Monday, October 29, 2012

Random Topps Card of the Day: 1979 Topps #582 Paul Blair

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, October 29, 2012:


  • Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1979 Topps #582.
  • Player Name, position, team: Paul Blair, outfielder, New York Yankees.
  • Major League Debut: September 09, 1964.
  • Last Line of Statistics: 1978 stats (Yankees): 75 G, 125 AB, 10 R, 22 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 13 RBI,  .176 AVG.
  • Any special information about player: Signed with the Mets as a Free Agent 07/20/1961.  Traded by the Orioles to the Yankees 01/20/1977.  Bats: right. Throws: right.
  • Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 16. This is his fifteenth Topps card.
  • Blurb on the back: n/a.
  • Commentary: I'm looking really closely at this card, and I'm seeing that it is subtly airbrushed.  The pinstripes look to be drawn with a pen, and you can even see, right in the middle, the stripe is cut off and there is a pen line going down further.  Look at his left sleeve, the lines aren't even connected.  But he joined the team in 1977, how could they not have an actual card of the guy?  Even an action shot would have been better.  Paul Blair was winding down his career by this time. He was released by the Yanks after playing in two games only to sign on with the Reds in May of 1979 (and then re-signed with NYY in time for the 1980 season).  In 75 games with Cincinnati, he hit a low .150, with 2 home runs and 15 rbi's.  His nickname of "Motormouth" notwithstanding, and even with a number of superstar players he was proud to call his teammates, Paul was an outstanding player on the Orioles.  With the O's, Blair was a two-time All-Star, an 8 time Gold Glove winner, and a 4-time MVP candidate.  In 13 seasons and 1700 games with the O's, he hit 126 home runs, drove in 567 runs, stole 167 bases, and hit .254 (.694 OPS).  His last cards appeared in 2003 as part of Topps All-Time Fan Favorites product.  
  • Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
  • How many cards of this player do I own?: 10 card.
Tomorrow's card will be: 2012 Topps #323. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

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