Random Topps Card of the Day: 1995 Topps #188 Billy Spiers

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, April 17, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1988 Topps #465.
• Player Name, position, team: Billy Spiers, second baseman-shortstop, Milwaukee Brewers.
• Major League Debut: April 7, 1989.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1994 stats (Brewers): 73 G, 214 AB, 27 R, 54 H, 10 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 17 RBI, 7 SB, .308 SLG, 19 BB, 42 SO, .252 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by Brewers #1st, June 1987. Bats: left, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Spiers' seventh regular Topps card. What a picture on this card. How close was the camera when this picture was snapped? Was there a photographer at the shortstop position? It's fantastic. As Spiers is sliding towards the bag, you can see the dirt flying into his face (which is probably why he has his eyes and mouth closed). The 1995 set...with the "torn on the edges" look of the pictures, and the funky foil lettering that was used for the player's name...it was a unique looking set to say the least. And the cards that were designed horizontally in this set, as long as it was an action shot, were fantastic. It does look tacky when you have a horizontal card, and it's just a headshot. A lot of kind words were written about Billy on the back of his card. His "mental toughness has helped him become a quality player under circumstances that would have caused others to quit." The portrait on the back features Mitsubishi's "diamond vision," giving the appearance of what his picture would look like on a scoreboard. Spiers would not be seen on a Topps card again until 2000. Which means Topps missed his one year as a Met and his first three seasons with the Astros. Which makes no sense whatsoever because he played more than 100 games every season in those four seasons. But due to "space limitations," he was not added any of those sets. And they wonder why I've been clamoring for the return of the 792 card set.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 12 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: 1974 Topps #657. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama