Random Topps Card of the Day: 1971 Topps #170 Mike Cuellar

It's Retro Sunday!!! Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Sunday, February 7, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1971 Topps #170.
• Player Name, position, team: Mike Cuellar, pitcher, Baltimore Orioles.
• Major League Debut: April 18, 1959.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1970 stats (Orioles): 40 G, 297 IP, 24-8, .750 PCT, 273 H, 126 R, 115 ER, 190 SO, 69 BB, 3.48 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed by Redlegs as a Free Agent before 1957. Traded by the Astros to the Orioles 12/04/1968. Bats: left, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Cuellar's ninth regular Topps card (this doesn't include variations or league leader cards). Ahhh, the 1971 set. Infamous black borders (this before the infamous 2007 set). Rare is it that you'll find any cards in this set in near mint condition. The black borders chip very easily on these cards. But you all knew that already. Anyway, Cuellar was one of three O's hurlers to win 20 games in 1970, helping the Orioles to a World Series win. The blurb (which is a full caption) on the back states that he hit a game winning grand slam in the ALCS, and won the final game of the WS against the Reds. This was the first time Topps included a player portrait (albeit black and white) on the backs of the cards. Prior to this, it was almost always a cartoon.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.75-$2.00.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 7 cards.

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. (You have to stop by and visit them now. They just announced that they are allowing more people to enter the museum at one time.)

Well, it's back to normal on Monday. Tomorrow's card will be: 2003 Topps #270. 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