Random Topps Card of the Day: 1987 Topps Traded #91T Matt Nokes

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Card of the Day for Thursday, November 29, 2012:

• Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1987 Topps Traded #91T.
• Player Name, position, team: Matt Nokes, catcher, Detroit Tigers.
• Major League Debut: September 3, 1985.
• Last Line of Statistics: 1986 stats (Tigers): 7 G, 24 AB, 2 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB, .500 SLG, 1 BB, 1 SO, .333 AVG.
• Any special information about player: Drafted by the Giants, #20th, June 1981. Traded by the Giants to the Tigers 10/07/1985. Bats: left. Throws: right.
• Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 10. This is his first Topps card.
• Blurb on the back: n/a.
• Commentary: I was always fascinated with logos when I was younger.  And when I first saw these cards in 1987, all I wanted to do was take out the scissors and cut each of the 26 different team logos from each card.  I had no idea that baseball cards were valuable.  And looking back, it probably would not have made a difference if I cut the logos off or not (they made tons of 1987 Topps product).  Not so much with 1987 Topps Traded.  These were just a smidge harder to find.  Matt Nokes wasn't going to unseat Bob Brenly as the Giants catcher, so San Francisco traded him off to Detroit before the end of the 1985 season.  After a cup of coffee in 1986, Nokes became the Tigers' primary catcher.  Sparky's decision to make Nokes his #1 paid massive dividends for the Tigers.  In 135 games, Nokes hit .289 with 32 home runs and 87 rbi's with his OBP/SLG/OPS percentages were .345/536/.880.  Behind the plate, he had a fielding percentage of .992 (5 errors in 632 chances), and caught 18 of 89 would be base stealers.  He made the All-Star team that year, finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting, won the Silver Slugger, and was selected as the catcher for the 1987 Topps All-Star Rookie team . With Detroit, he hit .268 with 61 home runs, 189 rbi's, and an OPS of .780.  He was traded to the Yankees in 1990, where he would spend five seasons as starter, then mentor to Jorge Posada.  After a season in which he played for both the Orioles and Rockies in 1995, his last in the majors, Matt Nokes continued his career playing in the independent leagues.  On the back of many of the player's cards, there was a section called "On This Date" which not only highlighted a particular event during a random day, but also the Topps card of the player being mentioned.  On the back of Nokes' card, the date is "July 25, 1972:  Royals' Cookie Rojas delivered pinch-HR in the All-Star Game at Atlanta. Cookie's 1972 Topps card was #415."
• Beckett value: $0.08-$0.25.
• How many cards of this player do I own?: 18 cards.

Tomorrow's card will be: 1999 Topps #274. Post will arrive at 1:00 PM CST. Until tomorrow everybody.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama