Random Topps Card of the Day: 1988 Topps #330 Eddie Whitson

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, January 20, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1988 Topps #330.
• Player Name, position, team: Eddie Whitson, pitcher, San Diego Padres.
• Major League Debut: September 4, 1977.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1987 stats (Padres): 36 G, 205.2 IP, 10-13, 113 R, 108 ER, 135 SO, 64 BB, 34 GS, 3 CG, 1 SHO, 0 SV, 4.73 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Pirates, #6th, June 1974. Traded by the Yankees to the Padres 07/09/1986. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 17. This is his thirteenth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: none.
• Commentary: The set that inspired the Hall of Fame blog 88 Topps Cards. The set so popular, they made school folders based on cards from this set. The set that really got me going into this hobby. It was the baseballs on the back of the card that made me realize that the cards could be put together as a puzzle (hey, I didn't know that these were printed in sheets). The orange background made it really easy to read the statistics. Even if I didn't know what the numbers meant (hey, I was only 12...still learning about the game). Looking back, I wondered why Ed Whitson's card number ended in "0." I came to learn, eventually, that Topps would reserve the "0" and "5" cards for the stars of the game. So why did 1980 All-Star, who finished his year with a 10-13 record and a 4.73 ERA, get a card #330? Because compared to the other pitchers on the rotation, Whitson was their ace. With 13 years of statistics on the back, there was apparently no room for a bio or the "This Way to the Clubhouse" that appeared on many players' cards.
• Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
  How many cards of this player do I own?: 21 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1982 Topps #470. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama