Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps #262 Tomokazu Ohka

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Wednesday, January 09, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps #262.
• Player Name, position, team: Tomokazu Ohka, pitcher, Montréal Expos.
• Major League Debut: July 19, 1999.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats (Expos): 34 G, 199 IP, 10-12, 106 R, 92 ER, 118 SO, 45 BB, 34 GS, 2 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.40 WHIP, 4.16 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Red Sox as a Free Agent 11/20/1998.  Traded by the Red Sox to Expos 07/31/2001. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 6. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Japanese writer Keiko Yamamori has penned a biography of Tomo.  It went on sale in October 2002, just after the clever righty completed the best season in the Majors by a Japanese starter this side of Hideo Nomo.  That year, Ohka barely made Montréal's rotation out of spring training, but finished seventh in the NL in ERA (3.18)."
• Commentary: Yes, the 2004 set utilizes a small picture (smaller than average), but that silhouette on the lower left corner certainly makes up for it. Can you imagine the computer work it had to take just to get the outline to match the picture, down to the wrinkles on the pant let.  Tomo Ohka held his own as a member of the starting rotation for a team that was on its last legs financially.  As a member of Les Expos (and as one of the players who moved with the team to Washington DC), he went 31-34 with an ERA of 3.71, striking out 322 batters and had a WHIP of 1.335.  Injuries knocked him out for most of the year (middle of June through middle of September).  But in 15 games, in the team's last year in Montréal, Ohka went 3-7 with an ERA of 3.40.  Although he moved with the team to DC, his stay was brief as he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade deadline deal.  He spent parts of two seasons with the Brewers before returning to Canada with the Blue Jays.  He was released by the Jays in the middle of the 2007 season.  After playing in the AAA affiliates of the Mariners, Cardinals, and White Sox, he returned to the Majors with the Indians in 2009.  He returned to Japan in 2010 to play for the Yokohama Bay Stars.
• Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 9 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be 1982 Topps Traded #63T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Hope you will be too.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama