Random Topps Card of the Day: 1973 Topps #621 Joe Ferguson

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, June 9, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1973 Topps #621.
• Player Name, position, team: Joe Ferguson, catcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: September 12, 1970.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1972 stats (Dodgers): 24 AB, 7 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .292 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Dodgers #8th, June 1968. Bats: right. Throws: right..
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his second Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "On July 18, 1971 Joe hit a 9th inning Homer vs. Bucs to spoil Luke Walker's bid to become the first Pirate pitcher ever to hurl a no-hitter in Pittsburgh. Hit .400 in 10 games with Dodgers team in 1971 Arizona Instructional League."
• Commentary: I love the silhouette that appears on the player cards in 1973 Topps. It's really the only design element used by Topps that year. After four full seasons in the minors plus three very brief cups of coffee with the Dodgers, Joseph Vance Ferguson (the player's full name appears on the back of the cards), made it onto the Dodgers' Opening Day roster as the everyday catcher for the 1973 season. When Steve Yeager was inserted into their lineup, Ferguson would play either of the corner outfield positions. By the end of the year, Joe appeared in 136 games, hit for a .263 average, hit what would eventually be a career high 25 home runs, drive in a career high 88 rbi's, and have an OPS of .839. He finished 21st in the MVP voting. He also committed 3 errors in 817 chances (.996 fielding percentage) that year as well, which should have put him in consideration for the Gold Glove award as well. By 1974, Yeager became LA's everyday backstop, and Ferguson would become his back-up. Although he was no longer the everyday catcher, Ferguson still contributed to the Dodgers cause, helping them get to the World Series in 1974 (and hitting a two-run homer in Game 2, which would be the only game LA would win that year against the Oakland A's.) In June of 1976, Ferguson and Bob Detherage were traded to Cardinals in the deal that sent Reggie Smith. After half a season in St. Louis, both Ferguson and Detherage were traded to Houston. When Joe was traded by the Astros to LA in 1978, he would spend the rest of his career in SoCal. After three plus seasons with the Dodgers, he signed with the Angels, finishing his career with the Halos in 1983. In 14 years in the majors, Joe would hit for a cumulative .240 average with 122 homers, 445 rbi's, 22 stolen bases, and an OPS of .767. On the back of his 1973 Topps card, there is a cartoon of a catcher (Ferguson) catching a basketball, with the caption "Joe once scored 40 points in a college basketball game."
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $2.00-$5.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 8.

In case you're actually wondering, I don't own this card, but was able to get a crystal clean copy of the image from the from the Baseball Card Cyber Museum. So thank you Joe McAnally and the folks at the BCCM.
Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 1977 Topps #653. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Come on back then to see what the Topps Card Randomizer gets us to look at then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama