- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1981 Topps Traded #753.
- Player Name, position, team: Dick Davis, outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies.
- Major League Debut: July 12, 1977.
- Last Line of Statistics: 1980 stats (Brewers): 106 G, 365 AB, 50 R, 99 H, 26 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 5 SB, .386 SLG, 11 BB, 42 SO, .271 AVG.
- Any special information about player: Signed by the Brewers as a Free Agent 07/10/1972. Traded by the Brewers to the Phillies 03/01/1981. Bats: right, Throws: right.
- Any special information about this specific card: Davis' fourth regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). With the introduction of the 1981 Topps Traded set, Topps began to respond to its new found competition in the marketplace. Donruss and Fleer both won the rights to produce baseball cards and for the first time since 1956, Topps had company in the baseball card business. So in what way could they stand out against their new rivals? Create an update set. Not another series that adds to the eponymous set, but a whole new product entirely. Genius. Their first attempt at it came in the form of this 1981 Topps Traded product. At 132 cards, Topps realized that they didn't have to waste an entire row with double printed cards (something that they must have recognized as from 1982-1992, every set contained 792 cards instead of 726). The stock used was the same as the base set, and because the card numbers started at #727, the only way to tell where the regular set ends and the traded set begins is by checking to see when the players names start appearing in alphabetical order. The following year, Topps added a "T" to their traded sets, to further distinguish it as a separate product. Davis was traded to the Phillies in the middle of spring training, and saw limited action with his new team in 1981. He ended his career the following year, playing for the Phils, Blue Jays, and Pirates (in each instance, was traded for another player, lasting with the Jays for only one week). The back of the card notes that "Dick batted .391 against the Yankees in 1979." Two cartoons below the note state that Dick "earned 3 letters in basketball during his high school career" and that he "has been nicknamed 'Sweetness' by his teammates."
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 7 cards.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
A Phorgotton Phillie if there ever was on. Played 73 games for the Phillies before getting traded to the Blue Jays in June 1982 for Wayne Nordhagen. Perhaps the most forgotten trade of all time.
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