Random Topps Card of the Day: 1983 Topps #414 Julio Cruz

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, July 24, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1983 Topps #414.
• Player Name, position, team: Julio Cruz, second baseman, Seattle Mariners.
• Major League Debut: July 4, 1977.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1982 stats (Mariners): 154 G, 549 AB, 83 R, 133 H, 22 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 49 RBI, 46 SB, .344 SLG, 57 B, 71 SO, .242 AVG.
• Any special information about players: Signed with the Angels as a Free Agent 05/07/1974. Drafted by the Mariners in the Expansion Draft #52nd, 11/05/1976. Bats: both, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Cruz' sixth regular Topps (total includes regular and traded cards only). One of the original Mariners (from the expansion draft), Julio Cruz was the M's regular second baseman during the team's early years. He was traded to the White Sox in the middle of the 1983 season. Before we continue with the commentary, please take a look at the card. It looks like he's standing in front of a painted background. You really can't make out anybody in the stands behind him. Now I know that in many pictures, the players are in focus while the background is not, but this is ridiculous. Was he even at the game that day? Did Topps manage to convince him to step into their offices for the snapshot (like Old Judge cards from a bygone era)? And while you can definitely see blue and yellow trim on the uniform, Topps chose yellow and pink for the border colors of this card. Way to go, guys. Anyway, Cruz went on to have his best season in 1983, helping the White Sox to their first AL West title. He was even considered an MVP candidate that year (24th in the voting). The back of his card has a few highlights that Topps thought was noteworthy from the 1982 season: May 15: drove in winning run in the ninth inning vs. Orioles; June 4: went 3-4 with two stolen bases at Detroit; June 16: belted a 3-run homer for game winning RBI in 7-2 win over the Rangers.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 11 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: 1963 Topps #291. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama