bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog: Random Topps Card of the Day: 2002 Topps #393 Pat Rapp

Friday, December 7, 2012

Random Topps Card of the Day: 2002 Topps #393 Pat Rapp

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Friday, December 7, 2012:

Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2002 Topps #393.
Player Name, position, team: Pat Rapp, pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates.
Major League Debut: July 10, 1992.
Last Line of Statistics: 2001 stats (Angels): 31 G, 170 IP, 5-12, 96 R, 90 ER, 82 SO, 71 BB, 28 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 4.76 ERA.
Any special information about player: Drafted by the Giants, #15th, June 1989. Signed with the Pirates as a Free Agent 02/09/2002. Bats: right. Throws: right.
Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his seventh and Topps card.
Blurb on the back: "Pat held the Marlins' career strikeout record until Ryan Dempster surpassed him in 2001."
Commentary: (Forgive the run-on sentence here folks...it's a doozy). Thanks to Topps Magazine (which did a feature on the 1992 MLB expansion draft), every time I hear, see, read about, or even think about Pat Rapp, besides wanting to put two "t's" after his first name, I always think of a nickname that Topps Magazine bestowed upon Rapp in honor of Chris Berman: Pat "beats the" Rapp. (Yikes, that sentence was too long.) Pat Rapp was exposed by the Giants for the draft to fill the rosters of either the Marlins and Rockies. Rapp was the 10th player selected (the fifth pick of the Marlins) in the draft. His best year with the Marlins was in 1995, when he went 14-7 with and ERA of 3.44 (his career best) and 102 strikeouts. However, on July 18, 1997, he was traded BACK to the Giants for a couple of minor leaguers, and missed out on being part of the Marlins World Series team. What began afterwards was a journeyman career that saw him play for four teams in four seasons (the Royals, Red Sox, Orioles, and Angels). In those four years, he had a record of 32-44 in 131 games (116 starts), with an ERA of 5.07, 410 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.557. He did sign on with the Pirates but did not play with the team in the 2002 season. In fact, with 2001 being his last as a major leaguer, the career statistics in the back are complete.
Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
How many cards of this player do I own?: 7.