Random Topps Card of the Day: 2009 Topps #235 Chad Billingsley

We reset the Topps Card Randomizer to come up with seven new cards to present for this week. Introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, September 6, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2009 Topps #235.
• Player Name, position, team: Chad Billingsley, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: June 15, 2006.
• Last Line of Statistics: 2008 stats (Dodgers): 35 G, 200.2 IP, 16-10, 76 R, 70 ER, 201 SO, 80 BB, 32 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 1.34 WHIP, 3.14 ERA.
• Any special information about players: Drafted by the Dodgers #1st, June 2003. Bats: right, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Billingsley's fifth regular Topps card (total includes regular and traded cards only). Enough has been said about the 2009 Topps design (probably the best of the first 10 years in the 21st century) that I'm not going to continue to heap praise upon it...okay, maybe just one more time. I love the design!!! The large picture, not hampered by a facsimile autograph (like we've had to endure the previous two years), the way that two of the corners are being held by color-coordinated triangles, and the logo within home plate...okay, so another company had that idea before...but still!!! Okay. I'm calming down now. While Billingsley's first regular Topps card was found in 2005 Topps (shared with fellow prospect Joel Guzman), the first cards he appears in cards exclusively found in retail (Target or Walmart) factory sets of 2003 Topps as one of the five bonus draft pick cards. He enjoyed his best season-to-date statistically in 2008, his 16-10 record along with 201 strikeouts earned him a spot on my 2008 MLB End of the Year All-Star team as one of the starting pitchers (he did become a real All-Star the following year). With the Dodgers competing in the pitching-dominated division known as the NL West, he is the anchor of their rotation, and one of the Dodgers' emerging young stars. The back of his card includes the bio above the stats which reads, "Over the past three seasons, no pitcher in baseball has had a longer stretch of starts without allowing more than five earned runs than Chad's 63." Above the bio is an arch that features another unique statistic involving Billingsley: Most Frequent Career Strikeout Victims. On this list include: Chris Young (AZ, 10), Mike Cameron (8), Kevin Kouzmanoff (7), Dan Uggla (7), Adrian Gonzalez (6), and about 4 other players tied with 5 K's each.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.15-$0.40.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 17 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1985 Topps Traded #118T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. See you then.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama