Random Topps Card of the Day: 2003 Topps #59 Brad Wilkerson

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, October 14, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2003 Topps #59.
• Player Name, position, team: Brad Wilkerson, outfielder, Montréal Expos.
• Major League Debut: July 12, 2001.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2002 stats (Expos): 153 G, 507 AB, 92 R, 135 H, 27 2B, 8 3B, 20 HR, 59 RBI, 7 SB, .469 SLG, 81 BB, 161 SO, .266 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Expos #33rd June, 1998. Bats: left, Throws: left.
• Any special information about this specific card: Wilkerson's third regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). Brad Wilkerson gave Expos fans someone to cheer for during the team's final run in Montréal with his bat and his glove. With 20 home runs and a .266 batting average, along with helping the Expos finish second place during a year where it was thought that the team would be disbanded, earned Brad a second-place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and a "rookie cup" for this, his 2003 Topps card. By 2004, Wilkerson became the Expos' power hitter, leading the team in almost all the major hitting categories. Brad sure made things exciting during those final years in Canada. The bio on the back under the stats reads that "on May 12, his foul ball shattered glass behind home plate, causing an eight-minute delay." And in a situation that every player dreams of, "on May 21, trailing Atlanta 5-4, Wilkerson batted with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th - and stroked the winning hit." He will always be known as the last Montréal Expo in Major League history. Why? Not because he hit the final home run in Expos's history. But because after the 2004 season, he was part of the MLB contingent that went to Japan to play against the Japanese All-Stars. As the franchise that was to play in Washington had not yet been created, he wore the red, white, and blue of the Expos. No stranger to competing in foreign countries, Brad Wilkerson was also part of the 2000 US Olympic Baseball team that took home the gold medal at the Sydney games. He did play for what was now called the Nationals in 2005.
• Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 23 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #576. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama