Random Topps Card of the Day: 1994 Topps #542 Chris Sabo

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, January 13, 2012:
 

 

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1994 Topps #542.
• Player Name, position, team: Chris Sabo, third baseman, Cincinnati Reds.
• Major League Debut: April 04, 1988.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1993 stats (Reds): 148 G, 552 AB, 86 R, 143 H, 33 2B, 2 3B. 21 HR, 82 RBI, 6 SB, .440 SLG, 43 BB, 105 SO, .259 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Reds, #2nd, June 1983. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 9. This is his seventh Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Chris led the NL with 3 grand slams in 1993, one of which came in the same game as a "grannie" by Joe Oliver - the first time Reds' teammates had done that since 1955."
• Commentary: The year I was scheduled to graduate high school and begin my life as an adult was 1994. Topps design of a home-plate shaped picture frame with a patch of green where the player's name began was a nice. So nice in fact, that similar designs would be used for both Topps' efforts in their eponymous football and basketball sets as well (with football and basketball shaped frames). Now I don't know if it was just me, but when the Reds started to wear the sleeveless jerseys again, all I could think of was that these guys looked like they should be serving ice cream instead of playing baseball. Maybe it was because EVERYTHING was red-pinstriped, even the caps they wore on the field. Nothing against them, mind you, but that was just the impression I got. Anyway, I will always remember Chris Sabo, not for his glasses, not for his unique nickname "Spuds", nor for the fact that he won a World Series in 1990. I will always remember him for being the guy that beat out Mark Grace for NL Rookie of the Year in 1988. In reality, Sabo signed with as a free agent with the Orioles after the 1993 season. Even though this card was part of Series 2, Topps still had him pictured in a Reds uniform. If this had happened today, Topps would not have hesitated to photoshop an O's jersey on him to avoid adding him to the Update series (in reality, he did appear in the Traded set that year as a member of the Orioles). In limited action as the O's 3rd baseman, Sabo appeared in 68 games, hit 11 home runs, drove in 42 rbi's, and batted a decent .256. Released by the O's at the end of the year, he signed with the Chicago White Sox soon afterwards.
• Beckett value: $0.02-$0.10.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 20 cards.

 
Tomorrow's card will be: 2010 Topps #494. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.
 
Sincerely,
 
JayBee Anama