Random Topps Card of the Day: 1995 Topps #438 Roberto Alomar

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, March 16, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1995 Topps #438.
• Player Name, position, team: Roberto Alomar, second baseman, Toronto Blue Jays.
• Major League Debut: April 22, 1988.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1994 stats (Blue Jays): 107 G, 392 AB, 78 R, 120 H, 25 2B, 4 3B, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 19 SB, .452 SLG, 51 BB, 41 SO, .306 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Padres as a Free Agent 02/16/1985. Traded by the Padres to the Blue Jays 12/05/1990. Bats: both. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 20. This is his ninth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Alomar's love of the game ("Baseball is the greatest thing in the world.") runs in his family. In 1973, his Dad, Sandy, made the first out of Nolan Ryan's first no-hitter; 18 years later, Roberto made the final out of Ryan's 7th and final masterpiece!."
• Commentary: Back in January, the Topps Card Randomizer picked Robbie Alomar's 1994 Topps card. As cool as that card looked, the picture on this card is just as nice. Look at how he balances the baseball on one finger (or is it two, it's hard to tell). With most of what I would normally write already one two months ago, I'll just stick to facts about his 1995 season. Yes, it was a shortened season, but it would also be Alomar's final one in Toronto. In 1995, he would once again make the All-Star Team and earn another Gold Glove award. And that was on the strength of a .300 average with 13 home runs and 66 rbi's. In 703 games for Toronto, Roberto Alomar would hit a fantastic .307 batting average with 55 home runs, 342 rbi's, an OPS of .833, 5 Gold Glove Awards, 5 All-Star Game appearances (four starts), one Silver Slugger Award, and Two World Series Championships. Although he would sign on with Baltimore after the 1995 season, and would go on to play for the Indians (1999-2001), Mets (2002-03), White Sox (2003, 2004) and Diamondbacks (2004), and his final Topps card has him in a Devil Rays' uniform, he was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame as a Blue Jay, the first player to be inducted representing the Toronto franchise.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 66.

Tomorrow is Retro Sunday, the one day of the week that we feature a card from 1951-1975. The card we will feature tomorrow is: 1974 Topps #34. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama