Random Topps Card of the Day: 2012 Topps Update Series #US134 Ramon Ramirez

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, November 2, 2013:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2012 Topps Update Series #US134.
• Player Name, position, team: Ramon Ramirez, pitcher, New York Mets.
• Major League Debut: April 14, 2006.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2011 stats (Giants): 66 G, 3-3, 68.2 IP, 54 H, 24 R, 20 ER, 26 BB, 66 SO, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 4 SV, 1.16 WHIP, 2.62 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Rangers as a Free Agent 12/27/1996. Traded by the Giants to the Mets 12/07/2011. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 3. This is his third Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "The Mets added Ramon to the bullpen for 2012 in the trade that sent Angel Pagan to the Giants. He put his first win for New York in the books in his debut for the Club against the Braves on Opening Day."
• Commentary: I always wonder who got the better deal when the one player who was traded away to another team returns to that team a season or so later. The question becomes more prevalent when the player traded to a team is still there when the player he was traded for returns. Such is the case with Ramon Santo Ramirez, an infielder-converted-pitcher (not to be confused with Ramon A. Ramirez, who coincidentally was an outfielder-converted-pitcher) whose career started in Texas before joining the Yankees (in which he is pictured on his first Topps card in the 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies set). Flash forward to 2012. By this time, Ramirez was a journeyman pitcher who appeared for three other teams (the Rockies, Royals, and Red Sox) and a fourth in Japan before joining the Giants in a deadline deal just in time to contribute to the Giants first World Series win in San Francisco. On December 7, 2011, Ramirez was traded off to New York in exchange for Angel Pagan. With the Mets, Ramirez went 3-4 with an ERA of 4.24 with 52 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.461 exclusively out of the bullpen. But apparently, he left his heart in San Francisco, because when given the opportunity to sign a deal with any team in baseball, he signed with the Giants. His second stint in the Bay Area was shortlived as he achieved an ERA of 11.12 and a WHIP of 2.471 in six games (5.2 innings pitched) before being sent down to Fresno, the Giants' Triple-A team. He was eventually released and signed by the Rays in 2013 as a minor league Free Agent. He spent the rest of his 2013 season with the Rays AAA team in Durham.
• Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 3 cards.

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: 1969 Topps #316. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama