Random Topps Card of the Day: 1995 Topps #155 Mark Portugal

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Tuesday, October 2, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1995 Topps #155.
• Player Name, position, team: Mark Portugal, pitcher, San Francisco Giants.
• Major League Debut: August 14, 1985.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1994 stats (Giants): 21 G, 137.1 IP, 10-8, 68 R, 60 ER, 87 SO, 45 BB, 21 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 3.93 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Twins as a Free Agent 10/23/1980. Signed with the Giants as a Free Agent 11/21/1993. Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his eighth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Mark, who won 14 straight games between July 1993 and April 1994, often helps himself with the bat.  On May 2 he had as may hits in the third inning as he allowed in 7 IP."
• Commentary: The design of the 1995 Topps set was literally torn (notice the jagged edges on the picture and shadow) and was so good, that it was used for both Topps' football and basketball cards as well.  The photo quality was better and thanks to using the glossy white-card stock, the pictures really pop as it looks like Portugal is ready to chuck one just right by your chin (look at his eyes...tell me that's not what he's thinking).  Portugal, who will always be on teams whose players are named after countries, had his best two-year stretch in 1993 and 1994.  Going 28-12, including the 14 game winning streak mentioned in the blurb on the back of the card, he finished sixth in the Cy Young Award voting in 1993 and won the Silver Slugger award in 1994 (he went 17-48 for a .354 batting average and an .860 OPS).  He was traded to the Reds in a nine-player deal prior to the July 31 trading deadline that is memorable for sending Hall of Famer (for Pro Football) Deion Sanders to the Giants.
• Beckett value: $0.05-$0.15.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 10 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1990 Topps Traded #75T. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. We're looking back at a card from 1990 here on the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama