete Incaviglia, outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies.
Major League Debut: April 8, 1986.
Last Line of Statistics: 1992 stats (Astros): 113 G, 349 AB, 31 R, 93 H, 22 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 44 RBI, 2 SB, .430 SLG, 25 BB, 99 SO, .266 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Expos #1st, June 1985. Signed with the Phillies as a Free Agent 12/08/1992. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his eleventh Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "Belted 2 Home Runs and had career0best 7 RBI in 15-7 win vs. Giants, 06-14-92."
Commentary: After years of ensuring that the cards within Topps Traded are in numerical sequence by last name. Thus if the 1993 Topps traded retained the traditional sequential order, today's subject would have been Greg Maddux as a Brave. But instead, today's subject was one of Philly's unwashed heroes. Pete Incaviglia, the former #1 draft pick, found himself in search for a new team after a season with the Astros. The Phillies took a chance and sign "Inky" to a one-year deal, and boy did he pay dividends. In 1993, the Phillies ran roughshod over every team in the National League, upset the Braves in the NLCS and found themselves in the World Series for the first time since 1983. For his part, "Inky" hit for a .274 average (would be a career high), 24 home runs, drove in 89 rbi's, and an OPS of .848. In the playoffs, he went a combined 3 for 19 (.158) with a solo home run in the NLCS. He played in Philly for one more season before taking his talents to Japan, playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific League.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 23 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1994 Topps Traded #92T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1994 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1977 Topps #653 Diego Segui

2013-06-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, June 10, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1977 Topps #653.
Player Name, position, team: Diego Segui, pitcher, Seattle Mariners.
Major League Debut: April 12, 1962.
Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Red Sox): 33 G, 71 IP, 2-5, 41 R, 38 ER, 45 SO, 43 BB, 4.82 ERA.
Any special information about player: Signed with the Redlegs as a Free Agent before the 1958 season. Contract purchased by the Mariners from the Padres 10/22/1976. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his fourteenth and final Topps card.
Blurb on the back: n/a.
Commentary: Funny how baseball works. One year you pitch in the World Series with the Red Sox (the picture on this card shows today's subject wearing a jersey with the Sox' red trim although there is no logo on the batting helmet), the next you're stuck in the minors for a whole season. Such was the tale of Diego Segui's career. An established veteran pitcher with the A's (three stints), Senators, Pilots (one of the few who can lay claim to that honor), Cardinals, and Red Sox, Segui had compiled a record of 92-104 and an ERA of 3.68 with 1,207 strikeouts in more than 599 games pitched as a starter and reliever. After the '75 World Series, Segui was released by the Red Sox. Unable to find a MLB team to sign him, he signed a minor league deal with the Padres' AAA-team in Hawaii. It would be his third go-around with the Hawaii Islanders with three different organizations: the Washington Senators, the Kansas City Athletics, and now the Padres. Already a legend in the Aloha State, Segui would guide the Islanders to an incredible 11-5 record with a 3.18 ERA to go with 105 strikeouts in 147 innings of work. After the 1976 season concluded, the expansion Seattle Mariners took a chance and signed Diego to a one year deal. Rejuvenated by the return to Seattle, not only did he make the team out of spring training, he was their first ever starting pitcher. Unfortunately, the Angels spoiled Segui's homecoming, and the Mariners lost the game 7-0. Segui would finish the 1977 season with an 0-7 record, a career worst 5.69 ERA, two saves, and strikeout 91 batters in 40 games (7 were starts). Unable to find the form that once made him one of the games more unique pitchers, Segui would pitch his last season with Cordoba in the Mexican League. After retiring, he watched his son David develop into a bonafide major leaguer in his own right. The SABR BioProject has a very in-depth article about the career of Diego Segui that can be accessed here.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 1 card.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1993 Topps Traded #73T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #358 Jurickson Profar

2013-06-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #358.
Player Name, position, team: Jurickson Profar, shortstop, Spokane Indians.
Level-League, Team Affiliation: Low A-Northwest League, Texas Rangers.
Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 63 G, 252 AB, 42 R, 63 H, 19 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 8 SB, 28 BB, 46 SO, .373 SLG, .696 OPS, .250 AVG.
Any special information about player: Signed with the Rangers as a Free Agent 07/02/2009. Bats: both. Throws: right.
Major League Debut: September 2, 2012.
Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: Texas Rangers #2 prospect after the 2010 season .
Blurb on the back: "Many American fans recognize Profar as a star for two tremendous Curacao teams in the Little League World Series. A BB-throwing pitcher for years, he was asked to play shortstop after signing with the Rangers in 2009. He made his pro debut in '10 for Spokane, and went 7-for-21 in his first five games."
Official Topps Rookie Card: 2013 Topps #286.
Commentary: Because Topps' first Pro Debut product came out in two series (the first 220 cards harder to find than the second group of 220, where this card resides), and because he made his MilB Debut in 2010, Topps was able to include the Rangers' top prospect into the 2010 set. Yes, his numbers don't look all that much extraordinary, even if it's against competition from the Northwest League, but consider that even before he took the field, according to Baseball America, Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar was already the Rangers' number 5 prospect after the 2009 season. And keep in mind that he was born on 02/20/1993. So when he made his pro debut in 2010, he was only...17 YEARS OLD!!! As he climbed the organizational ladder (playing with the A-South Atlantic League Hickory Crawdads in 2011 and the AA-Texas League Frisco Roughriders in 2012), his offensive numbers were getting better, and BA as the team's #1 prospect at the end of those two seasons. The Rangers decided to bring Profar up in September, 2012 - at the age of 19 - as one of their end-of-the-year call-ups. Now the Rangers have a very interesting dilemma. You see, Texas already has a superstar shortstop in Elvis Andrus. Presently, Profar is with the big league team and playing at second base because their all-star second baseman, Ian Kinsler, is on the DL. The main concern is that when Kinsler returns from the DL, somebody will have to be relegated to the bench. With two established All-Stars covering the middle infield in Arlington, is there room for Jurickson Profar on this team? Will he be moved the outfield? Will he go back to the minors to develop a bit more? Or will he be moved to another team???

Next week's featured card will be: 2012 Topps Pro Debut #5. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1973 Topps #621 Joe Ferguson

2013-06-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, June 9, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1973 Topps #621.
Player Name, position, team: Joe Ferguson, catcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
Major League Debut: September 12, 1970.
Last Line of Statistics: 1972 stats (Dodgers): 24 AB, 7 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .292 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Dodgers #8th, June 1968. Bats: right. Throws: right..
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his second Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "On July 18, 1971 Joe hit a 9th inning Homer vs. Bucs to spoil Luke Walker's bid to become the first Pirate pitcher ever to hurl a no-hitter in Pittsburgh. Hit .400 in 10 games with Dodgers team in 1971 Arizona Instructional League."
Commentary: I love the silhouette that appears on the player cards in 1973 Topps. It's really the only design element used by Topps that year. After four full seasons in the minors plus three very brief cups of coffee with the Dodgers, Joseph Vance Ferguson (the player's full name appears on the back of the cards), made it onto the Dodgers' Opening Day roster as the everyday catcher for the 1973 season. When Steve Yeager was inserted into their lineup, Ferguson would play either of the corner outfield positions. By the end of the year, Joe appeared in 136 games, hit for a .263 average, hit what would eventually be a career high 25 home runs, drive in a career high 88 rbi's, and have an OPS of .839. He finished 21st in the MVP voting. He also committed 3 errors in 817 chances (.996 fielding percentage) that year as well, which should have put him in consideration for the Gold Glove award as well. By 1974, Yeager became LA's everyday backstop, and Ferguson would become his back-up. Although he was no longer the everyday catcher, Ferguson still contributed to the Dodgers cause, helping them get to the World Series in 1974 (and hitting a two-run homer in Game 2, which would be the only game LA would win that year against the Oakland A's.) In June of 1976, Ferguson and Bob Detherage were traded to Cardinals in the deal that sent Reggie Smith. After half a season in St. Louis, both Ferguson and Detherage were traded to Houston. When Joe was traded by the Astros to LA in 1978, he would spend the rest of his career in SoCal. After three plus seasons with the Dodgers, he signed with the Angels, finishing his career with the Halos in 1983. In 14 years in the majors, Joe would hit for a cumulative .240 average with 122 homers, 445 rbi's, 22 stolen bases, and an OPS of .767. On the back of his 1973 Topps card, there is a cartoon of a catcher (Ferguson) catching a basketball, with the caption "Joe once scored 40 points in a college basketball game."
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $2.00-$5.00.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 8.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card (I do own a reprint of it as mentioned in the commentary), but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.
Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1977 Topps #653. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1989 Topps Traded #80T Larry McWilliams

2013-06-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, June 8, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1989 Topps Traded #80T.
Player Name, position, team: Larry McWilliams, pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates.
Major League Debut: July 17, 1978.
Last Line of Statistics: 1988 stats (Cardinals): 42 G, 136 IP, 6-9, 64 R, 59 ER, 70 SO, 45 BB, 17 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 1 SV, 3.90 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Braves #1st, June 1974. Signed with the Phillies as a Free Agent 01/30/1989. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his twelfth and final Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "His first major league Two-Hitter: 9-18-81."
Commentary: Now this is more like it. Because the Topps Traded set was printed on white card stock (at least the sets sold at Hobby shops everywhere), you can actually read the statistics on the back a lot better than on the regular grey-stock printed cards. The pink background really helps, although the black borders still are condition sensitive. Larry McWilliams 1985 Topps card was a previous Random Card of the Day subject, so today's commentary will be a brief summary of his 1989 season. Long past his glory days with the Pirates in the early 80's, McWilliams signed with the Phillies in 1989 after a subpar year with St. Louis. In 40 games, 21 as a starter, McWilliams had a record of 2-11, 2 saves, an ERA of 4.10, 54 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.425 in 120.2 innings pitched. Needless to say, his stay in Philly was a disaster. So much so that by September 2, long after the trading deadline, McWilliams was traded to the Kansas City Royals for a player-to-be-named-later. He appeared in 8 games for KC, earning a 2-2 record, one save, 4.13 ERA, and 24 strikeouts in 32.2 innings of work. In 1990, the Royals released McWilliams after appearing in 13 games. In 8.1 innings, Larry's year ended with a high ERA of 9.72 (9 earned runs) and a WHIP of 2.280.
Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 13 cards.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1973 Topps #621. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2011 Topps Update Series #US102 Sean Burnett

2013-06-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, June 7, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2011 Topps Update Series #US102.
Player Name, position, team: Sean Burnett, pitcher, Washington Nationals.
Major League Debut: May 30, 2004.
Last Line of Statistics: 2010 stats (Nationals): 73 G, 1-7, 63 IP, 52 H, 17 R, 15 ER, 20 BB, 62 SO, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 3 SV, 1.14 WHIP, 2.4 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Pirates #1st, June 2000. Traded by the Pirates to the Nationals 06/30/2009. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 6. This is his fifth Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "The emergence of Sean as a lights-out reliever gives the Washington Nationals an additional ninth inning option to go to wiht Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard. Burnett converted his first three save chances of '11, and extended his two-year scoreless streak to 22 2/3 innings."
Commentary: I guess when a first round draft pick becomes a middle relief pitcher, he stops getting the attention of collectors. Why? Because although Sean Burnett made his debut in 2004 and has been a bonafide major leaguer since 2008, as of 2013, he has made only six appearances in a Topps or Topps Traded/U and H/Update Series product. Only six. And of the six, two of them were because he was a high draft pick for the Pirates in 2000. In fact, before this card was added to the Update Series set, the last time Burnett appeared on a card was in 2005 Topps! Nothing between then. It's like he fell of the face of the earth or something. Topps might as well call their Update series set, "the middle relievers and third string catchers set" because they seem to include a ton of them in these products. Okay, granted, in 2005, Burnett was injured for the entire season, and he was stranded in the Pirates minor league system in 2006 and 2007. But you'd think that a guy like Burnett would get cards on a regular basis. I guess when you're a relief pitcher for the Pirates, you don't get cards. Burnett was traded to the Nationals in a deal that sent All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan to the Bucs. In his first two years of service in DC, Sean appeared in 106 games, had a combined earned record or 2-8, 3 saves, 82 strikeouts, and an ERA of 2.44. In 2011, Burnett pitched in 69 games, earned a 5-5 record, had an ERA of 3.81, and struck out 57 batters in 56.2 innings of work. At the plate, he appeared twice, had a single and drew a walk. He also scored a run. His batting average that year was a perfect 1.000 and because his OBP and SLG numbers were the same 1.000, his OPS is a call 2.000 (in seven years, he has a combined batting average of .069, 2 hits in 29 at bats). With the Nationals adding superstar closer Rafael Soriano in the 2013 season, Burnett signed with the Angels, leaving the Nats after four very successful years.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 6.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1989 Topps Traded #98T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2013 Topps Update Series Sell Sheets are Live!!! And Have Been for Some Time!!!

2013-06-07T10:34:00.001-05:00

Because I was so far behind with the Random Card of the Day posts (due to poor planning ahead on my part), in my rush to catch up, I had little to no time (or energy) to post these images when they first came out a couple of weeks ago. For consistency's sake, I am posting these now. For those who have been bombarded with previews, or for those who have been busy getting every pack of Topps Archives you can find, let me (finally) announce that for quite some time now...

the 2013 Topps Update Series sell sheets are now live!!!

Once again, the Update Series will consist of 330 cards. There is no breakdown (seems to be a disturbing trend from Topps lately that they don't provide one. I guess it's to soften the blow of the "subject to change deal.") as in previous years, but you can expect the same number of cards reserved for the following subsets:

330 cards, 86 of them are accounted for based on the preliminary checklist (subject to change, of course). Sad that players like Joba Chamberlain, Mitchell Boggs, and James Russell, all relievers, have been skipped over in the eponymous set and are relegated to appear in the update set?
10 "Rookie Debut" cards featuring ten rookies and what they did in his major league debut.
8 Home Run Derby participants (TBD of course)
5 Record Breakers/Checklists
60 All-Stars (not necessarily the ones on the active roster, as we've seen in previous years).

The problem here is that unless MLB plans on increasing or decreasing the number of players on each roster, there will be 68 All-Stars on both rosters. Eight guys, possibly more, will be missing in this subset. That's misleading and not "EVERY" one will be included.

There is no checklist on which legends will appear as variations to the regular set , but I get a sinking feeling that the theme of SP cards of current players making some kind of spectacular catch or play will make their appearance here as well.

The usual rainbow of parallels make their continued run here for those who have been actively collecting them: Gold, Pink, Camo, Green, Black, Platinum, Red (Target), Blue (Walmart) Purple (Toys R Us), the printing plates, the silk collection, and to throw everybody for a loop, there will be SAPPHIRE FOIL (blue) parallel cards for all 990 cards (including series 1 and 2) that will be included in packs of Update Series. Yay!!!

The Chasing History continuity insert series concludes in Update. The set of mini cards honoring 1972 Topps cards will NOT continue in this product. It turns out that after you collect your cards from series 2, that's it. It's done. In it's place, however, will be mini cards honoring the 1971 Topps set (those wonderful black bordered beauties). Personally, I think that Topps should have just finished of the 1972 set here and use 1971 next year. But that's just me, and that's why I don't work for Topps. Three new insert sets make their debut here as well: Making their Mark (futue stars), Postseason Heroes (celebrating players and their heroic feats during the playoffs), and Franchise Forerunners (think of the Legendary Lineage and Timeless Talents insert cards from the last two years and you get the idea). The 2013 set will also feature autos and relics from the All-Star Game. And all the insert sets mentioned in this paragraph will have autos and relics to boot.

A preliminary checklist can be found here, but as repeated constantly (I can't stress it enough), it is always subject to change.

Bring on November!!!

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH104 Geoff Blum

2013-06-06T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, June 6, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH104.
Player Name, position, team: Geoff Blum, third baseman, Houston Astros.
Major League Debut: August 9, 1999.
Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Astros): 114 G, 325 AB, 36 R, 78 H, 14 2B, 1 3B, 14 R, 53 RBI, 1 SB, 21 BB, 54 SO, .418 SLG, .705 OPS, .740 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Expos #7th, June 1994. Signed with the Astros as a Free Agent 11/19/2007. Bats: both. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his sixth Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "By shocking the Cubs on June 10 and 11, 2009, Geoff became the first Astros player sine Derek Bell in 1996 to notch game-ending hits in back-to-back games."
Commentary: The one thing I love about horizontally oriented cards is that the pictures, if properly utilized, can bring you so close to the action, it's almost cliché to say that it's like you're right there. Now obviously the photographer isn't really at the home plate area when this shot was taken, but it is so close, and Topps cropped it just right, that you can see the dirt coming up as Geoff Blum is sliding towards home, trying to beat the catcher's tag. You can see the pitcher just standing there (arm on the left) hoping that Blum is out. The first base umpire, albeit blurred, can still be seen in the background watching the play. The only thing you don't see? Home plate. And even that is fine, because thanks to the design element of home plate used on the lower right hand corner of the card, it's like Blum is sliding into that instead. Based from what I can see, it looks like the Pirates were visiting Minute Maid Park that night. I'm not going to take the time this time around to figure out what game this because there is no way to tell if Blum was safe or called out. The only run he scored against the Bucs at home in 2009 (if that was when this shot was even taken) occurred on June 7 and the game summary does not indicate if there was a play at the plate. Geoff Blum had been with the Astros once before, spending two seasons with Houston before he was traded away to Tampa Bay after the 2003 season. After being released by the Devil Rays in 2004, he signed on with the Padres. His stay in San Diego didn't last long in 2005 as he was traded to the White Sox in a deadline deal, just in time to help the White Sox win the 2005 World Series (he hit the eventual game winning home run in the 14th inning against (ironically enough) the Astros in Game 3. Instead of sticking around in Chicago, he re-signed with the Padres after the 2005 season (talk about your rent-a-player). Blum re-signed with the Astros after the 2007 season ended, becoming the 'Stros primary third baseman. Oddly enough, even though he played in 114 games in 2008, he did not get a card in the 2009 Topps set. Instead, he was relegated to the Updates and Highlights set. In 2009, Blum appeared in 120 games, hit for a .247 average, hit 10 home runs, drove in 49 rbi's, and committed only 3 errors in 212 total chances (.986 fielding percentage). After the Astros declined his option for the 2011 season, Geoff signed with the Diamondbacks. But after two years and a combined 40 games, the D-Backs released him in 2012. He retired as a player soon afterwards and in 2013 returned to the Astros again, this time as a color analyst.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 14.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2011 Topps Update Series #US102. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2008 Topps St. Louis Cardinals

2013-06-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

Team: 2008 St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 86-76, fourth place, NL Central Division.
Manager: Tony LaRussa
Card on the Top: Albert Pujols

The checklist consists of the following players:

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2008 Topps eponymous set:

Scott Spiezio does not appear in either 2008 Topps or 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights sets. This is the only product you will find a card of him using the 2008 Topps design.

Ryan Ludwick did not appear in the 2008 base set, even though he appeared in 120 games for the Redbirds. He does make it into the Updates and Highlights set. Probably helps that he was an All-Star that season:

Yadier Molina's retail card uses the same picture as his base card, but his base card shows more of the intended shot:

Ditto for Braden Looper:

Adam Kennedy? Same thing:

And Brendan Ryan...ever so slightly:

So of the 14 players included in this set, only one uses a totally different picture for the retail set, and one player's card (Spiezio) can only be found in this product.

Next week's featured set will be the 2009 Arizona Diamondbacks. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights Sets.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Now That I'm Caught Up...

2013-06-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

If you're still a regular reader of this humble, little blog, you'll notice that I fell behind quite a bit with the Random Card of the Day posts and have not even had time to post anything new, like:

the fact that the sell sheets for 2013 Topps Update Series are live
the fact that 2013 Topps Archives are live, and that I was debating doing the autograph set this year, but then I saw what they look like, and am not leaning towards not doing so (that may change...)
the fact that Topps is coming out with something called a Qubi? (I think that's the name...)
the fact that I have all 2013 Topps retail team sets and have not had the opportunity to OPEN THEM YET!!!

Well now that I'm caught up, I will finally get to commenting about all of the above and much more.

In the mean time, do you like the new layout for the blog? It's been five full years now since I started this one-trick pony and I thought it was time to change. After trying to figure out the best blogger layout to do so, I found what you see now. And what's even cooler is that I can change the background whenever I want. If you've seen the blog since the makeover, I've had my All-Time All-Star Teams from 2012, 1987, and 1988 as background images. As the year goes on, all the other teams I've made up in the last 25 plus years will be utilized.

So stay tuned. After I get my posts on the 2008 Topps Cardinals team set and the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, I'll get started.

Or maybe I'll fall behind and then forget everything I've written here.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps #590 Kerry Wood

2013-06-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, June 5, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps #590.
Player Name, position, team: Kerry Wood, pitcher, Chicago Cubs.
Major League Debut: April 12, 1998.
Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats (Cubs): 32 G, 211 IP, 14-11, 77 R, 75 ER, 266 SO, 100 BB, 32 GS, 4 CG, 2 SHO, 0 SV, 1.19 WHIP, 3.20 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cubs, #1st, June 1995. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 17. This is his seventh Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "Anyone who saw Kerry work in the 2003 postseason was treated to a glimpse of someone who might be baseball's next superstar pitcher - if he's not that already. Last year, Wood became the quickest pitcher ever to 1,000 strikeouts, both by games (134, besting Roger Clemens' 143) and innings (853 to Hideo Nomo's 927 2/3)."
Commentary: Oh what could have been. It was supposed to have been their year. And they were five outs away from getting there. It's such a shame that even with that meltdown in game 6, that the Cubs couldn't muster enough strength to win the next day. But alas, it was so. But don't blame Kid K. He did his best despite the controversies and the conspiracy theories (not to mention the injuries). Because his 2001 Topps card was a previous Random Card of the Day subject, a review of his 2004 season is in order. A strained triceps injury sidelined Wood for two months. But when he was on the mound, he was still a pitcher to be feared. He did finish the season with an 8-9 record, a 3.72 ERA, and struck out 144 of the 595 batters he faced. For the record, since December 20, 2012, I managed to add exactly one Kerry Wood card to my collection: the 2013 Topps Chasing History Kerry Wood #CH-36.
Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 60 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH104. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1976 Topps #87 Tom Burgmeier

2013-06-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, June 4, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1976 Topps #87.
Player Name, position, team: Tom Burgmeier, pitcher, Minnesota Twins.
Major League Debut: April 10, 1968.
Last Line of Statistics: 1975 stats (Twins): 46 G, 76 IP, 5-8, 32 R, 26 ER, 41 SO, 23 BB, 3.08 ERA.
Any special information about player: Signed with the Colt .45's as a Free Agent 09/24/1961. Traded by the Royals to the Twins 10/24/1973. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 16. This is his seventh Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "In American Legion, Tom once hurled 11-inning no-hitter, fanned 23 batters in game, but was defeated 2-1."
Commentary: You do realize that he can't possibly be holding a ball in his left hand and that there is nothing in the glove, right? Would this be what his follow-through would look like? The St. Paul, Minnesota-born Tom Burgmeier was traded by the Royals to the Twins after the 1973 season concluded. Prior to that, he was drafted by the fledgling Kansas City franchise in the 1969 expansion draft from the California Angels. For five seasons, he performed very well in the KC bullpen, saving 28 games while earning a 24-16 record with an ERA of 3.20. His best season in KC was in 1971, when Tom saved 17 games and earned a record of 9-7 with what would eventually be a career low 1.73 ERA. In 1976, his third season in the Twin Cities, had a fantastic season as a middle reliever. In 115.1 innings of work (a career high), he would win eight of nine decisions, have an ERA of 2.50, strikeout 45 batters, and have an WHIP of 1.075. After four years, Tom would conclude his run in Minnesota with a record of 24-16 (the same record he earned in five seasons with KC) along with a 3.77 ERA in 380 innings pitched. Burgmeier signed a Free Agent contract with the Red Sox in 1978, and spent the next five years in Boston, becoming an All-Star in 1980. He would finish his career in Oakland, spending two seasons with the A's until he retired after the 1984 season. He has gone on to be a pitching coach in the Royals' and Orioles' farm systems over the years, and was a video coordinator for the Royals before turning to coaching. The SABR BioProject has an article on Tom Burgmeier's career that you can access here.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 11 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2004 Topps #590. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2004 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1982 Topps #493 Chet Lemon

2013-06-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, June 3, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1982 Topps #493.
Player Name, position, team: Chet Lemon, outfielder, Chicago White Sox.
Major League Debut: September 9, 1975.
Last Line of Statistics: 1981 stats (White Sox): 94 G, 328 AB, 50 R, 99 H, 23 2B, 6 3B, 9 HR, 50 RBI, 5 SB, .491 SLG, 33 BB, 48 SO, .302 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Athletics #1st, June 1972. Traded by the Athletics to the White Sox 06/15/1975. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 17. This is his seventh Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "Chet led the White Sox in Batting in 1979 & 1980."
Commentary: Personally, I don't really collect autograph cards. I do have some in my collection, including one of Chet Lemon from the 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set, and that was only because he did not have a card in the base set, and I decided (I don't know where my head was at the time) that I wanted to know what design was used and what his card would have looked like had he appeared in the base set. So I managed to acquire all (except one...Tug McGraw) of the cards of the players who only had auto cards from that set and were not part of the base set. I did this for the remaining two years of ATFF's existance (yes, there were a few). When Topps Archives came back, I thought (again, don't know what I was thinking), "Why not collect all the autographs of the players who were not part of the ATFF SP subset?" Not including Gary Carter's 1975 sticker auto card, the Yu Darvish '86 card, and the Jose Oquendo "nine", there are 33 autographed cards of players who did not make the base set. I have 31 of them now, one I'm still looking for is Doug Drabek (whose card, ironically, was the first one I had "won" on the Bay only to learn that the card got lost in the mail). The other one, unless I somehow win the lottery, will be just a dream to buy. The card? Hank Aaron! Back to the point. Chet Lemon was a hitting machine for the White Sox from the mid 70's through the early 80's. In seven years with the White Sox, Lemon would hit for a combined .288 average, with 73 homers, 348 rbi's, and an OPS of .814. He led the AL in doubles in 1979 with 44, and proudly represented the Pale Hose in two All-Star Games (1978 and 1979) On November 27, 1981, Lemon was traded to the Tigers for outfielder Steve Kemp. While Kemp did well in his lone year in Chicago (.286, 19 HR, 98 RBI), Lemon spent the rest of his career as a member of the Tigers. In 1982, Lemon appeared in 125 games, hit .266 with 19 homers and 52 rbi's, and an OPS of .815. He led all of MLB by getting hit by a pitch 15 times, a trend he carried over from Chicago (he led the league in two of the three previous seasons) and would get plunked a career high 20 times in 1983. Firmly entrenched as the Tigers' center fielder, Lemon helped the Tigers run roughshod over the American League in 1984, culminating to a World Series victory over the Padres (curse you Garvey). For his part, Lemon went 5-17 with one rbi and two stolen bases in the five-game series. After nine seasons in Detroit, Lemon became ill with a serious spleen disease called polycythemia vera. After going through successful surgery, he tried for a comeback, but decided to retire after learning he would need a second surgery. In 2003, he had his spleen removed and is still active in baseball. He coaches two AAU teams (the appropriately named Chet Lemon's Juice and Juice II) in Florida. His son, Marcus, was a fourth round draft pick by the Rangers in 2006. He is currently playing for the Erie SeaWolves, the AA team of the Tigers.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.10-$0.30.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 28 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #87. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #227 Todd Frazier

2013-06-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

It's Minor League Monday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Pro Debut Card of the Week:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #227.
Player Name, position, team: Todd Frazier, outfielder, Louisville Bats.
Level-League, Team Affiliation: AAA-International League, Cincinnati Reds.
Minor League Stats (stats with team depicted only): 16 G, 63 AB, 9 R, 19 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 2 SB, 6 BB, 12 SO, .476 SLG, .839 OPS, .302 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Reds #1st, June 2007. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Major League Debut: May 23, 2011.
Baseball America Organizational Ranking After Season with Team: Cincinnati Reds #1 prospect after the 2009 season .
Blurb on the back: "Frazier batted .296 through his first three professional seasons, including .302 in a short Triple-A debut with Louisville in 2009. An exceptional athlete who holds his high school hoops record with 27 rebounds in one game, he has gained extensive experience not only in left field, but at every infield post."
Official Topps Rookie Card: 2011 Topps Update #US270.
Commentary: The reason why his 2009 numbers with the Louisville Bats are low are only because he spent most of the year with the Reds' AA team, the Southern League's Carolina Mudcats. In Zebulon, Frazier appeared in 119 games, hit for a .290 average, blasted 14 homers and drove in 68. No wonder the Reds moved him up to AAA. He spent all of 2010 with the Bats, hitting .258 with 17 homers, 66 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases in 130 games. In 2012, became the Reds' regular third baseman. He finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, and was voted by the MLB managers as Topps' 2012 third baseman for their All-Star Rookie Team.

Next week's featured card will be: 2010 Topps Pro Debut #358. Post will arrive at 9:00 AM CST. Hope you enjoyed this week's installment of Minor League Monday.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1960 Topps #377 Roger Maris

2013-06-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, June 2, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1960 Topps #377.
Player Name, position, team: Roger Maris, outfielder, New York Yankees.
Major League Debut: April 16, 1957.
Last Line of Statistics: 1959 stats (Athletics): 122 Games, 433 At Bat, 69 Runs, 118 Hits, 21 2B, 7 3B, 16 HR, 72 RBI, .273 Avg.
Any special information about player: Signed with the Indians as a Free Agent before the 1953 season. Traded by the Kansas City Athletics to the Yankees 11/11/1959. Bats: left. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his third Topps card.
Blurb on the back: n/a.
Commentary: Topps first standard-sized set (2½" x 3½") that utilized horizontal fronts, the 1960 set was named by Topps Magazine readers as the set of the decade. It truly was unique in that regard. Now, I don't know what controversies there were with collectors in the 60's (or were there any...compared to now anyway), but it seems that Topps put this set out to market just before spring training (at least their Series 1 product anyway). How else would they have been able to include Roger Maris, who played for the Athletics just the year before and was traded on the KCA-NYY pipeline on December 11 (or December 13 if you believe the back of the card), as a member of the Yankees? Complete with an airbrushed (crudely by today's standards) NY logo on his cap? I guess it made sense for Topps to take tons of pictures of players without their caps. How else could they put many of these players in cards with their new teamsif they moved during the off season? Because so much has been written about Roger Eugene Maris (Maras), and you can learn more about him thanks to the SABR BioProject, the commentary will be about his 1959-1960 seasons, with a dash of the famous 1961 campaign and his final totals as a Yankee. Taking full advantage of their Kansas City A's connection, the Yankees sent Hank Bauer, Don Larsen, Norm Siebern, and Marv Thornberry to the A's in exchange for Joe DeMaestri, Kent Hadley, and KC's All-Star outfielder Roger Maris. Now while DeMaestri and Hadley really didn't have much to contribute during their brief stays in the Bronx (Hadley appeared in 55 games in 1960, never played in the majors again; DeMaestri played sparingly in 79 games over two seasons, and then his MLB career was over), it was Maris that the team really wanted. An All-Star just the year before, the Yankees knew that Maris would be reaching his full hitting potential (he was 25 when the 1960 season started) right at this time. Inserting him into a lineup that included the likes of Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Bobby Richardson, and Bill Skowron could only help build on his first All-Star campaign. Sure enough, Maris did thrive. In his first year in pinstripes, Maris hit for a .283 clip, hit 39 home runs, drove in 112 runs batted in (led the league), hit for a league leading .581 slugging percentage, and returned to the All-Star Game. He was awarded his first and only Gold Glove that year on the heels of a .985 fielding percentage (4 errors in 273 total chances). He was also voted as the American League MVP (his first). Although the Yankees would fall to Pittsburgh in the 1960 World Series, Maris contributed with 2 solo home runs among his eight hits in 32 plate appearances. It can be argued that his 1960 season was better than the following one that would put Maris' name into the stratosphere. We all know how he did that year (61 home runs, 141 rbi's, 132 runs scored all led the AL and a .269 average to boot). He would be named to his third All-Star Team, controversy with a certain * aside, he would be named the AL's MVP for the second year in a row. During the 1961 World Series against the Reds, he hit .174 with a homer and 5 rbi's as the Yankees made quick work of the Reds winning in five games. Maris would play with New York for seven seasons, hitting for a combined .265 with 203 home runs, 547 rbi's, an OPS of .872, three All-Star Game rosters, a Gold Glove and two World Series rings. He was traded to the Cardinals on December 8, 1966 for Charley Smith. In St. Louis, he helped lead the team to two consecutive World Series appearances, winning the 1967 Series over Boston in seven games with a postseason best .385 average, one home run, 7 rbi's, and an OPS of .972. After he retired in 1968, he worked with the Busch family and set up a beer distribution company in Florida. It proved to be a very successful enterprise as by 1983, he was able to ease back on the travelling that had kept him occupied in the years previous. All the while, he was placed on the ballot for enshrinement into Baseball's Hall of Fame. In fifteen years however, he would reach no higher than 43.1% in his last eligible year (1988). Sadly, Maris would pass away on December 14, 1985, due to complications with lymphoma. He was 51 years old. On the back of the card, there were five season higlights listed from Maris' 1959 campaign: May 10: Has 2 HRs, 5 RBIs vs. Det.; June 22: After being out for 30 days, Rog hits 2 doubles vs. Yanks.; July 11: Drives in 3 runs against Chisox; July 23, Hits HR, double and single against Orioles.; July 27: Blasts grand slam homer to beat Washington 7-6. The last highlight? December 13: Rog is traded to Yanks. The cartoon depicted on the card shows a ball going over the fence saying (yes the ball is talking) "Roger and out!" The caption below says that Rog (yes, ROG) hit 28 homers for K.C. in 1958. In 2010, Topps included a copy of this card in the series 2 edition of their Cards Your Mother Threw Out insert/reprint set. This card will forever hold a place in my heart because it was the last one that I needed to complete the massive 174-card Original Back reprint set.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $50.00-$100.00.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 47.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card (I do own a reprint of it as mentioned in the commentary), but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1982 Topps #493. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1998 Topps #281 Livan Hernandez '97 World Series Highlight

2013-06-01T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, June 1, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1998 Topps #281.
Player Name, position, team: Livan Hernandez, pitcher, Florida Marlins.
Special: World Series Game 5, Florida 8, Cleveland 7.
Blurb on the back: "A 22-year old in the World Series. A Cuban pitching in 35-degree wind chill. A guy who walked eight in a 142-pitch stamina-strainer. The planets didn't seem to be aligned for a Livan Hernandez victory, but they were as Florida took a three games-to-two lead with an 8-7 win over Cleveland. Supported by Moises Alou's third home run of the Classic, he settled in after a rocky start to become the first rookie since 1947 to win a second World Series game. Hernandez also topped the Indians in the opener."
Any special information about this specific card: Sorry for the really bad scan. I don't know if you can describe the front of the card as total foil (akin to the 2002 Topps America: United We Stand cards), but other than the featured player (in this case Livan Hernandez) and the logos of the Indians, Marlins, and Topps, it's very hard to see the words numbers "'97" ghosted above and "World Series" along the edge of the card from a distance. You'd really have to get up close to see the details, down to the what I'm thinking is the runner on the base paths. Topps' description on the back of the card perfectly and dramatically describes the game situation and the eventual result, that of the Marlins winning game 5. Now there were seven cards in the '97 World Series subset, one for each game. But unlike previous years, there is no mention about which game is featured on the front of the card. You'd either have to assume that each card looks back on a specific game in order (when the cards are sorted in numerical sequence), or read the back of the card to find out for sure. On the back of the card as well, behind the text and the picture of Hernandez, there is a sketch of a newspaper with the headline of World Series! and the two teams' logos, but again, it would be hard to see either of them unless you took a really close look at the card.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1960 Topps #377. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2008 Topps #159 Luke Scott

2013-05-31T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, May 31, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2008 Topps #159.
Player Name, position, team: Luke Scott, outfielder, Houston Astros.
Major League Debut: April 5, 2005.
Last Line of Statistics: 2007 stats (Astros): 132 G, 369 AB, 49 R, 94 H, 28 2B, 5 3B, 18 HR, 64 RBI, 3 SB, 53 BB, 95 SO, .504 SLG, .855 OPS, .255 AVG.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Indians #9th, June 2001. Traded by the Indians to the Astros 03/31/2004. Bats: left. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 8. This is his second Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "Luke overcame nagging injuries to be the Astros primary right fielder in 2007. "He's a solid professional hitter," GM Ed Wade says. "He's capable of playing a couple of spots and he can help the club win'."
Commentary: When Luke Brandon Scott isn't on the DL, he does extremely well at the plate and is a pretty decent fielder in right. However, injuries have been an issue over the course of his career, he even started on the DL in the 2013 season. But we're not here to talk about his issue on and off the field. After four seasons climbing up the Indians' ladder in pursuit of big league dreams, the Tribe traded him to Houston for a pitcher named Jeriome Robertson. It had looked like the Indians were getting the better of the deal as Robertson was a ROY candidate the year before and finished with an 15-9 record the year before. But in 2004, injuries befell Robertson and after a disastrous 8 game run with the Indians, he was sent packing to the minors, never to be seen in the MLB again (he finished his MiLB career in 2008). But Luke Scott was just getting warmed up. In 63 games with the Round Rock Express in 2004, Scott hit 19 home runs and brought in 62 rbi's to go with a .298 average and an incredible 1.055 OPS. He made the Astros' roster out of spring training, but after struggling to a .154 average with no homers and rbi's to speak of, he was sent back to Round Rock. In his four month stint with the Express, Scott had hit 31 homers and driven in 87 rbi's to go with a .286 average and .966 OPS. He was called up at the end of August when rosters expanded. At the end of the 2007 season, Scott, along with four other players, was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in the Miguel Tejada deal. With the O's, Scott became the primary left fielder, and in 148 games hit .257 with 23 home runs, 65 rbi's, and committed only two errors in left for a good .990 fielding percentage. In four seasons with the Orioles, Luke would bat for a cumulative .260 with 84 home runs, 236 rbi's, and an OPS of .826. He signed with the Rays as a Free Agent after the 2011 season, and became the Tampa Bay's designated hitter, a role he has returned to in 2013 now that he is off the DL.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 19.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1998 Topps #281. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1986 Topps #388 Dickie Noles

2013-05-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, May 30, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1986 Topps #388.
Player Name, position, team: Dickie Noles, pitcher, Texas Rangers.
Major League Debut: July 5, 1979.
Last Line of Statistics: 1986 stats (Rangers): 28 G, 110.1 IP, 4-8, 67 R, 62 ER, 59 SO, 13 BB, 13 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1 SV, 5.06 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Phillies #4th, June 1975. Traded by the Cubs to the Rangers 07/01/1984. Bats: both. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 11. This is his eighth Topps card.
Blurb on the back: n/a.
Commentary: In 1991, readers of Topps Magazine named the 1986 Topps set as the best of the decade. I'm pretty sure that if readers of other magazines were involved in the voting process, this would not have been the choice. But alas, the loyal followers of Topps' Magazine voted this as the main set? Why? Was it because of the unique font used for the team name? Was it because of the tough-to-keep-mint black borders that appeared on most of the cards? Was it because the traded set included hot rookie cards of guys named Bonds, Bonilla, Canseco, Clark, and Jackson? Personally, I voted for the 1987 set, but I digress. The first time I heard the name Dickie Noles (his given name is really Dickie Ray Noles), it was from his 1988 Topps card. It wasn't the man's name that stood out for me, it was the words floating on the card itself that said that Noles was "NOW WITH TIGERS." When I was just learning the game of baseball and sorted my cards by teams (I was 12, I didn't know better), I didn't know what to do with this card. Should he be added to the Cubs team set or the Tigers? Frank Lucchesi's MGR card included Noles on the team checklist, so I put it there. But the card also said he was playing for the Tigers, and the back of his card had his stats for the four games he pitched for Detroit. Whenever I could get my hands on the Tribune, back then the sports page included full statistics for all 26 teams. Sure enough in June, there was Dickie Noles' name...with the Orioles. What??! Remember, there was no Internet back then, and at 12 years old, I didn't really have access to that kind of information. So I had no idea that Noles signed with the Orioles after the 1987 season and spent most of the year with the O's AAA-team in Rochester. With the Red Wings, Noles went 10-5 with an ERA of 3.12, 59 strikeouts, 1 save (he did start 15 games), and a WHIP of 1.192. In June, the Orioles called Noles up to Baltimore to take a spot in the rotation. In two starts, he went 0-2, lasted a combined 3.1 innings of work, and allowed 9 earned runs to score for an ERA of 24.30. Needless to say, he was sent back to Rochester to finish the year. In 1989, Noles signed a minor league contract with the Yankees and spent the year with the Columbus Clippers. In 1990, he signed another minor league deal with the Phillies, and other than a May 8 appearance, spent the year with Scranton/Wilkes Barre Red Barons. It would be his final season in baseball as a pro. Today, Noles is a born-again Christian and works within the Phillies organization.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 11.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2008 Topps #159. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. One note that I never knew about Noles after the 1987 season. Yes, he played with the O's in 1988, but apparently, after the Cubs traded Noles to Detroit, he was returned to Chicago as the player-to-be-named-later. Thus, Noles was traded for himself. jba

Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2009 Topps Milwaukee Brewers

2013-05-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

Team: 2009 Milwaukee Brewers
Record: 80-82, third place, NL Central Division.
Manager: Ken Macha
Card on the Top: Ryan Braun

The checklist consists of the following players:

MIL1 Ryan Braun
MIL2 Mat Gamel
MIL3 Prince Fielder
MIL4 Mike Cameron
MIL5 Corey Hart
MIL6 Dave Bush
MIL7 Trevor Hoffman
MIL8 Manny Parra
MIL9 Rickie Weeks
MIL10 Jason Kendall
MIL11 J.J. Hardy
MIL12 Jeff Suppan
MIL13 Bill Hall
MIL14 Yovani Gallardo
MIL15 Bernie Brewer

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2009 Topps eponymous set:

The picture used for Prince Fielder's base card is bit different than the one used for the retail set:

Did you know that Mike Cameron appears in two cards in the 2009 Topps set, one in each series? The first picture is card #162, the other #346:

It's a different picture of Corey Hart, but you see more of him in the base set:

Here's Trevor Hoffman sporting some Photoshopped Brewers duds (or were the retail ones altered?):

Manny Parra also gets a different picture on retail card, as seen by what was used on the base card below:

Rickie Weeks takes the field on his base card:

Jason Kendall in his catcher's gear, but a different shot:

Jeff Suppan is working on his sliding technique on his base card:

Bill Hall flashes the leather on his eponymous card:

Finally, Yovani Gallardo's card with another picture:

So of the 14 players included in this set, there are ten use totally different pictures on the retail set, and one player (Cameron) just happens to show up twice. You want variations, this set is for you Brewers fans. There was a ton here.

Next week's featured set will be the 2008 St. Louis Cardinals. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights Series.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2007 Topps #336 Woody Williams

2013-05-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, May 29, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2007 Topps #336.
Player Name, position, team: Woody Williams, pitcher, Houston Astros.
Major League Debut: May 14, 1993.
Last Line of Statistics: 2006 stats (Padres): 25 G, 145.1 IP, 12-5, 68 R, 59 ER, 72 SO, 35 BB, 24 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.29 WHIP 3.65 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Blue Jays #28th, June 1988. Signed with the Astros as a Free Agent 11/24/2006. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 14. This is his fourteenth and final Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "The Astros signed Woody for 2007, hoping to benefit from his newest pitch, the knuckleball. The 14-year vet is one of 17 active RHPs with 2,000 IP."
Commentary: One of these days, I'll have to bring back the 2011 Topps Archives Project back, but probably under a new name. Why? Because 2011 already happened, and when Topps brought back the Archives line in 2012 (which don't get me wrong, I like), the concept was just a quick rehash of what Topps Heritage will look like for a majority of the current players if they were around in 2003 (the 1954 design) or what they will look like in 2020 (1971), 2029 (1980), and 2033 (1984). As an aside, if you're curious, the 2013 version previews the 2021 (1972), 2031 (1982), 2034 (1985), and 2039 (1990) Topps Heritage sets. But back to the point. I don't think I can call them Fan Favorites because I'm using the actual cards instead of new pictures on old designs. Besides, I liked the 2001-2002 concept better anyway when the line consisted of retired players' first and last cards (2001) or the card from their best year (2002...to a point). Anyway, if I were to include Gregory Scott Williams in my project, this would be the "final" card of the pair. While I say that though, it turns out that he does have a 2008 Topps card with the Astros...that can only be found if you buy the 14-card retail set. By the time he signed with his hometown Astros for the 2007 season, Woody Williams (he's the second guy nicknamed "Woody" as an infielder from the 1930's-40's named Woodrow Wilson Williams shared the name and was nicknamed similarly) was a 14-year veteran with the Blue Jays, Padres (two stints) and Cardinals (All-Star in 2003). He led the NL in winning percentage thanks to a 12-5 record (.706). With the Astros however, Williams went 8-15 with a high ERA of 5.27 and 101 strikeouts. He also led the league in home runs given up with 35. He was released by the Astros before the end of the 2008 spring training session and retired as a player. He was part of the 2013 HOF ballot and as we all know, nobody was voted into the Hall via the BBWAA earlier this year.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 18.

Tomorrow's card will be 1986 Topps #388. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH163 Alejandro de Aza

2013-05-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, May 28, 2013:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH163.
Player Name, position, team: Alejandro de Aza, outfielder, Florida Marlins.
Major League Debut: April 2, 2007.
Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Marlins): Did not play - Injured.
Any special information about player: Signed with the Dodgers as a Free Agent 05/01/2001. Drafted by the Marlins in the Rule 5 Draft 12/13/2004. Bats: left. Throws: left.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his second Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "A fast player with a great glove, Alejandro provides insurance at all three outfield posts. He was Florida's Opening Day starter in 2007, but then missed '08 with an ankle injury."
Commentary: To ensure that Alejandro de Aza would return to his usual speedy self after spending the entire 2008 season on the DL, the Marlins assigned him to New Orleans to start the 2009 campaign. The Fish then called de Aza up in May to fill in their bench as their primary pinch hitter/runner - defensive replacement. But after two months in which he appeared in only 22 games, hitting a low .250 and stealing no bases, the Marlins returned Alejandro to New Orleans. He finished the year with the Zephyrs, hitting .300 with 8 home runs, 27 rbi's, and 11 stolen bases. The Marlins, seeing that there would be no room in their outfield, placed de Aza on waivers. The White Sox picked him up on October 21, 2009, and after travelling back and forth between Chicago and Charlotte from 2009-2011 (the Sox' AAA-affiliate), he has provided the Pale Hose a spark in the lineup that has not been seen since Scott Podsednik and a steady glove at center field.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 8 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2007 Topps #336. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 2007 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama