- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1980 Topps #313.
- Player Name, position, team: Johnny Grubb, outfielder, Texas Rangers.
- Major League Debut: September 10, 1972.
- Last Line of Statistics: 1979 stats (Rangers): 102 G, 289 AB, 42 R, 79 H, 14 2B, 0 3B, 10 HR, 37 RBI, .273 AVG.
- Any special information about player: Drafted by the Padres #1st (Special), June 1971. Traded by the Indians to the Rangers 08/31/1978. Bats: left. Throws: right.
- Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 16. This is his seventh Topps card.
- Blurb on the back: "Was voted to Topps' Major League Rookie All-Star Team for 1973. Had 21-game hitting streak for the Rangers during 1979 campaign."
- Commentary: With the 2013 Topps Baseball cards coming soon (and with Topps' twitter account previewing cards from this product at will everyday until the official release, there are some people who are complaining about the fact that the cards have white borders. Worse, we've had consecutive years of white-bordered baseball cards. Okay, since 2003 (the last year of six with colored borders), every Topps design except for one (the 2007 set) utilizes white borders. But prior to that, from 1976 to 1997, all but two (the 1987 and 1990 set) featured white bordered cards (okay, the 1986 set had black borders on half the card...but you get the idea). There may come a year that there will be a color-bordered regular Topps design, and then maybe a white-bordered parallel (akin to the rainbow of parallels that we see nowadays). Let's hope it doesn't come any time soon. Johnny Grubb was a sixteen-year veteran of the game. His baseball card history includes being one of the few Padres players in 1974 that also has a "Washington Nat'l" card too. He was named to Topps' All-Star Rookie Team in 1973, finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting, and was an All-Star the following season. And while injuries (nine long stints over his career) kept him off the field for periods of time, when he was on, he produced. In 1980, Grubb appeared in 110 games, hitting .277 with 9 home runs and 32 rbi's. His OBP/SLG/OPS percentages were above average (.374/.427/.801). Two years later, he was traded to the Tigers, becoming the team's primary pinch-hitter and fourth outfielder. During the Tigers' World Series winning season in 1984, Grubb came off the bench and hit eight home runs and 17 rbi's in 216 plate appearances. Patience at the plate (36 walks) led to a batting average of .267 and a high OBP average of .395. In 1986, although he only appeared in 81 games, Grubb's numbers were off the charts (.333 with 13 home runs, 51 rbi's, and a 1.002 OPS). He couldn't keep up the pace in 1987, and was subsequently released by the team, even though he went 4 for 7 against the Twins in the ALCS. He has since led a comfortable life away from majors, as he has coached the baseball team of his high school alma mater. On the back of the card, as with many cards from 1980, there was a cartoon depicting the player on the front. The sketch on Grubb's card mentions that he "tied for Texas League lead in double plays among outfielders with 4 at Alexandria in 1972."
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.10-$0.25.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 14.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
1 comment:
Nice pick, JayBee! I was just going through cards, organizing a few things last night and came across two of his cards from his first years in the majors playing for the Padres.
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