Random Topps Card of the Day: 1977 Topps #594 Biff Pocoroba

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, October 23, 2010:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1977 Topps #594.
• Player Name, position, team: Biff Pocoroba, catcher, Atlanta Braves.
• Major League Debut: April 25, 1975.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1976 stats (Braves): 54 G, 174 AB, 16 R, 42 H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 14 RBI, .241 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Braves 17th, June 1971. Bats: both, Throws: right.
• Any special information about this specific card: Pocoroba's second regular Topps (total includes regular and traded cards only). The only problem I have with the cards from 1977 Topps (at least the ones in my possession anyway) are that many are so off-center, you have to wonder if quality control was asleep at the wheel back then. Of course, if you've ever seen pictures of the process of cutting cards (I think Topps Magazine #5 had this), you could only imagine that with millions of sheets to print, certainly some would have been cut improperly. Such is the case of this second-year card of Biff Pocoroba. Now I have to admit, until I pulled this card for the CotD, I have only heard the name Biff used twice in my lifetime. The first Biff I knew was the muppet from Sesame Street (Biff and Sully), and the other was Biff from the Back to the Future movie. Thanks to a great 1974 season in AA-Savannah (.311, 9 HR, 45 RBI's), Biff made the jump to the majors in 1975 (that's according to the bio. It also goes on to say that he hit left part of the season. Of course he did, he was a switch hitter). It was in 1977 that he appeared in 113 games, the only season in his ten seasons, all with Atlanta, that he reached 100 games. Of course, with the number of games played that year, he reached career highs in a number of offensive statistic (46 runs, 96 hits, 8 home runs, 44 runs batted in, .290 average, .445 slugging). In fact, the following year, he made the NL All-Star team. Injuries over the years cost him playing time, and after the 1984 season, he called it a career.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 9 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: 1961 Topps #458. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama