Random Topps Card of the Day: 2004 Topps #689 Dodgers Prospects Edwin Jackson & Greg Miller

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, July 2, 2011:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2004 Topps #689.
• Player Name, position, team: Prospects Edwin Jackson, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers; Greg Miller, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Major League Debut: September 9, 2003 (Jackson); n/a (Miller)
• Last Line of Statistics: 2003 stats: Jackson (Jacksonville-AA): 27 G, 148.1 IP, 7-7, 68 R, 61 ER, 157 SO, 53 BB, 27 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 1.17 WHIP, 3.70 ERA; Miller (Vero Beach-A/Jacksonville-AA): 25 G, 142.1 IP, 12-5, 45 R, 35 ER, 151 SO, 48 BB, 25 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 1.17 WHIP, 2.22 ERA.
• Any special information about players: Jackson: Drafted by the Dodgers, #6th, June 2001. Throws: right. Bats: right; Miller: Drafted by the Dodgers, #1st, June 2002. Throws: left. Bats: left.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): Jackson: 9. This is his first card; Miller: 1. This is his first and only Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: The 2004 set was one of my favorite sets in the 2000's in terms of its design and unique silhouette on the lower left corner. The prospect cards, of course, did not have that luxury, but did see a continuation of the multi-player prospect cards. Jackson has been a mid-season trade pickup for the last two seasons, and has played for five teams since his debut. He was even an All-Star with the Tigers in 2009. Miller, on the other hand, could not crack the Dodgers' starting rotation, and spent his entire career in the Dodgers' minor league system until 2009. A bit of trivia about this card. The checklists for the 2004 Topps Traded and Rookies set had puzzle pieces on the back of them. There were 10 checklists, but 11 rows (so in effect, there were 110 checklists). Anyway, whoever was lucky enough to complete the 110 set master checklist would complete the puzzle that was actually a visual checklist of the 2004 Topps set (both series). There were two cards that were excluded upon further inspection: card #313 (Kyle Davies...the picture of card #312 Khalid Ballouli) and this one (pictured in its place was #688 Cleveland Indians Prospects Guthrie and Sizemore).
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.20-$0.50.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 10 (Jackson); 1 (Miller).

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: 1971 Topps #433. Come back at 1:00 PM CST to see who (or what) it is.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama