- Official Card Set Name and Card Number: 2008 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH219.
- Player Name, position, team: Damaso Marte, pitcher, New York Yankees.
- Major League Debut: June 30, 1999.
- Last Line of Statistics: 2007 stats (Pirates): 65 G, 45.1 IP, 2-0, 14 R, 12 ER, 51 SO, 18 BB, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 0 SV, 1.10 WHIP, 2.38 ERA.
- Any special information about player: Signed with the Mariners as a Free Agent 10/28/1992. Traded by the Pirates to the Yankees 07/25/2008. Bats: left. Throws: left.
- Number of regular Topps Cards (includes regular and traded cards only): 2. This is his second and final Topps card.
- Blurb on the back: "Needing a reliable left-hander in the bullpen, the Yankees made a 2008 trade for Damaso, who posted a World Series victory for the White Sox in 2005."
- Commentary: After years of Topps baseball card obscurity (with the exception of Topps Total where the Company was OBLIGATED to include EVERYONE), Damaso Marte did not make an eponymously designed Topps debut until the 2005 Topps White Sox World Series set. He wouldn't make his eponymous set debut until the 2006 Topps set, seven seasons after making his major league debut. Again, I find this appalling, especially when the man made a combined total of 279 games for the Pale Hose prior (appearing in more than 70 games in both 2003 and 2004). Maybe because it was the fact that the White Sox managed to win the World Series that Topps HAD to put him on a card (because if he played for the Red Sox or the Yankees, it would have been automatic). Oh wait...this card is of Marte...after being traded TO THE YANKEES!!! As a middle reliever for the Pirates, he couldn't even get any Topps cardboard love. But trade him to the Yankees...and voila, he gets a card. See the injustice here folks? WHAT??! The man plays in more than 210 games for the Pirates (including a 23 game stint in 2001) and nothing. No record of him in a Pirates jersey whatsover by the Topps company. As soon as he hits the Bronx, he must have been shellshocked by the Topps photographers and their attention. Okay, rant done...again. But keep in mind where I stand on the topic. Marte appeared in 25 games after arriving in New York, but did not find the success he achieved in Pittsburgh. He went 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA, and struck out 24 batters in 18.1 innings of work. He did not fare any better in 2009, the year the team won their last WS. He had the same 1-3 record in 21 games pitched and an ERA of 9.45. In his last major league season (2010), he appeared in 30 games, no record, and struck out 12 batters with a better ERA of 4.08. Injured in 2011, he made one rehab appearance with the Yankees' Gulf Coast Rookie team. In .2 innings of work, he allowed six runs, leaving him with an ERA of 81.00. He did not pitch in 2012, but may be looking for a shot in 2013.
- Lo-Hi Beckett value: $0.12-$0.30.
- How many cards of this player do I own?: 3.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
I am probably the person most obsessed with acquiring cards of Damaso Marte, outside with members of his family. I share a birthdate with him, and he, as per baseball reference is the only ballplayer that I do. So, at least the lack of cards for him makes the task manageable.
ReplyDeleteThe only other person for whom there are cards of is NHL Viktor Kozlov, but his body of cardboard work is a little more extensive.