- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 1991 Topps Traded #103T.
- Player Name, position, team: Tom Runnells, manager, Montréal Expos.
- Major League Debut: August 10, 1985. Managerial Debut: June 4, 1991.
- Last Line of Statistics: 1989 stats (Indianapolis AAA-American Association): 87-59 1st (East).
- Any special information about manager: Hired as Manager 06/04/1991.
- Any special information about this specific card: Runnells first regular Topps card as either a player or manager (total includes both Topps and Topps Traded cards).
- Commentary: In the regular 1991 Topps set, the manager cards included team leader in a number of statistics during the previous season thanks to the fact that the checklists were arranged by team by player in alphabetical order. In the Topps Traded sets, manager cards traditionally include the statistics of the manager during his playing days and any managerial records. The back of manager Runnells card shows that he played parts of two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds in the mid-80's for a grand total of: 40 G, 46 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .174 AVG. As a minor league manager, Runnells in three seasons went 241-188, including two first place finishes for his teams in both Chattanooga and Indianapolis. Runnells' run as the Expos manager was shaky at best, and by the middle of the 1992 season, he was fired and replaced by Felipe Alou. Runnells returned to the minors to manage for both the Tigers and Rockies' organization. In 2009, he was named the Rockies' bench coach. He was in the running for the manager opening after the 2012 season, but was passed over for Walt Weiss.
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.01-$0.05.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 2 cards.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
If he had gotten the Rockies job, I wonder if it would have been some kind of record for time between major league managerial jobs. There can't be that many that are longer than 20 years.
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