Random Topps Card of the Day: 2000 Topps Traded and Rookies #T36 Jeff Bailey

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, August 26, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1995 Topps #116.
• Player Name, position, team: Jeff Bailey, catcher, Florida Marlins.
• Major League Debut: July 6, 2007.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1999 stats (Kane County-Midwest A): 76 G, 277 AB, 49 R, 77 H, 19 2B, 1 3B, 10 HR, 53 RBI, 1 SB, .462 SLG, 34 BB, 77 SO, ..278 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Marlins #2nd June, 1997. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Bailey's first regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). Although Bailey finally made his MLB debut in 2007, and thus making his 2007 cards eligible to have that rookie card logo on them, his first true rookie cards could be found in 2000 Topps products. Classic headshot pose for the card, with the bat firmly planted on Bailey's right shoulder. The back of his card shows that he's minor league stats from both years in the Marlins' Gulf Coast League team (why did he spend two years there, and where did he go in between seasons if the GCL is a short-season league???) and then on to the Kane County Cougars, Chicago's closest non-independent minor league team. (Trivia for those who didn't know, the team is based in Geneva, IL. Not a long drive, especially if you happen to live in the Chicago suburbs). The back of the card mentions Bailey's minor league accomplishments, including being named GCL hitter of the week in July, 1998. The scouting report reads that Jeff is "a sure handed receiver with emerging power..." In 2002, he was traded to the Montreal Expos, and played in their minor league system for two seasons, before his long tenure in the Red Sox' minor league system at the end of the 2003 season. As a sign of perseverance, he never gave up his dreams, and after ten long years in the minors, ten years of bus rides and nights in places like Portland, Harrisburg, and Edmonton, and after a number of years as a regular in Pawtucket, he finaly got the call in 2007. Mind you that since his debut, he went back and forth between Sox (Pawtucket and Boston), but at least he got there, finally. In 2010, he signed on as a free agent with the Diamondbacks, and spent the 2010 season with the Reno Aces, the D-Back's AAA team.
• Beckett value: $0.10-$0.30.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1976 Topps #476. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama