- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps #31.
- Player Name, position, team: Mike Piazza, catcher, New York Mets.
- Major League Debut: September 1, 1992.
- Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats (Mets): 68 G, 234 AB, 37 R, 67 H, 13 2B, 0 3B, 11 HR, 34 RBI, 0 SB, 35 BB, 40 K, .483 SLG, .860 OPS, .286 AVG.
- Any special information about player: Drafted by Dodgers #62nd, June 1988. Traded by the Marlins to the Mets 05/22/1998. Bats: right, Throws: left.
- Any special information about this specific card: Piazza's thirteenth regular Topps card (total includes base and traded cards except All-Star or League Leader cards). I love the 2004 set. White borders for the first time since 1997 were positively received by many collectors who were tired of easily chipped colored borders. Easy to sort team names at top, small picture (compared to previous years), but what really sets this design apart from the rest is the perfect silver silhouette found at the bottom left corner of each card. The silhouette matches the featured player on the card perfectly. Whether a batting stance, a fielding play, a pitcher's windup, or even a walk off celebration, the pose of the player below is exactly the same as the pose of the player in the large picture (can't describe it any better). And the player's uniform number is also on the card, so you can also sort the team by uniform number if you wanted. Back of the card includes a small head shot picture on the top-right corner. Blurb below the stats reads that Mike has six of the 17 35-HR seasons ever by catchers (as of 2003).
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.30-$0.75.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 113 cards.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
I always thought this set was weird. Not as weird as 2005, but not a great period for Topps.
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