Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1995 Topps #189 Derek Lilliquist

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, January 19, 2011:


  • Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1982 Topps Traded #76T.
  • Player Name, position, team: Derek Lilliquist, pitcher, Atlanta Braves.
    Major League Debut: April 13, 1989.
  • Last Line of Statistics: 1994 stats (Braves): 36 G, 29.1 IP, 1-3, 17 R, 16 ER, 15 SO, 8 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1 SV, 4.91 ERA.
  • Any special information about players: Drafted by the Braves, #1st, June 1987. Selected off Waivers by the Indians from the Padres 11/20/1991. Bats: left. Throws: left.
  • Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 6. This is his sixth and final card.
  • Blurb on the back: "When Bill Clinton traveled to Cleveland to throw out the first pitch of the Indians' 1994 season, he forgot to bring along the presidential glove. A major diplomatic embarrassment was avoided when Derek (a southpaw as is Mr. Clinton) loaned him his."
  • Commentary: The era after the strike was a dark period for MLB, and the hobby. Topps wisely made less cards in 1995 (and even less in 1996-1997). Thus when people started coming back to the Hobby, these three years were not as easy to find. If there is anything that the bio on the back teaches us, it is that President Clinton is a lefty. Who knew? It wasn't Derek's best year in 1994. Two years removed from his best season with the Indians (probably to show the Padres that he still had it), Lilliquist's struggles didn't necessarily hurt the Indians (a second place finish in the AL Central before the strike). Sure didn't help them either. I wonder how much Mitsubishi paid Topps (or would it be the other way around) for the use of the three-diamond logo. Either way, almost every card in the set subliminally served as a Mitsubishi car advertisement (although the trademark is from the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation).
  • Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
  • How many cards of this player do I own?: 9 cards.
Tomorrow's card will be: 1988 Topps #330. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

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