Random Topps Card of the Day: 1981 Topps Traded #778 Ruppert Jones

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, October 22, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1981 Topps Traded #778.
• Name, position, team: Ruppert Jones, outfielder, San Diego Padres.
• Major League Debut: August 1, 1976.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1980 stats (Yankees): 83 G, 328 AB, 38 R, 73 H, 11 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR, 42 RBI, 18 SB, .357 SLG, 34 BB, 50 SO, .223 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Royals #3rd, June 1973. Traded by the Yankees to the Padres 04/01/1981. Bats: left, Throws: left.
• Any special information about this specific card: Jones' sixth regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). If you ever wondered why the Padres colors were brown and yellow, it's not because brown was the color of the Friar's robes (although it is a striking coincidence), nor is it because the team's owner, Ray Kroc, wanted the team to wear the color of hamburgers and mustard to remind fans to go to McDonalds. It was because brown was his favorite color of the team's original owner C. Arnholt Smith. Everything had to be brown, from the car he drove, to the team's official stationary (must have been hard to read then). This is Ruppert Jones' second appearance on the Random Card of the Day. The first was his 1977 rookie card shared with Jack Clark, Lee Mazzilli, and Dan Thomas on 05/11/2010. By this time, he had already been drafted by the Seattle Mariners and had a good three-year run with the fledgling franchise. He was one of the M's first all-stars in 1977 and even hit the Mariners first inside the park home run on 08/06/1977 (that's according to one of the two comics at the back of his card). He was traded to the Yankees after the 1979 season and even though he only appeared in 83 games, he finished third on the team in stolen bases with his 18 (that's a bit of stretching isn't it???). He was traded again on 04/01/1981 to the Padres and appeared in 105 games for the Friars. He hit for a .249 clip to go with 4 home runs and 39 rbi's. The following year, he became an All-Star. The other comic on the back of his card mentions that Ruppert was on the same high school team as major leaguers Claudell Washington and Glenn Burke.
• Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 15 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1977 Topps #594. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama