- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1996 Topps #28.
- Player Name, position, team: Rich Becker, outfielder, Minnesota Twins.
- Major League Debut: September 10, 1993.
- Last Line of Statistics: 1995 stats (Twins): 106 G, 392 AB, 45 R, 93 H, 15 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI,8 SB, .296 SLG, 34 BB, 95 SO, .237 AVG.
- Any special information about players: Drafted by the Twins, #3rd, June 1990. Bats: both. Throws: left.
- Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 6 This is his third card.
- Blurb on the back: "An early, season-ending injury to starting center fielder Alex Cole opened the door for Rich to benefit from a full-year's experience. With a shorter swing and more contact, especially from the right side, the Twins feel Becker can achieve stardom. He is a two-time organization Minor League Player of the Year."
- Commentary: The 1996 set featured large pictures, a design element that consisted of a blue name plate (with a closeup of the player's face from the same picture being used. The team logo appearing on one side of the player or another. It was cool for its time and one of my favorite designs in the 1990's. Becker's career took off in 1995, as he provided the Twins with a versatile outfielder, who provided a strong arm in the outfield and a decent bat at the plate. His journey in the bigs continued with the New York Mets, Orioles, Brewers, Athletics, and Tigers from 1998 to 2000. Topps, however, either missed, or didn't bother, chronicling Becker's journeyman phase because after the 1998 set (when he was still pictured with the Twins), he does not appear again in Topps main set until 2001 with the Tigers. However, by that time, he had played his last game in the majors.
- Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 6 cards.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
The Topps sets were alot smaller from 1998 to 2000 keeping guys like Becker out.
ReplyDeleteI did like his TV show, though