Random Topps Card of the Day: 2000 Topps Traded & Rookies #T26 Maicer Izturis

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, June 22, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2000 Topps Traded & Rookies #T26.
• Player Name, position, team: Maicer Izturis, shortstop, Cleveland Indians.
• Major League Debut: August 27, 2004.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1999 stats (Columbus-A): 57 G, 220 AB, 46 R, 66 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 14 SB, .405 SLG, 20 BB, 28SO, .300 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Indians as a Free Agent 04/01/1998. Bats: both, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Izturis' first Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). What I love about the 2000 Topps set design is that the gray borders and the nameplate that goes along the bottom of the card do not distract the observer away from the picture. Many great action shots in both the regular and traded cards. The 2000 Topps Traded & Rookies set was Topps' second since brining back the end-of-the-year update set from the year before and the last year that these cards were sold exclusively in complete set form. The rookies were featured first in this set. At this time, Maicer (I've been spelling his name Macier all this time...) was just a 20-year-old prospect with the Indians. He made his debut with the Montréal Expos in 2004 (during their final year in Canada), and would have been apart of the Nationals had he not been traded to the Angels before the end of the year. He is now the Angels full-time shortstop, but also plays any position manager Mike Scioscia puts him (2b, 3b, lf, cf, dh). The back of his card, as with many of the players' cards in this set, is vertically-oriented, something not seen since 1993. The statistics are a bit harder to read, but there is a lot of bio space in Izturis' case. He is described as a "flashy defensive shortstop...showing a quick bat to complement his good speed on the bases"
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.10-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 5 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1997 Topps #133. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1997 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama