Random Topps Card of the Day: 2011 Topps #256 Tyler Colvin

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, April 9, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2011 Topps #256.
• Player Name, position, team: Tyler Colvin, outfielder, Colorado Rockies.
• Major League Debut: September 21, 2009.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2010 stats (Cubs): 135 G, 358 AB, 60 R, 91 H, 18 2B, 5 3B, 20 HR, 56 RBI, 6 SB, 30 BB, 100 SO, .500 SLG, .816 OPS, .254 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Cubs #1st, June 2006. Bats: left. Throws: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "He stopped a few short of Billy Williams' record of 25 in 1961, but in 2010, Tyler was just the fourth Cubs rookie ever to post a 20-homer season. In July, he led off consecutive games with a bomb."
• Commentary: The Diamond Anniversary edition of Topps' eponymous set featured a beautiful design, with the name banner going across the bottom of the card meeting the team logo in a baseball. It makes sense because Topps was able to incorporate diamonds...REAL DIAMONDS...into their cards, and what better place to set the diamond than a baseball card, huh? I don't own one, but I have seen one up close. Wow, I wish I could have pulled one, although I don't know if it would have been worth it to take the diamond out and have it re-set on a ring. Anyway, Tyler Eugene Colvin was another one of the Cubs' many highly touted prospects. After a cup of coffee in 2009, he found his way onto the lineup by playing all three outfield positions in 111 of the 135 games he appeared. In 2011 however, he was hit hard by the sophomore slump, and after hitting .113 with 2 home runs and 8 rbi's in 28 games, Colvin was sent to Triple-A Iowa to find his hitting stroke. His stay in Iowa was brief not because he found his stroke, but because the Cubs needed bodies. But upon returning for a 10 game run, he was 3-33 (.091) with two walks. The Cubs were 1-9 during his ten games and once again, he was sent to Iowa. He returned on July 28, and although he was struggling at the plate (.189 with 4 home runs and 12 driven in), he patrolled right field for the woebegone Cubs. He finished the season with a .150 average with 6 home runs and 20 rbi's. Needing a third baseman after slugger Aramis Ramirez bolted north to Milwaukee, and hoping that Colvin just needed a change of scenery, the Cubs traded Colvin and DJ LeMahieu to the Rockies for third baseman Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers. While Stewart spent most of the 2012 season on the DL, Colvin had a good year, hitting .290 with a career high 122 hits in 420 at bats. He hit 18 home runs, drove in 72 rbi's, and had an OPS of .858. Something must have happened heading into the 2013 campaign because Colvin struggled in Spring Training. After hitting .167 in 18 games, and because the Rockies believed they had three versatile players for their bench, Colvin was demoted to Colorado Springs to begin the 2013 season.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 8.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1986 Topps #418. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1986 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama