Random Topps Card of the Day: 1997 Topps #15 Andy Ashby

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Monday, October 22, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1997 Topps #15.
• Player Name, position, team: Andy Ashby, pitcher, San Diego Padres.
• Major League Debut: June 10, 1991.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1996 stats (Padres): 24 G, 150.2 IP, 9-5, 60 R, 54 ER, 85 SO, 34 BB, 24 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 3.23 ERA.
• Any special information about player: Signed with the Phillies as a Free Agent 05/04/1986.  Traded by the Rockies to the Padres 07/27/1993.  Bats: right. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 12. This is his sixth Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: "Andy has quietly fashioned three consecutive outstanding seasons since 1993, a juncture at which his career ERA stood at an unencouraging (yes, that was the word Topps used) 6.77 after 50 ML games.  His improvement can be traced to junking his slider, adding a cut fastball and improving his control.  He has also improved his hitting.  A .146 swatter entering '96, he became (on April 16th), the first pitcher to record a four-hit game since 1993."
• Commentary: The 1997 Topps set combined the both a glossy (the picture) and matte (the border) finish to the cards, giving them a unique look and feel upon close inspection.  While a little more subdued with the 1996 Topps design, the reason why the cards of players from NL teams are in green while those in the AL were red were because for many years (and I don't know if they still make these now), MLB published press books for both leagues and they were called National League Green Book and American League Red Book.  The camera used to take this picture must have some long range zoom to get a shot that close.  I'm sure he was able to catch the ball, but the ball appears to be coming to him in slow motion in this picture.  After two years of travelling between Philadelphia and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Andy Ashby was selected by the Rockies in the 1992 Expansion Draft.  But when he went 0-4 for Colorado and an 8.50 ERA, he was traded to divisional rival San Diego before the July trading deadline.  In 1997, he went 9-11 with a 4.13 ERA and 144 strikeouts.  It was the following year when Ashby finally hit his stride holding his own with a 17-9 record and 3.34 ERA.  He was selected to the first of two consecutive NL All-Star teams that year as well.  At the end of the 1999 season, he was traded to the Phillies, but his originally team let him go again, this time sending him to the Braves (where he did rather well with an 8-6 record) for their annual playoff push.  He spent three seasons with the Dodgers later, he finished his career with the Padres in 2004.
• Beckett value: $0.07-$0.20.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 13 card.

Tomorrow's card will be: 2001 Topps #349. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Flash back with the blog tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama