Random Topps Card of the Day: 1990 Topps #527 Ron Hassey

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Saturday, October 13, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1990 Topps #527.
• Player Name, position, team: Ron Hassey, catcher-designated hitter, Oakland Athletics.
• Major League Debut: April 23, 1978.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Athletics): 97 G, 268 AB, 29 R, 61 H, 12 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 1 SB, .328 SLG, 24 BB, 45 SO, .228 AVG.
• Any special information about players: Drafted by the Indians, #10th, June 1976. Signed with the Athletics as a Free Agent 12/06/1987.  Bats:  left.  Throws:  right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 15. This is his fourteenth card.
• Blurb on the back: none.
• Commentary: Normally, I would say that maybe all the cards of the Athletics players should have been printed with the green borders (see Jose Canseco's 1990 Topps card). It makes sense visually.  But I look at the background on Hassey's card and the "indigo" borders work here as well.  It is not as striking visually as let's say Pat Perry's card (a pitcher from the Cubs, his card has red borders) or Kal Daniel's card (Dodgers with an orange border).  Ron Hassey is one of those players who may not have the Hall-of-Fame credentials, but during his 14-year career in MLB, he's been involved in a lot of historic events.  Hassey caught not one, but TWO PERFECT GAMES, (Len Barker's on 05/15/1981 and Dennis Martinez' on 07/28/1991). Chicago Cubs fans will recognize him as one of the players sent to the Cubs in the Rick Sutcliffe trade (the one which sent Joe Carter to the Indians).  He was a part of three Oakland A's World Series rosters (winning it all in 1989).  In 1990, he was Bob Welch's personal catcher, the year in which he won the Cy Young award on the strength of a 27 win season.  After one last go with the Expos in 1991, he went to become a coach with the Rockies (1993-1995), Cardinals (1996) and Mariners (2005-2006), a scout with the Diamondbacks (1997-2003), a minor league manager, and a minor league manager, spending the 2012 season with the New Orleans Zephyrs.
• Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
• How many cards of each player do I own?: 17.

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

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama