Random Topps Card of the Day: 1980 Topps #519 Steve Nicosia

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, April 25, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1980 Topps #519.
• Player Name, position, team: Steve Nicosia, catcher, Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Major League Debut: July 8, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1979 stats (Pirates): 70 G, 191 AB, 22 R, 55 H, 16 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, .288 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Pirates #1st, June 1973. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 7. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Was International League's 2nd-leading hitter during 1978 season. Went 7-19 for .368 Average as Designated Hitter in IL, 1978.
• Commentary: This card was actually picked by the Randomizer all the way back on August 3, 2010. On that day, I had just returned from my first ever business trip to Portland (actually Tualatin), Oregon. It was the first time I had ever traveled without my family in tow. It was such a beautiful environment. You could see the mountains everywhere you went, and needless to say, I fell in love with the city. I would love to visit there again one day and bring my family. Anyway, I wrote briefly about Nicosia on that first post, that his minor league stops on his way to the bigs were in Charleston, SC; Sherbrooke, Quebec; Salem, VA; Shreveport, LA; Charleston, WV; and Columbus, OH. The team names of each? Pirates (Charleston SC, Sherbrooke, and Salem), Captains (Shreveport), Charlies (Charleston WV), and Clippers. You can figure that with the exception of Charlies (probably similarly named to the Phillies), that the monikers of the minor league affiliates are appropriate to the big league club. I also wrote that the cartoon included on the back of the card mentions that "Steve was named to the Texas League All-Star Team at Shreveport in 1975." In 1980, as the Bucs' backup catcher, Nicosia appeared in 60 games, hit .216 with 1 home run and 22 rbi's. He would spend most of his career, with the Pirates, Giants, Expos, and Blue Jays, in this role. He finished his career in 1985 with a .248 batting average, 11 home runs, 88 runs driven in, 5 stolen bases, and seven Topps baseball cards.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH187. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama